It's October baby....Horror flick time!

[Koravec]

Extend into November or nah? Find it difficult for tons of time to watch stuff in a single month unfortunately. And since Nov is still fall leading to the next holiday.

[SMK]

Fall/Shawtember/Halloween season is my favorite time of year!

I've recently started watching Shameless, and am on Season 4 currently. There are 10 seasons total. So when I do have time to watch stuff, I've been watching that. Since I've been doing so, it definitely has cut down on my movie time. I do need to get back to it. I will report back on which Horror movie I watch next.

I was actually thinking of watching this one, anyone seen it?
 

 

[OpiumKungFuCracker]

@SMK What's your favorite go-to horror movie? Mines is Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) Too mainstream or? 

[SMK]

32 minutes ago, OpiumKungFuCracker said:

@SMK What's your favorite go-to horror movie? Mines is Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) Too mainstream or? 

If "go-to" means which movie do I watch repeatedly, then I don't really have one. One movie that comes to mind if I had to choose, that if it's on TV I'll watch it every time, is The Birds. Not really a horror movie, but it's what came to me first.

[DrNgor]

29 minutes ago, SMK said:

If "go-to" means which movie do I watch repeatedly, then I don't really have one. One movie that comes to mind if I had to choose, that if it's on TV I'll watch it every time, is The Birds. Not really a horror movie, but it's what came to me first.

If I had to choose a horror film that I would always revisit--which I admittedly don't do with horror films--it would probably be Michele Soavi's La Chiesa, or The Church.

[Drunken Monk]

My most revisited horror (if you can call it a horror) is Tremors or a plethora of gory 80’s slasher movies.

Looking forward you seeing if I can pull off the 31 horror movies in 31 days thing this year.

[Koravec]

Goto horror would be the grudge

[DrNgor]

1 hour ago, Koravec said:

Goto horror would be the grudge

Just the mere thought of that film scares me the way it did back in '04.

[tdb]

Horror movies I re-visit every year or every other year are stuff like The Legend of Hell House (1973) or Quatermass and the Pit (1967) or Operation Pink Squad II (1989).  Actually I probably just cycle through the list of HK, mostly Eighties, horror comedies over the course of years in that regard. I've watched X The Unknown (1956) more times than I can remember (I always chuckle when Anthony Newley gets roasted).  Same with The Monolith Monsters (1957) (Les Tremayne is a hoot).

This year Fantastic Fest will be screening/streaming The Queen of Black Magic (2019), on September 30, this year.

 

[Super Ninja]

On 9/11/2020 at 7:19 PM, DrNgor said:

If I had to choose a horror film that I would always revisit--which I admittedly don't do with horror films--it would probably be Michele Soavi's La Chiesa, or The Church.

There is something unique and special about Soavi's horrors, however my favorite would be Stage Fright (1987). La Chiesa has a great atmosphere and some truly fantastic scenes, but felt very uneven, much like The Sect. As much as I enjoyed these movies, I would hardly say they're great, and despite my preferences, I'd probably say Cemetery Man (1994) is Soavi's all-round best film.

[Secret Executioner]

@SMK I'd say The Birds counts - it's more of a thriller/suspense film but it has some animal horror elements as well.

 

@Drunken Monk I too will try and pull off that 31 horror movies watched/reviewed this year. Haven't started browsing through my movie collection for titles yet though, so it may be even more random than last year. I don't think I've bought that many horror films since last October either, so there'll probably be a lot of revisiting.

[DrNgor]

On 9/26/2020 at 8:26 AM, Secret Executioner said:

@Drunken Monk I too will try and pull off that 31 horror movies watched/reviewed this year. Haven't started browsing through my movie collection for titles yet though, so it may be even more random than last year. I don't think I've bought that many horror films since last October either, so there'll probably be a lot of revisiting.

In order to keep things family friendly, I'm going to do 31 Days - 31 Godzilla films (leaving out Shin Godzilla and the anime films). My daughter Susan, who recently did a Harryhausen film odyssey with me, will probably join me.

[Secret Executioner]

Launching this year's horror marathon with...

Friday the 13th: A new Beginning (USA, 1985)

A few years after the event of the fourth movie, Tommy Jarvis (played by a different actor because Corey Feldman was filming The Goonies at the time) is still haunted by said events and the death of Jason Voorhees. Having spent most of that time in mental instutions, he's given a chance to go towards reinsertion with a stay at a rural house for troubled young people. But things soon start going awry when a wave of violent murders start occuring, a man wearing a hockey mask targetting both locals and the Tommy's companions.

(MODERATION NOTE: The following review contains SPOILERS for both this and the previous FRIDAY THE 13TH film.)

That one was a bit of a mixed bag. The idea of moving forward after Jason (who's finally called by his full name in this film BTW) is gone - presumably - for good was an interesting move, especially when not only does the movie center around his killer (and potentially a traumatized side-victim of Jason - sorry for the spoilers regarding the fourth movie BTW) but also on a Jason copycat that brutally murders people who live around this guy. The suspicion is well-handled and the tension keeps building up until the final 30 or so minutes where the last girl and the movie's young kid try escaping the murder, only to keep bumping into corpses he left behind. The fact Tommy shows up and helps fight the fake Jason is kept for as late as possible to keep the audience wondering, but the reveal of not-Jason's identity IMO fell a bit flat as I didn't really get the guy's motivations or reasonning behind using the Jason motive - sure it kinda felt like Pamela Voorhees wanting to avenge her son, but not as well written. Also, the questionning of fake Jason's identity started becoming a mystery but more a "who's the man behind the monster mask" mystery you'd get in a Scooby-Doo cartoon than a real twist or shock, especially with how quick the whole explanation is dumped. The open ending has potential, though sadly this movie seems to take place in a parallel continuity where Jason was cremated and has no way to return, the movie makers choosing instead to bring back Jason in the following film and make him a supernatural, superpowered being (whose corpse is dug up and brought back to life thanks to Tommy Jarvis). And while some of the following movies like Part VII are pretty good, I feel it could have been interesting to elaborate more on the way Tommy now deals with his trauma and eventually may or may not go down Jason's path as the ending seems to hint at.

Speaking of the psychological field, Tommy is barely talking in this and has nightmare sequences - these fake-outs are some great and intense scenes and I wonder if the makers drew any influence from the then-recent Nightmare on Elm Street. Either that or they figured a fake out could be a nice way to throw in some more violence - the makers seemed to want to put as much sex and violence as possible in here just so that the censors would be forced to leave some in the final cut. The version I have is an 88 minute long version and has a lot of gore and violence, but the sex stuff is mostly cut (as it seems to be even in longer cuts, some sex scenes were intended to be awfully long).

The negatives I'd have are the characters that are mostly bland, the kids Tommy is living with are overall nice but not too elaborate (except a guy and a chick who are the usual party/sex-crazed types that you expect to see killed in slashers - the actress playing the girl from this duo is named Voorhees BTW). There's some local rednecks who are rather annoying, the cops are (for once) doing a fairly good job (unlike in Part VI) and being slightly useful. But overall, I didn't think this film had that great of a cast of characters. Even the fake Jason was a bit disappointing with very random motivations and a Scooby-Doo-esque resolution.

To finish on a postive, Harry Manfredini's score for this one is very good. I found it pretty reminiscent of the original and very atmospheric and intense. Also, there's a pretty neat song called "His Eyes":

 

My call ? Worth checking if you want a slasher with some well-crafted gore and some good tension and action (the final 30 or so minutes deliver in that department), but it's clearly not exactly among the best slashers ever - some entries in the Friday the 13th series as well as Halloween II or a good chunk of the Nightmare on Elm Street series are IMO better than this movie.

[Drunken Monk]

A kicked off my “31 horrors in 31 days” with...

Silent Hill - Despite having a wonderful atmosphere and eerie score, it ends up being a rather dull trudge through the streets of the titular town. Nothing makes sense until a late scene where a character obnoxiously explains EVERYTHING. Not a fun watch at all.

4/10

Truth or Dare - This is the 2017 Syfy movie and not the 2018 movie with the same title. It’s a highly enjoyable Final Destination type film with an interesting concept, fine performances and some pretty solid gore at times. It’s not going to blow anyone’s socks off but it’s a fun little mainstream horror. Very simple but very fun.

6.5/10

The Ritual - A phenomenal movie that’s both a psychological horror and monster film. I won’t say too much as you should go into this one knowing as little as possible. I will say, however, that it’s a dark, engrossing tale with the requisite gore but plenty of depth and meaning. It’s like a cross between Midsommar and The Descent.

9/10

[Secret Executioner]

Oasis of the Living Dead AKA Oasis of the Zombies AKA The Treasure of the Living Dead (original title: La Tumba de los muertos vivientes - literally, The Grave of the Living Dead) (France/Spain, 1982)

1943. A German convoy transporting a mysterious cargo - Rommel's treasure, an assortment of gold bars and coins worth several billions - is attacked and decimated by Ally soldiers at an oasis somewhere in the Sahara desert. Only one man survives the battle, a British soldier.

Several years later, said lone survivor gets murdered by a German (presumably a former nazi) who was looking for the treasure after revealing its location. The British soldier's son eventually finds out about the treasure his father knew of and gathers some university friends of his to go look for it. But the oasis is cursed and the soldiers are still guarding the treasure, only now they are zombies.

 

Well, that Eurociné production directed by Jesus Franco sure is a mixed bag. It's very slow and lacks action or gore (some attacks are set at night and you can't make out what's going on on screen...), but on the other hand... It has some very intense atmosphere notably thanks to the score (which reminded me of Blood Feast) and to a guy surviving a zombie attack acting all crazy (which I guess he became seeing how incoherent his lines are). As I mentionned, not much gore but the little you get is decent and the zombie make-up while looking very cheap is okay. The WWII sequence is good, but it feels a bit long overall. And while it's a cheap exploitative production, the female characters didn't seem to be here just to have a nude or sex scene (spoiler: there still is some nudity - suggested or actual - and a sex scene).

The movie however likes to take its time and is very plodding. Granted it helps build tension and makes the atmosphere more intense at points (notably because the zombies take their time showing up), but at other times it just feels like they ran out of ideas for a scene and were trying as hard as possible to fill an 80+ minute runtime. 

Interesting note BTW, the version I have is the 82 minutes "French" version (I noticed there are lots of French sounding names among the actors) while there exists a 102 84 minutes "Spanish" version that adds some scenes, has a different soundtrack and even has different actors playing some of the characters (such as the German guy and his wife) but also drops some stuff resulting in it really being pretty much the same length. The two versions were apparently shot at the same time too, though the Spanish one is called the original on IMDb in spite of the shorter French version being the more widespread release.

 

My call ? Not terrible, but it's frankly cheap and slow. But with names likes Eurociné and Jesus Franco attached, you likely know what you're getting into if you choose to watch it. That or you just have to see it because it has Nazi zombies. If the latter, I'd rather suggest Zombie Lake which is much more fun and interesting.

Edited October 2, 2020 by Secret Executioner
Wrong facts stated about the Spanish version.

[Drunken Monk]

Bloody Moon (1981) - A mammoth shit-fest featuring incest, a ton of boobs (including a girl impaleD through one), 80’s fashion and a...mentally handicapped guy portrayed utterly offensively. Not worth anyone’s time. It’s half Giallo, half slasher and all terrible. The English dub doesn’t help either. It seems a lot of people love it in a “so bad it’s good” way. Not me.

2/10

The Curse of La Llorona (2019) - I’d love to have more to say about this one but I can sum it up with one word: GENERIC. Jump scares, an evil ghost, an ex-priest. We’ve seen it all before. And I actually really enjoyed The Nun so I’m very forgiving. This is James Wan scraping the bottom of his cinematic barrel; though this time only as a producer.

3/10

Edited October 2, 2020 by Drunken Monk

[Drunken Monk]

Oculus (2013) - Modern genius of horror, Mike Flanagan, gives us a truly interesting, gripping and conceptually exciting ghost story. It’s easy to say “haunted mirror” and make it as silly as it sounds but this one’s a true gem. It’s not full of typical jump scares but, instead, delivers tight tension and scares the audience when it needs to. I very much like this film.

8/10

[Secret Executioner]

The House that dripped Blood (UK, 1971)

In this anthology movie from Brititsh production company Amicus an actor who was renting a house mysteriously disappears and a Scotland Yard detective is investigating. In place of clues as to what could have happened to the victim, he hears tales of what happened to the previous tenants of this very strange house. The end credits reveal the titles of each segment.

• In "Method for Murder", an horror writer and his wife move in for a couple of months. But while the husband's writing is going great, the imaginary character - a psychopath who strangles women - he is bringing to life becomes very real. Is he going mad or is his creation actually going out of control ?
• Next is "Waxworks", where a retired man (Peter Cushing) rents the house, enjoying a quite life until he visits a horror museum where a wax figure of a woman reminds him of an old flame. And a friend of his who came visiting soon also finds himself unable to leave as the two can't help but return to the museum to see her...
• A widower (Christopher Lee) and his young daughter are next in "Sweets to the Sweet". The father comes across as stern and borderline abusive, shielding the child from the rest of the world - she doesn't get to play with other kids, her father wants her home-schooled and she has pretty much no toys - for mysterious reasons, leaving only a woman to educate and keep his daughter company. 
• Finally, the fourth segment called "The Cloak" reveals the fate of the actor. Frustrated with the low budget on his production, he decides to get his costume himself but he may get more than he bargained for when the vampire cape he purchases at a mysterious little shop turns out to be more authentic than he thinks. And his co-star is played by Ingrid Pitt.

 

The framing device is okay, with the Scotland Yard guy being a no-nonsense kind of guy facing a local cop then the real estate agent in charge of letting the place (a guy named Stoker). But the segments are where the interest of the movie lies and they are overall pretty good.

"Method for Murder" has likeable and interesting leads, and a lot of tension, notably with how you're not sure whether the murderer has become real or not. The real-life version of this guy is pretty creepy-looking. A decent segment, good enough at least to get things started.

"Waxworks" has the creepiness of the wax figure coupled to the psychological aspect - the woman is reminding the characters of a past flame but is also said to be a representation of a murderer and her pose (she's holding a plate with a severed head) is rather unsettling. The horror museum proprietor (Wolfe Morris) is a rather creepy and mysterious character. Tension, unsettling imagery, interesting characters - this segment is really good.

"Sweets to the sweet" is probably the most effective segment. As if Christopher Lee as a borderline abusive father wasn't enough, you also get a creepy child thrown in. And boy is that girl creepy. She quickly comes across as "special" but you're not quite sure what her deal is until much later (or if you read IMDb's summary of the film that brilliantly spills out the beans - I think going in knowing this would probably ruin the mystery on her and why her father wants her away from the normal world). Christopher Lee's performance is very intense, the girl is incredibly unsettling and the way the story flows is very intriguing and keeps you on the edge of your seat.

"The Cloak" is not so good. It starts off with the central actor being an obnoxious asshat, constantly belittling everyone around him, always criticizing everything. Until he gets ahold of the titular cloak where it seems he gets his "come-uppance" as the criticism against everything in the production looking too phony gets countered by a more than real vampire cape. That segment is fairly weak with a very unlikeable character, a bad pace (it feels slow but also rushed) and the conclusion really comes out of nowhere. Not that fun, though it makes kind of a decent transition to the finale of the movie where the Scotland Yard agent goes to the house and gets quite a surprise while exploring the basement. The movie ends with the estate guy finally revealing the house's secret, something that barely comes into play save for some details.

[Secret Executioner]

Watched Jesse James meets Frankensten's Daughter (USA, 1966) last night.

Jesse James and his new partner Hank team up with a gang dubbed "the wild bunch" to attack a stagecoach, but things go awry and only James and a wounded Hank escape. They eventually come across a family fleeing their village as mysterious disappearances have occured, all apparently linked to the doctors living in a big house nearby - said doctors being Victor von Frankenstein's grandkids of course. And them neverthless taking Hank there could just bring Maria Frankenstein the perfect subject for her experiments.

 

Really not good. It's actually even dull. Jesse James and Maria Frankenstein (the granddaughter and not daughter of the Mary Shelley character) don't meet until quite late, but are probably the most interesting characters in the film. James is fairly threatening but hilariously has to remind people he is Jesse James because apparently he is believed to have been killed (so it probably takes place in the final 5 or so years of Jesse's life). Maria Frankenstein is more or less a regular mad scientist, obsessed with her experiments (though she has a crush on James apparently). She has a brother who is more moderate and turns out to be sabotaging the experiments behind his sister's back. Hank is a simpleton, essentially just a big guy who serves as muscles to James and (of course) becomes the monster when Maria revives him - and somehow she decides he should be called Igor. Other characters include the family Jesse James and Hank encounter, with the parents being very superstitious and scared while the daughter is more independent and stronger. And of course, she too has a crush on Jesse which leads to some tensions between her and Frankenstein.

As I said, the movie is overall dull. Not too much happens, and the last third or so is the most interesting part. The lab scenes are very colorful and a bit over the top, the creature is okay and there's a bit of tension with how strong he is and how Jesse James and the love interest will defeat Maria and her creation. Before that... The movie seems to drag, Jesse James repeatedly has to explain who he is and the side-characters and plots brought in are not that interesting or memorable.

 

Fun fact: this movie was released initially released as part of a double feature with another film by the same director (William Beaudine, mostly known for directing episodes of TV shows like Lassie and The Green Hornet) that used the same concept of pairing old West figures and iconic monsters - Billy the Kid vs Dracula. An interesting thing on this film is that it has John Carradine as the lead (rather than making random appearances or narrating) who is a vampire NOT named Dracula. But from what I heard, both are equally bad.

 

On a sidenote, wouldn't it be a good idea to make this a sticky like the western thread ? Thus we could also have a general horror thread as well. I had to dig this one up last year because I rather wanted to use a pre-existing thread rather than make a new one for my horror reviews.

Edited October 5, 2020 by Secret Executioner
Adding a question.

[Drunken Monk]

Ginger Snaps (2000) - For a film that’s an extended metaphor about periods and womanhood, this isn’t all that terrible. But that’s the problem, it’s nothing but mediocre. It’s not funny enough to be a good dark comedy and it’s not gory or scary enough to be a good horror movie. It’s original, I’ll give it that. But it’s far from the best werewolf movie.

5/10

1BR (2019) - An absolute “nothing” of a movie. No plot, no direction, no themes, no thrills, no scares, no gore, no real ending. The absolute doldrums or movie making from start to finish.

1/10

Blood Quantum (2019) -  An incredibly unique and enjoyable zombie movie that balances the drama of The Walking Dead with some of the goriest splatter I’ve seen as of late. It’s pacing is a bit off as when it really gets going, it’s only for a few blood drenched minutes. But it’s by no means a bad movie. It’s very good and super original. More people should see this one.

7/10

[Secret Executioner]

Curse of the Puppet Master (USA, 1998)

The puppets are now in the posession of a man named Magrew. He recruits a young guy named Robert to become his "assistant", but his real plan is to use him to carve a puppet and put his soul in it, as Toulon once did with the other puppets.

 

The sixth movie in the DTV Puppet Master series, this entry is... Very poor. The plot is paper-thin - crazy guy wants to create a race of puppet people using André Toulon's secrets. Most of the characters are unlikeable, the bullies that bother Magrew's daughter are a pain in the neck (especially their leader), the two cops are beyond obnoxious... Their deaths should be satisactory, if the puppets weren't killing them for their "master" who isn't made particularly interesting nor is the least bit subtle about his plan, often mentionning how great the puppets are and how humans suffer from constant emotional turmoil. You can see see plot points coming as soon as they are suggested (so pretty much zero suspense).

The only redeeming qualities I found are the puppets looking great, they are very unique and at least their designs remain consistent compared to the stock footage from the previous movies shown in the opening credits. Magrew's daughter and Robert are the only likeable characters, their relationship is okay (though the soundtrack to their scenes sometimes feel straight out of a sitcom and I almost expected to hear a studio audience gasping when they first kissed) and I liked their own moments - the daughter has apparently a certain affection for one of the puppets named Pinhead (who leaps into action to save her in one scene) and Robert has some nightmares that lead to rather creepy and creative imagery, putting some horror in the overall very quiet first half. Robert is also led to have to repair Pinhead after the action scene he gets involved in, which likely gets the puppets on his side. Speaking of puppets, he is carving a puppet out of wood but the final design is shown to be a more robot-like thing with a screen (that eventually displays a face) and a laser gun. 

 

Spoiler

On a sidenote, the turn from human to puppet does work with Robert, though it feels more like a Frankenstein-ish mind transfert than a soul transfert with all the laser-like effects shown. Also, the puppets finally turn on Magrew after it's done - guess it took them a while to figure the guy was evil, or maybe they wanted to avenge their friend. Why they wouldn't attack and kill him before he did the transfert - since they were roaming free - to save Robert, I have no idea. The final scene has Robert a puppet (or toy robot) and the puppets are butchering Magrew as his daughter returns after realizing the errand she was sent running was bullshit to keep her away from the house while her dad turned Robert into a puppet. They finish Magrew, she screams and... Credits.

 

My call ? A couple of redeeming qualities, but the film is loaded with flaws and lacks suspense or good development that could get you involved. I find the following entry in the series - the prequel Retro Puppet Master, a film I discussed last year and that I have along with this one on a 2-DVD set - is a vast improvement. Not a great horror film, but it has better characters, a better story and is more memorable.

[Drunken Monk]

Tragedy Girls (2017) - A wannabe dark comedy horror that doesn’t deliver on comedy or true horror. It has an interesting concept that quickly wears thin and ultimately outstays its welcome. There are some nice gory kills which I always appreciate, but it’s all very grating and not all that entertaining. I found myself wanting it to end early onz

4/10

Before I Wake (2016)

I’m a fan of Mike Flanagan. I think he’s one of the more interesting new wave horror directors. This is one of his earlier efforts and it’s a genuinely interesting story. Unfortunately, it kind of gently unspools and doesn’t quite hit hard enough to be a true horror. It also has the most obvious twist in the world and, weirdly, I didn’t see it coming at all. I had a face palm moment when it happened. It’s a cool movie and worth a one-time watch.

6.5/10

Edited October 7, 2020 by Drunken Monk

[Secret Executioner]

Treated myself to some Lucio Fulci this past couple of days

The Beyond (original title: L'Aldilà) (Italy, 1981)

A woman has bought an old hotel in Louisiana. Said hotel has a dark and violent history as it is said to be built on one of the seven gates of Hell, resulting in a lot of eerie and violent stuff happening there.

The second part of Fulci's "Gates of Hell" trilogy - following City of the Living Dead (original title: La Paura) and being itself followed by The House by the Cemetery (Quella Villa accanto al Cimitero), all three movies having in common a theme of cursed places with gruesome events happening there -, this film is pretty much what you'd expect from a Lucio Fulci movie at the time. It contains a lot of violent and gory scenes, one majorly disturbing scene (a guy being attacked by tarantulas) and a gorgeous score by Fabio Frizzi.

I found it more brutal and eerier than City of the Living Dead.

 

Zombi 2 AKA Zombie AKA Zombie Flesh Eaters (original title: Zombi 2) (Italy, 1979)

A boat arrives in New York. Amidst the mess onboard, only one inoccupant and it's a zombie. Another person gets zombified. Meanwhile, the daughter of the owner of the boat and some guy go investigating a nearby island where a doctor is performing bizarre experiments that - coupled with voodoo - create more zombies.

Sometimes branded a sequel to George Romero's Dawn of the Dead (which got distributed as Zombie in several places), this film was actually created around the same time if not before the Romero movie. Not that it would stop it from being a suspensful, gore and gruesome movies with a lot of atmosphere, some brutal moments, very detailled effects and a great soundtrack created by Italian progressive rock band Goblin that would be recycled in several other Italian horror films in the following years.

 

[Drunken Monk]

Mandy (2018) - Somewhere deep in this pretentious mess is a very good revenge horror. When it’s good, it’s damn good. Sadly, most of the time, it’s a meandering surreal wander through a purple neon landscape the director obviously thinks is cool. Sometimes it is; a lot of the time it ain’t. If this movie just tried to be a little less art house, I think I would have enjoyed it much more.

6/10

The Grudge (2020) - Another reason not to trust critics. This film is far, FAR better than some people have said it is. It’s a nice mix of a dark, slow burn chiller and a cliched supernatural horror movie. It walks a nice line in my opinion. It’s no classic but it’s satisfyingly good. It’s flaws are obvious: it struggles to balance its multiple story lines and some of the characters are thin. But if you want a good old ghost story, you could do much worse.

6.5/10

Hostel: Part II (2007) - A far less sleazy and lazy film than the first one. The sequel actually offers some character development. Not a lot, but enough. Sure, the torture porn is still here. Loads of it. But it just feels less exploitative. Even the infamous castration scene has a point to it.

5/10

[sifu iron perm]

watching mark of the devil followed by mark of the witch