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

[OpiumKungFuCracker]

Any recommendation on Shudder? 

[Secret Executioner]

Today's watch: Carnosaur (USA, 1993)

A mad scientist has been working for some big poultry company. Using her cover she managed to splice the chickens' DNA to recreate dinosaurs. And she also created a virus that is set to cause mankind's annihilation so that the dinos can roam free.

 

A Roger Corman production, so the story is confused, the characters are pretty much cardboards (some have an arc and the scientist is kinda interesting, though quite a nutjob) and the special effects are... They are actually okay. The gore is rather horrific and the dinosaurs look fairly good. Kudos to the ending fight between the lead characters in bulldozers and a dinosaur that looks like a Tyrannosaurus Rex - never thought Killdozer vs Carnosaur would be something I wanted more of. On a sidenote, this dinosaur is the only one that's clearly seen, and since there is no mention of any dinosaur species through the film it's hard to tell what dinosaurs they've created. The other dinos seen before seem to be the same species, though smaller ones have a different skin color, but considering some snakes change colors when growing up... I could go on a rant over what the dinos are/could be but I'll just say I'm fine with the dinos being T-Rexes for the above reason and also because it would mean the title was right - the movie does deal with carnosaurs.

The last third is rather downbeat per se but gets pretty uncomfortable in today's context as the military is deployed in the area where the action is set and they pretty much gun down anyone who may have been infected or have been in contact with infected people... Sheesh.

[snakymonkey]

8 hours ago, OpiumKungFuCracker said:

Any recommendation on Shudder? 

I'm a big misfits/samhain/danzig fan so I tried watching Verotika...a wonderful train wreck of a movie 

[Drunken Monk]

Sea Fever (2019) - Conceptually interesting but delivers very little excitement. I feel as though it was really going for tension but it didn’t do a lot for me in that department. Another mediocre watch.

5/10

The Wretched (2019) - A nice surprise! For those of you that enjoyed Disturbia, I recommend taking a look at this one. It’s a similar (though not identical) concept but much darker. Creepy at times, this one has a great twist. Well worth a watch if you have HULU.

7/10

Scream 4 - A travesty of a sequel. Sometimes meta isn’t better. The whole film feels like awww Craven making fun of himself and that isn’t a good thing. Lame dialog, lame kills and a lame end reveal. Makes the third film seem like a masterpiece.

3/10

[Drunken Monk]

22 hours ago, OpiumKungFuCracker said:

Any recommendation on Shudder? 

The Void.

[Secret Executioner]

Tonight's watch: She Demons (USA, 1958)

A rich chick and 3 guys working for her father end stuck on some island after a hurricane. There they find a tribe of young pretty women that has gone horribly disfigured because of the experiments of some nazi doctor trying to restore his wife's face.

 

Scantily clad women, nazis, this could feel like an exploitation film. Or a Lucio Fulci zombie film since we get a mad scientist. But instead it's a very slow and dull film with annoying characters (the rich chick is unbearable through the first half or so), barely theatening "monsters" and a lot of expository dialogue trying to cram in a lot of plot and development to explain why the nazis are here and what they are doing. The heroes are stereotype with the one member of the party who gets killed being of course the black guy, the Asian guy merely serves as a comic relief while the third employee is the brave adventurous white male who's afraid of nothing and of course he gets the girl in the end.

[Secret Executioner]

Back to previous posts, to further add to the confusion regarding the titles of these Italian zombie flicks my French copy of Lucio Fulci's Zombie AKA Zombi 2 has the title "L'Enfer des Zombies", which translates into English as "Hell of the Zombies". Pretty close to the English title of another Italian zombie movie, Bruno Mattei's Hell of the Living Dead known in France (at least on DVD) as Virus Cannibale.

Also, some stuff I found funny/enjoyable in Carnosaur:

• Coke product placement. It's hilariously on the nose, like there's a meeting with all sorts of presumably important people and everyone has a Coke can in front of them - no glass, pitcher of water or anything, just a single can. And a later scene in that same room has a bunch of those as well as a single Diet Coke can on the dark table and the single Diet Coke can stands out like crazy. 
• There's a "dino-vision" that is used at some points, a cool gimmick that doesn't overstay its welcome. And apparently dinosaurs see everything with a green filter.
• The black sheriff trash-talking a dinosaur before being attacked and shooting the dino with a shotgun. Of course it doesn't end too well for this guy but it's so over-the-top I just loved it. Also is it me or is trash-talking the killer or monster before being attacked and killed kind of a cliché in horror cinema ? BTW there's a vending machine with a huge Coke logo nearby - maybe he should have tried using it a some shield/obstacle between him and the dino like that vending machine (also branded Coke) saving JCVD from an explosion in Double Team.
• Like in apparently a lot of cheap/low-budget horror movies from the time Clint Howard randomly shows up. He is a side-character with a couple of scenes before being killed - sorta like in Silent Night, Deadly Night 4 though not as gross.

[Secret Executioner]

The City of the Dead (UK, 1960)

Whitewood, MA 1692. A woman accused of witchcraft is burnt but curses the town and its inhabitants. In present days a young history student goes to the village to investigate witchcraft and witches for a report.

 

After an obnoxious opening scene with people making faces and screaming at the camera the movie picks up and becomes much more interesting. The main character is okay, though I found she came across as fairly stupid when she didn't seem to put together that what is happening to her is literally what she read and knows happened to previous victims of human sacrifices performed by witches and wizards. Too bad because she is otherwise portrayed as strong-willed, competent and is actually a nice and likeable character. 

Things remain interesting when the movie goes Psycho on us and gets rid of its main character (I don't know if one could call this a spoiler since the movie isn't very subtle about it), the boyfriend and and the brother of the girl are given more attention. They were initially portrayed as supportive but more reasonnable and felt she was wasting her time investigating things that have no tangible elements to be discussed or investigated in the first place. The brother is a science professor and clashes about it with his sister's teacher. Said teacher is played by Christopher Lee and happens to be from the village, but I'm sure nothing bad could come out of that, right ? The two are still likeable and they decide to rush to the village to find her, eventually finding themselves fighting the witches and wizards in spite of their disbelief.

Beside its overall solid characterization (Christopher Lee's character is unsettling but manages to conceal his dark secrets very well, the townpeople we see are mysterious and you don't think they should be trusted, except for the priest and his granddaughter), the movie manages to keep great tension, has great atmosphere (lots of fog in the village, bizarre sounds being heard like chants ) and has a good pace that doesn't make it seem like the movie is rushing things or having scenes bringing it to a screeching halt. I also loved the transition between what I would dub the two parts

Spoiler

with the knife used to stab our main girl turning into the knife used to cut a slice of a birthday cake at a party. Still a celebratory mood I guess.

 

Random fact: my DVD has it billed as a US film so I felt it could have been a UK production, something I should have known as it was made at Shepperton Studios, the very same studios where The House that dripped Blood was made. Shepperton Studios are alluded to in the final segment - the one with the actor looking for a vampire cape - of this film BTW.

 

 

Black Sunday AKA Mask of the Demon (original title: La Maschera del Demonio) (Italy, 1960)

Moldova, Middle Ages. A princess and her lover are burnt at the stake as they are acused of witchcraft. 200 years later, two doctors passing in the area find her grave and also encounter the current royal family who are afraid that the witch will try and seek revenge on them, her ultimate goal being to come back to life in the body of the princess who happens to look exactly like her.

 

Italian horror master Mario Bava's directorial debut. A movie loaded with atmosphere (I loved the inside of the castle), some great effects and nice characters. My main complaint is that it's rather slow, though when things pick up it can get intense and make you uneasy though mostly from the atmosphere, the only horrific effects being the witch with her face poked because of the spikes inside the titular mask, her lover whose face is also damaged - and  he can be seen coming out of his grave - and the scars on their victims.

I overall enjoyed this one, though I don't think I should have seen it right after another film (the aforementionned City of the Dead).

Edited October 11, 2020 by Secret Executioner

[Secret Executioner]

The Terror (USA, 1963)

An officer from Napoleon's army gets lost and ends up tracking a mysterious woman. This leads him to the castle of some old baron with a lot of dark secrets.

 

A decent Roger Corman movie with contributions by Francis Ford Coppola (credited as Francis Coppola among the crew, but he co-directed this if IMDb is to be believed), Jack Nicholson and Boris Karloff. The story feels all over the place with all kinds of twists and turns. Great sets and the atmosphere is quite spooky. 

 

Random fact: I think this is one of Corman's easiest to get movies in France. I know of at least two different individual releases and I have it in two sets (the 10-horror movie pack I have The City of the Dead, The Wasp Woman and She Demons on and a 20-movie pack with double features showcasing movies of various kinds - The Terror is paired with Dementia 13 here) and as a bonus on the DVD release of some other horror movie about a rabid baboon.

[Drunken Monk]

Jeepers Creepers - A highly original and fun little monster movie. The lore is to really fleshed out all that much but it doesn’t really need to be. It’s just a “winged monster hunts kids” film. Sadly, I found out after watching this and it’s sequel that they were directed by a convicted pedophile. Yikes. With that knowledge set aside, this is a great early 2000’s slice of horror.

7/10

Jeepers Creepers 2 - Sadly not as good as the first. Kind of fun but the whole “stuck on the bus” thing gets a little tiresome.

5/10

We Summon the Darkness - Dull, stagnant. We’ve seen this done before and much better. This one doesn’t know whether it wants to be a tongue-in-cheek dark comedy or a modern slasher. Instead we get a boring trundle along the line between both. About this one.

3/10

The Beyond - If this was made today, it would be considered a dark, cerebral masterpiece along the lines of Hereditary, The Witch and Midsommar. It’s ages remarkably well too aside from some dodgy special effects. Its main issue is that it’s a bit disjointed. Not enough plot elements are set in stone and so I imagine many people feeling confused while watching. Top notch gore though! Fulci knee what he was doing.

7/10

Edited October 12, 2020 by Drunken Monk

[Secret Executioner]

@Drunken Monk Rewatched Jeepers Creepers 2 following your post and I think it's okay. Lots of nonsense and stupidty though, as I don't feel the bus is entirely stuck there and the characters are really not that bright (nor likeable for the most part). Also, I felt parts of it went against the lore established in the first film. But some kills are well put and the monster has a cool design with great practical effects, so not a total waste.

 

Other movies I watched were I still know what you did Last Summer (USA, 2006)...

In this distant DTV sequel to the 1997 slasher I know what you did last Summer (and its 1998 sequel I still know what you did last Summer), a new group of teenagers are dealing with the death of one of their friends and they decide to keep some background details secret for some reason, leading (of course) to a killer similar to the Fisherman from the first 2 films to stalk them and try to murder them the following summer.

More like a sort of remake than sequel really, as you can tell by the plot pretty much reusing the same threads than the original. Not sure why the main characters wanted to keep the stuff they knew a secret as the death is essentially a skateboard stunt gone (very) awry. The killer is even worse than in the original two as he is killing people at pretty much random, including relatives of the victim who could have been suspected - and his being involved makes no sense, unless he is supposed to go after pretty muh anyone who decided to keep something a secret during the summer time. The reveal on the true identity of said killer is head-scratching, in a "What the hell were they thinking" kind of way.

 

...and Midnight Meat Train (USA/UK, 2008).

Based on a Clive Barker's short story and directed by Ryûhei Kitamura (Azumi, Godzilla: Final Wars), this movie centers around a photographer who becomes obsessed with a man he suspects is a serial killer murdering people travelling on late night trains (or rather subways).

Definitely the best of these last 3 movies I watched. The movie has interesting and likeable main characters, the killer is a regular looking man but still looks intimidating and kinda badass, and the movie is atmospheric, though I found the gore to be a bit too exaggerated - puddles of blood causing people tripping in them to be drenched, lots of blood squirting out when people get cut... Some details like eyes being ejected out of their orbits or the gross things (warts ?) the killer has on his chest are effective, the scene where the wart-thingies are shown and he is cutting them off his body is pretty gruesome. 

My main compltaint (beside the gore) would be the reveal towards the end that comes out of left field. If what I read is true, the original story explains this bit much better. If anything, it should (could ?) have been foreshadowed much better.

Edited October 13, 2020 by Secret Executioner

[masterofoneinchpunch]

On 10/12/2020 at 9:57 AM, Drunken Monk said:

Jeepers Creepers - A highly original and fun little monster movie. The lore is to really fleshed out all that much but it doesn’t really need to be. It’s just a “winged monster hunts kids” film. Sadly, I found out after watching this and it’s sequel that they were directed by a convicted pedophile. Yikes. With that knowledge set aside, this is a great early 2000’s slice of horror.

7/10

The director is such a fan of Spielberg you can see that the whole beginning feels like his Duel.  I liked this one, but have not seen the sequel.  Not overly excited to, but probably will get to at some point.

[DrNgor]

Junk (Japan, 2000) - An American military experiment in Japan to test a chemical, DNX, which is meant to revive the dead, is successful. Unfortunately, the test subject (a naked woman) becomes a flesh-eating monster. While the army is scrambling to find the Japanese doctor who was involved in the initial research, a quartet of bank robbers arranges to have some Yakuza meet them at an abandoned factory so they can sell the stolen goods. Of course, the factory is actually the lab, so it isn't long before everybody is fighting against the zombies while the American military does its best to blow the place up.

The movie feels like a homage to Re-Animator and Return of the Living Dead, while some of the plot structure is similar to that same year's Versus (i.e. a motley group of criminals meets up with a better-armed group of criminals at an isolated place where the dead happen to be roaming around). Unfortunately, this film doesn't respect it's own internal logic and the rules considering the use of DNX and how zombies function are a bit blurry here. On the plus side, there is a lot of practical effects for the gore and it feels like a real movie more than some of the Sushi Typhoon-era fan-wank films. But then again, the guy playing the doctor has some really bad English and you'll need subtitles to understand what he's saying half the time. But at the same time, the lead zombie is pretty cute and spends much of the film naked, until she puts on tight black leather and starts doing back flips and stuff. It's a fun movie as long as you don't think about it for more than a few seconds.

[masterofoneinchpunch]

Annabelle: Creation (2017: David F. Sandberg):  

I am like the Conjuring serious much more than I originally thought I was going to. I know the first Annabelle is not fondly thought of. It is not scary (though I liked the plot and it had two good scares). 

This film is easily more frightening. There are more scenes of violence, sometimes effective, more jump-scares (sometimes frighting, sometimes expected). A great breaking of fingers scene (check out the multiple cutting off of fingers in The Odd One Dies if you can). 

Anthony LaPaglia was good as the father, but I would personally have put more exposition in.  When he finally got to talking more about his past it brought you in.  He has such a good Taken voice (reminding me of Liam Neeson). A little more pathos possibly needed. 

Most people I have talked (in person and online) to think this one is much better than the first. I think it is better, but I did enjoy the first one (which was much more paced). Another of the series where the family members are actually good. Seems refreshing. 

The doll is certainly creepy like. I've seen them for sale at FYE for years. Now they seem a little more frightening. I like the use of it, definitely different than Chucky (love the demon raising of the doll in the first film). 

I do wonder if the demon was a bit too powerful toward the end. It makes you wonder about the original film as well. Like the look of this demon more than Insidious’s Darth Maul. Nice creepy use of You Are My Sunshine. 

The movie is a prequel to the first film, which it references later on of course. It connects next to The Nun (check out the end credits), which I have heard is the worst of the bunch. I am going to have to find a copy of it next as well as Insidious 2. 

There are some good shots throughout the movie. Nice use of composition here. 

[DrNgor]

Wild Zero (1999) - While Versus may have been the father of the low-budget ohtaku-wank films made during the late 2000s and early 2010s, this comes close to being the grandfather. A high-concept film if I've ever seen one, the plot can be summed up with: "Japanese punk band Guitar Wolf fights against an army of zombies raised by invading aliens while teaching their biggest fan that love is fluid." If you roll your eyes at that, than the film is not for you. I thought it was very entertaining, although it needed to be a bit tighter on the editing. Beyond that, there are lots of exploding heads, gut eating, guitar picks used as shurikens, a female arms dealer who's good with her wares (the guns that is), and a compelling love story that has a lot of relevance in today's social climate. And then it goes completely bonkers at the climax. Recommended.

[sifu iron perm]

i think ill dwell into some fulci (beyond, zombi 2 , house by the cemetery)classics then edgar allan poe adaptations (vincent price).

 

 

Edited October 15, 2020 by sifu iron perm

[ShaolinMapache]

You can't go wrong with Fulci really. Don't Torture a Duckling (1972) is underrated I think, but it's more of a murder mystery than a straight up horror film. Still ofs of grotesque horror in it like with most of his movies. 

[DrNgor]

4 minutes ago, ShaolinMapache said:

Don't Torture a Duckling (1972) is underrated I think, but it's more of a murder mystery than a straight up horror film.

Something similar happened in his The Psychic, but I love how Fulci is not content with showing people simply fall from a high place and go splat on impact. He likes to drag things out, showing us the person hitting objects on the way down and getting progressively more jacked up before they go splat on the ground.

[Secret Executioner]

14 hours ago, sifu iron perm said:

i think ill dwell into some fulci (beyond, zombi 2 , house by the cemetery)classics then edgar allan poe adaptations (vincent price).

 

 

If you want to combine both Lucio Fulci directed an adaptation of Poe's The Black Cat but I remember it being rather boring and the cat's "acting" being very off. The "Gates of Hell" trilogy and Zombi 2 would be much better choices if you want classic Fulci.

 

14 hours ago, DrNgor said:

I love how Fulci is not content with showing people simply fall from a high place and go splat on impact. He likes to drag things out, showing us the person hitting objects on the way down and getting progressively more jacked up before they go splat on the ground.

This remark reminds me of the death of the main character's wife in Umberto Lenzi's Nightmare City AKA Invasion by the Amotic Zombies (original title is Incubo sulla Città contaminata) - they are climbing into an helicopter from the top of a rollercoaster and of course she loses grip and lets go of the rope, falling and bouncing off various parts of the rollercoaster. 

[Secret Executioner]

Back nearly a century ago with a classic among classics: Nosferatu (Germany, 1922)

Real estate employee Hutter is sent by his boss from Wisborg (or Bremen in a lot of international versions) all the way to Transylvania to sell a house to the bizarre Count Orlok. Following the sale, Orlok voyages and settle to the town, leaving a trail of bodies and an epidemic (including a lockdown, because the movie is apparently that ahead of its time) behind him. 

 

Watched a tinted German language version playing at 18 pps with a runtime of 90 minutes. The movie feels slow, the atmosphere (especially in Orlok's castle) is eerie as hell (providing a feeling of claustrophobia) and several scenes are unsettling. But that's what makes this movie so great. The DVD I have also contains a black and white version with French cards playing at 24 pps (running for only 60 minute with the same content) and not only is the faster pace making the movie ridiculous but the black and white creates plotholes as the colors help create the illusion of night time or various points in the day. I find the palette gorgeous and it enhances the aesthetics, similarly to what happens with a tinted version of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.

 

[Secret Executioner]

Dr. Terror's House of Horrors (UK, 1965)

Onboard a train, a fortune teller named Dr. Schreck (played by Peter Cushing) offers to tell his companions their fortune. This leads to five segments:

• the first one (Neil McCalum) is an architect who is hired to work for an old lady, but it appears her house contains a dark secret (namely it was the place where ancestors of the architect killed a werewolf long ago).
• the second one (Alan Freeman) returns home with his family to find an overly intelligent, hostile vine has taken over his house.
• the third one (Roy Castle) is a jazz musician who gets in a lot of trouble when he copies a voodoo melody for a song of his.
• the fourth one (Christopher Lee) is an art critic who gets pursued by the disembodied hand of an artist.
• the fifth and last one (Donald Sutherland) is a young doctor who moves in in a small town with his wife before being faced with strange cases of anemia. A colleague suggests there could be a vampire in town.

 

This Amicus production not only has a star-studded cast, but is also quite enjoyable. Each story is well written and gets pretty much straight to the point though not without having some suspense, tension and mystery in spite of being fairly short (the movie is barely over 90 minutes). Each one also has its own characters (usually interesting and some intriguing) and identity, as well as very differing horrific elements - werewolves, nature-based monsters, voodoo, disembodied limbs with a life of their own and vampires. Throw in a solid basis with a basic yet efficient framing device, and it's a very enjoyable and creative production.

 

Random fact: it's mentionned in the movie, but the "Dr. Terror" from the title is actually a translation of the fortune teller's name from German to English.

Edited October 17, 2020 by Secret Executioner

[Secret Executioner]

Blood Beast Terror (UK, 1968)

An entomologist/mad scientist has created a were-moth - a young woman posing as his daughter who can transform into a gigantic death's head moth. Problem is, she feeds on human blood and the police is investigating the corpses she leaves behind.

 

A small British production that stars Peter Cushing as the inspector in charge of the investigation. Due to low budget there's little that could qualify as horror visually and it's more of a mystery. The movie has a strong dose of comedy in its first half and some of the characters may feel like clichees (the morgue guy keeps making dark jokes, some characters feel overly British) while the second half contains more tension though the movie also seems to become slower - or at least I found it too slow. Which is IMO pretty bad for 67 minute long film. The conclusion leaves a bit to be desired, though there's a feeling of "that's kinda appropriate" in how the monster dies. Peter Cushing delivers and I liked his character, a very intelligent and competent detective (which isn't always the case with police people in horror films).

 

Island of Terror (UK, 1966)

An island off the coast of Ireland is the scene of mysterious, gruesome deaths involving liquefied bodies. The local doctor brings on two colleagues and they soon get caught in a race against time as the creatures responsible keep multiplying.

 

More Peter Cushing, this time he plays one of the doctors investigating the case. While my copy is an edited cut (IMDb mentions a cut involving a limb getting chopped off and Cushing's character suddenly seems to have lost his hand between scenes in my version), the movie still provides some horrific visuals with some liquefied bodies that are quite gruesome and there is a lot of tension with the bizarre though eerie creatures.  

[sifu iron perm]

On 10/17/2020 at 8:28 PM, Secret Executioner said:

Dr. Terror's House of Horrors (UK, 1965)

Onboard a train, a fortune teller named Dr. Schreck (played by Peter Cushing) offers to tell his companions their fortune. This leads to five segments:

• the first one (Neil McCalum) is an architect who is hired to work for an old lady, but it appears her house contains a dark secret (namely it was the place where ancestors of the architect killed a werewolf long ago).
• the second one (Alan Freeman) returns home with his family to find an overly intelligent, hostile vine has taken over his house.
• the third one (Roy Castle) is a jazz musician who gets in a lot of trouble when he copies a voodoo melody for a song of his.
• the fourth one (Christopher Lee) is an art critic who gets pursued by the disembodied hand of an artist.
• the fifth and last one (Donald Sutherland) is a young doctor who moves in in a small town with his wife before being faced with strange cases of anemia. A colleague suggests there could be a vampire in town.

 

This Amicus production not only has a star-studded cast, but is also quite enjoyable. Each story is well written and gets pretty much straight to the point though not without having some suspense, tension and mystery in spite of being fairly short (the movie is barely over 90 minutes). Each one also has its own characters (usually interesting and some intriguing) and identity, as well as very differing horrific elements - werewolves, nature-based monsters, voodoo, disembodied limbs with a life of their own and vampires. Throw in a solid basis with a basic yet efficient framing device, and it's a very enjoyable and creative production.

 

Random fact: it's mentionned in the movie, but the "Dr. Terror" from the title is actually a translation of the fortune teller's name from German to English.

Huge fan of Amicus ! I rate this maybe 4th in the anthology list, definitely better than torture garden!

FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE

TALES FROM THE CRYPT

THE HOUSE THAT DRIPPED BLOOD

ASYLUM

VAULT OF HORROR

DR TERRORS..

TORTURE GARDEN

 

 

 

 

Edited October 19, 2020 by sifu iron perm

[DrNgor]

4 hours ago, sifu iron perm said:

Huge fan of Amicus ! I rate this maybe 4th in the anthology list, definitely better than torture garden!

FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE

TALES FROM THE CRYPT

THE HOUSE THAT DRIPPED BLOOD

ASYLUM

VAULT OF HORROR

DR TERRORS..

TORTURE GARDEN

I think it's the best one I've seen so far, although I haven't seen TALES FROM THE CRYPT; TALES THAT WITNESS MADNESS or TORTURE GARDEN. Vault of Horror was easily my least favorite of the bunch.

[sifu iron perm]

1 hour ago, DrNgor said:

I think it's the best one I've seen so far, although I haven't seen TALES FROM THE CRYPT; TALES THAT WITNESS MADNESS or TORTURE GARDEN. Vault of Horror was easily my least favorite of the bunch.

i always thought tales witness madness and even Monster club were non AMICUS?

Both of those belong in the bottom..especially tales/madness..horrible.