-
Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.
-
We have made minor adjustments to how the search bar works on ResetEra. You can read about the changes here.
Horror Fan Era: Eternally Overlooked
- Thread starter Hex
- Start date
Thanks for the recommendation. Just got finished watching it. It is far from perfect (and not as good as the first) but it has some really interesting things going on. Some really good scares too!
Yup, and miiiiiiiiles better than the second. Ever seen either of the prequels? I don't much care for them but I've noticed opinions are pretty varied.
Oh yea, They Look Like People really got me. I was not expecting it to be the type of movie it was, but man was it good.
I just got my leatherbound collection of H.P. Lovecraft, everything he ever had published. Going to be a fun fall re-reading the greats.
I just got my leatherbound collection of H.P. Lovecraft, everything he ever had published. Going to be a fun fall re-reading the greats.
October 28, 2017:
28 of 31 - Ouija
A creepy movie about teens using a Ouija board to connect with a recently deceased friend who is believed to commit suicide in her home but instead find themselves bounded with a different spirit. They also learn the dark history of the home and the previous family that lived there.
An entertaining film mixing teen horror flick with a well known paranormal device. The story is tight and the scares are here and there. Great cameo by the legendary Lin Shaye too. -7/10
28 of 31 - Ouija
A creepy movie about teens using a Ouija board to connect with a recently deceased friend who is believed to commit suicide in her home but instead find themselves bounded with a different spirit. They also learn the dark history of the home and the previous family that lived there.
An entertaining film mixing teen horror flick with a well known paranormal device. The story is tight and the scares are here and there. Great cameo by the legendary Lin Shaye too. -7/10
#28 - Alien Resurrection Special Edition
This was like a SyFy original with production value. It's completely absurd but I enjoyed it as a dumb fun movie, gave me some good laughs. Maybe an unpopular opinion but I'd take it over Alien 3.
I also loved this version of Ripley in spite of some cringey dialogue.
This was like a SyFy original with production value. It's completely absurd but I enjoyed it as a dumb fun movie, gave me some good laughs. Maybe an unpopular opinion but I'd take it over Alien 3.
I also loved this version of Ripley in spite of some cringey dialogue.
Sonno Sion directed one of my favorite Japanese flicks so I'll definitely check this out. On Netflix even!Do my fellow Era members have any opinion on my favorite J-horror title Strange Circus. Shit is sick & brutal & amazing.
Speaking of Japanese horror, have you guys seen Retribution? https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001GI2706/?tag=era0f0-20
Slow burn but it gets real out of the blue late into the film.
Slow burn but it gets real out of the blue late into the film.
Just finished movie 30 in my 31 Days of Horror watch. I can't believe I'm actually going to make it this year! What a wild ride it's been. I'm going to watch Trick 'r Treat (first time seeing it!) tomorrow evening since I have plans on Halloween and I doubt I'll be able to watch anything then.
Here's a link to my Letterboxd list.
I really loved Under the Shadow, The Void, The Final Girls and all of Mike Flanagan's movies. Tucker and Dale vs. Evil was also a lot of fun.
Here's a link to my Letterboxd list.
I really loved Under the Shadow, The Void, The Final Girls and all of Mike Flanagan's movies. Tucker and Dale vs. Evil was also a lot of fun.
Oooh, Trick 't Treat, you're in for a real...treat. :D
That's what I've heard! I don't know how I've made it this long without seeing it. I'm really looking forward to it. :)
There are actually a lot out there. These are some I've watched in the last year or so:
- XX
- Southbound
- Tales of Halloween
- ABC's of Death 1 & 2
- V\H\S 1 & 2
- Body Bags
- Three...Extremes (almost forgot about this one)
Love horror movies. I love being afraid. I may enjoy other genres a bit more, but there's nothing more immersive to me than some good horror <3
The end is in sight for this year's weird 31 Days of Horror.
Film 29
Afflicted
This was a much better than average found footage / fake documentary film. It's the story of a couple of friends who go on a round the world trip that ends with one of them catching an unfortunate dose of the vampires. There's some good effects, the story's great and it features a glorious absence of the shakycam that so often messes up the genre. What really makes it succeed, however, is the likability of the leads Derek Lee and Clif Prowse, who also jointly wrote and directed the movie. Definitely worth a watch.
Film 29
Afflicted
This was a much better than average found footage / fake documentary film. It's the story of a couple of friends who go on a round the world trip that ends with one of them catching an unfortunate dose of the vampires. There's some good effects, the story's great and it features a glorious absence of the shakycam that so often messes up the genre. What really makes it succeed, however, is the likability of the leads Derek Lee and Clif Prowse, who also jointly wrote and directed the movie. Definitely worth a watch.
Trick 'r Treat is severely under rated. Have you seen this sweet Sam figure?
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01NAUP3RK/?tag=era0f0-20
Over the last couple of weeks, I've seen:
The Invisible Man and Returns(for the first time)
Cat People '81
Raw
The Wailing
We are Still Here
Train to Busan
Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
Carnival of Souls
Black Sunday
The Girl with All the Gifts
Trying to catch up on films I've never seen.
The Invisible Man and Returns(for the first time)
Cat People '81
Raw
The Wailing
We are Still Here
Train to Busan
Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
Carnival of Souls
Black Sunday
The Girl with All the Gifts
Trying to catch up on films I've never seen.
Ditto to all those except Southbound, which I haven't seen. Especially XX and Body Bags. V/H/S 2 has one of the best horror shorts of the last decade (the cult story), soooo good.
They recently uploaded all the episodes to ''Are you afraid of the dark'' on youtube. Been going through a nostalgia trip with that one for the past little bit. Soooo corny, but still fairly entertaining.
I subscribed to Shudder again this year and saw some goodies.
I subscribed to Shudder again this year and saw some goodies.
There are episodes of AYAotD that are extremely well done and impressive. So 90s it hurts, tho.
#29 - Train to Busan
Ohhhhh man. This one blew me away. I went in totally blind, didn't know what to expect. What I got was one of the best action-horror/zombie films in recent memory. Every single minute had me totally enthralled, every time I thought the tension was gonna die down it ramps back up. I even got a little teary eyed during a couple parts.
Train to Busan is a must-watch. It's on Netflix too!
Ohhhhh man. This one blew me away. I went in totally blind, didn't know what to expect. What I got was one of the best action-horror/zombie films in recent memory. Every single minute had me totally enthralled, every time I thought the tension was gonna die down it ramps back up. I even got a little teary eyed during a couple parts.
Train to Busan is a must-watch. It's on Netflix too!
It's a shame I hadn't seen it sooner. It's the closest feeling I've gotten watching a zombie movie since Dawn of the Dead '78. Like that film, it has a perfect blend of action, horror, great character moments and a real sense of humanity. Being a father, the ending is heart wrenching and hit home for me. Wonderful film.
October 29, 2017:
29 of 31 - Ouija: The Origin of Evil
The origin story of Doris Zander and her sister Lina, their mother and the infamous Ouija board of the first Ouija movie.
The movie shows in detail the events leading up to the death of Doris and how Lina ends up in the mental institution. I actually liked this one over the first one. It felt more traditionally scary and creepy. All scary movies with little girls are scary and the way Lulu Wilson (Doris) plays out her character with the special effects nails it. Always have a fun time watching this. -7/10
29 of 31 - Ouija: The Origin of Evil
The origin story of Doris Zander and her sister Lina, their mother and the infamous Ouija board of the first Ouija movie.
The movie shows in detail the events leading up to the death of Doris and how Lina ends up in the mental institution. I actually liked this one over the first one. It felt more traditionally scary and creepy. All scary movies with little girls are scary and the way Lulu Wilson (Doris) plays out her character with the special effects nails it. Always have a fun time watching this. -7/10
Just finished Tokyo Gore Police. Reminded me of Versus in the frantic weirdness and jank. Can't say I really enjoyed it though I did like the music. One track toward the end reminded me of Gurren Lagann but too lazy to check. Was actually shocked to see black face in a film from 2008.
Rewatched the Ring as well. Super slow but you can see why it became so popular.
This month also caught Sonno Shion's take on Rearu Onigokko which was weird but, well it was mostly weird. Okay though. Maybe watch the other version if I have time today.
Not sure I would classify these as horror, but also caught the first three Werewolf Game movies. Basically a play off Battle Royale. Maybe we need just a teens forced to kill each other genre. These were fun though. No social commentary but fun, particularly number 2.
Rewatched the Ring as well. Super slow but you can see why it became so popular.
This month also caught Sonno Shion's take on Rearu Onigokko which was weird but, well it was mostly weird. Okay though. Maybe watch the other version if I have time today.
Not sure I would classify these as horror, but also caught the first three Werewolf Game movies. Basically a play off Battle Royale. Maybe we need just a teens forced to kill each other genre. These were fun though. No social commentary but fun, particularly number 2.
We Are The Flesh, my penultimate 31 Days of Horror selection, proved to be a load of old bollocks. Mexican post-apocalyptic (maybe) explicit incest cannibal art-house porn bollocks to be precise. Sticky-icky-icky and not in a good way, it reminded me a little of A Serbian Film in its desire to shock, only WATF is prettier and more surreal and slightly less heavy-handed and cowardly in signposting its satiric intent. Still boring rubbish though.
Watch if you enjoy drawn out, pointless close-ups of male and female genitalia filmed through blue and red filters.
Watch if you enjoy drawn out, pointless close-ups of male and female genitalia filmed through blue and red filters.
Trick 'r Treat was an excellent choice to wrap up my 31 Days of Horror challenge! Just as fun as everyone said it would be. I particularly loved the segment with Anna Paquin
Sam is so adorable. Will rewatch this for sure in years to come.
- the 'damsel in distress is really a monster' thing gets me every time.
Put it on my Netflix list. Anyone got any other Netflix recs? Looking at their genre browsing, I've seen The Babysitter, 1922, Young Frankenstein, Gremlins, The Craft, It Follows, Human Centipede, Queen of the Damned, Deathgasm, Teeth. Babadook, New Nightmare, Hellraiser, Tremors 5, Curse of Chucky, Cult of Chucky, parts of Cabin Fever, Hostel, Gerald's Game, Raw, Deep Blue Sea, but didn't care to finish them. Hoping there's some other gems I've missed. There's a lot of shit to sort through. Prime Video recs are also welcome.
If you like Train to Busan you could check out I Am A Hero, it's another great action/zombie film. Not on Netflix unfortunately.
#30 - Two Evil Eyes
This film caught my eye because it's directed by both George Romero and Dario Argento, each retelling a couple Edgar Allan Poe stories. The first half is Romero's rendition of "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar". It was alright, plays out like a segment from Creepshow but a little less fun.
The second half, Argento's "The Black Cat", definitely steals the show here. It's far more grisly and disturbing, but more effective than the previous portion. Harvey Keitel puts on a stellar performance as well. I'd recommend this film if you're a fan of either director.
This is the 1st time I've completed the 31 Days challenge, caught some awesome flicks this month! Tomorrow I'm gonna binge on some classic Romero films. Happy Halloween folks.
October 30, 2017:
30 of 31 - George Romero's Day of the Dead
The zombie apocalypse is fully underway and a small contingent of military personnel, a group of scientists, a helicopter pilot and an electrician are holed up in an underground facility in the hopes of trying discover what has caused the epidemic. The head scientist decides that teaching the zombies how to behave and have control would better suit their chances of survival as opposed to shooting each zombie in the head with their dwindling supply of ammunition and men.
I watched this as sort of a personal tribute to the legendary George A. Romero. I enjoyed watching this time the same as I did the first time. I believe the tension between the military and scientists would still exist today should we find ourselves caught in a zombie apocalypse. I liked the contrast of the harsh yet on edge military versus the calmer more subdued civilians. It's too bad that they just could not work together as that would definitely increased their chances of survival. This is certainly not the last time I will watch this and to George A. Romero, RIP and thank you. -9/10
30 of 31 - George Romero's Day of the Dead
The zombie apocalypse is fully underway and a small contingent of military personnel, a group of scientists, a helicopter pilot and an electrician are holed up in an underground facility in the hopes of trying discover what has caused the epidemic. The head scientist decides that teaching the zombies how to behave and have control would better suit their chances of survival as opposed to shooting each zombie in the head with their dwindling supply of ammunition and men.
I watched this as sort of a personal tribute to the legendary George A. Romero. I enjoyed watching this time the same as I did the first time. I believe the tension between the military and scientists would still exist today should we find ourselves caught in a zombie apocalypse. I liked the contrast of the harsh yet on edge military versus the calmer more subdued civilians. It's too bad that they just could not work together as that would definitely increased their chances of survival. This is certainly not the last time I will watch this and to George A. Romero, RIP and thank you. -9/10
I've lately been digging my way though various horror series, Hellraiser being one of them. So far i've watched:
Hellraiser: it's...okay. Unintentionally funny and boring in certain parts.
Hellraiser 2: good sequel, does some more interesting things
Hellraiser 3: boring crap
Hellraiser 4: entertaining crap
Hellraiser 5: boring crap
And
Hellraiser Revelations: definitely the cheapest and worst film I've seen in a long time. It was apparently made in less than a week just to retain the rights, lol. Needs to be seen for its awfulness. The new pinhead is terrible.
Still need to see Hellraiser 6,7 and 8. 8 has an online RPG premise and looks utterly ridiculous. Love it.
Has anyone seen the Species films?
Hellraiser: it's...okay. Unintentionally funny and boring in certain parts.
Hellraiser 2: good sequel, does some more interesting things
Hellraiser 3: boring crap
Hellraiser 4: entertaining crap
Hellraiser 5: boring crap
And
Hellraiser Revelations: definitely the cheapest and worst film I've seen in a long time. It was apparently made in less than a week just to retain the rights, lol. Needs to be seen for its awfulness. The new pinhead is terrible.
Still need to see Hellraiser 6,7 and 8. 8 has an online RPG premise and looks utterly ridiculous. Love it.
Has anyone seen the Species films?
Happy Halloween!
Will be out tonight and probably won't see a movie then, so I be wrapping up my oct horror watchings pretty soon with Train to Busan (started with the original Night of the Living Dead, so think I be ending on a more recent zombie flick).
Will be out tonight and probably won't see a movie then, so I be wrapping up my oct horror watchings pretty soon with Train to Busan (started with the original Night of the Living Dead, so think I be ending on a more recent zombie flick).
Prevenge is on Film4 in the UK in 10 minutes. It's about a pregnant woman whose fetus tells her to kill people.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bEPU_58akI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bEPU_58akI
Finished off my 31 Days of Horror with my only rewatch of the month, Rob Zombie's version of Halloween. I love it, like I love pretty much all Zombie's movies. I love Carpenter's original too, but I'd pick Zombie's if I was forced too. I enjoy all the back story stuff that people (including Carpenter himself, who recently called Zombie 'a lying piece of shit') really seem to object to, and I don't buy into the notion that Myer's original motiveless malignity, his pseudo-supernatural mystique, make him scarier or cooler or something. But maybe that's just me.
Anyway, it's been a strange, fun month. Happy Halloween!
Anyway, it's been a strange, fun month. Happy Halloween!
Some recommendations i have watched:
The house at the end of time, it is a Venezuelan horror film.
Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_House_at_the_End_of_Time
Juan of the dead, it is a Spanish-Cuban comedy zombie film.
Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_of_the_Dead
The house at the end of time, it is a Venezuelan horror film.
Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_House_at_the_End_of_Time
Juan of the dead, it is a Spanish-Cuban comedy zombie film.
Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_of_the_Dead
Guess it's time to do a wrap up for the 31 days of Halloween. I did my theme on serial killers which turned out much better than I anticipated. Sometimes doing a theme that is too focused can get stale quickly but I was surprised to find that there is a nice selection out there. Not all of my choices were outright serial killer flicks though. I had to sub in some slashers to pad the numbers but their close enough. It kept things interesting anyway. Here is the top 10 serial killer flicks I watched:
Wait...what? There was a second list? Letterboxd does a yearly challenge as well so I started this one in mid September and I tossed a bunch of extras in because I'm a glutton. So here is another top 10 that isn't serial killers:
Don't Go in the House
I saw this one and was immediately interested but its been a long strange trip in getting to see it. I queued it up in Netflix disc but one day it just vanished off the list. I'm guessing the last copy they had was busted and it got dropped. I checked around a bit, Netflix, Shudder, Amazon but could not find this one so I gave up. I'm sitting there tonight watching some youtube vids and it occurred to me I should look there and bingo, final October movie.
It's not a very good movie although its quite a bit better than some of the others I've watched. It does have a flamethrower! To describe it this is basically Psycho with a flamethrower. Dude builds a metal room to torch his victims. Unfortunately the rest of the movie isn't as exciting as that first kill.
- Angst 1983
- Confession of Murder 2012
- Psycho 1960
- Psycho 2 1983
- The Driller Killer 1979
- Cruising 1980
- Cure 1997
- Ms .45 1981
- Deranged 1974
- Bela Kiss: Prologue 2013
Wait...what? There was a second list? Letterboxd does a yearly challenge as well so I started this one in mid September and I tossed a bunch of extras in because I'm a glutton. So here is another top 10 that isn't serial killers:
- Kwaidan 1964
- The Mummy 1932
- Society 1989
- Ouija 2014
- The Invisible Man 1933
- Frankenstein 1931
- Night of the Creeps 1986
- Onibaba 1964
- It's Alive III: Island of the Alive 1987
- Tales of Halloween 2015
Don't Go in the House
I saw this one and was immediately interested but its been a long strange trip in getting to see it. I queued it up in Netflix disc but one day it just vanished off the list. I'm guessing the last copy they had was busted and it got dropped. I checked around a bit, Netflix, Shudder, Amazon but could not find this one so I gave up. I'm sitting there tonight watching some youtube vids and it occurred to me I should look there and bingo, final October movie.
It's not a very good movie although its quite a bit better than some of the others I've watched. It does have a flamethrower! To describe it this is basically Psycho with a flamethrower. Dude builds a metal room to torch his victims. Unfortunately the rest of the movie isn't as exciting as that first kill.
Last edited:
Just watched this last night. I was a fairly big fan of the first film and was genuinely on edge during the whole film.
I wasn't sure that the original needed a sequel. But I'm glad it got one. This was a pretty great film. Mark Duplass is absolutely brilliant in these movies. He's a very convincing sociopath and just plays the part so well, I had no idea what he was going to do next. There are a lot of very interesting theories getting tossed around about the film, Id suggest taking a peek after the film ends.
I give the sequel an 8/10
Highly recommended!
For those of you who like slow burn horror that really chews on atmosphere, check out 1922 on Netflix. It's yet another Stephen King novela adaptation, but probably my personal favorite ever.
https://letterboxd.com/kinggroin/film/1922-2017/
This was so incredibly good.
I loved 1922. I'm a big fan of Thomas Jane and I thought he was fantastic in it, and it was nice to see Alma from Deadwood again. Hopefully he'll keep doing (good) Stephen King adaptations. :) The Mist is also one of my favorites.
Netflix did well with the two Stephen King adaptations they released last month - hopefully they're going to do more!
Netflix did well with the two Stephen King adaptations they released last month - hopefully they're going to do more!
Just watched this last night. I was a fairly big fan of the first film and was genuinely on edge during the whole film.
I wasn't sure that the original needed a sequel. But I'm glad it got one. This was a pretty great film. Mark Duplass is absolutely brilliant in these movies. He's a very convincing sociopath and just plays the part so well, I had no idea what he was going to do next. There are a lot of very interesting theories getting tossed around about the film, Id suggest taking a peek after the film ends.
I give the sequel an 8/10
Highly recommended!
Great to hear. I loved the first one.
Hello fellow horror fiends! I finished off my 31 Days of Horror marathon yesterday, but because of stuff, I'm still working on catching up on reviews. Here's my first batch of write ups that I've half-assed even more than usual. Previous movies and reviews in my list were posted elsewhere, but I plan to collect them all when I get some more free time.
17) Death Smiles on a Murderer (La morte ha sorriso all'assassino) (1973) (Oct 17)
Joe D'Amato is not really a name I consider synonymous with quality, so I didn't know what to expect when going in blind to watch Death Smiles on a Murderer. What followed was a surprisingly quality Mario Bava style Gothic chiller with Lucio Fulci quality gore and just enough incomprehensibility to remind you it's an Italian horror movie.
Recommended for fans of Gothic horror. 3.5 / 5
Bonus 06) Bride of Chucky (1998) (Oct 17) (rewatch)
"For God's sake, Chucky, drag yourself into the '90s. Stabbings went out with Bundy and Dahmer. You look like Martha Stewart with that thing."
This is only Chucky movie I've ever seen in theatres and I don't believe I've seen it since. While I do prefer the horror style of the first two movies in the series, Bride of Chucky is a fun followup. Jennifer Tilly really makes this one. She's delightful in it and the character of Tiffany is a welcome addittion.
Recommended.
Bonus 07) Seed of Chucky (Oct 18) (rewatch)
I don't even know. There's parts of Seed of Chucky I like, parts I don't. I don't think it's as awful as most people make it out to be, but it's not the direction for the series I would have liked. Did I mention how delightful Jennifer Tilly is?
Decent but probably worth a Pass unless you're a completionist.
18) Phantasm IV: Oblivion (1998) (Oct 19)
An attempt at moving away from the goofiness of the previous movie, Phantasm IV returns to the surrealist style and features a huge amount of cut footage from the original movie. It didn't really work for me though. The unused footage from the original never flows with the story and it feels like they went too far in the dreamlike structure so they could use it. As usual with the series it never really makes sense and aside from a few cool monster sequences this one is just kind of dull.
Skip it unless you need more Phantasm 1 surrealism. 2.5 / 5
19) Phantasm: Ravager (2016) (Oct 20)
This was originally shot with the intention of being a webseries, but then expanded upon with footage featuring more main cast. It just looks and feels cheaply made as you'd expect and is the first (and only) of the series to not be directed by Don Coscarelli.
I kind of like the premise of the movie that switches between Reggie fighting in the post apocalyptic world and in an institution being told by Mike he has dementia and their battles with the Tall Man were not real. Unfortunately, the filmmakers just did not have the ability to pull it off. The ending to the movie (and the whole series) is even more nonsensical than you'd expect simply because they had no idea what they were doing.
Much respect to Reggie Bannister though. You can tell he still gave it his all even though it was just a cheap production. Angus Scrimm's role in this one was much smaller, it's amazing he still took part considering his advanced age at that point and played his character just as powerful as he always did. Much respect to him as well. RIP.
As for a recommendation... Skip it. Only recommended it if you absolutely want to see the series through to the end. But I'd recommend stopping after Phantasm II. 1.5 / 5
Bonus 08) Curse of Chucky (2013) (Oct 20) (rewatch)
I loved this when I watched it for my marathon back in 2013 and I love it even more now that I've rewatched all the earlier movies along with it. Easily my favourite of the Chucky sequels.
Highly recommend.
20) Cult of Chucky (2017) (Oct 21)
Another excellent sequel. The 7th movie in a series should not be this good, but it is. Don Mancini turned out to be an excellent director with his sequels. The improvement from his first movie (Seed of Chucky) to his second (Curse of Chucky) is insane. I'm really curious what he could do outside of the Chucky series, but I still want more sequels so he needs to stay where he is.
Highly Recomended. 4 / 5
21) The Kiss of the Vampire (1963) (Oct 22)
Not a direct entry in Hammer's Dracula series, I guess this one is considered a follow-up to The Brides of Dracula. At this point I feel I know what to expect from Hammer's vampire movies, so there isn't much in the way of surprises in this one, but overall it's enjoyable. The Van Helsing replacement, Professor Zimmer is fun and the ending sequence is great.
Recommended. 3.5 / 5
22) Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966) (Oct 24)
Christopher Lee finally returns as Dracula. Unfortunately, no Peter Cushing as Van Helsing, but his substitute, Father Sandor gets the job done. I did have a bit of an issue with the ending where ice plays a major role as I felt they didn't do an adequate job showing the temperature and I didn't even realize it was supposed to be ice at first. They really should have played up the winter setting more.
Recommended. 4 / 5
23) Dracula Has Risen from the Grave (1968) (Oct 25)
I'm already out of things to say about this series, and I still have a ton left. Again, nothing too surprising about this one. The hero character being an atheist was an interesting addition and Barbara Ewing as Zena was definitely one of the more dynamic female characters in the series.
Recommended. 3.5 / 5
17) Death Smiles on a Murderer (La morte ha sorriso all'assassino) (1973) (Oct 17)
Joe D'Amato is not really a name I consider synonymous with quality, so I didn't know what to expect when going in blind to watch Death Smiles on a Murderer. What followed was a surprisingly quality Mario Bava style Gothic chiller with Lucio Fulci quality gore and just enough incomprehensibility to remind you it's an Italian horror movie.
Recommended for fans of Gothic horror. 3.5 / 5
Bonus 06) Bride of Chucky (1998) (Oct 17) (rewatch)
"For God's sake, Chucky, drag yourself into the '90s. Stabbings went out with Bundy and Dahmer. You look like Martha Stewart with that thing."
This is only Chucky movie I've ever seen in theatres and I don't believe I've seen it since. While I do prefer the horror style of the first two movies in the series, Bride of Chucky is a fun followup. Jennifer Tilly really makes this one. She's delightful in it and the character of Tiffany is a welcome addittion.
Recommended.
Bonus 07) Seed of Chucky (Oct 18) (rewatch)
I don't even know. There's parts of Seed of Chucky I like, parts I don't. I don't think it's as awful as most people make it out to be, but it's not the direction for the series I would have liked. Did I mention how delightful Jennifer Tilly is?
Decent but probably worth a Pass unless you're a completionist.
18) Phantasm IV: Oblivion (1998) (Oct 19)
An attempt at moving away from the goofiness of the previous movie, Phantasm IV returns to the surrealist style and features a huge amount of cut footage from the original movie. It didn't really work for me though. The unused footage from the original never flows with the story and it feels like they went too far in the dreamlike structure so they could use it. As usual with the series it never really makes sense and aside from a few cool monster sequences this one is just kind of dull.
Skip it unless you need more Phantasm 1 surrealism. 2.5 / 5
19) Phantasm: Ravager (2016) (Oct 20)
This was originally shot with the intention of being a webseries, but then expanded upon with footage featuring more main cast. It just looks and feels cheaply made as you'd expect and is the first (and only) of the series to not be directed by Don Coscarelli.
I kind of like the premise of the movie that switches between Reggie fighting in the post apocalyptic world and in an institution being told by Mike he has dementia and their battles with the Tall Man were not real. Unfortunately, the filmmakers just did not have the ability to pull it off. The ending to the movie (and the whole series) is even more nonsensical than you'd expect simply because they had no idea what they were doing.
Much respect to Reggie Bannister though. You can tell he still gave it his all even though it was just a cheap production. Angus Scrimm's role in this one was much smaller, it's amazing he still took part considering his advanced age at that point and played his character just as powerful as he always did. Much respect to him as well. RIP.
As for a recommendation... Skip it. Only recommended it if you absolutely want to see the series through to the end. But I'd recommend stopping after Phantasm II. 1.5 / 5
Bonus 08) Curse of Chucky (2013) (Oct 20) (rewatch)
I loved this when I watched it for my marathon back in 2013 and I love it even more now that I've rewatched all the earlier movies along with it. Easily my favourite of the Chucky sequels.
Highly recommend.
20) Cult of Chucky (2017) (Oct 21)
Another excellent sequel. The 7th movie in a series should not be this good, but it is. Don Mancini turned out to be an excellent director with his sequels. The improvement from his first movie (Seed of Chucky) to his second (Curse of Chucky) is insane. I'm really curious what he could do outside of the Chucky series, but I still want more sequels so he needs to stay where he is.
Highly Recomended. 4 / 5
21) The Kiss of the Vampire (1963) (Oct 22)
Not a direct entry in Hammer's Dracula series, I guess this one is considered a follow-up to The Brides of Dracula. At this point I feel I know what to expect from Hammer's vampire movies, so there isn't much in the way of surprises in this one, but overall it's enjoyable. The Van Helsing replacement, Professor Zimmer is fun and the ending sequence is great.
Recommended. 3.5 / 5
22) Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966) (Oct 24)
Christopher Lee finally returns as Dracula. Unfortunately, no Peter Cushing as Van Helsing, but his substitute, Father Sandor gets the job done. I did have a bit of an issue with the ending where ice plays a major role as I felt they didn't do an adequate job showing the temperature and I didn't even realize it was supposed to be ice at first. They really should have played up the winter setting more.
Recommended. 4 / 5
23) Dracula Has Risen from the Grave (1968) (Oct 25)
I'm already out of things to say about this series, and I still have a ton left. Again, nothing too surprising about this one. The hero character being an atheist was an interesting addition and Barbara Ewing as Zena was definitely one of the more dynamic female characters in the series.
Recommended. 3.5 / 5
I just seen this as well, I love Stephen King and never read/heard of this story. This was a very pleasant surprise on my Netflix feed and very well done.
Hello fellow horror fiends! I finished off my 31 Days of Horror marathon yesterday, but because of stuff, I'm still working on catching up on reviews. Here's my first batch of write ups that I've half-assed even more than usual. Previous movies and reviews in my list were posted elsewhere, but I plan to collect them all when I get some more free time.
17) Death Smiles on a Murderer (La morte ha sorriso all'assassino) (1973) (Oct 17)
Joe D'Amato is not really a name I consider synonymous with quality, so I didn't know what to expect when going in blind to watch Death Smiles on a Murderer. What followed was a surprisingly quality Mario Bava style Gothic chiller with Lucio Fulci quality gore and just enough incomprehensibility to remind you it's an Italian horror movie.
Recommended for fans of Gothic horror. 3.5 / 5
Bonus 06) Bride of Chucky (1998) (Oct 17) (rewatch)
"For God's sake, Chucky, drag yourself into the '90s. Stabbings went out with Bundy and Dahmer. You look like Martha Stewart with that thing."
This is only Chucky movie I've ever seen in theatres and I don't believe I've seen it since. While I do prefer the horror style of the first two movies in the series, Bride of Chucky is a fun followup. Jennifer Tilly really makes this one. She's delightful in it and the character of Tiffany is a welcome addittion.
Recommended.
Bonus 07) Seed of Chucky (Oct 18) (rewatch)
I don't even know. There's parts of Seed of Chucky I like, parts I don't. I don't think it's as awful as most people make it out to be, but it's not the direction for the series I would have liked. Did I mention how delightful Jennifer Tilly is?
Decent but probably worth a Pass unless you're a completionist.
18) Phantasm IV: Oblivion (1998) (Oct 19)
An attempt at moving away from the goofiness of the previous movie, Phantasm IV returns to the surrealist style and features a huge amount of cut footage from the original movie. It didn't really work for me though. The unused footage from the original never flows with the story and it feels like they went too far in the dreamlike structure so they could use it. As usual with the series it never really makes sense and aside from a few cool monster sequences this one is just kind of dull.
Skip it unless you need more Phantasm 1 surrealism. 2.5 / 5
19) Phantasm: Ravager (2016) (Oct 20)
This was originally shot with the intention of being a webseries, but then expanded upon with footage featuring more main cast. It just looks and feels cheaply made as you'd expect and is the first (and only) of the series to not be directed by Don Coscarelli.
I kind of like the premise of the movie that switches between Reggie fighting in the post apocalyptic world and in an institution being told by Mike he has dementia and their battles with the Tall Man were not real. Unfortunately, the filmmakers just did not have the ability to pull it off. The ending to the movie (and the whole series) is even more nonsensical than you'd expect simply because they had no idea what they were doing.
Much respect to Reggie Bannister though. You can tell he still gave it his all even though it was just a cheap production. Angus Scrimm's role in this one was much smaller, it's amazing he still took part considering his advanced age at that point and played his character just as powerful as he always did. Much respect to him as well. RIP.
As for a recommendation... Skip it. Only recommended it if you absolutely want to see the series through to the end. But I'd recommend stopping after Phantasm II. 1.5 / 5
Bonus 08) Curse of Chucky (2013) (Oct 20) (rewatch)
I loved this when I watched it for my marathon back in 2013 and I love it even more now that I've rewatched all the earlier movies along with it. Easily my favourite of the Chucky sequels.
Highly recommend.
20) Cult of Chucky (2017) (Oct 21)
Another excellent sequel. The 7th movie in a series should not be this good, but it is. Don Mancini turned out to be an excellent director with his sequels. The improvement from his first movie (Seed of Chucky) to his second (Curse of Chucky) is insane. I'm really curious what he could do outside of the Chucky series, but I still want more sequels so he needs to stay where he is.
Highly Recomended. 4 / 5
21) The Kiss of the Vampire (1963) (Oct 22)
Not a direct entry in Hammer's Dracula series, I guess this one is considered a follow-up to The Brides of Dracula. At this point I feel I know what to expect from Hammer's vampire movies, so there isn't much in the way of surprises in this one, but overall it's enjoyable. The Van Helsing replacement, Professor Zimmer is fun and the ending sequence is great.
Recommended. 3.5 / 5
22) Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966) (Oct 24)
Christopher Lee finally returns as Dracula. Unfortunately, no Peter Cushing as Van Helsing, but his substitute, Father Sandor gets the job done. I did have a bit of an issue with the ending where ice plays a major role as I felt they didn't do an adequate job showing the temperature and I didn't even realize it was supposed to be ice at first. They really should have played up the winter setting more.
Recommended. 4 / 5
23) Dracula Has Risen from the Grave (1968) (Oct 25)
I'm already out of things to say about this series, and I still have a ton left. Again, nothing too surprising about this one. The hero character being an atheist was an interesting addition and Barbara Ewing as Zena was definitely one of the more dynamic female characters in the series.
Recommended. 3.5 / 5
Excellent, I was hoping we'd get to see the rest of your reviews.
What with this, and the Film thread, pretty much all the posters I recognise from 31DOH threads are over here. I can relax into lurking anonymity until next October now.
Saw the original Phantasm movie a few days ago. Would call it really a horrormovie, but it was indeed a good fantastic movie with a nice atmosphere. I am just a bit sad that I got a couple of phone calls that took me out of the movie experience.
Which is the go to version of the original Wicker Man? There are three and I have no clue which I want to see.
Which is the go to version of the original Wicker Man? There are three and I have no clue which I want to see.
I was sort of binging on horror movies for October and I intend to continue into November! I've been buying stuff that was on sale on Vudu, but I'm tempted to get that horror subscription service. Does anyone have it and can give their thoughts on the movie selection? I read an article it's quite excellent but wanted some opinions from the folks here. Thanks!