I wish they'd do another more big budget sequel. Get some promising or established black filmmakers to make some stories instead of going the SyFy route. I thought the sequel had a couple cool ideas, but was really bad imo. Very low rent which hurt the movie as there was at least one story I thought that was effectively written (The Sacrifice) and it's hard to take that serious with the acting level and production level of the rest of the movie. The first movie was so good at blending real issues with campy moments and everything flowing together perfectly.
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General Horror Films & TV Discussion Thread
- Thread starter HarleyQuinn
- Start date
RedJed
Rasslin' Rambler
Fulci's Gates of Hell Trilogy: Wow, I had a great time watching these films. Honestly, what took me so fucking long? Makes me want to explore Italian horror so much more now. Not sure what one I enjoyed the best, probably The Beyond. But I feel this stuff is essential viewing for anyone who truly embraces the horror genre. Just so fucking good....well maybe House of the Cemetary wasnt nearly as good as the other two but still as a whole, this was a fun binge.
Zombi Trilogy: Another one of these films series where I was at a loss at what took me so long to get to this. Really enjoyed the rewatch/reedit of Dawn of the Dead which is also known as Zombi. In fact I think its obvious to me that this is a better cut than Romero's in my mind. That is certainly a discussion to have, but my impression after finally watching this cut is that it's slightly more paced faster and better. As far as Zombi 2, I really got into this one. Such a gritty but entertaining and wild film, the gore was impressive and just the aesthetic of this whole film had me loving it. Zombi 3 was a decent follow up, but felt like the lack of tying in to the previous film was a bit of a dissapointment.
Demons/Demons 2: The original Demons is really a huge guilty pleasure for me, the location with the old theater just worked in terms of the madness that ensued. The soundtrack is pretty sweet too, alot of 80s american rock glory as well as the catchy as fuck Demons theme from Simonetti. The follow up was alright, but was more a major showcase of the tremendous gore effects. That said, these two films back to back made for a great experience.
Zombi Trilogy: Another one of these films series where I was at a loss at what took me so long to get to this. Really enjoyed the rewatch/reedit of Dawn of the Dead which is also known as Zombi. In fact I think its obvious to me that this is a better cut than Romero's in my mind. That is certainly a discussion to have, but my impression after finally watching this cut is that it's slightly more paced faster and better. As far as Zombi 2, I really got into this one. Such a gritty but entertaining and wild film, the gore was impressive and just the aesthetic of this whole film had me loving it. Zombi 3 was a decent follow up, but felt like the lack of tying in to the previous film was a bit of a dissapointment.
Demons/Demons 2: The original Demons is really a huge guilty pleasure for me, the location with the old theater just worked in terms of the madness that ensued. The soundtrack is pretty sweet too, alot of 80s american rock glory as well as the catchy as fuck Demons theme from Simonetti. The follow up was alright, but was more a major showcase of the tremendous gore effects. That said, these two films back to back made for a great experience.
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Big Papa Paegan
L. A. Z.
I've been stanning Fulci since high school. The sense of dread in the first act of Gates of Hell (aka City of the Living Dead) is virtually unmatched, IMO.
I'm about halfway through the WNUF Halloween Special and it's comfort food to the nth degree. Love it.
I'm about halfway through the WNUF Halloween Special and it's comfort food to the nth degree. Love it.
Gary
Mind. Body. Light. Sound.
RedJed
Rasslin' Rambler
Big Papa Paegan
L. A. Z.
IIRC, it was either Gary or Harley who made me aware of it. I have it on DVD but have never watched it and packing up the house doesn't leave much movie time, but it's on Shudder and my son was napping so it felt like a good time to start watching.
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Sounds like a Gary rec but here's a Harley rec (sorta)! Black Box on Amazon. Solid little horror movie, not as good as Get Out but it definitely has a bit of a 1990 Flatliners vibe to it all, which helped the atmosphere.
SFH
Integral Poster
Got my Shout Factory Friday the 13th set in today:
Already fucked up the posters. Pulled them out the tube to look at them and could not get them back in the tube, so gonna need to put a priority on framing.
First thing I did was go to the bonus features on the park 2 disc. Ever since I was in a video store in the late 80s and saw the back of the VHS box for part 2 and saw that alternate angle for the bed spear, it's been a quest. 30 year wait ended today and I was able to see the original version (muted) along with the rest of the kills that were edited to near nothing. It got really graphic in some spots.
Already fucked up the posters. Pulled them out the tube to look at them and could not get them back in the tube, so gonna need to put a priority on framing.
First thing I did was go to the bonus features on the park 2 disc. Ever since I was in a video store in the late 80s and saw the back of the VHS box for part 2 and saw that alternate angle for the bed spear, it's been a quest. 30 year wait ended today and I was able to see the original version (muted) along with the rest of the kills that were edited to near nothing. It got really graphic in some spots.
RedJed
Rasslin' Rambler
I should have ordered the set through Shout as many people have gotten it this week (including you!), I even saw people posting in groups about getting it Tues/Weds, which is a week before the official release date. I never did the preorder so I'll just be going to the Amazon route to get it, so no posters. I'm more amped for the updated 3d version of part 3, which should look great on my 3DTV. Seems like they have alot of excellent new extras to say the least.
Ended up going to yet another random indy horror last night at the local indy theater, this was called No Escape. I think it originally was called perhaps "Follow Me" as that was the end title as the credits rolled at the end, so they must have changed the marketing end of it last minute (and apparently forgot to take the end title out). Anyhow, premise was a dude who is a Youtube vlogger (and probably one of the most annoying lead characters in recent horror memory), celebrating 10 years with his friends in some adventure he was trying to showcase on his vlog. They go to Russia and get caught up in what appears to be a deadly game of death under the guise of an escape room. There is a pretty major swerve at the end of the whole thing which kinda ties it up well, especially in terms of this unlikable main character. I'd avoid this one but it was just a reason to get in some theater time last night. There was no name genre actors in this, in fact I was shocked this got any sort of theatrical release. but welcome to the weird world of low-end releases during covid.
Ended up going to yet another random indy horror last night at the local indy theater, this was called No Escape. I think it originally was called perhaps "Follow Me" as that was the end title as the credits rolled at the end, so they must have changed the marketing end of it last minute (and apparently forgot to take the end title out). Anyhow, premise was a dude who is a Youtube vlogger (and probably one of the most annoying lead characters in recent horror memory), celebrating 10 years with his friends in some adventure he was trying to showcase on his vlog. They go to Russia and get caught up in what appears to be a deadly game of death under the guise of an escape room. There is a pretty major swerve at the end of the whole thing which kinda ties it up well, especially in terms of this unlikable main character. I'd avoid this one but it was just a reason to get in some theater time last night. There was no name genre actors in this, in fact I was shocked this got any sort of theatrical release. but welcome to the weird world of low-end releases during covid.
Big Beard Booty Daddy
Canadian Destroyer213
There's been a lot of people saying that the set is fucked up. There are many errors with sound being screwed up on a couple of the movies, extras missing, etc.
RedJed
Rasslin' Rambler
Re: F13TH box set, I hope that's not the case as I just ordered it today via Amazon, plus I snagged the complete Friday the 13th TV series on DVD. On a side note, how I wish Freddy's Nightmares would see the light of a complete series boxset.
Death of Me: I really didn't care for this one at all, although I thought it had an interesting core premise (couple sees a video of themselves together after a blackout night on a remote island, and weird stuff went down including the presumed death of one of the characters even though they were alive watching said video?). Unfortunately, the follow up on the premise was a complete fucking disaster. Darren Lynn Bousman of Saw fame directed this one, but it felt like a throwaway deal that really should have never been made. While I was hoping for nods of Serpent and the Rainbow here, what I got more felt like someone riffing Blumhouse's Fantasy Island, which was a fucking terrible film in itself. Don't bother with this one, although Maggie Q shows lots of skin in this one.
Alone: This is, by far, the best indy horror I've seen since covid hit, hands down. Tremendous simplistic storytelling here, woman is moving solo and starts to get stalked by a fellow traveler on the road into unfamiliar territories. The film is separated by it's own chapters, based on the trajectory of the story, as it goes from being on the road, to more in the woods in an escape scenario. For no names in this one, the performances were rich and memorable too. Found myself very tense during the majority of this film as there was a great attention to detail to the raw and desolute way that the story progresses to. I can't say good enough things about this one, it really deserved a major studio release. The cinematography was by far the best I've seen in any horror film this year as well. And the suspense building in this, as well as the protagonist/antagonist roles how they were written as well as performed were tremendous.
Death of Me: I really didn't care for this one at all, although I thought it had an interesting core premise (couple sees a video of themselves together after a blackout night on a remote island, and weird stuff went down including the presumed death of one of the characters even though they were alive watching said video?). Unfortunately, the follow up on the premise was a complete fucking disaster. Darren Lynn Bousman of Saw fame directed this one, but it felt like a throwaway deal that really should have never been made. While I was hoping for nods of Serpent and the Rainbow here, what I got more felt like someone riffing Blumhouse's Fantasy Island, which was a fucking terrible film in itself. Don't bother with this one, although Maggie Q shows lots of skin in this one.
Alone: This is, by far, the best indy horror I've seen since covid hit, hands down. Tremendous simplistic storytelling here, woman is moving solo and starts to get stalked by a fellow traveler on the road into unfamiliar territories. The film is separated by it's own chapters, based on the trajectory of the story, as it goes from being on the road, to more in the woods in an escape scenario. For no names in this one, the performances were rich and memorable too. Found myself very tense during the majority of this film as there was a great attention to detail to the raw and desolute way that the story progresses to. I can't say good enough things about this one, it really deserved a major studio release. The cinematography was by far the best I've seen in any horror film this year as well. And the suspense building in this, as well as the protagonist/antagonist roles how they were written as well as performed were tremendous.
Super Leather
Integral Poster
I think Summer of '84 is the moment where I too realized that the Stranger Things '80s motif has gotten old. Rich Somner was really good and I guess the movie itself was okay, but I think I was more waiting for it to end so I could move on to other things.
Fantastic. I actually enjoyed Nicolas Cage for once! Would even add Mandy to the DVD library. Taking place in 1983 didn't seem to matter at all here.
Gonna watch the reimagined Suspiria later this week and Color Out of Space next week. Current viewing is Son of Frankenstein.
The director's other movie called Beyond The Black Rainbow was also set in the early 80's with little connection to the plot. I imagine he loves the time period.
Super Leather
Integral Poster
I like the time period as well for horror movies since the internet, cell phones, and other overly convenient aspects of modern life aren't a thing.
Big Papa Paegan
L. A. Z.
The lack of cell phones certainly allows more room for telling the story, at least. Most horror set post-iPhone almost tries too hard to show how tech-savvy the characters are, and the ones the don't use some plot contrivance to take them out of the equation ("there's no signal in the woods" or "something's jamming them" or whatever) are few and far between.
That's actually another reason to appreciate It Follows, now that I think of it. They use their phones but don't make a big deal of them, and they're practically inconsequential besides a thematic sight gag (one of their phones looking like an old school birth control case).
That's actually another reason to appreciate It Follows, now that I think of it. They use their phones but don't make a big deal of them, and they're practically inconsequential besides a thematic sight gag (one of their phones looking like an old school birth control case).
RedJed
Rasslin' Rambler
TAR: I expected this to be more of a straight up gore-fest creature feature (since it was about some creature who inhabited the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles) but it really wasnt too much of that. Instead it was a low-rent far too dramatic and comedic film with the monster in the backdrop of the story. Made for kind of an unfulfilling experience. Graham Green and Tiffany Shepis were in this in fun side roles, but the main characters, ugh. The film was written, directed, and starred some guy named Aaron Wolf, who annoyed me to no end not just in the performance but how this was written and directed for sure. Felt and looked low rent as a whole, BUT the monster was impressive looking. I'd put this up there as one of the most "eh" indy horrors released in theaters during covid.
Super Leather
Integral Poster
Suspiria: Reimagined was terrible. Lots and lots of waiting around for something to happen...and then more waiting. Yawn.
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Rewatched a couple movies...
Thir13een Ghosts: I had forgotten how insanely good the production design and character makeup effects were. Unfortunately, the rest of the movie is really badly written plot-wise and the characters & editing are abysmal. The casting felt like they aged up the characters by 6 years each (Shannon Elizabeth being like 28 is a notoriously bad casting example). If you get triggered by flashing lights, avoid this movie. With all that said, I'm still kind of a sucker for it just due to the production set design and variety of ghosts. Plus some of the kills are solid enough and I like Tony Shaloub.
Pumpkinhead: Just a classic. A lot more drawn out and slower than I remembered but Lance Henriksen is fantastic, the plot is simple/relatable and executed great, and the creature design is iconic for a reason. A true must-watch for October and anybody into horror.
Thir13een Ghosts: I had forgotten how insanely good the production design and character makeup effects were. Unfortunately, the rest of the movie is really badly written plot-wise and the characters & editing are abysmal. The casting felt like they aged up the characters by 6 years each (Shannon Elizabeth being like 28 is a notoriously bad casting example). If you get triggered by flashing lights, avoid this movie. With all that said, I'm still kind of a sucker for it just due to the production set design and variety of ghosts. Plus some of the kills are solid enough and I like Tony Shaloub.
Pumpkinhead: Just a classic. A lot more drawn out and slower than I remembered but Lance Henriksen is fantastic, the plot is simple/relatable and executed great, and the creature design is iconic for a reason. A true must-watch for October and anybody into horror.
Yeah I always get blindsided by how sad the first half of Pumpkinhead is. Lance Henriksen give a really powerful performance. Pretty great movie and yeah the creature looks incredible. The cicada like sound effects that play when the monster shows up is chilling.
I was rewatching Shocker for the first time in a while and that's such a fun stupid movie. It could of been legitimately good if they casted a better actor than Peter Berg as the teen lead, but Agent Skinner absolutely kills it as Horace Pinker and carries the movie on his back. The last 30 minutes is insane and I don't know why this movie doesn't get the B movie love other 80's movies like Maximum Overdrive or Chopping Mall get.
I was rewatching Shocker for the first time in a while and that's such a fun stupid movie. It could of been legitimately good if they casted a better actor than Peter Berg as the teen lead, but Agent Skinner absolutely kills it as Horace Pinker and carries the movie on his back. The last 30 minutes is insane and I don't know why this movie doesn't get the B movie love other 80's movies like Maximum Overdrive or Chopping Mall get.
Gary
Mind. Body. Light. Sound.
Revisiting Jason Goes to Hell two nights ago, and this isn't a franchise that makes a lot of sense when you think about it, but still: did the FBI know about Jason this whole time? If so, why didn't they do anything to stop him until all the sudden? You'd think a serial killer who murders a bunch of teens in a camp would be a big deal.
Last night I revisited Dario Argento's Inferno, and every time I watch it I think I love it more. There's just something about him forgoing anything resembling a traditional plot and just going all in for a neon drenched, nightmare logic driven horror movie. Also, the score may be Keith Emerson's best work .
Last night I revisited Dario Argento's Inferno, and every time I watch it I think I love it more. There's just something about him forgoing anything resembling a traditional plot and just going all in for a neon drenched, nightmare logic driven horror movie. Also, the score may be Keith Emerson's best work .
Cackling Co Pilot Kamala
Integral Poster
RedJed
Rasslin' Rambler
Indeed, its a mess. I got mine last week and the issues are there. Fortunately, they are already addressing it..
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Sucks they arent sending out til next month, as the main reason I bought this was the enhanced improved 3d version of part 3.
That movie is complete trash, but it has always been my guilty pleasure of the series. It doesn't have the snarky characters and attempts at humor that Jason X had which killed a lot of the cheesy fun of that movie for me. The coroner guy roaring like a lion after eating the heart made me laugh much more than the jokes in Jason X. As did the weird S&M scene where the same coroner ties up this dumpy middle age guy and strips him naked while starting to shave his moustache for some reason. The idea of Jason being on a America's Most Wanted type show and the town reacting to him like he's Bigfoot or something with restaurants doing gimmicks like Jason Burgers is funner to me than him being in Space. Also Creighton Duke should of been introduced in one of the earlier movies and should of been the Loomis of the series.
RedJed
Rasslin' Rambler
Spent the weekend in Halloween mode....
Caught both the 1978 and 2018 Halloween films back to back in local theaters (and in both, nobody there!) on Saturday night, and felt like doing a comparison of sorts to the 2018 version (the new part two in essence) to the original part two, which I then watched back at home. I realized after this comparison just how terrible that original part two really is and how I felt McBride, Green, Carpenter, etc all really did pretty damn good with the latest version in retrospect. Was it perfect? Of course not but it retained that same tone as the original in many ways, and while it brought alot more intensity and graphic violence than the original had, I thought this was a much more effective sequel to the original than the mess in the hospital was.
What made this even more immersive was purchasing a highly recommended book, retrospecting all of the films in the Halloween universe in meticulous detail (including 2018 version). It's called Taking Shape, had tons of interesting factoids, interviews, etc on the productions of each. Taking Shape 2 also just got released too, and that book is nothing but details on Halloween sequels or shoot-offs that never came to be. That's coming in the mail this week.
Also rewatched Halloween 3, I think I can finally appreciate this film for what it is....a really effective and creepy standalone film. I wish there would be a day that perhaps there would be a Season of the Witch 2 because the story presented had so much more to it that could be explored (such as WHAT HAPPENED with the third channel? Did it stop before it was too late?) but fat chance of that. I thought the location was perfect for the body snatchers type of situation that this film focused on, and I thought so much could have been explored on the hows and whats of how these people get body snatched and turned into the robotic personas. And watching the special features and seeing what this isolated town looks like still currently makes it ripe for another chapter in this story, the town (some small town in northern Cali) is desolate as fuck.
Caught both the 1978 and 2018 Halloween films back to back in local theaters (and in both, nobody there!) on Saturday night, and felt like doing a comparison of sorts to the 2018 version (the new part two in essence) to the original part two, which I then watched back at home. I realized after this comparison just how terrible that original part two really is and how I felt McBride, Green, Carpenter, etc all really did pretty damn good with the latest version in retrospect. Was it perfect? Of course not but it retained that same tone as the original in many ways, and while it brought alot more intensity and graphic violence than the original had, I thought this was a much more effective sequel to the original than the mess in the hospital was.
What made this even more immersive was purchasing a highly recommended book, retrospecting all of the films in the Halloween universe in meticulous detail (including 2018 version). It's called Taking Shape, had tons of interesting factoids, interviews, etc on the productions of each. Taking Shape 2 also just got released too, and that book is nothing but details on Halloween sequels or shoot-offs that never came to be. That's coming in the mail this week.
Also rewatched Halloween 3, I think I can finally appreciate this film for what it is....a really effective and creepy standalone film. I wish there would be a day that perhaps there would be a Season of the Witch 2 because the story presented had so much more to it that could be explored (such as WHAT HAPPENED with the third channel? Did it stop before it was too late?) but fat chance of that. I thought the location was perfect for the body snatchers type of situation that this film focused on, and I thought so much could have been explored on the hows and whats of how these people get body snatched and turned into the robotic personas. And watching the special features and seeing what this isolated town looks like still currently makes it ripe for another chapter in this story, the town (some small town in northern Cali) is desolate as fuck.
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Just watched Nathaniel Hawthorne's Twice Told Tales starring Vincent Price. Solid stuff overall with Price being enjoyable as always. Not quite as strong as his Poe related work but Hawthorne's works carry a good undercurrent of creepiness although this collection doesn't quite pull it off as effectively as possible.
I can't think of a more 2000's story than this
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/50-cents-inks-3-film-deal-with-eli-roth-3blackdot
the "MAKING MOVIES THAT PEOPLE ARE AFRAID TO MAKE" line makes me think Fitty is gonna try to do A Serbian Film or Human Centipede 2 type garbage.
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/50-cents-inks-3-film-deal-with-eli-roth-3blackdot
the "MAKING MOVIES THAT PEOPLE ARE AFRAID TO MAKE" line makes me think Fitty is gonna try to do A Serbian Film or Human Centipede 2 type garbage.
RedJed
Rasslin' Rambler
Halloween 4: This is an arguable point probably, but was this the best Halloween sequel of them all (including 2018 Halloween)? I'd say so. I really enjoyed revisiting this one from start to finish, even more impressive that the script got done in something like 10 days literally right before a writer's strike happened. The shock ending was effective as hell too. I wish this same troupe would have done part 5, ultimately seeing how that film turned out. Only real major critique in this one was the mess of the mask, plus there was a weird scene where the look was completely fucked up with a blonde hair mask. Otherwise, this was a great followup and return of the Myers character to the franchise.
Halloween 5: On the flip side, I think this might be the worst Halloween sequel they did (I think I disliked it even more than Resurrection). You could just tell they rushed the fuck out of this, and to boot, the writers and more particularly the director had a really different vision on this to the point where I gotta say Akkad made a huge mistake hiring him and going with his direction. The lack of proper followup logically from part 4 was so obvious here too. Jamie should have been written to be more of that evil force that kind of scarred her at the end of 4, but instead it really went in a direction that made little sense. And once again, the mask was a fucking mess! Even more strange than part 4's version. Then there was the bumbling cops, which took whatever tonal focus they had in this film with that shit, as well as other head scratching decisions en masse (killing off a great returning character in Rachel too soon as another example). And then the man in black stuff, this was something not even fleshed out at all during the filming (per an interview I read with the director in the Taking Shape book) and it was just thrown together to give an excuse for the cliffhanger ending.
Halloween 5: On the flip side, I think this might be the worst Halloween sequel they did (I think I disliked it even more than Resurrection). You could just tell they rushed the fuck out of this, and to boot, the writers and more particularly the director had a really different vision on this to the point where I gotta say Akkad made a huge mistake hiring him and going with his direction. The lack of proper followup logically from part 4 was so obvious here too. Jamie should have been written to be more of that evil force that kind of scarred her at the end of 4, but instead it really went in a direction that made little sense. And once again, the mask was a fucking mess! Even more strange than part 4's version. Then there was the bumbling cops, which took whatever tonal focus they had in this film with that shit, as well as other head scratching decisions en masse (killing off a great returning character in Rachel too soon as another example). And then the man in black stuff, this was something not even fleshed out at all during the filming (per an interview I read with the director in the Taking Shape book) and it was just thrown together to give an excuse for the cliffhanger ending.
RedJed
Rasslin' Rambler
Possessor (Uncut): This was pretty much the most twisted film I've seen this year so far (and likely nothing will beat it). David Cronenberg's son ended up writing and directing this crazy one. The premise was pretty out there (assassins being able to be programmed into the mind and body of someone else unwillingly via some implant technology), as well as the content on an uncut level. This certainly would have received an X/NC-17 rating if it actually had gone to the MPAA. It seems like covid has seen a release of many unrated/uncut films, but none pushed the envelope like this one. You had insane gore scenes, really violent situations, and even some explicit sexual imagery to boot. I was impressed at the star power in this as well. Sean Bean, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and other notables. With that said, this wasn't all about the shock value, the story was really laid out well and had tons of tones of Brandon's father all over the place here, to no surprise. I will probably go see this a second time since there was a lot of stuff to digest from the intricate narrative. Really well done horror/sci-fi with even some arthouse layers to it.
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Re-watched Urban Legend (1998) and it starts off pretty decently for like the first 45 minutes and then stumbles pretty hard, getting really stupid with bad pacing and turning to a dumb backstory to explain stuff/slasher film until the reveal of the killer. It doesn't help that the lead actress was pretty overshadowed by Jared Leto, Joshua Jackson, and Rebecca Gayheart who all displayed far more personality/screen presence. 5/10
Super Leather
Integral Poster
Watched this last night and yeah, it seems more like suspense bordering on horror while having more of the necessary elements for a good horror flick than most of what is out now. Not sure if I would recommend it for Halloween season viewing - this feels more like a cold December night kinda watch - but it is really good and definitely warrants a place on best-of lists regarding 2019 and modern horror in general.
Wow! I liked Nicolas Cage's performance again and now I'm not sure what to think about all of that. Not even mad that he went full Cage because it lent itself well to his character. Damn good movie and probably one of the more faithful Lovecraft adaptations out there while also giving the story a necessary update to make sense today. I'm not sure if it was intentional, but casting Elliot Knight as the narrator Ward Phillips is a nice slap in the face to the dead racist Howard Phillips Lovecraft who probably would have balked at his inclusion. I laughed at the irony; it should not be overlooked or forgotten that Lovecraft took his racism a step further by finding ways to include it in his writing.
I also watched City of the Living Dead (or Gates of Hell, if you prefer) for the first time in at least ten years; it was much better than I remember it being. Loved the atmosphere of constant dread going on, but gotta admit that the scene where Daniela Doria pukes her guts out legit gave me the dry heaves. I actually had no idea that this was part of a trilogy including The Beyond and House by the Cemetery until very recently, so I'm going to revisit those two next week.