Horror Movies

VHS 1 and 2 were better but not by much in my opinion. If I recall didn't the lead not eat the food so she wasn't drugged or something?

There is a new horror compilation out now called Holidays.



I generally hate anything Kevin Smith gets his hands on these days and I guess he was the one putting this together even though the shorts were written/directed by other people but Smith did one of the shorts himself(which was by far the worst one in the whole movie). Overall the shorts were kind of okay I guess but there was one short that was just amazing. Gorgeous cinematography and really haunting. It was kind of beautiful really. That made the entire movie for me and probably hurt all the other shorts because it was so much better.

 

Yes, they were drugged, but even before that they were doing and saying things to spite her. They blamed her for their friend's death, so they poo-pooed her on everything.

As I get older I don't feel the need to push people to like the stuff like I do, and when it comes to horror, especially, tastes can vary greatly. I can totally understand not liking Southbound, but for me, it's the best indie horror film of the last year. It hit all the right notes, or more accurately, it hit all my right notes.

However, I was surprised to learn that the actors in the wraparound story were responsible for The Devil's Due, which I thought was pretty awful.

Anyway, it's always fun to see who likes, or doesn't like, what in this thread.

Holidays looks pretty cool, and Jocelin Donahue is in one of the stories, so there's that.

 

I agree that the varied opinions make this thread fun. Especially when people keep coming back and we are able to get a feel of what they like and dislike. The Devil's Due had some creepy parts but overall it was pretty bad.

Holidays was worth watching for sure. I was probably a little over critical just because I loved that one short so much and Kevin Smith annoys me. There were a couple other nice ones in there too. It's almost like the ABC's of death but with holidays instead of letters.

Next time I have a chance to watch something this is on tap.



I don't really know anything about it but a friend of mine who LOVES suspense/horror/thriller stuff said near the end she had a panic attack watching this movie so I need to check it out!

 

That one's on my watch list.

I've got 13 movies to "review." And will probably watch at least two more tomorrow. Working half days from home has got its perks!

One of them, since we're on the topic of holidays, is called Father's Day and it was batshit crazy. Free on Amazon for Prime members. More about it soon.

 

That is too funny because the short I loved on the Holidays movie was called Father's Day.

 

If anyone's got Showtime, and hasn't caught It Follows yet, it's now showing. It's not as great as the critics made it out to be, but definitely worth a look. I haven't seen it since I saw it in the theatre so I'm pleased to be able to give it another look.

 

Well, I've watched a crap-load of horror in the last couple of weeks. Some I've been meaning to get to for awhile, and some I've just learned about. Unfortunately, nothing all that great, but some decent ones amongst the duds. Will only do a few at a time, so as not to annoy anyone too deeply.

--Resolution: One of many films that always pops up as a recommendation on Netlfix and Amazon. The blog I've been reading gave it a good review so I figured I'd give it a shot. It's been called a "spiritual cousin" to Cabin In The Woods, which is something of a stretch. It does deal with horror movie tropes in a way, but beyond that there's no real similarity. The acting was pretty good, and the story intrigued me for awhile, but without any big scares, and no real "monster" to speak of, I'd say it was merely okay.

--Another rec from the blog (and something I'd already added to my Amazon watchlist) was Deadgirl. The premise is a couple of loser guys find a not-so-dead chick tied up in an abandoned mental hospital. Now, my first reaction (before I realized she was a you-know-what) would be to help this girl out, but that doesn't seem to enter our guys' minds! One of them is WAY too eager to take advantage of the situation, and it just goes downhill from there. Kind of an ugly story, with no redeeming characters. Some pretty good gross-out stuff but that's about it.

--American Mary: Finally got around to seeing this one. Good effects, good acting, but overlong. Definitely some trippy stuff in this one, especially the Betty Boop lady and her friend. I'm sure most of you have seen it, so not much else to say on this one.

--Shock: Mario Bava "kid possession" movie I caught on TV starring Argento regular Daria Nicolodi. Known as Beyond the Door II. Pretty fun, good old-fashioned effects and a creepy kid!

--Mexico Barbaro: Wow. This is like a collection of Mexican rejects from The ABCs of Death series. Pretty awful stuff, mostly shot digitally, but with a couple really weird stories to keep my attention. It helps to have a handle on Mexican legends and folklore, which I don't. On Netflix, so at least it didn't cost anything.

--Stoker: I'm surprised I'd never heard of this one. From Old Boy director Park Chan-wook, written by Wentworth Miller (yeah, the guy from Prison Break) and starring Nicole Kidman and Mia Wasikowska. Intriguing, but slow. Not all that suspenseful, or scary. And, no, the name isn't a reference to that other Stoker.

--Father's Day: I'll end for now on this one. This is certainly NOT for everyone. Real low-budget fare from Canadian schlock-meisters Astron-6. It's on Amazon Prime, and has an interesting poster image, so I figured, what the hey? Also, they're responsible for the giallo send-up The Editor and I wanted to see what these guys were all about, before I paid to see that one. This is one fucked up movie. If genital mutilation and nudity (both of the male variety) ain't your thing, then pass this one up. There's plenty of female nudity as well. It was hard to get a handle on the tone, since there's some really brutal, ugly stuff going on, but also a LOT of comedy. The film looks horrible (shot on digital, with a mix of practical and digital effects) and the sound wasn't great either. I muscled my way through this one, though, and it kind of won me over by the end. The main actor's passing resemblance to Jason Lee made me think I was watching a screwed up episode of My Name is Earl.

 

Saw two movies lately...

Dark Water (US Version): Moody, bleak, and full of chills. Anything dealing with little children always creeps me out, but this one in particular creeped me out a ton because

Spoiler

of its similarity to the Elisa Lam case, even though that occurred nearly 8 years after the movie was released.

The closest movie I can compare it to is Mama, lots of similarities. I heard there's a Japanese version too and that this was a remake of it, kind of makes me want to see the original. Overall a good flick, not great, but worth a watch.

The Wicked Within: Kind of bummed out about this one. This is one of those movies where you kind of look back at what you just watched searching for anything you really liked or any redeeming factors, and struggle to find any. The fact that the movie basically ends telling you that the fate of one of the characters won't be revealed frustrated the hell out of me. It's like "come on, I sat through an hour and 20 min of this bullshit and you can't even explain what happened to so-and-so?" Oh, and it also felt a lot longer than an hour and 20 min. More like an eternity.

Any thoughts on either of these?

Also I did see It Follows together with the bf and his film critic friend. (He's not a real film critic, but he majored in film and has... Strong opinions.) It was fun discussing the story, particularly the end, because we all interpreted it differently.

Spoiler

If I remember correctly, my theory was that the whole movie was a metaphor for the loss of innocence that carnal knowledge brings. The characters were constantly referencing old times together, and the whole premise of a "sexually transmitted entity" alluded somewhat to the shame of being taken advantage of, and the permanent loss of innocence that comes with losing your virginity. The main character "gained" the entity from a one night stand, so you can kind of surmise that the emotional detachment of sex and love is what might have spawned this entity in the first place. Same thing happens when she passes it on, the dude clearly doesn't love her, he's just some slick douche. The end for me was interesting because the sort-of dorky guy (who I had been rooting for the whole movie, screaming at the screen "HE LIKES YOU AND HE'S NICE, ARGGGGHH") willingly "took" the burden but because his love is true, he will remain vigilant and protect her and himself... And it's funny because each of us interpreted the movie completely differently. It's one of those movies that wasn't perfect by any means, but intriguing enough to keep a discussion going after the movie was over.

 

Just saw It follows. Pretty good, I must say. My old lady wasn't down, but she wamed up and thought it was allright as well.

Dark water, even with it's high production value failed to entertain. Though, I don't think the point was to entertain. It had nothing for me.

Dale & Tucker VS. Evil though!
Holy shizz that was a goodun.

 

Dave and tucker is a fun movie. Just watched Hush on Netflix. Pretty good time waster.

 

Dale & Tucker is top notch! This, for me, is what Cabin in the Woods should have been.

A few more from my horror-a-thon...

--Fearless Vampire Killers: I mean, it's Polanski, so I love it. It's definitely dated, but there's some cool, inventive effects for the time. Not his best, but worth a watch.

--Woman in Black: Heard this was a good ghost story but found myself bored by the 2nd act. Pretty tired of how ghosts are portrayed in modern films.

--House by the Cemetary: More Fulci goodness! This is the third part of the Gates of Hell trilogy, which I'm watching out of order. Pretty great gore, but not as much, or as inventive as The Beyond. Definitely worth a watch. Hell, if you can stomach it, watch the trilogy all at once!

--Julia's Eyes: Decent thriller from Spain (del Toro produced), that seems to start as a supernatural film, but meanders into giallo territory, then finally cat-and-mouse thriller. Watched it through my Shudder subscription, and I'd recommend it for an afternoon watch.

--The Ruins: Mediocre eco-terror/tourist-stalking flick. Decent effects, but it's just kind of there.

--Estranged: This one is fairly interesting. Sort of a similar feel like Stoker, which I mentioned in my previous post. Amnesiac girl goes home to her really fucked up family with no memory of them, or why she left six years prior.

 

Although I respectfully disagree with you about Cabin in the Woods, you completely redeemed yourself with your Fulci enthusiasm. I also watched the Gates of Hell trilogy out of order. Great idea about watching them together. I have some homework!

 

I'm one of the few who wasn't charmed by Cabin. I liked the manipulation aspect of it, that horror is all engineered by some dipshits in an office, but not the supernatural bent they took.

 

Anything on Showtime's Cable On Demand list worth a watch? Another sleepless night... won't be the last either, but I don't want to waste my time on more trash like The Wicked Within.

 

Ugh. Just saw Bleed because Google incorrectly showed it as having an 8.1 rating on IMDb instead of a 3.9... (I think it's because there are two movies named Bleed. I saw the 2016 one.)
What the hell did I just watch? What on earth did any of that mean? What a fucking stupid movie that could have been interesting if the writers had any idea how to use character and storyline development. Other than the abandoned prison being an interesting setting, this movie had literally no redeeming factors whatsoever. Nothing was explained well, tons of loose ends remain untied, even the gore factor was lame.
Lame lame lame.
Tired of seeing lame movies.

Anyone here have Optimum cable and can give me a good title to rent? I'm dying here

 

I'm so lonely in this thread now.

Watched "Mine Games" tonight. Pretty decent, I wasn't expecting the "twist" to the story. Got a lot more interesting once you realize "Ohhh, it's THAT kind of movie!" and the end was unexpected. Still, it's one of those movies where you sort of feel like they're exploiting mental illness a little. Sure, there's supernatural shit going down, but enough with the scapegoating. Overall a decent flick, WAY better than The Wicked Within and Bleed (2016).

I broke my shitty movie streak, yaaaay.

 

Im more of a zombie fan myself.

 

Here's some more horror I've checked out:

--Excision: Was expecting something really trippy with this one, the trailer is a bit misleading, but it's more of a black comedy than horror. If I'd looked closer at the cast and seen both Traci Lords and John Waters were in it, I'd have had a better idea. About a freaky girl who has dreams of being a surgeon, and crazy visions/nightmares which are the only horrific aspects of the film, and gaining the acceptance of her mother. Got bored by the end.

--Stake Land: Basic Walking Dead-like story, but with Vampires, who act more like Zombies. The main guy, Nick Damici, has either starred in, or written, or both, three kind of blah horror movies I've seen. This one, Late Phases, and We Are What We Are. And dammit, does every indie horror flick HAVE to have Larry Fessenden in it?

--City of the Living Dead: Fulci doesn't disappoint with this one. The first of the Gates of Hell trilogy, and probably my 2nd favorite of the group. A totally unbelievable "accidental" burial (guess they forgot to embalm this gal, even though they actually have a scene of others getting embalmed later in the movie!!) opens up this gory awesomeness. The girl vomiting up her own guts is a scene for the ages!

--Possession: This is one fucked up movie. And not so much for the blood and killings, although there is that. But because of the ugly, ugly characters Sam Neill and Isabelle Adjani play. This one is tough to stick with because they are so nasty to each other, and so much nonsensical stuff happens. But, there's great creature effects (designed by Carlo Rambaldi) and some really creepy stuff going on. Weird movie.

--Them: Was ready to squirm with this one, since it's supposed to be one of the New French Extreme flicks, but it was just a tame home-invasion flick with not much to it. The "twist" isn't nearly as shocking as I'm sure they hoped it would be.

Also watched It Follows again, and still enjoyed it. Caught Lord of Illusions while I was working and almost shut it off. I guess I just can't get into Barker's mystical horror like this and Nightbreed.

 

Yeah, that scene.

 

Just an aside here, if anyone hasn't had the experience of watching David Lynch's early short films, TCM will be playing three of them tonight (5/7/16) starting at 11:00 PM. Check your local listings because I don't know if I get Eastern or Pacific play times. They'll be showing 6 Men Getting Sick, The Alphabet, and The Grandmother.

 

Appy polly loggies if my posts are a bit too long. I'm trying to keep my "reviews" down to nugget sized, but my zeal for horror gets the best of me at times. I do like to put out there what I've watched in hopes it inspires someone to see something new, and I love to read about what others have checked out.

 

You can make your post as long as you want i don't care personally myself as long as its on the subject of horror movies. Hell i put quite a few scenes from some movies i liked a few minutes ago lol.