Sangre, cuchillos, y tetas --- Horror Film Discussion

[Spun Lepton]

I've had some to drink, so I'm not in a state to go into detail, but ...


V/H/S -- 6/10

First and last stories are the most compelling, with the first being the best of the group. How sad is that? The slasher entry is interesting, but not incredibly satisfying. That said, it's never boring.

[dreamdead]

Rewatched Carpenter's The Thing so that Sarah could view it. The design is still impeccable, and its treatment of body horror remains prescient in today's horror landscape. That said, some of the narrative and editing cracks show through a bit more, notably the final shots with MacCready landing the alcohol out of nowhere. Love the cast (early Keith David rules) and the ending, but I'm not quite as confident that it's superlative horror. It stays within the confines of its genre a bit too much.

[MadMan]

Speaking of Carpenter, getting to see Halloween (1978) on the big screen on Thursday was pretty amazing. What I did notice was how well written the dialogue is, especially for a slasher movie. Also as much as I love The Thing (1982) I think Halloween is still his best movie.

Oh and my lineup for Halloween so far is this:

*Carrie (1976), blind buy from Best Buy
*Hellraiser (1987), Instant Viewing
*Island of Lost Souls (1933), TCM
*House of the Devil (2009), Instant Viewing
*The Inkeepers (2012), Instant Viewing

[megladon8]

Street Trash was pretty awful, and it's a shame because there's some genuinely inspired stuff in there - the colourful, neon gore was awesome, and one scene involving a homeless guy trying to shoplift in a supermarket had Jen and I literally howling with laughter.

But everything else is just all kinds of awesome, seemingly attempting to mimic some kind of Herschell Gordon Lewis/Frank Henenlotter style of insanity, but completely missing the mark.

In one scene, a cop stops a mob assassin from killing his target by beating him up, then when he's down on the ground, the cop shoves his fingers down his own throat and pukes all over the guy's head. What?

[Spun Lepton]

Street Trash was pretty awful, and it's a shame because there's some genuinely inspired stuff in there - the colourful, neon gore was awesome, and one scene involving a homeless guy trying to shoplift in a supermarket had Jen and I literally howling with laughter.

So bad, it's good. Too bad there are long stretches of boring in it. Decapitation-by-air-tank was pretty inspired.

[megladon8]

So bad, it's good. Too bad there are long stretches of boring in it. Decapitation-by-air-tank was pretty inspired.


Yeah and the effect was fantastic.

It felt like they had a half hour movie that they stretched into fill length. There's about 45 minutes of filler where the whole Viper liquor thing completely disappears. It's terribly paced.

But hot damn, the gore effects are awesome.

[D_Davis]

I liked Street Trash when I was younger, but after a recent rewatch I felt terrible inside about myself and humanity. It's entirely mean spirited without any real entertainment or redeeming qualities. It's just violent, nasty, and mean.

[Grouchy]

As a huge Carpenter fanboy:

1. Halloween
2. The Thing
3. Assault on Precinct 13
4. Big Trouble in Little China
5. Someone's Watching Me!
6. They Live
7. In the Mouth of Madness
8. Escape from NY
9. Memoirs of an Invisible Man
10. Starman

11. Escape from LA
12. Vampires
13. Masters of Horror: Cigarette Burns
14. Prince of Darkness
15. Christine
16. Dark Star
17. Ghosts of Mars
18. Village of the Damned
19. The Ward
20. The Fog

I don't think he has a completely rotten movie in him, although the last four are pretty bad.

[Dukefrukem]

I'm glad you brought that up Grouchy; I watched Assault on Precinct 13 for the first time a couple of weeks ago, and I was bored out of my mind. Couldn't think of one redeeming aspect of it nor would I want to subject myself to it again. What's the deal with it? (and having the Ward over the Fog is a travesty in itself)

[Grouchy]

I'm glad you brought that up Grouchy; I watched Assault on Precinct 13 for the first time a couple of weeks ago, and I was bored out of my mind. Couldn't think of one redeeming aspect of it nor would I want to subject myself to it again. What's the deal with it? (and having the Ward over the Fog is a travesty in itself)
I don't even know what to tell you about this. Love AoP13.

But I will give you a rundown of items where I think the film is more than note-worthy:

- It's a relentless, uncompromising action movie. At the time (1976) I don't think anyone in the Western hemisphere had done such a hard-core shoot-em-up, or at least not as well.

- It's obviously very low-budget, but so well directed that its technical limitations don't ever interrupt the flow of the story.

- It foreshadows themes that will pop out again and again in Carpenter's films, those being the "modern western", the strong female characters, the Rio Bravo remake, the faceless enemy, etc.

- Napoleon Wilson is a great character.

Mind you, it's just a shallow action flick, but it's inmensely entertaining (at least for me) and its influence on every other similar movie that came after it is undeniable.

EDIT: I feel more interested in what you didn't like about it, because I find it weird to defend it. I think the film stands by itself.

[Dukefrukem]

EDIT: I feel more interested in what you didn't like about it, because I find it weird to defend it. I think the film stands by itself.

People have praised it for years before I finally got around to watching it. I had already seen the remake, so many that was a factor? But I just didn't find it all that interesting. Nothing stood out. Nothing made me want to watch it again. It was a mediocre story and like you said low budget, low action...

[Dead & Messed Up]

I don't think he has a completely rotten movie in him, although the last four are pretty bad.

I agree with most of your placements of his work, but I do think he made one completely rotten film, and that was MoH's "Pro-Life."

[megladon8]

Yeah, "Pro Life" was an abomination, and even more disappointing given that "Cigarette Burns" was so brilliant.

I also hugely disagree with the placement of The Fog - I've recently come to see it as one of his best.

[Grouchy]

I said "low budget", not "low action"!

[Dukefrukem]

I said "low budget", not "low action"!

I would say it has both.

[D_Davis]

As a huge Carpenter fanboy:

1. Halloween
2. The Thing
3. Assault on Precinct 13
4. Big Trouble in Little China
5. Someone's Watching Me!
6. They Live
7. In the Mouth of Madness
8. Escape from NY
9. Memoirs of an Invisible Man
10. Starman

11. Escape from LA
12. Vampires
13. Masters of Horror: Cigarette Burns
14. Prince of Darkness
15. Christine
16. Dark Star
17. Ghosts of Mars
18. Village of the Damned
19. The Ward
20. The Fog

I don't think he has a completely rotten movie in him, although the last four are pretty bad.

What about Elvis?

[Grouchy]

Haven't seen Elvis or Pro-Life.

[megladon8]

Has anyone seen Executive Koala?

Just got it on the cheap from Amazon. Sounds inspired. Could also be horrendous.

[MadMan]

What I've seen from Carpenter so far:

1. Halloween (1978)
2. The Thing (1982)
3. Assault On Precinct 13 (1976)
4. In The Mouth of Madness (1995)
5. Escape From New York (1981)
6. Big Trouble In Little China (1986)
7. Prince of Darkness (1987)
8. Christine (1983)
9. Cigarette Burns (2005)
10. They Live (1988)
11. The Fog (1980)
12. Escape From LA (1996)

The only bad one of the bunch is Escape From LA. My favorite of his forever remains Big Trouble In Little China.

[Dukefrukem]

The gf and I are doing a revisit of Friday the 13th. It's been years since I've seen them and we're gonna try to watch em all.

Friday the 13th 1980 (3/5 stars = 60ish)- Good. Starts off the franchise slowly for a solid slow burn slasher, but its very unremarkable. However, it probably has the all-time best jump scare out of any horror movie.

Friday the 13th Part 2 1981 (3.5/5 stars = 65ish)- If you can get past the awkward 80s everything, Part 2 is probably better directed than the first; it's faster paced, better death scenes and some fantastic long shots. Part 2's kill count should be much higher than it ends up being. There are some great examples of sexual exploitation in slasher horror- the girl who skinny dips by herself, the girl doing things around the room in her underwear, pure eyesroll worth in today's cinema.


Well I had a great little Halloween viewing last night. Watched Hocus Pocus. Don't care what anyone says. I grew up on this movie and it sums up Halloween wonderfully.

Also watched Friday the 13th Part 3 (1/5 stars = 30ish): It's terrible. Aside from showing the origin of Jason's mask, its totally unwatchable. And the effects team seems to have taken a step backwards from the previous two films. Also, worst ending ever?

[Irish]

Also watched Friday the 13th Part 3 (1/5 stars = 30ish): It's terrible. Aside from showing the origin of Jason's mask, its totally unwatchable. And the effects team seems to have taken a step backwards from the previous two films. Also, worst ending ever?

This is my favorite out of the entire series. I actually got to see this on the big screen a few years back when a local retro theater ran it as part of their midnight movies thing.

The 3D stuff is hilarious, and I still think the scene in the barn at the end is a lot of fun. More so because it ends in such a ridiculous way.

[Spun Lepton]

My Halloween movie this year was The Strangers. Sad to say I wasn't much impressed. Seemed to struggle to maintain its relatively short run time. Not a whole hell of a lot going on.

5/10

[Grouchy]

I used to go to a bar that showed bad Horror movies on Tuesdays on a regular basis. And once they showed that Friday the 13th on 3D! I agree, it's hilarious.

[MadMan]

I tried watching Friday the 13th Part 3 with the 3D glasses, and it just gave me a massive headache 10 minutes in so I gave up. The guy walking on his hands kill and the arrow to the face kill aside, the movie is mostly a waste of time. Jason really didn't become Jason until Part 4 imo.

Tonight I finally watched an episode of Are You Afraid of the Dark that I DVR-ed off of the Nick Kids channel, since every night at 11 pm CST they air classic Nick 90s shows. That show still has one of the best opening credits ever:

jitg-3xbmKU

[Dukefrukem]

Well I had a great little Halloween viewing last night. Watched Hocus Pocus. Don't care what anyone says. I grew up on this movie and it sums up Halloween wonderfully.

Also watched Friday the 13th Part 3 (1/5 stars = 30ish): It's terrible. Aside from showing the origin of Jason's mask, its totally unwatchable. And the effects team seems to have taken a step backwards from the previous two films. Also, worst ending ever?

Friday the 13th The Final Chapter (3/5 stars = 50ish) - We are back to sexual exploitation in part 4- Two skinny dip scenes, two sex scenes, teens watching a porno and to top it off, Corey Feldmen. Part 4 is where Jason really becomes Jason. He's less man, and more killing machine. The brute strength of Jason shines through on a few occasions which only emphasizes the mystery surrounding his "resurrection. Or did he not die in the first place? But how could professional coroners screw that up? Aside from the great slasher scenes, Part 4 is also where horror films get a bad reputation for on screen characters acting stupidly. Why run home because a young Corey Feldmen is home alone, but leave him seconds later to investigate the house next door? No matter, Crispin Glover has a fantastic death scene.

[Mr. Pink]

I watched Scream 1 & 2 for the first time in ages. Keep in mind, I saw them both in theaters and I've always been a big fan, but holy shit is ghostface one incompetent, bumbling killer.

Even though it makes sense, considering who ghostface is, it still makes him/her significantly less threatening/menacing than I remember. The Scary Movie version of him actually isn't too far off. I think the principal in part one is the only person he manages to kill on his first try without getting thrown around/hit/kicked/taking a potted plant to the head.

I still like the movies, but that was a little annoying to see, since I didn't remember ghostface being such a horrible killer.

[Lasse]

Mr. Pink - Agreed. I rewatched the two first Scream movies recently, and while I still enjoyed them I didn't find Ghostface nearly as scary as I used to.

And the sequel veered a bit to close to silly comedy territory. I liked it, but it just wasn't scary. I really should watch the third one again. Haven't seen it since it was released in theatres.

The fourth - should I even bother? Never got around to that one.

[EvilShoe]

Mr. Pink - Agreed. I rewatched the two first Scream movies recently, and while I still enjoyed them I didn't find Ghostface nearly as scary as I used to.

And the sequel veered a bit to close to silly comedy territory. I liked it, but it just wasn't scary. I really should watch the third one again. Haven't seen it since it was released in theatres.

The fourth - should I even bother? Never got around to that one.
Wow, you just reminded me Scream 4 exists.

It's passable entertainment, pretty much full-on comedy. If you got anything out of 3, I'd give it a look. It's better than that one.

[Dukefrukem]

I love Scream and mildly enjoy 2. Hate 3 and 4.

Never did update on my Friday the 13th movies.

Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning 1985 ★★★

A New Beginning does a great job of misdirection, but this is not a true "Jason" movie. In fact, the movie doesn't even give a hint of who the killer really is aside from a short glare at a dead body and the explanation after the fact. The majority of the death scenes involve only a shot of the arm or murder weapon until the finale. It is hinted the Jason's body was cremated after Part 4 and Tommy's dream sequence in the opening scene suggested he was only buried (shout out to Bill Paxton's death scene) so the copycat theme was well crafted- it brings a lot of confusion to the viewer. Sexual exploitation is minimal compared to part 2 and 4; A pair of breasts in a change sequence, one sex scene and a girl walking around topless.

Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives 1986 ★★½

Only in a Jason movie lightning strikes twice. That literally happens in the opening scene that is not a dream sequence. With this Jason movie comes pure power and his super natural strength is revealed- the ability to punch through a human's chest, twist a head off someone's shoulders and bend a person in half. There are some fantastic death sequences and no nudity or sexual exploitation. Sadly the movie is convoluted with smaller connecting stories and new characters that are hard to care about. Tommy is the central themed character for the third movie in a row, but his motives are short lived and heroism is more like blind dumb luck. I would have thought that six feet of dirt would be enough to calm my nerves than six feet of water... (comparing the state of Jason at the beginning and at the end of the movie)

[Mr. Pink]

Mr. Pink - Agreed. I rewatched the two first Scream movies recently, and while I still enjoyed them I didn't find Ghostface nearly as scary as I used to.

And the sequel veered a bit to close to silly comedy territory. I liked it, but it just wasn't scary. I really should watch the third one again. Haven't seen it since it was released in theatres.

The fourth - should I even bother? Never got around to that one.

Yeah, the fourth one isn't so bad, especially if you're already a fan of the others.

[Scar]

I really enjoy Scream 1 and 2, and 4 is alright.

Never found Ghostface scary.

Lasse, don't bother with #3. Its a fucking pile.

Four, on the other hand, is entertaining.

[Lasse]

I actually liked the third one back then, and I'm sort of a completionist, so I think I'll rewatch it before the fourth one. I'm really happy to hear it isn't worthless.

[Scar]

I actually liked the third one back then, and I'm sort of a completionist, so I think I'll rewatch it before the fourth one. I'm really happy to hear it isn't worthless.

Actually, the first two thirds are alright, but completely falls apart in the end.

[Dukefrukem]

Actually, the first two thirds are alright, but completely falls apart in the end.

I can probably agree with that.

I also went to see the first three in theaters. Don't regret it.

[Irish]

I still find the opening 10 minutes of Scream disturbing and creepy.

The third one is fine. It's not as good as the other two because the premise is tired at this point, but I still get a kick out of the film-within-film stuff. Plus, it's got Emily Mortimer, Patrick Warburton & Parker Posey rounding out the cast. Those three are more interesting performers than anyone in the original movie.

The fourth one is garbage. Pure cash in & it shows in every frame.

[Dukefrukem]

But it doesn't have Jamie Kennedy or Matthew Lillard.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Loved the first, really enjoyed the second, and kinda-sorta-enjoyed the third and fourth. I think the Scream series is probably the most admirable Hollywood horror series since...hell, I dunno...Frankenstein? Somebody help me out here.

[Lasse]

I actually liked the third one back then, and I'm sort of a completionist, so I think I'll rewatch it before the fourth one. I'm really happy to hear it isn't worthless.

Just wanted to make it clear that I am happy that the fourth one isn't supposed to be worthless.

Brude, I'm absolutely sure it's supposed to be a cash in - doesn't mean that I can't try to enjoy it. :P

[Irish]

But it doesn't have Jamie Kennedy or Matthew Lillard.

Kennedy pretty much made the first movie all on his own. I still wouldn't call him an interesting performer.

I can't tell you're seriously mentioning Matthew Lilliard. He's always likable but I suspect Hackers was the limit of his abilities.


Brude, I'm absolutely sure it's supposed to be a cash in - doesn't mean that I can't try to enjoy it. :P

I wouldn't have has a big problem with it, but they made the original cast tangential. Most of what you probably liked in the first three movies doesn't show up in the fourth one.


Loved the first, really enjoyed the second, and kinda-sorta-enjoyed the third and fourth. I think the Scream series is probably the most admirable Hollywood horror series since...hell, I dunno...Frankenstein? Somebody help me out here.

Hm. Horror movies don't really become classics until their subjects interact with either Abbot and Costello or Scooby Doo.

Not sure where that leaves Ghostface.

[EvilShoe]

I can't tell you're seriously mentioning Matthew Lilliard. He's always likable but I suspect Hackers was the limit of his abilities.

SLC Punk, Brude.

[Irish]

SLC Punk, Brude.

Haven't seen it. But since we're talking about Matthew Lilliard, I'm gonna trust my gut on this one. :P

[Irish]

Also, the fourth one has Rory Culkin.

RORY CULKIN FFS

[MadMan]

As much as I love the Scream series, I'll admit that only the first one is even close to being great. I did see the forth in theaters and enjoyed the hell out of it, though. Wes Craven's work was more interesting in the 70s and 80s.

[Dukefrukem]

SLC Punk, Brude.

Psssh. Wing Commander Dude.

Saw that shit in theaters too. I probably saw every movie that was released in the summer of 1999 in theaters. 1998 too.

[EvilShoe]

Damn you guys, SLC Punk! is genuinely good.

Wing Commander not so much.

[Irish]

Damn you guys, SLC Punk! is genuinely good.

Shoe, if you're recommending it I will see it.

[Irish]

Duke, there's no fucking way I'm watching Wing Commander, though.

;)

[EvilShoe]

Shoe, if you're recommending it I will see it.
Hm, let me get back to you on that. I haven't seen it since I was in my late teens, and don't want to steer you in the wrong direction.

For now, let's just say it's - besides Scream - the one Matthew Lillard movie most likely to be good.

[number8]

To hell with all those movies. Shaggy has always been Lillard's calling. He's doing Casey Kasem proud right now.

[Irish]

For now, let's just say it's - besides Scream - the one Matthew Lillard movie most likely to be good.

WTF dude, Hackers was good! :lol:

[Winston*]

Hm, let me get back to you on that. I haven't seen it since I was in my late teens, and don't want to steer you in the wrong direction.

For now, let's just say it's - besides Scream - the one Matthew Lillard movie most likely to be good.

The Descendents?

[EvilShoe]

The Descendents?
Fuck it, I'll add Serial Mom to the mix as well.

Lillard's alright, guys. Pick on Skeet Ulrich instead.

[Dukefrukem]

Duke, there's no fucking way I'm watching Wing Commander, though.

;)

I don't blame you. It's a terrible movie. Lillard is one of those actors that had some good presence on screen but couldn't find work that he excelled in. SLC Punk and Scream are his two best performance. I was just messin around about Wing Commander.

[Irish]

Lillard's alright, guys.

I've always like him quite a bit, but he always seems to be playing thinly veiled versions of himself. He can't act.


Pick on Skeet Ulrich instead.

Waaaaaaaaay too easy.


I don't blame you. It's a terrible movie. Lillard is one of those actors that had some good presence on screen but couldn't find work that he excelled in. SLC Punk and Scream are his two best performance. I was just messin around about Wing Commander.

:lol:

[EvilShoe]

What's the consensus on Stake Land in here by the way?

I hardly ever leave a movie unfinished, but I had to turn this off after ten minutes. Just seemed loud, poorly acted, and edgy for the sake of it. (I had no desire to ever see a vampire feed on a baby, then dispose of the body.)

My friend recommended this, and he usually has good taste in films. Maybe I'm just not in the mood, and I should give it another shot.

[EvilShoe]

Fuck it, I'm going to watch Clue instead.

[Dukefrukem]

What's the consensus on Stake Land in here by the way?

I hardly ever leave a movie unfinished, but I had to turn this off after ten minutes. Just seemed loud, poorly acted, and edgy for the sake of it. (I had no desire to ever see a vampire feed on a baby, then dispose of the body.)

My friend recommended this, and he usually has good taste in films. Maybe I'm just not in the mood, and I should give it another shot.


It's a B movie. I like it and own it. Watched it on the night before Halloween. Movie begins to fall apart rather quickly and the characters are not very likable.

[Irish]

How do you jump from Stake Land to Clue in 60 seconds? The shift in tone would be jarring.

[number8]

Stake Land is a recent vampire movie, like Vamps, which is directed by the director of Clueless, which sounds like Clue.

[Irish]

Stake Land is a recent vampire movie, like Vamps, which is directed by the director of Clueless, which sounds like Clue.

:lol: That's pretty good.

[EvilShoe]

You think too highly of me, 8. It is simply because stake sounds like steak, and the characters in Clue might eat the latter at one point in the movie.

[Rowland]

What's the consensus on Stake Land in here by the way?

I hardly ever leave a movie unfinished, but I had to turn this off after ten minutes. Just seemed loud, poorly acted, and edgy for the sake of it. (I had no desire to ever see a vampire feed on a baby, then dispose of the body.)

My friend recommended this, and he usually has good taste in films. Maybe I'm just not in the mood, and I should give it another shot.I thought it was kinda crappy, but it has so many admirers who I respect that I wonder if I may have been overtly hard on it. *shrug*

[megladon8]

Both Jen and I thought Stake Land was pretty bad.

[EvilShoe]

I'll give it another go tonight. Still can't be bothered, though.

I can't believe this (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1877543/) exists.


Four friends travel to a lakeside cabin for a carefree weekend, the fun turns into a nightmare when 3 of them end up locked in a hot sauna. Every minute counts and every degree matters as they fight for their lives in the heat up to 247°F.

[Dukefrukem]

Oh man. I want to watch that.

[EvilShoe]

HHAbGYf5n9Q

Ok.

[Dukefrukem]

Every degree matters? Bleh.

[Dukefrukem]

I love Scream and mildly enjoy 2. Hate 3 and 4.

Never did update on my Friday the 13th movies.

Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning 1985 ★★★

A New Beginning does a great job of misdirection, but this is not a true "Jason" movie. In fact, the movie doesn't even give a hint of who the killer really is aside from a short glare at a dead body and the explanation after the fact. The majority of the death scenes involve only a shot of the arm or murder weapon until the finale. It is hinted the Jason's body was cremated after Part 4 and Tommy's dream sequence in the opening scene suggested he was only buried (shout out to Bill Paxton's death scene) so the copycat theme was well crafted- it brings a lot of confusion to the viewer. Sexual exploitation is minimal compared to part 2 and 4; A pair of breasts in a change sequence, one sex scene and a girl walking around topless.

Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives 1986 ★★½

Only in a Jason movie lightning strikes twice. That literally happens in the opening scene that is not a dream sequence. With this Jason movie comes pure power and his super natural strength is revealed- the ability to punch through a human's chest, twist a head off someone's shoulders and bend a person in half. There are some fantastic death sequences and no nudity or sexual exploitation. Sadly the movie is convoluted with smaller connecting stories and new characters that are hard to care about. Tommy is the central themed character for the third movie in a row, but his motives are short lived and heroism is more like blind dumb luck. I would have thought that six feet of dirt would be enough to calm my nerves than six feet of water... (comparing the state of Jason at the beginning and at the end of the movie)

Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood 1988 ★★★★

This review reportedly contains spoilers.

Part VII strays away from the previous six slashers and adds a new factor in the mix. Jason is accidently resurrected from the bottom of Crystal Lake by Tina, who has telekinetic powers. (why is it no one could find Jason's body after part VI? He was not that far away from the surface of the lake?) Jason's urge to kill has never been higher and he has never been more powerful. He also takes form as the Jason we all know and love... a towering decayed corpse, who's spine is revealed from the surface of his skin. Jason relentlessly kills more teens who are renting a house on the lake, and also uses some random power tools in the process. (Seriously if this movie was made in the 21st century it would be laughable, but for some reason in the 80s it works so well) Jason never runs in this movie like he has in the past. he walks at a slow pace that victims cannot seem to escape. Jason also appears to teleport around its victims, showing up at just the right times. Tina uses her powers to fight off Jason and its the first time in the series someone actually stands up to him (unless you count drowning at the end of Part VI standing up to him). In one of the cooler parts of the movie, Tina uses her powers to squeeze the Hockey Mask off Jason and strangle him with a power cord. Fantastic classic horror scene

[Robby P]

Finally watched The Host on Netflix, which was truly excellent, and then I followed it up with the equally engrossing Mother. A pretty spectacular double feature, I must say.

[Grouchy]

Finally watched The Host on Netflix, which was truly excellent, and then I followed it up with the equally engrossing Mother. A pretty spectacular double feature, I must say.
Two of the best, most unforgettable movies of the past decade.

Korean cinema rocks.

[Irish]

Korean cinema rocks.
Truth.

PSA: Watch The Chaser. Best movie I've seen in, oh, probably the last five years. Goddamn that was a great movie.

[number8]

Addendum: Korean cinema that are interesting enough to get international accolade rocks.

A lot of it... are pretty shitty.

[megladon8]

Truth.

PSA: Watch The Chaser. Best movie I've seen in, oh, probably the last five years. Goddamn that was a great movie.


Damnit! It's been on my Amazon watch list for like, a year. Now I have to buy it.

Screw you, Brude-rish. Screw you right in the bum. :evil:








P.S. Yeah, Korean cinema is pretty rockin'. Which is why it's so disappointing when one doesn't live up to my heightened expectations (like my recent viewing of I Saw the Devil, which wasn't bad per se, but I was hoping for another Memories of Murder).

BTW, Memories of Murder. See it if you haven't. Probably the best modern crime drama there is.

[Irish]

Hehe, meg, I'm in the same boat now -- Memories of Murder has been on my list for years. Maybe I'll watch that this week.

Btw, The Chaser isn't straight up horror. It's kinda more of a neo-noir, crime, serial killer, thriller kinda movie. (Wanted to clarify given the thread we're in).

[Grouchy]

Addendum: Korean cinema that are interesting enough to get international accolade rocks.

A lot of it... are pretty shitty.
Yeah, I often wonder about that. I do know they make a lot of soap operas.

I'm downloading Save the Green Planet, by the way... Anyone seen it? Looks crazy.

[megladon8]

Hehe, meg, I'm in the same boat now -- Memories of Murder has been on my list for years. Maybe I'll watch that this week.

Btw, The Chaser isn't straight up horror. It's kinda more of a neo-noir, crime, serial killer, thriller kinda movie. (Wanted to clarify given the thread we're in).


Yeah no worries.

But hey, a great Korean horror movie is A Tale of Two Sisters. Check that one out, too, if you haven't seen it already.

[megladon8]

Yeah, I often wonder about that. I do know they make a lot of soap operas.

I'm downloading Save the Green Planet, by the way... Anyone seen it? Looks crazy.


Jen loved it. I didn't.

So if I had to guess, I would say that you'll either like it, or you won't. One of those two.

[number8]

It took me a while to get used to calling it The Chaser. I'd been calling it Pimp vs Serial Killer for years.

[Irish]

Meg, cool. I will watch it immediately then.

Thanks for the rec on Two Sisters. I actually have that on DVD. I borrowed it from a buddy and never gave it back.

Watch about 10 minutes and said NOPE NOT DOIN THIS. The whole tone of it made my skin crawl, like I was waiting for some shoe to drop.

Asian horror movies freak me out, mostly in the way they're supposed to. (I thought Ringu was gonna be stupid because of its premise ... And maaaan that was weird and disturbing.)

[megladon8]

Meg, cool. I will watch it immediately then.

Thanks for the rec on Two Sisters. I actually have that on DVD. I borrowed it from a buddy and never gave it back.

Watch about 10 minutes and said NOPE NOT DOIN THIS. The whole tone of it made my skin crawl, like I was waiting for some shoe to drop.

Asian horror movies freak me out, mostly in the way they're supposed to. (I thought Ringu was gonna be stupid because of its premise ... And maaaan that was weird and disturbing.)


Asian horror films are a mixed bag for me because I often find they begin with fantastic ideas and then jump the shark and become silly.

Which is weird because the ones that are totally gonzo and silly right from the start, I often find pretty great. I am just not a huge fan of the enormous tonal shift.

I also found the "creepy Asian girl with long dark hair" sub-genre became totally overdone somewhere around 2005/2006. I kind of gave up on that type of horror film, as much as I still really like Ringu and the original two Ju-On films.

If you're at all into Lovecraftian fiction, I strongly suggest checking out Marebito. It's an incredibly eerie, disturbing little gem of a movie. A slow burn, building to a possibly apocalyptic finale. It's great stuff.

And if you're looking for a totally gonzo (yet still very effectively creepy) Asian horror, check out Uzumaki. While hugely inferior to the comics, it's still an original and well-made little supernatural horror about a town being invaded by some strange force that manifests itself in the form of spirals (as in, a literal spiral line).

It's utterly grotesque, and seeing citizens of the town go mad with obsession over these spirals is really unsettling.

[Mr. Pink]

It took me a while to get used to calling it The Chaser. I'd been calling it Pimp vs Serial Killer for years.

Well, that sounds amazing. I'm sold.

[Irish]

Wow, thanks. That's awesome. Maybe I'll have an Asian movie marathon.

Gonna search out those last few recs you made & see if they're available on Netflix or Amazon.

[transmogrifier]

Addendum: Korean cinema that are interesting enough to get international accolade rocks.

A lot of it... are pretty shitty.

Yes. But usually shitty in a different way to typical Hollywood shitty, so there's that.

For example

- needlessly overlong (my wife says this stems from when Korea was very poor and people thought short movies were a waste of hard-earned money), mainly due to pointless diversions and subplots
- sudden turns into melodrama in previously cartoony comedies
- cartoony sidekick characters in otherwise serious dramas/actions
- random genre mashups from act to act

[Robby P]

Watched Three...Extremes last night. Could somebody explain the ending of Cut? I...didn't get it.

[number8]

Yes. But usually shitty in a different way to typical Hollywood shitty, so there's that.

For example

- needlessly overlong (my wife says this stems from when Korea was very poor and people thought short movies were a waste of hard-earned money), mainly due to pointless diversions and subplots
- sudden turns into melodrama in previously cartoony comedies
- cartoony sidekick characters in otherwise serious dramas/actions
- random genre mashups from act to act

Good ones, and that first one is especially detrimental to a lot of Korean movies I've seen. It really does seem like they sometimes randomly grafts on a completely different story for no other reason than to pass the 2 hour mark.

[megladon8]

Jen and I dropped by a Zellers in town and found bins and bins and bins of horror films they were clearancing after an apparently unsuccessful Halloween sale.

We picked up a few for $2.99 each...

The Frighteners
Penny Dreadful
The Woods
Scarecrows
Diagnosis: Death

[Dukefrukem]

The Frighteners AWESOME!
Penny Dreadful Fucking Awful!

That's all the feedback I can provide.

[D_Davis]

I liked I Saw the Devil a lot more than Memories of Murder. I'd put Devil up there with Oldboy in terms of movies that made me feel something unique and powerful. I felt emotionally exhausted after watching each because I never once felt safe; anything could happen, and it usually wasn't pleasant, and I never knew how far the film would go, or in which direction.

While neither of these are horror films, they made me feel more horrific than just about any modern horror film I've seen.

[Spun Lepton]

I Sell the Dead was pleasantly surprising. Not the strongest in the story department, but very entertaining and high-spirited. Clever ending, too.

7/10

[megladon8]

I liked I Saw the Devil a lot more than Memories of Murder. I'd put Devil up there with Oldboy in terms of movies that made me feel something unique and powerful. I felt emotionally exhausted after watching each because I never once felt safe; anything could happen, and it usually wasn't pleasant, and I never knew how far the film would go, or in which direction.

While neither of these are horror films, they made me feel more horrific than just about any modern horror film I've seen.


You didn't like Memories of Murder, or you just greatly preferred the other two?

I honestly can't imagine not liking MoM. A genuine masterpiece.

Have you seen The Host, and if so what are your thoughts?

[D_Davis]

A few of my favorite Hong Kong horror flicks:

Biozombie
We're Going to Eat You
Encounters of the Spooky Kind
Mr. Vampire
Boxer's Omen (one of the weirdest movies ever made)
A Chinese Ghost Story I-III

[Irish]

Think I'm watching Memories of Murder and I Saw the Devil back to back this week, then.

[megladon8]

A few of my favorite Hong Kong horror flicks:

Biozombie
We're Going to Eat You
Encounters of the Spooky Kind
Mr. Vampire
Boxer's Omen (one of the weirdest movies ever made)
A Chinese Ghost Story I-III


You introduced me to these three (though I have to give We're Going to Eat You to Jen or else she'll hit me, because she bought it for me :lol:) and I am eternally grateful for all three.

Biozombie is one I wish I could get a decent copy of. Jen and I tried to watch her copy once but it was just awful to the point of being unwatchable.

And the Chinese Ghost Story films are more that are largely unavailable. I wish eBay still sold DVD's from Asia.

[D_Davis]

You didn't like Memories of Murder, or you just greatly preferred the other two?

I honestly can't imagine not liking MoM. A genuine masterpiece.

Have you seen The Host, and if so what are your thoughts?

I like MoM quite a bit, but it didn't blow me away. Still not sure how I feel about the ending. I get the point of it, but it feels tacked on and out of place.

I saw The Host when it was new, and don't remember thinking much either way about it. I've been wanting to revisit that one.

[D_Davis]

Think I'm watching Memories of Murder and I Saw the Devil back to back this week, then.

Be prepared to feel bummed out.

[D_Davis]

You introduced me to these three (though I have to give We're Going to Eat You to Jen or else she'll hit me, because she bought it for me :lol:) and I am eternally grateful for all three.

Biozombie is one I wish I could get a decent copy of. Jen and I tried to watch her copy once but it was just awful to the point of being unwatchable.

And the Chinese Ghost Story films are more that are largely unavailable. I wish eBay still sold DVD's from Asia.

It is weird how hard it is to get Hong Kong DVDs these days. Most of my shops here in Seattle have closed. I can still find stuff on eBay, but the quality is always an issue/concern. The last few I purchased were really bad bootlegs, practically unwatchable.

The death of HKFLIX.COM will forever sadden me.

We're Going to Eat You...wow. What a flick. And Mr. Vampire! I'll never forget seeing that for the first time.

Damn - I miss the good old days of HK cinema.

[Irish]

Damn - I miss the good old days of HK cinema.

I miss the days of Chinatown movie theaters that showed first run HK movies, and weird little video stores that had R1 DVDs waaaay before they wee "officially" released in the States. (Bonus points for the shops that were obvious fronts for gambling parlors, haha).

Oh! And college area retro houses that actually had a dedicated "Hong Kong night."

One of the best theater going experiences I ever had was seeing God of Gamblers on the big screen with an enthusiastic crowd.

[D_Davis]

Yep - same here.

When I went back to Fresno last week I drove around the hood looking for all of the old video stores I used to rent HK movies at, and they were all closed, long gone. Made me sad.

Although we should probably take this nostalgic love-fest over to the Asian Film thread. :)

[number8]

You can still get good imports in NYC, but it's basically buying at a premium. All the good rental places have either shut down or switched to buy only. It's sad.

[number8]

If any of you guys are in the Bay Area, go to Le Video (http://www.yelp.com/biz/le-video-san-francisco). It's absolutely amazing. One of the best selections I've ever come across. I rented so many obscure foreign movies from them--mostly on VHS! I think I bought a VCR off craigslist just so I can rent stuff from them. Japanese pink eiga films, late 80s HK schlocks, giallos I never even heard of. Oh man. I miss it like crazy. I still have my membership card for nostalgia.

[D_Davis]

You can still get good imports in NYC, but it's basically buying at a premium. All the good rental places have either shut down or switched to buy only. It's sad.

Long gone are the days of walking out of a Chinatown video store with an armful of VCDs and DVDs for $25.

[D_Davis]

If any of you guys are in the Bay Area, go to Le Video (http://www.yelp.com/biz/le-video-san-francisco). It's absolutely amazing. One of the best selections I've ever come across. I rented so many obscure foreign movies from them--mostly on VHS! I think I bought a VCR off craigslist just so I can rent stuff from them. Japanese pink eiga films, late 80s HK schlocks, giallos I never even heard of. Oh man. I miss it like crazy. I still have my membership card for nostalgia.

Sounds like Scarecrow here in Seattle.

They're pretty much my source now for HK flicks.

[Irish]

You can still get good imports in NYC, but it's basically buying at a premium. All the good rental places have either shut down or switched to buy only. It's sad.

Yeah, agreed. It kinda sucks because in a lot of ways, I feel as if I have less options now than I did ten or fifteen years ago, pre-Internet.

[D_Davis]

Yeah, agreed. It kinda sucks because in a lot of ways, I feel as if I have less options now than I did ten or fifteen years ago, pre-Internet.

The "golden years" for me were 1996-2005.

We had lots of store options in Fresno and San Fran, and the Internet was awesome with places like Blackest Heart Media and HKFLIX.

I would frequently put in ~$200 orders with BHM or HKF, and eagerly await the package's arrival. Then I'd pretty much just sit on my ass for two days and indulge.

[number8]

Is Greencine still around? I used to rely on them for DVDs that Netflix didn't have. Better selections, but christ, the wait. They kept skipping titles and I would get sent #6 or #12 on my queue because the availabilities were so low for the obscure titles. They probably had like 10 copies being rented to people nationwide. I eventually had to cancel my subscription because of that.

[D_Davis]

Is Greencine still around? I used to rely on them for DVDs that Netflix didn't have. Better selections, but christ, the wait. They kept skipping titles and I would get sent #6 or #12 on my queue because the availabilities were so low for the obscure titles. They probably had like 10 copies being rented to people nationwide. I eventually had to cancel my subscription because of that.

Nope. A large portion of Greencine's Shaw Brothers selection is now part of the Daniel Davis library. :)

I was a member for a long time, and got first dibs on their selection. I think I ended up ordering about 100 SB films, and split the order with my buddy.

They were great, but the wait times were crap.

[Irish]

The "golden years" for me were 1996-2005.

Hehe, for me it was like 1994-1998 or so. Back before Amazon destroyed everything, and the retro houses still thrived.

Btw, Greencine still exists: https://www.greencine.com/registration?1=1

I was an early adoptor but cancelled for the same reasons as 8. Great selection, but the wait times on titles was waaaay too long.

[D_Davis]

Btw, Greencine still exists: https://www.greencine.com/registration?1=1

I was an early adoptor but cancelled for the same reasons as 8. Great selection, but the wait times on titles was waaaay too long.

D'oh! I was thinking of Nicheflix, not Greencine.

Thanks.

[Irish]

God, you know what's odd? I've just gotten this OVERWHELMING feeling that Duke is on the verge of talking about Jason Takes Manhattan.

Hey, maybe I'm becoming tella .. ken .. that thing where you can read minds!

[MadMan]

I can't believe that Duke loved The New Blood that much. Its not better than Jason Lives or The Final Chapter. Not even close.

Speaking of sequels, I bought this the following week and watched it tonight:

http://oldies.s3.amazonaws.com/i/boxart/simu/13/826663135213.jpg

I already own the first two Halloween movies on DVD. That said, after a rewatch I'm now convinced that Halloween III: Season of the Witch is the best sequel in the entire series. I wish that they had been able to go with the original idea of making a new Halloween film every year with a different story, because after the merely okay Part 4 the Halloween series went into the shitter. Oh well.

[Morris Schæffer]

"The Night no One comes Home." :lol:

Applying this to the following we get:

Ocean's Twelve: Twelve is not the new Eleven
Speed: Do not get Ready for Rush Hour
Die Hard: 40 Stories Of Sheer Nothingness!
Dances With Wolves: In 1965, One Man went looking for the Frontier...and found Diddly Squat!

[D_Davis]

I
I already own the first two Halloween movies on DVD. That said, after a rewatch I'm now convinced that Halloween III: Season of the Witch is the best sequel in the entire series. I wish that they had been able to go with the original idea of making a new Halloween film every year with a different story, because after the merely okay Part 4 the Halloween series went into the shitter. Oh well.

Totally agree.

[D_Davis]

For a long time I've been trying to figure out why the movie Paranormal Activity scared me so much, and I am finally able to put it into words:

I am not scared of the things in my house that wake me up at night; I am scared of the things in my house that don't wake me up at night.

[megladon8]

The Thaw was disappointing, after I'd seen much praise heaped on it by horror fans.

It's hugely inferior to the enviro-horror works of Larry Fessenden (and almost begs to be compared to his film The Last Winter). Fessenden's work is fairly preachy, but The Thaw makes it look subtle as heck.

It also had a piss-poor cast, consisting of the "I'm going to give you the best blow-jay" girl from Superbad, the asshole high school bully from A History of Violence, some black guy who says "Jeez Louise" and "shoot!" way too much, and Val Kilmer.

It has a few gross moments (and my phobia of vomiting was put into full force while watching this) but that it thinks it is smart when it's really quite dumb does it no favors.

[Dukefrukem]

God, you know what's odd? I've just gotten this OVERWHELMING feeling that Duke is on the verge of talking about Jason Takes Manhattan.

Hey, maybe I'm becoming tella .. ken .. that thing where you can read minds!

Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan 1989 ½
contains spoilers.

It premise doesn't really make much sense; Jason died at the bottom of Part VII in Crystal Lake (a fresh water lake), but somehow manages to make it to the ocean and stowaway on a boat that is leaving for a class trip. Jason makes it onto the boat kills a bunch of people and chases the rest of the survivors on a life boat. Jason somehow follows them (under water?) where they escape to NYC. Part VIII is clearly the worst of the franchise; terribly acted, directed and scripted. And why is Manhattan portrayed so poorly? This isn't really what Manhattan looked like in 1989 is it?

[Dukefrukem]

I can't believe that Duke loved The New Blood that much. Its not better than Jason Lives or The Final Chapter. Not even close.


New Blood is awesome. Love the telekinesis aspect. It's just what the series needed- a new element being introded. Final Chapter was good. Jason Lives is a big meh. The whole movie is flawed with the motives to dig Jason up to begin with. Watching all of these back to back really gives you a relative stance on them.

Friday the 13th 1980 ★★★
Friday the 13th Part 2 1981 ★★★½
Friday the 13th Part 3 1982 ★½
Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter 1984 ★★★½
Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning 1985 ★★★
Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives 1986 ★★½
Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood 1988 ★★★★
Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan 1989 ½

[Dukefrukem]

Oh and I'm doing the Halloweens next.

[Spun Lepton]

The Thaw was disappointing, after I'd seen much praise heaped on it by horror fans.

It's hugely inferior to the enviro-horror works of Larry Fessenden (and almost begs to be compared to his film The Last Winter). Fessenden's work is fairly preachy, but The Thaw makes it look subtle as heck.

It also had a piss-poor cast, consisting of the "I'm going to give you the best blow-jay" girl from Superbad, the asshole high school bully from A History of Violence, some black guy who says "Jeez Louise" and "shoot!" way too much, and Val Kilmer.

It has a few gross moments (and my phobia of vomiting was put into full force while watching this) but that it thinks it is smart when it's really quite dumb does it no favors.

I would disagree, because I think The Last Winter is total balls. I didn't think The Thaw was anything remarkable, but it maintained an OK pace and had some entertaining parts. The "twist" at the end is easy to see from a mile away.

And there were no cartoony "ghost deer," in The Thaw.

[megladon8]

I would disagree, because I think The Last Winter is total balls. I didn't think The Thaw was anything remarkable, but it maintained an OK pace and had some entertaining parts. The "twist" at the end is easy to see from a mile away.

And there were no cartoony "ghost deer," in The Thaw.


Yeah but if I remember correctly you've hated pretty much everything Fessenden has done or touched.

I found The Last Winter a much more effective film on just about all fronts, particularly the horror/tension area. It had some genuinely creepy stuff in it. Just the image of the white box in the middle of nowhere, and the wonder at what it may contain, was eerier than anything The Thaw had to offer.

Cartoony ghost deer >>>>>>> poorly CGI animated vertebrate bugs that make people throw up poop.

[MadMan]

New Blood is awesome. Love the telekinesis aspect. It's just what the series needed- a new element being introded. Final Chapter was good. Jason Lives is a big meh. The whole movie is flawed with the motives to dig Jason up to begin with. Watching all of these back to back really gives you a relative stance on them.

Friday the 13th 1980 ★★★
Friday the 13th Part 2 1981 ★★★½
Friday the 13th Part 3 1982 ★½
Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter 1984 ★★★½
Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning 1985 ★★★
Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives 1986 ★★½
Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood 1988 ★★★★
Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan 1989 ½And I thought my ratings were too high. None of the Friday the 13th movies would get higher than ***/**** from me. And I'm a huge fan of the series.

Jason Lives is the best of the bunch imo. I liked The New Blood, but it was merely solid/decent at best. At least you recognized that A New Beginning was good. Too many people hate that one even though its underrated.

I'd go with:

Friday the 13th-***
Part 2-***
Part 3-* 1/2
Part 4-***
Part 5-** 1/2
Part 6-***
Part 7-*** or ** 1/2
Part 8-**
Part 9-* 1/2
Part 10-*
Freddy Vs. Jason-***

The Halloween series is mostly shit, although the first three are good and I liked H20. Part 4 is a mixed bag.

[EyesWideOpen]

Starting to watch through the Universal Monsters blu-ray set. I watched Dracula tonight and it's a great movie which I hadn't seen in years. I also watched the Dracula Restoration and Bela Lugosi doc bonus features on the disc which were pretty informative. Getting to see the amount of work which goes into restoring an 80 year old film is pretty crazy.

On to Spanish Dracula next which I've never seen.

[Dukefrukem]

And I thought my ratings were too high. None of the Friday the 13th movies would get higher than ***/**** from me. And I'm a huge fan of the series.

Jason Lives is the best of the bunch imo. I liked The New Blood, but it was merely solid/decent at best. At least you recognized that A New Beginning was good. Too many people hate that one even though its underrated.

I'd go with:

Friday the 13th-***
Part 2-***
Part 3-* 1/2
Part 4-***
Part 5-** 1/2
Part 6-***
Part 7-*** or ** 1/2
Part 8-**
Part 9-* 1/2
Part 10-*
Freddy Vs. Jason-***

The Halloween series is mostly shit, although the first three are good and I liked H20. Part 4 is a mixed bag.

Two stars for Jason Takes Manhattan? And My grades are high?

[EyesWideOpen]

Spanish Dracula was a interesting companion piece to the english version. I didn't realize going in that it was going to be 99% exactly the same as the original right down to the dialogue. But it still stands up on it's own. Obviously it's missing the Legosi factor but I thought Villarias did a decent job. Where I think this one stands out over the english version is the female characters and getting a little more running time to flesh out scenes. The restoration on the Spanish version was giving the same care as the English version but I guess there was like 20 minutes near the middle where the original print was so bad they couldn't restore it so it looks pretty terrible compared to the rest of the film.

[Winston*]

I personally think the Lugosi Dracula is a pretty bad film. Haven't seen the Spanish one.

[MadMan]

Two stars for Jason Takes Manhattan? And My grades are high?**/**** is still not a good score for a movie, though.

[Irish]

http://www.hulu.com/watch/425233

^ Clip from Silent Night, which seems to be a quasi-remake of Silent Night, Deadly Night with .. Malcom McDowell.

[Dukefrukem]

Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday 1993 ★½

"This guy is deader than shit" says the Doctor/coroner examining the remains of what appears to be Jason Voorhees in the first 12 minutes of the movie. One minute and 30 seconds later, Jason's heart begins to beat on the table. This movie tries to do what The Final Chapter and New Blood have done in the past. Turn the page of a traditional slasher movie and introduce some new elements. Jason has somehow materialized from Part VIII (remember he was melted by acid) and can switch into new bodies. Apparently there's only 1 man who knows how to truly kill Jason and he also knows how he is still "alive" (my biggest pet peeve with Hollywood is when they make up characters who already know about everything). There's some great effects throughout the transformations and a fabulous reference to Evil Dead's Necronomicon. But Jason Goes to Hell is close to the bottom of the series in quality even with the hottest nude scene (the opening) and best sex scene of the series.

Jason X 2001 ★
This review contains spoilers.

The 'X' in 'Jason X' stands for the Roman numeral 10, as in Friday the 13th Part 10...just in case you confused it with a porno.

Great opening credit sequence- That's about all that is great with Jason X. Yet again, there is no explanation on how Jason's body was recovered from Part IX when he was sucked down to hell and yet again there is one measly wimpy soldier guarding Jason's incarcerated body.

Sequels to this franchise kept bringing Jason Voorhees back to life because the mere thought of Jason being driven by some evil revenge motive is frightening. But 'Jason X' goes way beyond making up reasons to kill teenagers.

Anyway, the movie is somewhere in the twenty fifth century and we have developed interstellar travel, cryogenics and repopulated another planet called "Earth 2" because Earth 1 has gone bye-bye. Well, it hasn't completely gone bye-bye… they did fly to Earth 1 to find Jason's cryogenic body because a bunch of teenagers were interested in the story of Jason Voorhees the same way the teenagers were interested in "Camp Blood" in Part II. It is very odd the human race left him in his cryogenic tank with the frozen scientist on the floor. Why wouldn't they just purge him into outer space? I guess Jason killed everyone who knew about the secret Crystal Lake Research Facility otherwise someone would have found them both? Then again, I would have thought someone would fetched Jason out of the Lake in part VI and Part VII as well.

The group of students and professors are excited to thaw out and study Jason and the frozen scientist. Of course the scientists that gets thawed out insists that they get rid of Jason immediately, but the professor scans reveal that he is "very dead" (sounds familiar) and they are perfectly safe. WRONG! Jason comes back to life, once again, and kills everyone onboard the end.

Oh wait…I forgot to mention that this was probably one of the worst horror movies ever made. Not only were the special effects terrible and the acting shameful, but the writing, dialog and wardrobe was the worst in any Jason movie. Yes worse than Manhattan! This is not a parody of the Friday the 13th movies. They are really trying to be scary here.

There was one great scene that I thought was worth the viewing. Towards the end when Jason has mutated into Shredder, he is trying to kill everyone before they can escape the ship. As Jason walks through a portion of the ship, the survivors turn on a hologram to make Jason think he was back on Crystal Lake circa 1983, and two teenage women manifest near the edge of the lake. They offer Jason beer, a joint, and premarital sex. Jason proceeds to kill both of them before continuing to stop everyone from leaving the ship.

SIDE NOTES
1. It is funny…even when Jason is not conscious, he still finds ways of killing, or at least, hurting people. (The scene at the beginning when Jason's frozen body topples over onto a not so bright student.)

2. You would think after 400 years of horror films people would know not to walk backwards…It's an automatic death.

3. I know you are going through an extremely traumatic experience, but would you please try to avoid using puns after witnessing a death? Saying; "He's screwed." And your friend is impaled on a screw. If he was really your friend, would you still say that?

4. The hottest scientist on the ship dies first. Typical.

Freddy vs. Jason 2003 ★★★½

Brilliantly setup; A Freddy/Jason crossover was looming every since the finale of Friday the 13th Part IX- also known as Jason goes to Hell. There's plenty of jump scares and eerie set pieces, and like most movies in the Nightmare on Elm Street or Friday the 13th series, there's also little script missteps such as a character blurting out; "Freddy died by Fire and Jason by water how do we use that?" How subtle!

But the idea remains ingenious. Put two horror icons in one movie and have them battle it out. How? By having Freddy lure Jason back to earth from hell by pretending he’s his mother. Since Jason always listened to his mother, like a good boy should, he had no problem obeying her request to return once again, but this time start the killing on Elm Street rather than Camp Crystal Lake.

What’s in it for Freddy? Well since the entire town has forgotten Freddy Kruger, no one has nightmares about him anymore, and therefore Freddy cannot kill them in their dreams. By forcing Jason to kill kids on his old block, the kids and suspecting town’s folk will think it is Freddy back to kill again. If the kids start thinking about Freddy…they will start to dream about Freddy…and that is how Freddy gets to play.

But how can Freddy and Jason battle it out? Freddy can only hurt people in his dreams. That means you either need to put Jason to sleep, or pull Freddy out of the dreams and into the real world. (Like Maggie did in ‘Freddy’s Dead: The final chapter’) Turns out, both happen, and there's some great sequences between the two killers.
The only reason you wouldn’t know this movie wasn’t written in the 80’s is because of the overuse of CGI. Robert Englund is back with the same witty comments and of course he looks good doing Freddy considering that's all he's known for. And since anyone who is six foot nine can play the mute Jason, there are no arguments with Kane Hodder’s acting.

I just wish it didn't lack soul like all the other movies. Yeah I like watching them to see Jason break someone in half (which maybe Jason's best death scene ever). I don’t watch it because of the good writing or directing. But I wish the dialog was cleaned up a bit.

[Dukefrukem]

In review;

Friday the 13th 1980 ★★★
Friday the 13th Part 2 1981 ★★★½
Friday the 13th Part 3 1982 ★½
Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter 1984 ★★★½
Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning 1985 ★★★
Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives 1986 ★★½
Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood 1988 ★★★★
Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan 1989 ½
Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday 1993 ★½
Jason X 2001 ★
Freddy vs. Jason 2003 ★★★½

[Irish]

Freddy vs Jason is vastly superior to most entries in either franchise. Soul? C'mon, Duke! Since when do we watch slashers for soul?

[Dukefrukem]

Freddy vs Jason is vastly superior to most entries in either franchise. Soul? C'mon, Duke! Since when do we watch slashers for soul?

It just felt so modern with the shitty CGI worm thing and CGI blood and CGI this and CGI that. The CGI definitely knocked it down a peg for me. Otherwise it would be the best in the series.

[D_Davis]

Freddy vs Jason is vastly superior to most entries in either franchise. Soul? C'mon, Duke! Since when do we watch slashers for soul?

It's the best of both series, with a ton of soul, and it's the best looking and best directed of the bunch.

Ronny Yu completely nailed it.

[D_Davis]

I'd probably rank both series like this:

Freddy Vs. Jason
Nightmare 1
Nightmare 3
Jason Goes to Hell
Nightmare 7
Jason X
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.
.
.
.
.
the rest in no particular order
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.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Jason Takes Manhattan
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.
.
.
.
Nightmare 2

[Irish]

@Davis: Which one was Dream Warriors? I rank that over the first one, which is a great movie.

@Duke Hmmmm. Maybe I need to see it again. Cheesy CGI bugs me, but I can't remember any F/X in FvJ taking me out of the movie.

[D_Davis]

@Davis: Which one was Dream Warriors? I rank that over the first one, which is a great movie.


3.

It's really, really good. The core Nightmare Trilogy (1, 3, and 7) is great.

[Irish]

Agreed, although I think New Nightmare has its merits, it's not up to the level of the original movie or Dream Warriors.

Still easily beats anything in the entire F13 franchise, though. Although that's a pretty low bar.

[Dukefrukem]

New Nightmare is my favorite Nightmare.

[Dukefrukem]

@Duke Hmmmm. Maybe I need to see it again. Cheesy CGI bugs me, but I can't remember any F/X in FvJ taking me out of the movie.

This whole scene f@@ked my eyes.

EnT7e2sTxdM

[Irish]

Haha yeah, I definitely need to see it again. :D

[number8]

The worst thing about FvJ was the fake Jason Mewes.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Fake Jack Black was almost as bad.

[Mr. Pink]

I'm pretty sure that reaction is the exact opposite of what even the dumbest stoner on the planet would have. How is that not the dumbest scene in either franchise?

It's at least on par with Freddy whipping the guy with a towel in the shower.

[Irish]

@number8 Agreed. Fake Mewes is an abomination.

@MrPink We'll be here all day if we start checking off all the dumb moments in these movies. I'd say stoner guy is pretty much par for the course; not substantially worse than any of the other movies.

[MadMan]

I absolutely loved Freddy vs. Jason, and I agree with Davis that its the best film from both series, although I'll admit I still have 5-7 left to watch in A Nightmare on Elm Street series.

Also thank you Duke for hating on Jason X. The humor was a bit inspired, the rest of the movie was absolute shit. However at least both the F13th and ANOES series are mostly enjoyable. Every time I think of the wasted potential of the Halloween series I just get depressed.

[Spun Lepton]

Monster Brawl is easily one of the stupidest "movies" (using that term very lightly), I've seen on Netflix. You know it's going to be bad when even the studio refuses to put their logo at the beginning of the "movie."

Here's the plot: THERE IS NONE!! It's a series of wrestling matches between different monsters, like Wolfman, Frankenstein's monster (stupidly named "Frankenstein" here), The Mummy, Cyclops, Zombie Man, etc., etc. There's also a monster named "Swamp Gut" which features the worst makeup in the bunch. Hey, if you're gonna put a skinny guy in a fat-guy (or fat-monster) costume, try to make the "Gut" actually look like a gut and not just a big bulge in the suit.

There's a vague sense of misogyny to some of it. Do they really have to name the witch Witch Bitch? Do they really need to call the female vampire Lady Vampire? They couldn't just say The Vampire? Of course, none of the monster names are in any way creative, which I guess is what one should expect from a team of people who thought dressing wrestlers up in bad monster make-up would be entertaining.

And WHAT THE FUCK are you thinking DAVE FOLEY? Are you really so desperate for work you'd sign up for this garbage? God damn.

Now, hold on wrestling fans. I know you're thinking that if you like wrestling, you may enjoy it. Keep in mind that all of the bouts last maybe 5 minutes apiece and are generally very poorly choreographed.

And here's the cherry on this shit sundae: the film ends at the BEGINNING OF THE FINAL BOUT. Yes, that's right. You never find out who the champion of Monster Brawl is. Total fucking bullshit.

1/10

[Irish]

@Spun That reminds me of Ebert's I Hated Hated Hated This Movie collection. Have you ever read it? They're all negative reviews. Public thrashings of bad cinema. But so many are funny & well written, they're so entertertaining in and of themselves that they end up making you want to see the movie in question.

To put it another way: Now I really want to see Monster Brawl.

[Winston*]

Public thrashings of bad cinema.

As well as great cinema. There are some excellent films in that book.

[Irish]

I'm watching Monster Brawl right now. Spun might have inadvertently underplayed just how bad it is. :lol:

The core concept plays like a cheap videogame knockoff of Street Fighter.

I'm pretty sure Foley did this movie while drunk. It's the only plausible explanation.

I can't believe they have the monsters actually fight in a boxing ring.

I keep thinking of ways this might have been more entertaining. My best (and only) two ideas so far:

- get it produced by the actual WWE or whatever. At least then you'd have pros doing what they do, and good choreography.

- Hire Bruce Campbell and Tony Todd as the ring announcers, and have them ad lib most of their dialogue.

[MadMan]

As well as great cinema. There are some excellent films in that book.I agree, although its still fun to watch Ebert tee off on a truly godawful movie.

I finally bought Videodrome on Criterion today. The case is shaped just like a VHS, which is amazing. I still think that AHOV is better, though, but Videodrome is up there. I completely forgot that Howard Shore did the score. "Long live the new flesh."

[EyesWideOpen]

Starting to watch through the Universal Monsters blu-ray set. I watched Dracula tonight and it's a great movie which I hadn't seen in years. I also watched the Dracula Restoration and Bela Lugosi doc bonus features on the disc which were pretty informative. Getting to see the amount of work which goes into restoring an 80 year old film is pretty crazy.

On to Spanish Dracula next which I've never seen.

I just finished this set and this has been one of the better blu-ray/dvd purchases I can remember. I had only seen the original Dracula & Frankenstein before so most of this was new to me and I've enjoyed the bonus features almost as much as the movies. They have seperate 40 minute documentaries on Karloff, Lugosi, and Chaney Jr. and a huge 95 minute documentary about Universal Horror from the early 20's to the 50's giving a lot of mention to the lesser known pictures and the early influences on these horror films.

[megladon8]

Is Creature From the Black Lagoon in that set? It's fantastic, maybe my favorite one.

You should see it if you haven't.

[Raiders]

Is Creature From the Black Lagoon in that set? It's fantastic, maybe my favorite one.

You should see it if you haven't.

Judging by his signature, yes it is and he doesn't agree with you.

I do however. Marvelous film. Jack Arnold was very good in his day. It Came from Outer Space easily eclipses the two "juggernaut" alien films from 1951 in my opinion.

[Mr. Pink]

It Came from Outer Space easily eclipses the two "juggernaut" alien films from 1951 in my opinion.


I saw that in 3-D at a retro screening. Absolutely amazing. One of my favorite theater experiences ever.

[EyesWideOpen]

Is Creature From the Black Lagoon in that set? It's fantastic, maybe my favorite one.

You should see it if you haven't.

Yep in there and my least favorite one (the only movie in the set I didn't watch was the 1943 version of Phantom of the Opera with Claude Rains because I heard it was not that good and I wanted to watch the 1925 Lon Chaney version first) but still ok.

The creature design is great but the story is nonexistent. After the monster appears they spend the whole rest of the movie switching off between him coming on the boat and killing someone and them going down looking for him. The underwater stuff goes on way too long also.

[Rowland]

Hey horror fans, there's just a little over a month left of the year, so my recommendations for the worthiest new horror releases of 2012 are:

The Tall Man
The Innkeepers
The Road
Kill List
Entrance
The Pact
Penumbra

All of these besides Kill List are available on Netflix Instant btw.

[Dukefrukem]

Crap, adding to queue. Thanks Rowland.

[Grouchy]

I saw that in 3-D at a retro screening. Absolutely amazing. One of my favorite theater experiences ever.
I did too, at the Film Forum in Manhattan!

[Spun Lepton]

Caught The Hole on Instant last night. I don't have time to go into detail, suffice to say it's all right. The lead kid was wooden and he was frequently upstaged by the kid who played his younger brother. The story was kind of scattered and cliiche, but for kids' horror, it wasn't bad.

Not as good as The Gate, mind you.

5/10

[megladon8]

Hehehe...Spun caught the hole.

[D_Davis]

Hey horror fans, there's just a little over a month left of the year, so my recommendations for the worthiest new horror releases of 2012 are:

The Tall Man
The Innkeepers
The Road
Kill List
Entrance
The Pact
Penumbra

All of these besides Kill List are available on Netflix Instant btw.
Thanks!

[MadMan]

Hey horror fans, there's just a little over a month left of the year, so my recommendations for the worthiest new horror releases of 2012 are:

The Tall Man
The Innkeepers
The Road
Kill List
Entrance
The Pact
Penumbra

All of these besides Kill List are available on Netflix Instant btw.Thanks Rowland. I'm still reminded that I have The Innkeepers on my queue. I just need to watch House of The Devil first.

[Russ]

Anyone here seen the film, Sauna (Antti-Jussi Annila , 2008)? Looks like something that I might enjoy.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Hey horror fans, there's just a little over a month left of the year, so my recommendations for the worthiest new horror releases of 2012 are:

The Tall Man
The Innkeepers
The Road
Kill List
Entrance
The Pact
Penumbra

All of these besides Kill List are available on Netflix Instant btw.

Excellent! Thanks very much.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Damn shame about The Invasion. It's so constantly on the verge of working without ever actually working. Some of the most anonymous filmmaking I've seen in a while. There's a brief stretch in the middle where the editing gets interesting, cutting between present, past, and future, creating a feeling of discordance. The rest is of that effortless Hollywood professionalism style, in which the film is monochromatic without being black-and-white, competent without being impressive, topical without being trenchant.

I expected as much, but you still hope a body snatcher movie can keep your brain well-fed - the allegorical potential is just too juicy.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Reviewed The Invasion for teh blog:

The most interesting idea in The Invasion, limited chiefly to insinuation, is that Washington DC is already full of "pod-people," those who all behave identically, think identically, and force everyone into their perspective. Accordingly, everyone in The Invasion dresses in identical clothing: black, sensible, functional, unexceptional. Hints of this conformity arrive early, at a restaurant where the rich and powerful sit in circles and treat fundamental arguments about human nature as diverting hypotheticals. That is, most of them. A Russian diplomat, an obvious megaphone for the authors, has something to say. In a sentence: society relies on the false appearance of civility and hides our animal violence. This is the kind of blunt commentary that thrives in the fringes of art. Question the limits of orderly society in a straight drama, and you risk being didactic; viewers put up their defenses. Secret it away in a genre story, and you can get the interrogation scene from The Dark Knight, or that creepy drive with the warden in Shutter Island.

This kind of commentary is the brain-food that keeps a movie like The Invasion intermittently engaging, even as it fails to rise above the level of archetype. Most of the story replicates the basic structure of the three previous incarnations of Jack Finney's original novel. Notions from all three movies cameo. Kidman's manic walk through a street recalls Kevin McCarthy in the 1956 film. Naturalistic cutaways to frightened passers-by evoke the slow-burn atmosphere of Kaufman's 1978 remake. A helicopter escape threatens to end like the 1992 Abel Ferrara film, but proves optimistic instead. To be fair, The Invasion reworks the "pod people" syndrome as an infectious disease instead of intruding alien clones. It was a bit easier in previous films to draw a line between "us" and "them." In this film, Nicole Kidman gets infected early, and she spends the rest of the movie fighting that infection. Apart from that little twist, much remains the same. Confidantes become goons. Lovers become traitors. Children leer with subdued malice. Sleep is death.

The previous three films are famous more for their allegorical time-keeping, with the original tweaking at the Red Scare, the first remake touching on new-age cults (shades of EST lie in Nimoy's confident guru), and the second remake hinting at lockstep militarism. However, the first two films have a strong grasp of suspense, and all three sympathize deeply with their heroes, who slowly journey into validated paranoia. They scoff, they study, they doubt, they listen, and they establish that, yes, everyone is actually out to get them. The Invasion limits much of that development to a contrived montage, heavy on flashbacks, that explains the plot to Kidman. Who needs intuition when you have frantic film editors? She's filled in on other details by nameless secondary characters who get rounded up by the body-snatched as soon as they've delivered their exposition.

Much of the film relies on discordant editing. Sometimes this seems purposeful, as during an abrupt subway chase. Its jarring cuts, skipping forward and backward in time, nicely suggest a mind pulled in multiple directions. The rest of the time, the editing hints at the film's troubled production. Director Oliver Hirschbiegel, most famous for his Hitler bio-pic Downfall, was eventually replaced by James McTiegue and the Wachowski siblings, who were brought on to juice up the film with special effects and action. The switch makes some sense, given that the trio's V For Vendetta melded satire, drama, and action to relative success, but The Invasion isn't a film that cries out for action. A late film car chase is notable less for its intensity, more for how Kidman and her son manage to survive despite crashing into every single free-standing structure in DC, up to and including conservative senator Saxby Chambliss.*

Although it might seem glib and "criticky" to call a body snatcher movie "soulless," there are few better adjectives to throw at this film's dull execution of promising notions. Weirdly, the film's central question - whether or not a brainwashed pacifism is ethically superior to free will's violence - came up in the last review I wrote, for the fourth season of Angel. The difference is that Angel, no matter its flaws, always carries a weary humanism, a perspective that helps to shape its drama into more than just a rubric. The Invasion never finds the time to establish an emotional baseline. It's too busy adhering to the mechanics of its story. Before the alien viruses even arrive, scenes feel predictable, dialogue lands with a thud. The film functions with the cold emptiness of its infected doppelgangers.

RATING: C

*: Sadly, this is not true. Senator Saxby Chambliss was unable to commit to a cameo.

[Robby P]

Hey horror fans, there's just a little over a month left of the year, so my recommendations for the worthiest new horror releases of 2012 are:

The Tall Man
The Innkeepers
The Road
Kill List
Entrance
The Pact
Penumbra

All of these besides Kill List are available on Netflix Instant btw.

Awesome, thanks for the heads up. I did catch The Innkeepers recently which was quite good if a bit of a step down from House of the Devil.

[Spun Lepton]

Stakeland isn't terrible, but it isn't very good, either. Basically replace running zombies with feral vampires. Annoying narration. Characters make mind-boggling decisions. Cloying soundtrack. Melodrama out the wazoo. Do not recommend.

4/10

[megladon8]

Stakeland isn't terrible, but it isn't very good, either. Basically replace running zombies with feral vampires. Annoying narration. Characters make mind-boggling decisions. Cloying soundtrack. Melodrama out the wazoo. Do not recommend.

4/10


Thank you.

[Dukefrukem]

40% is a "terrible" grade.

[Scar]

40% is a "terrible" grade.

On your scale, yes.

[Dukefrukem]

On your scale, yes.

I meant to say "40% is a terrible grade"?

Whats worse than "terrible"? There's 1/10 2/10 and 3/10 and if you have a 100 scale there's even more levels in between.

[Scar]

I meant to say "40% is a terrible grade"?

Whats worse than "terrible"? There's 1/10 2/10 and 3/10 and if you have a 100 scale there's even more levels in between.

Knowing Spun, i'd say it goes something like this:

4: Not terrible
3: Terrible
2: Why am I watching this shit? Boobies?
1: MY EYES, DEAR GOD, MY EYES! SHUT THIS FUCKING SHIT OFF!

EDIT: FYI, I meant 40%, 30%, 20%, 10%.

[Dukefrukem]

We should have a thread where everyone posts their scale for reference.

[Spun Lepton]

10 -- Favorite
9 -- Superior
8 -- Excellent
7 -- Good -- Worth theater admission.
6 -- Decent -- Worth rental.
5 -- Mediocre
4 -- Bad
3 -- Very Bad
2 -- Terrible
1 -- Avoid At All Costs

[Dead & Messed Up]

A = Superior
B = Good
C = Middling
D = Bad
F = Awful

Apply plus or minus signs at your own discretion.

[Scar]

In case there was any confusion, I meant 40%, 30%, 20%, 10%.

[MadMan]

Not this again :|

IFC keeps showing DeepStar Six. I'll DVR it. Can't be any worse than Leviathan. Also why the hell was 1989 so obsessed with underwater movies? You also had according to Wikipedia The Abyss, DeepStar Six, The Evil Below, Lords of the Deep, and The Rift (Endless Descent). Weird.

[Dukefrukem]

Not this again :|

IFC keeps showing DeepStar Six. I'll DVR it. Can't be any worse than Leviathan. Also why the hell was 1989 so obsessed with underwater movies? You also had according to Wikipedia The Abyss, DeepStar Six, The Evil Below, Lords of the Deep, and The Rift (Endless Descent). Weird.

The same reason why we are being overrun with Sci-fi movies lately. The same reason why we saw Dante's Peak and Volcano in the same year. ANd Armageddon and Deep Impact in the same year. And a slew of R-rated comedies.

And i've said it before.

Leviathan > DeepStar Six (by a half a star)

[Dead & Messed Up]

Boy howdy did I not like that Entrance film. There are maybe two brief scenes of interest preceding the admittedly tense climax, and while the climax is good, it is utterly arbitrary. It took me a little while to realize that this can fall under that "mumblecore" label that's somehow convinced a generation of young filmmakers that human beings never say anything interesting, do anything interesting, or deserve to be filmed with anything resembling skill.

[Dead & Messed Up]

I admit, I might have some bias against the flick, because I live in LA, and this reeks of that awful "Hey, our hipster lives are interesting, let's film that" mentality.

[Pop Trash]

I admit, I might have some bias against the flick, because I live in LA, and this reeks of that awful "Hey, our hipster lives are interesting, let's film that" mentality.

Yuck. I know what you mean. Bay Area is the same way (as is NYC I presume.)

P.S. I might PM you in the near future about the best LA neighborhoods for my budget

[Rowland]

I admit, I might have some bias against the flick, because I live in LA, and this reeks of that awful "Hey, our hipster lives are interesting, let's film that" mentality.But isn't the film about the lead character's developing dissatisfaction with the banal grind of her lifestyle? If anything, the film agrees with you that her life isn't interesting, think of it in terms of Akerman's Jeanne Dielman perhaps, with all the Polanski-like paranoia business gradually creeping in until it turns straight-up slasher nightmare in the final act. She wants to escape, the city won't let her.

[Dead & Messed Up]

But isn't the film about the lead character's developing dissatisfaction with the banal grind of her lifestyle?

Well sure, but that doesn't mean the film itself needs to be a banal grind.

[Dead & Messed Up]

The Pact was pretty dern cool. Very traditional in its construction, but successful all the same. Nicolas McCarthy deserves credit for making so many scenes function wordlessly, especially in the latter half of the story, when characters basically turn their gaze from one sepia-toned plot point to the other. Reminds me of The Eclipse, which similarly told a traditional ghost story with refreshing restraint and focus and precision.

Cool beans.

Working through your recs, Rowland. Next up is either The Road or Penumbra.

[Rowland]

Cool, I'm relieved to see that The Pact was more to your liking, and that you didn't simply give up on my recommendations after Entrance. Between those next two you are considering, I'd encourage you to go with The Road if you think you may not get around to both, though Penumbra is worthy as well, both by very talented genre filmmakers who deserve more exposure. When people complain about the dire state of the genre, I sometimes suspect that much of that simply has to do with the good stuff getting lost within the endless shuffle of crap and low expectations.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Cool, I'm relieved to see that The Pact was more to your liking, and that you didn't simply give up on my recommendations after Entrance. Between those next two you are considering, I'd encourage you to go with The Road if you think you may not get around to both, though Penumbra is worthy as well, both by very talented genre filmmakers who deserve more exposure. When people complain about the dire state of the genre, I sometimes suspect that much of that simply has to do with the good stuff getting lost within the endless shuffle of crap and low expectations.

For sure. You have to sift, but there's always plenty of worthwhile stuff.

[Dead & Messed Up]

The Road was about the same quality as The Pact. Maybe a bit better. More inventive in its structure, with a better sense of emotion, but it also slows as it goes, with some seriously good scarecraft in the opening third giving way to progressively ruminative story as it threads back through time. The family drama that leads to the supernatural events reminded me of A Tale of Two Sisters, mostly in terms of its quiet tone and confidence of story. The twist at the end felt predictable, mostly due to the Law of Economy of Characters, but it's nevertheless a nice cap on the events. The cinematography here is frequently stunning.

Sidebar: I don't know if this is common to the Filipino language, but there are many times when characters are essentially speaking "Filipinglish." Not a significant issue. Just a little odd (and occasionally a little funny).

Good call, Rowland.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Kill List was pretty fantastic. Not what I was expecting at all.

I thought it was gonna go in a

torture direction, once the heroes see what I assumed to be a snuff or snuff-like film

but then it says, "Nope, wrong," and

goes in that horrific Wicker Man direction.

I'm not entirely clear on how aware certain characters were of certain things, and how some of their reactions came off, but the flick's so carefully built upon without sacrificing the shocks of the final act.

[Spun Lepton]

gVzOve8T39w

Christopher Lee is ninety years old, btw.

http://dailydead.com/listen-to-christopher-lees-heavy-metal-christmas-songs/

OMFG. Coolest grandfather EVER. Wow!

[Dead & Messed Up]

So what were everybody's favorite horror flicks this year?

I posted some bloggery about it earlier today, but here's my unsupported listery.

1. Kill List
2. The Cabin in the Woods
3. The Innkeepers
4. The Road
5. The Tall Man
6. The Hole
7. The Woman in Black
8. The Pact
9. The Possession
10. Penumbra
11. Resident Evil: Retribution
12. Beyond the Black Rainbow
13. The Devil's Carnival
14. Prometheus
15. Entrance

I know I widened the genre a bit, but come on. Movie lists.

[Rowland]

So what were everybody's favorite horror flicks this year?

I posted some bloggery about it earlier today, but here's my unsupported listery.

1. Kill List
2. The Cabin in the Woods
3. The Innkeepers
4. The Road
5. The Tall Man
6. The Hole
7. The Woman in Black
8. The Pact
9. The Possession
10. Penumbra
11. Resident Evil: Retribution
12. Beyond the Black Rainbow
13. The Devil's Carnival
14. Prometheus
15. EntranceEntrance at the bottom, Kill List at the top (!), and a bunch of others I recommended filling out the list, I dig it. Your write-ups are fair and thoughtful, good work. I turned on The Devil's Carnival while falling asleep one night, made it through about ten minutes, never gave it a second look.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Entrance at the bottom, Kill List at the top (!), and a bunch of others I recommended filling out the list, I dig it. Your write-ups are fair and thoughtful, good work. I turned on The Devil's Carnival while falling asleep one night, made it through about ten minutes, never gave it a second look.

Thanks man...I don't think it's necessary to go back to Devil's Carnival. And thanks again for those recommendations. Never expected a Filipino horror-drama to be towards the top.

[megladon8]

Aussie flick The Tunnel was a good little surprise.

It's yet another found footage horror, but with the added "twist" of it all being presented as a news documentary complete with interviews, screen annotations and the like.

The film's (lack of) budget almost did it some favors, as I felt that the filmmakers were constantly fighting the urge to show the creature in full detail but couldn't, and this ended up helping keep the tension in the film's more frightening scenes.

A few scares were telegraphed and the lead actress' performance felt a little forced (especially during the interview sequences) but the movie was effectively frightening and had enough good for me to give it a yay.

[megladon8]

I'm thinking Jen and I might watch V/H/S tonight.

[bac0n]

Upon second viewing of Cabin in the Woods, I fear I need to upgrade my previous rating from five stars, to six.

Carry on.

[Scar]

Upon second viewing of Cabin in the Woods, I fear I need to upgrade my previous rating from five stars, to six.

Carry on.

Out of a possible four, correct?

[bac0n]

Out of a possible four, correct?

Yup!

[Dead & Messed Up]

Upon second viewing of Cabin in the Woods, I fear I need to upgrade my previous rating from five stars, to six.

Carry on.

You're opinioning correctly.

[Rowland]

The Boxer's Omen, holy shit. The only reason my grade isn't higher is because it kinda peaks around the halfway point, but still, holy shit. I'd love to see a blu-ray release mastered from the only known 35mm print.

[Scar]

Seriously considering hanging a nice, well worn cricket bat over the fireplace. That room is movie themed....

[Grouchy]

Has anyone seen Incubus? It's a movie about Devil worshipping and such directed by Outer Limits creator Leslie Stevens, starring William Shatner... The other catch is that it's one of only two films made in history in the made-up language, esperanto. Really, seeing Shatner and the rest of the cast spit out their lines in esperanto is very entertaining and almost makes you wish there had been more attempts to do this. The film itself is quite good, too. It's like if Ingmar Bergman had directed a B-movie. Cinematography by Conrad Hall is excellent at times and really weird and obviously "composed" at others.

Also saw the original Godzilla by Ishiro Honda. Good times.

[Dukefrukem]

Has anyone seen Incubus? It's a movie about Devil worshipping and such directed by Outer Limits creator Leslie Stevens, starring William Shatner... The other catch is that it's one of only two films made in history in the made-up language, esperanto. Really, seeing Shatner and the rest of the cast spit out their lines in esperanto is very entertaining and almost makes you wish there had been more attempts to do this. The film itself is quite good, too. It's like if Ingmar Bergman had directed a B-movie. Cinematography by Conrad Hall is excellent at times and really weird and obviously "composed" at others.

Also saw the original Godzilla by Ishiro Honda. Good times.

Heh, is that the movie that was playing on Tom Hank's TV in the Burbs?

[Grouchy]

Heh, is that the movie that was playing on Tom Hank's TV in the Burbs?
No, apparently that's called The Devil's Rain according to IMDb, and it has quite a cast apart from Shatner.

The movie I'm talking about was considered lost for a long time. Almost inmediately after release (and failure) a laboratory mistakenly destroyed all copies. A copy with burned-in French subtitles was found in 2001 and that's what I (and everybody else who has seen this) downloaded.

[MadMan]

I'd love to see a new modern horror series that isn't Paranormal Activity or Saw. We haven't had a new one in a while.

[Spun Lepton]

Bava's Kill Baby, Kill. Wow. Fantastic. Exceptional storytelling, sumpuous lighting and composition, solid acting. A few lines were corny and some of his flourishes were outdated (the cat screeching), but it was never not engaging. I actually felt scared for the characters. Damn, Bava, you loved the horror genre, and it really shows.

This was my third attempt to watch it. First, I had a snobby roommate to deal with; one who disapproved of the horror genre. Asshole. Second, I dunno, I guess I was too tired. Foolish, foolish me.

[Rowland]

Bava's Kill Baby, Kill. Wow. Fantastic. Exceptional storytelling, sumpuous lighting and composition, solid acting. A few lines were corny and some of his flourishes were outdated (the cat screeching), but it was never not engaging. I actually felt scared for the characters. Damn, Bava, you loved the horror genre, and it really shows.

This was my third attempt to watch it. First, I had a snobby roommate to deal with; one who disapproved of the horror genre. Asshole. Second, I dunno, I guess I was too tired. Foolish, foolish me.I hope you didn't watch this streaming on Netflix, it looks like a rip of those shitty VHS tapes we horror fans had to deal with back in the day.

[MadMan]

Heh I viewed Kill Baby, Kill! on my local community college cable channel. The print they aired was indeed really ancient. Good movie, but I feel that Bava has made better.

[Rowland]

Heh I viewed Kill Baby, Kill! on my local community college cable channel. The print they aired was indeed really ancient. Good movie, but I feel that Bava has made better.A great deal of the pleasure to be derived from the film is due to its style, so some faded, blurry, reformatted image will deeply cripple its ability to cast a spell.

[Spun Lepton]

I hope you didn't watch this streaming on Netflix, it looks like a rip of those shitty VHS tapes we horror fans had to deal with back in the day.

It was the Netflix version. It still looked damn good.

[MadMan]

A great deal of the pleasure to be derived from the film is due to its style, so some faded, blurry, reformatted image will deeply cripple its ability to cast a spell.Which is why I've admitted that its due for me to see a better copy. Especially now that I have a far better grasp of Bava's style, too.

[megladon8]

Bava was something else.

The two Anchor Bay boxed sets of his work are some of my most treasured DVDs.

The first Bava I ever saw was Black Sunday and it was a revelation.

[Winston*]

Saw a double feature of The Thing and An American Werewolf in London at the cinema tonight. Pretty convincing argument for the benefits of practical effects.

Hadn't seen The Thing in years. Didn't remember how many little elegiac moments there are in this movie where an upside down head grows spider-legs. Outstanding film. The production design of Jenny Agutter's apartment in An American Werewolf in London is the best.

[Rowland]

Oohh cool, I just discovered that Ticks was recently released on Blu-ray. Anyone else a fan? As an adolescent, that and Mosquito were two of my favorite shlocky creature features that replayed endlessly on cable. Speaking of which, I want Mosquito on Blu-ray. Or a worn-out VHS tape.

[MadMan]

Oohh cool, I just discovered that Ticks was recently released on Blu-ray. Anyone else a fan? As an adolescent, that and Mosquito were two of my favorite shlocky creature features that replayed endlessly on cable. Speaking of which, I want Mosquito on Blu-ray. Or a worn-out VHS tape.Hah I remember both of those movies. Sci-Fi channel before it became SyFy used to show both of them a lot. Mosquito was hilariously awful.

[Rowland]

zZzfVcLh5OM

[Dukefrukem]

I bought that movie.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Posted some bloggery on Son of Frankenstein. It's mostly about the style of the flick, less about the whole package.

I liked the movie, but it felt like such a small movie, after Whale's twin masterpieces. Maybe it's just me being simplistic, but I wanted something more like the other two. Instead, Lugosi's Ygor becomes such a dominant part of the drama, and the Monster regresses after gaining language and a perspective in the previous film.

[Spun Lepton]

Am I considering doing another month-long Netflix horror movie marathon? I think I am.

I must really hate myself.

[Irish]

I must really hate myself.

What, did they make "Monster Brawl 2" or whatever? ;)

[Spun Lepton]

What, did they make "Monster Brawl 2" or whatever? ;)

Egads, I hope there was nobody foolish enough to fund that.

[MadMan]

Good luck Spun. I'm still recovering from my Horrorfest last year...

[Dead & Messed Up]

Cannibal Holocaust.

That was certainly a movie.

Can't say that wasn't a movie.

:|

[Dukefrukem]

Awful awful excuse for a movie.

[Spun Lepton]

Cannibal Holocaust.

That was certainly a movie.

Can't say that wasn't a movie.

:|

Yep. A garbage movie.

[Dead & Messed Up]

I liked it for a while, with the whole documentary/found footage angle well-conceived, and the jungle environs carrying some of the same mojo as a film like Aguirre, but the second half got cheap in a hurry. The little attempts at moralizing were embarrassing.

[Grouchy]

Seriously? You guys don't like Cannibal Holocaust?

I thought it was excellent. Smartest exploitation flick I've ever seen.

[Dead & Messed Up]

I think the flick would've worked a lot better if the younger crew descended into terrible behavior instead of being terrible people almost immediately. I also felt very uncomfortable about the number of animal deaths displayed - I understand the purpose, but I don't think it was as necessary as Deodato seems to think it was. I didn't hate the flick. I'd say that its first hour or so is intermittently frustrating but compelling all the same.

The fake-documentary angle is creative and obviously a watershed for its time, but given that I've seen so many of those films lately, it's hard to feel the meta-shock I might've felt if it was 1980, and I was seeing this in a theater with no idea of what was to come. Some great ideas, some decent execution, but the film collapses under its zeal for exploitation. Who are the savages? Pretty clear it's the people who made the movie.

[Spun Lepton]

Seriously? You guys don't like Cannibal Holocaust?

I thought it was excellent. Smartest exploitation flick I've ever seen.

DaMU's explanation hits it right on the head.

[MadMan]

These responses make me want to see Cannibal Holocaust. At the same time the heavily negative responses that I Spit On Your Grave (197whatever) made me want to view that, and I regretted it instantly. Still curiosity must be satisfied, and I'm always looking out for controversial movies.

[Grouchy]

I think the flick would've worked a lot better if the younger crew descended into terrible behavior instead of being terrible people almost immediately.
I don't think that would have been believable - guys going from innocent European students/victims to the kind of sadistic infamy they engage in. I just can't imagine what would "turn" them that well. I found it clever how Deodato first produced a scenario where we thought they'd been abducted by savage to later discovering they were the perpetrators. Don't forget that they're white Europeans killing Indians. There's a message there.


I also felt very uncomfortable about the number of animal deaths displayed - I understand the purpose, but I don't think it was as necessary as Deodato seems to think it was. I didn't hate the flick.
This goes without saying. I don't think it was necessary either, specially considering how convincing the special effects in human murder scenes were. So convincing that they landed Deodato in jail for a while as a suspect of murder.


The fake-documentary angle is creative and obviously a watershed for its time, but given that I've seen so many of those films lately, it's hard to feel the meta-shock I might've felt if it was 1980, and I was seeing this in a theater with no idea of what was to come.
I think it's a film that's incredibly ahead of its time for this very reason. That only makes me respect it more.

Besides, the music in the opening credits is just fucking heavenly:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kf1Vt6r-sj8

[Mr. Pink]

Not liking Cannibal Holocaust is understandable enough. It's hard to defend something like that or Last House on the Left, since they're not exactly designed to please the masses, but I liked Holocaust quite a bit. I thought it was a pretty effective little exercise in brutality, but I can't get behind the animal stuff, either.

A little while after watching it, I saw a guy wearing a Cannibal Holocaust shirt and commented on it. He lifted his shirt sleeve and showed off his tattoo with the classic victim on a spike on his bicep. That's fuckin' hardcore.

I mean, I liked the movie, but holy shit.

[megladon8]

A testament to how mediocre it is, the highest compliment I can come up with for Predators is..."eh, it coulda been a lot worse."

It's leaps and bounds ahead of the AvP movies (not saying much, I know), but comes nowhere near the classic status of the first film.

Still, though, I find it compulsively watchable, and finding it for $5 in a bin at Wal Mart was a pretty good deal, since I will surely watch it again.

[MadMan]

I dug Predators quite a bit, but I still only gave it an 81/100. I would love if they made a sequel, but I'm not sure if that will happen.

Oh and I'm covering my Top 20 Horror Films of the 2000s list with commentary on my blog starting here: http://madman731.wordpress.com/2013/03/08/top-20-horror-films-of-the-2000s/

I'm currently only on 18 after doing two entries, though.

[Scar]

Well, now I can say I've seen Cannibal Holocaust.
​That certainly was a waste of my time.

[Kurious Jorge v3.1]

http://s17.postimg.org/yuejl093z/882879_10200923169670284_62173 3576_o.jpg (http://postimage.org/)

does anybody know what film this is from?

[Rowland]

does anybody know what film this is from?I believe that is the best scene from Samsara.

[Kurious Jorge v3.1]

I believe that is the best scene from Samsara.

oh wow! thought it would definitely be from a horror film. thanks i need to check Samsara out for sure.

[Rowland]

oh wow! thought it would definitely be from a horror film. thanks i need to check Samsara out for sure.I wasn't a fan myself, but that scene is something else.

[Kurious Jorge v3.1]

I wasn't a fan myself, but that scene is something else.

I had to watch it last night after finding out what that image was from. That artist is something else, I can't believe his work and name escaped me for so long. I googled his name and his sculptures are incredible. I loved all of Samsara but that segment is definitely the standout.

[Morris Schæffer]

http://www.empireonline.com/images/image_index/hw800/69905.jpg

http://www.empireonline.com/images/image_index/hw800/69904.jpg

Epic encounters

[Dukefrukem]

Carpenter looks so old. Kurt looks good though. He needs to come back to film.

[megladon8]

John Carpenter is one of those guys who has looked 20 years older than he is his whole life.

I will eternally be jealous of Kurt Russell's hair. He's had incredible hair forever.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Seriously. Kurt Russell was easily the best part of the Grindhouse feature. Incredible work. Someone needs to give him one more iconic genre role.

[megladon8]

Jen and I have been having a bit of a Bava-fest the last few days.

Started with Kill, Baby...Kill! which I we greatly enjoyed.

Tried to watch Bay of Blood last night but the volume is really wonky on the DVD, and it has no subs. So we chose to watch it another time when we weren't afraid to wake people up.

Watched Black Sunday instead, which is still pretty much the definitive Gothic horror. Incredible stuff.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Posted a review of Cannibal Holocaust on my blog. Took me a while to figure out how to say what I wanted to say. It's a frustrating flick. Re-posted in full for convenience.

The jungle in the film is darkly thrilling. The riverside canopies and low mists evoke memories of Aguirre the Wrath of God and Apocalypse Now, films that used their primal environments as pressure cookers for burgeoning insanity. In this jungle, somewhere between warring cannibal tribes, film canisters lie in wait. American filmmakers were documenting the tribes, and then, without a single word, they vanished. Did they drown in the river? Were they pulled away from the campfire by slouching predators? Or were they merely eaten alive by savages? The troubling footage inside those film canisters hold the answer to the mystery of the infamous and outrageous Cannibal Holocaust.

The film's first half is promising; it focuses on Harold Munroe (Robert Kerman), an anthropologist searching the Amazon for any sign of the missing filmmakers. Although his scenes rarely amount to more than travelogue, the innate mystery of the jungle takes hold, and Munroe's a sympathetic, determined fellow, the kind of man willing to skinny-dip his way into tribal acceptance. As he takes off his clothes and joins tribeswomen in the river, director Ruggero Deodato displays a calm reverence for nudity. The naked form is man's natural state, and in the film's primitive surroundings, there's a rapturous quality to the scene, as Munroe baptizes himself in the river among joyful, chittering natives.

However, Munroe inevitably tracks down the film canisters, and the promising story, which suggests a more thoughtful, almost spiritual look at the state of nature, gives way to violence. The reveal of how the film crew actually died will come as a surprise to few, but what frustrates isn't the predictability of the story's surprises, but that those surprises are so poorly developed. Yes, the documentary crew met their end thanks to a streak of Ugly Americanism and cruelty, but there's no lead-in. Almost immediately upon their arrival, the youthful four-person crew indulges in the worst possible sins of humanity. They pillage, they rape, they murder, and, weirdly, they smile through it all.

Cannibal Holocaust wants to equivocate, to suggest that the "civilized" vistors are just as ruthless and violent as the (fictionalized) tribespeople. Toward the end of the film, Munroe distantly ponders, "I wonder who the real cannibals are?" The problem is that the film crew plunges so readily into volatile behavior that their actions speak less to some sort of universal bedrock savagery than the dramatic needs of this specific story. The film would feel more convincing as a judgment if the crew slowly declined into moral disrepair. The viewers would be more likely to identify and empathize and witness the downward steps civilized people could take. A descent would make clearer our own connection to the state of nature and witness how social norms break down. Instead, the crew come across as psychopaths, which makes it too easy to wave one's hands and say, "That's not us."

Deodato's pursuit of the state of nature also extends to his on-screen murder of animals. Ironically, the longest scene of violence in a movie filled with cannibalism and sexual violation is the film crew's murder of a turtle. They hack the neck with a machete, rip apart the shell, fleshy lining pulling apart. They dip their hands into the gristle and guts, turning it over, white and grey on red, and after enough time, the scene ceases to feel like a depiction of primal necessity. It becomes a studied effort in envelope-pushing, excess masked by the presumption of profundity. This extends to the final quarter of the film, where scenes of unrelieved cruelty occasionally cut away to theater-goers squirming in their seats, as though this context absolves the gruesomeness on display.

Context seems to be everything, it seems, as Cannibal Holocaust is as much about the legacy as the film as the story itself. Deodato's found-footage conceit was the first of its kind in the horror genre, a masterstroke that provides the film with structure and novelty and a rugged realism. That realism resulted in Italian authorities arresting him on obscenity charges. He eventually convinced them he was not a murderer by inviting the cast into the courtroom. These side-stories grant Cannibal Holocaust undeniable notoriety, a forceful insistence. The film is unavoidable for committed horror fans, who seek it out like a classical hero in search of the next threshold guardian. Is the film worth viewing? At this point, it's too totemic to ignore.

I do resist the idea that it's a good film, as far as the word good is useful, because I believe a film should not be dishonest, and Cannibal Holocaust feels dishonest, a lurid exploitation film wearing an easy mask of social critique. Munroe reveals the final reels of footage, in all their dubious glory, only as a way to prevent studio heads from airing the footage as a crass documentary. This, he claims, should shame you, and the implication is that Deodato wants to castigate those who would thrill in such perversity, even as he eagerly creates cannibal tribes, extended rape scenes, and genuine animal deaths. There are terrible events out there that the media shamelessly sensationalizes, and this film can't wait to show you how crazy they are.

RATING: C+

[MadMan]

Seriously. Kurt Russell was easily the best part of the Grindhouse feature. Incredible work. Someone needs to give him one more iconic genre role.I still fondly recall him channeling John Wayne in the scene with Butterfly in Death Proof. He was fantastic in that movie, and he's always been one of my favorite actors.

Also those photos are awesome. Reminds me of how hilarious and great Carpenter and Russell's commentary on my SE copy of The Thing (1982) really is. Too bad their last movie together sucked.

[Scar]

Also those photos are awesome. Reminds me of how hilarious and great Carpenter and Russell's commentary on my SE copy of The Thing (1982) really is. Too bad their last movie together sucked.

Escape from LA?

Love that flick.

[Dukefrukem]

For some reason, I had never seen Death Proof. Watched it last night and it's amazing. I've seen Planet Terror, but I don't know how I've gone so long without DP. Wow. The dialog is just.. well... perfect.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Yeah, Escape From LA is a blast.

[Grouchy]

Thirded. Escape from LA is brilliant.

[MadMan]

For some reason, I had never seen Death Proof. Watched it last night and it's amazing. I've seen Planet Terror, but I don't know how I've gone so long without DP. Wow. The dialog is just.. well... perfect.I still prefer DP over PT. However both are really fun, entertaining movies. I'm glad I saw the Grindhouse feature with the trailers included in theaters twice.

And I must have seen a different movie than the rest of your guys, because I did not like Escape From LA. A much better "Man becoming myth/larger than life" sequel than it is Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, which doesn't suck and is way more entertaining, too. Not to mention Army of Darkness....