not sure, i barely remember the original exorcist, what about it compared to the other movies ruled it out?
not sure, i barely remember the original exorcist, what about it compared to the other movies ruled it out?
I have to imagine that the harsh language and that teensy tiny moment involving a crucifix are far above the recommended age group.
There's a scene where Reagan stabs her genitals repeatedly with a crucifix.
theres a couple scenes where a demon gets creepy with women talking about being inside them and how fresh they are and a questionable scene with a heated hair straightener that is explained where that went later in the hospital.
9) Night of Death! (1980)
★★★
Night of Death! (aka La Nuit de la Mort) plays its hand early. This French horror languidly unfolds with an air of offbeat whimsy, telling a tale of a nurse, a menacing manor, and its quirky elderly residents with...uh, unorthodox dietary habits. Director Raphaël Delpard doesn't waste time revealing their twisted secret, using that knowledge to accentuate eerie suspense and push the horror into bizarre satirical territory.
The communal rituals and macabre hierarchy of its senior clan add a darkly comic edge to a familiar horror premise, while Isabelle Goguey is smart, amicable, and endearing as our protagonist who's piecing together Deadlock House's mysteries. With its surprising gore and sleaze, creepy sequences (who knew old people in hallways could be so unsettling?), and memorable elderly weirdos, Night of Death is a uniquely enjoyable chiller despite losing steam in the final act and ending on a disappointing note.
★★★
Night of Death! (aka La Nuit de la Mort) plays its hand early. This French horror languidly unfolds with an air of offbeat whimsy, telling a tale of a nurse, a menacing manor, and its quirky elderly residents with...uh, unorthodox dietary habits. Director Raphaël Delpard doesn't waste time revealing their twisted secret, using that knowledge to accentuate eerie suspense and push the horror into bizarre satirical territory.
The communal rituals and macabre hierarchy of its senior clan add a darkly comic edge to a familiar horror premise, while Isabelle Goguey is smart, amicable, and endearing as our protagonist who's piecing together Deadlock House's mysteries. With its surprising gore and sleaze, creepy sequences (who knew old people in hallways could be so unsettling?), and memorable elderly weirdos, Night of Death is a uniquely enjoyable chiller despite losing steam in the final act and ending on a disappointing note.
Stabs? Isnt she masturbating?
Edit: YouTube'd and you're right, shes fucking ramming it in there stab-like. I guess I remembered it differently, and in fact I always saw it discussed as she was masturbating (which would be a no no for a nice religious teen) but yeah it's a lot more violent than I thought >_>
I think that the crucifix scene is almost the sort of thing you could almost drop without issue, and then Reagan smears all that blood on her mother and you're like "Everyone involved in the making of this scene is going to Super Hell."
List so far
28 - The Frighteners 4/5
One of my all time favorites, thankfully it holds up to my nostalgia. Just a super fun horror-comedy with Michael J. Fox being his usual charming and comedic self, some great 90s CGI (dated sure, but for the time it's great), fantastic villain and just a overall fun story. The third act is a bit too long and theres some bad dated jokes (one borderline rape joke in particular really struck out to me) but it's still awesome, and well worth watching even today. Oh and I completely forgot it was a Peter Jackson movie!
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Also, story time, earlier today I was going through my old DVD collection for more stuff to watch (which is where I grabbed Frighteners from), and made myself a nice little pile of dvds to maybe watch (The Wishmaster series, I completely forgot I had all 4!), and as I walk out of the room and turn off the lights, the dvd pile falls over... SPOOPY!
...of course I left the pile on the sofa, not exactly the most stable surface but STILL SPOOPY DAMN IT!
lol :D
28 - The Frighteners 4/5
One of my all time favorites, thankfully it holds up to my nostalgia. Just a super fun horror-comedy with Michael J. Fox being his usual charming and comedic self, some great 90s CGI (dated sure, but for the time it's great), fantastic villain and just a overall fun story. The third act is a bit too long and theres some bad dated jokes (one borderline rape joke in particular really struck out to me) but it's still awesome, and well worth watching even today. Oh and I completely forgot it was a Peter Jackson movie!
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Also, story time, earlier today I was going through my old DVD collection for more stuff to watch (which is where I grabbed Frighteners from), and made myself a nice little pile of dvds to maybe watch (The Wishmaster series, I completely forgot I had all 4!), and as I walk out of the room and turn off the lights, the dvd pile falls over... SPOOPY!
...of course I left the pile on the sofa, not exactly the most stable surface but STILL SPOOPY DAMN IT!
lol :D
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#17 - The Spiral Staircase (1946)
Pros:
-Great music
-Amazing atmosphere
-Great acting
-Excellent old-school murder mystery
-Felt very much like a precursor to Giallo films
Cons:
-The killer was a little obvious
Overall: 7.5/10 - I really enjoyed this murder mystery filled with great use of lighting, creating a creepy atmosphere, great music, and the reasons behind the murderers motivations reminded me of Giallo films that were soon to come in about 20 years at that time. The one negative is that I thought the camera angle used just before the killer murdered someone gave away too much of who it was. But the reveal was still well done.
Pros:
-Great music
-Amazing atmosphere
-Great acting
-Excellent old-school murder mystery
-Felt very much like a precursor to Giallo films
Cons:
-The killer was a little obvious
Overall: 7.5/10 - I really enjoyed this murder mystery filled with great use of lighting, creating a creepy atmosphere, great music, and the reasons behind the murderers motivations reminded me of Giallo films that were soon to come in about 20 years at that time. The one negative is that I thought the camera angle used just before the killer murdered someone gave away too much of who it was. But the reveal was still well done.
1. Hellraiser: Hellworld (2005) - ½/5
2. Devour (2005) - ½/5
3. House Of Wax (2005) - 3/5
4. Don't Breathe 2 (2021) - 1/5
5. Cyst (2020) - 2/5
6. Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994) - 4/5
7. Werewolves Within (2021) - 3½/5
Decent horror comedy. The casts are great and the setting works really well with the premise it went with. Kinda wish it's funnier. You could tell the director tries to emulate Edgar Wright style abit, sadly the writing doesn't seem up to par.
8. Coven Of Sisters (2020) - 4½/5
What a movie. The story is about a group of girls suspected being a witch so they had to invent stuff witches do to delay their execution. The story beats play more like a theater drama but damn what a great acting from all the people involved especially the main character. While it's a very feminist movie in tone, there's some of the male gaze camera works sadly and the cuts is abit weird at times. Still, worth watching if you're in the mood for some slow burn.
2. Devour (2005) - ½/5
3. House Of Wax (2005) - 3/5
4. Don't Breathe 2 (2021) - 1/5
5. Cyst (2020) - 2/5
6. Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994) - 4/5
7. Werewolves Within (2021) - 3½/5
Decent horror comedy. The casts are great and the setting works really well with the premise it went with. Kinda wish it's funnier. You could tell the director tries to emulate Edgar Wright style abit, sadly the writing doesn't seem up to par.
8. Coven Of Sisters (2020) - 4½/5
What a movie. The story is about a group of girls suspected being a witch so they had to invent stuff witches do to delay their execution. The story beats play more like a theater drama but damn what a great acting from all the people involved especially the main character. While it's a very feminist movie in tone, there's some of the male gaze camera works sadly and the cuts is abit weird at times. Still, worth watching if you're in the mood for some slow burn.
9. Ouija: Origin of Evil (2016)
I only checked this out because I read that Mike Flanagan wrote and directed it, and I'm really glad that I watched it! Some great performances and that Flanagan-ghost hunt stuff really elevated this one. I love the little touches like the old school looking title in the beginning and the old Universal logo and the burns in the corner when the "reel" changed really enhanced this for me.
4/5
I only checked this out because I read that Mike Flanagan wrote and directed it, and I'm really glad that I watched it! Some great performances and that Flanagan-ghost hunt stuff really elevated this one. I love the little touches like the old school looking title in the beginning and the old Universal logo and the burns in the corner when the "reel" changed really enhanced this for me.
4/5
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#8. A Bay of Blood (1971)
Gory and filled with nudity Bay of Bood felt more like an American slasher flick than the previous two Giallo films I've seen so far. I was surprised to learn after my viewing that this film predates many slashers and actually had a degree of influence on said horror subgenre. The story definitely takes a backseat in favor of some fantastically violent kills and special effects. From decapitations to brutal stabbings this has been the most violent Giallo film on my viewing list so far. It's crazy to think about how much of Bay of Blood's general tone and extreme violence was carried onto the slasher films that came after it. A particularly cool death involving a spear felt like something out of Friday the 13th. Another commonality it has with the Friday series is the copious amount of full-frontal nudity in the first half. While I enjoyed the kills I felt that the story was weak and felt more like a simple vehicle for the real star, the violence. There's less of an emphasis on mystery and instead on setting the characters up for increasingly brutal deaths. That being said it's still an enjoyable little romp and it's worth watching for the kills alone.
Overall: 4 machetes out of 5
Gory and filled with nudity Bay of Bood felt more like an American slasher flick than the previous two Giallo films I've seen so far. I was surprised to learn after my viewing that this film predates many slashers and actually had a degree of influence on said horror subgenre. The story definitely takes a backseat in favor of some fantastically violent kills and special effects. From decapitations to brutal stabbings this has been the most violent Giallo film on my viewing list so far. It's crazy to think about how much of Bay of Blood's general tone and extreme violence was carried onto the slasher films that came after it. A particularly cool death involving a spear felt like something out of Friday the 13th. Another commonality it has with the Friday series is the copious amount of full-frontal nudity in the first half. While I enjoyed the kills I felt that the story was weak and felt more like a simple vehicle for the real star, the violence. There's less of an emphasis on mystery and instead on setting the characters up for increasingly brutal deaths. That being said it's still an enjoyable little romp and it's worth watching for the kills alone.
Overall: 4 machetes out of 5
9) Scanners (1981)
It's always been there inside me, lurking away, sucking out my joy, rotting my successes.
There is indeed a movie around that one gif that everyone's seen, and it is...pretty good!
Pretty good, but not super good. A lot of aspects I enjoyed but some aspects of the execution let it down. The standout for me was the set design and locations; whoever Cronenberg's scout was I hope got a bonus. The bright and shimmering yet somehow cold buildings really lend it a faux-futuristic feel. The mall, train station, lab building, all just very interesting locations to look at. They enhance the film's cynical attitude towards the past often sentimentalized in other films. Particularly striking is its pharmaceutical focus, something that's only become more relevant with time. Then there's the requisite gore and body horror one expects in a Cronenberg outing, and they're very creative if scarce.
However the acting is a mixed bag. Some like the always reliable Michael Ironside are good, and worth special notice is Patrick McGoohan as Dr. Ruth, who gives a very dignified performance that completely sells the fantastical premise seriously. Unfortunately the lead actor is often stiff, bringing down the proceedings for key scenes. Likewise the synth score by Howard Shore ranges from incredibly effective to sort of annoying, and I don't mean the unnerving buzzing sounds for the scannings. Sometimes it just drifts too far into "1990s MIDI video game soundtrack" for me and becomes corny. Luckily the sound design is on point, as the many scenes of actors grimacing at each other would probably be laughable without the ear splitting psionic sounds.
This sounds a bit negative, but I did like it, it just had an uneven production that didn't quite pull everything together. Still, what's good is quite good indeed, so I recommend it.
It's always been there inside me, lurking away, sucking out my joy, rotting my successes.
There is indeed a movie around that one gif that everyone's seen, and it is...pretty good!
Pretty good, but not super good. A lot of aspects I enjoyed but some aspects of the execution let it down. The standout for me was the set design and locations; whoever Cronenberg's scout was I hope got a bonus. The bright and shimmering yet somehow cold buildings really lend it a faux-futuristic feel. The mall, train station, lab building, all just very interesting locations to look at. They enhance the film's cynical attitude towards the past often sentimentalized in other films. Particularly striking is its pharmaceutical focus, something that's only become more relevant with time. Then there's the requisite gore and body horror one expects in a Cronenberg outing, and they're very creative if scarce.
However the acting is a mixed bag. Some like the always reliable Michael Ironside are good, and worth special notice is Patrick McGoohan as Dr. Ruth, who gives a very dignified performance that completely sells the fantastical premise seriously. Unfortunately the lead actor is often stiff, bringing down the proceedings for key scenes. Likewise the synth score by Howard Shore ranges from incredibly effective to sort of annoying, and I don't mean the unnerving buzzing sounds for the scannings. Sometimes it just drifts too far into "1990s MIDI video game soundtrack" for me and becomes corny. Luckily the sound design is on point, as the many scenes of actors grimacing at each other would probably be laughable without the ear splitting psionic sounds.
This sounds a bit negative, but I did like it, it just had an uneven production that didn't quite pull everything together. Still, what's good is quite good indeed, so I recommend it.
- Horror Express (1973)
- I Walked With a Zombie (1943)
- The Ghoul (1933)
- Dagon (2001)
- Dead of Night (1945)
- Sea Fever (2019)
- Portrait of Jennie (1948)
- Deathwatch (2002)
- Lemora - A Child's Tale of the Supernatural (1973)
- Count Yorga, Vampire (1970)
- All Souls Day: Dia de los Muertos (2005)
- Razorback (1984)
- Godzilla vs. Kong (2021)
- The Invisible Man (1933)
- The Wolf of Snow Hollow (2020)
- Kwaidan (1965)
The art and sound direction for this film are spare, dream-like and achingly beautiful... Drawing from traditional Japanese theatre (Kobuki & Bunraku) as well as music and art, Kwaidan creates an unforgetable journey through four haunting tales. Toho alumni familiar to us from Godzilla and Kurosawa films inhabit a world of ghosts and spirits that resonates as something uncomfortably genuine despite - or perhaps because of - the lush artifice. A gorgeous film, highly recommended.
1 - RE-ANIMATOR ⭐⭐⭐⭐
2 - DEEP RED ⭐⭐⭐⭐
3 - TROMA'S WAR ⭐⭐
4 - DEAD HEAT ⭐⭐⭐
5 - V/H/S/94 ⭐⭐⭐
6 - ANGEL ⭐⭐⭐⭐
7 - MAYHEM ⭐⭐⭐⭐
I cannot believe I had never heard of this movie. I love it! Basically a disease that makes them go pure ID. In a huge law firm an outbreak occurs and all those inter-office politics and rivalries become an orgy of violence and insanity!
2 - DEEP RED ⭐⭐⭐⭐
3 - TROMA'S WAR ⭐⭐
4 - DEAD HEAT ⭐⭐⭐
5 - V/H/S/94 ⭐⭐⭐
6 - ANGEL ⭐⭐⭐⭐
7 - MAYHEM ⭐⭐⭐⭐
I cannot believe I had never heard of this movie. I love it! Basically a disease that makes them go pure ID. In a huge law firm an outbreak occurs and all those inter-office politics and rivalries become an orgy of violence and insanity!
OP
OP
9. Night of the Living Dead (1990)
You can feel the low budget in a lot of places for this movie but for the most part it's extremely solid, just as much if not moreso than the original. We got Tony Todd as Ben this time around and it's interesting to see him as not a villain in something. Lot of changes from the original. Barbara is no longer a catatonic piece of wood and is now an action survivor, and you can tell that the act of killing these monsters who used to be human is having an extreme mental impact on the characters, which is something pretty rare in zombie films unless they're killing someone they know. Actually lends itself well to the overall message of the film. I vaguely remembered this being solid the first time I watched it and I can say that it still appears to be solid now.
Also plenty of small easter eggs and callbacks to the original that don't really detract from the movie
You can feel the low budget in a lot of places for this movie but for the most part it's extremely solid, just as much if not moreso than the original. We got Tony Todd as Ben this time around and it's interesting to see him as not a villain in something. Lot of changes from the original. Barbara is no longer a catatonic piece of wood and is now an action survivor, and you can tell that the act of killing these monsters who used to be human is having an extreme mental impact on the characters, which is something pretty rare in zombie films unless they're killing someone they know. Actually lends itself well to the overall message of the film. I vaguely remembered this being solid the first time I watched it and I can say that it still appears to be solid now.
Also plenty of small easter eggs and callbacks to the original that don't really detract from the movie
Finally (somewhat) caught up!
#3,4,and 5: the Daimajin Trilogy
The Daiei series of special effects films really set themselves apart from the work produced contemporaneously by Toho. While Toho focused on modern-day science fiction stories, Daiei focused specifically on Japanese period films, focusing on ghosts and monsters from Japanese folklore. The fact that the studio was based in Kyoto probably had a lot to do with the production choices made.
The trilogy of Daimajin films have similar plot structures involving villages being overthrown by warlords, leading to the villagers attempting to reach out to Daimajin, the great demon god, to save them. Daimajin's appearance is based on ancient Japanese "Haniwa" figures that were made for ritual use and buried with the dead as funerary objects. When life enters the stone figure, his appearance changes to a powerful "majin" (or "Djinn" as in "Genie") as it becomes personified wrath.
The origins of the story and archetype of Daimajin come not from Japan, but Medieval Europe. Daimajin by-design is a Japanese take on the Jewish Golem: A clay figure given life by a Rabbi dabbling in Kabbalah to protect the Jewish ghetto of Prague. Like the Daimajin, The Golem is helpful, but it's wrath and power are too great once it's task is completed.
I've seen some critiques talking about the build-up takes too long with the antagonists being awful to the villagers, and not enough monster action. This is kind of a trope in Japanese films and media, you can see the same thing in something like 'Fist of the North Star', where the runtime really takes it's time to setup how horrible the antagonists are, only for their violent comeuppance to be all the more cathartic when it arrives, and Daimajin does that in spades. Seeing the giant Majin pick up the evil lord like a doll and deliver (un)holy justice is one of the appeals of these films.
The second Daimajin movie is probably my least favorite of the trilogy, but is still a satisfying entry all-around. The structure of the story is a little TOO close to the first film, and the final confrontation Daimajin has with he evil lord is a little less personal and less cathartic than the first one. The Akira Ifukube (the composer for almost all the original Godzilla films) score still slaps, and the special effects in these films keep getting better and better, and if I'm being honest by this one or the third film, Daiei just might be better at this than Toho.
The third and final of the original Daimajin trilogy in my opinion the best. The film opens with some abstractly-shot Daimajin action that does an excellent job selling it as a powerful, elemental god, and allows us to get in some "Daikaiju" action before the lull up to the grand finale.
The film makes an interesting choice to center the plot around a group of young boys who venture to Majin's mountain to pray for help against the evil lord and his clan that have abducted the men from their village to use as slave labor, and centering the drama around children does up the stakes and drama.
The last 15-20 minutes once Daimajin makes his grand appearance might be the best of the series, and the special effects are nearly seamless for the era except for an unfortunate stuffed hawk that doesn't move it's wings. Otherwise when Daimajin tears into the evil lord's minions and himself, it's some of the most cathartic action of the whole series. Highly recommended.
#6 Yokai Monsters: 100 Monsters
The first of their 'Yokai' movies lays the groundwork for the rest of the films to come, introducing the culture of Edo-period Japan and the "A Gathering of One Hundred Supernatural Tales" that really caused the tales of Yokai and ghosts to explode in popularity. After one such gathering at a corrupt landowner and magistrates home, the master insists upon a cleansing ritual / exorcism to remove any evil spirits that may be lingering during the story-telling, but the landowner declines, leading to the rest of the film focusing on the haunting that occurs around his premises and his goons.
The film moves at a leisurely pace at first and quickly starts ramping up the spooky happenings as it continues, leading to some fun scenes like a "Kasa-obake" / umbrella ghost befriending the son of the landlord. By the end of the film, a full haunting is on display, as the legendary "Night Parade of One Hundred Demons" is performed on film, featuring a cavalcade of demons and yokai parading around the haunted estate.
#7 Yokai Monsters: Spook Warfare
Yokai Monsters: Spook Warfare is the second film in Daiei's 'Yokai' trilogy, and is even better than the first one. An ancient Babylonian vampire-demon called 'Daemon' is unintentionally unleashed from his tomb by grave robbers in the 1600's, he then hitches a ride on a European sailing ship to Japan and posseses the body of a kindly lord. A Kappa (the turtle-like water imp) who lives in the pond of the lord's house can see that the lord is actually Daemon, and rounds up his other yokai friends to help him stop this evil monster from possessing all the humans and potentially taking over Japan.
The film makes the correct choice in focusing primarily on the yokai as our protagonists instead of the humans as they battle Daemon and his demonic doubles, the special effects are just as fun as the first film, with a tangible quality to them, the puppets and makeup work reminded me a lot of Jim Henson's 80's films like Dark Crystal and Labyrinth. the dark, spooky swamps and forests are the perfect atmospheric location for this film, and while it's a children's film, there's still enough real drama and a surprising amount of blood to keep the adults focused on the action.
#8 Black Magic (1975)
'Black Magic' never gets as outrageous or extreme as it's pedigree would suggest, it may be wild to an average moviegoer, but it never gets as weird or gross as later films like 'Seeding of a Ghost' or the mondo-Shaw film to end all mondo-Shaw films, 'The Boxer's Omen'. There's too much focus on the love triangle for most of it's run-time.
The final battle between sorcerers seems like it's going to be awesome with lots of lightning and laser effects drawn right onto the film, but then shortly fizzles out and ends anti-climatically. Needed the evil sorcerer to explode or something to really seal the deal.
#3,4,and 5: the Daimajin Trilogy
The Daiei series of special effects films really set themselves apart from the work produced contemporaneously by Toho. While Toho focused on modern-day science fiction stories, Daiei focused specifically on Japanese period films, focusing on ghosts and monsters from Japanese folklore. The fact that the studio was based in Kyoto probably had a lot to do with the production choices made.
The trilogy of Daimajin films have similar plot structures involving villages being overthrown by warlords, leading to the villagers attempting to reach out to Daimajin, the great demon god, to save them. Daimajin's appearance is based on ancient Japanese "Haniwa" figures that were made for ritual use and buried with the dead as funerary objects. When life enters the stone figure, his appearance changes to a powerful "majin" (or "Djinn" as in "Genie") as it becomes personified wrath.
The origins of the story and archetype of Daimajin come not from Japan, but Medieval Europe. Daimajin by-design is a Japanese take on the Jewish Golem: A clay figure given life by a Rabbi dabbling in Kabbalah to protect the Jewish ghetto of Prague. Like the Daimajin, The Golem is helpful, but it's wrath and power are too great once it's task is completed.
I've seen some critiques talking about the build-up takes too long with the antagonists being awful to the villagers, and not enough monster action. This is kind of a trope in Japanese films and media, you can see the same thing in something like 'Fist of the North Star', where the runtime really takes it's time to setup how horrible the antagonists are, only for their violent comeuppance to be all the more cathartic when it arrives, and Daimajin does that in spades. Seeing the giant Majin pick up the evil lord like a doll and deliver (un)holy justice is one of the appeals of these films.
The second Daimajin movie is probably my least favorite of the trilogy, but is still a satisfying entry all-around. The structure of the story is a little TOO close to the first film, and the final confrontation Daimajin has with he evil lord is a little less personal and less cathartic than the first one. The Akira Ifukube (the composer for almost all the original Godzilla films) score still slaps, and the special effects in these films keep getting better and better, and if I'm being honest by this one or the third film, Daiei just might be better at this than Toho.
The third and final of the original Daimajin trilogy in my opinion the best. The film opens with some abstractly-shot Daimajin action that does an excellent job selling it as a powerful, elemental god, and allows us to get in some "Daikaiju" action before the lull up to the grand finale.
The film makes an interesting choice to center the plot around a group of young boys who venture to Majin's mountain to pray for help against the evil lord and his clan that have abducted the men from their village to use as slave labor, and centering the drama around children does up the stakes and drama.
The last 15-20 minutes once Daimajin makes his grand appearance might be the best of the series, and the special effects are nearly seamless for the era except for an unfortunate stuffed hawk that doesn't move it's wings. Otherwise when Daimajin tears into the evil lord's minions and himself, it's some of the most cathartic action of the whole series. Highly recommended.
#6 Yokai Monsters: 100 Monsters
The first of their 'Yokai' movies lays the groundwork for the rest of the films to come, introducing the culture of Edo-period Japan and the "A Gathering of One Hundred Supernatural Tales" that really caused the tales of Yokai and ghosts to explode in popularity. After one such gathering at a corrupt landowner and magistrates home, the master insists upon a cleansing ritual / exorcism to remove any evil spirits that may be lingering during the story-telling, but the landowner declines, leading to the rest of the film focusing on the haunting that occurs around his premises and his goons.
The film moves at a leisurely pace at first and quickly starts ramping up the spooky happenings as it continues, leading to some fun scenes like a "Kasa-obake" / umbrella ghost befriending the son of the landlord. By the end of the film, a full haunting is on display, as the legendary "Night Parade of One Hundred Demons" is performed on film, featuring a cavalcade of demons and yokai parading around the haunted estate.
#7 Yokai Monsters: Spook Warfare
Yokai Monsters: Spook Warfare is the second film in Daiei's 'Yokai' trilogy, and is even better than the first one. An ancient Babylonian vampire-demon called 'Daemon' is unintentionally unleashed from his tomb by grave robbers in the 1600's, he then hitches a ride on a European sailing ship to Japan and posseses the body of a kindly lord. A Kappa (the turtle-like water imp) who lives in the pond of the lord's house can see that the lord is actually Daemon, and rounds up his other yokai friends to help him stop this evil monster from possessing all the humans and potentially taking over Japan.
The film makes the correct choice in focusing primarily on the yokai as our protagonists instead of the humans as they battle Daemon and his demonic doubles, the special effects are just as fun as the first film, with a tangible quality to them, the puppets and makeup work reminded me a lot of Jim Henson's 80's films like Dark Crystal and Labyrinth. the dark, spooky swamps and forests are the perfect atmospheric location for this film, and while it's a children's film, there's still enough real drama and a surprising amount of blood to keep the adults focused on the action.
#8 Black Magic (1975)
'Black Magic' never gets as outrageous or extreme as it's pedigree would suggest, it may be wild to an average moviegoer, but it never gets as weird or gross as later films like 'Seeding of a Ghost' or the mondo-Shaw film to end all mondo-Shaw films, 'The Boxer's Omen'. There's too much focus on the love triangle for most of it's run-time.
The final battle between sorcerers seems like it's going to be awesome with lots of lightning and laser effects drawn right onto the film, but then shortly fizzles out and ends anti-climatically. Needed the evil sorcerer to explode or something to really seal the deal.
#9. The Hallow - I saw a few people mentioning Irish horror films in here which made me realise I basically know nothing about my home country's film industry. The Hallow is OK. I can't point out anything particularly wrong with it but there's nothing exceptional either. It was a bit boring. The creatures looked pretty cool and it would be hard not to feel anxious about the welfare of that baby. Some more eye torture which appears to becoming a trend for my marathon this year.
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Samara Weaving, Steven Yuen and Steven Brand were all very awesome in this!
#7. The Voices (2014) - 2 out of 5
Out of all the movies I've seen so far, probably the one I'm the most mixed on. I've never really felt bad about a Ryan Reynold's movie until this, and the issue isn't the acting. Reynold's plays Jerry, a guy that suffers from mental illness and when he's off his meds, he hears his pets talk to him. It's a dark comedy, sometimes even a romatic comedy. Eventually, hanging out with Jerry leads to lots of blood and death. The problem I have with the movie is the tone. It'll pull so far into one direction, then go into the complete opposite of being serious, and then back again to being silly. Dark comedies can do this, sure, but nothing really feels consistent. It's weird to have a movie take a timeout moment from all the crazy stuff that transpired, have the main character acknowledge how he really should have handled his mental illness, then totally erase all of it with the end credits. For those that want to know:
I just found it incredibly tacky, as it really had nothing to say about mental illness, other than to use it as an exploitive plot device. I probably just need to lighten up, but I can at least acknowledge the movie wasn't for me.
#8. The Mummy (1959) - 2 out of 5
A classic starring Grand Admiral Tarkin (Peter Cushing) as the protagonist vs Count Dooku (Christopher Lee) as The Mummy. It is a very slow build of a movie. There's one part that is a flashback that I swear is 10 to 15 min long explaining the funeral/mummification process. By the time the good stuff starts to happen, an hour had passed and there was about 30 minutes left of the movie, which is disappointing that it took that long to get me interested. The one thing that constantly had me chuckling was that the Mummy understood English pretty well.
#9. Old (2021) - 2.5 out of 5
It had me intrigued throughout. That's pretty much it. I had some thoughts about it, but I really don't think the movie deserves any more of my headspace right now lol. There's some real messed up situations in here. It's on par with M. Night's other stuff if you like his "what a twist" reveals, though I feel it is somewhat lackluster with summing up everything in the end. He has done a better job with that in his past movies.
#10. Fried Barry (2020) - 1.5 out of 5
A drugged up deadbeat named Barry gets abducted by aliens. When he returns to Earth, Barry's body has been hijacked by some alien and it goes on an adventure of drugs, sex and violence. I wanted to like it just purely on the concept, but it's unnecessarily too long with scenes that drag. Imagine visiting Earth and discovering all it has to offer to you are lowlifes on every street corner, lots of sex and drugs, prostitution, and child slavery. Unfortunately, that's all this bizarre film is and could have been so much better than what it presented. I think I liked the music over everything else.
Out of all the movies I've seen so far, probably the one I'm the most mixed on. I've never really felt bad about a Ryan Reynold's movie until this, and the issue isn't the acting. Reynold's plays Jerry, a guy that suffers from mental illness and when he's off his meds, he hears his pets talk to him. It's a dark comedy, sometimes even a romatic comedy. Eventually, hanging out with Jerry leads to lots of blood and death. The problem I have with the movie is the tone. It'll pull so far into one direction, then go into the complete opposite of being serious, and then back again to being silly. Dark comedies can do this, sure, but nothing really feels consistent. It's weird to have a movie take a timeout moment from all the crazy stuff that transpired, have the main character acknowledge how he really should have handled his mental illness, then totally erase all of it with the end credits. For those that want to know:
There's a song and dance with Jesus and everyone Jerry killed in the movie.
#8. The Mummy (1959) - 2 out of 5
A classic starring Grand Admiral Tarkin (Peter Cushing) as the protagonist vs Count Dooku (Christopher Lee) as The Mummy. It is a very slow build of a movie. There's one part that is a flashback that I swear is 10 to 15 min long explaining the funeral/mummification process. By the time the good stuff starts to happen, an hour had passed and there was about 30 minutes left of the movie, which is disappointing that it took that long to get me interested. The one thing that constantly had me chuckling was that the Mummy understood English pretty well.
#9. Old (2021) - 2.5 out of 5
It had me intrigued throughout. That's pretty much it. I had some thoughts about it, but I really don't think the movie deserves any more of my headspace right now lol. There's some real messed up situations in here. It's on par with M. Night's other stuff if you like his "what a twist" reveals, though I feel it is somewhat lackluster with summing up everything in the end. He has done a better job with that in his past movies.
#10. Fried Barry (2020) - 1.5 out of 5
A drugged up deadbeat named Barry gets abducted by aliens. When he returns to Earth, Barry's body has been hijacked by some alien and it goes on an adventure of drugs, sex and violence. I wanted to like it just purely on the concept, but it's unnecessarily too long with scenes that drag. Imagine visiting Earth and discovering all it has to offer to you are lowlifes on every street corner, lots of sex and drugs, prostitution, and child slavery. Unfortunately, that's all this bizarre film is and could have been so much better than what it presented. I think I liked the music over everything else.
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Friday actually copied the spear kill and the truncheon-to-the-face kill#8. A Bay of Blood (1971)
Gory and filled with nudity Bay of Bood felt more like an American slasher flick than the previous two Giallo films I've seen so far. I was surprised to learn after my viewing that this film predates many slashers and actually had a degree of influence on said horror subgenre. The story definitely takes a backseat in favor of some fantastically violent kills and special effects. From decapitations to brutal stabbings this has been the most violent Giallo film on my viewing list so far. It's crazy to think about how much of Bay of Blood's general tone and extreme violence was carried onto the slasher films that came after it. A particularly cool death involving a spear felt like something out of Friday the 13th.
I have been doing this but haven't bothered posting yet, so here is some rapid fire impressions.
1. No One Gets Out Alive
Decent enough. I liked the visual design of the ghosts with the glowy eyes. I like that they didn't explain what the creature was in an exposition dump, they just let you infer its origins from some context clues. But the plot was fairly predictable. 3/5
2. The Final Girls
Bloody great horror comedy. Can't believe I hadn't heard about it until this thread. Some teens from 2015 get trapped in a 80's horror movie but they know they are in a horror movie. Its great fun. 5/5
3. The Changeling
My first time viewing this classic. Honestly didn't like it. The main character just seemed annoyed at the haunting more then anything. The death of his family at the start of the movie was just a red herring and had no real point. And the film ends with an old man who had nothing to do with the kids death dying. It was just weird. The scares were good though. 2/5
4. Slice
A town with ghosts that everyone can see and that get jobs and own houses etc, a werewolf, and witches. Pizza delivery drivers start getting murdered and its a mystery that several people start investigating. Overall it was just very weird. It has pacing like a TV show and felt like it was multiple episodes stuck together. Turns out that it was originally supposed to be a show, so that checks out. The costume design and lighting was great, but it felt like they spent most of there budget on that at the expense of everything else. Just never comes together as anything good. 1/5
5. Halloween 1978 - Rewatch
A classic. Has a few silly things due to its age, but I can't fault it. What else is there to say that others haven't said? 4/5
6. Halloween 2018
Myers more then doubles his kill count from the first film in this. Doesn't have the same impact as the original but is decent fun. I liked the parallels to the original that they did without feeling like they were completely retreading the first film. 3/5
7. SuperDeep
Plot is pretty incoherent at times, but basically the soviet era super deep bore hole was actually a front for a super deep research base. They find something down there that threatens all life. Had some really cool body horror and a surprising amount of practical effects. Was okay. 3/5
8. The Thing 2011
A prequel to John Carpenters The Thing that tells the story of the Norwegian station that originally found the thing. Honestly was a lot better then I expected. The CGI doesn't hold up that well in spots and it is just a retread of John Carpenters, but it does that retread well and the body horror is just as good as ever. 4/5
1. No One Gets Out Alive
Decent enough. I liked the visual design of the ghosts with the glowy eyes. I like that they didn't explain what the creature was in an exposition dump, they just let you infer its origins from some context clues. But the plot was fairly predictable. 3/5
2. The Final Girls
Bloody great horror comedy. Can't believe I hadn't heard about it until this thread. Some teens from 2015 get trapped in a 80's horror movie but they know they are in a horror movie. Its great fun. 5/5
3. The Changeling
My first time viewing this classic. Honestly didn't like it. The main character just seemed annoyed at the haunting more then anything. The death of his family at the start of the movie was just a red herring and had no real point. And the film ends with an old man who had nothing to do with the kids death dying. It was just weird. The scares were good though. 2/5
4. Slice
A town with ghosts that everyone can see and that get jobs and own houses etc, a werewolf, and witches. Pizza delivery drivers start getting murdered and its a mystery that several people start investigating. Overall it was just very weird. It has pacing like a TV show and felt like it was multiple episodes stuck together. Turns out that it was originally supposed to be a show, so that checks out. The costume design and lighting was great, but it felt like they spent most of there budget on that at the expense of everything else. Just never comes together as anything good. 1/5
5. Halloween 1978 - Rewatch
A classic. Has a few silly things due to its age, but I can't fault it. What else is there to say that others haven't said? 4/5
6. Halloween 2018
Myers more then doubles his kill count from the first film in this. Doesn't have the same impact as the original but is decent fun. I liked the parallels to the original that they did without feeling like they were completely retreading the first film. 3/5
7. SuperDeep
Plot is pretty incoherent at times, but basically the soviet era super deep bore hole was actually a front for a super deep research base. They find something down there that threatens all life. Had some really cool body horror and a surprising amount of practical effects. Was okay. 3/5
8. The Thing 2011
A prequel to John Carpenters The Thing that tells the story of the Norwegian station that originally found the thing. Honestly was a lot better then I expected. The CGI doesn't hold up that well in spots and it is just a retread of John Carpenters, but it does that retread well and the body horror is just as good as ever. 4/5
Sea Fever - Hulu - so I mainly free trialed Hulu to watch this despite getting distracted by AHS s10, exorcist tv series, and two questionable horror movies. But…..I dunno. I like how
I was hoping for some broader creature things but I mostly enjoyed it for what it was. 6/10 but a recommended 6/10.
there is no really evil person who causes chaos, just people that made their choices. main complaint is if the creature meant to latch on to a whale or something wouldnt the larvae be spread anywhere by now anyways?
1. Candyman (2021) 3.5/5
2. The Empty Man (2020) 3/5
3. The Lost Boys (1987) 2/5
4. His House (2020) 3.5/5
5. 28 Days Later (2002) [rewatch] 4/5
6. 28 Weeks Later (2007) 3.5/5
7. Shadow in the Cloud (2020) 1/5
8. Re-Animator (1985) 4/5
Now this is low budget horror done right! It's got some scares, some comedy, some gore, some titillation, a simple but engrossing story, good makeup and effects, and a lot of fun. The actors aren't the best in their craft, but they all enthusiastically throw themselves into their roles. This cult classic still holds up 35 years later.
9. Kwaidan (1964) 4/5
Although not remotely scary by today's standards, this collection of Japanese folktale adaptations was a great addition to my Halloween viewings. Artfully crafted with great attention to detail, each of the four stories is a work of art. They all have a dreamy, fairytale-like feeling in large part because of the intricate and colorful sets. They're all deliberately paced, which allows the viewer to take in every detail.
2. The Empty Man (2020) 3/5
3. The Lost Boys (1987) 2/5
4. His House (2020) 3.5/5
5. 28 Days Later (2002) [rewatch] 4/5
6. 28 Weeks Later (2007) 3.5/5
7. Shadow in the Cloud (2020) 1/5
8. Re-Animator (1985) 4/5
Now this is low budget horror done right! It's got some scares, some comedy, some gore, some titillation, a simple but engrossing story, good makeup and effects, and a lot of fun. The actors aren't the best in their craft, but they all enthusiastically throw themselves into their roles. This cult classic still holds up 35 years later.
9. Kwaidan (1964) 4/5
Although not remotely scary by today's standards, this collection of Japanese folktale adaptations was a great addition to my Halloween viewings. Artfully crafted with great attention to detail, each of the four stories is a work of art. They all have a dreamy, fairytale-like feeling in large part because of the intricate and colorful sets. They're all deliberately paced, which allows the viewer to take in every detail.
Movie 8 | Pulse, 2001
Absolutely gorgeous horror. That's what strikes me most - the constant reflections and transparencies, monitors and windows and mirrors and every other kind of pitch black glass haunting the film. The way that that camera is mostly static, save for staccato cuts and the occasional lazy pan. The start-and-stop pacing that refuses to get into any kind of rhythm. It's a museum piece on aesthetic alone, and more than that, it uses that to make a movie that's consistently scary: another member of the "watching-through-my-fingers" club.
The only flaw is that, as a story, the presentation isn't up to snuff. The themes are more or less laid out explicitly, with the premise explained in a lore dump midway through. You'd think the movie is too transparent, but just as often it's the opposite. The last chunk, where the two main stories start to intertwine, suffers from that opacity - up until that point you're good just kind of vibing, but now we've got a sudden demand for motion and momentum and action. It's never quite clear what's happening, and at some point you start to lose me.
But even when you're lost, the individual scenes are beautiful, engaging, and really, REALLY scary. What it needs to do, it does excellently. For something 20 years old, it's incredibly prescient about its core themes of loneliness and death in the internet age. It says something that the Ring movies feel so analog in comparison - both about the rapid pace of technological development over the past few decades, and of Kurosawa's strength as a creative.
Absolutely gorgeous horror. That's what strikes me most - the constant reflections and transparencies, monitors and windows and mirrors and every other kind of pitch black glass haunting the film. The way that that camera is mostly static, save for staccato cuts and the occasional lazy pan. The start-and-stop pacing that refuses to get into any kind of rhythm. It's a museum piece on aesthetic alone, and more than that, it uses that to make a movie that's consistently scary: another member of the "watching-through-my-fingers" club.
The only flaw is that, as a story, the presentation isn't up to snuff. The themes are more or less laid out explicitly, with the premise explained in a lore dump midway through. You'd think the movie is too transparent, but just as often it's the opposite. The last chunk, where the two main stories start to intertwine, suffers from that opacity - up until that point you're good just kind of vibing, but now we've got a sudden demand for motion and momentum and action. It's never quite clear what's happening, and at some point you start to lose me.
But even when you're lost, the individual scenes are beautiful, engaging, and really, REALLY scary. What it needs to do, it does excellently. For something 20 years old, it's incredibly prescient about its core themes of loneliness and death in the internet age. It says something that the Ring movies feel so analog in comparison - both about the rapid pace of technological development over the past few decades, and of Kurosawa's strength as a creative.
Friday the 13th - The Final Chapter (1984)
The first "ending" of the series is a very horny movie. Everybody is horny! I mentioned the core of the series in the previous film as the Tom Savini gore style, but here the sex and nudity are elevated just as the violence. The point is made clear when a character starts to project old porn stag films in the room, then gets killed by Jason through the screen of those movies! Friday the 13th is stating its place in horny cinema.
Once again, we have the same bad directed/acting/edited killing scenes (and some impressive stunts), but this time, there's some weird moments that really shine. The (in)famous Crispin Glover dance that changes the mood and the very creepy ending with the kid going full Jason cosplay. That particular moment combined with the gore of the final blow gives a strong eerie feeling.
I wouldn't say that I liked the movie, but it's definitely the most interesting of the first four.
My first rodeo with the rideshare killer genre that is surprisingly not as big as I thought it would have been by now was with Ryde. I'm not sure how many folks saw that overall, but I had, shall we say, an interesting reaction to it in the end, fully recognizing how kinda big crappy it was while also being compelled by the strange conviction it had in every aspect that it felt that it was more than a very dumb mashup of A24-chasing aesthetics and bargain basement thrills for a not-altogether unpleasant time with it. Sure, it's a lot of laughing at it in the end, but it seemed like the kind of film that could take it all in stride as its modest aims do grant it that much. Perhaps those aims were too modest by far, as the concept did little with the way technology has enabled the psychopaths out there to get with the times in a way that makes them more threatening. After all, if this guy manages to tuck someone into bed without killing them, how good could he have been in using his app in the first place?
The film here takes something a distinctly opposite approach, as it is very much about the way technology does enable us. It's quite literally the entire aesthetic of the film, as our, uhh, hero of sorts in Kurt has finally figured out just how to make it big as a streaming presence online, after years of trying and failing to get much in the way of a following while others close to him. His grand plan: #TheLesson, a multipart plan of an inconsequential number of steps to ensure immortality as his main gig as a rideshare driver for, you guessed it, Spree, has him rigging up his car with several cameras to get the best possible angle on all the action he's about to provide. Of course, when said action is picking up folks to kill them, one has to wonder why so much effort went into the multi-camera setup and the deeply faithful overlays for the various chatting and streaming services that help to fill the frame out even more as it shifts perspectives, aspect ratios and even outright visibility as Kurt's crazy day turns into a rather alarming night as more and more victims are treated to crueler and more heinous deaths at his hands.
It's certainly a challenging role to take on for any actor, but I think that Stranger Things star Joe Keery pretty much nails it in its entirety, as he has to find the sadness at the heart of the why Kurt is who he is in order to make the horror that ensues at all watchable with how he winds up more and more committed to following through with his scheme. Initially, one could almost write off his choice of victims as happy accidents with how big of turds they turn out to be, but as is so often the case for setups in films of this nature, there's always that one person that keeps spring up in the back of his mind that he can't just let go of and needs to make into his obsession, finding it here in a fine performance from Sasheer Zamata as Jessie. But in a modern twist, the sexual desire that tends to crop up in a story like this takes on something as more of an outright desire for power, as Jessie's following on social media is the dream for Kurt and creates the tension of just how far he's willing to go to get it. Keery is a natural charmer as he does a great job of convincing you of the wild swings he goes on that even when things start to get truly irredeemable, you still find yourself falling for him and his wiles when you least expect it.
Keery is also a valuable asset as his performance helps to keep everything coherent, even at is most chaotic. While the film can't ever be accused of being too subtle with its messaging, it's easy to forget that its topic is one where subtlety died a horrible death long ago, mimicking the cringe and bluster of the everyday social media presence experience with pinpoint accuracy. This is wielded as a double-edged sword, as the filmmakers manage to take a lot of scenarios for content creators to make the atmosphere feel authentic as viewers find themselves arguing amongst themselves as to the veracity of Kurt's acts. That other edge is where I imagine most folks would check out really quick from this, as this doesn't just embrace the social media aspect, as it instead weaves a visually overwhelming mosaic of it all happening at once, with streams competing with each other on screen constantly and offering up a dizzying kaleidoscope of human insanity as comment sections erupt into impossible-to-follow blurs and the sometimes unclear positioning of who is who that can make the multi-camera shots a genuine struggle to decipher. They commit to their aesthetic wholeheartedly, of that there can be no doubt, but the surge of visual information and noise is aggressive and busy in a way that few films would ever attempt. It's bound to give even the most connected individuals among us a big headache.
The film honestly feels perfect for what it sets out to do, so the question of what it all should mean is a prevailing one that offers up two sides of a coin. The commentary on how toxic the power that some folks feel that their owed from an audience that may not exist for them is something that's always at the forefront of the film's mind, with the sense of entitlement Kurt feels he's owed giving way to a much darker ideology in its ending. But one man's food for thought is easily another person's junk food, as the film also makes a successful argument that it's merely going after easy targets without having to do much more than find an entertaining way to tie it all together for a black comedy/horror hybrid that's always clever but never as clever as it thinks it is with the sheer vapidness of the subject matter being right in front of us. It's an unusual film in that it has a lot to say while also not having a lot to say at all with the way it can catch you from scene to scene, and it comes down to how one engages with social media in the first place. For me, as obvious as it can be at times, I can't say that I wasn't captivated by the film all the same, even when Keery isn't on the camera, as it does at least want to put something out there in between the relatively high-powered celebrity cameos for some of the more amusing deaths and a nicely implemented glimpse into Kurt's psyche that shows a lot of hidden pain that makes more sense of the why he's doing all of this in the first place. If not truly exceptional, one does have to admire the moxie here and admit that even if it does wind up meaning nothing in the end, it sure put on a good show all the same.
#11 Amusement Park (1975)
A interesting piece of Romero's work that has quite a history, but has thankfully been revived in recent years. Certainly a wild take about elder abuse, and Romero threw in quite a lot of great imagery to really make the point pretty effective. Just seeing the more optimistic version of the guy get dragged down overtime to the point that the lonely white room is more appealing than what is out there was depressing to watch.
A interesting piece of Romero's work that has quite a history, but has thankfully been revived in recent years. Certainly a wild take about elder abuse, and Romero threw in quite a lot of great imagery to really make the point pretty effective. Just seeing the more optimistic version of the guy get dragged down overtime to the point that the lonely white room is more appealing than what is out there was depressing to watch.
7. Malignant
I didn't feel like I could talk about this without going into spoilers, so....
I didn't feel like I could talk about this without going into spoilers, so....
I've got a very love/hate relationship with James Wan. I believe he's talented as fuck, but that the only thing that prevents him from truly knocking it out of the park is his tendency to not avoid his worst impulses. I always point to a scene from the Conjuring 2 as a summation of this point which is the big scare scene with Vera Farmiga and the nun painting. The buildup of that scene is fantastic, creepy, and suspenseful. When it comes time to blow off all of this built up pressure though, we get a goofy Marilyn Manson lookalike running at the camera, making the goofiest "scary" face possible.
Along with that, the visual direction and sound design in those big jumps are usually way too over the top. This, along with a cheese factor that's prevalent in many of his flicks, has prevented him from being one of the modern horror greats in my mind.
I doubt he would care much though about my opinion. He's possibly the biggest name in horror these days. His most popular work, The Conjuring, is the highlight for me as well, despite it not being able to resist the falling on its face streak for me. The opening act is one I hold up fairly high. It's scary as hell and basically as good as it gets for mainstream contemporary horror. So, I'm always going to be there for one of his new films.
Malignant is interesting compared to his other horror work. It's like he combines his supernatural toolset with what he's learned making action films and applied it to an old school exploitation backdrop. What it lacks in his greatest strength (the buildup and biting nails suspense) it makes up for in pure entertainment. I was very amused early on just how often I was thinking, "what the fuck is happening?" Piecing together the various clues was half the fun. One of those thoughts eventually was, "is it a conjoined twin?" I got very excited once that seemed to be the case since I was basically getting a take on a modern day Basket Case movie. It's beautifully batshit. I absolutely love the premise.
I'm not completely sold on the action aspects. It may have went too far for me here, but outside of a weird moment or two with some floaty CGI, the action is well directed. Just to reiterate that, I'm all aboard the carnage of the final act, but don't know if the modern action choreography and direction served the film well. I would have also liked one more scene just to tidy up the ending a bit more as it seemed too abrupt.
As it stands though, it's probably my favorite James Wan flick.
7/10
Along with that, the visual direction and sound design in those big jumps are usually way too over the top. This, along with a cheese factor that's prevalent in many of his flicks, has prevented him from being one of the modern horror greats in my mind.
I doubt he would care much though about my opinion. He's possibly the biggest name in horror these days. His most popular work, The Conjuring, is the highlight for me as well, despite it not being able to resist the falling on its face streak for me. The opening act is one I hold up fairly high. It's scary as hell and basically as good as it gets for mainstream contemporary horror. So, I'm always going to be there for one of his new films.
Malignant is interesting compared to his other horror work. It's like he combines his supernatural toolset with what he's learned making action films and applied it to an old school exploitation backdrop. What it lacks in his greatest strength (the buildup and biting nails suspense) it makes up for in pure entertainment. I was very amused early on just how often I was thinking, "what the fuck is happening?" Piecing together the various clues was half the fun. One of those thoughts eventually was, "is it a conjoined twin?" I got very excited once that seemed to be the case since I was basically getting a take on a modern day Basket Case movie. It's beautifully batshit. I absolutely love the premise.
I'm not completely sold on the action aspects. It may have went too far for me here, but outside of a weird moment or two with some floaty CGI, the action is well directed. Just to reiterate that, I'm all aboard the carnage of the final act, but don't know if the modern action choreography and direction served the film well. I would have also liked one more scene just to tidy up the ending a bit more as it seemed too abrupt.
As it stands though, it's probably my favorite James Wan flick.
7/10
1 - RE-ANIMATOR ⭐⭐⭐⭐
2 - DEEP RED ⭐⭐⭐⭐
3 - TROMA'S WAR ⭐⭐
4 - DEAD HEAT ⭐⭐⭐
5 - V/H/S/94 ⭐⭐⭐
6 - ANGEL ⭐⭐⭐⭐
7 - MAYHEM ⭐⭐⭐⭐
8 - SCARE PACKAGE ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Another anthology movie. Like last time I'll rate the connecting store and the individual stories separately. The movie is very meta and is basically using All the tropes of horror films. Not some... ALL! It's obviously a horror comedy but the framing device of the video store made me so happy because that's how I became a Mutant.
My only problem with the connecting story is it seems to change eras. It starts as a VHS style rental store but seems to become a DVD/Bluray store as the movie goes on. They even show those old VHS rewind devices in the first part.
They unfortunately include some meta tropes including Joe Bob Briggs himself showing up as himself.
Framing Story ⭐⭐⭐
First Short ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Second Short ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Third Short ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Fourth Short ⭐⭐⭐
Fifth Short ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Sixth Short ⭐⭐
Seventh Short ⭐⭐⭐
"Do you even know how hard it is to curse a doll?"
2 - DEEP RED ⭐⭐⭐⭐
3 - TROMA'S WAR ⭐⭐
4 - DEAD HEAT ⭐⭐⭐
5 - V/H/S/94 ⭐⭐⭐
6 - ANGEL ⭐⭐⭐⭐
7 - MAYHEM ⭐⭐⭐⭐
8 - SCARE PACKAGE ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Another anthology movie. Like last time I'll rate the connecting store and the individual stories separately. The movie is very meta and is basically using All the tropes of horror films. Not some... ALL! It's obviously a horror comedy but the framing device of the video store made me so happy because that's how I became a Mutant.
My only problem with the connecting story is it seems to change eras. It starts as a VHS style rental store but seems to become a DVD/Bluray store as the movie goes on. They even show those old VHS rewind devices in the first part.
They unfortunately include some meta tropes including Joe Bob Briggs himself showing up as himself.
Framing Story ⭐⭐⭐
First Short ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Second Short ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Third Short ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Fourth Short ⭐⭐⭐
Fifth Short ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Sixth Short ⭐⭐
Seventh Short ⭐⭐⭐
"Do you even know how hard it is to curse a doll?"
I was gonna check out the Parents Guide for a film in IMDB but up top the film's page they decide to tell me this instead:
"Hardly anyone survives this film"
Alright then
"Hardly anyone survives this film"
Alright then
08. The Curse of Frankenstein (1957, Terence Fisher) ★★★½
Enjoyed it more than Dracula, but I still find the Hammer movies mostly boring.
09. Ju-on: The Grudge (2002, Takashi Shimizu) ★★★½
Pretty effective at being creepy. The non-linear story didn't do it any favors though.
Enjoyed it more than Dracula, but I still find the Hammer movies mostly boring.
09. Ju-on: The Grudge (2002, Takashi Shimizu) ★★★½
Pretty effective at being creepy. The non-linear story didn't do it any favors though.
Films #14, 15 and 16 – The Fear Street Trilogy
Taken as a whole, these three films make up an enjoyable slasher-through-the-ages mini-series. The overarching story holds your interest, there's some great and surprisingly brutal kills, and I personally didn't guess what was really going on before the big reveal at the end.
Taken as individual movies, 1994 is definitely my favourite. It's got the best characters, the most interesting story (though it doesn't get fully resolved until the '94 Part 2 pops up at the end of 1666) and absolutely the best kill. Also NIN, Cypress Hill, Soundgarden, Pixies, Garbage, Portishead and more on the fabulous soundtrack, which pleased my ageing ears.
1978 is fun, well put together and gets bonus points for featuring the excellent Sadie Sink. It does feel a bit more like a standard slasher than the first part however.
1666 is the episode I was looking forward to the most, as it fits in with my themes for this year's marathon, but I felt it was the least successful. The use of the same actors to play the ancestors of their original characters felt cool for about five minutes, but soon became a bit of a distraction. Making those ancestors so very similar to their descendants, to the extent where the character dealing drugs in 1994 had a forebear doing essentially the same thing in 1666, also felt a bit cheesy. There were also some logical inconsistencies in the way it was done, and the reprise of the forbidden love element felt a bit like a cheat too. But I'm probably nit-picking here; I still enjoyed the movie a lot.
Scores: 1994 – 4; 1978 – 3.5; 1666 – 3;
Overall Trilogy Score: 3.5 out of 5
Films I've watched so far
Taken as a whole, these three films make up an enjoyable slasher-through-the-ages mini-series. The overarching story holds your interest, there's some great and surprisingly brutal kills, and I personally didn't guess what was really going on before the big reveal at the end.
Taken as individual movies, 1994 is definitely my favourite. It's got the best characters, the most interesting story (though it doesn't get fully resolved until the '94 Part 2 pops up at the end of 1666) and absolutely the best kill. Also NIN, Cypress Hill, Soundgarden, Pixies, Garbage, Portishead and more on the fabulous soundtrack, which pleased my ageing ears.
1978 is fun, well put together and gets bonus points for featuring the excellent Sadie Sink. It does feel a bit more like a standard slasher than the first part however.
1666 is the episode I was looking forward to the most, as it fits in with my themes for this year's marathon, but I felt it was the least successful. The use of the same actors to play the ancestors of their original characters felt cool for about five minutes, but soon became a bit of a distraction. Making those ancestors so very similar to their descendants, to the extent where the character dealing drugs in 1994 had a forebear doing essentially the same thing in 1666, also felt a bit cheesy. There were also some logical inconsistencies in the way it was done, and the reprise of the forbidden love element felt a bit like a cheat too. But I'm probably nit-picking here; I still enjoyed the movie a lot.
Scores: 1994 – 4; 1978 – 3.5; 1666 – 3;
Overall Trilogy Score: 3.5 out of 5
Films I've watched so far
6. Night of The Living Dead (1990)
I like the original more than this, but the heroine here is better. This even felt like a comedy at times.
I like the original more than this, but the heroine here is better. This even felt like a comedy at times.
List so far
29 - The Conjuring The Devil Made Me Do It 3/5
And we finish out the Conjuring trilogy (and the CCU) with another ok one. I liked how at least it felt quite different from one and two (thankfully it's not another haunted house), I liked all the creepy body bending going on, and I especially liked that there was no shoe'ed-in OBLIGATORY SPIN-OFF CHARACTER(tm), but overall, much lie the second movie, it's not as scary as the first, and I think by the third movie, the whole notion these are "based in true stories" is starting to rub me the wrong way. Like this one, someone literally got away with murder, and as much as I love horror movies, I don't actually believe in the supernatural so these movies glorifying the Warrens, who again, once you don't believe in the supernatural, makes them basically con-men, the whole thing starts to feel iffy. I dunno I'm probably overthinking it, either way, the movie is fine I guess lol.
Still, I have to say overall the whole CCU was better than I expected, with only two real duds (The Nun and La Llorona), and both the Conjuring and Annabelle trilogies are, in general, decent, with some ok movies and some great ones. Although I have no faith in the upcoming Nun sequel (ugh) or Crooked Man movie (double ugh).
29 - The Conjuring The Devil Made Me Do It 3/5
And we finish out the Conjuring trilogy (and the CCU) with another ok one. I liked how at least it felt quite different from one and two (thankfully it's not another haunted house), I liked all the creepy body bending going on, and I especially liked that there was no shoe'ed-in OBLIGATORY SPIN-OFF CHARACTER(tm), but overall, much lie the second movie, it's not as scary as the first, and I think by the third movie, the whole notion these are "based in true stories" is starting to rub me the wrong way. Like this one, someone literally got away with murder, and as much as I love horror movies, I don't actually believe in the supernatural so these movies glorifying the Warrens, who again, once you don't believe in the supernatural, makes them basically con-men, the whole thing starts to feel iffy. I dunno I'm probably overthinking it, either way, the movie is fine I guess lol.
Still, I have to say overall the whole CCU was better than I expected, with only two real duds (The Nun and La Llorona), and both the Conjuring and Annabelle trilogies are, in general, decent, with some ok movies and some great ones. Although I have no faith in the upcoming Nun sequel (ugh) or Crooked Man movie (double ugh).
I hit 41 horror movies watched last night on 10/9 for the month of October. It's easy to jam in a slew of movies per day when a lot of horror movies from the golden/silver age are only 1.5hrs long. I was going to take a break, but I was given the option of yet another week of OT so I sat down at 5am this morning, fired up the work laptop, and put on yet another horror movie to help get me through the day.
I'll probably do a mega list at the end of the month in one post and just continue to throw out a review here and there when the mood strikes me or when I think a movie is worth mentioning.
I'll probably do a mega list at the end of the month in one post and just continue to throw out a review here and there when the mood strikes me or when I think a movie is worth mentioning.
30 - Siren 2/5
Spin off from the best segment in V/H/S, but I guess there was a reason those were shorts. They tried, I'll give them that, but the movie is obviously very low budget, most of the violence and kills is off-screen which was very dissapointing, and them making her a siren instead of a succubus which clearly was the idea in V/H/S is bizarre, I guess they really wanted the whole singing angle. Still, everytime Lily is on screen is rgeat, the actress clearly has fun in the role and the makeup is great, unfortunately she is not on screen a lot, especially not for a movie titled after her. Shame, it's not terrible or anything, and I'd say it's still worth a watch for Hannah Fierman alone, but in the end, her V/H/S segment should probably have been and a one and done, no matter how popular it was.
36. House III: The Horror Show
No coherent rules and not enough creative visuals and set pieces to paper over the incoherency just makes for a boring Nightmare on Elm Street clone
1.5 outta 5
No coherent rules and not enough creative visuals and set pieces to paper over the incoherency just makes for a boring Nightmare on Elm Street clone
1.5 outta 5
Film #17 – The Mare
This sad, dark, slow burning Norwegian film tells the story of Liam, a young man troubled by hideous nightmares following his mother's violent suicide. Sent to spend some time with his grandmother in the hope that the peaceful landscape of fjords and mountains will help calm him, Liam finds his condition actually worsening, especially when he finds his mother's old diary, through which he believes she is trying to communicate with him.
I must admit I found this film pretty depressing. It's central (only?) message seems to be that mental illness is a nightmare that some people can never wake up from, perhaps even beyond the point of their own deaths. It's well made, there's some great shots of the awe-inspiring scenery, and Grethe Mikaelsen's performance as Liam's grandmother is fantastic, but I would still hesitate to recommend it.
Score: 3 out of 5
Films I've watched so far
This sad, dark, slow burning Norwegian film tells the story of Liam, a young man troubled by hideous nightmares following his mother's violent suicide. Sent to spend some time with his grandmother in the hope that the peaceful landscape of fjords and mountains will help calm him, Liam finds his condition actually worsening, especially when he finds his mother's old diary, through which he believes she is trying to communicate with him.
I must admit I found this film pretty depressing. It's central (only?) message seems to be that mental illness is a nightmare that some people can never wake up from, perhaps even beyond the point of their own deaths. It's well made, there's some great shots of the awe-inspiring scenery, and Grethe Mikaelsen's performance as Liam's grandmother is fantastic, but I would still hesitate to recommend it.
Score: 3 out of 5
Films I've watched so far
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24. Trick 'r Treat (2007) (Rewatch) 5/5
One of my favorites ever and a modern Halloween classic.
37. House IV: The Repossession 1992
Bugs, Snakes, Bugs, Snakes, Singing Pizza, Singing Pizza Guy, Haunted House, Toxic Waste Mafia, Roger from Another Reality... You know the classics
Honestly the key to a House movie is for the main characters to not realize they exist in an incredibly stupid movie.
1 does it best, 2 is delightful but fails the key, 3 doesn't count, and here 4 it's not quite 1 but it's got the key down
Bugs, Snakes, Bugs, Snakes, Singing Pizza, Singing Pizza Guy, Haunted House, Toxic Waste Mafia, Roger from Another Reality... You know the classics
Honestly the key to a House movie is for the main characters to not realize they exist in an incredibly stupid movie.
1 does it best, 2 is delightful but fails the key, 3 doesn't count, and here 4 it's not quite 1 but it's got the key down
31 - Spiral 2/5
Not sure who this movie is for tbh, it has a lot less kills, thus a lot less torture porn than the Saw movies (theres some good gore tho), the first 2 acts are basically a cop procedural with a bunch of unlikeable characters, and then the third act and consequent reveals are super dumb, even if I liked how cocky the killer was lol. It also doesn't FEEL like a Saw movie, which arguably is a good thing, it's certainly different, but again I'm left wondering who this is for. Also Chris Rock sounds like he's doing stand up throughout the whole thing, Adam Sandler he is not (in the ability to take on dramatic roles that is). I didn't hate it, and it's probably a better movie than some of the later Saws (I still love 1-4 tho), but it's not particularly good either.
List!
#13 Possessor
Probably my favorite out of everything I have watched so far. Really enjoyed everything from the concept, the visual execution, the script and the acting. It is one of the few cases where the fact that so little details and backstory is established for some of the pivotal characters really help to enhance the feeling of alienation and loss of identity. Only a very rough outline is established, and it is left up to the viewer to fill in the details based on circumstantial details and dialogue. Also really enjoyed how the story untangled and the lines of who is in control gets more blurred.
#14 Spring
Pretty good, but quite uneven. Favorite aspect is without a doubt the gorgeous aerial shots of Italy. The majority of the movie really just boils down to "witty" banter between the two lead actors and the writing sometimes comes off as somewhat amateur and rough, so not everything lands. The science-y exposition to set up the premise of the conflict is particularly inelegant in its implementation. Acting is also only serviceable at best, so I was not that invested in the romantic aspect which is clearly intended to carry the movie (though to be fair romance is probably my least favorite genre anyway). As a consequence of that the ending section felt of lame, unearned and kitschy.
#15 Alien Resurrection
Holy fuck, that new alien design is a pile of garbage. Didn´t know Joss Whedon had been involved in this, but braced myself once I saw his name pop up in the credits, and with good reason: this script is really Whedon at his worst. Casual misogyny, awful attempts at humor and cheese all over the place, and the tone does not fit at all. Plot feels like a retread of previous movies, and all the new characters are insufferable and annoying.
#16 The Lodge
That certainly was a long emotionally draining downer. Think I am going to pick something more light or trashy for my next movie. Looking at the previous work of the people who made this (Goodnight mommy), it does make more sense what I should have expected. I do think it is very effective at what it sets out to do, because you really do feel the sense of isolation, helplessness and loss of control, and you really do feel for the main character through all the shits she has to go through. The scene where she finds her dog was particularly upsetting. And while there is somewhat of a sense of catharsis in the end, but definitely a pretty feel-bad movie.
Probably my favorite out of everything I have watched so far. Really enjoyed everything from the concept, the visual execution, the script and the acting. It is one of the few cases where the fact that so little details and backstory is established for some of the pivotal characters really help to enhance the feeling of alienation and loss of identity. Only a very rough outline is established, and it is left up to the viewer to fill in the details based on circumstantial details and dialogue. Also really enjoyed how the story untangled and the lines of who is in control gets more blurred.
#14 Spring
Pretty good, but quite uneven. Favorite aspect is without a doubt the gorgeous aerial shots of Italy. The majority of the movie really just boils down to "witty" banter between the two lead actors and the writing sometimes comes off as somewhat amateur and rough, so not everything lands. The science-y exposition to set up the premise of the conflict is particularly inelegant in its implementation. Acting is also only serviceable at best, so I was not that invested in the romantic aspect which is clearly intended to carry the movie (though to be fair romance is probably my least favorite genre anyway). As a consequence of that the ending section felt of lame, unearned and kitschy.
#15 Alien Resurrection
Holy fuck, that new alien design is a pile of garbage. Didn´t know Joss Whedon had been involved in this, but braced myself once I saw his name pop up in the credits, and with good reason: this script is really Whedon at his worst. Casual misogyny, awful attempts at humor and cheese all over the place, and the tone does not fit at all. Plot feels like a retread of previous movies, and all the new characters are insufferable and annoying.
#16 The Lodge
That certainly was a long emotionally draining downer. Think I am going to pick something more light or trashy for my next movie. Looking at the previous work of the people who made this (Goodnight mommy), it does make more sense what I should have expected. I do think it is very effective at what it sets out to do, because you really do feel the sense of isolation, helplessness and loss of control, and you really do feel for the main character through all the shits she has to go through. The scene where she finds her dog was particularly upsetting. And while there is somewhat of a sense of catharsis in the end, but definitely a pretty feel-bad movie.