General Horror Films & TV Discussion Thread

[Big Papa Paegan]

Fuck you, Aykroyd's schlock masterpiece Nothing But Trouble is a classic. It's practically an Adult Swim show that stars Chevy Chase.

 

[HarleyQuinn]

TIL includes Pumpkinhead being a January dumped film in 1988 that barely made a profit on its already anemic $3.5 Million budget and then its sequel was straight dumped to video. I mean, the sequel is really bad but I always thought it'd have gotten a token theatrical run around August/September just to try and ride the Pumpkinhead name considering it was released in 1993 by that point.

 

[Gary]

 

[RedJed]

Oh shit, I had heard rumblings of this a few months ago.....I loved the other VHS films in the franchise so I will be checking this one out.

Shudder has fucking brought the goods this year, btw!

 

[RedJed]

Titane: So this was a first. I was so fucking taken back and disturbed by the depravity in this one that I ended up leaving the theater about half way through. I just was not in the right frame of mind for a twisted tale like this, and was it sure ever twisted. While I can't say this was a bad movie per-se, it just was way out there in the narrative and the shock value level was high as the bar has gone in awhile too. There was really fucked up shit happening here. While its an odd take since I left this film early and have no desire to return to it, I'd say if you are into shock horror, this probably will be right up your alley. If you liked Raw from a few years back, you certainly will embrace this. Same filmmaker from France.

Themes/scenes that I witnessed halfway through included:

Spoiler

-Autoerotica shit to the max. Main character has some sexual attachment to certain vehicles and there was even a scene where not only she has some weird BDSM type sex with an actual car, but becomes impregnanted by said car. This part I actually kinda got into and wanted to see the payoff
-A brazenly brash attempt at a self infliced abortion that made my skin crawl
-Really uncomfortable scenes of a nipple with a ring attached being streched out that made me turn away (again, I just wasnt in the frame of mind for this)
-Main character, a very disturbing female serial killer (who kills in a way that made it quite distubing and depraved) tries to shift to a male persona by self mutilation, etc, and meets a guy who is teased to be a child molester, enough to the point where I left when he started shooting needles into his ass out of nowhere. Yes, I have weird squeamish issues.....too much needles in bodies gets me very uncomfortable.

I'm sure there was plenty more absurd ahead as this film just got more depraved, gross, shocking and sickening as it went on....

 

[HarleyQuinn]

Re-watched Slither a few days ago before it left Amazon Prime and it's such a solid little horror-comedy. Great cast, fun visual gags & body horror, great makeup effects.

 

[Gary]

Watched "Alone in the Dark" (the 1982 one) yesterday. I'd long heard good things about it, and needless to say I dug the hell out of it. An underrated little slasher that has all the suspense, dark humor and interesting kills one expects-plus the added bonus of Jack Palance, Martin Landau and (especially) Donald Pleasance clearly having the time of their lives.

 

[HarleyQuinn]

Lord of Illusions (1995).

I've never seen this movie beyond random TV airings on like UPN or MeTV or whatever so I opted to watch it via Prime. It's one of those movies that is very Clive Barker (since he wrote/directed it based off his short story) but it never quite wholly works for me. Scott Bakula feels too good for the movie but his chemistry with Famke Janssen helps this a lot. The pacing is not good and there are too many long stretches where nothing happens. It struggles in trying to decide whether it wants to be a horror/supernatural movie about illusions & the concept of relating magic to divinity/spirituality and the mystery thriller where the mystery isn't engaging or interesting enough to carry the movie IMO. Every time I've watched it, I've wanted to like it more than I do and end up being disappointed.

 

[RedJed]

So starting to get on my October horror kick of trying for a movie every night. So far I'm on track, started with that aforementioned Tinane in the theater, and then took the weekend to watch these ones...

Grizzly: Very cult classic feel for this one, real low budget shit that was hilarious in the verbiage most of the time, and the effects were absolutely terrible, they portrayed the grizzly like Jason before Jason was even a thing, total slasher/stalker thing going on. This was pretty entertaining in a so bad its good way.

Grizzly 2 - Revenge: So great backstory on this one. Apparently this was filmed, but not finished in post back in 83. It sat in film purgatory until Cannon in the late 80s/early 90s was about to finish it, but then they collapsed spectacularly before they got to do so. The film throughout the years had some lore in if this even WAS a film, or if this was just speculation this ever even happened. I guess some George Clooney comment (he was in a super bit role on the outset of this film along with Laura Dern and Charlie Sheen) spurred off interest in finding the materials to finish the film in editing and post-production and finally it happened last year. The end result is a terrible but hilarious piece of shit sequel that really should be seen to believed. Over the top characters, bad acting a-plenty, and a shitty mechanical bear at the end that really puts the cherry on top of this shit sundae. There was some extra added transition scenes and such that were filmed recently, so it was an odd mix of old and new coming together in the ultimate clusterfuck, only ran 75 minutes.

Now this week is checking out all of the V/H/S series of films, I believe the new one debuts on Shudder today.....

After those films, I likely will dig a bit into a few of the Halloween films to lead to Kills.....and also a Chucky marathon to lead to the new TV series....

Not sure what else I will have on tap as the month progresses, other than Creepshow Season 3 potentially...

 

[Big Papa Paegan]

Creepshow S3E2 has a great short called "Familiar" in its second half. The first half, "Skeletons in the Closet," is alright, but feels way too on-the-nose hammy.

 

[AA484]

My 31 movies for October 2021:

Altered States
Angel Heart
Audition
Bad Taste
Beast with Five Fingers
Beetlejuice
Body Snatcher
Cat People (1943)
Children of the Corn (1984)
Cujo
Dawn of the Dead (1978)
Day the Earth Stood Still
Evil Dead (1981)
Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man
Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer
Hereditary
House of 1000 Corpses
House of Frankenstein
King Kong (2005)
Little Shop of Horrors
Midsommar
Prince of Darkness
Psycho II
Return of the Vampire
Scream
Shining
Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
Thing From Another World
Under the Skin
War of the Worlds (original)
Wicker Man (1973)

 

[Super Leather]

I've been watching more than one movie per day for October. This is what it's been so far; movies marked with an asterisk are ones I haven't seen before.

• The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)
• Horror of Dracula (1958)
• House on Haunted Hill (1959)*
• Black Sunday (1960)
• The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll (1960)*
• A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
• Elvira, Mistress of the Dark (1988)
• Scream of Fear (1961)*
• City of the Dead, aka Horror Hotel (1962)*
• Cape Fear (1962)
• A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge (1985)
• The Gorgon (1964)*
• Strait-Jacket (1964)
• Stop Me Before I Kill! (1964)*
• Razorback (1984)*
• The Curse of the Mummy’s Tomb (1964)*
• Night of the Living Dead (1968)
• Dracula Has Risen from the Grave (1969)
• A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)*
• Play Misty for Me (1971)
• Dracula AD 1972 (1972)
• The Car (1977)

Most of the '60s horror I hadn't seen is part of a Hammer Studios DVD set that I picked up a couple years ago. Honestly, they're not that great outside of Christopher Lee performances. I did enjoy City of the Dead and was tickled to find that this was where the Misfits got the title "Horror Hotel" from.

Razorback was a lot of fun. I like animal horror/creature features more and more as I get older.

I've never actually seen the entire Nightmare on Elm Street series, so I decided that I'm watching all of them this month. Gotta admit that I'm not terribly impressed with the sequels so far, but I'm keeping an open mind.

 

[HarleyQuinn]

Been watching random stuff but the last few movies have been Night of the Demons (Remake) and The Sixth Sense (on SyFy). SS really holds up and it's as much thanks to the acting of Haley Joel Osment (sp?) and Toni Collette.

 

[Gary]

I'll post my 31 Days of Horror when the month's over. Still have a ways to go (plus, I've been watching a lot of stuff-17 movies thus far.)

 

[Big Papa Paegan]

Having a toddler and a 5 year old in the house means I don't get to watch horror movies anymore.

Nobody told me the kid wouldn't nap. Why won't the kid nap. He's always waiting. Watching. Learning.

Waiting...

Spoiler

jk, love my kid

 

[Super Leather]

I forgot to add Carrie to the list.

Tried watching Malignant last night, but passed out not even halfway through. Gonna try again tonight before HBO Max takes it off, but I'm not sure if I'm in a mood for it anyway.

 

[RedJed]

I watched all of the V/H/S series of films over the weeked, finishing off with the new one, V/H/S 94 on Shudder. On one hand, 94 was a bit more cohesive in some ways, as the videos shown were tied into a bigger narrative more than usual. That said though, there was some lame stories that I couldnt get into, but there was a few that delivered. I found myself though as the film went on less engaged and it kinda dragged at times, and wasn't at all scary or shocking too much at this stage. The wraparound story particularly was hard to follow and weak overall.

I found looking back at the first one best, that held up incredibly well and had some pretty strong filmmakers in that one, a few who are doing the Scream and Hellraiser reboots respectively even.

Part two just didn't grab me much, it felt like they rushed production on it. But I did enjoy how they kept the narrative going from the house in the first film that wrapped around the short stories, unfortunately though the payoff at the end was not satisfying and then after the second one, they never came back to the whats and whys of that arcing wraparound story within the first two films.

VHS Viral had some fantastic short stories, but overall the execution on that one was all over the place within the arcing wraparound within the short shots. Some shit in the main story made no fucking sense.

 

[Valeyard]

Most of the '60s horror I hadn't seen is part of a Hammer Studios DVD set that I picked up a couple years ago. Honestly, they're not that great outside of Christopher Lee performances.

Sleeping on Peter Cushing, man. The Hammer Frankenstein series is one of my favorite things just because of how much of a sociopath he is and how much fun Cushing is having. Monster From Hell can go fuck itself though.

I've spent way more time than I thought showing the girlfriend all the classics she never saw, which appears to be everything but Child's Play and its sequels. Had intended on making more recent headway this year vs watching the same things I always watch, but I can deal. If nothing else I can force Troll 2 or Beware Children At Play onto an unsuspecting person.

 

[Big Papa Paegan]

I found looking back at the first one best, that held up incredibly well and had some pretty strong filmmakers in that one, a few who are doing the Scream and Hellraiser reboots respectively even.

Part two just didn't grab me much, it felt like they rushed production on it. But I did enjoy how they kept the narrative going from the house in the first film that wrapped around the short stories, unfortunately though the payoff at the end was not satisfying and then after the second one, they never came back to the whats and whys of that arcing wraparound story within the first two films.

VHS Viral had some fantastic short stories, but overall the execution on that one was all over the place within the arcing wraparound within the short shots. Some shit in the main story made no fucking sense.

V/H/S 2 has the best short in the entire series (the Malaysian cult). Viral can fuck right off since one of the shorts (the magician) wasn't even found footage for half of it, and that horrible skater zombie trash. The wraparound in Viral reminds me of the music video for Pig Destroyer's "Loathsome," so it gets some points for that.

The first one is probably the most solid all the way through, though, so I kind of agree with you on it being the best.

 

[Gary]

The first two "V/H/S" movies would be even for me, but I gotta give the second one the edge because "Safe Haven" (the cult segment) is the scariest example of found footage I've ever seen. The third one has one good segment from Nacho Vigalondo (the interdimensional portal segment) and the rest are awful.

The newest one-the wrap around segment is probably the worst of the series, but the rest of it is good to really good. Granted, they don't live up to the best segments of the series ("Safe Haven" "Amateur Night" and "10/31/98") but they are still worth watching.

 

[Big Papa Paegan]

I forgot all about the portal! Yeah, that was really good.

I confuse a lot of the first two V/H/S segments with stuff from ABCs of Death, both because I watched them around the same time and the shared filmmakers.

 

[Valeyard]

Haxan turns 100 next year. That's fucking crazy. Everyone needs to watch Haxan btw.

 

[Gary]

Revisited Tobe Hooper's "Eaten Alive" last night, and hey, it's still something else. Whereas "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" stuck out because of how realistic it feels, this movie is him stretching out the weirdness to the max. It may not be as good has his prior movie (that ones the greatest independent horror film of all time IMO), but it is beautifully fucked up. Plus, Wiliam Finley delivering one of the oddest monologues of all time, as Robert Englund as a horny redneck (whose opening line was "borrowed" by Tarantino for "Kill Bill")

 

[Super Leather]

Sleeping on Peter Cushing, man. The Hammer Frankenstein series is one of my favorite things just because of how much of a sociopath he is and how much fun Cushing is having. Monster From Hell can go fuck itself though.

Nah, I haven't slept on Peter Cushing. His ongoing cinematic war with Christopher Lee is so much fun to watch and is one of the true joys in horror. I watched quite a few entries in both the Frankenstein and Dracula series a few years ago. I'd be happy if they were easier to find on DVD or streaming.

Revisited Tobe Hooper's "Eaten Alive" last night, and hey, it's still something else.

I need to watch this again. I've only seen it once and wasn't into it, although I'm totally on board with the general concept. Alligators doing damage in movies is usually my thing.

 

[Valeyard]

Cushing is one of my favorites, period. The facial expressions, man. The Dracula movies are way easier to watch for me, but I just love the Frankenstein movies. Not that one series is better than the other, of course. Hammer just spoiled us when it came to all these movies. But the releases are so bullshit. I don't know who owns what anymore but it sucks. I think TCM is airing a bunch soon though.

 

[Mickey Massuco]

Has anyone here seen the 80s slasher Intruder? The poster spoils the movie but I love it and it’s free on Tubi. Check it out if you haven’t, good characters, fun kills and a cool ending.

I love whodunit horror, any other good recs?

 

[HarleyQuinn]

Has anyone here seen the 80s slasher Intruder? The poster spoils the movie but I love it and it’s free on Tubi. Check it out if you haven’t, good characters, fun kills and a cool ending.

I love whodunit horror, any other good recs?

One I liked when I saw it ages ago (like late 90s/early 00s) was The Burning with a young Jason Alexander and Holly Hunter as part of its cast but I don't know if it's necessarily a "whodunit" as opposed to a more general slasher product of the early 80s.

 

[Big Papa Paegan]

I have a DVD copy of Eaten Alive that I had Robert Englund sign at a convention. He seemed oddly pleased that somebody brought that instead of another Freddy piece of merch.

 

[Super Leather]

I'd imagine that actors like Robert Englund are stoked to meet fans of their earlier work; the constant barrage of Freddy everything at those conventions probably gets old on some level.

Speaking of Freddy, does the Nightmare on Elm Street series improve at all? I'm finally giving them a chance this year after never having seen anything past part two. Not impressed with Freddy's Revenge or Dream Warriors, but I didn't mind The Dream Master.

Revisited Tobe Hooper's "Eaten Alive" last night, and hey, it's still something else. Whereas "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" stuck out because of how realistic it feels, this movie is him stretching out the weirdness to the max. It may not be as good has his prior movie (that ones the greatest independent horror film of all time IMO), but it is beautifully fucked up. Plus, Wiliam Finley delivering one of the oddest monologues of all time, as Robert Englund as a horny redneck (whose opening line was "borrowed" by Tarantino for "Kill Bill")

Just watched Eaten Alive on Plex. I enjoyed it more this time and attribute it entirely to the transfer quality. Agreed that the weirdness is maxed out, probably to make up for the crocodile lacking in its presence. I kept thinking of Alligator and how well the gator was used in that movie.

Speaking of Alligator, when is that movie ever going to be reissued again? I should've bought the DVD when I had the chance years ago. What a cast!

 

[Big Papa Paegan]

Wait, how do you not like Dream Warriors? That's the general fan favorite, and the debates I've always seen have been the original versus that one for which one is the best of the series.

To give you an honest answer...no. Dream Child has one great kill (the motorcycle) and that's it. Freddy's Dead is a fucking abomination. New Nightmare has some great ideas and a very good sense of creeping dread, but it drags in parts and feels more like a meta rehearsal for Scream. FVJ is good stupid fun, though.