31 Days of Horror (2020) - The October Movie Marathon

[Steamlord]

16. Requiem for a Vampire (1971)

A bit of a disappointment after the previous three. It somehow manages to be more interesting in its nearly-wordless first half than it is once the vampires actually show up. The vampires aren't all that interesting this time around, and the film gives way to its more salacious elements far too much, to the detriment of the pacing and atmosphere. I certainly respect it for trying something different, and it seems to be the starting point of Rollin's more dreamlike films, but it's just not a very strong film. 5/10

 

[More_Badass]

4. In the Tall Grass (2019)

Saw this on Netflix (US). It definitely gives off the Stephen King vibes. A good film, but similar to Stephen King adaptations, I feel Joe Hill's story falters towards the end once we figure out the mystery. Interesting characters and great build-up. Like most of Stephen King's horror movies very few finish strong. I adore the first half in a movie such as Dreamcatcher and this as well. Again, I was hoping for something a bit more. However, it does get graphic later in the film if your into that stuff.

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The novella was so much better. Kept it vague and focused on the descent into madness. No shoehorned villain and no safe ending

 

[gnomed]

The novella was so much better. Kept it vague and focused on the descent into madness. No shoehorned villain and no safe ending

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Oh I definitely need to check that out.

 

[HiLife]

10. Summer of 84.
Basically Disturbia, but a Shudder original. Like the other Shudder films, it was decent. But this is at the back. Likable cast akin to the cast of Stranger Things and It, and a premise that actually engages more than some grounded horrors. You just never know what kind of psychopaths could be in your neighborhood.

 

[Jeremy]

01. 12 Hour Shift *** / ***** - Very fun and trashy ensemble horror set in a hospital. Gleefully immoral.
02. Bloodthirsty ** - Anemic werewolf movie involving a pop star producing her record on her producer's remote estate.
03. The Nightcomers (1971) **1/2 - Marlon Brando as a horny Irishman corrupting the kids from The Turn of the Screw.
04. Books of Blood ** - Love Clive Barker. Only one of the three stories is even competent (the wraparound tale from the books).
05. Deadline (1980) ***1/2 - Wacky Canadian drama about a horror writer. Features a psychic goat killing someone with a snowplow.
06. Time Of Moulting *** - Creepy German movie about life in a cloistered family unit. Unsettling.
07. Hunted **1/2 - Oddball Euro survival movie. The recent Alone was much better.
08. It Cuts Deep * - Really predictable slasher that has no slasher action besides the opening and closing scenes. Awful lead performance.
09. Run *** - Sarah Paulson camping it up in a Baby Jane riff.
10. The Wolf of Snow Hollow ***1/2 - Loved the director's Thunder Road. This is a charming, Twin Peaks kind of werewolf mystery.
11. The Night ** - Purgatorial drama in Farsi about an Iranian couple who can't leave a hotel until they face their sins. Derivative, beyond the cultural context.
12. Come True **1/2 - Synthwave sci-fi about a dream study gone wrong. More moody than scary, ultimately.
13. Bloody Hell **1/2 - Horror comedy about an ex-con who moves to Finland only to be kidnapped by a cannibalistic family. Strong lead actor.
14. My Heart Can't Beat Unless You Tell It To *** - Glum, grisly variation on We Are What We Are featuring a man who must kill to feed his vampiric brother. Slow, but ultimately moving story about familial obligation.
15. Honeydew *1/2 - Plays like a feature-length version of the dinner table scene in Texas Chainsaw Massacre... but slow and not scary.
16. Def by Temptation (1990) ***1/2 - Troma classic about a female sex demon with an all-black cast. Saw this as a kid, but it's even better than I remembered.
17. Anything for Jackson *** - Capably made haunted house movie about grandparents botching a supernatural ritual in hope of raising their dead grandchild.
18. Reunion ***1/2 - Ghost story about a mother and daughter packing up the family home for sale and uncovering skeletons in the closet. Blurs the lines between reality and delusion nicely.
19. AV: The Hunt *** - A variation on The Most Dangerous Game that got my blood boiling because it deals with Turkish men hunting an adulterous woman in hopes of "honor killing" her.

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20. Boys from County Hell *1/2 - Irish vampire film. Cool creature design, but attempts at humor fall flat and there are no scares.
21. Lucky ** - Home invasion film that turns out to be a metaphor for gaslighting women. Should have been a short.
22. Breaking Surface **1/2 - Tense thriller about a diving mishap. Suspenseful, but the stupidity of the characters will drive you nuts.
23. Frank & Zed ** - Gory, Grand Guignol puppet epic. Definitely visually exciting, but the plot barely bothers to have characters and the voice acting was grating to me.

 

[Absoludacrous]

Spoiler

1. Poltergeist (1982)
2. 1BR
3. The Blackcoat's Daughter
4. Halloween III: Season of the Witch
5. Crimson Peak
6. A Tale of Two Sisters
7. Host

8. Green Room
9. The Ritual
10. mother!
11. Color Out of Space
12. The Lighthouse

Not sure how I feel about this one. I think I need more time to think on it, since it's definitely the type of movie where you need to peel back the layers to appreciate what it's doing. It's certainly an interesting take on madness, and I really dug everything about the way it was shot, from the setting to the black-and-white use of 35mm film. The performances were great, especially when Dafoe breaks into rambling-old-sailor monologues.

I just don't know that it worked for me on the whole. There's just so much to the madness that after a while it becomes completely impossible to grab onto anything real. But I feel like it'll be the kind of movie I'll appreciate the more I look back on what it was doing. In the meantime though I think I have a strong urge to replay Return of the Obra Dinn.

 

[Sibersk Esto]

Catching up on the last few days by bowing out of the Golden Age of Horror onto the Silver Age

9. Frankenstein Meets The Wolfman (1943)

The idea of Frankenstein's monster meeting the Wolfman must've been a hell of a draw for audiences back then, but unfortunately the novelty of the concept doesn't quite hide the awkwardness of its execution. It's meant as a sequel to both "The Wolfman" and "Ghost of Frankenstein", and as a sequel to the former it fares much better.

The first half of the film focuses on Lon Chaney Jr's return as the werewolf Larry Talbot, newly resurrected by unwitting grave robbers and now desperately seeking some way to die. Chaney's performance is great, and the film is atmospheric and actually compelling for the half that focuses on Larry.

It's when the film has to add in the Frankenstein half that it falters, as it plays fast and loose with the continuity and can't commit to whether it wants to be a followup to "Ghost" or the original film. The monster is played by Bela Lugosi, and he's not particularly compelling in the role. Apparently he was meant to have dialogue tying to the events of "Ghost", and be blind as well, which explains his body language in this film.

Despite the unevenness, it really is a solid first half, culminating in a memorable and entertaining finale.

On a sadder note, this would be one of Dwight Frye's final films, as he died of a heart attack in '43

10. House of Frankenstein (1944)

A good cast and an entertaining story buoy a solid swan song to the era of Universal monster films. While this wouldn't be the last monster film of this era, it's hard not to see it as such, with the big three monsters getting the greatest hits of their separate films played one last time. Dracula gets to be the seductive predator of the night, although the character is so separate from the rest of the film that his screentime might as well have been a short film. Once again the main pathos comes from the eternal struggles of Larry Talbot as the Wolfman, played once more by Lon Chaney Jr. But it's really Boris Karloff as Dr Niemann who steals the show here, who along with his assistant Daniel carries out his revenge with a stone cold glare and chilling menace. It's a good time, but definitely a sign that this era had run its course.

11. The Thing From Another World (1951)

Overshadowed in modern times by John Carpenter's bombastic remake/spiritual successor, the original "Thing" is a fast paced, witty and slickly produced thriller that is still fun to watch today. Unlike most horror films or even genre films of the time, "The Thing" focues primarily on dialogue. And not overladen, exposition heavy dialogue either. Real, full blown conversations between dynamic characters as they splinter off into groups as a reaction to a new threat from the stars. It comes dangerously close to being dry, but the dialogue keeps it sailing smoothly.

 

[BaraSailey]

I spent most of the weekend watching The Haunting of Bly Manor -- which was quite good if you like Gothic horror -- so I wasn't able to watch a ton of movies. I did manage to get a few in today.

13. Annabelle Comes Home (2019) - A rewatch for me. I enjoy this movie as a sort of haunted house attraction type film. You have different ghosts and demons throughout different parts of the movie and the main characters go from dealing with one thing to the next. It's simple fun but nothing special.
14. Crimson Peak (2015) - Another rewatch, but I haven't seen this since it came out. Definitely not a scary film, but an enjoyable and atmospheric Gothic romance with a touch of the supernatural.

Full list so far in spoilers:

Spoiler

1. House (1977) - This was quite the fever dream of a film. The editing was really unique and entertaining, and I feel a lot of the choices in editing made me enjoy the film much more than I would've otherwise. It was strange, comical, and very memorable.
2. Eyes Without a Face (1960) - This was a film I'd been meaning to watch for a while, and I really enjoyed it. I feel black and white really suited this, and color would have been a detriment, especially during the surgery scene. The mask also looked wonderfully creepy, and the mad-doctor-trying-to-fix-his-daughter plot was simple but really good.
3. The Brood (1979) - This was a solid film. The ending scenes really saved it for me even though I felt the child actress that played the daughter was a bit weak. The army of mutated children that just killed anyone based on Nola's rage were pretty creepy. I kept thinking about Don't Look Now whenever I saw them. The small amounts of body horror mixed in, especially at the climax, were well done.
4. Scanners (1981) - I decided to have a small Cronenberg marathon Friday night. I had only seen Videodrome before now, which I really liked, so I decided to watch more of his work. Scanners was definitely more sci-fi than horror, but like in The Brood there was some body horror mixed in. As a sci-fi film I enjoyed this, but as a horror movie both Videodrome and The Brood were far better.
5. Eraserhead (1997) - This was surreal. Definitely oozing David Lynch's style. I feel like I might have to watch this again sometime to really figure out how I truly feel about it. There was a lot going on and a lot to take in. It seemed to be about fear of parenthood, but I feel like there may be more to it than just that.
6. The Thing (1982) - I'm a big fan of John Carpenter, and this is my favorite movie I've watched so far for this marathon. There were so many memorable scenes and the creature effects were phenomenal. The isolation of the setting, as well as trying to figure out who was no longer human made for a suspenseful and fun watch.
7. The Binding (2020) - This was just very average and forgettable. It's your basic evil-entity-tries-to-take-over-a-kid-and-the-family-has-to-save-them story. It did surprise me with some red herrings since the original direction I thought the film was going was slightly different. It was competent. I really don't have much to say about this one. I didn't hate it but it was nothing special.
8. Witchboard (1986) - This was also pretty average, but I enjoyed the fact it was a ouija board story that centered around adults and not teens or children. This really didn't have much going for it other than that though. The characters were very stereotypical, but there was a bromance aspect going on that I thought was kind of fun. I wish there had been more campy deaths though, since the spirit killed people with a hatchet.
9. The Loved Ones (2009) - Tonight was a night of re-watches, starting with this little Australian gem. Filled with dark humor and some pretty messed up torture, I still really enjoyed this film after years removed from seeing it.
10. Excision (2012) - This film I have mixed feelings on. The performance by the lead actress is great, and the dark humor and plot itself I think make for an interesting film. Like Akumatica I also feel like the ending is unearned. Shit goes from 0-100 with how crazy this girl is and explodes in the ending scene. It would definitely be a stronger, shocking finale if she had shown herself or her visions becoming more and more extreme (though her fantasies/dreams were pretty messed up, but she barely acted on anything until the end).
11. Fright Night (1985) - This was a fun little flick! I love the 80's aesthetic, and I enjoyed the fake TV vampire hunter the main character hunted down to help him; I thought that was a really fun idea. The effects were also pretty solid. Overall a fun film, of course not very scary though.
12. The Final Girls (2015) - This had some fun moments. I enjoy movies that play on slasher tropes and this movie's plot was full on that. The final fight I didn't love just cause it was so over the top, but overall I thought it was a fun little film.

 

[beloved freak]

#11 - House of Wax

House of Wax has some occasionally creepy atmosphere but that's about it.

I feel like the first 30 mins could've been cut entirely, just a bunch of exposition for a story that you won't care about and for characters that are unlikable. Full of boring jumpscares. Ending was bananas, complete with a lame twist thrown in for some reason.

I actually liked some of the imagery here - the deserted town was a nice setting and the wax people are spooky. That pipe kill was gnarly, gotta admit. It's just that everything else is so bland. What a shame.

 

[jph139]

Day 11 - The Invisible Man, 2020 (NEW)

To top off the week, I skipped ahead ~80 years and tried the newest attempt at Universal Horror. I heard it was pretty good and indeed, it was pretty good!

They really dial up the paranoia in a way that feels perfect for the premise - the audio design and slow, mostly static shots are absolutely perfect. Is he there? Is something going to move? Was that him or was that just ambient noise? The action-inaction balance is on point. Moss does a good job as the lead, and you really feel it when her world starts to crumble due to all the invisible manning going on. She has a little "dumb horror protagonist" going on here and there, but it's mostly forgivable/justifiable.

Ultimately, though, it backs off the horror and leans more fully into an action-thriller type story. Really, just about anything after she finds the suit feels more conventional - with some twists and turns in there, like her sister's murder and the brother's death. A good amount of spurious logic-leaps and "we'll just gloss over that" moments that do stand out. There's still some ominous shots here and there, though, and the ending was satisfying, if predictable. With the last shot you can see the seeds of a "Universal Monster Cinematic Universe" being planted, and who knows, maybe it'll succeed this time? I'd watch The Invisible Woman.

WEEK 1 - 100 Years of Horror
Dr. Caligari, The Golem, Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde | Bonus: Häxan

WEEK 2 - Creature Features
Dracula, Dracula's Daughter, Son of Dracula, Frankenstein & Bride of Frankenstein, Son of Frankenstein, The Mummy, The Invisible Man & The Invisible Man Returns | Bonus: The Invisible Man

 

[PennyStonks]

#11 Hereditary - good(-)/10
First time watching. Ari Aster makes boring movies,Shoulda been like 20 minutes shorter, but at least this one had interesting things happening, and I didn't really know where it was going between mental illness or ghosts for most of it so that kept me invested. Some cool transitions and effects, but lol the Team America looking model for SFX

Spoiler: end spoilers

of the dad getting lit on fire

hopefully this wasn't a ripoff of another movie too

Spoiler: My list so far

#1 Cube - good/10
#2 The Last House on the Left 1972 - whatever/10
#3 Hell House LLC - good/10
#4 The Collector - great/10
#5 The Collection - good/10
#6 Repo! The Genetic Opera - great/10
#7 The Texas Chain Saw Massacre - whatever(+)/10
#8 The Lighthouse - great/10
#9 Secret Window - good/10
#10 Midsommar - whatever/10
#11 Hereditary - good(-)/10

 

[Wanderer5]

11. Host (2020)

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Woooow, I was actually pretty impress by this, but maybe the fact that it is only just a hour long helped, so it didn't really overstay it's welcome. Definitely feels fitting given the times, and it actually scared me quite a bit, which currently has been rare in my 31 Days viewings. A lot of the scares are jump scares, but I feel like they were used pretty effectively, including some really good effects given the limitations.

The story was fine. Predictable, but simple, nicely simple. Starts out with some fun Zoom stuff as the characters come in, and then once shit starting hitting the fan, it felt quite tense, and didn't end up feeling like it drag out scenes a lot.

Some more in depth things to note that I liked

Spoiler

I do like the demonic spirit basically played along with the whole friend committed suicided story a bit. That shot in the attic and the the photo were definitely eerie in regards to that. And later on, a noose was shown during Teddy's run in with the spirit.

I also like that Jemma made sure to wear a mask when going to Haley, and the two did a elbow bump, which was a cute moment in relief from the tension. Following Covid-19 guidelines even when being attack by a demonic spirit! I do love that split second shot afterwards of the spirit lunging towards the two, as the stream closed. XD

Overall, definitely a enjoyable zoom stream of horror!

 

[Z-Beat]

11. The Curse of La Llorona

This movie is pretty by the numbers in terms of horror. Mostly jumpscares and not really bringing much else to the table. I know the La Llorona story is pretty straightforward most of the time but there's a lot that can be done with it if you're willing too look into other parts of the mythos. Look at HHN: they got the horse head part in there and everything

Overall this is one of the weaker Conjuring Universe films

5/10

 

[HiLife]

11. Blood Quantum

An interesting take on an over saturated genre which started strong, but kind of shit the bed when things started going off the rails. I didn't like how it escalated to that at all, maybe the movie needed a longer runtime. Why do people make stupid choices in the zombie apocalypse, better yet why is this still a horror trope? It's not the worst movie in my marathon, but it's certainly ranked near the bottom along with The Thing 2011 and Vampires vs Bronx.

 

[tryagainlater]

#10. A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010) - The next remake of a New Line Cinema horror classic. I've seen the original two films which are pretty great and a more interesting series than Friday the 13th. But this remake is as dull as dishwater. A horror trope I hate is using nightmares as a way to constantly have scares throughout the movie but it is baked into the concept of this series so theoretically, I'm less annoyed by it happening here. These kids' microsleeps got really fucking tiring though. The star of the show is Jackie Earle Haley who is alright. He's a good actor but it's a hard role to replace and I just kept hearing Rorschach. I'm quite interested in the idea of Freddy being innocent of his crimes and was killed unjustly in a mob rage and his anger at the sheer unfairness of it all brought him back on a revenge trip . The movie was going for that early on but then they revealed that Freddy was always a monster. You almost had me interested there movie for something that wasn't just a rehash of the original movie. I suppose an innocent Freddy wouldn't suit the campy nature of the character but they weren't really going in that direction with him in this film. Bad movie but I do want to watch more of the series past the second one.

 

[Mariachi507]

5. Day of the Woman aka I Spit on Your Grave

This is filling the "video nasty" quota for this month. This is quite the notorious picture, and even without the contents therein the poster carries enough notoriety on its own (that's Demi Moore, btw). This movie is hard to talk about, especially in favorable manner without feeling the need to include disclaimers to excuse that reaction. To simply put it: Yes, I did enjoy this exploitative, sadistic, rape film. It's not something I could recommend to anyone. To be honest, if I know someone were about to watch it I'd be more inclined to possibly convince them not to or at least prepare them for what they are going to see.

It's a disgusting film to experience, which is a given considering that the most notorious aspect of the film, the extended rape-attack sequence, plays out over one-third of its runtime. The decades since haven't done much to dull the events onscreen, it's incredibly disturbing. I can't really defend the need for that kind of prolonged exploitation. Nor would I try to convince otherwise the opinion of those who hate this film for that reason. It does provide the sense of taking away any safety the viewer may feel by thinking the assault is over. As the film shows three different assaults taking place over the course of an afternoon. Just when Jennifer feels she might be safe it starts all over again. Is that necessary for this story? I can't tell you that it is.

That being said, I will state that my opinion on this movie is that it's pro-women overall. The exploitative nature of this film points to a very specific audience for its message. It's similar to Cannibal Holocaust or What Have You Done to Solange in the way that pushing a message through the guise of being barbaric and vile. It's essentially the story of a woman taking the trauma of a violent sexual assault and turning it tenfold on her attackers. You're not going to get much here in the way of nuance. This is a person using the same tools that were used to justify turning her into a victim into weapons of cathartic relief. By the time she is enacting her revenge, our morals as viewers have been compromised. So cheering Jennifer on as if I'm watching sports feels justified.

It seems pointless discuss this film on the merits of how it was executed, and that the discussion should focus on that it was executed at all. However, I will say that as far as filmmaking is concerned, it's amateur hour. There's even hilarious bits of crewmembers randomly showing up at times. As stated before, there's no nuance to the script. Instead, it means to get its message across point blank. This is quite apparent from some of the later dialogue in which one of the attackers (Johnny) explains to Jennifer why the assault was a foregone necessary conclusion the moment she dressed and acted the way she did in his presence earlier in the movie. This kind of shameful victim blaming is used often in the real world. You always hear some piece of shit say, "well, she wanted it anyway" or "she's asking for it, dressing like that". I especially liked when Johnny was shown with his kids as basically being a good father. It displays how the real world isn't so black and white, but instead how the most reprehensible acts are committed by otherwise "decent" people.

The workhorse here is the "Queen of Sleaze" herself, Ms. Camille Keaton. The director has called her brave for the work she does here, and you can't argue otherwise. She provides a sense of realism to the events onscreen. Although attractive, she's not a supermodel straight from a CW show. She is the girl next door, and she nails the naive optimism from the early parts of the film, the pure terror from the middle, and the violent seductress from the final act. Supporting her is the dude that plays Johnny (too lazy to look up his name) aka the leader of films "monsters". He's great and pulls off the whole "rural, toxic, alpha male" type incredibly. What he can pull off with a smile is chilling.

So yeah, I think that wraps it up. It's I Spit on Your Grave for crying out loud.

6/10

6. Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key

I wasn't exactly wowed with my second Martino film, All the Colors of the Dark, during last year's marathon. It seemed to be a step down from Torso, which is the piece of "sleazy schlock that could" when it comes to horror. I still get blown away thinking of how it went from a stereotypical, horny Giallo into a full blown real ass horror flick by the climax. My expectations here weren't exactly high, however. I also need to note that this film is heavily influenced by Edgar Allen Poe's "The Black Cat", which has seen numerous amounts of horror adaptations over the years. I often play around with the idea of doing a "Black Cat Week" in this marathons but keep pushing it off for another year. This film is my first of those adaptations (and there are plenty left if I choose to go with that theme in the future).

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised here as I underestimated Sergio Martino. Despite his kind of storytelling venturing towards the sleazy side of horror for the most part, he's a talented director. He's got a great eye, and he infuses his films with creative, dynamic camera work. This is amplified when coming from a film such as I Spit on Your Grave, lol.

The story here if genuinely unpredictable, and it seems he went out of his way to keep the viewer guessing. The lead character (well, co-lead I guess) of the movie is the villain, essentially. Well, we don't know if he's the killer or being framed; but there's much more going on here instead of people getting killed off. This is a story on how a bored artist regularly torments and humiliates his wife. She, although not a good person either (especially if you're a cat lover), is who we root for to escape the horrors of her marriage.

So yeah, despite still being a horny piece of Giallo schlock (especially once the otherworldly beautiful Edwige Fenech shows up), this is an engaging guessing game of bad people trying to fuck each other over. It loses me a bit with some late game revelations, but not enough to spoil the experience too much. It lived up and earned its fascinating name. Even though the name doesn't really make sense with the story, haha.

7.5/10

 

[excelsiorlef]

Oct 11

12. Bit (2019)

80% great, movie ends right went it feels it is starting though... but whatever what we get is great. It's just at one point the movie races to the credits

In many ways the vamps are rad fems, but trans inclusive rad fems. There's just a beautiful moment where when going over the vamp rules: don't turn a man, the vampire makes it clear she sees the trans woman main character as nothing else but a woman, it's completely subdued but the look on her face when her identity is affirmed is some incredible acting

This is a dream rep for trans people imo.

 

[excelsiorlef]

19. Rabid (1977)

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Please please please watch Shivers!!!! If you haven't

Shivers is the, imo, mandatory, early Cronenberg piece. It makes Rabid look like a studio film

Dude needs to stop making movies.

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What?! What an absurd thing to say

 

[RedSonja]

11. The Curse of La Llorona

This movie is pretty by the numbers in terms of horror. Mostly jumpscares and not really bringing much else to the table. I know the La Llorona story is pretty straightforward most of the time but there's a lot that can be done with it if you're willing too look into other parts of the mythos. Look at HHN: they got the horse head part in there and everything

Overall this is one of the weaker Conjuring Universe films

5/10

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Agreed, I was not impressed with this one. It's almost a slog to get through it, not even remotely unnerving and you feel like you have seen it all before.

 

[tellNoel]

Week 1: The Unholy Trinity

1. Rosemary's Baby
2. The Omen (1976)
3. The Exorcist

Week 2: Keeping It Classic

1. The Phantom of the Opera (1925)*
2. Cat People (1942)*
3. Dead of Night (1945)*
4. House of Wax (1953)*
5. The Creature from the Black Lagoon*
6. King Kong (1933)*
7. Godzilla (1954)*

Week 3: Slasher Central

1. Sisters (1973)*

Happy Birthday, Danielle!

Sisters is about an actress who brings her co-worker home with her one night and in the morning, the day begins with the man's murder. Claiming to have been committed by her sister, Danielle seeks help from her ex-husband to get rid of the evidence and to shake the pursuance of her neighbor that witnessed the whole ordeal.

Half slasher, half psychological, Sisters keeps you guessing the entire way through. You really won't know who to trust and how big of a role each character will play until the story keeps progressing.

The blood and gore is reminiscent of the 70s. The excessive stabbing and loud chaotic music transports you right back to some of your favorite slashers of the past.

Sisters was a nice segue from the classic horror movies I've been watching to a more modern platform.

From black and white to bright red!

 

[ThirstyFly]

Canadian Triple Feature Weekend

09) Terror Train (1980) [Roger Spottiswoode] (Oct 9)

A group of med students responsible for pulling a cruel prank on a fellow student 3 years prior decide to host a New Year's Eve costume party on a train, where they soon become the targets of a masked killer.

Terror Train may seem like just another Halloween clone, but it has two unique things going for it. Firstly, the location is great. Everyone being trapped in a moving train with a slasher is fantastic, making everything feel claustrophobic and tense. Secondly, the killer doesn't have a specific look. They change costumes throughout the movie, making for a fun time since the characters never know what's going on. Perhaps, the film could have used that idea a little more and just went nuts with it, but overall I thought it was an interesting attempt and they did a pretty good job with it.
Oddly, the killings are pretty much all off screen and we only witness the grisly aftermath. It's definitely a strange choice as the movie is still quite bloody, so I doubt it was something done to please the censors.

Overall, Terror Train is maybe a tad slow at times, but the last half hour is frantic and a lot of fun. It's definitely worth checking out for fans of old school slashers.

Enjoyable. 3 / 5

Now that I've seen one of them, hopefully I won't get Terror Train and Horror Express confused anymore.

10) The Pit (1981) [Lew Lehman] (Oct 10)

An awkward child discovers a pit in the woods which may be the answer to his bullying problems.

The Pit is an odd one, that's for sure. It's a bit of an endurance test as you follow Jamie, an unlikable creep around for the entire film, and he's not treated like a misunderstood but somewhat likeable weirdo, he's clearly the villain and mostly just hard to watch. The friggin' hole in the ground has a more tolerable personality than he does.
It's a strange mix of serious horror (or at least an attempt at serious) with bits of humour mixed in here and there. Personally, I think it would have worked better had they picked one tone and stuck with it.
They also reuse footage from a scene in the middle of the movie as a teaser opening before the credits. Out of context, it's just jarring and doesn't work at since it just ruins any surprise. They definitely should have kept the pit's contents a secret longer.

Overall, The Pit is... strange. Fairly humorous (sometimes on purpose, but mostly unintentionally), it would probably make for a better group viewing than solo like I watched it. Worth a look if you're in the mood for something different, but be warned: that kid sure is annoying.

Somewhat difficult to watch but oddly bizarre and humorous. 2 / 5

11) Curtains (1983) [Richard Ciupka](Oct 11)

A group of actresses visit a remote mansion to audition for a coveted film role, but competition from their peers isn't the only thing they have to worry about when they become the prey of a killer.

Wow. I didn't expect to find a Canadian giallo this month, but that's exactly how I'd define Curtains. Just look at this:

If that isn't a giallo, I don't know what is. I have no idea if that was their intent, but the giallo similarities are definitely there, and I don't mean with just the visuals. There's giallo themes all over this thing, right down to the whodunit style slasher and the characters being artists (a director, actors, a dancer, etc).
Curtains is another film where the kills are shot so the gore is just off screen during the murders. That's probably the only real complaint I have because I like a little gore fx in my slashers, and it's not even that much of a complaint. They still shoot the kills in an effective and creative way, so the lack of gore doesn't really hurt anything. And it's probably preferable to the awkward edits the MPAA was forcing on slashers in the 80s.

Overall, I didn't go into Curtains expecting much and it turned out to be a really pleasant surprise. It's definitely going to be one of the highlights of the month.

Surprisingly great. 4 / 5

 

[Divius]

#10 - Body Bags (1993)
Anthology time! John Carpenter, Tobe Hooper, 3 30 minute shorts, Carpenter himself hamming it up between segments. Things start out quite good with the first segment, the second was fun as well (despite the anticlimax) but the final part felt a bit out of place. Overall pretty enjoyable. 6/10

 

[Fancy Clown]

31 Days of Horror #11: Don't Breathe (2016)

After not being bowled over by Fede Alvarez'S Evil Dead reboot, I didn't have terribly high expectations for Don't Breathe, and for the first fifteen or so minutes the movie did nothing to assuage me. The characters were either terribly obnoxious, or empty nothings, and the dialogue was...not terrific. None of that changes throughout the rest of the movie, but as soon as the trio of house robbers break into old man Lang's house, the movie stops relying on character and almost entirely dispenses with dialogue and becomes something much, much, better. The camera glides effortlessly around the floor plan of the house along with the characters, establishing the geography as well as highlighting half a dozen of Chekhov's guns that our hapless protagonists will set off throughout the film. And then, once the target of the break-in awakens, a blind military vet who definitely isn't also a psychopathic killing machine, the tension starts and pretty much never lets up. The inversion of Wait Until Dark's premise (in which a blind woman, who is very much not a psychopathic killing machine, is the target of a break in) makes for a surprisingly brilliant vehicle for suspense. Alvarez lights the house like a haunted house, and his camera always makes you aware of where the characters are, and where threats could be lurking. What impressed me most is how Alvarez is able to so consistently escalate each string of suspense sequences, making them get more and more menacing and horrifying (there's a wonderful sequence that's a riff on the night vision goggle climax in Silence of the Lambs, but powered on adrenaline). The film's near fatal flaw, however, is that Alvarez, so hell bent on constantly escalating things, eventually feels the need to take things to a pretty god damn gross place. On the one hand, it's really damn brazen for mainstream horror film, but on the other it just feels too crass and exploitative even for this, and acts as such a climactic gross our that even though the film returns to its more successful suspense formula for another 15 or so minutes, it never quite manages to wash the, uh, taste out of your mouth. I learned there's a sequel to this coming out, but I'm not even interested because the only places they could escalate this thing further too are either too disgusting or too stupid. It's frustrating because outside of a lame fifteen minutes and that one excessive scene, this is a really damn good horror-thriller.


31 Days of Horror #12: The Premature Burial (1962):

The only entry in Corman's Poe cycle to not feature Vincent Price, and his absence is definitely felt here and Ray Milland simply doesn't have what it takes to carry the florid gothic dream world of Corman's Poe stuff. That's not the only issue, as the this plot, all constructed around one man's crippling fear of being buried alive, doesn't have quite as much meat to it as the other adaptations, and involves some hasty whodunnit reveals in the last act that don't feel particularly earned. All that said, everything else that makes Corman's Poe movies so lovely is perfectly intact here, with glorious low-budget gothic atmosphere and "chills" (AIP must have doubled Corman's fog machine budget because there's a lot of outside time in this one and every frame of it is blanketed in a thick coating of fog; it both looks great *and* and is a clever way to cover up small and cheap sets). You know Corman was on to something special with his Poe if this is one of the weakest outings.

 

[bill crystals]

Been meaning to write up more, but alas. I watched:
SCARE ME (2020)
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/scare_me

This is a 5/5 for me. I was entirely skeptical of this movie's ability to pull off its ambitious goals of horror deconstruction and nuanced feminism extrapolation, especially in such a minimalist setting, but by the end of the movie those fears were fully laid to rest. I really don't think you'll be more entertained by a horror movie this year, it just oozes charm and fun. This one immediately earns a spot next to Cabin in the Woods as one of the great meta deconstructions of the genre. See it ASAP.

 

[qssm]

10. 11. 12. One Missed Call Trilogy

One Missed Call movies are about people who receive a voicemail from their future selves with a small glimpse into how they will die. Then they try to understand how this curse works and what is killing them? So basically it's Ringu and that's fine, because the first two movies are pretty good especially the first one with Miike directing.

Sadly the third movie is such an drop in quality with horrible teenagers yelling half of the movie and the other half is just utter nonsense, like how the hell do you tear off your own heart without making a hole in your shirt???

But overall I was positively surprised by the first two movies.

7/10
6/10
2/10

 

[hiredhand]

12. Night of the Eagle (1962)
Excellent low budget witchcraft film from the UK. Some great acting and a smart economic script. It's also one of those rare horror films where you genuinely don't know where the film is going at times. I'm quite surprised this film isn't better known. 8/10

13. Venom (2018)
I don't quite understand the negative critical reseption of this one. Sure its a bit campy at times and the actual superhero plot is quite generic but that is mostly made up by Hardy's great over-the-top performance as Eddie Brock/Venom. It's also funny how much violence you can get away with in a PG-13 film if you just leave the blood out. 6/10

 

[Akumatica]

Please please please watch Shivers!!!! If you haven't

Shivers is the, imo, mandatory, early Cronenberg piece. It makes Rabid look like a studio film

Click to shrink...

Seen it! Shivers, Rabid and The Brood are all flawed if interesting. I think Videodrome was his 1st great film, though it's been 25+ years since I've seen Scanners.

Of Cronenberg's work, I've watched-
-Shivers
-Rabid
-The Brood
-Scanners
-Videodrome
-The Dead Zone
-The Fly
-Dead Ringers
-Naked Lunch
-Crash
-Existenz

Videodrome, The Fly and Crash are my favs.

 

[excelsiorlef]

Seen it! Shivers, Rabid and The Brood are all flawed if interesting. I think Videodrome was his 1st great film, though it's been 25+ years since I've seen Scanners.

Of Cronenberg's work, I've watched-
-Shivers
-Rabid
-The Brood
-Scanners
-Videodrome
-The Dead Zone
-The Fly
-Dead Ringers
-Naked Lunch
-Crash
-Existenz

Videodrome, The Fly and Crash are my favs.

Click to shrink...

I just think Shivers is Cronenberg at his most unfiltered. It's just such a raw picture

 

[bill crystals]

Dead Ringers is one of the most affecting Cronenberg movies to me, and it's got some of the least amounts of signature Cronenberg-grossness. Just a unique, haunting movie.

 

[nilbog]

12. Southbound (2015)

Five interlocking tales of terror follow the fates of a group of weary travellers who confront their worst nightmares - and darkest secrets - over one long night on a desolate stretch of desert highway.

Southbound is a great anthology horror movie. It's got tension, suspense and gore and the stories intertwine in cool and unique ways. There is also a wicked monster design that I thought was well done. The only knock I can give it is the acting isn't top notch. The movie also kind of hits it's peak around midway, but the ending is a shocker and makes me want to watch it again.

👻👻👻👻 out of 5

 

[bill crystals]

Recommendation for anyone that needs it:
Cheap Thrills

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/cheap_thrills_2013

A horror comedy that leans more on the horror end of the spectrum, the movie is an absolute blast from start to finish. I think it's criminally under-discussed and underrated.

 

[More_Badass]

Watched Frank & Zed via the Nightstream digital festival

An orgy of blood promised, an orgy of blood delivered. Between its fairy tale opening and its unhinged Braindead-esque gorefest finale: a gorgeously-textured, darkly-comic puppetry labor of love. Six years in the making, and every second shows onscreen.

Frank & Zed is a Gothic horror homage crafting an epic of monsters, villagers, and prophecy. A tale of heart and humor among its titular unnatural pair, of townsfolk fears and a dark priest's conniving schemes. The voice acting can be gratingly hammy at times and the middle act gets long in the tooth: more time on village shenanigans than with its lovable rotting duo. But even during the most sluggish sections, the hand-puppet artistry is always entrancing. Once the scared mob enters those looming castle ruins, all gripes are washed away in a crimson surge of guts, limbs, medieval mayhem, and undead consequences.

 

[Ithil]

Forgot to post yesterday, so two from me today, how exciting.

11) Wishmaster (1997)

Going my way?

Hellraiser meets Nightmare on Elm Street, for this supremely silly slasher. The acting is truly naff, apart from the djinn himself, who is highly entertaining as a cartoonish villain. But for a low budget horror, there's lots of creativity in the gruesome gore and special effects. I especially like the hapless fellow during the intro that comes down with a severe case of Bonus Eruptus, and the living statues during the climax. The djinn's kills are awfully one note, however; generally all his scenes play out in an identical manner, he talks someone into making a "wish" and twists it with deadly consequence. But it's all solid schlock, and there's quite a few (usually fatal) cameos from horror actors.

Mild recommendation.

 

[MatOfTheDead]

in a bit of a meh shitty mood tonight so i need my comfort film so #12 is Shaun Of The Dead

 

[detective_miller]

#11 The Exorcist III

Yeah, I guess I am part of the exclusive group of super-cool people who consider Exorcist III to be the best exorcist movie. Though this pretty much comes down to preferring the set up of the procedural investigation of an ongoing disturbing serial killer case more than the more personal story of supernatural possession and struggle of faith presented in the first one. The chemistry between the cast is great here (particularly between the main detective character and the priest), and the acting and dialogue is quirky and charming. There are a few stand out scenes that are just extraordinary to watch, and instantly made me rewind to see them again, because they were so memorable. Reading that the exorcism scene was a forced last-minute addition/reshoot makes sense, but since it keeps it is short and sweet, it doesn´t feel too out of place or wear out it´s welcome.

#12 Gremlins 2

Glorious pile of goofiness that delivers so much more of what the original began (other than the cosy Christmas spirit). I feel like people don´t make this type of high-energy zany exuberant level of excess. Particular highlights were Rocky inspired Gizmo moments, Christopher Lee´s hammy crazy scientist performance, the intellectual high-brow gremlin with glasses, the musical number + phantom homage and Dracula the newscaster. But really there are just so many ideas in this movie, and so many laugh out loud moments that it is hard to pick only a few.

#13 Under the Shadow

The setting adds so much to this rather straightforwards story, both the specific cultural context with the oppressive authoritarian atmosphere that encourages paranoia and distrust, as well as with the literal existential threat of bombs potentially hitting at any second. The boarded up windows, the cracks in the ceiling and the blaring sirens, and the growing sense of isolation as more and more people evacuate aid to escalate the tension as everything seemingly spirals out of control. The story and plot separated from the setting is not particularly original however, and the scares sometimes veer into somewhat silly territories, where I wish they would have opted to not show as much as they did.
The final shot is haunting and a nice ambiguous note to end on which fits the tone of the rest of the movie.

 

[Divius]

#11 - The Unknown (1927)
Expertly crafted classic by Tod Browning. Lon Chaney is a master. Tight storytelling and pacing, theatrical performances, atmospheric, and completely captivating. Minor complaint; the score by The Alloy Orchestra, while adequate, felt a bit too modern. 7/10

 

[Divius]

#12 - Slugs (1988)
Slugs
slime
silly
sleaze
savage
sickening
sensational.
7/10

 

[Penguin]

1. Cemetary Man (N)
2. Scare Me (N)
3. Waxwork (N)
4. Mandy (N)
5. Spiral (2019) (N)
6. Final Destination (R)
7. Alive (N)
8. Nightmare on Elm St: Freddy's Revenge (R)
9. Event Horizon (N)
10. Lyle (N)
11. Brain Damage (N)
12. Shark Night 3D (N)
13. April Fool's Day (N)
14. Ginger Snaps (N)
15. 976-Evil (N)
16. Pumpkins (N)
17. Wishmaster (N)
18. As Above, So Below (R)
19. Tremors 2 (N)

20. The Legend of Halloween Jack (N) - Unlike "Pumpkin," I ended up liking this movie a bit better. It is a pretty basic slasher film, but I dug the characters and I like the killer's design its sort of Scarecrow meets Jack O'lantern.

21. Cutting Class (N) - I was browsing through some movies on a service, and I was surprised to see that Brad Pitt starred in a low-budget horror movie and my curiosity was piqued. It isn't the greatest movie, but it is interesting in that makes the killer obvious from the get-go, but once revealed the actor has a ton of fun with it and the best part of the movie.

22. Plan 9 from Outer Space (N) - I heard one of the worst movies of all-time and I thought it was... fine?

23. Hatchet (R) - I feel like most of the charm from this is being set in a real lively city like NOLA which they ditch after like 10 minutes to go into the swamp. It's a decent enough slasher after that I guess.

24. A Nightmare on Elm St 3: Dream Warriors (R) - Best entry in the franchise to me, always enjoy watching it.

25. Freaks of Nature (N) - Utterly forgettable for me. Though I would have enjoyed the concept more if went full bore on just focusing on the town with that.

26. The Ritual (N) - Really good movie with good tension around the friends and an ever expanding mystery.

27. Dead and Buried (N) - I don't know what to say about this movie, but it worked for me. I had a good time with it and would recommend.

28. Pandorum (N) - A solid enough movie.

29. Halloween (R) - Still one of my favorite horror movies, a friend hadn't seen and I couldn't let that stand.

30. Hell House, LLC (N) - I really really enjoy this movie. I thought it was fun to see them work on a haunted house and the build-up to all the insanity.

 

[THEVOID]

Recommendation for anyone that needs it:
Cheap Thrills

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/cheap_thrills_2013

A horror comedy that leans more on the horror end of the spectrum, the movie is an absolute blast from start to finish. I think it's criminally under-discussed and underrated.

Click to shrink...

It's legit great. Watched it 3 times.


Anyway, Spiral on Shudder is a great watch.

 

[smisk]

Cross posting my review from the regular movie thread. Anyone else seen this one? Apparently it was on the video nasties list at some point.

The Witch Who Came From the Sea (1976) - Between the drug use, murder, weird sex stuff, and sexual abuse flashbacks, this is one of the most fucked up movies I've ever seen. Too meandering and poorly paced to be thrilling or suspenseful, but it's genuinely unlike anything else I've ever seen and I gotta give it some credit for that. With the copious nautical references and imagery I think it'd make a good double feature with The Lighthouse.
This seems like something of a rarity - the wikipedia page doesn't even mention anything about a theatrical release (and it's hard to imagine many places would have screened this) so as long as you don't mind the extremely bleak subject matter I'd say give this one a shot while it's on the CC.
7/10

 

[smisk]

Happy Birthday, Danielle!

Click to shrink...

I watched Sisters a couple weeks ago and really loved it. The scene where the woman is clumsily spelling out the inscription on the cake while Danielle is transforming into her alter ego is great, and I loved the use of split screen.

 

[tellNoel]

I watched Sisters a couple weeks ago and really loved it. The scene where the woman is clumsily spelling out the inscription on the cake while Danielle is transforming into her alter ego is great, and I loved the use of split screen.

Click to shrink...

LOVE the use of split screen. Totally forgot to mention that in my review, but oh well. Definitely glad I gave it a chance.
Plus it has the girl from Black Christmas and that might be my favorite slasher of all-time. Saw that for the first time last 30 Days

 

[More_Badass]

LOVE the use of split screen. Totally forgot to mention that in my review, but oh well. Definitely glad I gave it a chance.
Plus it has the girl from Black Christmas and that might be my favorite slasher of all-time. Saw that for the first time last 30 Days

Click to shrink...

Been on De Palma binge in recent weeks, and Sisters is his most audacious and effective use of split-screens that I've seen among his films

 

[Violence Jack]

#13 - Poltergeist (1982) (FTV)

While searching through Netflix, I came to realize that I never actually watched the original Poltergeist all the way through. Seeing as it has been considered one of the greatest horror films of all time, I had to remedy that right away.

The first thing I noticed was that the Freelings felt like a realistic, normal family where every member of the family is actually likable. That's something rare to me in not just horror films, but especially haunted house films. There's usually at least one person who is either really stupid, annoying, ignorant, poorly acted, etc. But here, the casting was great and brought me into the movie almost immediately.

I'm someone that normally doesn't like haunted stories or ghost films. I tend to be bored by them. But that certainly was not the case here. After enjoying the well setup family introduction (their daily routines, togetherness, and even some comedic moments), the weird phenomenons start to take place. The family is amazed by them at first since they seem harmless. But then young Robbie is almost eaten by a tree, and young Carrie Anne (RIP) is seemingly absorbed into the house. The paranormal investigators come, and not a single one of them bothered me either. We also get what is my favorite scene where one of the investigators starts pulling his skin off. I don't care how fake the dummy head looks, I still think that scene looks great even today.

After all of the work that went into cleansing the house, the movie lulls you into a false sense of security making the audience believe that the madness is over. However, it hasn't reached full-on insanity yet. The final 14 minutes of the movie is one of the most intense endings I can think of in horror history. Everything goes to hell. The infamous pool scene is also the subject of where most of the people who worked on the film believed that the "Poltergeist Curse" came from since Steven Spielberg and Tobe Hooper made the decision to use real skeletons instead of fake ones for that scene. While watching the horrifying spectacle, we're also watching this sympathetic family's descent into one hellish event after another. It makes the Amityville House look like Pee-Wee's Playhouse. After all of that, it ends on a comedic note but a very understandable one.

I honestly cannot think of one thing that I dislike about this movie. It's not perfect, but I'll go on record as to say it's the best haunted house/ghost movie that I've seen since The Innocents.

9 crawling pieces of steak and maggot-filled chicken legs out of 10.

 

[Violence Jack]

#12 - Slugs (1988)
Slugs
slime
silly
sleaze
savage
sickening
sensational.
7/10

Click to shrink...

I will always have a soft spot in my heart for Slugs. The restaurant scene has been etched into my brain for over 30 years.

 

[atdawnwestrike]

21. We Are Still Here (2015)
I really wanted to like this more than I did. They nailed the 70's haunted house aesthetic and the practical effects were outstanding but the acting and writing was awful.

 

[More_Badass]

I will always have a soft spot in my heart for Slugs. The restaurant scene has been etched into my brain for over 30 years.

Click to shrink...

"Maybe it's some kind of food poisoning"

 

[tellNoel]

Been on De Palma binge in recent weeks, and Sisters is his most audacious and effective use of split-screens that I've seen among his films

Click to shrink...

Definitely has one hell of a filmography

21. We Are Still Here (2015)
I really wanted to like this more than I did. They nailed the 70's haunted house aesthetic and the practical effects were outstanding but the acting and writing was awful.

Click to shrink...

I remember this film. It was alright but I don't ever expect to revisit it.

 

[Violence Jack]

21. We Are Still Here (2015)
I really wanted to like this more than I did. They nailed the 70's haunted house aesthetic and the practical effects were outstanding but the acting and writing was awful.

Click to shrink...

Same here. And I'm a fan of Barbara Crampton. It's missing something to make it truly great. I just didn't care about the characters.

 

[Ithil]

12) The Burning (1981)

Vitamin E? Jesus Christ, Woodstock! Don't tell me you believe in all that crap?

It's a tale as old as time. A camp caretaker accidentally set on fire in a prank gone wrong, who returns years later to kill everyone with garden shears.

More than a little following in the footsteps of Friday the 13th, The Burning is rather a dirty, seedy slasher. All the characters are assholes, the opening city scenes are grimy and disgusting, and even the filmmaking feels a little perverted, with many gratuitous nude scenes where the camera leers around at the women. Not surprisingly it was an early producer gig for Weinstein.

But does any of this make for a good film? Sort of. It's right in the realm of "decent". The pacing is a little strange, as it opens with a prologue and early scenes of violence in a different setting, but then abruptly switches to the beginning of a standard camp slasher, so you get long period with nothing but fakeout scares and slow "jerk teenagers act like jerks" scenes. Speaking of jerks, a young Jason Alexander plays one of the campers (and Holly Hunter another), despite a full head of hair he's pretty much exactly the same. He's by far the most entertaining character. The lead camp counsellor gives me distinct Mike Pence vibes in his voice and mannerisms, so that was off-putting. Once the hedge clipping does eventually start later in the film, murder and mayhem comes almost nonstop.

And that is that, it's pretty standard stuff. Recommended if you can't get enough of slashers.