October 24

poster for Possession said:

Spoiler

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slight NSFW warning

You wouldn't be too far off that Possession doesn't seem like much of a horror movie at first. Minus a few tiny details that establish our hero of sorts, the first third or so of the film concerns itself with a really messy and loud disintegration of a relationship. She wants a divorce, and He can't imagine why, sending him on a downward spiral which then leads to him trying to figure out how to win Her back. Suspicions of infidelity are confirmed with the third party, only to add a wrinkle in the works: She is with another man that no one else knows about. The identity of this new party becomes a mystery for a little while, until it's revealed and then it becomes all too clear why this is considered a horror film. The very nature of the fourth party is something a spoiler, but even if I were to tell you, words will still fail me in encapsulating this constant battery of hysteria, blood and utter madness that somehow sustains itself for the entirety of its runtime without ever feeling like it ran out of ideas. Simply put, it's an extraordinarily well-made film that feels like a truly comprehensive canvasing of a complex relationship between a man and a woman (both Sam Neill and especially Isabelle Adjani are top-notch the whole way through) while also diving into some deeply derange horror imagery that reminds one of Argento at times, Barker at others, and still feels wholly unique in the imagery on the display as well as its capacity to fray your nerves until little remains. The theatrical approach to the acting, with every actor throwing their backs into, and sometimes quite literally, is matched by director Andrzej Zulawski's breathless visual approach that finds everything and anything in a constant state of chaos, with superb camerawork and lighting setups that take the Berlin setting and make it just unnatural enough to hide its more sinister aspects, frequently in broad daylight. "Volatile" is such an appropriate word to describe the film, as the editing is geared to putting the characters on the edge so frequently that you never know quite when things are going to explode, and certainly explode in the way that they do. It's also the kind of film that manages to get so far out that it might have been made on another planet, but because of how high Zulawski manages to keep up the pitch, even the more crazy elements fit right at home with passes for a normal conversation in this film. Throughout this marathon, it's been a real pleasure to see as many films as I have that I can describe as being truly singular, but this film manages to go one further by feeling like something that's never been done before and is all the more exciting for it. Nothing can prepare you for this film, and that's exactly where it needs to be.

Film for October 25: Before going back to the real-life conspiracy well more times than needed, Oliver Stone got his start making genre pictures like many filmmakers of his generation. The Hand takes the familiar Orlac premise of a recent amputee getting a new hand of a highly dubious source (aren't they always?), but with Michael Caine in the lead role and an early score from the dearly departed James Horner, it's shaping up to be a fun time all the same.

#38 - Hush [2016] (rewatch)



Another rewatch, but still a really solid home invasion thriller that doesn't let up once it starts. It's a mean, lean 80 minute face-off between a resourceful protagonist and antagonist. The first time I watched it I felt like they didn't use the premise of Maddie being deaf enough, but watching it now I'm not sure why I felt that way; they honestly do a pretty good job of it. One complaint a lot of people have is that A satisfying and intense flick that doesn't overstay its welcome.


#39 - Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers [1989]



Halloween shouldn't have had any sequels.


#40 - Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers [1995]



Halloween shouldn't have had any sequels.

Letterboxd list

#17 Demons

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I really don't know what to say. The 80s was a special time I guess, when a movie with a plot like this could be be released and becoming something of a cult classic. A movie theater filled with ridiculous stereotypes are slowly and gorily turned into demons with the most ridiculous attempt at a macho action soundtrack I've ever heard. There might be some kind of subtext about the movie going public and/or violent films in general, but if there is, the movie doesn't seem too interested in exploring it since the movie-within-a-movie is discarded pretty quickly. On a positive note, the effects are pretty good, and there are some nice visual touches.

I'm usually a fan of Italian horror movies, but I think I best relegate such viewing to films from the 70s.

Worst film so far. Regret choosing it and I'm not even finished the film

#23 - Vampires (1998)
It starts off quite well: A fantastic opening scene with gruesome kills and great effects sets the tone for the rest of the movie, but unfortunately it never manages to quite reach that same level again. Or maybe it does and just gets boring. It never gets scary, it's just one fightscene after the next. The performances are on point, but to me James Woods just isn't cool. No leather jacket, pair of sunglasses and bad-ass attitude can change that. He's no Snake Plissken. The cheapest of the Baldwin Brothers is hamming it up, can't help but love him. Luckily the entire movie has that John Carpenter Charm, so it never gets boring or actually bad. Besides that the whole thing is just kind of meh. 5/10

#24 - What Have You Done to Solange? (1972)
Look, I love me some gialli. It's a fun genre. But as ThirstyFly and others warned me at start of the month, a whole bunch of them are more murder mystery then they are horror. But since I had a low giallo count this year I decided to have a few on my list regardless. It's a pretty creepy yet typical one, but with a good plot, strong performances, tight direction and a lovely Ennio Morricone score. 7/10

Just checking if the following are considered horror films? Thinking of adding them to my list.

Neon Demon
The Wailing



Got through 10 films so far. Was hoping to do more, though I'm off Thursday and Friday, so going to blitz some horror films.

Going to post my list with brief impressions soon.

haikira said:

Just checking if the following are considered horror films? Thinking of adding them to my list.

Neon Demon
The Wailing



Got through 10 films so far. Was hoping to do more, though I'm off Thursday and Friday, so going to blitz some horror films.

Going to post my list with brief impressions soon.

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Yeah, they both are. Although Neon Demon sort of plays coy with it until the last act. The Wailing is amazing though.

Fancy Clown said:

Yeah, they both are. Although Neon Demon sort of plays coy with it until the last act. The Wailing is amazing though.

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Thanks =D

I'm in the UK, but I imported the Well Go USA release of the The Wailing. Been really looking forward to checking it out, but just didn't know if I should watch it this week, or wait for November.

#25 - Who Can Kill a Child? (1976)
The movie opens with montage of gnarly documentary footage that feels like a slap in the face and then the tone changes completely to a English couple on a lovely holiday on the beaches of Spain. Then they change location and the movie gets super serious again, and it's for the better. The quiet island makes for a perfect isolated location that even in bright daylight manages to come off as creepy. All around this is a pretty great movie, gotta give credit to the ending which is amazing. Recommended! 7.5/10

I managed to squeeze in a few, so I'm now back on track with a decent buffer.

First up, another double feature: Prey for Pay, or Scares For Hire - featuring Scare Campaign and Fear, Inc.

Scare Campaign



Summary - The wildly popular horror-themed prank show "Scare Campaign" is nearing the end of its fifth season. In each episode, the show lures in some unsuspecting patsy ("the stooge") and springs some elaborate horror scenario on him, complete with rigged special effects and actors in costume and makeup. They film the whole thing, including the moment they reveal to the stooge that it's all just a prank, and bam, there's your episode.

Unfortunately, a combination of factors has left the show's future less than certain. A recent episode in which the stooge brought in a (ultimately fake) gun has some of the cast members on edge, and worse yet, there's a crowdsourced internet phenomenon called "Masked Freaks" that's cutting into their audience. This "show" bypasses traditional networks in favor of online streaming, and it appears to show anonymous masked individuals (even using similar language to the famous Anonymous videos) actually murdering people on camera.

It's against this backdrop that Scare Campaign attempts to film its season finale, an ambitious setup in an old children's hospital. Under pressure from the networks to take things up a notch, the show will live or die by how well this final episode of the season comes out.

Thoughts - After a somewhat disappointing run of films, this was a welcome relief. It's a well-executed, clever, self-aware little horror film with more than a touch of genre commentary. It's by the creative team who did 100 Bloody Acres, and the film definitely has a sense of humor, running right up to the horror-comedy line. The performances are all solid, and while the whole idea behind "Masked Freaks" is a little silly, it more or less works as a larger commentary on the genre and certain trends within it.

I'm going to avoid overt spoilers, but all the same, I'm putting this next bit behind spoiler blocks.



Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by this one.


Fear, Inc.



Summary - An unemployed slackerish guy named Joe lives with his girlfriend in an affluent LA suburb. Joe, it turns out, is a huge horror nerd and Halloween is right around the corner. After he and his girlfriend visit a somewhat disappointing haunted house attraction, he's approached by one of the employees there with an offer. There's this company called Fear, Inc., he tells Joe, which does custom-tailored scares for a discerning clientele. He gives Joe the company's card and leaves.

Shortly thereafter, one of Joe's old friends and said friend's wife come to visit. After they all get really drunk and high, Joe brings up Fear, Inc. Joe's friend warns him off, saying that his boss hired the company and she was seriously terrorized by them, going on to say that the company is dangerous and not to be trusted. Joe, under pressure from everyone else, agrees not to call.

...until literally a few minutes later, when he discovers the card sitting on his nightstand. He calls, only to be told that they're "sold out". It's not long after that, though, before the first signs of trouble start...

Thoughts - Again, I was pleasantly surprised by this one. It's definitely a horror-comedy rather than straight horror, but it works. Lucas Neff's performance as Joe, in particular, really holds the film together. Actually, all of the performances are solid, and the genre-aware winking at the audience never gets too overbearing.

I do have...mixed feelings about the ending. While aspects of it are clever, something about it just doesn't sit right with me. I dunno.

Still, that's not enough to sour me on the movie as a whole. I was never bored watching it, and some of the character interactions were legitimately funny.


I also managed to squeeze in a random one-off:

The Doom's Chapel Horror



Summary - A young man returns to his rural hometown after spending time away in the aftermath of a tragic accident. In a moment of childish inattention, he wandered off rather than help his (extremely popular) brother work the heavy farm machinery, and the whole thing ended with his brother getting the old thresher chop-chop. The entire community blames him, and incidents of bullying and harassment escalate until they become unbearable.

Now, years later, he returns with his girlfriend and a friend of his from film school to do a film project on his return. Unfortunately, not all wounds have been healed in his absence. Worse yet, the weird, creepy commune out by Doom's Chapel Road seems to be taking an interest in him and alluding to some sort of arrangement they had in years past.

Thoughts - This is one of those films where it's clear that there were some decent ideas that were ultimately hampered by a lack of money. The film is (mostly) done in a handheld found-footage style, mixing in security camera footage now and then. It's never really clear who edited all of this together or why, or for that matter why certain camera angles exist at all. Anyway, found footage has to walk a narrow line between too polished and too low-fi. Unfortunately, this stumbles over to the latter side. The production feels...cheap, from the sound design to the quality of the video itself. It doesn't help that the performers seem mostly like enthusiastic amateurs, and the script is clunky enough in places that the characters never really feel genuine. For a found footage movie, that's lethal, especially since you'll be spending a while with them before things really start to escalate.

The whole thing has a backwoods Lovecraftian quality to it that I actually like. The title feels like a deliberate reference to The Dunwich Horror, and it's not hard to see some similarities. It's not hard to see how the film could've been really solid if they'd just had more money and a more experienced group. They apparently ran a Kickstarter to help fund post-production (which brought in a whopping $6,000), so this clearly was not a big-budget production. I could overlook some of the cheapness in the production, but it's the writing and performance that ultimately keep it from fully working.

Like I said, though, there's some decent ideas there, and I'd like to see what the filmmakers could do with more of a budget.

Divius said:

#25 - Who Can Kill a Child? (1976)
The movie opens with montage of gnarly documentary footage that feels like a slap in the face and then the tone changes completely to a English couple on a lovely holiday on the beaches of Spain. Then they change location and the movie gets super serious again, and it's for the better. The quiet island makes for a perfect isolated location that even in bright daylight manages to come off as creepy. All around this is a pretty great movie, gotta give credit to the ending which is amazing. Recommended! 7.5/10

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I love this movie. It's been years, but definitely creepy as fuck.

#32 Santa Sangre (FTV) (1989) - I wasn't sure what to expect going into this one. From the beginning, I thought it was going to be more religious horror. Glad I was wrong. I actually really enjoyed the film, and the twist was done very well . The only drawbacks were a couple of very slow parts that probably could have been trimmed out which added nothing to the story. Outside of that, good movie.

Rating: 8/10
Genre: Psychological/Slasher horror

#33 The Invisible Man (1933) - My favorite Universal Monsters film. Claude Rains was brilliant in this, and his villainous voice was the stuff of legend. The fact that he's responsible for like 100+ deaths was unheard of back then, and it really made me view the film as dark comedy in a way. Another one of my marathon traditional watches.

#25 The Shining sadly not the US cut (not got round to making a trip to HMV for the new bluray)

#18 Europa Report

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Found footage works pretty well here, though it's quite obvious what's going to happen to the crew by the end. So fail from that angle. Probably shouldn't have inter-cut the mission head constantly on the verge of tears the whole time if there was ever going to be a sense of mystery.
Still, it plays things straight, going for realism over sensationalism and it works really well. It's got a surprisingly upbeat feel to the ending, despite .
Not scary, but filled with tension. Worth a watch.

No love for House or House II in here?

25/10/16
Film 30
Elves

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“When there is no more room in hell, the elves will walk the earth…”

Yes, that is a genuine quote from the film I just watched, and yes, it was the high point of said film, and by quite a long distance. Unlike Don’t Open Till Christmas, the magnificent trash I watched yesterday, Elves isn’t so bad it’s good. It’s just plain old bad. Also, it should be called Elf, because there’s only one of them, and at least then it would share a name with one of my very favourite Christmas movies. Actually, if there’s going to be truth in advertising, what it should really be called is ‘Worst Practical Effect Ever’, because holy crap, the creature is so badly done.

Looking like the worst, cheapest, most plasticky halloween toy muppet, the Elf is unintentionally brought up from the depths by three teenage girls, one of whom cuts her hand accidentally, with the blood that spills onto the ground calling the creature forth. The girls were out in the forest for reasons that weren’t adequately explained when this happened - something about bonding together as the anti-Christmas virgins or something, I don’t know.

Anyway, soon And I feel like I’m making this sound lots more fun than it really is.

According to this film it only takes ten seconds to drown a pregnant cat in the toilet. Ten seconds is also about the length of time it’s worth spending watching this crap. My new worst movie of the month.

Films I've watched so far

Phantasm

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I love the dreamy/nightmarish quality of this movie. It's not overtly referenced until the very end, but the way scenes are edited together, the transitions between them, the character portrayals, and just the overall aesthetic has the verisimilitude of genuine dream logic that really works for me. And who doesn't love a random Dune reference? That part just adds credence to the fact that we are seeing the main character's dreams, and he is currently reading through the novel in his waking life.

OK playing catch up but have watched a TON with the wife over the past week.

***

#1 The Witch
A isolated family of exiled puritans face spiritual and physical destruction at the hands of dark forces lurking in the primeval forest near their 17th-century farmstead.

More than any other film on my list this year, "The Witch" is actual cinema - by which I mean that the film's impact increases dramatically when viewed on a large screen, in a dark room, with the sound turned up, and without distraction. Viewed thusly, once you're under the film's spell, even straightforward closeup shots of a rabbit or ram's impassive stare become unnerving. Choral cresendos paired against disquieting, near-static shots of the moonlit treeline recall The Shining. The cast are all excellent. A few scenes will burn themselves into your visual memory.

Although the horror kicks off early, the pacing thereafter is more deliberate, with the third act delivering the shocks.
A must-see and a worthy addition to the horror hall of fame.

Rating:5/5 times I thought to myself "what the fuck is in that poultice she's rubbing on her naked skin?"


***
#2 The Invitation

A young man with a tragic past and his girlfriend travel to his former home to join his ex, her new beau, and several old friends for a reunion dinner. However, his ex and her new friends seem a bit "off." The less said about the plot thereafter, the better.

My rating might be controversial here as I can imagine some won't enjoy "The Invitation's" head-fakes and slow buildup, or its overstylized flashbacks. Solid acting in the popular-these-days naturalistic style. The big bald guy is particularly intimidating. Ultimately, the buildup and ambiguity pay off - the final act is much more effective since by then you've gotten to know the characters.

Rating: 4/5 times I wanted the main character to cut his hair

***
#3 What we do in the Shadows (

A documentary crew join four New Zealand vampires to profile their unique lifestyle.
One of the most funny horror comedies in years, "What We Do..." doesn't quite reach the transcendent level of Shaun of the Dead or American Werewolf in London. Four vampire roomates - one lovelorn and thoughful, one a vainglorious rake past his prime, another a all-around boob, and the last a growling Nosferatu type - struggle to feed consistently, avoid roomate disagreements over chores, get into the hottest nightclubs, or avoid their exes. Above all they strive to humiliate and bully their arch-rivals (who I won't name for the sake of fun).
I guess that several of the cast are from "Flight of the Conchords" which I never really watched, but the script and performances are hilarious - so no previous experience required!
Rating: 4/5 Charbroiled Nosferatus

***

#4 The Conjuring 2

In the late-70s, following their involvement in the Amityville house murders, the demon-battling Warren couple travel to England to help a divorcee and her four kids battle a violently evil presence haunting their run-down Thatcher-era row house. Based on a true story (had a hard time typing that).

I think that the films directed or produced by James Wan will be viewed with the same appreciation as Hammer films years from now. Wan delivers a consistent visual style, memorable if simplistic characters, and stories almost exclusively focused on ghosts, demons, and possession. This film in particular features effective widescreen composition, with lots of slow pans, often featuring something spooky just out of focus in the background. Wan also mostly avoids jump scares and gives his shots time to sink into your brain before cutting, unlike many other modern filmakers.

I think I'd rate this film higher if the subject matter grabbed my imagination more, but ghost/demon stuff has never preoccupied me the way that other themes have - which I'll discuss further when I review "The Thing."

Rating: 3/5 period-correct sideburns and groovy sweaters

#5: REC 2
Cacaphonous and exhausting, inferior to its predecessor (2007's [REC]), this one is skippable. I was disappointed especially as I was looking forward to it based on GAF praise.

Things begin well enough: 2 begins immediately following the climax of 1. A Madrid SWAT team, along with a very mysterious government official, enter a quarantined multi-story apartment building to investigate a mysterious disease which quickly transforms its victims into fast, enraged 28 Days Later style zombies. Intriguing tidbits regarding the surprising backstory for the virus are teased, and it briefly seems as if the film is heading into "Aliens vs. Alien" territory: the action-oriented sequel which manages to hold its own vs. its predecessor.

Then the movie gives up and degenerates into scene after scene of people screaming and cursing at each other in Spanish, punctuated by repetitive zombie frontal assaults. Since the movie is ostensibly filmed from the POV of the SWAT team helmet cams, before long the whole affair feels like a First-Person Shooter (with associated cutscenes) instead of an actual movie.
The final 15 mins are redeemed slightly by a few decent plot twists.

Score: 2/5 times someone screamed "mierda." Stick with the scary and fun [REC] instead.


#6 The Devil Rides Out

An immaculately-dressed Christopher Lee stars as the pimptastically-titled Duke de Richleau who, upon reuniting with a forgettable square-jawed sidekick, discovers that another, more charismatic, friend has taken up with a group of satanists. The Duke, who awesomely but inexplicalbly knows EVERYTHING about Satanism and black magic, sets off with his sidekick to rescue their friend before the cult can summon the devil himself.

Highlights include a (sadly small) number of detailed Hammer-style sets and imaginative, ambitious, if dated special effects - especially during an extended demonic assault scene. Also, several random car chases featuring now-priceless pre-WWII Bentleys and other British classics stand out.

Lee delivers a commanding performance as a dude who in DnD terms is basically a Palidan in a Saville Row suit. He projects the Duke's moral, intellectual, and physical authority and dominates every scene he's in.

The only other noteworthy cast member is Charles Gray as the leader of the Satanists. You will remember him as the narrator of The Rocky Horror Picture Show movie. The rest of the cast can't stand up to Lee's presence (unlike Cushing in other Hammer flicks).

Plot-wise, it was funny to observe that it follows the same "monster of the week" plot structure as most episodes of "X-Files" or "Supernatural" do today. Not much changes .

Rating: 4/5 annoying times the volume randomly doubled during women's screams or musical climaxes, sending me scrambling to turn it down so it wouldn't wake the kids.


#7 What We Become

Danish zombie movie clearly inspired by the realistic tone of TWD and the popular suburbia/normal folks vs. The Apocalypse storytelling trend. Thankfully it omits TWD's excessive musical flourishes and wearying emotional outbursts. Nothing innovative or -unfortunately- even particularly scary here. Takes too long to reach its obvious climax. 28 Days Later remains the King of post-Romero scary zombie movies.

2.5/5 severed Danish teenager heads


#8 Lights out
"Lights Out" stretches its premise (a ghost than can only move around and attack in the dark) thin too quickly because the nature and limitations of the monster are revealed within the first five minutes. This leaves 75 minutes to fill with MORE scenes of the ghost doing its now-not-scary thing, clusmy attemps at metaphor (the ghost as mental illness) and cliched scenes of the protaganist easily uncovering the entire backstory while rummaging through her mother's conveniently complete and easily-located medical records. The Babadook did this all much better although that too was a flawed film stretched too far.

Just go to Youtube (linked here; you're welcome) and watch the 2-min short film it was based on instead.

Rating 2/5 times I realized I only had two beers on hand for this four beer movie.


***
#9 Return of the Living Dead
It is tough to discuss a modern classic, one already burned into our collective geek memory. What can I say that is new? RotLD is a bonifide mom-drive-me-to-Blockbuster to grab the VHS, Mr. Gattis (back when they were good - Texan here) and 2L bottle of Dr. Pepper classic. Everyone knows that the movie skillfully blends legit gore and shocks with just the right balance of camp and slapstick. Plus the soundtrack - a cool time capsule of LA Punk!

I bought the (released last year) Scream Factory Blu Ray of this film, which includes a bunch of extras over two discs which I am still plowing through. The movie looks great on this new transfer - colors really pop and the soundtrack is clear and well mixed. I also bought their Special Ed. of "The Thing" released just last week -- really looking forward that one.

Rating 5/5 Times I realized that Tar Man zombie still kind of freaks me out.

24. Army of Darkness (1992)

It's a shame they retconned the end of Evil Dead 2. Being set in the year 1300, this is more fantasy than horror, but there's plenty of undead to fight. This movie is less insane like Evil Dead and more cartoon-ish. Tons of classic quotes, and an open reference to The Day The Earth Stood Still. Great final scene.

Overall Evil Dead 2>Army of Darkness>Evil Dead 1

Full list

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16. Videodrome

After a little hiatus I'm prepared to plow through the rest of my list by the end of the month. Starting me off is the final film in my Cronenberg-a-thon. This film has been considerably hyped up to me for years now, and it definitely delivered in all aspects. At this point in his career, Cronenberg is a master of his craft. Many of his films carry the same themes, but it seems like this is one that finally nailed all of them. Freudian psychosexual stuff? Check. Insane body horror? Check. General what the fuck is going on-ness? Check Check. James Woods being very James Woods-like? Big Check there. Howard Shore also returns with a genius gimmick of starting the film with a very orchestral soundtrack, but shifting to a synthetic one by the end. It's a great effect and really added to the picture. I've already spent plenty of time reading different analysis on the film, and I feel like it's one that's going to be spinning in my head for a while. Death to Videodrome, Long Live the New Flesh!

Verdict: 9/10

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17. Don't Look Now

Wow. The one-two punch of Videodrome and Don't Look Now are one of the primary reasons I had to take a short hiatus from watching horror films. The reason for this is because they are both very heavy watches. Don't Look Now is an absolutely gorgeous film that examines grief, the supernatural, and inevitability. The editing was very innovative for it's time, as this is a film that has been meticulously put together. Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie were fantastic in their roles, and really displayed the heaviness required from them by the story. Their sex scene is quite famous, and I have to say that it's probably one of the better sex scenes I've seen on film. I'm not saying that for the obvious reasons either, the realness aspect of it along with the impact it had on their characters and the story was.....well to sound lame, it was beautiful. The film is also incredible to look at, the Venice setting was inspired and very integral to the plot. This is one of those movies that is much more effective by going in blind, so I'm not going to discuss that many aspects of it's story. I will say that even though there is a sense of dread throughout the picture, I didn't quite realize I was watching a horror film until the movie ended. To put that into perspective, I've got to spoiler-tag it.
Verdict: 9/10

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18. Repulsion (Rewatch)

I had only seen this movie once when I was a teen, and I'm pretty sure I missed the point entirely on that first viewing. I only remembered a few parts and never quite held it on the same level that most people do. Upon rewatching it, I was a fool, a goddamn fool. Much similar to the rewatch of Vertigo I had earlier this year, Repulsion blew me away. It's Polanski at the top of his game with this is one of the best examples of psychological horror that there is. What else can I say? If you haven't seen Repulsion, go watch it. If you found it disappointing, go watch it again.

Verdict: 10/10

That's a fairly decent run of movies, I wonder if I can keep it up?

October 25

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The combined talents of Oliver Stone and Michael Caine come together on The Hand, and the results are decidedly underwhelming. A fairly standard entry into the "is he crazy, or is there really a 'insert wacky killing thing here' on the loose" genre, the film itself hits all the marks it supposed to, and not much more. It's actually a little strange to see a pared-back Oliver Stone, to the point where one misses a lot of the excess he would become known for when there's not really much going on visually in this film, outside of some interesting shots sporadically appearing. I would say the film's biggest problem is that it waffles too much on what the villain actually is, to the point where it's not even really known by the very end of the film during its last big "gotcha" moment. That lack of clarity doesn't make the mystery particularly compelling and can feel like a pretty big cheat, though it's hard to say if settling on either explanation with what we know would really help out that much, which leads me to believe that it never got figured out by the time the film started shooting. It's not all bad, though: Michael Caine is fine, and I did dig the arc he had as far as his character's personal life was concerned, particularly once the setting of the film changes and he's left with a new job that isn't quite what it was billed to be. James Horner also turns in a swell suspense soundtrack that does a lot to improve the proceedings, centered around a nicely ominous intensity that builds up throughout. It's not a bad film by any stretch, but it's easy to see where it could have been better and how easy it would have been to get to that point. It's certainly worthwhile to watch to see what Oliver Stone was like before his big mainstream success in a few shorts years, but it did make me wish for a little bit of that talent a bit sooner.

Film for October 26: During this marathon, we've seen vampires in the English countryside. We've seen vampires in New York City. We've even seen them prowl around the midway of a California town. But we have yet to see Vampires in Havana, which seems like a bad place for them to be, but what do I know!

I'm not going to count it, since I didn't finish, but I just bailed on The Invitation, my first such bail out this year. I made it 45 minutes, until a while after the video was shown. I hated every character. The incredibly, squirm-out-of-your-chair awkwardness of it all. But mostly I could not take the giant blaring, flashing warning signs the leads were ignoring. The college kids in Cabin in the Woods were satirizing this kid of shit.

I've seem some bad movies this year, where people make dumb decisions, but honestly. This is the largest number of red flags to be put and ignored so far this year and I just can't take it any more. Life's too short to watch people this stupid.

#41 - Halloween H20: 20 Years Later [1998]



I think this movie wins the Most Redundant Title Award for Most Redundant Title. Fortunately this movie did the smart thing and completely retconned most of the sequels, allowing for it to be somewhat coherent again. Because after 6 there was nothing left to salvage. It's not that good, but it's probably the best Halloween movie since the original, not counting 3 (I say this as a proud hater of Halloween 2). Satisfying ending too.


#42 - Halloween: Resurrection [2002]



So much for H20's ending. Riding on the coattails of The Blair Witch Project, this is...uh...a thing...that exists. I think it's trying to be a bit meta regarding horror entertainment and reality TV in general, but it doesn't work. If nothing else, it's a tad more entertaining with its utter schlock than 6 was; I'd rather watch Busta Rhymes do kung-fu than watch Paul Rudd nearly tank his career before it started. That's about the best I can say for it.


#43 - Halloween [2007]



Yeah, this movie sucks. It's the definition of try-hard. But you know what? It's not really any worse than the majority of the original series. The franchise was tarnished long before this movie came out. So whatever.

Letterboxd list

Oct. 25

The Birds (1963)

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This is my second Alfred Hitchcock movie and the first time I'm actually seeing it. Here's the thing, before watching it I thought its going to be lame because birds as antagonists doesn't really strike me as horrifying. Also, I've seen JonTron's review of Birdemic and thought it wouldn't really be that great. Oh my freakin' god was I wrong. From start to finish, the story was very engaging. The artists scream glamour and are really charming. The effects were great even at the time. The build up was perfect. The mystery is there. The film delivered and I felt pretty terrified at the birds. I loved the underlying themes of the film. This and Psycho have my utmost respect. I feel kinda stupid for not seeing Hitchcock's movies soon.

ehead said:

Oct. 25

This is my second Alfred Hitchcock movie and the first time I'm actually seeing it. Here's the thing, before watching it I thought its going to be lame because birds as antagonists doesn't really strike me as horrifying. Also, I've seen JonTron's review of Birdemic and thought it wouldn't really be that great. Oh my freakin' god was I wrong. From start to finish, the story was very engaging. The artists scream glamour and are really charming. The effects were great even at the time. The build up was perfect. The mystery is there. The film delivered and I felt pretty terrified at the birds. I loved the underlying themes of the film. This and Psycho have my utmost respect. I feel kinda stupid for not seeing Hitchcock's movies soon.

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Good stuff. If you want to keep exploring Hitchcock I recommended Rear Window, North by Northwest, Vertigo, Strangers on a Train, Shadow of a Doubt, To Catch a Thief, Notorious, Rebecca, and Dial M for Murder. Basically most of them, you have opened a door to a bigger world.

Videodrome
I'm not quite sure what the hell I just watched, but I think I liked it? At the very least I was pretty absorbed in it from start to finish. There's a level of sleaze here that permeates the atmosphere of the whole thing and gets you in this appropriately weird mood to just kind of roll with everything. Cronenberg and his team again impress with some very well-done practical effects, from the pulsating videotapes and TVs to the hand reaching out of the screen to whatever the fuck was going on with that decomposing body.
7/10

#19 Who Can Kill A Child

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Well this is twisted as fuck. This movie is actually frightening in a way none of the other films have been. Creepy kids and no explanations or real reasons given for the madness.
This is what would be like if it didn't have terrible overacting and pseudo-religious subplots. The main characters don't always make the right choice, but all things considered, they're not stupid cliches either.

This gets slow burn right, as we're not bombarded with terrifying acts. Instead they're revealed over time as the couple search the island. And that twist... didn't see it coming... also not sure how believable it is, perhaps a bit too over the top for the film. Odd since the film ends on a such a realistically bleak note.

There is also some subtext about rearing children and the use of punishment at a societal level, but I'm not sure how I feel about that right now.

Definitely recommended

mariachi507 said:

Good stuff. If you want to keep exploring Hitchcock I recommended Rear Window, North by Northwest, Vertigo, Strangers on a Train, Shadow of a Doubt, To Catch a Thief, Notorious, Rebecca, and Dial M for Murder. Basically most of them, you have opened a door to a bigger world.

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Yes, I'm planning on doing this. Thank you for the recommendations. Are any of the films you listed applicable to the thread's theme? I want to hit 2 birds with 1 stone. Hehe.

Home stretch, six days, four movies left on my list. Saturday night is my Rocky Horror Party. Never saw the movie but figured it was best to share my first time After that I have the VVitch on Halloween. So that leaves a bit more time to call in some extras. The Wailing was super cheap on Google Play with a half off offer they had so I grabbed that and will probably check that out over the weekend. I need to update my last few viewings here too, kind of got lazy lol

I fucking love Videodrome. My first Cronenberg movie, too.

The Criterion edition shall be mine some day.

GhaleonEB said:

I'm not going to count it, since I didn't finish, but I just bailed on The Invitation

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yup can confirm - watched this last saturday with some friends....it was awful. we were shocked at how high of a rating it had on netflix. P-U. we all enjoyed Hush a lot more that night.

15. Antiviral (Brandon Cronenberg, 2012)
The whole basic premise of this film (there is an industry that sells celebrity illnesses to their obsessed fans) is so far fetched and implausible that I never could really give this film a change. The pacing is also off. 4/10

16. Cat People (Jacques Tourneur, 1942)
An American man marries a Serbian immigrant who fears that she will turn into the cat person of her homeland's fables if they are intimate together. A pretty good psychological horror from Tourneur though I still may prefer Night of the Demon. 8/10

17. Deadly Friend (Wes Craven, 1986)
A completely insane (but very entertaining) Frankentein/Re-Animator-like by Wes Craven. Apparently the studio didn't like Craven's first cut so they made him add six additional gore scenes to the film. That totally shows and all the additions stick out like a sore thumb. The ending also makes zero sense. 5/10

18. Circle (Aaron Hann & Mario Miscione, 2005)
Fifty strangers held captive are forced to choose one person among them to survive execution. Would have worked much better as a 45 minute Twilight Show episode than as a feature. There just isn't enough plot for even a short feature. Still not bad. 6/10

Watched recently.

Lights Out (2016)

This one was such a letdown. Cool monster, cool gimmick, utterly wasted on lackluster characters and a paper thin plot.
Feels like they thought no further than 'wouldn't it be cool if a monster could do this?' and then tacked a plot on the end.
There wasn't even any good gore. probably wouldn't of helped none though.
4/10

Don't Breathe (2016)

Now this one was quite good indeed. Home invasion turned on its head.
Memorable characters and an utterly loathsome monster of a villain.
Tension up to the high heavens.
And I don't think I'll be able to look at a turkey baster the same way again.
9/10

heckmanimation said:

yup can confirm - watched this last saturday with some friends....it was awful.

Spoiler

the first 90 minutes were boring as hell and the payoff in the last 20 were eh and expected.

we were shocked at how high of a rating it had on netflix. P-U. we all enjoyed Hush a lot more that night.

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Good to know I didn't miss out. I Wiki'd the story to see what happened, and it played out exactly like I thought it would. I was expecting . Looks like that's more or less how it played out. I don't get the high ratings either.

#26 - The Omen (1976)
In the wake of genre classics such as Rosemary’s Baby and The Exorcist we get another super serious satanic-themed horror movie. This one is great as well. There's priests and dark catholic secrets, the horrors of parenthood and angry doggos. Solid throughout: Great performances, musical score and writing. Also that decapitation scene was hilarious. 7.5/10

HorrorGAF, I need your help. Only 5 more days/movies remaining. Still 20+ movies I've collected to choose from.

The Phantom Carriage [1921]
Häxan [1922]
Mad Love [1935]
Dead of Night [1945]
Let's Scare Jessica to Death [1971]
Don't Deliver Us from Evil [1971]
The Other [1972]
Baron Blood [1972]
The Changeling [1980]
Cat People [1982]
The Keep [1983]
The Mutilator [1984]
Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles [1994]
Cure [1997]
Ginger Snaps [2000]
Honogurai mizu no soko kara AKA Dark Water [2002]
The Call of Cthulhu [2005]
Deadgirl [2008]
The Whisperer in Darkness [2011]
American Mary [2012]
Afflicted [2013]
Starry Eyes [2014]

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Any must-sees? Things I should avoid?

I haven't seen most of those, but I really enjoyed Ginger Snaps.

Divius said:

HorrorGAF, I need your help. Only 5 more days/movies remaining. Still 20+ movies I've collected to choose from.



Any must-sees? Things I should avoid?

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Absolutely 100% see Cure. One of the best I've seen this month, if not the best. Baron Blood is pretty fun too if you wanna see Bava do a gothic infused giallo in his 70's period. Not essential Bava, but I enjoyed it quite a bit.

Divius said:

HorrorGAF, I need your help. Only 5 more days/movies remaining. Still 20+ movies I've collected to choose from.



Any must-sees? Things I should avoid?

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Give American Mary a watch. It's weirdly good.

Out of what I've watched:

The Phantom Carriage [1921]
Very cool silent film but a bit slow and drug out. Worth a watch.

Häxan [1922]
Awesome, just awesome silent film about witches and madness.

Baron Blood [1972]
Watched but don't remember.

The Keep [1983]
Haven't watched this in a while but loved it. Apparently most people think it's shit though...

Ginger Snaps [2000]
Pretty dark coming of age story, watch this most definitely.

Starry Eyes [2014]
I liked it when I watched it last year. If memory serves it was pretty dark and brutal too.

#26 Suspiria Arguably a Career highlight for Argento i just love everything about this film from the colours to the music to the cinematography

Divius said:

HorrorGAF, I need your help. Only 5 more days/movies remaining. Still 20+ movies I've collected to choose from.



Any must-sees? Things I should avoid?

Click to expand...

Ginger Snaps is one of my favorites

DeadGirl is alright, but pretty messed up. Needed to take a shower after watching it

If you love ghost stories, you might want to watch Changeling. I've heard so many people rave about it.

26/10/16
Film 31
P2

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P2 is a fun if unremarkable survival horror about a businesswoman held in a parking garage on Christmas Eve against her will, by a lonely and unhinged security guard. It’s not exactly mould-breaking, but stars Rachel Nichols and Wes Bentley are both really good; Nichols in particular gives an excellent performance as the terrified, resourceful and when the need arises, pretty bloody kick-ass heroine.

Playing out like a thriller punctuated by some very occasional moments of full-on gore, P2 gets pretty tense (though nowhere close to the extent achieved by co-writer/producer Alexandre Aja’s Switchblade Romance). In its final moments it also provides a reminder, should one ever be needed, that is a very, very bad idea.

I liked it quite a lot, despite it being the third film this month in which a woman . I didn't like that bit at all.

Films I've watched so far

Divius said:

HorrorGAF, I need your help. Only 5 more days/movies remaining. Still 20+ movies I've collected to choose from.



Any must-sees? Things I should avoid?

Click to expand...

That's a tough list to narrow down, but...

Häxan
Dead of Night
Let's Scare Jessica to Death
Cure
Ginger Snaps

...would probably be my picks. I love The Phantom Carriage but it's more supernatural drama than horror. Absolutely worth a watch at some point though.

22) The Witch (2016) (Oct 22)

Well, shiiiiiiiiit. That happened.

Loved this. Dialogue was a little too hard to decipher though and that hurt my enjoyment a bit. I had to turn on subtitles and that's obviously not my ideal way of watching an English movie. Other than mumbling too much, the performances were excellent and that ending… good stuff.

Highly recommended.

Rating:

out 5 "What's in the basket?"




23) Trick or Treat (1986) (Oct 23)

My last hair metal horror movie review of the month, I promise. Trick or Treat is about a bullied metal head (Skippy from Family Ties) whose idol, Sammi Curr dies suddenly in a hotel fire. Turning to his DJ friend for solace, Skippy is given Sammi's final demo record. The only copy in existence. Skippy discovers that all isn't normal with the record as Sammi begins to communicate to him though it and things soon get out of control. Oh, and it's also 80s as hell if you couldn't tell.

This one is pretty frustrating. It has all the elements of a really good 80s flick and could have been really fun, but it comes up short in too many places to make it memorable. It starts off pretty good with a cool setup and Skippy makes for a believable lead. It even has one of, if not the coolest kill I've seen this month with a hilarious shot of the aftermath. Unfortunately it suffers from uneven pacing, and devolves into a rushed mess with one of the worst final acts I've seen recently.

Even though it's rated R, other than some burn makeup and a melted ear, there's no gore at all. I don't recall much swearing either, but there is one brief nude scene that I'm assuming is the reason for the R rating. With a little more R-rated content, a couple of trims here and there and a stronger final act, this probably could have been a really fun 80s flick.

There's enough fun pieces in here to make it a mild recommendation, but it's a shame the complete package is an overall letdown.

Rating:

out 5 "What's in the basket?"

32) Cronos - (Guillermo del Toro, 1993)

"That fucker does nothing but shit and piss all day, and he wants to live longer?"

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Del Toro doesn't really make horror films per say, rather dark fairytales with horror elements...but I'm gonna count these anyway. Cronos is del Toro's first film, and a rather clever spin on the vampire genre. Not only is the contraption behind the vampiric shenanigans quite inventive, but rather than make the vampire a fearsome beast, he is an incredibly sympathetic character who is made all the more pathetic in undeath. One brilliant scene exemplifies this quite well, in which he feeds from spilled blood by licking it off a bathroom floor. Much of del Toro's campy humor is present in this film too, but I found it far better executed than in his American films, and Ron Pearlman is a lot of fun to watch. It's a clear step below what he would achieve in The Devil's Backbone and Pan's Labyrinth, but a lot of his core themes and motifs are present, and I liked how he toyed with the various gothic horror conventions.

33) The Devil's Backbone - (Guillermo del Toro, 2001)

"What is a ghost? A tragedy condemned to repeat itself time and again? An instant of pain, perhaps. Something dead which still seems to be alive. An emotion suspended in time. Like a blurred photograph. Like an insect trapped in amber."

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Now this is what I'm talkin about. This is just as good as Pan's Labyrinth in my opinion (maybe even better?), perfectly using the framing of a gothic ghost story to filter the horrors of war through the prism of youth. It is insanely gorgeous, the characters are all interesting and well sketched, and the themes and symbolism offer add layers to the film that enhance its literary fairytale aspects. There's some solid spooky stuff here, but as usual in del Toro's work the real monsters come in human form. Certainly one of my favorites of the month. GDT gets a lifetime filmmaker pass from me for this and Pan's alone. I could also listen to him talk about movies (his own especially) forever.

Fancy Clown said:

32) Cronos - (Guillermo del Toro, 1993)
33) The Devil's Backbone - (Guillermo del Toro, 2001)

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The Devil's Backbone is del Toro's masterpiece, imo. I love it.

Just wondering, did you watch Cronos on blu-ray? I'm curious on how they handled the subtitles. The DVD I own has SDH subs ONLY, which I hate. So things like sound effects and music queues are also subtitled.

ThirstyFly said:

The Devil's Backbone is del Toro's masterpiece, imo. I love it.

Just wondering, did you watch Cronos on blu-ray? I'm curious on how they handled the subtitles. The DVD I own has SDH subs ONLY, which I hate. So things like sound effects and music queues are also subtitled.

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Yeah I bought Criterion's Trilogia de Guillermo del Toro Bluray set that comes with cronos, devil's backbone, and pan's labyrinth. It's a piece of art in and of itself. Only the spanish dialogue was subtilted in Cronos.

Fancy Clown said:

Yeah I bought Criterion's Trilogia de Guillermo del Toro Bluray set that comes with cronos, devil's backbone, and pan's labyrinth. It's a piece of art in and of itself. Only the spanish dialogue was subtilted in Cronos.

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Great, thanks. I think the DVD subtitled EVERYTHING. English, Spanish, sounds, etc. I can't watch movies like that because so many years of watching subtitled movies has rendered me unable to ignore subs, so looking down only to read "music starts playing" in subs drives me nuts and I don't need subs for the English lines.

I'll have to look into finding the Criterion disc. I already have their Devil's Backbone and whatever the original release of Pan's was.

ehead said:

Yes, I'm planning on doing this. Thank you for the recommendations. Are any of the films you listed applicable to the thread's theme? I want to hit 2 birds with 1 stone. Hehe.

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Honestly, not really. The man is the master of suspense, but he only trekked into full blown horror twice.

Fancy Clown said:

Yeah I bought Criterion's Trilogia de Guillermo del Toro Bluray set that comes with cronos, devil's backbone, and pan's labyrinth. It's a piece of art in and of itself. Only the spanish dialogue was subtilted in Cronos.

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I will own it, it will be mine.

25. Hocus Pocus (1993)

Featuring the Tome of Eternal Darkness. Are we sure this isn't a Disney Channel Original Movie? Targeted to teens, horror theme but nothing really scary, talking cat, nothing that can't be done by a small studio. *looks up Wikipedia* Oh wait, it originally was going to be. Anyway, the stars here are the 3 witches, and the casting allows for diverse characters between the three (Winifred steals the spotlight, but Sarah is my favorite). Binx is well animated, but it seems like every time he talks it's from the same viewing angle. Bullies get their just desserts. Other than that, I'm not that big a fan.

Full list