General Horror Films & TV Discussion Thread

[Gary]

I'm bored, so here's a list of stuff coming to Blu, as well as what's out today. Too lazy to include links, but hey

Out Today

-Us (Universal)
-Universal Horror Collection Vol 1 (Includes The Black Cat, The Raven, The Raven, The Invisible Ray and Black Friday) (Scream Factory)
-Thirst (Kino Lorber)

June 25th

-American Horror Project Vol 2 (Includes Dream No Evil, Dark August and The Child) (Arrow)
-The New York Ripper (3 Disc Limited Edition) (Blue Underground)
-The Passing (Vinegar Syndrome)
-Night Owl (Vinegar Syndrome)
-The Green Inferno (Scream Factory)
-Night of the Creeps (Scream Factory)
-Night Killer (Severin)
-Monster on Campus (Scream Factory)
-Dark Side of the Moon (Unearthed Films Retro)
-The Beast in Heat (Severin)

July 9th

-Dead of Night (1945) (Kino Lorber)
-Silent Hill (Scream Factory)
-Pet Sematary (Paramount)

July 16th

-The Leopard Man
-The Psychic (Lucio Fulci) (Code Red DVD)
-Murder Rock (Lucio Fulci) (Code Red DVD)
-The Chill Factor (Arrow)
-Strays (Scream Factory)

July 23rd

-Universal Horror Collection Vol 2 (Includes Murders in the Zoo, The Mad Ghoul, The Mad Doctor of Market Street and The Strange Case of Doctor Rx) (Scream Factory)

July 30th

-Humanoids From the Deep (Steelbook)(Scream Factory)
-Quatermass and the Pit and Quatermass II (Scream Factory)
-Lust of the Vampire (Scream Factory)
-The Reptile (Scream Factory)
-Hellmaster (Vinegar Syndrome)
-Play Dead (Vinegar Syndrome)

August 6th

-Alice Sweet Alice (Arrow)
-The Reflecting Skin (Film Movement)

August 13th

-Galaxy of Terror (Steelbook) (Scream Factory)
-Forbidden World (Steelbook) (Scream Factory)
-Nightwish (Unearthed Films Retro)

August 20th

-Cruising (Arrow)
-The Walking Dead Season 9 (Lionsgate)
-I Trapped the Devil (IFC Midnight/Scream Factory)
-Billy the Kid vs Dracula (Kino Lorber)
-4D Man (Kino Lorber)
-Horror of Frankenstein (Scream Factory)

August 27th

-The Leech Woman (Scream Factory)

September 3rd

-Elvira, Mistress of the Dark (RLJE Media)

Sept. 10th

-Scars of Dracula (Scream Factory)
-Blood From the Mummy's Tomb (Scream Factory)
-Circus of Horrors (Scream Factory)

Sept. 24th

-John Carpenter's Vampires (Scream Factory)
-Fear No Evil (Scream Factory)

 

[Gary]

Coming soon from Scream Factory

 

[Gary]

Also, there's a possibility that Scream Factory may be releasing "Let's Scare Jessica to Death", while Synapse may be releasing "The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue"

 

[Brocklock]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUQ77c9OS7E

FUCK THIS

 

[RedJed]

Maaaaaaaan.....really, Jacobs Ladder remake now?

This is the year of remakes that really never needed to be made, to say the least!

I would think this has to be the end of this remake rush, one can hope. I haven't seen too many on the horizon, so maybe they are finally realizing it's time to move the fuck on after a decade and a half of horror remakes en masse.

 

[RedJed]

Kinda few bits of crazy news this morning, Samuel Jackson is confirmed to have a role in the new Saw that starts filming this week....

https://bloody-disgusting.com/movie/3571173/saw-chris-rock-starring-samuel-l-jackson-rumor/

I don't know what exactly is the direction of this new one, other than Chris Rock presented the idea as producer, the writers of Jigsaw put together the script (hopefully ensuring some cohesion and flow from the other films), and that it apparently is not a full reboot and seems to be more a sequel. Something tells me they might make Jackson the main antagonist almost in the Tobin Bell role?

Also, this is a rumor but a weird one....supposedly there is some talk about filming back to back Halloween sequels....AND releasing them almost back to back as well? File this one under that I'm not convinced, at least on the release dates close to each other if they do it.

https://bloody-disgusting.com/movie/3571159/halloween-rumor-david-gordon-green-returning-direct-back-back-sequels/

 

[HarleyQuinn]

Not quite feeling that Jacob's Ladder remake, feels like some of the dialogue was making it too on the nose if you'd ever seen the original one. It also showed a ton compared to the original's trailer.

That's one thing I miss about the 'narrator voice' trailer is that it could be used to better pace/flow the trailer thematically rather than a bunch of shots trying to explain the plot + hook the viewer.

 

[Brocklock]

speaking of shitty unnecessary remakes, Fuck this as well

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgYVj4LRiZY

edit: lirl at who appears at 1:47

 

[Big Papa Paegan]

I was like "what's the fuss" until the moped accident. Then I turned on it for being the wrong kind of throwback.

And yes, LOLOLOLOLOL @ 1:47

 

[HarleyQuinn]

Just saw Crawl and it was a lot of fun. Basically what every Gator SyFy movie strives to be. Very simple plot, almost a 'stage play' between the utilization of characters and set pieces. A surprising amount of blood/gore and the

Spoiler

2 leads get their asses kicked

so much that it makes it easy to root for them by the movie's end. 7 to 7.5/10

 

[RedJed]

I liked Crawl a ton, finally someone did a proper croc flick! I really didn't know what to think of this one 15-20 minutes in as I thought the tone was off and there was too much deep shit with the family dynamic being showcased, but that initial storytelling came together to make for a much more thrilling and engaging scenario as the film progressed.

How in the hell did they film this by the way? Maybe it was a well crafted digital effects fest, but kudos for the main actors for what was a pretty physical role for sure.

Had some great jump scares and shifts that came out of nowhere. The gore and action was top notch as well.

This one certainly overextended itself as I thought it was going to be just a throwaway horror. Far from it!

 

[One Epic Winter (OEW)]

I liked Crawl a ton, finally someone did a proper croc flick!

I will not sit here and let you disparage one of the all times greats:

 

[RedJed]

I liked Crawl a ton, finally someone did a proper croc flick!

I will not sit here and let you disparage one of the all times greats:

Duly noted! That is right up there too

 

[Brocklock]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9xZ8tVMmbM

meh

edit: not even meh this looks objectionably terrible

 

[Gary]

Oof, that looks bad. I say we just refer to the thing as "Meh" at this point.

 

[Haws Bah Gawd]

Just checking off the list of the usual Zombie actors. Also, shouldn't they have said their odds of survival are a million to one instead of less than a million?

 

[Big Papa Paegan]

Pro: Richard Brake gets more work
Con: Fucking everything else

 

[Gary]

Scream Factory announced some future releases at Comic Con. They will be

Universal Horror Volume 3

The Abominable Snowman

Dr Jekyll Sister Hyde

The Fan (1981)

Prophecy (1979)

Let's Scare Jessica to Death

Body Parts

Road Games

Pet Sematary 2

Frank Langella’s DRACULA

THE FLY Collection

Silver Bullet CE

Big Trouble in Little China

My Bloody Valentine (original) (2 disc)

They are also releasing a collection of all the movies in The Omen franchise (including the remake) in October. Not to be outdone, Severin Films is releasing the Dario Argento produced The Wax Mask (which was meant to be directed by Lucio Fulci) in August, Vinegar Syndrome is releasing Hell Comes to Frogtown in the same month, Blue Underground is releasing a 3 disc limited edition of Two Evil Eyes in October, Arrow is re releasing it's Lakeshore titles (which include Hellraiser, Creepshow 2 and The Stuff among others) and is hoping to give Elvira, Mistress of the Dark a US release in the future, and finally Synapse has confirmed they are releasing The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue in the future.

So yeah, that's a lot of stuff.

 

[Gary]

Coming from Arrow in October

LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS

• New 2018 4K restoration from the original camera negative supervised by John Landis

• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation

• Original uncompressed 1.0 mono and optional 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio

• Optional subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing

• New audio commentary by Beware the Moon filmmaker Paul Davis

• Audio Commentary by Actors David Naughton and Griffin Dunne

• Mark of The Beast: The Legacy of the Universal Werewolf, newly produced, feature-length documentary by filmmaker Daniel Griffith, featuring interviews with John Landis, David Naughton, Joe Dante and more

• An American Filmmaker in London, a newly filmed interview with John Landis in which he reflects on his time working in Britain and British cinema

• I Think He’s a Jew: The Werewolf’s Secret, new video essay by filmmaker Jon Spira (Elstree 1976) about how Landis’ film explores Jewish identity

• The Werewolf’s Call, Corin Hardy, director of The Nun, chats with writer Simon Ward about their formative experiences with Landis’ film.

• Wares of the Wolf, new featurette in which SFX artist Dan Martin and Tim Lawes of The Prop Store look at some of the original costumes and special effects artefacts from the film

• Beware the Moon, Paul Davis’ acclaimed, feature-length exploration of Landis’ film which boasts extensive cast and crew interviews

• Making An American Werewolf in London, a short archival featurette on the film’s production

• An Interview with John Landis, a lengthy archival interview with the director about the film

• Makeup Artist Rick Baker on An American Werewolf in London, the legendary make-up artist discusses his work on the film

• I Walked with a Werewolf, an archival interview with the make-up artist about Universal horror and its legacy of Wolfman films

• Casting of the Hand, archival footage from Rick Baker’s workshop as they cast David Naughton’s hand

• Outtakes

• Original trailers, teasers and radio spots

• Extensive image gallery featuring over 200 stills, posters and other ephemera

• Reversible sleeve featuring original poster art and artwork by Graham Humphreys

• Double-sided fold-out poster

• Six double-sided, postcard-sized lobby card reproductions

• Limited 60-page booklet featuring new writing by Travis Crawford and Simon Ward, excerpts from archival interviews original reviews

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS


• High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray™ presentation

• 5.1 DTS-HD master audio and lossless stereo audio

• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing

• Commentary with writer-director Billy Senese, producer-actor Shane Carruth and co star Jeremy Childs

• Commentary with writer-director Billy Senese, producers Denis Deck and Jonathan Rogers, and cinematographer Andy Duensing

• A Walk Through The Dead Center, an in-depth making-of documentary featuring new interviews with writer-director Billy Senese, producer-actor Shane Carruth, cinematographer Andy Duensing, and many others revisiting the locations and discussing the production

• Nine deleted scenes, including an alternate ending

• On-set interviews with actors Shane Carruth and Poorna Jagannathan

• Head-Casting with Jeremy Childs, a brief look at the creation of the make-up effects seen in the climax of the film

• Intruder, a short film from 2011 directed by Billy Senese and starring Jeremy Childs

• The Suicide Tapes, the original short film from 2010 directed by Senese and starring Childs that later inspired The Dead Center

• Midnight Radio Theater, six chilling radio plays (“Insomnia”, “The Long Weekend”, “Disposable Life”, “The Suicide Tapes”, “The Woman In The Basement”, “Blood Oath”, “Flu”) written, produced and directed by Billy Senese

• Theatrical trailer and teasers

• Image gallery

• Reversible sleeve featuring new and original artwork

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS

• New 2K restoration from the original 35mm camera negative

• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation

• Uncompressed mono 1.0 LPCM audio

• Original English and Italian soundtracks, titles and credits

• 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 Italian genre film connoisseurs Adrian J. Smith and David Flint

• Beyond Convent Walls, a new video essay on nunsploitation and Killer Nun by critic Kat Ellinger

• Starry Eyes, a new interview with director Giulio Berruti

• Cut and Noise, a new interview with editor Mario Giacco

• Our Mother of Hell, a new interview with actress Ileana Fraia

• Original Italian and international theatrical trailers

• Image gallery

• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Daryl Joyce

 

[Gary]

And two more from Arrow

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS

• Brand new 4K restoration from the original camera negative, approved by director of photography Junichiro Hayashi
• High Definition Blu-rayTM (1080p) presentation
• Lossless Japanese DTS-HD master audio 5.1 and PCM 2.0 soundtracks
• Optional English subtitles
• New audio commentary by film historian David Kalat
• The Ringu Legacy, a series of new interviews from critics and filmmakers on their memories of the Ringu series and its enduring legacy
• A Vicious Circle, a new video interview with author and critic Kat Ellinger on the career of Hideo Nakata
• Circumnavigating Ringu, a new video essay by author and critic Alexandra Heller-Nicholas on the evolution of the Ringu series
• Sadako’s Video
• Theatrical trailers
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork

LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS

– Brand New 4K restoration of Ringu from the original camera negative, approved by director of photography Junichiro Hayashi
– High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentations
– Lossless Japanese DTS-HD master audio 5.1 and PCM 2.0 soundtracks
– Optional English subtitles
– Bonus feature: Spiral, George Iida’s 1998 sequel to Ringu
– New Audio commentary on Ringu by film historian David Kalat
– New Audio commentary on Ringu 0 by author and critic Alexandra Heller-Nicholas
– The Ringu Legacy, a series of new interviews from critics and filmmakers on their memories of the Ringu series and its enduring legacy
– A Vicious Circle, a new video interview with author and critic Kat Ellinger on the career of Hideo Nakata
– Circumnavigating Ringu, a new video essay by author and critic Kat Ellinger on the evolution of the Ringu series
– Spooks, Sighs and Videotape, a new video essay by critic Jasper Sharp on the J-horror phenomenon
– The Psychology of Fear, a newly edited archival interview with author Koji Suzuki
– Archival behind-the-scenes featurette on Ringu 0
– Ringu 0 deleted scenes
– Sadako’s Video
– Multiple theatrical trailers for the Ringu series
– FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Limited edition 60-page booklet featuring new writing from Violet Lucca, Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, Jasper Sharp, Kieran Fisher and Kat Ellinger
– Limited edition packaging featuring original and newly commissioned artwork

 

[HarleyQuinn]

CW will be premiering a show on August 7th (IIRC) that's an anthology series called Two Sentence Horror Stories, a half hour show dedicated to a story each. Could be interesting stuff.

 

[Brocklock]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hyag7lR8CPA

 

[Brocklock]

I guess it's come out that the man behind the Joe Bob Briggs character has written for an alt-right magazine called Taki for years. I had a feeling it wasn't just a character. Shudder should can him and get Elvira to host his show.

 

[RedJed]

So ended up going to see 3 From Hell, the sequel to Devil's Rejects on Monday for the premiere.

Soooooo.......after seeing this, I'm convinced Rob Zombie really needs to just retire as a filmmaker. His passion, drive, and creativity has just fallen off the cliff with the last few films he's done. This one, unfortunately, is a complete example of that. He just doesn't seem to care about storytelling as a whole.

I guess I admittedly had a bit of expectation going into this that Zombie would be inspired to put together a tremendous final chapter for these characters. Ultimately, it fell pretty flat on that end. Sid Haig and the Spaulding character's absense was the big stickler, but you can't really fault Zombie as that was out of his hands (Haig was and, I think, still is very ill). I read an interview detailing the process with Sid in that he was supposed to be the third man full-on, so numerous rewrites had to occur once it was obvious Haig wasn't going to be able to make this work. The Richard Brake character was then created from Haig not being able to do much on this film except a few very brief scenes. That shift and all the rewrites from it was likely a big detriment to the final product.

Additionally though, there was a hollowness and tediousness to all of this. First off, the film went way too long at almost 2 hours with little storytelling flow to account for. In fact most of the time seemed filled on pointless exposition for the most part (Zombie is notorious for scenes of little to no point to them). Also for the most part the film was devoid of any shock and awe, or especially any real terror or conflict much at all. I would say 2/3 of the film felt like it was self-gratification of the lore of these anti-hero characters. Dare I say they were written more like the actual heroes, more than Devil's Rejects for sure. Not that there was sympathy given to them, but they came off similar to, say, Mickie and Mallory from Natural Born Killers (in fact, the first act of this felt incredibly like NBK as a whole). The third act felt uncomfortably shoehorned and not really in tune with the rest of it too.

Performance wise....mostly "eh." Brake has that creepy scumbag character down, but (because of the direction) seemed toned down in his ways, comparatively at least to 31 and other films of his. Likely because the Otis character was supposed to be more in that vein and for the most part, that was delivered as it should. But then we get to Sheri Moon-Zombie. Rob's insistence to feature her took it to a whole new absurd level here. She was pretty much the only character in this given any sort of prevelant development from the previous films, but it was done in such a glub and awful way. This was a main reason why the run-time was such a pain. Scene after scene early of her struggling in prison, trying to deal with mental health issues, etc. It was terribly executed, and trying to allow Sheri to find some range was a mistake he should have never attempted in the first place as the scenes became hard to sit through. Plus, age did not do her any favors, or the drugs (maybe both).

The ending and beginning of this one also was a huge WTF to me. I thought there would be a far more horrifying and maybe an evil reasoning to as how everyone survived the events of Devil's Rejects. Perhaps they all died and came back as supernatural entities of sorts. As it was, there was nothing of the sort. They just magically all survived somehow. The ending I won't get in to other than it was not anything close to the finish it should have been to close this trilogy out.

I'm not saying this is totally not worth seeing (it comes out on BR next month) but beware that you need to really set expectations low on this. It has some throwbacks to Devil's Rejects that are a little neat, and a couple character actors do well with what little they had to work with (Dee Wallace and Clint Howard in particular), and to his credit Zombie doesn't go full out in his usual music video car crash madness and is able to reel in the tone a bit like Devil's Rejects at times.

It would be kinda fitting if this is it for Zombie's films since he started with 1,000 Corpses and ended with the trilogy that started his film career. He seems uninspired and bored with filmmaking as a whole so I think his time is up. My opinion is that this was the worst of the trilogy, and unfortunately by a landslide.

 

[Gary]

Felt bored, so here's whats coming to Blu-Ray

Sept 24th

-Hellraiser 1 & 2 (Arrow)
-Child's Play Remake (MGM)
-Vampire$ (Scream Factory)
-Mountaintop Motel Massacre, Bloody Sect, Pledge Night, The Vineyard and Beyond Evil (Vinegar Syndrome)
-Bucket of Blood (Olive)
-Fear No Evil (Scream Factory)
-Wax Mask (Severin)
-Fright (Scream Factory)
-Killer Crocodile (Severin)

Oct 1st

-The Shining (4K) (Warner Bros)
-The Prey (Arrow)
-Itsy Bitsy (Scream Factory)

Oct 8th

-Midsommar (Lionsgate)
-Annabelle: Homecoming (Warner Brothers)
-Baby Blood (Kino Lorber)
-The Killer of Dolls (Mondo Macabro)
-Nightmare Beach (Kino Lorber)
-Gwen (RLJ Entertainment)
-My Boyfriend's Back (Kino Lorber)
-Toys Are Not For Children (Arrow)

Oct 15th

-Prey (Paramount)
-Haxan (Criterion)
-The Haunting of Hill House (Paramount)
-Killer Nun (Arrow)
-And Soon the Darkness *not the terrible remake* (Kino Lorber)
-Whatever (Lionsgate)
-Scary Movie *no not that one* (American Genre Film Archive)

Oct 22nd

-Satanic Panic (RLJ Entertainment)
-Parasite 3D (Kino Lorber)
-Crimson Peak (Arrow)
-Trilogy of Terror II (Kino Lorber)
-Tone Def (Lionsgate)
-Zoltan: Hound of Dracula (Kino Lorber)
-The Dead Center (Arrow)
-Bloodline (Universal)

Oct 29th

-Godzilla: The Show Era Films (Criterion)
-An American Werewolf in London (Limited Edition Box Set) (Arrow)
-Ringu: The Complete Collection (Arrow)
-The Devil Rides Out (Scream Factory)
-Amityville: The Cursed Collection (Featuring Amityville: The Evil Escapes, Amityville 1992: It's About Time, Amityville: A New Generation and Amityville Dollhouse) (Limited Edition Box Set) (Vinegar Syndrome)
-Watch Me When I Kill (Synapse)
-Unmasked Part 25, Beyond the Door III, Berserker, Nightbeast , Bloody New Year and Satan's Slave (Vinegar Syndrome)
-The Undertaker (Synapse)
-The Human Monster (VCI)

Nov 12th

-Road Games (Scream Factory)
-Flowers in the Attic (Arrow)
-Return to Nuke Em High aka Vol 2 (Troma)
-Bliss (Dark Sky Films)

Nov 19th

-Suspiria (The Original) (4K) (Synapse)
-The Fan *not the one with Snipes and Deniro* (Scream Factory)
-The Abominable Snowman (Scream Factory)
-Hitch Hike to Hell (Arrow)

Nov 26th

-Dracula *1979 Version* (Scream Factory)
-Prophecy *the one about a mutant bear* (Scream Factory)

Dec 3rd

-Big Trouble in Little China (Scream Factory)

Dec 10th

-The Fly Collection (Scream Factory)
-Dr Jekyll and Sister Hyde (Scream Factory)

Dec 17th

-Silver Bullet (Scream Factory)
-Murders in the Rue Morgue (Scream Factory)
-Universal Horror Box III (Arrow Video)

 

[HarleyQuinn]

My Boyfriend's Back is one of the first movies that I literally would watch over & over again as a kid thanks to it constantly airing on like Cinemax or whatever back in the day. Johnny Dingle, Missy, Chuck... great characters, fun premise, some decent jokes & gags. Classic introduction to horror movie for kids IMO.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7ZUKMWyPZs

 

[One Epic Winter (OEW)]

My Boyfriend's Back is probably the first film I remember seeing ads for on TV (that and Groundhog Day). It also boasted one of the first roles for Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Matthew Fox.

 

[Haws Bah Gawd]

It's about time Trilogy of Terror 2 saw a proper HD release.

 

[RedJed]

Anyone see the live action version of Tokyo Ghoul? This was out a few years ago, based on the manga of the same name. Was a really well done film as a whole. Anyhow, the sequel, Tokyo Ghoul S, arrived in U.S. theaters last week and caught it on Friday. A few steps before the first film, but still generally awesome.

The story seemed a bit more rich of a social commentary in the sequel in terms of how ghouls in this fictional world were treated, and the dynamic particularly of humans interacting with the ghouls in society. I really enjoyed the thought provoking themes in part two and performances were much better than the first film too.

Anyone else a fan of this franchise, either animated or live action (or both)?

 

[RedJed]

Well, its my favorite time of the year again.....horror month......and my annual marathoning of as much stuff as I can fill in a month's worth

This year I'm going to mainly focus on TV series, but there will be some bridging of film series that turned into tv series stuff too...

First up, is the Scream: Resurrection mini-season of sorts, aired on VH1 of all places a few months ago over three consecutive nights as a total dumpster fire drop by MTV since it's pretty much shit. This so far is nothing like the other two seasons of this which followed the same characters (and a pretty engaging story at times) but had a terrible Ghostface knockoff thing going on. Now instead, this third season doesn't follow anything from the other two and is basically a full reboot of everything Scream. Inversely, the Ghostface mask is back in full force but it's overkill on that end since apparently everyone owns the costume for some reason and no attention paid to the origins of the mask or any canon from the original Scream series of films. The characters and story is really weak too. Pretty much a waste of time four episodes in, and at least there is just two more episodes to go til I'm done with this crap.

Next on the month's marathon

-Creepshow 1 & 2, followed by the first few episodes of the Shudder series of the same name which has been getting good reviews
-Psycho series of films, followed by the last season of Bates Motel which I never got to

If time at month's end, I am going to watch all of the House series of films from the 80's.....I think there was four.