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Post by Joker on Apr 11, 2012 22:37:32 GMT -5
Grotesque (1988)Linda Blair is Lisa, a young woman who goes back to her family's mountain home with a friend for a pleasant weekend. Her father is a Hollywood makeup FX artist and has a house full of creepy props, but the real horror shows up when a group of punkers looking for money or drugs that aren't there break in for a home invasion. Everyone is slaughtered except Lisa, who escapes into the snowy forest with the crazed punks in tow. Then the secret Lisa's parents kept hidden gets loose as someone comes out of secret room with a taste for vengeance. Remember back in the 80's when punk rockers were considered the enemy. Must have been because of how different they looked, but I know they couldn't have possibly been as insane as in this flick where they ramble on and on being hardcases while terrorizing these people and are led bya short-fused lunatic. The killer guy has a face that looks like a certain part of the female anatomy is hanging off of his cheek. Robert Z'Dar and Billy Frank (from Hobgoblins) appear as two punks along with Tab Hunter as the FX man's plastic surgeon brother (in the most serious performance in the film). But all of this is just a bunch of hooey because of the ending: The whole film is a film within a film with two Universal monsters running the projector in the theater. Then they decide to scare everyone in the theater in an abstract and pandering way. If you don't know what I mean by abstract then try dressing as Frankenstein's Monster or the Wolf Man and try scaring a kid with your appearance. He'll either laugh or think it's Halloween and he's getting candy. Pandering to monster kid purists who probably aren't watching a slasher flick with a gag like this makes an already bad burn even worse. The Sadistic Baron Von Klaus (1962)In the tiny hamlet of Holfen a serial killer is brutally murdering young women. A journalist from a true crime magazine shows up to find the killer, but it proves hard as most of the townsfolk are superstitious of a curse attached to a local baron's estate. The baron's lineage has created a sadistic killer in the past and it seems that his grandson has just inherited a cellar full of instruments of torture. Are these killings the work of the young man, another sick mind, or the consummation of the curse? Jesus Franco directs this film (as he did The Castle of Fu Manchu and a LOT of other bad and erotic films) and the whole flick seems pretty boring. There is only one sequence which is somewhat explicit in it's eroticism that becomes gruesome torture, but the rest is just a boring detective story. Coffin Joe: At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul (1964)A local mortician in a Brazilian village named Zé do Caixão a.k.a. Coffin Joe (director Jose Mojica Marins) decides he needs a son. His dark sociopathic philosophies make him a menace and a bully. He kills his wife to get a new fertile mistress to bear him a child. Things get spooky as Joe begins a campaign of terror to get what he wants and manages to anger dark forces beyond even his comprehension. Coffin Joe is a cult figure in horror who seems to have some influence on the genre (or at least Rob Zombie). With his stovepipe hat, black cape, and long fingernails he becomes an iconic killer. He's also an arrogant loser whose only evil power seems to be some sort of homicidal rage that he gets when his eyes go bloodshot. Other people fear him even when it's several guys in the local tavern who could easily just beat him senseless. Maybe he has the secret power of intimidation on his side? The whole film follows him around with no real hero trying to stop him so it's a movie about a villain, making it more offbeat and unique than other films of the time. It's a neat idea with a bold villain.
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Post by Frameous on Apr 14, 2012 0:58:54 GMT -5
Well, it's Friday the 13th, and for me that means marathon time. I had some people over, some pizza, drinks, a few flicks, and a lot of wisecracks.
First off we watched Friday the 13th Part 4: The Final Chapter. The intro to this one is top notch, giving a recap of the previous three movies in an all kill montage. The film itself is competently directed by Joseph Zito (of The Prowler fame), and has Tom Savini dispatching Jason (and several horny teens) in glorious fashion. Some gags, like Feldman's obvious bald cap and a victim landing on a trampoline, stand out garishly, but I'm the forgiving type. Just give me Crispin Glover's spastic dancing and the Doublemint twin clones and I'm gone like a boy with a crush.
Next, we revisited the 2003 classic Freddy vs. Jason. It's been awhile since I've seen this, and to be truthful we skipped around to the good bits, but still...when this movie gets to the goods, it delivers. Sure, we have inane characters acting in idiotic ways, but once our heroes get them in their grasp, the joyfully bloody mayhem hemorrhages uncontrollably. There are a ton of references sprinkled in this movie that only hardcore fans will get, and that is what makes it for me.
Then we popped in Friday the 13th Part 6: Jason Lives. I've made no bones about this being my favorite sequel of the franchise. Not only does it resurrect Mr. Voorhees as one of the living dead, it is the only entry in the franchise to have actual campers at Crystal Lake. The kills are fun, the acting is palatable, and Alice Cooper on the soundtrack never hurts.
All in all, it was a good F13, the first of many this year.
*edited due to drunkenness*
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Post by Joker on Apr 25, 2012 0:51:46 GMT -5
The Black Torment (1964)
After Richard Fordyce (John Turner) arrives back at his family's estate with his new wife (Heather Sears) people begin to treat him quite coldly. They claim that he has been there all the while even though he was 100 miles away and a series of murders has plagued the land around the place. Even when he's not around someone else is impersonating him. The spirit of his first wife who comitted suicide seems to haunt the place as well and the connection between the two unexplainable phenomena seems pretty easy to figure out for the audience, but the Victorian Era characters here can't seem to wrap their brains around it. The production values and costuming here are exquisite and the performances are solid, it's just the story that's quite boring.
Inkubus (2011)
A detective (Joey Fatone) is explaining his whole disturbing story to a psychiatrist in an asylum after his wife dies giving birth to some sort of demon baby. It turns out that one night after he arrested a young kid whose girlfriend was decapitated that a man walked into the station with the girl's head and claimed to be the demonic killer Inkubus (Robert Englund). The man has a score to settle with the previous police captain (William Forsythe) and when the guy shows up from a mental institution a deadly game begins. Reality warps, people's minds are toyed with, and the bodies pile up.
The whole movie is occasionally gory and tedious with some neat effects, like when some characters keep running down the same stretch of stairs. Really only Englund can keep the movie afloat and interesting for the time he's onscreen. Otherwise it's pretty boring.
Left Bank (2008)
In Belgium a young woman named Marie has a medical issue and can't run in finals so she has to take time to recover. She starts up a romance with a guy who runs a local archer's guild. He lives in a supposedly idyllic apartment building in Left Bank, a place with a history of pagan worship. A hidden section of the building's basement yields a well of some sort of ichor that someone once drowned in. Marie moves in with the guy and loves him, but she keeps getting sick and finds out more and more about the history of the area. A final shocking secret turns her world upside down and puts her life in danger.
This is an attempt at a slow-build Polanski-type film. It's mostly boring though, with weird scenes that make little sense. A baby found in a nearby park is never mentioned again. Also the neighborhood this building is in is pretty cruddy, making me wonder how anyone would want to live there. A tedious film.
The Ripper (1985)
A professor named Richard (Tom Schreier) is teaching a new college class about famous crimes in films and begins with the serial killings of Jack the Ripper. A chance find in an antique shop yields the ring of the killer and soon Richard becomes obsessed with it and puts it on - then can't get it off. At the same time someone is killing and disemboweling women in the Ripper's style in the community. A local horror movie buff puts the pieces together and figures out who the killer really is, but it may already be too late.
The only interesting part of this film is Tom Savini as Jack the Ripper at the film's climax, and even that's pretty over-the-top. The rest of the movie is pretty boring with long sequences of padding and lame jokes interspersed with gory Ripper killings to keep you awake. Really stretched out and boring.
The Thing (2011)
A bunch of Norwegian scientists discover an ancient crashed UFO beneath the ice and a lone alien survivor frozen nearby. They enlist the help of an American paleontologist named Kate (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) to it get out and then the creature thaws out and escapes. The disgusting slimy shapeshifter can copy anyone and wants to kill them all to get to warmer climes so the paranoia amongst the scientists becomes dangerous. Slowly the creature begins to kill and replicate everyone it can poke a tentacle through and help isn't coming as the head scientist of the Norwegian camp wants all of the glory of finding the thing for himself.
This movie wound up being much better than I though it would be. It's probably because it was directed by a foreign filmmaker and foreign people seem to appreciate horror more. Anyway, the film is very good with CGI things gorily morphing out of flesh to absorb people and lots of stuff burning. The only thing I've never understood about the Thing movies is why there's flamethrowers laying around Antarctic research stations. Is there much call for that stuff down there? I can imagine they have to stay warm, I just never understood why they'd need napalm to do it. At least there's lots of action and creature nastiness around. Hopefully, now they'll finally make a sequel.
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Post by Frameous on May 19, 2012 13:15:13 GMT -5
Laid To Rest (2009)
I really wanted to like this movie. I didn't. The characters are on the run from a killer, but keep doubling back on themselves for no reason. They live in some kind of no man's land where the nearest town and police station is 100 miles away. No one has a cell phone, and when they do find one, they can't dial 911 because the phone is password protected (which is a load of sh/t, any cell phone can dial an emergency number, even when locked). They manage to get the killer's car so they can escape, and when they check the trunk for weapons they find a dead body. Sure, it freaks them out, but why do they feel the need to move it out of the trunk before they hit the road? Later, a character is tasked with buying a camcorder video tape in the most rinky dink, hole in the wall convenience store. And wouldn't you know it, they DO sell the kind of tapes the killer needs. What a selection! This is all capped of with a very anticlimactic ending. I'm willing take a take a certain level of horror film cliches, any fan of this stuff should. But this film took it to the nth degree.
I know this sound nit picky, but it genuinely insulted my intelligence. And like I said, I really wanted to like it.
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Post by Joker on May 29, 2012 14:18:11 GMT -5
Warning: Trailers and clips are not work safe and contain spoilers Sodoma's Ghost (1988)A bunch of college kids are out on a camping trip when they get waylaid at an isolated villa in the countryside where a bunch of Nazis were having an orgy that got interrupted by bombing. As the night wears on they begin to be tempted by the ghosts of the dead Nazis and prostitutes and this film becomes a psychosexual film. Lucio Fulci directs this more thoughtful horror film so at one point a dead guy putrifies rapidly and erupts into a mess of green pus. I would say that this is at least interesting to watch because of the psychological angle. The Divide (2011)Nuclear weapons hit New York City and several tenents of an apartment building rush into a fallout shelter in the basement. A young wife (Lauren German) and her jellyfish husband watch as the right-wing landlord (Michael Biehn) bickers with everyone and keeps some sort of secret from them. Then some armored soldiers show up and kidnap a child from her mother (Rosanna Arquette) and then the door is welded shut from the outside. Now all of these people are trapped together with no way out and two bad guys (Milo Ventimiglia and Michael Ekland) take over and do whatever they want, even as they begin to go crazy from radiation poisoning. It's not a good idea to make a movie with no sympathetic characters whatsoever, but then again this is directed by a French guy. French horror is always very mean-spirited for some reason. It must have something to do with their culture over there since it seems pretty consistent at this point. Because of this meanness only the performances by Ventimiglia and Ekland are noteworthy and the rest of the film is just a slow and unpleasant trip to hell. Spiderhole (2010)A bunch of art school students decide to squat in a run down apartment building in London. As the night wears on they suddenly find that they're not alone in the place. Then they finds that the windows are actually welded over and there is no way out. That's when they start to get taken by someone in the place and that someone does gruesome medical procedures on them. The performances are suitably panicky and the place is pretty dingy, but the story is going nowhere and terrible incompetence in the face of evil is all that keeps stretching out the film. The Psychic (1977)When Virginia (Jennifer O'Neill) was a little girl she remotely saw her mother's suicide through a clairvoyant power. Now she's a married woman who is moving into her husband's home and suddenly she has another vision. A woman is sealed away behind a bricked-up wall and she immediately knocks down that section of it in the living room revaling a skeleton. Her husband is suddenly a suspect in a murder investigation and she tries to put together some facts from the flashes of the murder to clear him. Then it would appear that the facts point to the psychic flashes being from her own future... Lucio Fulci again directs a good non-gore based thriller (the only gory part is a woman's face being torn apart as she falls down a rocky cliff) and the film works a slowly building mystery with a neat payoff at the end. Recommended. Madhouse (1981)a.k.a. There was a Little Girla.k.a. And When She Was BadJulia (Trish Everly) teaches at a school for deaf children and is about to have a birthday. Then her disfigured abusive psychotic twin sister escapes from an asylum and begins killing off all of the people around her. When the creepy woman isn't killing people she gets her big rottweiler to kill for her. Then someone else gets involved so Julia has one hell of a party and all of these dead folks will be there. This is one of the better slasher films from the early 80's that isn't as conventional as most. A little kid gets killed offscreen at one point and the movie suddenly takes the time to mourn the loss as opposed to just a bunch of dumb teens getting offed. There are no teens in this film so it winds up being much more effective than most flicks like this. Posed for Murder (1989)A beautiful woman named Laura (Charlotte J. Helmkamp) is trying to build an acting career after having posed nude in a Playboy-type magazine. Her ex-boyfriend just got out of prison and seems to be stalking her and when people who like her "work" as a centerfold start getting killed. A detective is trying to find the killer even as Laura starts seeing a bodybuilder and becomes model of the year at the nude mag. Can the killer be stopped before everyone Laura knows gets killed? Actually, the killer's identity is exposed instantly in the trailer so you may want to skip it before trying to watch this film, which is tedious and only has ex-Playmate Helmkemp's beauty keeping it interesting. Battle Girl: The Living Dead in Tokyo Bay (1991)After a meteor crashes in Tokyo Bay the city winds up a devestated wasteland. A cloud of gas released by the meteor trasforms the dead into flesh-eating zombies and a special agent named K-ko is activated by her superiors to makes sure survivors get to a rendevous point for refugees. She suits up in some sort of armor and has to contend with zombies made into supersoldiers by some unknown enemy determined to kill anyone in the area. It's like a Troma flick from Japan where there's lots of weird action and goofiness. The production values are pretty cheapjack at times with Battle Girl having a laser sight on her forearm that doesn't really line up with the aim on her uzi and weird makeup on the bad guys. If you like wacky Japanese stuff you may like this film, but I was not very impressed. The Gate (1986)Glen (a young Stephen Dorff) is a young kid who is left at home with his older sister after his parents go on a trip. There's a hole in his backyard where the tree with his treehouse was pulled out and he and his metalhead friend find some geodes in it. Then strange things start to happen as an endless stream of moths keep fluttering out of it as it seems to get bigger. Then a careless mistake leads to small demons coming out and Glen's buddy figures out that they have to have an exorcism to close this gate to Hell. But it may already be too late... Ah, this takes me back. It reminds me of stuff that happened to me when I was a kid (not the gate to Hell part though). The death of a pet and a parent and other aspects of this little kid's life make it this cool slice of life. The thing with the zombie workman winds up being the scariest part as the film becomes an effects extravaganza. Recommended. Mother's Day (2010)A trio of bank robbing brothers break into their old house where the new owners are having a party downstairs as a tornado approaches outside. After they take everyone hostage their mother (Rebecca De Mornay) shows up to find a bunch of money which was sent there weeks before even though none of this criminal Koffin family was there. Mother Koffin is a Ma Barker-type and has raised all of her children to be sadistic hardcases. Because one of her kids has been shot and seems near death on the blood smeared couch they had lost the money from the robbery and need cash to pay off guy to get them across the border. That means they need a bunch of quick cash and the young wife (Jamie King) and her husband who own the house are going to have to give up the cash. Since people are less than forthcoming with the money much torture ensues and people keep trying to make clumsy stands and attempts to escape against the evil intruders. I haven't seen the original Troma-produced Mother's Day (1980), but from what I've read about it it's nothing like this film. Director Darren Lynn Bousman ( Saw II, III, and IV) keeps the movie quick and nasty as the intensity of this horrible situation keeps getting amped up as it seems everyone will die unless they fight back. De Mornay is incredible as the motherly lead who will do anything for her killer brood, even help her wounded son lose his virginity before he dies (even though he probably shouldn't even be moving around with a gaping wound in his side). The only competent character is George (Shawn Ashmore a.k.a. that Iceman guy from the X-Men films) a med student who manages to stand up to this crazy woman and her messed up kids. All of the other characters seem to just stumble through bad situations and I was pretty sure that gravity would take out at least one due to their terrible bad luck. It winds up detracting from an otherwise intense film. Recommended.
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Post by Joker on Jul 10, 2012 19:29:44 GMT -5
My Bloody Valentine (1981)
Years ago in a small town in Canada a coal miner went crazy after being buried by a cave-in and was hospitalized in a mental institution. Now the town is going to have a Valentine's Day dance and someone really doesn't want it to happen. As the masked killer miner brutally kills people and sends their hearts in candy boxes to the police the miners have to shut down the dance - then decide to have it in the mine with their girlfriends. A love triangle may hold the key to the killer's identity, but there may be no one left to bring him to justice.
I don't know how you can try to have a romantic evening in a filthy coal mine, but it's a means to an end to a darkened mazelike killing ground. The murders wind up being really gory and over the top (in the unrated version) with a body cooked in a dryer, a heart boiled in a pot, a woman impaled on a showerhead, and many pickaxe-based slayings. It's actually much better than the usual slasher crud since it pulls no punches and has good performances to boot. Recommended.
The Plague of the Zombies (1966)
A young doctor comes to a small town of Cornwall and is made aware of the little British village's dominating wealthy young males. A series of strange deaths have the young man stupmed and he get the help of an older doctor (Andre Morell) who traces the deaths to a local tin mine owner and the shocking secret he's hiding: the dead serve as slave labor in his mine. Someone has to put a stop to the mindless ashen faced zombies and their voodoo master.
The zombies are pretty creepy looking and at one point one is set on fire. The joke there is that because of the burn suit on the guy you think that things just got worse as it would seem that Michael Myers just showed up. There is a very spooky scene where the two doctors stake out the grave of a recently buried woman and wind up confronting a resurrected corpse. It will probably be a let down for people expecting some sort of zombie apocalypse, but it will be a treat for Hammer enthusiasts. Recommended.
The Devil's Rock (2011)
On the eve of D-Day in WWII two British commandos infiltrate a Nazi gun emplacement to destroy it and create a diversion for the Allies invading Normandy. Instead they investigate cries emanating from the gore-stained darkened bunker there and one is killed, leaving only Cpt. Ben Grogan (Craig Hall) being held prisoner by a German occultist (Matthew Sunderland). The explanation for why there are so many mutilated bodies around becomes clear as a lesser demon has been summoned in the base. The problem is that it looks like Ben's deceased wife (Gina Varela) and the foul thing's power of persuasion is tremendous. An ancient tome may be able to send the demon back to Hell if the two enemies can trust one another enough to cooperate.
You can do a lot with very little. The whole movie is really just these three characters in this cramped place with lots of blood and body parts scattered around. The performances are solid and the makeup is very well done. The whole film wound up being much better than I thought it would be. Recommended.
Mountaintop Motel Massacre (1986)
Evelyn (Anna Chappell) was once hospitalized in a mental institution and once released goes to work at a run down motel in the middle of nowhere and several people show up for the night. Then a massive storm hits and cuts off the only road in or out of the place. Unfortunately, Evelyn had a psychotic break and killed the young woman in her charge for practicing some sort of occult stuff. Now the devout Evelyn is using a series of tunnels beneath the bungalows to unleash various pests on the visitors, then just decides to kill everyone with a sickle. Will anyone survive? Who cares? This is very poorly written and tedious. This kindly looking older woman is not the least bit frightening and could probably get taken out of action quickly if any of these people were all that competent. A waste of time.
The Killer Inside Me (1976)
Stacy keach is Lou Ford, an easygoing local lawman who's put in charge of keeping the peace in the leadup to an election where an incumbent (Keenan Wynn) is set to win again. He seems to have a good life and a loving fiancee (Trish Sterling). Then he starts to see his dead mother and father around and the hallucinations begin to reawaken ugly memories from his past. He's tasked with running a local prostitute (Susan Tyrell) out of town, but instead has a tryst with her after roughing her up. The blame for that is placed of the son of the incumbent candidate and now Lou has to pay her off to get rid of her. Instead he commits a double murder and then has to commit more to cover his tracks. No one really thinks that friendly Lou could be a schizophrenic, after all he's a policeman...
Stacy Keach is mezmerizing as a guy who slowly goes insane and can't keep up the facade of normalcy as suspicion grows against him. He has a tense scene with a doctor (John Carradine) who supposedly shows up to buy his house that winds up showing how ill he has become. The whole film gets darker and darker and leads to a disturbing ending and the whole production is very authentic and realistic. Recommended.
Don't Go in the Woods (2010)
A hip young band goes into the woods to write some new music to make their big break happen. Nick (Matt Sbeglia) is the domineering lead singer and he demands all of their phones and a bandmate suddenly smashes them all up along with his shoe - because no one is especially bright in this film. The "no drugs, no booze, no girls" rule gets broken when a bunch of their lady friends show up to party down, much to Nick's dismay. Then some sort of dark man in the woods begins killing them off with a sledgehammer.
Did I mention that this film is trying to be a musical? It makes the film unintentionally (or intentionally) hilarious when people start singing when badly wounded or just in general. Also the music is pretty lame with the lead singer guy actually making weird noises that sound like rubbery orgasms that a cat is having or a very difficult bowel movement. Vincent D'Onofrio should have just stuck to being an actor since this movie is silly. He seems to have had fun making it in his brief "interview" on the disc, but since I don't watch Glee and think that the musical genre in general is less plausable than the most far out science fiction film I was just not having any.
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Post by Joker on Aug 9, 2012 0:21:52 GMT -5
The Majorettes (1986)
There's a serial killer loose who murders women. The cops suspect a gang of drug dealing thugs of the killings when the killer is suddenly found out by the greedy caretaker of a seemingly brain dead old woman and forced to off another girl to get a bunch of money. If it sounds pointless to you you're not alone. There's more of the John Russo misogyny he's known for since this is based off of his novel. At one point a cheerleader seduces a nerdy guy so that she can blame her pregnancy on him instead of the true father who is the leader of the gang of thugs. Characters speak in lots of exposition to no one in general. The whole film feels like an exercise in anti-woman themes and bad cliches tepidly directed by the late Bill Hinzman. Just wretched.
Beyond Evil (1980)
Larry and Barabara Andrews (John Saxon and Linda Day George) get a sweet deal on a Polynesian island mansion from their friend Del (Michael Dante). Weird things start to happen and then the dark history of the place is uncovered. A sorceress killed her philandering husband there a century ago and is now beginning to possess Barbara. Larry is beside himself in confusion as the supernatural things he doesn't believe in just keep happening and he needs to find some way to save his wife from this evil. There are some cool moments where mature situations amongst adults happen and make this a more adult-oriented film, but not in a titillating porn way. Those few moments make it interesting for a couple of minutes, but it was so tedious that I honestly forgot how it ended.
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Post by Wide_Awake_Nightmare on Aug 31, 2012 22:04:56 GMT -5
Today is Friday the 13th. I am a superstitious person, and I like the Friday films, so these days are always a call for celebration in my home. I will be having my own Friday-a-thon tonight with some pals. The booze will be flowing freely, and that never hurts (not to mention its freaking Friday, my favorite night to drink). I will probably focus on my favorites, which would be 2, 3, 4, 6, and 7. It will be like I am 12 years old all over again (only with a higher blood alcohol level). Anyone else do this? Or remember those marathons? Just talking about it makes me long for some Joe Bob Briggs Monstervision. Boy, those were the days. I am sure it contributed to my love of horror and film trivia. Oh boy! I have been feeling this way for soooo long but noone I talked to ever seemed like they had the passion I had. Friday the 13th is the best holiday ever! Also, there is more then one a year! Stupid Thanksgiving! I always watched Friday the 13th as a kid and they were and are my favorite horror series. I even thought of making shirts when I worked at a monogram that had the mask with the saying "Vorhees a jolly good fellow!!!" I am nuts about horror movies and this topic is great! One movie I've always thought was really well done that not alot of people have seen is "Session 9". I love that movie! Anyways, I'm rambling! Friday the 13th on N.E.S. was amazing as well!
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Post by Wide_Awake_Nightmare on Aug 31, 2012 22:06:28 GMT -5
Also, Up all night with Rhonda. Haha.
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Post by Joker on Sept 11, 2012 21:15:02 GMT -5
Warning: Trailers are not work safe Alligator (1980)In the sewers beneath a city Ramon, an alligator flushed down the toilet over a decade ago, has grown to gargantuan proportions. A cop with a troubled past (Robert Forster) realizes what he's dealing with after he finds a bunch of dead animals that have been experimented upon and dumped in there, but then the huge beast escapes and terrorizes the community. A big game hunter (Henry Silva) is brought in to take out the creature, but it turns out to be very elusive for a giant reptile. The movie moves very quickly and winds up being lots of fun to watch as Ramon chows down on anyone in gory fashion and the hunt for him intensifies. Recommended. Amer (2009)Ana is young girl who lives in a spooky old house with her parents and creepy caretaker. When she tries to take a piece of jewery from a corpse she experiences pure terror. When she's a teenager she has a sensual experience trying to flirt with a biker gang. Then as an adult the sensuality returns and she returns to her childhood home and is stalked by a killer. The whole film has only a little dialogue and is mostly about sensual experiences with this woman. It becomes all about sights, sounds, and sensations. The colors are very bright and the music is taken from many giallo films. The whole film is quite beautiful and mesmerizing. Recommended. Disciple of Death (1972)A man who committed suicide after pledging his soul to Satan seemingly has come back from Hell with dark powers. By cutting out the hearts of young virgin girls and keeping them in wooden boxes he creates an army of zombie slaves. He wants one young girl to be his wife, but her fiance won't let that happen. The problem is that this evil undead guy has a magical dwarf demon that he sics on the young man and a local parson. It sounds better than it could ever be and the whole story is tedious as Mike Raven tries to be menacing as the evil guy.
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Post by Frameous on Oct 21, 2012 13:32:40 GMT -5
Sinister (2012)
This was a nice, creepy surprise. Ethan Hawke is a true crime author living in the house where an entire family was murdered. A mysterious box of old home movies reveals an ancient demon to be the culprit. There was a lot of good atmosphere and effective jump scares (something that I grow tired of very quickly). The best part was the use of the super 8 footage that depicts the murders of a number of families. The opening shot is one of the most unsettling things I've seen in a while.
Intruders (2011)
I really didn't care for this twisty little tale staring Clive Owen. His daughter is menaced by some evil being, and he's the only other person who can see it. Everyone thinks he's going crazy and that his child should be taken away from him. Meanwhile there is the story of a little boy having the same problem. When these two plot lines dovetail, the acting and musical score were telling me it should both unexpected and meaningful. Wish I could have been there with them, but I really wasn't feeling it.
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Post by Joker on Oct 23, 2012 18:40:30 GMT -5
Warning: Trailer is not work safe More Brains!: A Return to the Living Dead (2011)I didn't know the making of The Return of the Living Dead (1985) was so tumultuous. Apparently there was some dispute about even the title and the screenplay written by Rudy Ricci and John Russo had to be rewritten by Dan O'Bannon. I don't know about Ricci's writing, but from what I've seen of John Russo's post-Night of the Living Dead (1968) work, thank goodness for O'Bannon's ideas. He was apparently a bit of a temperamental director at the time and had major issues with Clu Gulager (who apparently has to close his eyes and concentrate very hard to say something nice about the late O'Bannon). The rest of the cast also all seemed to have a tough time on this grueling shoot. Jewel Shepard was working at a strip club when she got cast and now seems to have bad posture. Miguel Nunez loves Linnea Quigley's breasts. The filmmakers had to fire a makeup FX artist who made a terrible headless Yellow Man (pictured in the film to show how terrible it was). The rest of the FX were incredible and well done thereafter and the whole film came out excellent and paid off big time. Another doc on the disc is about Return of the Living Dead Part II (1988). All of the cast and crew seem to have the same thing to say: this movie sucks. The FX were excellent though (except for the Tarman redux). Director Ken Wiederhorn is not there for the interviews and from what other people have to say about his direction and some of the other filmmakers attitudes toward the film the lesson you take away is: always have enthusiasm towards what you are making. If you have none for the material you'll just make crap. There was a semi-redemption for the series explained in the third and shortest doc on Return of the Living Dead III (1993). They had a very low budget so they did what you do when you have problems with film production: brainstorm. The filmmakers here had an incredible idea that paid off when they got three different FX crews do the makeup on the film to save money. Super-hot Mindy Clarke became a metaphor for cutters and was willing to do all of that incredible body prosthetic makeup, but is not interviewed here. I remember seeing the film a while ago and it being at least a step up from the broad comedy of Part II so I'll say that the series was redeemed a bit with this film. There are no docs on parts 4 and 5 and I wasn't really all that interested in those films anyway. They were on the Syfylis Channel (then called the SciFi Channel) when they came out. 'Nuff Said. We live in a golden age now with these excellent documentaries on these films coming out. Because of the objectivity of the views expressed here, warts and all, this winds up being as indespensible as Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy (2010) and Halloween: 25 Years of Terror (2006). It's a must-have for horror collectors, zombie movie fans, horror fans, and just movie fans in general. Highly Recommended.
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Post by Joker on May 28, 2013 23:35:52 GMT -5
Dr. Jekyll & Sister Hyde (1971)
Dr. Henry Jekyll (Ralph Bates) is a workoholic scientist researching an "anti-virus" that will cure most of the deadly diseases that plague mankind. The problem is that it will take decades for him to develop cures for these illnesses and he needs to find a way to prolong his own life. The solution seems to be in female body chemistry, which he thinks doesn't age as badly as men's do. He manages to create a potion from fluids taken from the bodies of dead women and it changes him from a man into a woman. But the effect is too brief and he needs more material from women. He's willing to do terrible things to procure them, leading to the police hunting for a certain killer stalking the streets of Whitechapel, but how much of this is for the advancement of science versus Jekyll's own personal desires?
This is one of the darkest comedies from Hammer that you'll ever see. There's not that much horror, some gore, and a lot of subtext about Jekyll's repressed homosexuality. He seems to have some sort of crush on the lovely young woman who lives upstairs, but that may just be an attempt at trying to be straight. He seems much more content being Sister Hyde (Martine Beswick) where he can have trysts with men without any problem. Hyde is supposed to be his evil side, but it could just be freeing for him and subconsciously he slips into being this sexy femme fatale. There's also some weird stuff in the film with a necrophile mortician, Jekyll getting an assist from two dudes named Burke and Hare, and lots of plays on words and wry wit throughout.
It's one of the best Hammer films ever because of this humor and metaphorical stuff. Highly recommended.
Dark Shadows (2012)
It's supposed to be the usual offbeat comedy from Tim Burton, but these people are all pretty dull. I never really watched the show so I have no idea what the deal was with all of these characters and their relationships with one another. Dark Shadows isn't really all that accessible as I tried to watch House of Dark Shadows (1970) and Night of Dark Shadows (1971) and didn't know much about these folks even as I was watching these stories unfold. I don't have tine to watch hundreds of old episodes of a TV show to get caught up so I'll assume that the weird supernatural things happening here were on the old program were somehow taken from there.
There's a sudden twist with one character that comes out of nowhere and no one seems to notice the gray-skinned vampire (who occasionally catches fire in sunlight) walking around town. Barnabas doesn't even try to conceal his identity and his family accepts it quick instead of being awestruck or terrified at the undead guy in their midst. His victims pile up, but the FBI doesn't get involved nor does local law enforcement really. And everything comes to an explosive climax for a gothic horror quirky Burton comedy.
It all feels very uninvolving throughout. At least there is a groovy period soundtrack and the makeup on Depp is good. The makeup on Alice Cooper to make him look like he did in '72 is another cool thing in the film that doesn't really get mentioned much. Otherwise this film is really for fans who know more about what's going on here than a layman like myself.
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Post by RedTom on Sept 1, 2014 5:36:55 GMT -5
Oculus (2014)
Not a terrible movie, but by the same token, it's not for everyone. It is not bad as a psychological thriller, but it also relies heavily on extreme confusion, which it kind of takes too far after a while. The acting was good, I found myself loving our lady protagonist, she was both smart and cunning, though that doesn't seem to help her against an omnipotent mirror. Some of the scares were well thought up, and it did a good job playing with the audience, but as I said before, it can get a little out of hand with this. It seemed to kill a lot of time with the suspense and the eye candy, and after a while it was pretty obvious that it was just there for padding. Overall, it was worth a watch, but I am not so sure about a full-price purchase.
The Conjuring (2013)
I must admit, I have not been that sincerely creeped out in a very, very long time. There was an absolutely amazing atmosphere throughout, instead of the simple, childish jump-scares that we have been so accustomed to over the past decade. The characters are very likable, for the most part, and it even tends to work a bit of humor here and there to relieve the tension every once in a while. Then it draws you right back into a world of mystery and mischief. It would be bad to give away too much of the film. If you are looking for something to scare you inside and out, get this movie immediately, close out all of the light, and grab your teddy bear.
Carrie (2013)
Carrie is as Carrie does. Though it is nice to see how someone would update a movie such as this and put facebook, cell phones, and other higher technology to good use, it's still just Carrie. The movie is well done, and even though it starts her off with her telekinetic powers earlier in the film, it is still rather slow to get going. That being said, it is a little more faithful to the source material than the original movie rendition in some areas, and it was nice to see that different perspective. Again, though, it is still Carrie, and the first film was good enough. Other than that, though, it was thoroughly entertaining.
They picked a very good Carrie in Moretz, but Julianne Moore stole the show with her perspective on the mother. She was playing the crazy mother like a real natural, and she even had her very own horror aspect by herself. The characters overall were a definite plus. They went with the high school stereotypes, but not overtly so.
Despite being an unneeded remake (that Hollywood seems so dead set on shelling out these days), it was a good movie in its own right and brought about a good new aspect.
The Purge (2013)
A very mediocre movie all around. It has a mediocre plot, mediocre characters, mediocre creepiness, and mediocre acting. It's just all around very, very bland. The surprises are so predictable, you can literally call when someone will jump out and shoot or stab someone.
The idea around the movie had such potential, it's such a shame they didn't do more with it. They decided that a hide-and-seek movie was more preferable, one that turns into nothing but a mindless bloodbath. There was such hype over this movie, and there was a lot of real excitement surrounding it, thinking that it would be a great premise for a lot of really cool scenes, but they decided to stick with Hollywood crap.
That's not to say that it was totally unwatchable. There were parts that were enjoyable. The guy who kept talking at the door to the family was pretty creepy, and he didn't over-do it. Even without the mask on, he was quite convincing as a psychopath. There were a few tiny gems like that in this movie, but none of them came close to saving this movie. Overall, it was a gigantic borefest.
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Post by mitchell33 on Feb 8, 2015 16:02:45 GMT -5
i'm a huge Dark Shadows Fan. and on the show he hides the fact from the family and everyone else that he's a vampire. Willie is the one like in the film that brings him back. Dr. Hoffman figures it out and well the story on that is done better in the (1970) film. than in the one you saw. the show isn't a comedy like the film is at all. it's a show that started out as a Gothic Soap Opera and than at some point went Supernatural when ratings really declined and to save the show which was nearly cancelled they brought Barnabas to the show which saved it. though if you watch the show it by today's standards is very cheesy. it had a really high budget back than but doesn't look it at all. nothing back than on tv looks it to be fair. in short i adore the show and it really to me doesn't feel like a soap opera at all. the only reason it was cancelled i think was the writers well ran out of ideas and started to repeat themselves.
and by the end of she show it was a soap opera for some reason again and it had a rushed feeling to it since they were cancelled in the middle of a storyline arc. some storylines were left unfinshed or forgotten as well due to some cast leaving. as for the films back than. the studios ruined those i think. they wanted both films to be 90 minutes. with House it was well a horror movie and what's really funny is that parents didn't pay attention to the show at all until the film came out, and when they saw the gore in it they assumed the show had that as well. it doesn't at all. so they ratings really went down cause of that, it's pretty stupid if you ask me. anyways, what hurts both films is the editing it's Dan Curtis's 1st films and they are edited pretty poorly. the 1st film orginally was over 100 minutes i think and he was forced to cut i forget how much out of it. and the footage has since been lost.
and it was poorly edited cause it starts out strong and than things happen where it's not explained and you see characters all of a sudden vampires when that is never explained and Dan Curtis did the editing for both films himself. the 1st film was a huge hit. and it's not a bad film but the editing is what ruins it for me. the 2nd film suffered even worse fate, there is a guy who for like 15 years i think? went to search for all the deleted scenes for both films. for the 2nd film he found all the footage and if you are wondering how long it was originally. it was 130 minutes. but Dan Curtis was forced to cut 40 minutes out of it and it really hurt the film and the film is well a piece of poopie because of it. the film makes no sense at all in that form. all the footage was found and put back in, and the actors who were alive came back to re-record from the script their voices, and they had someone come in and sub for the people who had since died. in (2001) i think the year was? it was shown in a theatre with a number of the cast from film and the show. and they loved it. MGM who owns the films refuses to put this version out that all fans want to see. but MGM when the Johhny Depp Version came out refuses to do so. that's how stupid they are.
as for what i think of that version, knowing ahead of time that it's a comedy helps a fan enjoy it more i think. it's all over the place in tone. it's well cast & Carloyn isn't a werewolf at all in the show that's just WTF moment he put in cause the show had that. barnabas was a character that started out evil than he later became a hero. that's on the show i mean.
though i enjoy the film Tim Burton has said it's pretty much a flapjacks you to the fans and this comes from a guy who supposely grew up watching the show on tv as a kid and loving it. the same goes with Depp who should have said this script is poopie we need a better one and NOT make it a comedy but a serious film. it was a flop cause the tone was all over the place,one minute it's a horror movie the next a comedy. and it changed a LOT of what the show was and people hate it because of that. on the show when he 1st meets the family he says he's a cousin from england like in the film. but what never made sense to me is that Jonathon Frid is from Canada why didn't nobody on the show ask where his accent was? i just find that funny that's all.
in short the film did get some things right, the look of the characters well leaving barnabas out they had right. some things were done right on the show. Dr. Hoffman was not like that on the she at all. s druggie in the film right? anyways sorry for the long post here folks. i haven't watched any horror films lately so i thought i'd post about Dark Shadows and let someone who has never seen the show before know what a fan like myself thinks that's all
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