[Rec] is finally getting a US DVD release on July 14th.
ritch:
[Rec] is finally getting a US DVD release on July 14th.
Quoting Dead & Messed Up (view post)
And.....??
How was it?
"All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"
"Rick...it's a flamethrower."
[Rec] is finally getting a US DVD release on July 14th.
Yeah, I read this on DVDActive.
Took you guys long enough
"All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"
"Rick...it's a flamethrower."
This picture contains enough horror elements to reasonably be labeled as such, so my thoughts probably belong here as well as in the FDT:
Donkey Punch (Olly Blackburn, 2009) 57
As a low-budget thriller, this is a reasonably effective and disciplined affair, spinning a standard template that recalls Philip Noyce's Dead Calm into an unexpectedly intriguing direction, less concerned with demonizing sexuality and drugs as many conservative slashers do than it is with condemning the culture of hedonistic chauvinism resulting from our instant-porn age that has distorted ideas of masculinity in the younger and more impressionable. In fact, the movie appears to suggest in its intoxicatingly scored first act that sex and drugs are a natural, even beautiful rite of passage that has been corrupted by the mainstreaming of smut. If it grows increasingly predictable as it progresses, credit is due to the filmmakers for keeping the production under control tonally with sober filmmaking, convincing performances, and few developments that strain credibility, without cynically encouraging bloodlust in the viewer. Indeed, by the end I was suitably downcast, which suggests that the picture works as it's intended. All that said, there isn't anything exceptional here, but it's better than much of its contemporary ilk.
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) **
Just got back.
Dread has the wrong title. Suffering might better prepare the audience. Ostensibly a film about the consequences of recalling sources of great fear (a fatal car crash, paternal abuse), Dread is somewhat deceitful, instead spending much of its time with the already-damaged Quaid. He proposes a "fear study" to a film student, Stephen, who readily agrees, despite only knowing Quaid for one day. But the universe of Dread is hermetically sealed, so lives outside the fear group are minimal, cops are never called (even after Quaid assaults a girl and smashes property with a baseball bat), and no one ever once confides their doubt about this facile experiment in fear.
However, this is less about fear and more about revulsion. Quaid's initial questionnaires don't get the results he wants, and so he picks a few case studies from the list and pushes them further towards their nightmares. This leads to some cruel situations in which there's little hope, most regrettably for Cheryl, whose fear of eating meat turns back on her savagely. The final ten minutes of Dread have a merciless logic to them, although I cannot say whether the final turn of the screw comes from DiBlasi or original author Barker.
DiBlasi produces a couple of good suspense scenes, but the digital look of the picture is not appealing, and too often the camera shakes when it shouldn't. Were the film using its amateurish look to develop some type of parallel with the fear project (which we almost never see, oddly), that could be interesting. But Diblasi sees little irony in the film-within-a-film duplicating the effects of the actual movie. Instead, he relishes the general mood of unpleasantness, and I once again left a horror film wondering why, in our modern times, tension has been superseded by repulsion.
Nice write-up DaMU.
Why is it that no one seems to know how to adapt Barker's work anymore?
The only good adaptations have been by, well, him.
"All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"
"Rick...it's a flamethrower."
One thing I do give him credit for is always having fascinating, imaginative, adult concepts, and so even though I didn't dig this one's vibe, I do look forward to the next Barker flick.
Ranked:
1. Hellraiser
2. Candyman
3. The Midnight Meat Train
4. Lord of Illusions
5. Dread
6. Nightbreed
I have a question, one I've been wondering about for several months now.
Has there ever been a horror movie better than The Texas Chain Saw Massacre?
I'd say so, but the list is very small.
I'm trying to remember if I've seen this one. I get my anthologies from the '70s mixed up...I do know Tales From the Crypt was good and Asylum was good, Vault of Horror was OK, and this one....I don't remember if I've seen it yet.
Amicus has some real solid stuff that I've seen, particularly the aforementioned Tales (probably my second fave anthology) and The Beast Must Die. I also admired their I, Monster, which has Christopher Lee doing Jekyll & Hyde, for a while - but the print was so bad on the DVD that I couldn't deal with it. I'll try again someday.
The Mike
It's very very horrible, sir. It's one of those things we wish we could disinvent.
From Midnight, With Love - My Midnight Movie Blog of Justice!
If I were also to include all the films in the Hellraiser series that I've seen, my list would probably go like this...
Hellraiser
Lord of Illusions
Hellraiser: Inferno
Hellbound: Hellraiser II
Candyman
Nightbreed
Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth
The Midnight Meat Train
Hellraiser: Hellseeker
Hellraiser: Bloodline
For a list of just his directorial work, just remove whatever he didn't direct and leave the rest in the same places
"All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"
"Rick...it's a flamethrower."
I have a real soft spot for Nightbreed. It's definitely not great, but I look at it as a Hellboy-esque romp that has enough monster carnage and a haunting performance by Cronenberg as a deliciously evil character.
As good as Hellraiser or Candyman? No way. But I still love it.
The Mike
It's very very horrible, sir. It's one of those things we wish we could disinvent.
From Midnight, With Love - My Midnight Movie Blog of Justice!
GUEST PICK #1:
One of my favorite new classics is Neil Marshall’s 2002 film, Dog Soldiers. It is a wonderful combination of horror, comedy, and action, a blend of genres not usually done successfully...but Marshall is able to pull it off and make a damned fine movie in the process.
Marshall introduces us to a genial squad of soldiers who are unwittingly used as bait by a Special Operations group ordered to catch a werewolf terrorizing the countryside. Unfortunately for the Special Ops forces, led by the sinister Captain Ryan, there is more than one werewolf, and he and his team are soon overrun by the pack. The injured Ryan is rescued by the very soldiers used as bait, and the men, led by Sgt. H.G. Wells (one of many in-jokes given here), are soon on the run for their very lives as the wolves return. In a cute inversion of "Little Red Riding Hood," the men are rescued by a spirited zoologist named Megan, who drives them to a cottage where the men decide to fight and make a final stand until morning arrives.
The characters are what I love most in this film. Yes, the laughs, action, and rampant werewolf attacks are fun, but Marshall takes the time to present us with a cast of characters we can root for. I want Cooper, Sarge, Spoon, Sam, the dog, and perhaps Joe, the football enthusiast, to live happily ever after in a beautiful Scottish glen, where Sarge’s wife can cook dinner for them. I loved these guys. I believe it is important to build characters we can like, relate to, hate, or just plain love.
If I watch a horror movie with typical teenage idiots, ignorant hillbillies, or urban assholes I really don’t care what happens to any of them and so I have nothing invested in the movie save for the desire to kill time. With Dog Soldiers we get to know a little about the men by their interactions with each other during a rather boring night, and also during times of extreme crises. We see that they use humor in order to get through painful situations, as some of us do in real life, and we see them risk their lives in order to save each other, as we’d like to think we’d do in real life. We’re thrilled when they get ahead in the fight and sad when they don’t.
Dog Soldiers is a fun horror romp which proves you don’t need tits, CGI, or teenagers to make a great horror film. You just need a good writer, a great cast, and some kickass thrills.
============================== ============
GUEST PICK #2:
Somewhere between Jaws and Anaconda in style, Greg McLean's giant crocodile flick Rogue packs a lot of bite.
OK, I had to get that out of the way. On with the review.
Giant crocodile/alligator/snake/lizard films are a surprisingly hot commodity in the thriller world, and it's never easy for even the most astute horror connoisseur to tell the difference between them. Some are Hollywood B-flicks with big stars (like Lake Placidor Anaconda), some are direct-to-video stinkers (like Crocor Python), and some hit the "so-bad-it's-awesome" plateau (like Boa vs. Python). But I don't know if there's ever been one as exciting as Rogue.
The plot is simple and not very noteworthy. A wildlife tour group (led by Silent Hill's Radha Mitchell, who's very comfortable slipping back in to her native Australian accent) gets into the middle of nowhere and a giant crocodile attacks. This leaves the stranded tourists and locals, including future Hollywood stars Sam Worthington (Terminator: Salvation) and Mia Wasikowska (the upcoming Alice in Wonderland), and Michael Vartan (Alias), to fight for survival.
What impresses me most about Rogue is its focus on building tension. Unlike most of the films I mentioned earlier, McLean borrows from the likes of Hitchcock and Spielberg in building slowly while giving us ominous looks at what might be out there while developing sympathetic characters, hooking the viewer's interest in their survival. He also brings a string-heavy musical score that sets the mood for impending terror, and parallels the characters' fears perfectly.
Of course, this all comes crashing down when we finally get eyes on our gigantic killer, which is a sight to behold. To say that the effects are top-notch is an understatement, especially in the final act when we see the croc full-on. There's little that would make you think this isn't a real giant crocodile, except of course the fact that giant crocodiles like this might not cooperate with the filming of a movie about them.
There are several frightening moments in Rogue, something that's so rare in movies today. Even if they are simple jump scares, they're executed perfectly by McLean and crew. After being branded as a member of the new-horror "Splat Pack", it's also notable that McLean's Rogue is relatively low on blood and guts, except for a couple of moments in the final reel. There are no one-liners, nor is there gratuitous nudity/drug use/irresponsibility. This is a pure thrill ride that doesn't pull punches, and I have to recommend it as one of the most enjoyable horror films of the new millennium.
============================== ============
GUEST PICK #3:
With so many admirable traits, it's hard to pick my favorite part of Canadian zom-com Fido. Like any zombie-related movie (comedy or otherwise) it sports biting layers of satire and social commentary, and of course the requisite revelling in shots of ooey-gooey gore. It also features exquisite set and costume design - its brightly coloured houses and Carrie-Anne Moss's lush red lipsticks and dresses both compliment and contrast the images of rotting flesh and decaying architecture outside the safe townships of this Leave it to Beaver-esque happy-go-lucky 1950s town. The whole production has such charm to it, and its well-rounded cast and smart writing show it's a beauty with brains.
In a nutshell, Fido is a retelling of the classic boy-and-his-dog story of Lassie...except with a zombie instead of a dog. Young only-child Timmy is bullied at school and ignored by his parents, but finally finds companionship when his mom buys them a servant zombie in a bid to impress the new neighbours. The zombie, which Timmy aptly names "Fido", does everything from play catch and run through fields in hilariously dramatic scenes of joyful frolicking, to defending Timmy from the bullies that torture him both in and out of the school yard. But when his father's obviously irrational fear of zombies poses a threat to their friendship, Timmy is forced to figure out who in his life truly cares for him.
It's fantastic that the filmmakers were able to take this concept (the idea of seeing zombies do society's menial tasks seems like one which could dry up quickly) and stretch it to a feature-length film while maintaining wit and fresh thrills and laughs throughout. Billy Connolly's role as the zombie, Fido, is played without any spoken words (well, a small guttural cry every once in a while) and his expressive face and movements sell it well. Carrie-Anne Moss is also at her very best here, playing the ignorant mother with ease (to be honest, I never found she had much trouble playing a cold robot devoid of emotion) but then turns into a caring mother and charming lover just as sweetly. It was great to see she had more in her than Trinity.
Fido just works so well, and stands up strong next to Shaun of the Dead which is oft-considered the pinnacle of zom-com's (to the point where many feel others shouldn't even bother trying anymore). It's a different beast from Shaun of the Dead, relying more on a straight-faced script with a mixture of subtle and visual gags, as opposed to Shaun of the Dead's thick British sarcastic wit. But I think there's more than enough room for both.
That's a big statement. No qualms with it, but to take your question on a most literal level it probably wasn't meant for, yes there's a good number of better - albeit, probably largely due to them being very different - horror movies.
I think I'd call TCM the best post-Psycho slasher film, if I'm not forgetting anything...
I'm always reminded that I should actually give Hellraiser sequels a try, but it's easy to forget. I must say, Hellraiser V has its fans.
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
Hellraiser: Inferno began the trend of giving the Cenobites (and more specifically, Pinhead) very little screentime. But as opposed to everything that came after this installment, the plot here is actually pretty interesting.
It's basically a murder mystery/serial killer story, with the quasi-satanic Hellraiser stuff thrown in for good measure.
It's got some great effects, very creepy Cenobites, and overall is just very impressive considering the fact that it was direct to video. As you saw by my list, I actually think it's the second best of the series, after the first movie.
"All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"
"Rick...it's a flamethrower."
Seeing as that's one of the worst films I've ever seen, yes.
The Princess and the Pilot - B-
Playtime (rewatch) - A
The Hobbit - C-
The Comedy - D+
Kings of the Road - C+
The Odd Couple - B
Red Rock West - C-
The Hunger Games - D-
Prometheus - C
Tangled - C+
Yes - many I think.
For one, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2.
I'm taking notes. The one I mentioned has David Warner being controlled by a ghost that's host to a haunted mirror and orders him to kill his guests at a party. That should ring I bell.
And no, I don't know if there has been at least a better and more influential slasher than Texas Chainsaw Massacre either.
My soul just died a little more.
OK, I haven't seen that one yet. But will soon.
The Mike
It's very very horrible, sir. It's one of those things we wish we could disinvent.
From Midnight, With Love - My Midnight Movie Blog of Justice!
TCM2 is one of my favorites. It's totally gonzo, and infinitely more entertaining than the first movie. I could watch TCM2 any old day, but I have to be in a very special mood to watch TCM.
Car surfing leatherface, a dude who scratches his metal head-plate with a hot hanger, human-meat chili, Dennis Hopper...TCM2 has it all.
TCM is, frankly, kind of dull.
I agree with everything but that last 6 words.
(OK, maybe not everything, since I like TCM more, but really like TCM2 also.)
One thing I think we can all agree on: TCM: The Next Generation is REALLLLLLY bad.
The Mike
It's very very horrible, sir. It's one of those things we wish we could disinvent.
From Midnight, With Love - My Midnight Movie Blog of Justice!
You're not missing much. Though Viggo Mortenson does a decent psycho in the third one.
The Mike
It's very very horrible, sir. It's one of those things we wish we could disinvent.
From Midnight, With Love - My Midnight Movie Blog of Justice!
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