General Horror Films & TV Discussion Thread

[Avid Warehouse Enthusiast]

The Devil's Candy has the exact same weakness as other deathwave (that's what arthouse horror is called now, right?) movies in that the story wraps up just as it really begins to move forward. Where it thrives, though, is in subverting tropes (a family that literally loves being together, police who immediately go to work) and building a metric fuckton of tension. Ethan Embry going full indie has produced some of his best work and Pruitt Taylor Vince gives possibly the most unsettling horror performance of the decade. It's always great to see Tony Amendola pop up, too, and I was pleasantly surprised with both Shiri Appleby and Kiara Glasco.


Minor gripe, but with metal playing a back up role in this I was expecting a better soundtrack. Two classic Metallica tracks, new Slayer (yuck), and a handful of mallcore? Meh.

6/10, but I think this one's going to grow with age, entirely because of the villain and the paintings within.

[Avid Warehouse Enthusiast]

Caught The Void last week. Jesus...that's the kind of horror I really wish we got a little more of. Tense, creepy as hell, and a constant nightmare tone.

[Hey!]

Caught The Void last week. Jesus...that's the kind of horror I really wish we got a little more of. Tense, creepy as hell, and a constant nightmare tone.

Loved the ending

[Harley Quinn]

Saw Neverknock, the new SyFy original movie (I guess?) and it wasn't very good. Maybe a 4/10 as the practical effect for the creature was surprisingly solid and the acting was rather decent. Bonus for it having the actress, Five from Dark Matter, in a lead role.

The script sucked and was very generic as far as the setup e.g. older sister suddenly takes younger sister as part of "friends to party" group and haunted house with story behind it actually is true amongst other stuff. The preying on fear stuff was what it was with very basic fears: Said older sister whom saw her mother die in a car crash/burn alive has a fear of fire, her date/girlfriend has a fear of dogs which becomes a Doberman Pinscher, the boy in the group has a fear of blood, and his girlfriend had a fear that I can't even remember.

The "creature" sucked hard. It had zero story purpose and despite the practical effect looking good, it really didn't matter. It wasn't a reference to anybody's particular fear and unlike Freddy Krueger, it couldn't even talk so it was creepy/menacing but that wore off very, very quickly after the first couple times you've seen it.

[RedJed]

Did anyone bother checking out the long drawn out release of Amityville Awakening finally? It was free on Google Play (and still is til next week) and wow, now I see why this never made a full theatrical release until this past weekend (10 screens and a dismal total of UNDER a grand for all of the screens, lol!).

The film was a (blatantly piss poor) attempt to revitalize the franchise with a meta-heavy sequel from the original, kinda. Basically what they did was play things off in this manner: the events of the Amityville house that were portrayed in the original film were legit but all of the film adaptations werent and were just adaptations (which is true, I guess, but weird to see them meta-it-up like this). As it were, this family (including Bella Thorne who was god awful in her lines) moves into the house and things start unraveling just like the events of the initial Amityville possession (3:15AM, etc) and a very disjointed story follows involving a paralyzed brother who ends up being possessed (why him particularly, I'm not sure) and all hell breaks loose.

The thing that made this really fall off the map was the self-parody of the films in the franchise. There was literally not just one but a handful of scenes in this that were referencing the films in the series, and two scenes that they actually SHOW the DVDs of the films in the franchise, including a knock on the remake, which was also shown in DVD form (as was Amityville 2 for some reason). One scene in particular has the kids watching the original film on TV in the Amityville house and at 3:15 to try to rile up spirits. Talk about a head slapping moment.

To boot, the film was chopped and edited down from an R to a PG-13 and that showed as well.

[A Crying Hoss]

I caught a showing of Happy Death Day and I'm shocked at how much I liked it. The PG-13 rating didn't bother me too much (Although R certainly could've made for some gnarlier scenarios) and the lead actress was absolutely fantastic. Her charisma carried the movie and I laughed several times. It ran out of steam towards the end, but I was very entertained overall.

[Detective Ventriloquist]

I caught a showing of Happy Death Day and I'm shocked at how much I liked it. The PG-13 rating didn't bother me too much (Although R certainly could've made for some gnarlier scenarios) and the lead actress was absolutely fantastic. Her charisma carried the movie and I laughed several times. It ran out of steam towards the end, but I was very entertained overall.

I've heard this a lot from people. It's not a great movie, and the third act loses a bit, but overall, it's a fun watch.

[RedJed]

Yeah, Happy Death Day was better than I thought it would be, but that third act was a bit like...ok enough already. Too many false endings, but otherwise a decent little horror that didn't suffer too bad from the PG-13 indeed.

So did anyone binge horror like a mofo for October? I had intentions of 31 films in 31 days, but am still backed up a bit on it, so this will roll into November. I'll post my list later with some thoughts on the films.

[Harley Quinn]

Yeah, Happy Death Day was better than I thought it would be, but that third act was a bit like...ok enough already. Too many false endings, but otherwise a decent little horror that didn't suffer too bad from the PG-13 indeed.

So did anyone binge horror like a mofo for October? I had intentions of 31 films in 31 days, but am still backed up a bit on it, so this will roll into November. I'll post my list later with some thoughts on the films.

I saw a few films including The Bad Seed and Night of the Hunter but couldn't really sustain much momentum in this regard. I was hoping TCM would be more forthcoming as far as movie selection but this year in particular seemed rather light, which didn't help my cause as I planned to watch several 'classic' older movies.

[Phenomena]

So did anyone binge horror like a mofo for October? I had intentions of 31 films in 31 days, but am still backed up a bit on it, so this will roll into November. I'll post my list later with some thoughts on the films.

I did. Here's what I watched

-Fright Night (original)
-Gerald's Game
-Messiah of Evil
-Don't Torture a Duckling
-Popcorn
-Retribution
-Terror Train
-The Blob (80's remake)
-Phenomena
-Silent Scream
-Kill Baby Kill
-The Hidden
-The Green Slime (more Sci-Fi, but it counts)
-Friday the 13th Part VI
-Happy Death Day
-The Babysitter
-One Dark Night
-The Long Hair of Death
-The Power (this one is from the 80's. It was pretty bad)
-Bone Tomahawk
-The Mutilator
-Leatherface (did not care for this one)
-The Fog
-It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (this counts)
-Night of the Werewolf
-Blood Beat (this shit is fucking WEIRD)
-Demon Wind
-Re-Animator
-The Final Girls (really enjoyed this one)
-Zombie
-Macabre
-The Grapes of Death
-Slaughter High

[Detective Ventriloquist]

Normally I would have listened to a lot of horror at work during the month. We can listen to music, and I put movies on my iPod. But I ended up listening to the podcast Lore the entire month. I never listened to it, but after watching the 6 episodes on Amazon, I decided to listen to the entire run, and I ended up going through it twice.

I did watch a couple, mainly the other day I watched The Haunting (my favorite horror movie), with the audio commentary for the first time, and it was fantastic. So much great information.

[A Crying Hoss]

I actually got to 31 this year. Doubled up on some days.

The Ring (02)
Inside
Gerald's Game
Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare
Return Of The Living Dead
The Shout
Cannibal Ferox (Why did I watch it. I know what it was and I still watched it. Great soundtrack though.)
Final Destination
The Hitcher (1986)
Ringu 2
Road Games
The Exorcist III
Better Watch Out
Wait Until Dark
At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul
The Exorcism Of Emily Rose
Theater Of Blood
Dream Home (Hong Kong slasher from 2010, not the shitty Daniel Craig/Rachel Weisz/Naomi Watts movie)
Noroi: The Curse
Scream 2
Dagon
I Sell The Dead
The Psychic (70's Lucio Fulci giallo)
House Of Usher
Trick Or Treat (1986 Metal horror film)
The Burrowers
Jeepers Creepers 3
Happy Death Day
Friday The 13th Part 2
Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
Halloween 3: Season Of The Witch

[Avid Warehouse Enthusiast]

I haven't been as gung ho this year as I normally am, but I've still accrued some solid views.

-F13 1-4, 6, 7
-The Devil's Candy
-Cult of Chucky
-The Void
-The Neon Dead
-Devil's Honey (late 80's Fulci revenge/sexploitation sleaze)
-Jeruzalem (found footage demon/zombie movie, better idea than execution)
-Night of the Demons (original, almost the perfect example of 80's horror)
-Condemned (trashy "drugs are bad" zombie flick)
-Residue (Brit 3-part series about ghosts and conspiracy)

[Phenomena]

I'm bored, so here's what's coming to Blu-Ray

November 28th

-Misery (Scream Factory)

-Deathdream (Blue Underground)

-Death Laid an Egg (Cult Epics)

December 5th

-The Amicus Collection (Severin) Features "Asylum", "Now the Screaming Starts" and "The Beast Must Die." Or you can just get them separately.

-Silent Night Deadly Night (Scream Factory)

-Better Watch Out (Well Go USA)

-Separate releases of the movies featured in Arrow's "American Horror Project" box of rare independent horror films from the 70's ("The Witch Who Came From the Sea", "The Premonition" and "Malatesta's Carnival of Blood"

December 12th

-Separate releases of "House" and "House II" from Arrow.

December 19th

-American Gothic (Scream Factory)

-mother! (Paramount)

-Leatherface (Lionsgate)

December 26th

-Mayhem (RLJL Entertainment)

-Jeepers Creepers 3 (Screen Media)

December 31st

-Suspiria limited edition SteelBook

January 2nd

-Hell Night (Scream Factory)

-Seven Bloodstained Orchids (Code Red/Kino Lorber) No Amazon link yet

January 9th

-Cat O' Nine Tails (Arrow Video) limited edition. Old Dario Argento!

-68 Kill (IFC Midnight/Scream Factory)

January 23rd

-Dario Argento's "Opera" (Scorpion Releasing/Kino Lorber) No Amazon link yet. It will also get a limited edition SteelBook packed with special features that will likely be exclusive to Ronin Flix and Diabolik DVD.

-Attack of the Killer Tomatoes (MVD Rewind)

-The Twilight People (VCI)

-Dance Macabre (Scream Factory)

January 30th

-Standard editions of Re-Animator and The Hills Have Eyes from Arrow. If you didn't get the limited edition of "Re-Animator"-you really should have.

-Piranha II: The Spawning (Scream Factory) because if James Cameron can attest, we all gotta start somewhere.

February 6th

-The Diabolical Dr. Z (Redemption Films/Kino Lorber) because it's one of the few Jess Franco movies I find tolerable.

February 13th

-Drag Me to Hell (Scream Factory)

-Night of the Seagulls (Scream Factory) maybe if we're lucky they'll release the rest of the "Blind Dead" movies on Blu.

February 20th

-The Gate II (Scream Factory)

-William Castle's The Night Walker (Scream Factory)

[NoCalMike]

Happy Death Day was a lot better than expected. I concur with what everyone has said.  Also, The Babysitter surprised me too.  It definitely is more comedy-horror than anything, but it has some nice gore and it's a fun story.  McG-ness doesn't get in the way too much.

[Detective Ventriloquist]

The Golden Globes has decided that since there was some comic relief in it, Get Out will be in the Best Comedy/Musical category.

[NoCalMike]

The Golden Globes has decided that since there was some comic relief in it, Get Out will be in the Best Comedy/Musical category.

Oh for the love of gawd.  Not that the movie isn't deserving of a nomination, but still.

[Harley Quinn]

The Golden Globes has decided that since there was some comic relief in it, Get Out will be in the Best Comedy/Musical category.

Oh for the love of gawd.  Not that the movie isn't deserving of a nomination, but still.

I... of all the categories it ends up there?? Only upside is if people watch it without knowing anything expecting an actual comedy.

[Phenomena]

*sings to self* At laaaaaaast....

Shot outside Pittsburgh on a shoestring budget by a band of filmmakers determined to make their mark, Night of the Living Dead, directed by horror master George A. Romero, is one of the great stories of independent cinema: a midnight hit turned box-office smash that became one of the most influential films of all time. A deceptively simple tale of a group of strangers trapped in a farmhouse who find themselves fending off a horde of recently dead, flesh-eating ghouls, Romero’s claustrophobic vision of a late-1960s America literally tearing itself apart rewrote the rules of the horror genre, combined gruesome gore with acute social commentary, and quietly broke ground by casting a black actor (Duane Jones) in its lead role. Stark, haunting, and more relevant than ever, Night of the Living Dead is back, in a new 4K restoration.

Disc Features

New 4K digital restoration, supervised by director George A. Romero, coscreenwriter John A. Russo, sound engineer Gary R. Streiner, and producer Russell W. Streiner
New restoration of the monaural soundtrack, supervised by Romero and Gary R. Streiner, and presented uncompressed on the Blu-ray
Night of Anubis, a never-before-presented work-print edit of the film
New program featuring filmmakers Frank Darabont, Guillermo del Toro, and Robert Rodriguez
Never-before-seen 16 mm dailies reel
New piece featuring Russo about the commercial and industrial-film production company where key Night of the Living Dead filmmakers got their start
Two audio commentaries from 1994, featuring Romero, Russo, producer Karl Hardman, actor
Judith O’Dea, and more
Archival interviews with Romero and actors Duane Jones and Judith Ridley
New programs about the editing, the score, and directing ghouls
New interviews with Gary R. Streiner and Russel W. Streiner
Trailer, radio spots, and TV spots
More!
PLUS: An essay by critic Stuart Klawans[/li][/list]

Arrives February 13th.

[Phenomena]

Also coming from Criterion

In this chilling adaptation of the best-selling novel by Thomas Harris, the astonishingly versatile director Jonathan Demme crafted a taut psychological thriller about an American obsession: serial murder. As Clarice Starling, an FBI trainee who enlists the help of the infamous Hannibal “the Cannibal” Lecter to gain insight into the mind of another killer, Jodie Foster subverts classic gender dynamics and gives one of the most memorable performances of her career. As her foil, Anthony Hopkins is the archetypical antihero—cultured, quick-witted, and savagely murderous—delivering a harrowing portrait of humanity gone terribly wrong. A gripping police procedural and a disquieting immersion into a twisted psyche, The Silence of the Lambs swept the Academy Awards (best picture, best director, best screenplay, best actress, best actor) and remains a cultural touchstone.

Disc Features

New 4K digital restoration, approved by director of photography Tak Fujimoto, with 2.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray
Alternate 5.1 surround soundtrack, presented in DTS-HD Master Audio on the Blu-ray
Audio commentary from 1994 featuring director Jonathan Demme, actors Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins, screenwriter Ted Tally, and former FBI agent John Douglas
New interview with critic Maitland McDonagh
Thirty-five minutes of deleted scenes
Interview from 2005 with Demme and Foster
Inside the Labyrinth, a 2001 documentary
Page to Screen, a 2002 program about the adaptation
Scoring “The Silence,” a 2004 interview program featuring composer Howard Shore
Understanding the Madness, a 2008 program featuring interviews with retired FBI special agents
Original behind-the-scenes featurette
Trailer
PLUS: An essay by critic Amy Taubin along with, in the Blu-ray edition, a new introduction by Foster; an account of the origins of the character Hannibal Lecter by author Thomas Harris; and a 1991 interview with Demme

[Detective Ventriloquist]

*sings to self* At laaaaaaast....

Shot outside Pittsburgh on a shoestring budget by a band of filmmakers determined to make their mark, Night of the Living Dead, directed by horror master George A. Romero, is one of the great stories of independent cinema: a midnight hit turned box-office smash that became one of the most influential films of all time. A deceptively simple tale of a group of strangers trapped in a farmhouse who find themselves fending off a horde of recently dead, flesh-eating ghouls, Romero’s claustrophobic vision of a late-1960s America literally tearing itself apart rewrote the rules of the horror genre, combined gruesome gore with acute social commentary, and quietly broke ground by casting a black actor (Duane Jones) in its lead role. Stark, haunting, and more relevant than ever, Night of the Living Dead is back, in a new 4K restoration.

Disc Features

New 4K digital restoration, supervised by director George A. Romero, coscreenwriter John A. Russo, sound engineer Gary R. Streiner, and producer Russell W. Streiner
New restoration of the monaural soundtrack, supervised by Romero and Gary R. Streiner, and presented uncompressed on the Blu-ray
Night of Anubis, a never-before-presented work-print edit of the film
New program featuring filmmakers Frank Darabont, Guillermo del Toro, and Robert Rodriguez
Never-before-seen 16 mm dailies reel
New piece featuring Russo about the commercial and industrial-film production company where key Night of the Living Dead filmmakers got their start
Two audio commentaries from 1994, featuring Romero, Russo, producer Karl Hardman, actor
Judith O’Dea, and more
Archival interviews with Romero and actors Duane Jones and Judith Ridley
New programs about the editing, the score, and directing ghouls
New interviews with Gary R. Streiner and Russel W. Streiner
Trailer, radio spots, and TV spots
More!
PLUS: An essay by critic Stuart Klawans[/li][/list]

Arrives February 13th.

This is the most important horror film for me. It was the first horror film I saw at the age of 5. It's poetic justice that it's being released on my birthday. YES!

[Harley Quinn]

I'm all over the Silence of the Lambs, especially the 35 Minutes of Deleted Scenes.

[RedJed]

I finally finished my 31 days of horror, albeit a bit delayed...few thoughts about each....

1. Holidays (badly done anthology film on Netflix, not really worth a look)
2. Devil's Candy (Echo the sentiments here, its really worthwhile)
3. Gerald's Game (Might be the most fucked up Stephen King film adaptation I've seen, in an effective way)
4. Beyond the Gates (Had a nice retro vibe going for it, otherwise...eehhhhhh)
5. Girl in the Photographs (Better than I figured this would be)
6. The Babysitter (Fun wild ride of a film)
7. Zombeavers  (I was so stoned during this one that I flat out barely remember a damn thing about it lol)
8. They Look Like People (Didnt care this one at all, really.)
9. Happy Death Day (commented before about this one)
10. Tokyo Ghoul (this manga to live action adaptation was EXCELLENT to say the least. Really liked it, was worth the drive to see the one night only viewing)
11. House on Willow Street (This one got me good)
12. Amityville: The Awakening (Purely so bad it might be somewhat entertaining shit)
13. Raw (This one really delivered on a different level than I figured it would)
14. Cult of Chucky (One of the better Chucky movies in the franchise IMO)
15. Jigsaw (One of those films that we didnt really need, but it was ok)
16. The Snowman (This felt like half of the film was cut, just didnt flow well at all)
17. 1922 (Another dark Stephen King adaptation on Netflix, not nearly as good as Geralds but held its own)
18. We Are Still Here (Nice twists and turns in this one)
19. A Dark Song (Another one I hardly remember due to herbal influence, but from what I recall, it was uniquely different)
20. Flatliners (Original....yeah I know, is this horror?)
21. Flatliners (Remake.....pretty much absolutely worthless on every level. Total bore of a film/remake)
22. Contracted (See Contracted 2)
23. Contracted 2 (Watching the Contracted films again did NOT do them any favors. Pretty much shit)
24. Stake Land
25. Stake Land 2 (I really liked the first one, but thought the second one took a bit of a dive a bit, but yet still very solid)
26. Creep
27. Creep 2 (I never knew Mark Duplass could be so fucking effective as a really fucked up serial killer, both films played very well against each other)
28. Houses October Built
29. Houses October Built 2 (Both of these are really low budget, but the scares are effective. Too many plot twists and holes to even imagine, though. Both bad and good plot twists)
30. Wolf Creek
31. Wolf Creek 2 (Watched these again to finally segway to the Wolf Creek 6 part TV series that aired last year which I finally need to get to now)

Next run is to catch up on horror TV for the rest of the year, such as the aformentioned Wolf Creek mini-series, Stranger Things, American Horror Story, The Strain, Bates Motel, etc. I've been incredibly behind on all of those the past year or two.

[Phenomena]

Coming Feb 27th from Arrow Video

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS
• Brand new 4K restoration from the original 16mm negative by MoMA
• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
• Original Uncompressed Mono Audio
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Brand new audio commentary with writer/director Frank Henenlotter and star Kevin Van Hentenryck
• Basket Case 3-1/2: An Interview with Duane Bradley - Frank Henenlotter revisits Duane Bradley decades after the events of the original Basket Case
• Seeing Double: The Basket Case Twins - a brand new interview with Florence and Maryellen Schultz, the twin nurses from Basket Case
• Brand new making-of featurette containing new interviews with producer Edgar Ievins, casting person/actress Ilze Balodis, associate producer/effects artist Ugis Nigals and Belial performer Kika Nigals
• Blood, BASKET and Beyond - a brand new interview with actress Beverly Bonner
• Belial Goes to the Drive-In - a brand new interview with film critic Joe Bob Briggs
• Outtakes Featurette
• In Search of the Hotel Broslin - archive location featurette
• Slash of the Knife (1972) - short film by Frank Henenlotter
• Belial’s Dream (2017, 5 mins) - brand new Basket Case-inspired animated short by filmmaker Robert Morgan
• Behind-the-scenes of Belial’s Dream
• Trailers, TV Spots and Radio Spots
• Extensive Still Galleries
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Sara Deck

FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Collector’s booklet with new writing on the film by Michael Gingold

[fazzle]

Has anyone here heard anything about The Trace We Leave Behind (or O Rostro?)   I found that it was playing in my local cheap theater, and I'm thinking about going to see it tomorrow, simply based on the fact that I can find almost fucking NOTHING about it online.  It's a Brazilian horror movie, and the complete fucking unknown is what's drawing me to it, but the complete unknown is also what's making me wary of it.  At the very least I'd love to know if it has subtitles, because I don't speak Portuguese and sitting through a complete full length movie that I don't understand wouldn't be a good time, and I can't even find that much information.

[NoCalMike]

Do yourself a favor and check out RED CHRISTMAS on netflix.  Pretty wild.

[Avid Warehouse Enthusiast]

The gore effects and concept were splendid but the rest of it feels like it's lacking something.

[fazzle]

Has anyone here heard anything about The Trace We Leave Behind (or O Rostro?)   I found that it was playing in my local cheap theater, and I'm thinking about going to see it tomorrow, simply based on the fact that I can find almost fucking NOTHING about it online.  It's a Brazilian horror movie, and the complete fucking unknown is what's drawing me to it, but the complete unknown is also what's making me wary of it.  At the very least I'd love to know if it has subtitles, because I don't speak Portuguese and sitting through a complete full length movie that I don't understand wouldn't be a good time, and I can't even find that much information.

Ended up not seeing it.  It only had 2 daytime showings and I didn't think about it until it was too late

[Phenomena]

Coming this March from Arrow Video

Release date: 26/27 March

Step aside Pennywise… These Killer Klowns from Outer Space are outta this world – literally! – and they’re packing deadly popcorn guns and cotton candy cocoons!

When Mike and his girlfriend Debbie warn the local police that a gang of homicidal alien-clowns have landed in the nearby area (in a spaceship shaped like a circus big-top, no less), the cops are naturally sceptical. Before long however, reports are coming in from other anxious residents detailing similar run-ins with the large-shoed assailants. There can no longer be any doubt – the Killer Klowns from Outer Space are here, and they’re out to turn the Earth’s population into candy floss!

Written and produced by the Chiodo brothers – knowns for their work on a host of special-effects laden hits such as Team America: World Police and the Critters movies – Killer Klowns from Outer Space is a cinematic experience unparalleled in this galaxy, now newly restored by Arrow Video for this stellar edition.

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS
• Brand new restoration from a 4K scan of the original camera negative
• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
• Newly remastered stereo 2.0 and 5.1 DTS-HD MA audio options
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Archive audio commentary with the Chiodo Brothers
• Let the Show Begin! Anatomy of a Killer Theme Song – an all-new interview with the original members of the American punk band, The Dickies
• The Chiodos Walk Among Us: Adventures in Super 8 Filmmaking - all-new documentary highlighting the making of the Chiodo Brothers childhood films, from the giant monster epics made in their basement to their experiments in college
• New HD transfers of the complete collection of the Chiodo Brothers 8mm and Super 8 films, including Land of Terror, Free Inside, Beast from the Egg, and more!
• Tales of Tobacco – an interview with star Grant Cramer
• Debbie’s Big Night – an interview with star Suzanne Snyder
• Bringing Life to These Things – a tour of Chiodo Bros. Productions
• The Making of Killer Klowns – archive production featurette
• Visual Effects with Gene Warren Jr. – archive interview with co-writer/producer Charles Chiodo and visual effects supervisor Gene Warren Jr.
• Kreating Klowns – archive interview with Charles Chiodo and creature fabricator Dwight Roberts
• Komposing Klowns – archive interview with composer John Massari
• Klown Auditions
• Deleted Scenes with filmmaker’s audio commentary
• Bloopers
• Image Galleries
• Original Theatrical Trailer
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Sara Deck

After the experimental outings of There’s Always Vanilla and Season of the Witch, Night of the Living Dead director George A. Romero returned to rather more distinct horror territory with his 1973 infection opus The Crazies.

When a plane carrying a secret biological weapon crash-lands in the vicinity of a small, rural town, the area descends into chaos. Infected with a virus that sends them into a homicidal frenzy, the locals turn on each other in an orgy of bloody violence. As the army cordons off the town and government agents clash with scientists over the appropriate course of action, a small band of survivors attempt to make their way to safety.

Starring cult icon Lynn Lowry (Shivers, I Drink Your Blood), the influence of Romero’s The Crazies can be felt in everything from the director’s own subsequent work – many commentators have noted the stylistic and thematic similarities to his zombie classic Dawn of the Dead – right up to Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later and beyond.

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS
Brand new 4K restoration from the original camera negative
High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
Original Mono Uncompressed PCM Audio
English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
Brand new audio commentary by Travis Crawford
Romero Was Here: Locating The Crazies – Romero historian Lawrence DeVincentz takes us on a guided tour of Evans City, PA and the locations used in The Crazies
Crazy for Lynn Lowry – cult star Lynn Lowry discusses her early career including her role in The Crazies
Q&A with Lynn Lowry filmed at the 2016 Abertoir Film Festival
Audio interview with producer Lee Hessel
Behind-the-scenes footage with optional commentary by Lawrence DeVincentz
Alternate Opening Titles
Image Galleries
Trailers & TV Spots
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly-commissioned artwork by Gilles Vranckx

[Harley Quinn]

Do yourself a favor and check out RED CHRISTMAS on netflix.  Pretty wild.

Just finished RED CHRISTMAS. It was way more bad than good, maybe a 3/10. Definitely emphasized the arthouse horror (mostly in utilization of color tones with a lot of green/blue/pink hues to scenes) but not nearly as well overall as other recent films. The director definitely loved those low angle shots though, sheesh and the shaky cam was starting to piss me off hard with over a half hour left.

It was mostly well shot (way too much reliance on low angles, especially on people though) and had a pretty original concept behind it but the 2nd Half was very confusing with little things never actually explained. The overall direction was bad with little story shit constantly going on like the power being cut yet the stairwell Christmas lights are all powered on? They have 3 phones and nobody tries to call 911 anyway? The killer suddenly seemingly knows the layout of the house better than any of the occupants (despite literally being there for all of 15-20 minutes) and

Spoiler: show

has Down Syndrome but enough physical strength, despite hobbling around, to heft an axe up AND use a bear trap on the Sheriff?

were some of the more confusing elements.

Dee Wallace was very solid in her role but that was about it as far as the acting went. She felt way too good for this movie to be honest. The characters also all turned really stupid just to keep the movie/plot going and it was clear the movie was trying to hit a certain spot with the story but the script just trudged along (starting around 40-45 minutes left) so slowly getting there. Not to mention the ending was awful and could be seen coming a mile away.

[NoCalMike]

Has anyone seen Once Upon A Time At Christmas? 

[NoCalMike]

Probably doesn't qualify as a "horror" movie necessarily, but The Killing of a Sacred Dear is pretty disturbing and good.

[RedJed]

Probably doesn't qualify as a "horror" movie necessarily, but The Killing of a Sacred Dear is pretty disturbing and good.

Yes, it sure was. Easily top 10-15 for the year for me range. I still dont know exactly what genre it would be categorized, but as the movie went on it progressed into a really psychogically twisted thread. Really uniquely great.

I beleive this was done by the same folks as Dogtooth and The Lobster, so that explains the tone/vibe.

[RedJed]

Ended up seeing Insidious 4 yesterday.....is anyone still following this series of films? I will say this much, they are trying to pay attention to continuity in these, as it's now that they are trying to come full circle in the entire story and, I would assume, now lead to one full direct last sequel to tie everything up. That's got to be set now especially after the first weekend gross which was impressive for a fourth film in a horror franchise. I still like these films but they have progressively been getting more watered down as they go on, but I think the mythology end of it is put together pretty well. On a side note, without reading much about this one ahead of time, I kinda assumed the moniker "The Last Key" meant this was going to be the last one of the series. Nope. But it feels like it's coming to an end maybe with a part 5.

Also, I noticed the US remake of Inside is finally out in theaters limited and also on VOD right now. Might give that a look later this weekend. It's been years since I saw the original but holy fuck, was that a visceral experience back then. I can't imagine the same out of this one.

[Detective Ventriloquist]

Jason Blum said yesterday that he wants Insidious and Sinister to have a crossover movie.

[Avid Warehouse Enthusiast]

The only Insidious movie I enjoyed was the second. I felt the first was way too focused on subverting Poltergeist and the third was The Ring 2 level of laughably bad.

Quick thoughts on trailers I've seen:
-Slender Man actually feels promising, even if the movie is about a decade late to the creepypasta
-Annihilation will be interesting, and I've heard the book series it comes from has a very cinematic feel to it...plus Natalie Portman is still awesome
-Day of the Dead: Bloodline looks like stupid fun with a Bub that looks like Till Lindemann
-Truth or Dare will be total shit

[Harley Quinn]

Just finished up It Comes At Night. Solid movie, probably a 6/10. Really well shot, performances were just fine. I went into it expecting a Survivalist movie and got what I expected. If I expected a Horror Movie, this was definitely not it and my rating would've reflected that. Several things were left unanswered/open ended and apparently done purposefully by the director.

I preferred The Witch much more but that was mostly on the strength of the acting, which ran circles around this movie.

[rollie]

So everyone's going nuts for this film Hereditary that just premiered at sundance

Hereditary is the most traumatically terrifying horror movie in ages
Sundance: 'Hereditary' is the most insane horror movie in years/
Sundance’s breakout horror hit Hereditary is pants-wettingly scary

Obviously there's been a fair few horror films over the last few years with heavy critic hype/love and whilst most have been good films they've not necessarily been the best horror. Either way, interest is certainly piqued although godknows when it'll get an actual release

[Harley Quinn]

Finally caught Happy Death Day and enjoyed it a lot. There are some flawed elements to the plot but it's well paced, creative in its deaths, and the

Spoiler: show

good day completely sold me as the finish to the movie

so props there. 7/10 although I feel I may be higher than some on it. The lead actress, Jessica Rothe, was fantastic in it as far as being able to build sympathy for her character and make you want to see her survive/solve what's going on.

[Phenomena]

Updated upcoming horror releases (I don't feel like providing links this time, so sorry)

Jan. 30th (IE two days ago)

-Class of 1999 (Vestron/Lionsgate)
-Gothic (Vestron/Lionsgate)
-Hack-O Lantern (Non Slipcase version) (Massacre Video)

Feb. 6th

-Victor Crowley (Dark Sky Films)
-Friday the 13th Ultimate Collection (Paramount)
-The Diabolical Dr. Z (Redemption/Kino Lorber)
-The Gruesome Twosome (Arrow)
-Day of the Dead: Bloodline (Lionsgate)

Feb. 13th

-Night of the Living Dead (Criterion)
-Silence of the Lambs (Criterion)
-The Cat O' Nine Tails (Arrow)
-Drag Me to Hell (Scream Factory)
-Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3 (Warner Archives)
-The Blood Spattered Bride (Mondo Macabro)
-Night of the Seagulls (Scream Factory) Last film in the Blind Dead series
-Francesca (Unearthed Films) Giallo tribute I've heard good things about
-Eaten Alive (Italian cannibal movie from Umberto Lenze) (Severin)
-Hellraiser: Judgement (Lionsgate) Because....I dunno, they're still making these I guess?

Feb. 20th

-Mom and Dad (Momentum Pictures) I've heard really good things about this one. Plus, It's from on of the creators of the "Crank" movies and stars Nic Cage
-The Night Walker (Scream Factory)
-The Gate II (Scream Factory)

Feb. 27th

-Basket Case (Arrow)
-The Sect (Scorpion Releasing) From the director of "Cemetery Man" and producer Dario Argento

March 6th

-The Strangers (Scream Factory)
-The Crazies (OG Romero version) (Arrow)
-Ambulance (Scream Factory)
-Fangs of the Living Dead (Scream Factory)

March 13th

-Suspiria (Synapse)
-City of the Living Dead (VCI)
-Children of the Corn: Runaway (Lionsgate) because...I dunno, same as that "Hellraiser" movie
-Unearthed & Untold: The Path to Pet Sematary  (Synapse)

March 20th

-Ichi the Killer (Well Go USA)
-The Church (Scorpion Releasing)
-Grindhouse: Collector's Edition (Lionsgate)
-Nightmare at Noon (Scream Factory)
-Rockula (Scream Factory)

March 27th

-Killer Klowns from Outer Space (Arrow)
-Prince of Darkness and Assault on Precinct 13 (Steelbox) (Scream Factory)
-Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (Scream Factory)

April 10th

-Deep Red (Arrow)
-Full Moon High (Scream Factory)
-Crucible of Terror (Scream Factory)

May 8th

-The Return of Swamp Thing (MVD Rewind)

May 15th

-It's Alive Trilogy (Scream Factory) Box Set featuring "It's Alive", "It Lives Again" and "It's Alive III: Island of the Alive"

[Avid Warehouse Enthusiast]

Swamp Thing for my bday yayyyyyyy

[Phenomena]

Swamp Thing for my bday yayyyyyyy

"Deep Red" for me three days before my birthday. It's been a good year for Argento so far this year (That movie, "The Cat O' Nine Tails", "Opera" and "Suspiria." Hoping someone releases "Four Flies on Grey Velvet")

[Detective Ventriloquist]

Night of the Living Dead is the most important horror film for me. I first saw it when I was 5 and was hooked on horror. Already have my Criterion copy on order, and it's coming out on my birthday. I'm stoked.

[Nymyzys]

Victor Crowley (Hatchet 4) hit Blu-Ray a couple of days ago, and I finally got around to watching it.  It's not as over the top as previous entries in the series, but whats there is a lot of fun.  Brian Quinn and the guy that played Doofy in Scary Movie, both steal the show with their performances.  Make sure you wait for the stinger. 

[RedJed]

Victor Crowley (Hatchet 4) hit Blu-Ray a couple of days ago, and I finally got around to watching it.  It's not as over the top as previous entries in the series, but whats there is a lot of fun.  Brian Quinn and the guy that played Doofy in Scary Movie, both steal the show with their performances.  Make sure you wait for the stinger.

For the most part, agreed. I thought that first half hour of the film though was stretching on trying to develop some fun characters and the reasoning how things picked back up was pretty out there (but this is slasher horror after all, thats almost a pre-requisite to be over the top) but the main juggernauts of this franchise delivered. Ridiculous kills/gore and a wtf ending that always leaves things a bit...ok then where do they go from there?

Stinger was pretty awesome.....I was hoping she would have been in part 4 but at least they are intending to bring her back. One thing you can count on the Hatchet series is for their main characters to actually have some wacky continuity to them!

I hadnt read or seen much about this one beforehand, and from what I thought I had read months ago, I was kind of assuming this might be a full reboot, but fortunately it was far from that. Straight up sequel for sure, despite the misleading info and title.

[RedJed]

BTW been meaning to post on it, but watched the INSIDE U.S. reboot a few weeks ago. If this wasnt so niche, I'd say this is easily the worst film of the year, but since its far from mainstream, I will just say this is easily the worst horror reboot I've seen possibly ever.

Not that I was expecting it, but the gore and intensity of the original film just was not there at all. There was a few nods to the original, but hardly enough to call a nice touch. So much stuff was shifted from the initial story and the buildup to everything too.

The ending particularly was just plain retarded.

Spoiler: show

Fighting in a pool with a tarp over it and in the pouring rain. The protagonist drowns while trying to save the pregnant woman, since she still was trying to get the child of course. So she drowns and the woman gives birth literally seconds later....on top of a tarp in a fucking swimming pool. Ok then.

[Phenomena]

Here's Arrow's May line up



Available May 22nd. Specs are

LIMITED 2 X BLU-RAY EDITION CONTENTS

Three cuts of the film newly restored in 2K from original film elements

Original Uncompressed Mono Audio

Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing

Double-sided poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork

6 x lobby card reproductions

Limited edition perfect-bound book featuring new writing on the film by author Stephen Thrower

Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Paul Shipper

DISC ONE – THE UNCUT VERSION

High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation of the Uncut Version

Brand new audio commentary by podcasters Bill Ackerman and Amanda Reyes

Archival audio commentary with writer/director Wes Craven and producer Sean S. Cunningham

Archival audio commentary with stars David Hess, Marc Sheffler and Fred Lincoln

Junior’s Story – a brand new interview with actor Marc Sheffler

Marc Sheffler in Conversation at the American Cinematheque

Brand new interview with wardrobe and make-up artist Anne Paul

Songs in the Key of Krug – never-before-seen archive interview with David Hess

Celluloid Crime of the Century – archival documentary featuring interviews with Wes Craven, Sean S. Cunningham, actors David Hess, Fred Lincoln, Jeramie Rain, Marc Sheffler and Martin Kove

Still Standing: The Legacy of The Last House on The Left – archival interview with Wes Craven

Scoring Last House on the Left – archival interview with actor/composer David Hess

It’s Only a Movie: The Making of The Last House on the Left – archival documentary

Forbidden Footage – the cast and crew of Last House on the film’s most controversial sequences

Deleted Scene

Outtakes and Dailies

Trailers, TV Spot & Radio Spots

Image Gallery

DISC TWO – THE ‘KRUG & COMPANY’ & R-RATED CUTS

High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation of the Krug and Company and R-rated cuts of the film

The Craven Touch – brand new featurette bringing together interviews with a number of Wes Craven’s collaborators, including Sean S. Cunningham, composer Charles Bernstein, producer Peter Locke, cinematographer Mark Irwin and actress Amanda Wyss

Early Days and “Night of Vengeance” – filmmaker Roy Frumkes remembers Wes Craven and Last House on the Left

Tales That’ll Tear Your Heart Out – excerpts from an unfinished Wes Craven short

Available May 14th. Specs are

High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation transferred from original film elements

Uncompressed Mono 1.0 PCM audio

Newly translated English subtitles

Kim Newman on The Bloodthirsty Trilogy, a new video appraisal by the critic and writer

Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Matt Griffin

FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Japanese film expert Jasper Sharp

Available May 22nd. Specs are

Brand new 2K restoration from the original camera negative

High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation

Original Italian and English soundtracks

Uncompressed Mono 1.0 PCM audio

Newly translated English subtitles for the Italian soundtrack

Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for the English soundtrack

New audio commentary by writer and critic Tim Lucas

D’Amato Smiles on Death, an archival interview in which the director discusses the film

All About Ewa, a newly-filmed, career-spanning interview with the Swedish star

Smiling on the Taboo: Sex, Death and Transgression in the horror films of Joe D’Amato, new video essay by critic Kat Ellinger

Original trailers

Stills and collections gallery

Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Gilles Vranckx

[Nymyzys]

Finally saw The Collector and The Collection. I really enjoyed both. You can tell the first one was intended to be a Saw prequel,  and the tension was really nerve wracking in spots. The sequel isn't as good as a whole, but it's mindlessly entertaining. The nightclub massacre was my favorite part.

[Harley Quinn]

Don't Hang Up (2016) Decent stuff in the vein of The Call's Coming From Inside the House, Saw, and Joy Ride in that two teen prank callers (Brady and Sam) end up on the receiving end of a "prank" caller themselves (a guy known as Mr. Lee) but this guy's a bit more serious in his devotion. Damian Mace & Alexis Wajsbrot do a good job keeping the tension going and teasing whether the stuff that's going on is in real time or not. It also isn't too reliant on jump scares and it's actually a nice change of pace to see two males as the central protagonists rather than the standard "last female survivor" trope that's become commonplace. The end gets a little dumb but that's to be expected with this kind of film that's largely a linear plot A to B to C with little time for real character development.

The main leads aren't likeable but that's kind of the point behind the film. To its credit, it does manage to develop a smudge of sympathy towards them throughout but it's not as good as Joy Ride in this regard, IMO in part because neither lead is developed much nor do they have the charisma of Paul Walker/Steve Zahn.

5/10. Worth a watch if you want a by the numbers popcorn tension flick.

[Harley Quinn]

Just watched Blind Malice (2014) by Graham Streeter.

A blind teen (Karen, played by Angelina Prendergast) and her grandmother (Grace Zabriskie from Seinfield) go to clean out a family owned rental property. Dr. Haskin (Tim Bagley from Monk), Karen's father, is accused of molesting 9 & 10 year old girls and weird flashback stuff starts to happen while Karen is at the property.

Some of the editing is jarring (poorly flowed jump cuts, a black & white filter to reflect Karen's impaired vision) but the direction overall is pretty solid. Prendergast is okay in her role while Zabriskie clearly commands the screen throughout. Streeter had directed a couple documentaries prior to this film and many of the shots utilized carry that feel, giving this a somewhat weird off kilter faux-documentary vibe at times. It also leads to a lot of varied shots and angles, which I always appreciate.

Worth checking out I'd say. There's enough good camera work, decent acting considering it's basically 2 people (3 if you include the weird neighbor named Ted) carrying the film, and some solid tension/anxiety built up throughout with a couple clever character moments written for Karen's character (e.g. setting up objects that'd make a distinct noise if stepped on/knocked over given her lack of eyesight). 5.5/10