For me its currently (and all of these are just the ones I've viewed):
1. Halloween
2. The Thing
3. Assault on Precinct 13
4. In The Mouth of Madness
5. Escape From New York
6. Big Trouble in Little China
7. Price of Darkness
8. They Live
9. The Fog
For me its currently (and all of these are just the ones I've viewed):
1. Halloween
2. The Thing
3. Assault on Precinct 13
4. In The Mouth of Madness
5. Escape From New York
6. Big Trouble in Little China
7. Price of Darkness
8. They Live
9. The Fog
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And everybody wants to be special here
They call your name out loud and clear
Here comes a regular
Call out your name
Here comes a regular
Am I the only one here today?
Crazy. But then, I seem to be alone around these parts for finding this episode really mediocre.Quoting megladon8 (view post)
Letterboxd rating scale:
The Long Riders (Hill) ***
Furious 7 (Wan) **½
Hard Times (Hill) ****½
Another 48 Hrs. (Hill) ***
/48 Hrs./ (Hill) ***½
The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec (Besson) ***
/Unknown/ (Collet-Serra) ***½
Animal (Simmons) **
That's next on my list.
Anyone know where you can see the Ward? Did that get a limited release?
1. Assault on Precinct 13
2. The Thing
3. Prince of Darkness
4. Halloween
5. They Live
6. In the Mouth of Madness
7. Starman
8. Big Trouble in Little China
9. Escape from L.A.
10. Vampires
11. Dark Star
12. The Fog
13. Escape from New York
14. Masters of Horror: Cigarette Burns
15. Village of the Damned
16. Ghosts of Mars
17. Masters of Horror: Pro-Life
Only the last three are bad. A lot of mediocre stuff though, but at his best in the 70s and 80s, damn he was awesome.
I desperately need to see Christine. I know multiple people who consider it his best film.
Recently Viewed:
Thor: The Dark World (2013) **½
The Counselor (2013) *½
Walden (1969) ***
A Hijacking (2012) ***½
Before Midnight (2013) ***
Films By Year
Christine is definitely one of his best.
I am a bit surprised that you think L.A. is the better of the two Escape from films.
He's not the only one who prefers L.A. to N.Y.
“What we are dealing with here is a perfect engine, er... an eating machine. It's really a miracle of evolution. All this machine does is swim and eat and make little sharks and that's all.”
Relative to the average quality of Masters of Horror episodes, it's top drawer. It has to be the most sophisticated of the bunch (possible exception of Miike's). I thought there was quite a bit of Carpenter elegance in there, amidst the MoH cheese and geek.
I'm always interested in what people think of Christine. It's an odd duck film in his career and I always have trouble placing it. I like it a lot, and place it towards the top whenever I feel dry and ironic is more valuable than brooding and passionate.
Really didn't find much to love about Vampires, so if someone can help me with that. Ghosts of Mars and Escape from L.A., though, are so awesome in their own way.
The Act of Killing (Oppenheimer 13) - A
Stranger by the Lake (Giraudie 12) - B
American Hustle (Russell 13) - C+
The Wolf of Wall Street (Scorsese 13) - C+
Passion (De Palma 12) - B
To the Devil...a Daughter, the last horror film to come out of the legendary Hammer studios during its "golden era" (this was released in 1976), was quite disappointing.
The first third made it seem like it could be a chilling film about Satanism and kind of an antithesis to The Devil Rides Out. But then it just plods along, quite boring and uneventful until the final 20 minutes or so when all of the chasing and confrontation occurs, followed by one of the most anti-climactic endings I've seen in a while.
Richard Widmark really seemed to just go through the motions here. He didn't do much at all with the role. And neither did Christopher Lee, which I found particularly surprising when reading about how it's apparently "his most chilling performance".
The infamous underage nudity of Nastassja Kinski also seemed kind of harmless, particularly when compared to other content in the film which I would have deemed much more potentially offensive. There's a fairly graphic orgy scene, as well as a dream sequence in which Kinski moans with pleasure as a blood-soaked demon baby crawls up inside her.
It really was the anti-climactic ending that killed it, though. It just...ends. It was building to a colossal confrontation between Widmark and Lee, but that never happens.
Very disappointing.
"All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"
"Rick...it's a flamethrower."
Took me a while to remember I saw this one, and just this year. That says something. But I thought it wasn't bad, although yes, the climax/showdown really really sucked.
The Act of Killing (Oppenheimer 13) - A
Stranger by the Lake (Giraudie 12) - B
American Hustle (Russell 13) - C+
The Wolf of Wall Street (Scorsese 13) - C+
Passion (De Palma 12) - B
Finally got around to the original Last House on the Left today and I thought it was great. It wasn't anything like what I was expecting. I wasn't prepared for all the humor and unusual musical selections. I wasn't expecting something so skillfully shot and surpisingly well acted. I wasn't ready for something so smart. Chock another one up for Robin Wood, one of its most passionate defenders.
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It's like, how much more black could this be? And the answer is none. None more black.
I never knew your average, garden-variety rock was so good for dispelling the forces of darkness.
"All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"
"Rick...it's a flamethrower."
Hammer's The Revenge of Frankenstein is the direct sequel to the original, The Curse of Frankenstein, and because of some weird copyright disputes is only available in a one-off DVD by Columbia.
And wow, it's really good. Really really good. Even better than the first one, methinks.
Rather than there being a grotesque monster, the "creature" is actually just a regular looking guy with a few scars from the surgery. But the tragedy inherent to his character is really well written and carried out.
The whole film is incredibly well written, and I like that they didn't try to overwrite some explanation regarding how this film is possible after the ending of the first.
Very good stuff, and a very pleasant surprise.
"All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"
"Rick...it's a flamethrower."
Weren't you going to make a Hammer thread a while back?
Eh...don't know that there's really enough interest.
I already have one thread that only I post in anyways.
I think a Hammer thread would garner more interest in a strictly horror related forum.
"All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"
"Rick...it's a flamethrower."
I suppose you're right. I've just noticed that you post thoughts about Hammer movies a lot, so wouldn't it be neat to slap a few pictures with these thoughts and index them somewhere?
Yeah, it's very blatantly ironical and flamboyant. Of course pretentiousness doesn't mean that it's not stupid, but I'm with you and am always surprised by how many people find the movie worthless (not to say I can't conceive how the film conceivably is an often stupid-seeming film... although I for one can't help but think back on the chicken stuff fondly).
I couldn't get over that crappy saturation/coloration effect they employed. The Dunwich Horror does a similar psychadelic thing to represent evil forces and it similarly fails horribly.
The Act of Killing (Oppenheimer 13) - A
Stranger by the Lake (Giraudie 12) - B
American Hustle (Russell 13) - C+
The Wolf of Wall Street (Scorsese 13) - C+
Passion (De Palma 12) - B
Picnic at Hanging Rock is a really beautiful, enticing, profound-minded movie. It's problems are a lot like Session 9's, though, a similar-in-kind "thoughtful horror movie," in that its horror movie affects are just a bit too concocted and overwrought, such that whenever it tries to increase your pulse or creep you out, it begins to border on hoary. And there's a surprising amount of chintziness in Picnic at Hanging Rock. Still, a film to appreciate for its half of beautiful subtleties.
The Act of Killing (Oppenheimer 13) - A
Stranger by the Lake (Giraudie 12) - B
American Hustle (Russell 13) - C+
The Wolf of Wall Street (Scorsese 13) - C+
Passion (De Palma 12) - B
The Gorgon is quite a good Hammer offering, with an interesting battle of science vs. religion at the forefront, and two of Cushing and Lee's less typical characters and performances.
As with most Hammer films it's a bit of a slow burn, where we have the initial horror at the beginning, followed by an hour of build up and then 15-20 minutes of horror to finish the film.
This happens to be a pattern I really like. It worked especially well here, as we never really see the monster until the final few minutes. Up until then we always see her in shadow or muddled reflection. It gave a great, eerie feel to her presence.
It's also a lush, beautifully colourful movie.
Highly recommended!
"All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"
"Rick...it's a flamethrower."
TCM showed that movie one time, but I had to go to class so I wasn't able to watch it. Anything with Cushing and Lee together can't be all bad. Most of the time, those movies are awesome.
Right now I'm watching Fuci's The Beyond on TCM. This movie has laugh inducing moments, bad FX even by cheap low budget standards, and scenes that don't make any goddamn sense. Much of it, title sequence included, feels as if he's trying really hard to rip off Argento while failing miserably. I've viewed far worse horror movies, but the sad thing is that it doesn't even succeed at being bad, just really mediocre/boring awful. Regardless, I feel that I should see it all the way through-I've gotten this far.
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And everybody wants to be special here
They call your name out loud and clear
Here comes a regular
Call out your name
Here comes a regular
Am I the only one here today?
Saw the sequel to Hatchet. More of the same, and wont convert anyone who didn't like the original, but I enjoyed it for what it was. Tony Todd gets a more prominent role, and the little girl from Halloween 4 & 5 takes over the lead actress position. It's borderline, but it's high-energy, quick pacing and loads of gore ultimately win me over, much like the original.
All I can say to this is there's a reason why it was airing on a channel with "classic movies" in the title.
The Beyond is anything but mediocre. It revels in its badness, and it's awesome in that respect. Extremely entertaining, IMO. The dialogue is almost constantly cheesy-bad, with lines like, "The eyes! EYES! (*gasp choke*) Eyes ..." and "You have carte blanche, but not a blank check!" The gore is over-the-top, sometimes well-done, sometimes terrible. The face-eating spiders, for example, are hilariously bad, while Joe the Plumber getting his eyeball poked out by that demon hand kinda works.
And, yet, despite all of this, there are still some effective moments. Fulci's cinematography and production design are actually quite striking.
Fulci compared the movie to a dream. It's illogical and it has a very loose story. It's difficult to tell if this was his intention going into the production, or if he simply said that to save face afterward. Regardless, it's a ton of fun. Something I watch every couple of years.
My YouTube Channel: Grim Street Grindhouse
My Top 100 Horror Movies OF ALL TIME.
I'm sorry, but despite the good production values and visuals, it does not fall into "So bad its good" category. I salute TCM for showing it, as I finally got a view a Fuci movie, but the bad moments outweign the rather over the top, outlandish ending. []
BLOG
And everybody wants to be special here
They call your name out loud and clear
Here comes a regular
Call out your name
Here comes a regular
Am I the only one here today?
And don't forget the music. That shit is awesome.
True! One of my favorite soundtracks, to be honest.
My YouTube Channel: Grim Street Grindhouse
My Top 100 Horror Movies OF ALL TIME.
No, you're right. It doesn't fall into the so-bad-it's-good category. It falls under the fucking-awesome category.
On a side note, I showed someone a double-feature of Zombie and The Beyond. They liked Zombie, but not The Beyond. I don't hang out with that person anymore.
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