General Horror Films & TV Discussion Thread

[Gary]

Currently watching “Jack-O” with the commentary track-the film itself is awful, but oh my God this is the one of the best, most argumentative commentaries I’ve ever heard.

 

[Brocklock]

Oh man, it's a classic. I watched the commentary track on youtube years ago and it's truly one of a kind.

 

[Big Papa Paegan]

10/12 - Curse of The Blair Witch (a short "documentary" about the Blair Witch Project and the events surrounding the movie)

This sounds really familiar. Was it made for TV?

 

[Valeyard]

I've appreciated Haley Joel Osmont's acting more on re-watches and stuff like the poisoned girl & hanging bodies have a much darker tone to them IMO after knowing it going in.

Osment is great and one of the best child actors I've ever seen, but I think I have residual teenage bitterness over him not being my dream Anakin in Phantom Menace. I mean dude.

The sick girl part is devastating but again, knowing that the girl is super young Mischa Barton takes me out of it now.

It just has a lot of problems, I think, but some amazing performances that time shows M. Night probably didn't deserve. Toni Collette's last scene, talking to Osment in the car, is incredible and probably should've gotten her an Oscar nomination. Definitely top five horror movie mom, at least on my actual list.

 

[Gary]

Oh man, it's a classic. I watched the commentary track on youtube years ago and it's truly one of a kind.

It’s the only way it should be watched IMO. I remember renting this back in the day, and even 14 year old me thought it was awful. Watching it with the commentary? Eh, it has a few regional B-movie charms, but you can tell that watching it without the commentary would be a challenge.

 

[Brocklock]

Osment is great and one of the best child actors I've ever seen, but I think I have residual teenage bitterness over him not being my dream Anakin in Phantom Menace. I mean dude.

The sick girl part is devastating but again, knowing that the girl is super young Mischa Barton takes me out of it now.

It just has a lot of problems, I think, but some amazing performances that time shows M. Night probably didn't deserve. Toni Collette's last scene, talking to Osment in the car, is incredible and probably should've gotten her an Oscar nomination. Definitely top five horror movie mom, at least on my actual list.

She actually got a nom for The Sixth Sense on the strength of that moment in the car. I agree that it's an all timer.

 

[Big Beard Booty Daddy]

This sounds really familiar. Was it made for TV?

It was. It played on Sci-Fi as a promotional show for the movie before its release.

 

[RedJed]

So I got through all of the Halloween films, well kinda. I refuse to rewatch the Rob Zombie films in the series, still. Particularly the second part just pisses me off how off putting it is. While I can appreciate he made an effort to make something completely unique and against any previous ineration, they are not really entertaining much at all.

Heading to see the new one in the IMAX tonight, followed by a rewatch in a Dolby theater right after (unless it's so bad I can't bear to watch it again right away)

Here's where I rate then after this latest rewatch. I'll take Season of the Witch out of this as this was a standalone film that I can't really compare to the rest of these.

10. Halloween Resurrection
9. Halloween 5
8. Halloween 6 (Theatrical)
7. Halloween 2
6. Halloween KIlls (Extended Cut was a tad better paced out than the theatrical)
5. Halloween 6 (Producer's Cut)
4. Halloween H20
3. Halloween (2018)
2. Halloween 4
1. Halloween (1978)

 

[Big Beard Booty Daddy]

While I think Resurrection is a steaming pile of shit, I actually like the premise behind it. It failed in delivery, but the idea of using reality TV, especially when at the time is was still in its infancy, and even early social media and streaming, was clever. The execution of it failed so badly, though. And even at it being so awful, I kind of like to do a re-watch every few years. I'd say it's almost a guilty pleasure of mine.

 

[Brocklock]

I really like Halloween 2. Loomis is a hilarious mad man, the kills are great, Dean Cundey shot it so it still has a ton of atmosphere while retaining some of the vibe of the original, and that Ben Tramer accidental death is one of the most ridiculous scenes ever.

I'd go:

1. Halloween (1978)
2. Halloween (2018)
3. Halloween 3: Season Of The Witch
4. Halloween 2 (1981)
5. Halloween 4
6. Halloween H20

After this, I don't like any of the movies

7. Rob Zombie's Halloween
8. Rob Zombie's Halloween 2
9. Halloween Resurrection (So bad it's watchable and Busta Rhymes is hilarious)
10. Halloween Kills
11. Halloween 6 (Theatrical, never saw producer's cut)
12. Halloween 5 ( Hate this movie besides Loomis yelling at children and being insane. Tina's obnoxious and really hurts the movie. Plus those comedic cops are terrible.)

 

[Youth N Asia]

1. Halloween (1978)
-nothing really to say. Doesn’t get much better than this.

2. Halloween (2018)
-loved it. Once they had Michael kill that kid in the truck (after the bus crash) I could tell the gloves were off. I don’t rank it much lower than the original honestly.

3. Halloween III: Season of the Witch
-fuck y’all, I’m counting it. Very fun movie. Would have been better remembered had they just called it Season of the Witch, and not used the Halloween name. Honestly appreciate what they were trying to do with the Halloween name at the time.

4. Halloween 2 (1981)

5. Halloween 4
-underrated. I feel like this one got a bad rap compared to what came before it. Seems like people started coming back around to it years later.

6. Halloween H20
-kinda not great, not awful.

7. Rob Zombie's Halloween 2

8. Halloween Kills
-thankfully my expectations were already lowered by the time I saw it. Just misstep after misstep in this one.

9. Rob Zombie's Halloween
-very low tolerance for Zombie’s hellbilly shit. He writes the worst dialog in movies.

10. Halloween 5

11. Halloween 6
-haven’t seen it in a lifetime. Just remember it being a bore.

12. Halloween Resurrection
-the only movie on the list to not at all feel like a Halloween movie. Even the other bad ones still had some kind of feel to them. Was too annoyed by Busta to get any enjoyment out of him. Just putrid on every level. Nothing at all interesting, no one to root for. Movie didn’t even try. Lazy effort.

 

[Gary]

1.) Halloween (1978)
2.) Halloween III: Season of the Witch-really come around on this one. Also, best score of the series
3.) Halloween (2018)
4.) Halloween II (1981)-fun fact, the dude playing the sleazy guy in the hospital went on to co-write and produce "Gotti"
5.) Halloween H20-aka the one with Creed in the soundtrack. Still, it feels like a proper send off.
6.) Halloween 4
7.) Halloween II (2009)-there's actually some interesting ideas in this one-it's just that Rob Zombie doesn't know what to do with them. Also, this one has gotten some very passionate defenders over time, which...okay then.
8.) Halloween 6-The producer cut is a bit better than the theatrical, but it's still not a good movie.
9.) Halloween (2007)-if there's anything good I can say about it, it's that Rob's wife actually delivers a good performance.
10.) Halloween Kills

Which leads me to Halloween Resurrection and Halloween 5, which I tend to go back and forth over which is worse. Can I call it a tie?

 

[Big Beard Booty Daddy]

Tonight, on Shudder, they had a secret screening. They aired a movie without telling anyone what it was, and it ended up being the new Dario Argento film, Dark Glasses. It's not released in the US in theaters in NY and LA until, I believe next weekend, and officially debuts on Shudder on Oct. 13. If you're a fan of his old movies, when they were good, this is a return to form. Such a great watch with a top tier score. 2022 continues to be one of the best years for horror in a while.

This movie has been added to Shudder as of today. It's well worth a watch! I hope that some find it as entertaining as I did.

 

[909]

8. Halloween Resurrection (So bad it's watchable and Busta Rhymes is hilarious)

BURN MUTHAFUCKA

 

[Valeyard]

Talking to the young coworkers (ages 22-24) about horror movies was very interesting. I had no idea a generation exists that is afraid to watch Nightmare On Elm Street because it's seen as just one of those fucked up movies, like the Exorcist or the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre was to a lot of people previously. I am going to try and use these people as experiments to see what is too much for this generation of alleged horror fans.

First Halloween holds up, but I have to say that I have never liked the music stings too much. Just too many, and I know that's a lame issue to have but there's definitely points where it takes me out of the movie.

 

[Youth N Asia]

Seems like the Halloween Ends reviews are coming in, and they’re pretty lukewarm to bad. Gotta be better then, Kills. Right?

 

[Brocklock]

Halloween Ends dropped on Peacock early. Gonna watch it in a little bit. Heard it's worse than Kills.

 

[Brocklock]

Wow what the fuck was that? It barely was a horror movie for long stretches. It felt more like the 80s Christine then a Halloween movie. I'm trying to be vague but holy shit this movie is gonna piss people off. Hopefully the reaction is so bad that the studio reconsider having David Gordon Green and Danny McBride involved with the reboot of The Exorcist.

Unlike Halloween Kills, the kills here are mostly boring even. Even the Carpenter score lacked the oomph of the other two movies in the trilogy. I was actually into the opening 20 minutes but the choices made for this character was baffling. The writing is atrocious. And the ending didn't feel earned at all. I can't believe they thought that would be a satisfying conclusion to Halloween. Definitely one of the worst of the series.

3/10 for the opening credits and opening 15-20 minutes.

 

[Youth N Asia]

That’s what I’m hearing. People make it sound like it’s doesn’t feel like a real movie. Keep hearing about bad cuts. I’ll watch it this weekend.

2018 was awesome, right? I’m not remembering it wrong, am I? Seems so weird for the same guy to make a dynamite movie, and follow it with two turds… I mean, sure. The Matrix, and all…

 

[Brocklock]

There's some moments in 2018 that show some trouble signs like the pointless comedic banter between the cops or Dr. Sartain's heel turn, but I rewatched it the other day and it's still a very good movie and the comedy mostly works.

 

[HSJ]

It feels like the actors would rather be anywhere else but here. I disliked Kills but I think I hated this.

 

[HarleyQuinn]

Mr. Harrigan's Phone - Solid flick. Good acting and I felt like the movie ran by pretty quickly for its plot. I liked it more than King's other Netflix movie about the maze a year or two back.

 

[RedJed]

i'll post more thoughts later (at work at the moment) but even after two consecutive viewings in the theater last night, I still don't fucking get what they were thinking here. 75 percent of the film was in a totally different focus than what it should have been...the contuining turmoil of Michael vs Haddonfield/Laurie/etc. Instead we got an entirely different storyline with a new character that made little to no sense.

The last act was tolerable, and intense at times, but shoehorned like a mofo. Sad this ended the way it did.

 

[RedJed]

Also.....this was far worse than Kills. Unfortunately

That was my main take from it last night, perhaps the worst of the franchise. A second viewing kinda confirmed that to me.

 

[Brocklock]

I'm still trying to process how bad it was.

That Jamie Lee line where she says something like "Rip your top off and show grief your fucking tits" was so weird and out of nowhere.

Why were the bullies high school band geeks?

Why did they build up that sheriff with the cowboy hat in Halloween 2018 only for him to do jackshit in the other two movies? He has just a cameo in this and I don't even remember if he was in Kills.

There's so much stupidity. It makes the mob thinking that tiny fat bald man was Michael in Halloween Kills seem like smart writing.

 

[Haws Bah Gawd]

Cowboy Sheriff was in Kills long enough to get emasculated by Brackett.

Maybe I need to watch Ends again, but aside from the last act, it was a complete shit show. This coming from a guy that loves Kills.

 

[Big Papa Paegan]

My rankings are in the other Halloween thread, but I remember being easier on 5 than some of you. It's still bad, but it's actively dull bad and not mind numbingly stupid bad.

2018 was awesome, right? I’m not remembering it wrong, am I? Seems so weird for the same guy to make a dynamite movie, and follow it with two turds… I mean, sure. The Matrix, and all…

I said this after seeing it the first time, and I said it after the only rewatch, but there are three absolutely perfect scenes in '18 that rank high among the entire series (and even slashers as a whole): the gas station restroom, the continuous "trick or treat" shot when Michael comes home, and the motion light. The rest of the movie is either meh or actively shit.

 

[RedJed]

Some more Ends thoughts....

There was a complete shift of pretty much every remaining character from the first two films. Some like Lindsay Wallace had almost nothing of a role really. Plus the events of the other two films were completely in the distance to the extreme as this was set 4 years after the events of the other films. And there was some decent introspection on the trauma effect for both Laurie and Allison (but the Allison characterization was a mess) but by and large the entire focus was on the new character in question, and the confusing connection to Myers. Was this the thorn storyline being resurrected to a degree? I am still confused how

Spoiler

Myers and this kid became connected in spirit and inevitably, Myers became borderline subservient to this kid? It was such a fucking mess.

That storyline may have been successful to a degree if this wouldn't have been the finale of this series and just simply another entry in the series but because of that fact, it came across very off-putting within the context of what I figured the main storyline would be for this film. But instead that became the main storyline and focus and then the last 20 minutes or so then turned into what most of the film should have been, which was Michael Myers coming after Laurie and coming after her family some more and basically having his way with Haddonfield one more time. Instead, it was Michael Myers being portrayed as an incredibly weak character, severely injured and perhaps near death because his strength wasn't there, presumably four years after the events of Kills. At one point in the film, after a particular kill, Myers appeared to gain strength by slashing/killing, which was another weird oddity within all of the context of things. Just very confusing narrative in that sense. About one point, I thought that the kid was actually becoming Michael Myers fully and they were kind of putting it in that direction. So I don't know if that's going to be the way that perhaps they end up doing further installments in the series with this spirit overtaking certain people? Allison comes to mind as a possibility if that's the plan. They're also was a lot of verbiage near the end of the film in the final moments. That made me think that that is going to be what they've left open, in that somebody will take over this evil spirit that Michael Myers had.

In a way, this film had the same vibes that a lot of the direct to video Hellraiser films had in that they had kind of an entirely separate story going on that they just kind of tried to interconnect Pinhead within. Frankly, if it wasn't for the last 20 to 30 minutes of the film, I think this would have been a complete disaster on a variety of levels and I still kind of think that this may be the worst Halloween film of them all, but I certainly think it's probably the worst of the trilogy

 

[Super Leather]

My Halloween month watchlist so far:
- Elvira, Mistress of the Dark (1988)
- X (2022)
- Frankenstein (1931)
- Black Sunday (1960)
- The Mummy (1932)
- Arsenic & Old Lace (1944)
- Cash on Demand (1961)
- Dracula (1931)
- Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)
- Elvira's Haunted Hills (2002)
- Bride of Frankenstein (1935)

This year's main priorities are getting through my Universal monster movies and a Hammer Studios DVD set. Keeping it classic this time around.

This past week:
- The Wolf Man (1941)
- Halloween Kills (2021)
- The Mummy's Hand (1940)
- Night of the Living Dead (1968)
- The Snorkel (1958)
- Dracula's Daughter (1936)
- Halloween Ends (2022)
- Revenge of the Creature (1955)
- Son of Frankenstein (1939)
- Salem's Lot (1979)

 

[HarleyQuinn]

- The Snorkel (1958)

This needs further explanation/an in-depth review