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

[masterofoneinchpunch]

FINALLY got around watching an horror film this month. 

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Germany, 1919)

The bulk of this silent film in 6 acts is a story narrated by a young man about events that befell him and a young girl.

..Considered one of - if not THE - the first horror movies ever made, this Robert Wiene movie also shows Expresionist cinema at a peak, to the point Fritz Lang himself (who IIRC was to direct it at a point) said that a movie like this would scare audiences.

This is one film I never tire of revisiting, mainly because of its strange aestethics, the great score my copy has (a very fitting score that includes sound effects at points) and also for the acting which I find very enjoyable though it's very exaggerated (the make-up is also greatly done, the sleepwalker looks really creepy). The movie also got me into German Expressionist cinema, which isn't a bad thing seeing several of my favorite movies are from this artistic current (Nosferatu and The last Laugh being two solid examples)

Have you seen The Hands of Orlac with both Robert Weine and Conrad Veidt?  I'm still not sure what I think about it after seeing it a few times.  It is not the classic that The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is nor is as good as Mad Love (1935: another version of this story -- seriously watch this if you have not) but it is worth watching and it is certainly Expressionistic.

 

Have you seen any of the shorts from Georges Méliès? He crossed many different genres (Martin Scorsese's Hugo has him as a character in the film.)

 

Edison's 1910 Frankenstein.  This is also in the box set of Edison's from Kino.

[Lady Jin Szu-Yi]

Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires (1974) If I'm going to watch sparkling vampires this is the movie I'll watch. I'm a sucker for local folklore, classic monsters and schlock period. I dig David Chiang in this and enjoy it for what it is. And it was nice to catch The Tombs of the Blind Dead fx with the undead skeletal servants of the 7GV.  Sure, some character logic doesn't exist but that always happens in horror films.  Happy this does exist. 

[Lady Jin Szu-Yi]

Hex After Hex (1983) 

 

Lo Meng's muscular doofus, Ma Su, is strapped for cash and love, Ma Su can't hold a job and has a crush on the girl next door who won't give him the time of day. And then Ma Su gets a strange offer from an old man who says Ma Su can have a house and money if he agrees to marry his daughter. Here's the catch and it's huge, she's dead. So Ma Su would marry a ghost and all of his real life problems will be solved. Well, Ma Su freaks out and his money etc. troubles become worse.  But then, lovely next door neighbor dies in a car accident but becomes possessed by the old man's daughter. She returns as Red Pok Pok and so begins the sometimes wacky spirit hijinks between Ma Su and Pok Pok. 

 

This was funny in spots, especially toward the end. Lo capitalizes on his sweet nature and enthusiastically throws everything into his performance. Once he starts dabbling with spirit possession, it flows into the right kind of goofy. The credits are among the weirdest moments he's ever performed. There is a nice bit of kung fu and winky fan work during the exorcism and Shaw Brothers studios gets ribbed in a cute way.

 

Great line: four goons seeing said ghost "OUCH, mom!"

 

This kind of reminds me of Til Death Do We Scare (which was hilarious  while the ghosts were around and then sort of drifted off into it's own thing before imploding.)

Edited October 24, 2015 by Lady Jin Szu-Yi

[Secret Executioner]

Hex After Hex (1983) 

 

Lo Meng's muscular doofus, Ma Su, is strapped for cash and love, Ma Su can't hold a job and has a crush on the girl next door who won't give him the time of day. And then Ma Su gets a strange offer from an old man who says Ma Su can have a house and money if he agrees to marry his daughter. Here's the catch and it's huge, she's dead. So Ma Su would marry a ghost and all of his real life problems will be solved. Well, Ma Su freaks out and his money etc. troubles become worse.  But then, lovely next door neighbor dies in a car accident but becomes possessed by the old man's daughter. She returns as Red Pok Pok and so begins the sometimes wacky spirit hijinks between Ma Su and Pok Pok. 

 

This was funny in spots, especially toward the end. Lo capitalizes on his sweet nature and enthusiastically throws everything into his performance. Once he starts dabbling with spirit possession, it flows into the right kind of goofy. The credits are among the weirdest moments he's ever performed. There is a nice bit of kung fu and winky fan work during the exorcism and Shaw Brothers studios gets ribbed in a cute way.

 

Great line: four goons seeing said ghost "OUCH, mom!"

 

This kind of reminds me of Til Death Do We Scare (which was hilarious  while the ghosts were around and then sort of drifted off into it's own thing before imploding.)

The summary alone is hilarious, I cant start to imagine what the actual film must be like...   

[Lady Jin Szu-Yi]

Hex After Hex had some  LOL moments.  Lo really throws himself into the exorcism climax, he was very, very funny when Ma Su gives himself over to spirit possession. If you can roll with the sitcom-like nature of the film, you are rewarded with an absolutely bonkers climax that makes this worth seeing. Definitely endears me to the campy, silly Hong Kong ghost sub genre. And I love it when the cast look like they are having as much fun as they did here. 
 

It was a refreshing break from the usually heavy / grim horror films I am used to.  

Edited October 25, 2015 by Lady Jin Szu-Yi

[Secret Executioner]

Got around watching another horror flick this afternoon: Zombie Lake (France/Spain, 1981)

 

This Eurociné cuts to the chase as the (very cheap) opening credits roll over the first (in many) scene of gratuitious nudity. Following 3 minutes watching a chick get naked (including boobs, @$$ and bush shots), walk around still naked (and take out a no swimming sign complete with skull and crossbones, like the lake is dangerous) and swim (naked) in the lake (the swimming being mostly filmed under water BTW), she's attacked (and presumably killed) by a zombie. We later find out these attacks (that usually lead to female nudity and result in very cheap gore) have been happening for awhile and the inhabitants of the small village near that lake kinda treat them like random occurences (unless the bad acting in the movie gives that feeling ?). When a reporter looking for a sensatonal story drops in to write something on the lake, we learn through the mayor (played by Eurociné regular Howard Vernon, also seen as Orloff in several of the Dr. Orloff movies including The awful Dr. Orlof and Dr. Orloff's Invisible Man AKA Love Life of the Invisible Man, and who would appear 10 years after this film as the Frog Man in Delicatessen) that ten years prior, the local resistance had killed a group of German soldiers and had thrown the bodies in the lake - but the lake turns out to be cursed as it used to be at the core of an old tradition of black magic and human sacrifices. We don't see these rituals, but the 20 minute (out of 84) long flashback gives us a background on a little girl from the village whose father is one of the German soldiers turned into zombies. The rest of the movie goes between bad acting from the villagers, exploitative content with nudity, murders and cheap gore and one of the strangest ideas ever: a relation between a 10 years old girl and her zombie dad.

 

What can I say about this one... Except that it falls in the "so bad it's great category" without problem. There's stuff for everybody in this:

- purely exploitative content with lots of female nudity, some time for the pure sake of it - though there seems to be an alternate cut where the girls keep their underwear for the scenes in water (speaking of underwear, it looks like it takes place in an area where woman underwear doesn't exist as out of all the ladies, only a couple seem to have panties and only one has a bra).

- very cheap effects as the zombies make-up is essentially green face with some red marks and it has no continuity between shots, which also goes for the helmets that they seem to have on and off without any real logic or reason - yeah, cause the zombies wear Wehrmacht uniforms here. The gore itself is pretty bad too, the blood doesn't look anywhere near convincing. Hell, you may actually laugh at how bad it is when characters get bitten by the zombies or when a German soldier is shot in the eye and blood spills like crazy out of it.

- bad acting with the little girl who's especially bad (not necessarly in a good way), but a couple of characters are at least memorable for the OTT acting (I love one guy with a moustache whose accent just kills me, and there's an old guy who became famous among French-speaking bad movies lovers because of his one line - he has ONE line and nobody's been able to figure out half of it, so what people think he says - a word that doesn't seem to exist - became a popular phrase in that community thanks to Nanarland) and Howard Vernon offers a decent performance in spite of looking bored like he wants to get out there ASAP.

 

But to be honest it manages to drag around the hour mark, maybe because the ridiculousness has reached a peak that quickly became boring with that dad/daughter relation - either the novelty wears off or she's so bad she turns you off, I don't know. But still, it's more fun to watch that another Nazi zombie film I have called Shockwaves (USA, 1977).

[Lady Jin Szu-Yi]

Wow, Secret that sounded like a chore to get through. Thanks for taking one for the team. Interesting though the daughter and her zombie dad? Wasn't the recent Arnuld film Maggie the reverse of that (dad and zombie daughter?) 

 

For me if the film even mentions black magic, I better see some kind of ritual. That always bums me out when films refuse to show that. 

 

Speaking of rituals...

 

Werewolves on Wheels (1971). It's been a few years since I've seen this clever twist on biker horror, I still really enjoy the Twilight Zone-ish ending (ties into the club's name perfectly) and rituals are the typical early 70s wanton exploitation / Satanic wonkiness.

 

The Devil's Advocates are your usual Hells Angels wannabes, full of booze and attitude. When they stumble across a Satanic church and it's unholy congregation led by High Priest The One, the bikers use and abuse the pleasures brought onto them by the devil worshippers. Um, note to The Devil's Advocates, never wise to participate in something which mocks the sacrament. Of course, the bikers insult their hosts, because we have to get to the werewolves you dig?

 

So the Devil's Advocates president's girl becomes the unwilling ritual participant in a kinky strip tease (sorta) for the One and his cronies, but not before he curses her with lycanthropy. And then she bites her beau and everyone dies...sort of. The werewolf effects are sadly more Lon Chaney than something more animalistic, (this being 1971 the crew's make up options were far more limited) and they aren't around very long. But no matter, the Satanic elements pick up the slack quite well and the final moments make the whole movie. This is my idea of two great trash concepts, mashed  together in an almost successful way. And the title of the film does deliver (sadly not nearly long enough but that's due to the make up artist's time constraint), but still.. it's a unique piece of biker cinema that's a lot of fun. Not as creepy as Psychomania's weirdo black magic bikers, but just the kind of thing you'd expect from the title.  Fur, fire, fury. 

 

Edited October 29, 2015 by Lady Jin Szu-Yi
It's wanton not wonton...

[Secret Executioner]

Wow, Secret that sounded like a chore to get through. Thanks for taking one for the team. Interesting though the daughter and her zombie dad? Wasn't the recent Arnuld film Maggie the reverse of that (dad and zombie daughter?) 

 

For me if the film even mentions black magic, I better see some kind of ritual. That always bums me out when films refuse to show that. 

Definitely not a chore - actually, it was rather tons of fun (I forgot to mention the lack of budget for the WWII footage implying either stuff occuring off-screen or use of stock footage that had so little to do with the movie that the weather is different, and the costume budget being so low you only have 8 German soldiers in this film - and need I forget the underwater scenes that were very obviously filmed in some pool, you can see the walls in the background most of the time). And I can assure you you'd most definitely be bummed with this one since the black magic stuff is just mentionned once and never addressed again. 

 

On a sidenote, I read that the making of this movie was apparently kinda complicated. Jess Franco was set to direct but dropped off after a couple of days (apparently due to a disagreement with the writer/producer who was constantly rewriting the film so that it could be the cheapest to make), so producer Marius Lesoeur (who also wrote the film and whose grand daughter Anouchka plays the little girl) called in Jean Rollin to finish filming (while the credits of the movie mention a "J. A. Laser" or "J. A. Lazer" as the director) and Jean Rollin would come up on set everyday filming what Lesoeur told him to.

[Lady Jin Szu-Yi]

Ah, okay. Thanks for clarifying that Secret and my definite pu pu of no rituals. 

 

Oh, it's a Jean Rollin and would be Jess Franco film. I confess I could never wrap my brain around their works, so I politely sidestep them. Both men worked with no budget almost all the time and yet films were made. This is one of the reasons why I love 70s genre films so much no matter where they were made. Regardless of budget, anything really did go in these films. And I like that. 

Edited October 25, 2015 by Lady Jin Szu-Yi
I am so confused by rollin and franco...

[Secret Executioner]

Today being Friday I went with...

 

Friday the 13th Part III (USA, 1982)

 

Actually taking place the couple of days following the events of Friday the 13th Part 2 (which came out the previous year), it should be called Saturday the 14th (or Sunday the 15th ?).  This idea is enforced by the fact the movie opens with the last scenes from Part 2 as we see Jason apparently defeated by the two survivors (but a part is removed and a continuity error occurs as the first new scene shows Jason still in the shack remove the machete in his shoulder when he shouldn't since he originally leaps through the window with the machete still stuck in his shoulder at the end of Part 2). Jason then goes wrecking havoc in the worst grocery store ever (owned by a bickering couple with a teenage chick trying to pose as an elderly woman who constantly yells at her inept husband, it has a rabbit fooling around in the vegetables and the husband eats and drinks from the products on display. The two are killed after the wife heard on TV that a massacre has occured the day before.

Later, a group of young people (including a young couple, a fatass with a dark sense of humor and a chick who encountered Jason previously - said girl is the "girl who lives" and the actress playing her is Dana Kimmell who was more of TV actress appearing as secondary characters in series like Eight is Enough, Happy Days, Diff'rent Strokes, Hart to Hart or The Young and the Restless) decide to go camp by the lake in a big house with a barn nearby. They keep going in spite of seeing ambulances and police cars around the store and in spite of the usual weirdo who warns them not to go. They also bump into a group of bikers who will return to get revenge on them, providing more victims (the bodycount in this one is of 12) for Jason, including the usual non-surviving black guy these films are known for having - the guy actually survives the first attempt though and fights back much better than the other two.

The third entry of the franchise is notable for introducing the famous hockey mask that would become Jason's trademark later on. It's also part of that wave of early 1980s movies that came out in 3D (like Amytiville 3-D or Jaws 3-D) and there's an abondance of things pointing towards or even jumping at the camera, which may make the movie look awkward (especially if you see it in 2D like I did with the DVD I have - I read some home video releases were in 3D though). And since it opens with scenes off Part 2, the first 5 or so minutes are NOT in 3D.

 

Anyway, beyond all this trivia, it's a pretty nice and efficient movie - probably one of the best slahers I've seen so far. It has some jumpscares that work well (unlike today's scares you see coming a mile away and barely have any effect), lots of tension and suspense (especially in the last 10 or so minutes), the characters aren't too annoying (they are mostly bland and harmless, though I love the bickering couple who own the store at the beginning) and Jason is becoming the nearly indestructible monster he became in later movies - he gets a machete in the shoulder at the end of Part 2, but here we add a lot of stuff including being hanged by the neck (which leads to a great scare when he turns out still alive) and an ax through the head. The ending was pretty interesting too, I enjoyed how reminiscent of that of the first film it was. IMO it could have been a nice conclusion to the series, leaving it up to the audience to decide whether all evil was gone or if something threatening still haunts Crystal Lake.

One last great element is the theme song. That disco-like rendition of the series theme is awesome, possibly my second favorite Friday the 13th tune after "He's back (the Man behind the Mask)" by Alice Cooper (the theme song from Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason lives) - for the record, I picked up interest in this series because of the theme song Alice made, being a big Alice Cooper fan.  

 

 

Edited October 30, 2015 by Secret Executioner

[Lady Jin Szu-Yi]

Don't think I've ever read pretty nice in terms of a slasher before. Good one, Secret. 

 

I was all set to watch TCM's Hammer marathon today, but real life and kung fu decided otherwise.  It's okay, I'll probably watch a boatload of horror around Christmas knowing me. 

[paimeifist]

I haven't watched nearly enough horror flicks this Halloween season..

 

Black Magic with the Buddha

 

http://hkmdb.com/db/movies/view.mhtml?id=6483&complete_credits=1&display_set=eng

 

Disclaimer: The quality of this was very bad, the subtitles were cut off, hard to read, and sometimes non existent.. So my grasp of the plot isn't great, but luckily there isn't a whole lot to it.

 

This movie was...interesting. One of the handful of films Lo Lieh directed. Chen Kuan Tai is Ben, a down on his luck man with in laws that don't like him. He travels to some jungle that seems to be far away, where he and another man (who is some kind of voodoo guy) dig up some brain that is said to grant any wish. The man warns Ben that he must return the brain after ten days, or else bad things will happen. We soon learn that Ben is kind of a scum bag, and every wish he makes is completely self centered. Being the self centered scum bag he is, he of course doesn't heed voodoo mans warning, and does not return the brain. The brain gets pissed and starts harming he and his loved ones. Shortly afterward, Ben runs into a crazy old man (Lo Lieh), who tells Ben he feels the devil in him, and knows he will come to see him soon. Ben and his wife take to worshipping the God of Four Faces to help fend off the evil brain devil, which leads them to a Witch Doctor guy for help, who is of course, Lo Lieh... HOW WILL THEY STOP THE BRAIN DEMON?!

 

The first hour of the film is pretty normal. The "horror" aspect is mainly just the brain making dead animals appear around Ben and his wife to show its displeasure with him, and typical poltergeist style shenanigans. Seeing CKT pray to a pulsating brain that makes breathing sounds is pretty funny every time its shown though. Somehow I wasn't bored, probably because the movie is well acted, particularly Chen Kuan Tai and Lo Lieh. I don't think I could watch the first hour again though. Once Ben keeps the brain past its due date, the movie takes a turn to crazy hong kong stuff, and it gets pretty awesome. There is a pretty cool scene that seems to take place in Lo Liehs mind, where he and a few different "gods" have a little discussion, it was pretty cool..  The brain demon "possesses" Ben, turning him into some weird brain man. At this point it becomes a mix of a slasher film, and Mr. Vampire style stuff from Lo Liehs character. What better way to counter brainman possessed by brain demon, than let the righteous God of 4 Faces take over your own body! So Lo Lieh does that, then a battle of bad effects ensues, and it is pretty entertaining. The commentary between Lo Lieh and his God is also pretty funny, and it seemed intentional.

 

If it wasn't for the last half an hour of whacked out HK awesomeness, and Lo Lieh, and Chen Kuan Tais performances, this would have been pretty poor.. But these things did make it a worthwhile watch for me, and I'd probably check out the last bits again. Lo Liehs character is very entertaining, as a careless old whacked out voodoo man. It is interesting to see Chen Kuan Tai play a weak scum bag, because he didn't do that much....but he shows his acting chops well here. Somehow most of the movie manages to feel a lot less exploitative than the Shaw Bros flicks that inspire it.. I'd watch Boxers Omen over this for sure but probably not Black Magic.

[Lady Jin Szu-Yi]

Glad to hear you liked that one paimeifist. It does sound better than Black Magic too. 

[Lady Jin Szu-Yi]

and caught the original Evil Dead (1981) on Starz.  iTunes has this on sale right now for $4.99  HD and after seeing how amazingly great the since restored HD print looks on Starz this evening, I am tempted.  But still after seeing this film dozens of times, there is a little bit of a scare factor remaining. The atmosphere and the concept are still pretty potent (in spite of a decent remake that eschews any scares for a lot more gore.)   Evil Dead remains one of the most effective demonic possession films for me and once it gets going, it does not stop.   

 

Five college kids go off to remote cabin for some off season fun and discover the nefarious Book of the Dead, dagger and tie in recordings made by the professor who unearthed these at a dig. Before you can say, "Don't play the tape kids... too late." The Kandarian demons (I feel like typing Kardashian, but I'll be nice) awaken in the woods surrounding the cabin and everything goes rapidly down hill from there.   I have to say the young actresses here went through some of the most grueling, horrible sequences (the tree rape, dismemberment, self amputation etc.) and they are absolute troopers.  I prefer Bruce Campbell's Ash in this film to the sequels (and tomorrow's tv sequel)... I like the goofball Ash quite a bit, but seeing Bruce play this character more serious made me care about him a bit more. It ups the stakes a little bit. 

 

I love the make up effects here too: Very crude, gritty and down and dirty. They fit perfectly. I also love the design of the Kandarian sacrificial dagger - the little skull mirrors the creepy illustrations in the Book of the Dead (a.k.a. Necronomicon) and it surprises me no one has made a replica of it given this series eternal popularity. 

[Secret Executioner]

I haven't watched nearly enough horror flicks this Halloween season..

 

Black Magic with the Buddha

 

http://hkmdb.com/db/movies/view.mhtml?id=6483&complete_credits=1&display_set=eng

 

Disclaimer: The quality of this was very bad, the subtitles were cut off, hard to read, and sometimes non existent.. So my grasp of the plot isn't great, but luckily there isn't a whole lot to it.

 

This movie was...interesting. One of the handful of films Lo Lieh directed. Chen Kuan Tai is Ben, a down on his luck man with in laws that don't like him. He travels to some jungle that seems to be far away, where he and another man (who is some kind of voodoo guy) dig up some brain that is said to grant any wish. The man warns Ben that he must return the brain after ten days, or else bad things will happen. We soon learn that Ben is kind of a scum bag, and every wish he makes is completely self centered. Being the self centered scum bag he is, he of course doesn't heed voodoo mans warning, and does not return the brain. The brain gets pissed and starts harming he and his loved ones. Shortly afterward, Ben runs into a crazy old man (Lo Lieh), who tells Ben he feels the devil in him, and knows he will come to see him soon. Ben and his wife take to worshipping the God of Four Faces to help fend off the evil brain devil, which leads them to a Witch Doctor guy for help, who is of course, Lo Lieh... HOW WILL THEY STOP THE BRAIN DEMON?!

 

The first hour of the film is pretty normal. The "horror" aspect is mainly just the brain making dead animals appear around Ben and his wife to show its displeasure with him, and typical poltergeist style shenanigans. Seeing CKT pray to a pulsating brain that makes breathing sounds is pretty funny every time its shown though. Somehow I wasn't bored, probably because the movie is well acted, particularly Chen Kuan Tai and Lo Lieh. I don't think I could watch the first hour again though. Once Ben keeps the brain past its due date, the movie takes a turn to crazy hong kong stuff, and it gets pretty awesome. There is a pretty cool scene that seems to take place in Lo Liehs mind, where he and a few different "gods" have a little discussion, it was pretty cool..  The brain demon "possesses" Ben, turning him into some weird brain man. At this point it becomes a mix of a slasher film, and Mr. Vampire style stuff from Lo Liehs character. What better way to counter brainman possessed by brain demon, than let the righteous God of 4 Faces take over your own body! So Lo Lieh does that, then a battle of bad effects ensues, and it is pretty entertaining. The commentary between Lo Lieh and his God is also pretty funny, and it seemed intentional.

 

If it wasn't for the last half an hour of whacked out HK awesomeness, and Lo Lieh, and Chen Kuan Tais performances, this would have been pretty poor.. But these things did make it a worthwhile watch for me, and I'd probably check out the last bits again. Lo Liehs character is very entertaining, as a careless old whacked out voodoo man. It is interesting to see Chen Kuan Tai play a weak scum bag, because he didn't do that much....but he shows his acting chops well here. Somehow most of the movie manages to feel a lot less exploitative than the Shaw Bros flicks that inspire it.. I'd watch Boxers Omen over this for sure but probably not Black Magic.

That sounds hilarious from the way you describe it.

[paimeifist]

Oh it is hilarious Secret Executioner, one of those films I wish I would have had someone else watching with me. (Its always easier to laugh with others around eh?)

[teako170]

Whatever your flick of choice is for this Halloween season, I hope everyone has a Ghoulish Good Weekend.....

 

[Secret Executioner]

Great pic teako. What film(s) did it draw inspiration from ?

[Secret Executioner]

Just watched a film called Crocodile Fury (HK, late 1980s)

 

 

This animal-based horror movie (directed by a guy named Ted Kingsbrook and produced by Tomas Tang... Yeah, it's from Filmark) adds scenes featuring a witch and her various allies (including gyonsi), soldiers and a lot of bad OTT acting to a Thai movie about cursed people who are turned into crocodiles by some evil wizard and who eat villagers - the village's hero is of course the Asian part's lead and your usual Sorapong Chatree for today.

 

I won't try summing up the story because I didn't get it. It doesn't make much sense (maybe the original Thai movie it's taken from makes more sense - and at least the villagers won't be called Jack, Maria or Cooper), and it's a confused mess all around. However, the villains in the Western part are tons of fun. The witch overacts to the point she looks nuts (and her casting spells is epic ridiculousness), and there's a scene where one of her sidekicks (played by Ernst Mauser, also seen in some films by John Woo and Johnnie To  ) is attacked by gyonsi (who seem to try and beat him up) before bursting into laughter when they are stopped (seriously, I had to stop the movie when I saw that because it was just freaking hilarious). The gyonsi aren't used much, but look okay.

 

 

The Thai part is a huge mess (probably because this doesn't make sense anymore and parts of the film must have been used at random). It essentially involves Jack's girlfriend Maria being torn into a crocodile by an evil wizard (who seems to work along with the witch from the Gwailo part) and he tries to  stop her when she's attacking the village (so you see Sorapong Chatree fight a crocodile and talk to it... Yeah, makes sense), other people are turned into crocodiles... Completely nuts, and no sense at all. Too bad cause the original film (called Krai Thong, Part 2) could probably be interesting, at least from a cultural POV - this film (and others in the "Crocodile Men" wave) deals with a local superstition about people becoming crocodiles after they die. Several films like that were made in Thailand and Cambodia over the years.

 

Crocodile Fury thus isn't one I'd recommend, it's really bad in spite of hilarious acting from some of the Westerners. Way messed up stuff here.

[Lady Jin Szu-Yi]

Ten points for using my favorite gyonsi gif here Secret. 

Edited October 31, 2015 by Lady Jin Szu-Yi
should really just leave my typos in..but still

[DragonClaws]

Just watched a film called Crocodile Fury (HK, late 1980s)

 

 

This animal-based horror movie (directed by a guy named Ted Kingsbrook and produced by Tomas Tang... Yeah, it's from Filmark) adds scenes featuring a witch and her various allies (including gyonsi), soldiers and a lot of bad OTT acting to a Thai movie about cursed people who are turned into crocodiles by some evil wizard and who eat villagers - the village's hero is of course the Asian part's lead and your usual Sorapong Chatree for today.

 

I won't try summing up the story because I didn't get it. It doesn't make much sense (maybe the original Thai movie it's taken from makes more sense - and at least the villagers won't be called Jack, Maria or Cooper), and it's a confused mess all around. However, the villains in the Western part are tons of fun. The witch overacts to the point she looks nuts (and her casting spells is epic ridiculousness), and there's a scene where one of her sidekicks (played by Ernst Mauser, also seen in some films by John Woo and Johnnie To  ) is attacked by gyonsi (who seem to try and beat him up) before bursting into laughter when they are stopped (seriously, I had to stop the movie when I saw that because it was just freaking hilarious). The gyonsi aren't used much, but look okay.

 

The Thai part is a huge mess (probably because this doesn't make sense anymore and parts of the film must have been used at random). It essentially involves Jack's girlfriend Maria being torn into a crocodile by an evil wizard (who seems to work along with the witch from the Gwailo part) and he tries to  stop her when she's attacking the village (so you see Sorapong Chatree fight a crocodile and talk to it... Yeah, makes sense), other people are turned into crocodiles... Completely nuts, and no sense at all. Too bad cause the original film (called Krai Thong, Part 2) could probably be interesting, at least from a cultural POV - this film (and others in the "Crocodile Men" wave) deals with a local superstition about people becoming crocodiles after they die. Several films like that were made in Thailand and Cambodia over the years.

 

Crocodile Fury thus isn't one I'd recommend, it's really bad in spite of hilarious acting from some of the Westerners. Way messed up stuff here.

The film poster is pure exploitation, a curvy topless lady getting swallowed by a crocodile. Since joining the forums Ive learned that Filmark didn't just churn out Martial Arts films.

[masterofoneinchpunch]

and caught the original Evil Dead (1981) on Starz.  ... Book of the Dead (a.k.a. Necronomicon) and it surprises me no one has made a replica of it given this series eternal popularity. 

While not quite the same thing, they did come out with this limited set on DVD (but yeah a nicely printed book I think would do well):

 

But I am in the other camp.  I tend to prefer the next two films over the original.  I'm a decently sized Bruce Campbell fan (meaning I own and read both of his main selling books, both I recommend: If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor and Make Love the Bruce Campbell Way) and have a whole bunch of films because he is in it.

[Lady Jin Szu-Yi]

Yup,  I had that set at one point. I love the alternate ending to Army of Darkness myself, but there's just something about the rawness and pure scare factor of the original which stays with me. I know the latter two are more loved / popular and that's great. I enjoy them too. 

 

I've read both of Bruce's tomes  and am so happy he and Sam Raimi have gone onto successful careers. 

 

I have a funny meeting BC memory: I met Bruce and Sam at the 1990 Fangoria con; they were the nicest guys. Bruce was sort of stalking me all weekend as he really liked my vinyl lace up pants. So  I'd hear "NIIICCCEEEE PANTS. NICE PANTS!" in that bold Bruce holler. My friends freaked out as Bruce kept coming up to me randomly and let me know how much he appreciated those pants;  I just laughed my head off and let him rip.   I was a fan prior to that weekend, but that wonky bit of Bruce cemented how much of an entertaining, OTT guy he is  and I've watched just about everything since. To this day, whenever I see him in something I always hear that kooky Ash-sounding holler first and know I'm going to have a good time.   And even if we did not have that silly encounter, I'd still be a fan of the man, he's too much fun not to like. 

 

 

Edited November 2, 2015 by Lady Jin Szu-Yi

[masterofoneinchpunch]

^ Nice story.

Well not a great month for horror for me.  But in the last few weeks I did get to see: for the first time:

Jeepers Creepers (2001: Victor Salva)

The Purge (2013: James DeMonaco)

Memento Mori (1999: Kin Tae-yong, Min Kyu-dong) South Korea

One Missed Call (2003: Takashi Miike) Japan

I have been pondering what I think of these (if anyone is interested I can delve further into my opinions on them, I hated none of them and rated all four between 6/10 and 7/10.)  It is kind of interesting that they all have sequels (Memento Mori is the second in the named Whispering Corridors series.)  I have been debating on watching the sequels to these.  Anyone recommend one of them?  I'll probably end up seeing the second Purge sooner than later because I have a friend who is a big fan of the film, but the rest I am not sure of.

But I will quickly mention that did anyone notice the Spielberg influence on Jeepers Creepers especially The Duel scene (Spielberg's first TV film)?

And on Halloween I watched (not for the first time):

Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948: Charles Barton) : I always enjoy this movie.  It seems for the past couple of years I have been watching at least once every October (along with It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown (1966: Bill Melendez)).  I have seen all of Abbott and Costello films and this is near the top and the one I have seen the most times.  I like how they treat the horror characters with respect and allow them to be their horrifying selves.  Being a big Bela Lugosi and Long Chaney Jr. fan really helps as well as they play their characters with earnestness.  Of course it would have been great to see Boris Karloff in this (at this point his back problems and the fact that Glen Strange had been doing the monster for awhile) but he does get his own film with the duo in Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet the Killer Boris Karloff.  One of the great endings as well.  But it is the byplay between the two titular characters that I always enjoy as they are the best comedic duo between Laurel and Hardy and Martin and Lewis.  Costello really works well when his character is frightened, much like Bob Hope's everyman scaredy-cat.

[paimeifist]

I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on The Purge. It is a movie I have been interested in since release but for some reason haven't read about it much or just watched it yet. I saw an episode from Rick and Morty that referenced it recently, which further interested me in the movie, haha.

 

You know I haven't seen any of the "classic" horror films. I am not really sure what to expect either. I recorded The Curse of Frankenstein sometime this Halloween season though.

 

Glad you kept this thread alive masterof1, cause I am late too. I revisited Evil Dead for the first time in a few years today. My opinion on it is pretty much the same, its definitely a blast once it gets going, but lacks the polish, and "real Ash" of the sequels... Although Army of Darkness is so different in tone it really cant be compared to Evil Dead 1. Still, given the budget, and his relative inexperience, Sam Raimi definitely pulled off something special. It is also really fun seeing the foundation of his style, and many scenes that were kind of improved upon and reused in the sequels.

 

Oh, and the acting is of course terrible. Even though he has mainly a cult following, Bruce is a solid actor when given the chance. Its funny to see how he started off as the average terrible horror movie 20 something actor.

 

Edit: I missed the fact that these movies were being discussed on this  very page already! Yes, nice story Lady Jin. I am too a huge fan of Bruce, and also own a few movies purely because he is in them. Sadly, I have not read his books, but I should.

 

 

Edited November 2, 2015 by paimeifist