PhoncipleBone
Banned
Jason vs. Transformers. Jason wins.
I would watch that...
In a sleeping bag.
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31 Days of Horror 2 |OT| The October Movie Marathon
- Thread starter ThirstyFly
- Start date
Jason vs. Transformers. Jason wins.
I would watch that...
In a sleeping bag.
sketchsanchez
Member
#29 - Hellraiser (1987)
I guess the imagery was nice, but other then that this movie did not do much for me personally. I disliked most of the story and did not care for any of the actors. Also; besides his initial repulsive appearance and well you know, torturing people, Pinhead actually seems like a nice guy. 5/10
Haven't read the whole thread, so don't know if anyone has mentioned Prince Of Darkness?
It's a John Carpenter movie, verrry 80's. I like the atmosphere, and what other movie has Victor Wong as a quantum physicist, Donald Pleasance as a priest and Alice Cooper as a homicidal homeless guy who kills someone with a bike? Add in an antimatter universe antichrist and visions from the future and you get a wacky mess that's still fun to watch.
It's a John Carpenter movie, verrry 80's. I like the atmosphere, and what other movie has Victor Wong as a quantum physicist, Donald Pleasance as a priest and Alice Cooper as a homicidal homeless guy who kills someone with a bike? Add in an antimatter universe antichrist and visions from the future and you get a wacky mess that's still fun to watch.
The Omen
I'm halfway sure I've seen it before, but it was great, so I didn't mind. Damien is a creepy child, and his nanny is insane. The Omen plays more to the suspense angle, so when it dives into horror it's effective. While there is little doubt for the viewer on Damien being evil, seeing people constantly die around him (the nanny early on was particularly fucked up) and the turmoil of the father was great.
Prince of Darkness
Another Anti-Christ film, this one not as good. It's got some cool stuff in it (like the possessed homeless, the weird visions and crazy shit) but it just didn't work for me overall. It wasn't awful, but certainly a disappointment as part 2 of Carpenter's trilogy that started with the fantastic 'The Thing'.
Edit: damn, how's that for timing regarding Prince of Darkness.
Same. It's so absurd, I love it. If you take it purely as a horror it's not as great, same on the comedy side, together it's a weird one that I can't help but enjoy. The shaving scene in the bathtub makes me cringe every time.
Edit:
Ju-On The Grudge 2
This was good, but I'm a sucker for japanese horror like this. I saw Ju-On ages ago but never got around to seeing the sequel. Basically, the curse of the haunted house of the first film claims the crew of a tv show that goes to film there. Shot in the same vignette structure as the first one, going through each character through to their death, and featuring the same creepy as hell rattle from the ghosts, there's a lot of great imagery and scary shit in and coming from that house. I particularly liked Chiharu's story, with it flashing back and forth between her "main" time and her being in the house, with the curse hunting her down in both. Freaky stuff.
The Shrine
Aside from a big plothole (why not just fence off the titular Shrine?), I thought this was pretty neat. Three people visit a remote Polish village to find clues to a series of disappearances. I got very 'Resident Evil 4' vibes from the village with it's creepy natives and religious leaders, and what they do is pretty cruel to the unsuspecting people (though it makes a decent twist). Nothing stood out as terribly off, and there was some good WTF moments moments. Not too bad a watch.
Playback (2012)
A teen doing a research project on a local murder gets more than he bargained for when he discovers the murderer
It had some cool stuff going for it, particularly the posession via filming, but none of the acting is great and it was terribly obvious what would happen. Not awful, but mostly meh.
Three movies left. This is what I get for procrastinating with this.
I'm halfway sure I've seen it before, but it was great, so I didn't mind. Damien is a creepy child, and his nanny is insane. The Omen plays more to the suspense angle, so when it dives into horror it's effective. While there is little doubt for the viewer on Damien being evil, seeing people constantly die around him (the nanny early on was particularly fucked up) and the turmoil of the father was great.
Prince of Darkness
Another Anti-Christ film, this one not as good. It's got some cool stuff in it (like the possessed homeless, the weird visions and crazy shit) but it just didn't work for me overall. It wasn't awful, but certainly a disappointment as part 2 of Carpenter's trilogy that started with the fantastic 'The Thing'.
Edit: damn, how's that for timing regarding Prince of Darkness.
Same. It's so absurd, I love it. If you take it purely as a horror it's not as great, same on the comedy side, together it's a weird one that I can't help but enjoy. The shaving scene in the bathtub makes me cringe every time.
Edit:
Ju-On The Grudge 2
This was good, but I'm a sucker for japanese horror like this. I saw Ju-On ages ago but never got around to seeing the sequel. Basically, the curse of the haunted house of the first film claims the crew of a tv show that goes to film there. Shot in the same vignette structure as the first one, going through each character through to their death, and featuring the same creepy as hell rattle from the ghosts, there's a lot of great imagery and scary shit in and coming from that house. I particularly liked Chiharu's story, with it flashing back and forth between her "main" time and her being in the house, with the curse hunting her down in both. Freaky stuff.
The Shrine
Aside from a big plothole (why not just fence off the titular Shrine?), I thought this was pretty neat. Three people visit a remote Polish village to find clues to a series of disappearances. I got very 'Resident Evil 4' vibes from the village with it's creepy natives and religious leaders, and what they do is pretty cruel to the unsuspecting people (though it makes a decent twist). Nothing stood out as terribly off, and there was some good WTF moments moments. Not too bad a watch.
Playback (2012)
A teen doing a research project on a local murder gets more than he bargained for when he discovers the murderer
transfers his soul from father to son by filming himself to pass on the possession (playing on the idea of taking a photograph to steal a persons soul). It's not surprise that the teen is the son of the killer, who has possessed another kid who provides tapes of girls undressing to a local cop, and so he must figure it out and survive.
Three movies left. This is what I get for procrastinating with this.
11. Freddy vs. Jason (Oct 30)
Freddy vs. Jason is a great fanservice movie with alot of action packed scenes. I really enjoyed this one since I'm a fan of both characters. I highly recommend it for anyone who wants a good popcorn flick and haven't given this one a chance yet.
8/10
Freddy vs. Jason is a great fanservice movie with alot of action packed scenes. I really enjoyed this one since I'm a fan of both characters. I highly recommend it for anyone who wants a good popcorn flick and haven't given this one a chance yet.
8/10
I'm sorry but I don't understand how you cannot see that this movie was played for laughs. During the bite scene the kid does flying karate kicks through the air while yelling for pancakes.
Rednecks never have motivation for killing people in horror movies. They're backwards ass rednecks. That's kind of the point and part of the joke.
FrenchMovieTheme
Member
just finished The Thing (2011). what a mediocre piece of trash. just mainstream hollywood horror garbage. i don't want to sound like a hippster about it (there have been some really good mainstream horror movies!) but i just didn't like this. they took most of the stuff that made the original appealing and just shit all over it. too bad because i really wanted to like it 
Plasticine
Member
#29 Pumpkinhead (October 30)
I'm afraid raising the dead ain't within my power.
After his child is accidentally killed, a grieving father invokes the demonic Pumpkinhead to avenge his son's death. At it's core, Pumpkinhead is a fairly simple revenge and morality play, but the backwoods Gothic trappings really make this film something special. The pumpkin patch cemetery where the titular creature is buried, with its gnarled trees and thick layers of fog, is dripping with atmosphere. Lance Henriksen's revenge hungry Ed Harley is nicely sketched out, even managing a character arcbelieve it or not. Then of course, you have Pumpkinhead himself. Bathed in moody lighting and generous strobe effects, Stan Winston's vaguely human, but completely alien design still holds up after all these years. The film isn't without its faults, though. The jackass city slickers barely existing beyond one note types for Pumpkinhead to knock off one by one Jason Voorhees style. With an extended 1950s set prologue, the film takes a while to get going, but once it does it's more than worth it.
I've got two films to go after this. So close now.
Audition
"Words create lies, pain can be trusted."
Aoyama's wife died seven years ago, and now his son thinks his dad needs to get laid, so Aoyama bullshits a bunch of women with auditions for a fake movie. Turns out the girl he chooses is batshit insane. Oops.
I tried watching this years ago but fell asleep, and I can see why: the first half is very subdued and played straight. You get to know the characters and their interactions as they go about their business, with only slight hints at things being amiss (mostly Aoyama's colleague saying the woman seems odd). After they sleep together in a hotal she ditches, inspiring Aoyama to investigate further and find her. He finds dead ends and a few odd things about her, and she ambushes and tortures Aoyama in a surreal fucked-up sequence (because he was the first person she felt ever truly cared about her, so cutting off his feet so she'll always have him is a perfectly reasonable precaution).
The first half is certainly well done, and establishes the relative normality of the situation, which I do appreciate, but frankly I found it boring. Once things get a little off kilter and the mystery of her past kicks in it gets good. The torture sequence, with the disfigured bar owner, her regurgitating the dinner like a bird and him lapping it up, and Asami later starting to mirror the process with Aoyama was fucked up. I was impressed at how effective it was while not actually showing anything (besides the effects after she did something). Cringe-worthy, but well done. Asami's reasoning just shows how broken she is, which was effective in underpinning the second half. This is a very different kind of horror than we typically see (mostly psychological, but some trim of torture porn before that blew up), but once it got into it things it was much more effective since these were actually characters, not just morons getting slaughtered.
Good movie. Bitch is crazy.
Audition
"Words create lies, pain can be trusted."
Aoyama's wife died seven years ago, and now his son thinks his dad needs to get laid, so Aoyama bullshits a bunch of women with auditions for a fake movie. Turns out the girl he chooses is batshit insane. Oops.
I tried watching this years ago but fell asleep, and I can see why: the first half is very subdued and played straight. You get to know the characters and their interactions as they go about their business, with only slight hints at things being amiss (mostly Aoyama's colleague saying the woman seems odd). After they sleep together in a hotal she ditches, inspiring Aoyama to investigate further and find her. He finds dead ends and a few odd things about her, and she ambushes and tortures Aoyama in a surreal fucked-up sequence (because he was the first person she felt ever truly cared about her, so cutting off his feet so she'll always have him is a perfectly reasonable precaution).
The first half is certainly well done, and establishes the relative normality of the situation, which I do appreciate, but frankly I found it boring. Once things get a little off kilter and the mystery of her past kicks in it gets good. The torture sequence, with the disfigured bar owner, her regurgitating the dinner like a bird and him lapping it up, and Asami later starting to mirror the process with Aoyama was fucked up. I was impressed at how effective it was while not actually showing anything (besides the effects after she did something). Cringe-worthy, but well done. Asami's reasoning just shows how broken she is, which was effective in underpinning the second half. This is a very different kind of horror than we typically see (mostly psychological, but some trim of torture porn before that blew up), but once it got into it things it was much more effective since these were actually characters, not just morons getting slaughtered.
Good movie. Bitch is crazy.
Oct. 30: The Bird with the Crystal Plumage/Four Flies on Grey Velvet/Suspiria (all three, dir. Dario Argento)
United by their animal themes (sometimes literal, sometimes metaphorical), Argento's trilogy definitely showed a director just waiting for the right material to come along to really make his talents shine, which I think that few people would argue that finally came in Deep Red. But beyond waiting for the promise of his talent to be fulfilled, was his Animal Trilogy worthwhile beyond that?
I watched The Cat o' Nine Tails last year and came away thoroughly unimpressed. It was mired in a lot of plot that just kept going and going and going until the desire to fast forward became nearly unstoppable. Thankfully, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage isn't nearly as bogged down as its successor, but it still feels a bit fat in the wrong places. It's certainly one of the best-looking films in Argento's ouevre, thanks to the wonderful cinematography provided by pre-senility Vittorio Storaro, making very good use of its settings, and Ennio Morricone further aids in the atmosphere with a nicely-done score, as well. But, as is Argento's wont, his stories often fall victim to overcomplication, and Bird with the Crystal Plumage is no exception to this, relying on a cheat from the word "go" to help drive the movie forward, resulting in the killer feeling like a bit of a cop-out, especially with the hackneyed way they end up tying everything together. Still, as far as debut features go, you could do a lot worse.
And "a lot worse" is a good way to describe Four Flies on Grey Velvet, which manages to tell an even dumber story and makes the fatal mistake of making Michael Brandon's milquetoast character completely unsympathetic, rendering his plight throughout the film dull (also not helping: the fact that Michael Brandon is a terrible actor). Even poor Mimsy Farmer can't find much to do with the material, and does little more than sitting back and try her best to be angry at Michael Brandon at all times (again, not particularly hard to do). But even with how much it screws up, Argento finally begins to see just how good he is at what he does in this film, with such bravura sequences as the stalking of the maid in the park, following a phone call through its connection lines rather than settling on a mere split-screen effect, and, of course, the amazing final scene in all of its glorious slow-motion photography.
And that's with those film still fresh in my mind that allows me to appreciate Suspria even more than I had in the past. Finally free from having to worry about things like plot or having too many characters contributing to said plot, Suspiria finds Argento focusing entirely on what he does best, under the pretense of going for pure nightmare logic. Even the exits at airports are treated like portals into a harrowing world of sighs, whispers, and other related terrors, as Suzy (Jessica Harper in my favorite role of hers, thanks to the workout her lovely eyes get throughout) finds herself caught in something that truly defies any kind of logic. The murder sequences are staged more like theatrical productions than anything else, complete with expertly timed rhythms, crescendos, and the like, and brought to vivid life with the gorgeous Technicolor visuals. And that soundtrack! Goblin gets rightly praised for their incredible contributions on just about every film they worked on, but you'd be hard-pressed to find a soundtrack that they did that fits the respective film so well like it does in Suspiria. So what if the movie never makes sense? It knows damn well where its strengths lie, and that's all I need to keep calling it a classic.
Final day preview: Speaking of trilogies, Roman Polanski sort of has one of his own, all of which find themselves in the supposedly safe surroundings of an apartment. Repulsion sees Catherine Deneuve struggle with her repressed sexuality as it manifests itself in horrific ways, while Rosemary's Baby throws Mia Farrow into busy traffic (literally, at one point!) as she deals with her own crumbling sanity in the face of what could be a real Satanic cult. But it's the final film that has gone unseen until now that interests me the most, as Polanski himself finally gets to taste his own medicine in The Tenant.
United by their animal themes (sometimes literal, sometimes metaphorical), Argento's trilogy definitely showed a director just waiting for the right material to come along to really make his talents shine, which I think that few people would argue that finally came in Deep Red. But beyond waiting for the promise of his talent to be fulfilled, was his Animal Trilogy worthwhile beyond that?
I watched The Cat o' Nine Tails last year and came away thoroughly unimpressed. It was mired in a lot of plot that just kept going and going and going until the desire to fast forward became nearly unstoppable. Thankfully, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage isn't nearly as bogged down as its successor, but it still feels a bit fat in the wrong places. It's certainly one of the best-looking films in Argento's ouevre, thanks to the wonderful cinematography provided by pre-senility Vittorio Storaro, making very good use of its settings, and Ennio Morricone further aids in the atmosphere with a nicely-done score, as well. But, as is Argento's wont, his stories often fall victim to overcomplication, and Bird with the Crystal Plumage is no exception to this, relying on a cheat from the word "go" to help drive the movie forward, resulting in the killer feeling like a bit of a cop-out, especially with the hackneyed way they end up tying everything together. Still, as far as debut features go, you could do a lot worse.
And "a lot worse" is a good way to describe Four Flies on Grey Velvet, which manages to tell an even dumber story and makes the fatal mistake of making Michael Brandon's milquetoast character completely unsympathetic, rendering his plight throughout the film dull (also not helping: the fact that Michael Brandon is a terrible actor). Even poor Mimsy Farmer can't find much to do with the material, and does little more than sitting back and try her best to be angry at Michael Brandon at all times (again, not particularly hard to do). But even with how much it screws up, Argento finally begins to see just how good he is at what he does in this film, with such bravura sequences as the stalking of the maid in the park, following a phone call through its connection lines rather than settling on a mere split-screen effect, and, of course, the amazing final scene in all of its glorious slow-motion photography.
And that's with those film still fresh in my mind that allows me to appreciate Suspria even more than I had in the past. Finally free from having to worry about things like plot or having too many characters contributing to said plot, Suspiria finds Argento focusing entirely on what he does best, under the pretense of going for pure nightmare logic. Even the exits at airports are treated like portals into a harrowing world of sighs, whispers, and other related terrors, as Suzy (Jessica Harper in my favorite role of hers, thanks to the workout her lovely eyes get throughout) finds herself caught in something that truly defies any kind of logic. The murder sequences are staged more like theatrical productions than anything else, complete with expertly timed rhythms, crescendos, and the like, and brought to vivid life with the gorgeous Technicolor visuals. And that soundtrack! Goblin gets rightly praised for their incredible contributions on just about every film they worked on, but you'd be hard-pressed to find a soundtrack that they did that fits the respective film so well like it does in Suspiria. So what if the movie never makes sense? It knows damn well where its strengths lie, and that's all I need to keep calling it a classic.
Final day preview: Speaking of trilogies, Roman Polanski sort of has one of his own, all of which find themselves in the supposedly safe surroundings of an apartment. Repulsion sees Catherine Deneuve struggle with her repressed sexuality as it manifests itself in horrific ways, while Rosemary's Baby throws Mia Farrow into busy traffic (literally, at one point!) as she deals with her own crumbling sanity in the face of what could be a real Satanic cult. But it's the final film that has gone unseen until now that interests me the most, as Polanski himself finally gets to taste his own medicine in The Tenant.
ThirstyFly
Member
#30) The Prowler (1981) (Oct 30)
"Could I have your attention, please, ladies and gentlemen? Um... Deputy London has just informed me that a prowler has been seen around the campus, and, uh... Well, he could be dangerous."
I've had my eye on this one for a while and finally decided to pick up the Blu-ray this month for my marathon. The Prowler is your typical 80s slasher. It doesn't do anything new with the genre, but that's forgivable because it's such an early one so it wouldn't have been so monotonous back in 1981 and it's still a pretty solid slasher even if it doesn't break out of the mold.
The real highlight of this one is obviously Tom Savini's gore effects. He really let loose with this one, the kills are vicious! According to IMDb's trivia section, Savini considers this to be his best work. I can see why.
My biggest complaints are that the body count seems lower than it actually is since
all of the kills come in pairs
Also, considering the killer's military fatigues, it did look kind of silly how his main weapon was a pitchfork. It would have been cooler if they could have come up with some more military weapons along with the military knives he also carried. At least he puts the pitchfork to good use.
Overall, I had fun with this one. It really reminded me of how much I enjoy (and miss) 80s slashers. I'm sure there's plenty lesser known ones I've missed out on, so I'll have to start looking into that.
Final Viewed List:
#01) The Cabin in the Woods (2012) (Oct 1)
#02) Piranha (1978) (Oct 2)
#03) Piranha DD (2012) (Oct 3)
#04) The Living Dead Girl (aka La morte vivante) (1982) (Oct 4)
#05) Anthropophagus: The Grim Reaper (1980) (Oct 5)
#06) Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988) (Oct 6) (rewatch)
#07) The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986) (Oct 7) (rewatch)
#08) The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (2006) (Oct 8) (rewatch)
#09) Motel Hell (1980) (Oct 9)
#10) Deranged (1974) (Oct 10)
#11) The Burning (1981) (Oct 11)
#12) Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982) (Oct 12) (rewatch)
#13) The Fly (1958) (Oct 13)
#14) The Fly (1986) (Oct 14) (rewatch)
#15) The Fly II (1989) (Oct 15) (rewatch)
#16) Nazis at the Center of the Earth (2012) (Oct 16)
#17) Abraham Lincoln vs Zombies (2012) (Oct 17)
#18) Exit Humainity (2011) (Oct 19)
#19) Fright Night (1985) (Oct 20)
#20) Fright Night Part II (1988) (Oct 21)
#21) Fright Night (2011) (Oct 21)
#22) Insidious (2010) (Oct 22)
#23) Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth (1992) (Oct 23)
#24) Hellraiser: Bloodline (1996) (Oct 24)
#25) The Fog (1980) (Oct 25)
#26) In the Mouth of Madness (1994) (Oct 26)
#27) An American Werewolf in London (1981) (Oct 27) (rewatch)
#28) A Little Bit Zombie (2012) (Oct 28)
#29) Stake Land (2010) (Oct 29)
#30) The Prowler (1981) (Oct 30)
I don't think the cartoonish humour works in the context of the rest of the film. The gags would have been great in Tucker and Dale vs Evil, but in Cabin Fever they're anomalous splashes of absurdity in an otherwise straight-laced horror. The injections of humour come off as aberrant; it felt more like a failed attempt at Twin Peaks-style surrealism than horror comedy.
Went to the theatre today and saw V/H/S. Cross-posting my thoughts on it from the official (?) thread:
I saw this today and my thoughts were pretty mixed. Spoilers below:
I can't believe anyone thought that the second short ("Young Couple on Road Trip") was even remotely good. 15 minutes of dull, completely mundane buildup followed by a few seconds of brutal violence. As others have pointed out, the problem is that the buildup in almost all of these shorts is no good -- they really needed to inject some more humor and not assume that throwing in some tits in going to keep us engaged. It makes little-to-no sense either. Why does the wife's lesbian lover show up to ask for a ride? Why does she videotape them sleeping on the first night?
The third short ("Killer that Shows Up as a Blur on Video") had pretty much the same problem with dull, lackluster buildup. There's nothing really that scary or interesting about being stalked by MPEG-video artifacts either. I gotta give them credit for at least trying something interesting, though it was an idea that definitely sounds better on paper than it does in execution. There was one good shot though, where you faintly notice a black blur slowly moving in from the deep background.
The fourth short ("Skype Videochat Ghost Story") was good, though I have no idea what the hell actually happened. Can someone explain? The boyfriend was apparently collaborating with the ghosts to extract fetuses from multiple girlfriends? Why did they need tracking devices in their arms? Someone here said the girlfriends were robots - huh?
The fifth short ("Haunted House Pedobear Cam") had just enough buildup, and a really cool final sequence. I think the dialogue during the human sacrifice sequence made things really unclear though. My presumption is that the hillbilly cultists wanted to get a demon to possess the girl. The spirits in the house objected to that and killed off the hillbillies, but the demon still took over the girl. Then the demon used its powers to kill the dudes that saved her.
The first short ("Naked WitchBatGirl") would have been fine except for all the really jarring shakycam and unnecessary sequence of the guys being frat douches at some club. Much like the Young Couple On Road Trip story, it felt like they were really trying to pad out the length of the story by putting in all that extra garbage.
I saw this today and my thoughts were pretty mixed. Spoilers below:
I can't believe anyone thought that the second short ("Young Couple on Road Trip") was even remotely good. 15 minutes of dull, completely mundane buildup followed by a few seconds of brutal violence. As others have pointed out, the problem is that the buildup in almost all of these shorts is no good -- they really needed to inject some more humor and not assume that throwing in some tits in going to keep us engaged. It makes little-to-no sense either. Why does the wife's lesbian lover show up to ask for a ride? Why does she videotape them sleeping on the first night?
The third short ("Killer that Shows Up as a Blur on Video") had pretty much the same problem with dull, lackluster buildup. There's nothing really that scary or interesting about being stalked by MPEG-video artifacts either. I gotta give them credit for at least trying something interesting, though it was an idea that definitely sounds better on paper than it does in execution. There was one good shot though, where you faintly notice a black blur slowly moving in from the deep background.
The fourth short ("Skype Videochat Ghost Story") was good, though I have no idea what the hell actually happened. Can someone explain? The boyfriend was apparently collaborating with the ghosts to extract fetuses from multiple girlfriends? Why did they need tracking devices in their arms? Someone here said the girlfriends were robots - huh?
The fifth short ("Haunted House Pedobear Cam") had just enough buildup, and a really cool final sequence. I think the dialogue during the human sacrifice sequence made things really unclear though. My presumption is that the hillbilly cultists wanted to get a demon to possess the girl. The spirits in the house objected to that and killed off the hillbillies, but the demon still took over the girl. Then the demon used its powers to kill the dudes that saved her.
The first short ("Naked WitchBatGirl") would have been fine except for all the really jarring shakycam and unnecessary sequence of the guys being frat douches at some club. Much like the Young Couple On Road Trip story, it felt like they were really trying to pad out the length of the story by putting in all that extra garbage.
Callo Merlose
Banned
I used to use SleepingDeadGirl on #ga because it was a play of Rob Zombie's "Living Dead Girl." I was obsessed with American McGee's Alice (the art, not the game) and I have insomnia. Those were the days. But if you want to watch an awesome movie, you should watch Deadgirl (2008), it's kind of awesome.
#28 - Apollo 18
Trailer
John Rabbit covered this one pretty extensively earlier in the thread. I agree with all his criticisms, but I enjoyed the film in spite of them.
Apollo 18 is a period found-footage movie set in space. It has an incredibly slow start; in fact the first half hour is pretty tedious. It's hard to relate to the astronauts, and the movie beats the viewer over the head with the mundane grind of space exploration. But I found this grounded the movie's concept beautifully: it feels like the legitimate NASA footage of a routine trip to the moon, so when things start to go wrong, they have a much greater impact. This is Paranormal Activity's greatest strength, and it works every bit as well in Apollo 18. The found-footage conceit has never been put to better use.
The cinematography radiates authenticity. The single slip up that I noticed was the artificial interference effect that occasionally zaps the video with a bolt of noise. We've seen this dozens of times in almost every movie featuring a clip shot with a handheld camera. It's always looked fake. It looks fake here. And what's worse is that it's clearly a modern visual effect, so it breaks the fiction of a movie shot on grainy 70s cameras. Fortunately it's not used too frequently, and in the grand scheme of things it's a minor irritation.
Apollo 18 isn't a magnificent film, but it does tell a reasonably solid story extremely well, and most importantly, in a manner that is impressively unique.
#29 - Jason X
Trailer
What is there left to say about this movie? Jason goes to space and kills teens and space marines. The kills are fantastic, the cast is excellent, the writing gleefully exploits the genre's most enjoyable tropes with self-aware irony. Love it.
miller_time22
Neo Member
#19 & 20- Poltergeist & Trick r' Treat
So, running way behind here thanks to work and family, but oh well. Anyway, Poltergeist: I watched this on blu-ray and having not seen it since the VHS I owned and never seeing it in its original aspect ratio, this was quite a treat. I love this movie and think it's an absolute classic. As for Trick r' Treat, I skipped this last year, but have watched this at least every other Halloween since it came out. It's not without flaws, but still a lot of fun and among the best horror movies that have come out over the last decade, imho.
Poltergeist
Pros:
- Atmosphere. This movie has it in spades. It has that awe-inspiring early Spielberg vibe to it that I love so much.
- The parents. I really like the performances of Craig T. Nelson and Jobeth Williams in this. Their comedic interplay when they're talking to their neighbor is just great. Nelson becomes more haggard as the film goes on and you can feel his stress. Williams really sells the idea of a mother willing to do anything for her children and is pretty much the definition of a milf in this film.
- The music. I presume John Williams was probably busy with E.T., but Jerry Goldsmith just nails it here. Great and iconic score.
Cons:
- Not too much to say here. Having seen this movie a handful of times, I do wonder if they really need the final coda after having
. Sure, it's a few final chills and thrills, but I find it hard to believe they wouldn't hightail it out of there asap even if the problems seemed to go away.
Trick r' Treat
Pros:
- I'm also citing this one for atmosphere. This one just puts me right into the Halloween spirit.
- Sam. I really like his design and feel like he's got an iconic look. As the embodiment/protector of the Halloween spirit, I feel like he's a great creation.
- The Pulp Fiction like weaving of the various stories is pretty well done. If this had been a straight anthology, I don't think it would be as interesting, particularly on subsequent viewings.
Cons:
- This sitting on the shelf for multiple years waiting for release. What was that about? Sure, it may have some questionable content in regards to how the mentally disabled are treated by the adults in the film, but we are talking about a horror film here and
.
So, running way behind here thanks to work and family, but oh well. Anyway, Poltergeist: I watched this on blu-ray and having not seen it since the VHS I owned and never seeing it in its original aspect ratio, this was quite a treat. I love this movie and think it's an absolute classic. As for Trick r' Treat, I skipped this last year, but have watched this at least every other Halloween since it came out. It's not without flaws, but still a lot of fun and among the best horror movies that have come out over the last decade, imho.
Poltergeist
Pros:
- Atmosphere. This movie has it in spades. It has that awe-inspiring early Spielberg vibe to it that I love so much.
- The parents. I really like the performances of Craig T. Nelson and Jobeth Williams in this. Their comedic interplay when they're talking to their neighbor is just great. Nelson becomes more haggard as the film goes on and you can feel his stress. Williams really sells the idea of a mother willing to do anything for her children and is pretty much the definition of a milf in this film.
- The music. I presume John Williams was probably busy with E.T., but Jerry Goldsmith just nails it here. Great and iconic score.
Cons:
- Not too much to say here. Having seen this movie a handful of times, I do wonder if they really need the final coda after having
rescued Carol Ann
Trick r' Treat
Pros:
- I'm also citing this one for atmosphere. This one just puts me right into the Halloween spirit.
- Sam. I really like his design and feel like he's got an iconic look. As the embodiment/protector of the Halloween spirit, I feel like he's a great creation.
- The Pulp Fiction like weaving of the various stories is pretty well done. If this had been a straight anthology, I don't think it would be as interesting, particularly on subsequent viewings.
Cons:
- This sitting on the shelf for multiple years waiting for release. What was that about? Sure, it may have some questionable content in regards to how the mentally disabled are treated by the adults in the film, but we are talking about a horror film here and
they get their revenge in the end
BattleMonkey
Member
Alright well this is it for me, got to see movies everyday with a couple films some days, all in all a success this year for me. Got over 31 done.
#35 Exit Humanity (2011)
- This one has been already mentioned many times. Enjoyed it for it's originality though it really felt like it was a drama that happens to have zombies more than actual horror. But it still is pretty well done with a good soundtrack too. Some of the shots looked odd since the movie looked great but then some scenes suddenly looked like they were done later with a digital hand held or something. Also the movie is brought down by some awful performances such as the whole rebel general and his band of goons including a grunting mad doctor. Also the scenes where they used animation segments just didn't fit in well, it was fine when they used it for narration with still shots of drawings, but when you had full cartoons suddenly, it really just didn't jive with the rest of the movie.
#36 Halloween 2 (1981)
- So this is only my second rewatch of the whole year, ironically enough my other one was Halloween 2 though the reboot version. Anyways I always loved this movie, especially with how it picks up right up from the end of the first movie and is totally set on the same night/morning. The sequel goes far more towards the regular slasher tropes this time out instead of all the great suspense and scares of the original. Got boobs and far more gore here. It's interesting that most of the extra violent kills in this was done in reshoots by John Carpenter himself as he felt the original film didn't have enough violence, yet his original was pretty tame on the gore and kills. The one major issue with the film and it being set the same night is that Micheal Myers just didn't look right at all. Many say the mask was all wrong, but the mask used in H2 was actually the original which Debra Hill supplied, the main issue was that the new actor playing Myers filled out the mask more. The colored paint on the mask over time had begun to fade as well hence it looking dirty and more grey than the original white. The look of Myers being wrong also largely came from the camera showing him too much and in well lit scenes. In the original, even close up of Myers was done in the dark so you couldn't clearly see his eyes and lot of detail was hidden. But other than that the film was pretty classic to me with some great scenes like the hillarious accidental Myers fake roadkill. Not as iconic of a film but some great stuff including the final encounter with the bleeding eyes.
#35 Exit Humanity (2011)
- This one has been already mentioned many times. Enjoyed it for it's originality though it really felt like it was a drama that happens to have zombies more than actual horror. But it still is pretty well done with a good soundtrack too. Some of the shots looked odd since the movie looked great but then some scenes suddenly looked like they were done later with a digital hand held or something. Also the movie is brought down by some awful performances such as the whole rebel general and his band of goons including a grunting mad doctor. Also the scenes where they used animation segments just didn't fit in well, it was fine when they used it for narration with still shots of drawings, but when you had full cartoons suddenly, it really just didn't jive with the rest of the movie.
#36 Halloween 2 (1981)
- So this is only my second rewatch of the whole year, ironically enough my other one was Halloween 2 though the reboot version. Anyways I always loved this movie, especially with how it picks up right up from the end of the first movie and is totally set on the same night/morning. The sequel goes far more towards the regular slasher tropes this time out instead of all the great suspense and scares of the original. Got boobs and far more gore here. It's interesting that most of the extra violent kills in this was done in reshoots by John Carpenter himself as he felt the original film didn't have enough violence, yet his original was pretty tame on the gore and kills. The one major issue with the film and it being set the same night is that Micheal Myers just didn't look right at all. Many say the mask was all wrong, but the mask used in H2 was actually the original which Debra Hill supplied, the main issue was that the new actor playing Myers filled out the mask more. The colored paint on the mask over time had begun to fade as well hence it looking dirty and more grey than the original white. The look of Myers being wrong also largely came from the camera showing him too much and in well lit scenes. In the original, even close up of Myers was done in the dark so you couldn't clearly see his eyes and lot of detail was hidden. But other than that the film was pretty classic to me with some great scenes like the hillarious accidental Myers fake roadkill. Not as iconic of a film but some great stuff including the final encounter with the bleeding eyes.
#30 - Evil Dead 2
Trailer
Second last film of the marathon: Evil Dead 2. This was my go-to Evil Dead flick back in my teens, but in recent years I've consistently opted for the original when in the mood for deadites in the woods. So while I've seen the movie countless times, it felt surprisingly fresh for this viewing.
It's still a classic. The effects are exceptional and timeless, Bruce Campbell lets himself completely off the chain, and Sam Raimi doesn't pull any punches with the gore. It's a simple story, but the atmosphere is unparalleled; and the film exudes a dream-like quality, made all the more pronounced by the pair of scenes which take place away from the cabin as the rest of the cast make their way into Ash's nightmare.
It won't be a popular opinion, but I'm going to say it: I wish there was less comedy. When I think of this film, I think of chainsaws, shotguns, Ash's insanity, and monsters in the cellar. I think of a less gritty Evil Dead with Bruce Campbell turned up to 11. To me, the gags are incidental, and the more familiar I become with the film, the more I wish they were less pronounced. Ash's wacky madness would work perfectly in a comedic vacuum; if anything, this would give it greater weight. But I find the slapstick from the deadites just serves to diminish their horrific clout. Purely a matter of personal preference, but I think the humour is much more successful in Army of Darkness, where there's no creepy atmosphere to compromise.
Regardless, there's always the first Evil Dead for people like me, and this single criticism aside, Evil Dead 2 is still a glorious horrific roller-coaster that few other films can touch.
12. Halloween III: Season of the Witch (Oct 31)
Halloween III is one of my favourite Halloween movies since it's so unique and I love the 80's vibe it gives you. It's a shame that they didn't continue on making each new entry in the series have an individual story like this one.
One more thing... I love the Halloween theme in this movie.
7/10
Halloween III is one of my favourite Halloween movies since it's so unique and I love the 80's vibe it gives you. It's a shame that they didn't continue on making each new entry in the series have an individual story like this one.
One more thing... I love the Halloween theme in this movie.
7/10
Marty Chinn
Member
Been busy and haven't had time to post my movie summary. Man I thought I was still keeping pace because of my buffer but it looks like I may come up short this year. Here goes what I've been watching the last couple of weeks.
#15 - Saw V
I'm determined to finish this series once and for all. The series is really different now that Jigsaw is gone. It almost seems like there are two separate movies here that sorta connect but feels disjointed.
#16 - Intruders
I can't believe Clive Owen starred in this. It seems more like a made for TV movie than a theatrical movie. He made it more interesting than it should have been, but it was hard to keep interested in this one.
#17 - Saw VI
The last one made me want to see this one pretty quick and by this point I'm more interested in the overall story arc rather than the situation of the movie. I'm just trying to finish it at this point.
#18 - Tucker & Dale vs Evil
Absolutely loved this one. Probably one of my favorites from this marathon. It's a great comedy and twist on the horror genre and was just a lot of fun to watch.
#19 - The Tall Man
This movie kinda surprised me. It wasn't so much as scary or even horror, but how things played out really made it interesting in the end.
#20 - Saw VII
It's so weird they called this the final one when they clearly left an wide opening and almost begging for a sequel given the way it ends. Finally finished the series. I like how they sort of tied things together, although I'm sure most of it wasn't planned, but the side story stuff seemed pointless by now. Certainly a lot different than how the series began.
#21 - Hostel
Always heard people talk about this one. My friend especially loved it, and I can see why with all the nudity. I saw it with the Director's Cut ending and it's pretty different than the normal one. I dare say even better. Wasn't sure what to expect out of this one, and it was just sorta there for me. Nothing special.
#22 - Halloween 2
This is the remake from Rob Zombie and it's interesting how they tried to make Michael Myers more human than evil. I actually kinda liked the first remake, but I didn't dig this one so much. It just was too split up for the different characters for most of the movie.
#23 - My Bloody Valentine
This was a fun movie with some good gore in it. Clearly they set stuff up for the 3D and I totally dig Jensen Ackles because of Supernatural. Enjoyable fun and I kinda would like to see the sequel if they ever make it. Clearly left it open for one.
#24 - The Haunting
This is the original, not the remake. This one is a lot more psychological rather than supernatural like the remake. I have a soft spot for classic horror movies and since this was one of the few that I watched this year compared to last, it sorta stands out as a result. Not meant for everyone, but a good classic one.
#25 - I Spit on Your Grave
Man half of this movie is just like watching a rape film. The second half is just a pure revenge movie. Pretty straight forward, a bit intense at parts and a bit uncomfortable at others. Not bad though.
#26 - Chernobyl Diaries
I actually thought this was going to be a found footage style movie, so it caught me off guard when it didn't. I feel like this was wasted potential here. They could have done so many things with it, but it just comes up way short.
#27 - V/H/S
I actually liked the structure of this movie and how it played out. I had no idea it was just a bunch of short stories, but it works well. Some are better than others, and I like how not everything is supernatural. It's just a nice blend and was interesting in the end.
#28 - The Woman in Black
Not sure how the original was, but this one seemed to go for cheap scares. They tried so hard to make it interesting but it wasn't. I think pacing was definitely an issue. Also hard to not think about Harry Potter while watching.
#15 - Saw V
I'm determined to finish this series once and for all. The series is really different now that Jigsaw is gone. It almost seems like there are two separate movies here that sorta connect but feels disjointed.
#16 - Intruders
I can't believe Clive Owen starred in this. It seems more like a made for TV movie than a theatrical movie. He made it more interesting than it should have been, but it was hard to keep interested in this one.
#17 - Saw VI
The last one made me want to see this one pretty quick and by this point I'm more interested in the overall story arc rather than the situation of the movie. I'm just trying to finish it at this point.
#18 - Tucker & Dale vs Evil
Absolutely loved this one. Probably one of my favorites from this marathon. It's a great comedy and twist on the horror genre and was just a lot of fun to watch.
#19 - The Tall Man
This movie kinda surprised me. It wasn't so much as scary or even horror, but how things played out really made it interesting in the end.
#20 - Saw VII
It's so weird they called this the final one when they clearly left an wide opening and almost begging for a sequel given the way it ends. Finally finished the series. I like how they sort of tied things together, although I'm sure most of it wasn't planned, but the side story stuff seemed pointless by now. Certainly a lot different than how the series began.
#21 - Hostel
Always heard people talk about this one. My friend especially loved it, and I can see why with all the nudity. I saw it with the Director's Cut ending and it's pretty different than the normal one. I dare say even better. Wasn't sure what to expect out of this one, and it was just sorta there for me. Nothing special.
#22 - Halloween 2
This is the remake from Rob Zombie and it's interesting how they tried to make Michael Myers more human than evil. I actually kinda liked the first remake, but I didn't dig this one so much. It just was too split up for the different characters for most of the movie.
#23 - My Bloody Valentine
This was a fun movie with some good gore in it. Clearly they set stuff up for the 3D and I totally dig Jensen Ackles because of Supernatural. Enjoyable fun and I kinda would like to see the sequel if they ever make it. Clearly left it open for one.
#24 - The Haunting
This is the original, not the remake. This one is a lot more psychological rather than supernatural like the remake. I have a soft spot for classic horror movies and since this was one of the few that I watched this year compared to last, it sorta stands out as a result. Not meant for everyone, but a good classic one.
#25 - I Spit on Your Grave
Man half of this movie is just like watching a rape film. The second half is just a pure revenge movie. Pretty straight forward, a bit intense at parts and a bit uncomfortable at others. Not bad though.
#26 - Chernobyl Diaries
I actually thought this was going to be a found footage style movie, so it caught me off guard when it didn't. I feel like this was wasted potential here. They could have done so many things with it, but it just comes up way short.
#27 - V/H/S
I actually liked the structure of this movie and how it played out. I had no idea it was just a bunch of short stories, but it works well. Some are better than others, and I like how not everything is supernatural. It's just a nice blend and was interesting in the end.
#28 - The Woman in Black
Not sure how the original was, but this one seemed to go for cheap scares. They tried so hard to make it interesting but it wasn't. I think pacing was definitely an issue. Also hard to not think about Harry Potter while watching.
NekoFever
Member
#30 - Godzilla
Enjoyable, but I felt like it had dated more than some of the other older movies I'd watched recently. Very heavy-handed in the whole nuclear parable thing as well.
I'm also curious as to whether the part when they're explaining Godzilla's origins, talking essentially about how he was minding his own business until nuclear weapons came and devastated his home, was supposed to be a metaphor for Japan. That's some impressive spin if it is.
Still, it's good. The scenes of Godzilla wreaking havoc remain spectacular, and I really liked the sequences leading up to the first appearance of the monster, like the attack during the storm. A few obvious miniatures and rubber fins aside, those hold up brilliantly.
4/5
Enjoyable, but I felt like it had dated more than some of the other older movies I'd watched recently. Very heavy-handed in the whole nuclear parable thing as well.
I'm also curious as to whether the part when they're explaining Godzilla's origins, talking essentially about how he was minding his own business until nuclear weapons came and devastated his home, was supposed to be a metaphor for Japan. That's some impressive spin if it is.
Still, it's good. The scenes of Godzilla wreaking havoc remain spectacular, and I really liked the sequences leading up to the first appearance of the monster, like the attack during the storm. A few obvious miniatures and rubber fins aside, those hold up brilliantly.
4/5
avengers23
Banned
Postings interrupted by the hurricane, but here's catch-up.
26. The Woman
I hadn't heard of Lucky McKee before, although judging by his filmography (May, The Woods, Red), I should sample at least one more work before I declare his quality as a filmmaker. But this is an ugly, ugly film, cynical and torturous. It's not a pretty film to watch or to digest. The fact that it's apparently a sequel to The Offspring, a film about a family of cannibals struggling to survive, diminishes this film. I mean, the protagonist in The Woman might be a cannibal, but she's apparently civilized enough to shave her armpits.
Ultimately, the film's focus seems muddled. Is it about the audience's desire to see a wild woman set free? Do we want to see her gain revenge over her abusive captor? Do we want the captor, a rapist and domineering patriarch hiding under the veneer of a civilized lawyer, to be killed so his family can escape his influence? Would the family even want him to die because his continued survival at least guarantees a certain quality of life for them? Is the film yet another commentary on how trouble simmers under the idyllic suburban surface?
It's hard to call this a feminist film when the gaze is so staunchly male. When the father sees the wild woman bathing in a creek for the first time, the film luridly lingers on her exposed breasts. It practically gives her the ol' up and down. The woman may gain her revenge at the end, and the women in the family may gain a measure of freedom, but it's hard to call this a feminist film.
27. Grizzly Man
I consider Werner Herzog's Grizzly Man to be the ultimate found footage film. It fits the criteria: it actually is found footage, we have a framing device for the story that explains how it was found and why it is being shown, and the footage shows scenes of terror and horror. And Herzog does not pretend to be an objective observer, which makes him more openly. That the events were real and the people are not actors is beside the point.
As expected, Herzog treats Timothy Treadwell's story with the solemnity it deserves, but it's also laced with gallows humor. Treadwell's recap of a battle between young males dueling for the right to mate with a prized female bear is entertaining. What might seem like irony (footage of Treadwell telling the camera over and over that he's prepared to die for the Alaskan bears and that he knows he's in constant danger) felt more like Herzog partly respecting the wild life Treadwell led and condemning him for dragging another person into his story's end.
Herzog doesn't judge the morality of Treadwell's actions; he leaves the viewer to draw those judgments and presents multiple accounts and perspectives, some from Treadwell's friends, some from members of the community who claim to know better. In the end, I felt like I understood why Treadwell would retreat into identifying with and anthropomorphizing bears, but it doesn't make his risky behavior any more acceptable either for the bears' sake or for his girlfriend's.
Like the best horror directors, Herzog leaves the viewer to imagine the brutality and terror. The infamous key scene is Herzog's reaction to the audio tape of Treadwell's and Amie Huguenard's deaths at the jaws and claws of bears. But we never see Herzog's face in full; we only see Treadwell's friend, Jewel Palovak, as she sees Herzog's reaction and as she reflects on her memories of Treadwell and her imagined images of Treadwell's and Huguenard's deaths. It's a powerful moment of abstracted emotion.
Through Herzog's narration, you can also detect his appreciation for the images that Treadwell captures even as Herzog outlines his fundamental disagreement with Treadwell's view of the world. And Herzog's sense of drama guides him to punctuate his narrative with the beautifully filmed testimony of Dr. Franc G. Fallico, who describes how Treadwell and Huguenard died based on his analysis of the tape and their remains.
28. Absentia
I much prefer this preview poster or this festival poster; the DVD cover is misleading and will likely deter viewers from trying it. Because Absentia is a low-budget film, it is a slow-boiling film; as a slow-boiling film, it needs good performances to retain the viewers' attention. The family drama and internal conflicts in Absentia don't feel overblown, and the characters feel authentic, which lends the film weight as it explores the manifestation of guilt and terror of the unknown.
After all, how well do we know where we live? Even with Google Maps, there are still the secret places, the shortcuts that you and only you know and the paths that you avoid. Satellite imagery and street-level mapping don't capture this information; it's civic knowledge known only to people who live there.
How well do you know your neighbors? Unlike other films, the threat to normalcy at the core of Absentia isn't in other people, so the question posed becomes "would you notice if your neighbor disappeared?" The film's minor question concerns when encountered with the unusual, do we know our neighbors well enough to not jump to conclusions about them and scapegoat them?
Like Pontypool, Absentia has a great hook, and it looks great in the scenes that are meant to grab the viewer. You could argue that the rest seems like filler and is treated by the director and cinematographer as such. It's not a film filled with visual flair, but that seems fitting for a film with a Lovecraftian terror at its heart.
29. Lovely Molly
It's too easy and simplistic to call this movie a hot mess, and I could try to rationalize it by saying that it's as fractured as the protagonist's traumatized and broken mind.
From the start, the viewer is invited to sympathize with Molly and fear her. As the film reviews how Molly's past caught up with her, her isolation in a house haunted with memories of childhood trauma reminded me of Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper."
Unfortunately, Lovely Molly's attempts to creep the viewer out break the mood and disrupt the film's narrative. Writer-director Eduardo Sanchez of The Blair Witch Project uses a first-person camcorder perspective at seemingly random moments to show Molly's descent into madness between her stalking of a family and attempts to capture the supernatural to show that she's not crazy to her husband. The first time this device is used, we hear creepy groans, moans, and whispers from the objective point of view and from Molly's camcorder point of view. This renders the camcorder's presumed objectivity moot and leaves the film with no reliable points of view, which undercuts the film's future attempts to use it for tension. Once we've confirmed from both points of view that there's something supernatural in the house, it also leaves the husband and Molly's family looking like chumps when they express disbelief at Molly's claims and their concerns that Molly's troubles are a result of childhood trauma and her resumed drug use.
The film also tries to play coy with the audience, teasing the supernatural and cutting away to black at the last moment. This makes the film seem more low-budget than actual low-budget films that have handled mystery and tension better.
I do appreciate that the film is seen from a lower-middle class perspective. It's reasonable that Molly and her husband cannot afford to move once her descent into madness begins because 1) they can't afford it (as demonstrated by Molly's low-wage job) and 2) they can't find a buyer for the house. Since it's property they own, they may as well use it, despite the damage it's doing to Molly's psyche.
26. The Woman
I hadn't heard of Lucky McKee before, although judging by his filmography (May, The Woods, Red), I should sample at least one more work before I declare his quality as a filmmaker. But this is an ugly, ugly film, cynical and torturous. It's not a pretty film to watch or to digest. The fact that it's apparently a sequel to The Offspring, a film about a family of cannibals struggling to survive, diminishes this film. I mean, the protagonist in The Woman might be a cannibal, but she's apparently civilized enough to shave her armpits.
Ultimately, the film's focus seems muddled. Is it about the audience's desire to see a wild woman set free? Do we want to see her gain revenge over her abusive captor? Do we want the captor, a rapist and domineering patriarch hiding under the veneer of a civilized lawyer, to be killed so his family can escape his influence? Would the family even want him to die because his continued survival at least guarantees a certain quality of life for them? Is the film yet another commentary on how trouble simmers under the idyllic suburban surface?
It's hard to call this a feminist film when the gaze is so staunchly male. When the father sees the wild woman bathing in a creek for the first time, the film luridly lingers on her exposed breasts. It practically gives her the ol' up and down. The woman may gain her revenge at the end, and the women in the family may gain a measure of freedom, but it's hard to call this a feminist film.
27. Grizzly Man
I consider Werner Herzog's Grizzly Man to be the ultimate found footage film. It fits the criteria: it actually is found footage, we have a framing device for the story that explains how it was found and why it is being shown, and the footage shows scenes of terror and horror. And Herzog does not pretend to be an objective observer, which makes him more openly. That the events were real and the people are not actors is beside the point.
As expected, Herzog treats Timothy Treadwell's story with the solemnity it deserves, but it's also laced with gallows humor. Treadwell's recap of a battle between young males dueling for the right to mate with a prized female bear is entertaining. What might seem like irony (footage of Treadwell telling the camera over and over that he's prepared to die for the Alaskan bears and that he knows he's in constant danger) felt more like Herzog partly respecting the wild life Treadwell led and condemning him for dragging another person into his story's end.
Herzog doesn't judge the morality of Treadwell's actions; he leaves the viewer to draw those judgments and presents multiple accounts and perspectives, some from Treadwell's friends, some from members of the community who claim to know better. In the end, I felt like I understood why Treadwell would retreat into identifying with and anthropomorphizing bears, but it doesn't make his risky behavior any more acceptable either for the bears' sake or for his girlfriend's.
Like the best horror directors, Herzog leaves the viewer to imagine the brutality and terror. The infamous key scene is Herzog's reaction to the audio tape of Treadwell's and Amie Huguenard's deaths at the jaws and claws of bears. But we never see Herzog's face in full; we only see Treadwell's friend, Jewel Palovak, as she sees Herzog's reaction and as she reflects on her memories of Treadwell and her imagined images of Treadwell's and Huguenard's deaths. It's a powerful moment of abstracted emotion.
Through Herzog's narration, you can also detect his appreciation for the images that Treadwell captures even as Herzog outlines his fundamental disagreement with Treadwell's view of the world. And Herzog's sense of drama guides him to punctuate his narrative with the beautifully filmed testimony of Dr. Franc G. Fallico, who describes how Treadwell and Huguenard died based on his analysis of the tape and their remains.
28. Absentia
I much prefer this preview poster or this festival poster; the DVD cover is misleading and will likely deter viewers from trying it. Because Absentia is a low-budget film, it is a slow-boiling film; as a slow-boiling film, it needs good performances to retain the viewers' attention. The family drama and internal conflicts in Absentia don't feel overblown, and the characters feel authentic, which lends the film weight as it explores the manifestation of guilt and terror of the unknown.
After all, how well do we know where we live? Even with Google Maps, there are still the secret places, the shortcuts that you and only you know and the paths that you avoid. Satellite imagery and street-level mapping don't capture this information; it's civic knowledge known only to people who live there.
How well do you know your neighbors? Unlike other films, the threat to normalcy at the core of Absentia isn't in other people, so the question posed becomes "would you notice if your neighbor disappeared?" The film's minor question concerns when encountered with the unusual, do we know our neighbors well enough to not jump to conclusions about them and scapegoat them?
Like Pontypool, Absentia has a great hook, and it looks great in the scenes that are meant to grab the viewer. You could argue that the rest seems like filler and is treated by the director and cinematographer as such. It's not a film filled with visual flair, but that seems fitting for a film with a Lovecraftian terror at its heart.
29. Lovely Molly
It's too easy and simplistic to call this movie a hot mess, and I could try to rationalize it by saying that it's as fractured as the protagonist's traumatized and broken mind.
From the start, the viewer is invited to sympathize with Molly and fear her. As the film reviews how Molly's past caught up with her, her isolation in a house haunted with memories of childhood trauma reminded me of Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper."
Unfortunately, Lovely Molly's attempts to creep the viewer out break the mood and disrupt the film's narrative. Writer-director Eduardo Sanchez of The Blair Witch Project uses a first-person camcorder perspective at seemingly random moments to show Molly's descent into madness between her stalking of a family and attempts to capture the supernatural to show that she's not crazy to her husband. The first time this device is used, we hear creepy groans, moans, and whispers from the objective point of view and from Molly's camcorder point of view. This renders the camcorder's presumed objectivity moot and leaves the film with no reliable points of view, which undercuts the film's future attempts to use it for tension. Once we've confirmed from both points of view that there's something supernatural in the house, it also leaves the husband and Molly's family looking like chumps when they express disbelief at Molly's claims and their concerns that Molly's troubles are a result of childhood trauma and her resumed drug use.
The film also tries to play coy with the audience, teasing the supernatural and cutting away to black at the last moment. This makes the film seem more low-budget than actual low-budget films that have handled mystery and tension better.
I do appreciate that the film is seen from a lower-middle class perspective. It's reasonable that Molly and her husband cannot afford to move once her descent into madness begins because 1) they can't afford it (as demonstrated by Molly's low-wage job) and 2) they can't find a buyer for the house. Since it's property they own, they may as well use it, despite the damage it's doing to Molly's psyche.
ThirstyFly
Member
I can't decide if I should go with an old favorite as my reward for hitting 31, or go with something new. Time's running out!
avengers23
Banned
30. Kidnapped
At the very least, Kidnapped (aka, Secuestrados) is a technically competent, occasionally visually flashy film. It deploys the split-screen perspective that 24 would use to show actions taking place simultaneously in different locations, and it balances the loud moments and the sedate moments to create a good flow of scenes in the movie. And hope spots are sprinkled throughout the film enough to keep the audience hopeful that the family can escape their predicament.
But it's also a film of missed opportunities. For example, two of the home invaders show their captives tenderness (one, when the lead invader gently wipes at a man's bloody nose, another, when a sensitive invader tries to help a woman who just had her arm broken and decides to rescue the girl from rape), and I had wished the film would explore the home invaders' motivations and feelings more. The three home invaders are categorized as dispassionate professional, sensitive, and drug-abusing and brutal, but the film could have been taken to a unique place if their motivations and internal conflicts had been explored.
Instead, we have a relatively superficial and flashy home invasion film that pales in comparison to movies like Them, The Strangers, or Funny Games.
And the version on Netflix Instant apparently has English dubbed over the original Spanish spoken dialogue. That might be why I felt so uneasy watching the film originally; the dialogue didn't seem to match the performances' emotions at all.
NekoFever
Member
#31 - Trick 'r Treat
I went for this one based on a few recommendations in this thread. Seemed like an appropriate choice to actually watch on Halloween. It's a lot of fun. Halloween isn't really a big deal here so I didn't get the whole nostalgia angle that makes this such a favourite for some people, but I still liked it a lot.
4/5
And with that, that's 31 new (to me) horror movies in 31 days. Here's the final list...
1. The Woman in Black
2. Kuroneko
3. Child's Play 3
4. Mimic
5. Island of Lost Souls
6. The Last Exorcism
7. Cujo
8. Killer Klowns From Outer Space
9. Ju-On: The Grudge 2
10. Night of the Demon
11. Jennifer's Body
12. Xtro
13. Near Dark
14. Candyman
15. House of 1000 Corpses
16. Two Evil Eyes
17. Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers
18. Audition
19. Pandorum
20. The Haunting
21. Suspiria
22. Dracula
23. Frankenstein
24. Freaks
25. Bride of Frankenstein
26. House
27. The Stuff
28. Insidious
29. The Vault of Horror
30. Godzilla
31. Trick 'r Treat
I went for this one based on a few recommendations in this thread. Seemed like an appropriate choice to actually watch on Halloween. It's a lot of fun. Halloween isn't really a big deal here so I didn't get the whole nostalgia angle that makes this such a favourite for some people, but I still liked it a lot.
4/5
And with that, that's 31 new (to me) horror movies in 31 days. Here's the final list...
1. The Woman in Black
2. Kuroneko
3. Child's Play 3
4. Mimic
5. Island of Lost Souls
6. The Last Exorcism
7. Cujo
8. Killer Klowns From Outer Space
9. Ju-On: The Grudge 2
10. Night of the Demon
11. Jennifer's Body
12. Xtro
13. Near Dark
14. Candyman
15. House of 1000 Corpses
16. Two Evil Eyes
17. Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers
18. Audition
19. Pandorum
20. The Haunting
21. Suspiria
22. Dracula
23. Frankenstein
24. Freaks
25. Bride of Frankenstein
26. House
27. The Stuff
28. Insidious
29. The Vault of Horror
30. Godzilla
31. Trick 'r Treat
ThirstyFly
Member
That's disappointing. I've heard good things about that and have been meaning to check it out but your opinions don't leave me with much faith. Hopefully it's just the dubbing that killed it for you...
I waited to watch Night of the Demons until Halloween because it takes place on Halloween night but good god did that suck. It rips off Evil Dead in more ways than one but poorly. The setup was good but I was disappointed when the demons actually started showing up. I will say though, the final scene is great.
FrenchMovieTheme
Member
i checked out Absentia since i saw it on netflix streaming. it wasn't too bad! a little slow but i wasn't disappointed
Plasticine
Member
#30 Near Dark (October 31)
The night has its price.
Stylish vampire western about a young man falling in with a pack of bloodsuckers who roam the south-west. Gritty and modern, Kathryn Bigelow's film updates the vampire for the 80s. These vampires don't have fangs, use guns and various traps to get a bite to eat. The V word isn't uttered once. The backbone for the movie is the romance between Caleb and Mae. Recently turned, he's reluctant to kill while Mae is gently trying to coax him along. Bill Paxton steals the show with an incredibly charismatic turn as the shit-kicking vampire, Severn. Things slightly go off the rails in the third act, which includes one of the most questionable cures for vampirism ever committed to celluloid. But weak sauce ending aside, its more than worth checking out for two absolutely dynamite sequencesthe bar slaughter and the shoot-out sequence which sees our band of outlaw vamps gunning it out with the cops.
#31 The Howling (October 31)
You can't tame what's meant to be wild, doc. It just ain't natural.
Traumatized by a close encounter with a serial killer, a newswoman ventures off to a rehabilitation center for some much needed rest. Unfortunately for her, the inhabitants happen to be a pack of bloodthirsty werewolves. Alongside An American Werewolf in London, The Howling stands tall in the werewolf genre. Based on its sly humor, genuine suspense and the way it smartly ties lycanthropy to the 80s self-help craze, The Howling mostly earns its stellar reputation. But once you factor in Rob Bottin's jaw-dropping make-up effects, the case for it as a genre classic becomes pretty damn solid. Bottin's werewolf design, with its big ears and upright posture, still hasn't been topped. While his transformation sequence goes a bit bladder crazy, I'd still put it up against any CGI concoction modern day computer wizards can whip up.
Exit Humanity
A zombie outbreak soon after the Civil War, and its effects on a local area. This was really cool, it felt really different from other zombie apocalypse films because of the time period, and actually more believable. I liked the animation sequences, though they were a bit much at times, and the overall method of storytelling was great (the lost diary aspect). Aside from the characters being ridiculous sharpshooters, I liked it.
I'm technically at 30/31 movies now, so I'll watch one tomorrow to finish the month off.
A zombie outbreak soon after the Civil War, and its effects on a local area. This was really cool, it felt really different from other zombie apocalypse films because of the time period, and actually more believable. I liked the animation sequences, though they were a bit much at times, and the overall method of storytelling was great (the lost diary aspect). Aside from the characters being ridiculous sharpshooters, I liked it.
I'm technically at 30/31 movies now, so I'll watch one tomorrow to finish the month off.
Oct. 31: Repulsion/Rosemary's Baby/The Tenant (all three, dir. Roman Polanski)
Rather than focusing this review on the better known films, which are still pretty damn fantastic (and I think Rosemary's Baby wound up being a lot better than I remember it being), I'm going to turn the spotlight onto the lesser-known and lesser-seen of the three.
Whether he was out of beautiful women to psychologically torture, or he actually felt a little guilty about doing them to such beautiful women in the first place, Polanski decided that the time would finally come to see him be subjected to the rigors of isolation himself. The former tenant of the apartment that he's moving into has committed suicide under seemingly mysterious circumstances. Things are fine at first, but the neighbors begin making strange complaints about his habits, he begins seeing strange happenings, and starts to see his life spiral not so much out of control, but into another one entirely.
More broadly comedic than Rosemary's Baby, but retaining more of the trappings of Repulsion, The Tenant is an oddball film that's initially off-putting, but it quickly finds it footing as Polanski allows for himself to be painted as both a clown and a real nutcase. Unlike the other films, there's never really any question to what's really happening, as Polanski never bothers to hide it. But that doesn't mean that he's content with just taking the piss out of himself, as he's still able to stage masterful sequences of suspense and terror all the same. He also casts incredibly well, as the fellow tenants are a colorful and memorable sort, and he's also able to make it so that the radiant Isabelle Adjani is still stunning when even wearing gigantic eyeglasses. While perhaps not as effective as its spiritual predecessors, it is certainly a great deal more genuinely entertaining, and how many films feature Polanski in drag as a major plot element?
Rather than focusing this review on the better known films, which are still pretty damn fantastic (and I think Rosemary's Baby wound up being a lot better than I remember it being), I'm going to turn the spotlight onto the lesser-known and lesser-seen of the three.
Whether he was out of beautiful women to psychologically torture, or he actually felt a little guilty about doing them to such beautiful women in the first place, Polanski decided that the time would finally come to see him be subjected to the rigors of isolation himself. The former tenant of the apartment that he's moving into has committed suicide under seemingly mysterious circumstances. Things are fine at first, but the neighbors begin making strange complaints about his habits, he begins seeing strange happenings, and starts to see his life spiral not so much out of control, but into another one entirely.
More broadly comedic than Rosemary's Baby, but retaining more of the trappings of Repulsion, The Tenant is an oddball film that's initially off-putting, but it quickly finds it footing as Polanski allows for himself to be painted as both a clown and a real nutcase. Unlike the other films, there's never really any question to what's really happening, as Polanski never bothers to hide it. But that doesn't mean that he's content with just taking the piss out of himself, as he's still able to stage masterful sequences of suspense and terror all the same. He also casts incredibly well, as the fellow tenants are a colorful and memorable sort, and he's also able to make it so that the radiant Isabelle Adjani is still stunning when even wearing gigantic eyeglasses. While perhaps not as effective as its spiritual predecessors, it is certainly a great deal more genuinely entertaining, and how many films feature Polanski in drag as a major plot element?
water_wendi
Water is not wet!
For anyone with access to the BBC, tomorrow night on BBC Four there's Horror Europa with Mark Gatiss, about European horror cinema. His History of Horror series from a couple of years ago was excellent, so this will probably be worth checking out.
Anyway...
#29 - The Vault of Horror
I'll always have a soft spot for British horror of this ilk, and this is a particularly good anthology. Five men find themselves trapped in a room and pass the time by telling each other their recurring nightmares about evil deeds coming back to haunt them, usually in ironic ways. I really enjoyed it. Great cast and some clever, bloody moments.
4/5
This is such a great movie. i love the painter story. "Just use your intelligence."
#31 Freddy vs Jason
Trailer
Words cannot express how much I love this movie. 'Freddypillar' is goofy, Jason's aquaphobia is at odds with his established character; Freddy kills all of one teen outside of the flashbacks, and Kia is regrettable. But none of that matters when I'm watching Jason fold a guy in half and stalk victims through a corn-field whilst on fire; or seeing Robert Englund perfectly balance Freddy in terms of hilarity and malevolence for the first time. Freddy vs Jason proves that wise-cracking Freddy can still be profoundly evil, and even successfully displays the character's evolution from living child-killer to dream demon in a single, masterful soliloquy. This is before the two titans face off in a climactic battle that showcases their respective talents exquisitely. Against all the odds, it even ends on a high.
Freddy vs Jason isn't perfect, but despite its flaws, for me, it's still horror-crossover Nirvana.
So with all said and done, here's my final list. I did watch 31 films, but missed a total of three or four days, so I can't claim a perfect score in the the one-per-day challenge. I watched 21 new films; Evil Dead 2 plus the nine Freddy/Jason movies were re-watches.
01 - Atrocious
02 - V/H/S
03 - Dread
04 - Midnight Meat Train
05 - The Poughkeepsie Tapes
06 - Chernobyl Diaries
07 - Grave Encounters 2
08 - The Innocents (1961)
09 - Quarantine
10 - Trick 'r Treat
11 - The Awakening
12 - YellowBrickRoad
13 - Apartment 143 [Emergo]
14 - The Haunting (1963)
15 - A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
16 - A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors
17 - Wes Craven's New Nightmare
18 - A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master
19 - A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child
20 - A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge
21 - Dream Home
22 - A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010)
23 - Deadgirl
24 - The House of the Devil
25 - House of 1000 Corpses
26 - Cabin Fever
27 - The Vanishing (1988)
28 - Apollo 18
29 - Jason X
30 - Evil Dead 2
31 - Freddy vs Jason
Now that the month is over, I figured I'd commemorate some highs and lows of the marathon.
Best New Film: Atrocious
Best Film I Would Not Have Seen Without This Thread: Apartment 143 [Emergo]
Most Disturbing Film: The Poughkeepsie Tapes
Most Surprising Re-watch: A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge
Most Disappointing Film: Grave Encounters 2
Worst Film: Tough call. Cabin Fever, Deadgirl and Trick 'r Treat were pretty much neck-and-neck. I'd rather watch any of the other films again over these three - even YellowBrickRoad. While I disliked Deadgirl, it's not an awful film on its own merits, just a film I didn't enjoy. It's the best of the worst. So if I was forced to re-watch one of the remaining two, I'd have to choose Cabin Fever. Trick 'r Treat wins Worst Film. Sorry guys. I really did hate it.
Best Film: I suspected going into this that the best film in my roster would be Freddy vs Jason. I was right. It's still incredible, and leaves me every bit as satisfied today as it did when I first saw it ten years ago. However, Atrocious came a very close second. The latter certainly won't appeal to everyone, but it's easily one of the most effective horror films I've ever seen.
Finally, these are the films I plan to watch based on recommendations in the thread: Livide, Absentia, Cropsey, KM31 and Pontypool.
Thanks for the smart suggestions, sensible warnings, involved discussions and engaging reviews. Happy Halloween!
Watched my Halloween tradition, Trick'r Treat tonight. Still high on my all-time horror list, and will remain a tradition for years to come. I snagged the Blu-Ray for this viewing, it had a great animated short featuring Sam on it.
I'd forgotten just how delightfully mean the movie is. Kids die in brutal ways. The dark humor is often really dark. And yet it's so much damn fun.
All the clues in the Red Riding Hood story before the end are great. I some how missed a key throwaway line early on in my past viewings that just up and spells out what's going on. :lol
I'd forgotten just how delightfully mean the movie is. Kids die in brutal ways. The dark humor is often really dark. And yet it's so much damn fun.
All the clues in the Red Riding Hood story before the end are great. I some how missed a key throwaway line early on in my past viewings that just up and spells out what's going on. :lol
NekoFever
Member
Yeah, that was the best one by far. The magician one was excellent too.
ThirstyFly
Member
#31) Dellamorte Dellamore/Cemetery Man (1994) (Oct 31) (rewatch)
"You look for death in the clear night.
You tell her you still love her...
That you are her slave, that she's still your queen.
Death, death, death, the whore."
As a reward to myself for finishing the 31 movies last year I rewatched a personal favorite (Re-Animator), so this year I did the same and revisited Dellamorte Dellamore, a movie I've been looking forward to seeing again all month.
I've already gone into this one a bit earlier in the thread but I'll try not to repeat myself.
Dellamorte Dellamore (I prefer to use its original title instead of Cemetery Man because I feel that title is too simplistic/misleading and is a disservice to the themes of love and death that run throughout the movie) is the story of Francesco Dellamorte, a caretaker for a cemetery where after 7 days, the dead rise from their graves. This serves only as a backdrop to a surreal tale of love and death and the uncertainty of what is reality and what isn't.
There is nothing quite like Dellamorte Dellamore and it should be viewed with an understanding that the life of Francesco Dellamorte is something of an enigma. Most of it is wide open for interpretation and I'm sure different people will take different meanings away from it. It's also the type of film that requires more than one viewing. Every time I watch it I enjoy it more and more and I often seem to catch something new I didn't on my last viewing.
I've said this previously, but there's very few horror films I would call artistic, or even beautiful. Dellamorte Dellamore is both. The script and the cinematography are so carefully constructed it's just a joy to behold.
---
Final Viewed List:
#01) The Cabin in the Woods (2012) (Oct 1)
#02) Piranha (1978) (Oct 2)
#03) Piranha DD (2012) (Oct 3)
#04) The Living Dead Girl (aka La morte vivante) (1982) (Oct 4)
#05) Anthropophagus: The Grim Reaper (1980) (Oct 5)
#06) Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988) (Oct 6) (rewatch)
#07) The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986) (Oct 7) (rewatch)
#08) The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (2006) (Oct 8) (rewatch)
#09) Motel Hell (1980) (Oct 9)
#10) Deranged (1974) (Oct 10)
#11) The Burning (1981) (Oct 11)
#12) Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982) (Oct 12) (rewatch)
#13) The Fly (1958) (Oct 13)
#14) The Fly (1986) (Oct 14) (rewatch)
#15) The Fly II (1989) (Oct 15) (rewatch)
#16) Nazis at the Center of the Earth (2012) (Oct 16)
#17) Abraham Lincoln vs Zombies (2012) (Oct 17)
#18) Exit Humainity (2011) (Oct 19)
#19) Fright Night (1985) (Oct 20)
#20) Fright Night Part II (1988) (Oct 21)
#21) Fright Night (2011) (Oct 21)
#22) Insidious (2010) (Oct 22)
#23) Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth (1992) (Oct 23)
#24) Hellraiser: Bloodline (1996) (Oct 24)
#25) The Fog (1980) (Oct 25)
#26) In the Mouth of Madness (1994) (Oct 26)
#27) An American Werewolf in London (1981) (Oct 27) (rewatch)
#28) A Little Bit Zombie (2012) (Oct 28)
#29) Stake Land (2010) (Oct 29)
#30) The Prowler (1981) (Oct 30)
#31) Dellamorte Dellamore/Cemetery Man (1994) (Oct 31) (rewatch)
Overall, I had a pretty good run of movies this year. I didn't get worn down as much as I did last year and discovered some really great flicks. I did rewatch a little more than I would have liked due to new Blu-ray releases and stuff I got on sale, but it was mostly stuff I haven't seen since I was a kid.
Highlights: The Cabin in the Woods & Fright Night (1985)
Disappointments: Piranha DD & Anthropophagus
Complete Crap: Insidious
mariachi507
Member
I didn't come close this year but this thread is always a blast, can't wait til next year.
Also, I caught Halloween in theaters last night, if you ever get a chance please do the same.
Also, I caught Halloween in theaters last night, if you ever get a chance please do the same.
October 31st! My last three movies were two old favorites and one of the best finds from last year.
Movie #20 was The Silence of the Lambs, a wonderful classic film with impeccable craftsmanship, from the performances to the (incredibly rich and detailed) sound design to the crackerjack screenplay. This time around I noticed particularly how the film coalesces around the idea of bridging the gulf of understanding between people (particularly man and woman). The characters struggle to understand who (or even what) Lector is, Clarice fights to understand Buffalo Bill so that she can catch him, and Lector finds a pleasure deeper than sexual in using his leverage to find the core of Clarice's character. 'Lambs' blends the serial killer procedural with the monster movie and a romance--not to mention using Lector as both antagonist and protagonist, antihero, villain, and mentor figure--and manages to tell an exciting, scary story to boot.
Movie #21 was The Ring, a movie I have seen perhaps 8 times. It never gets old, partly because (like 'Lambs') it is so well constructed, and partly because makes sure to leave plenty unsaid. The masterstroke of the movie is to concern itself during the bulk of the running time with the mystery plot ("What's with this message from a dead woman?"), while only revealing the true horror concept in the last ten minutes. Shot with a very controlled and inventive eye and featuring one of the top horror movie scores, The Ring is always a pleasure.
Movie #22 was The Poughkeepsie Tapes, which I wanted to show to my friends after it creeped me out so much last year. The second time around the somewhat flat performances and sometimes generic dialogue were less noticeable, and the whole thing took on the aspect I never consciously let it before--that of a movie committing very heavily to being a true mockumentary. It's not found footage; it's talking heads and computer animated diagrams and the cheap backdrops and the odd discursiveness of real life (as when September 11th disrupts the story). (Actually, it's not far removed from a fictional alternative to the real-life serial killer doc Cropsey I watched earlier this month.) I wouldn't call it a great movie, but man does it work.
Sadly, I only managed to watch 22 movies this year, and about 5 were repeats. My whole list:
1 - Devil
2 - At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul
3 - [REC]
4 - Pulse
5 - Insidious
6 - Curse of Frankenstein
7 - Absentia
8 - Identity
9 - Cropsey
10 - The Quatermass Xperiment
11 - The Mummy (1932)
12 - Bad Moon
13 - Last House on Dead End Street
14 - The Good Son
15 - [redacted]
16 - Carnival of Souls
17 - Candyman
18 - Inside
19 - Lake Placid
20 - The Silence of the Lambs
21 - The Ring
22 - The Poughkeepsie Tapes
Overall, a decent mix of foreign, classic, indie, recent, 90s, and old favorites.
Best new (to me) movie: Curse of Frankenstein
Movie most likely to get a rewatch: Pulse
Scariest movie: Absentia
Irrational favorite of the bunch: Last House on Dead End Street
Worst movie: A three-way tie between the last ten minutes of Inside, the last half of Insidious, and the voice-over in Devil.
Most aggressively mediocre movie: Bad Moon
The number-one takeaway? Forget Universal, Hammer Horror 4 Life!
Movie #20 was The Silence of the Lambs, a wonderful classic film with impeccable craftsmanship, from the performances to the (incredibly rich and detailed) sound design to the crackerjack screenplay. This time around I noticed particularly how the film coalesces around the idea of bridging the gulf of understanding between people (particularly man and woman). The characters struggle to understand who (or even what) Lector is, Clarice fights to understand Buffalo Bill so that she can catch him, and Lector finds a pleasure deeper than sexual in using his leverage to find the core of Clarice's character. 'Lambs' blends the serial killer procedural with the monster movie and a romance--not to mention using Lector as both antagonist and protagonist, antihero, villain, and mentor figure--and manages to tell an exciting, scary story to boot.
Movie #21 was The Ring, a movie I have seen perhaps 8 times. It never gets old, partly because (like 'Lambs') it is so well constructed, and partly because makes sure to leave plenty unsaid. The masterstroke of the movie is to concern itself during the bulk of the running time with the mystery plot ("What's with this message from a dead woman?"), while only revealing the true horror concept in the last ten minutes. Shot with a very controlled and inventive eye and featuring one of the top horror movie scores, The Ring is always a pleasure.
Movie #22 was The Poughkeepsie Tapes, which I wanted to show to my friends after it creeped me out so much last year. The second time around the somewhat flat performances and sometimes generic dialogue were less noticeable, and the whole thing took on the aspect I never consciously let it before--that of a movie committing very heavily to being a true mockumentary. It's not found footage; it's talking heads and computer animated diagrams and the cheap backdrops and the odd discursiveness of real life (as when September 11th disrupts the story). (Actually, it's not far removed from a fictional alternative to the real-life serial killer doc Cropsey I watched earlier this month.) I wouldn't call it a great movie, but man does it work.
Sadly, I only managed to watch 22 movies this year, and about 5 were repeats. My whole list:
1 - Devil
2 - At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul
3 - [REC]
4 - Pulse
5 - Insidious
6 - Curse of Frankenstein
7 - Absentia
8 - Identity
9 - Cropsey
10 - The Quatermass Xperiment
11 - The Mummy (1932)
12 - Bad Moon
13 - Last House on Dead End Street
14 - The Good Son
15 - [redacted]
16 - Carnival of Souls
17 - Candyman
18 - Inside
19 - Lake Placid
20 - The Silence of the Lambs
21 - The Ring
22 - The Poughkeepsie Tapes
Overall, a decent mix of foreign, classic, indie, recent, 90s, and old favorites.
Best new (to me) movie: Curse of Frankenstein
Movie most likely to get a rewatch: Pulse
Scariest movie: Absentia
Irrational favorite of the bunch: Last House on Dead End Street
Worst movie: A three-way tie between the last ten minutes of Inside, the last half of Insidious, and the voice-over in Devil.
Most aggressively mediocre movie: Bad Moon
The number-one takeaway? Forget Universal, Hammer Horror 4 Life!
Missed this while it aired, but managed to watch it on the bbc site. It was pretty interesting, I liked the interviews.
Clear
CliffyB's Cock Holster
Astaereth said:
Shame on you sir! Inside is brilliant, right up to the end. Its not trying to be realistic, the whole thing is framed as a paranoid nightmare (note the address of the house, where and when its set, etc), so the extremity of the third act and punchline is entirely fitting.
Insidious on the other hand is in my opinion, pretty dire. Full of unearned "scares" and quite the crappiest demon I've seen ever seen - I mean sorry, 70's glam rock-era furry boots and Darth Maul face paint are terrifying now?
13. Halloween (1978) (Oct 31)
My favourite Halloween themed movie and one of my favourite horror movies. I watched this last on the 31st during last years Halloween marathon too and it's starting to become a tradition for me.
9/10
1. The Cabin in the Woods (Oct 1)
2. Chernobyl Diaries (Oct 5)
3. Virus (Oct 7)
4. V/H/S (Oct 12)
5. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) (Oct 17)
6. Friday the 13th Part III (Oct 20)
7. Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight (Oct 23)
8. Twilight Zone: The Movie (Oct 24)
9. A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (Oct 26)
10. Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (Oct 27)
11. Freddy vs. Jason (Oct 30)
12. Halloween III: Season of the Witch (Oct 31)
13. Halloween (1978) (Oct 31)
So that's the list of the movies I've watched this October. I was aiming to watch atleast 15-16 movies, which means one movie every two days, but that didn't work out. Atleast I was close. I remember how I watched 31 movies during the last years marathon, now that was a challenge. Anyhow I had a great time with this years marathon and I will without a doubt do this again upcoming year.
I would also thank everyone who participated in this thread. It was alot of fun reading through your reviews/comments.
My favourite Halloween themed movie and one of my favourite horror movies. I watched this last on the 31st during last years Halloween marathon too and it's starting to become a tradition for me.
9/10
1. The Cabin in the Woods (Oct 1)
2. Chernobyl Diaries (Oct 5)
3. Virus (Oct 7)
4. V/H/S (Oct 12)
5. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) (Oct 17)
6. Friday the 13th Part III (Oct 20)
7. Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight (Oct 23)
8. Twilight Zone: The Movie (Oct 24)
9. A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (Oct 26)
10. Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (Oct 27)
11. Freddy vs. Jason (Oct 30)
12. Halloween III: Season of the Witch (Oct 31)
13. Halloween (1978) (Oct 31)
So that's the list of the movies I've watched this October. I was aiming to watch atleast 15-16 movies, which means one movie every two days, but that didn't work out. Atleast I was close. I remember how I watched 31 movies during the last years marathon, now that was a challenge. Anyhow I had a great time with this years marathon and I will without a doubt do this again upcoming year.
I would also thank everyone who participated in this thread. It was alot of fun reading through your reviews/comments.
canoli2006
Member
#30 - The Haunting (1963)
ChoklitReign
Member
I fell way short of my goal because I thought Netflix didn't work at my apartment, but I watched some good ones near the end. I think I watched 12 horror movies total, lol.
Oct 29
You've heard of Mothman, right? The winged creature that terrorized West Virginia in the 60s? Well this one is a little different. Mothman is now a mysterious stranger who warns people about future disasters. It sounds weird but Richard Gere's performance, the score, and the cinematography all make it a good psy-horror film.
Oct 31
Wow, one of the scariest movies I've seen in years! My heart rate was really high for most of the movie. I don't know why, but demons and Satan sometimes terrify me - and I'm a stone-cold skeptic. Shit goes off the deep end, like everyone says, when
Regardless, this is Poltergeist for a new generation and I'll try to watch it every year near Halloween.
Oct 31
It's a lot like House of the Devil, but slightly better. They both move at a snail's pace and (ENDING SPOILERS)
(ENDING SPOILERS) I still don't understand the ending but I think it improved the movie just from the sheer shock of it. You could end it ambiguously that the girl just went psycho
but that would make the movie too boring.
Oct 29
You've heard of Mothman, right? The winged creature that terrorized West Virginia in the 60s? Well this one is a little different. Mothman is now a mysterious stranger who warns people about future disasters. It sounds weird but Richard Gere's performance, the score, and the cinematography all make it a good psy-horror film.
Oct 31
Wow, one of the scariest movies I've seen in years! My heart rate was really high for most of the movie. I don't know why, but demons and Satan sometimes terrify me - and I'm a stone-cold skeptic. Shit goes off the deep end, like everyone says, when
they enter the spirit world. It's a cool idea, but the main demon was much scarier when he didn't look so goofy or lived in a gothic hellhouse. The whole design was outrageous.
Oct 31
It's a lot like House of the Devil, but slightly better. They both move at a snail's pace and (ENDING SPOILERS)
end with an insane satanic ceremony.
from being raped
Well, i certainly fell short. Went in expecting to do a lot more than this. Halloween just crept up at the end. Was hoping to end on The Thing, my number one favorite.
Had fun watching what i did though and every film with the exception of one, was something i'd never seen before.
Definitely going to break my record next year =D
Had fun watching what i did though and every film with the exception of one, was something i'd never seen before.
Definitely going to break my record next year =D
- Click the pictures, to link to my "review" posts.
- * Title * = First time watching
#30 - The Fog (1980)
Went in knowing nothing but having high hopes due to it being a Carpenter movie and being made in between his classics Halloween and The Thing, but it turned out to be very disappointing. I guess there are some decent ideas to the myth being used as the supernatural backdrop, but the execution was just severely lacking. The creatures were not scary and look ridiculous, the effects weren't great nor was the acting. I also did not care for any of the characters, they were just bland and empty vessels. The score was nice, but reminded me a lot of Halloween. 4.5/10
#31 - Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
Last year I closed with the classic Frankenstein, so I saw it appropriate to finish with its sequel this time around. And surprisingly enough I liked it more than Frankenstein. There just is more depth to the characters, the pacing is a bit better (especially considering the short runtime) and it was less theatrical, something I did not like about the original. The classic themes or fear, friendship, trust and betrayal don't really have an expiration date so it holds up incredibly well. 8/10