Horror

[modage]

hard to believe this was made by the same guy who did A Christmas Story, (though it maybe harder to believe so is this.  it's mostly pretty dull until the end which is so ambiguous that i almost wanted to re-evaluate it.  it is interesting to see the use of the killer POV before halloween and the "the call's coming from inside the house!" before When A Stranger Calls (or Scream for that matter).  there was a particularly creepy shot of the killers eye coming from behind a closet but the film is very low/non-existent on gore making it almost more of a suspense film than horror.

[RegularKarate]

Cannibal Holocaust

This is a movie I had kind of avoided for years while at the same time was dying to see.  I have seen really gory stuff with far more realistic depictions of human torture, but there was something else that was keeping me from watching this until tonight.

Sensationalism against sensationalism is (I assume) the point of this film.  Deodato said he wanted revenge taken on sensational journalists so he did and how.  So realistically that he was tried numerous times by courts that were sure he had made a real snuff film... but most know this story... here's my reaction to finally seeing the film:

I couldn't not watch this while at the same time couldn't turn it off.  I feel almost upset at myself for sitting through the thing.  Like I said, I've seen all forms (simulated and in some cases real) of human torture and dismemberment, but what really bothered me about this film is on camera mutilation of animals.  A giant turtle is decapitated and torn apart piece by piece...  a pig is shot... a monkey's head is cut off... all of these really happened and it was very disturbing to watch.  Evidently, the cast and crew cooked and ate everything they killed, but that doesn't change the reason they did it.  I'm not a vegetarian, but after seeing that, I'm one step closer.

Obviously if you can stomach this sort of movie, you've probably already seen it (I'm late to this game, I know), but if you can take this sort of thing and haven't seen it, you probably should... it's an amazing thing to witness (though I don't know if I'll ever watch it again).

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[polkablues]

Side note to anyone into Cannibal Holocaust-type films who might be interested in watching films from the "Guinea Pig" series: Don't Fucking Do It.  Not because they're too disturbing or anything like that... they just happen to be the most ass-numbingly boring films ever made.  I watched three of them, "Flowers of Flesh and Blood", "He Never Dies", and "Mermaid in the Manhole".  "Flowers of Flesh and Blood" was thought by some to be an actual snuff film.  Those "some" are idiots.  A real snuff film would be far better shot and edited.  "He Never Dies" is the closest of the three to actual entertainment; it's actually kind of funny, in a way reminiscent of a Frank Henenlotter film ("Basket Case", et al).  "Mermaid in the Manhole" almost even had a story to try and keep you interested, and some enduring imagery, but still feels much longer than the hour that it is.  So, to recap: bad, bad, bad.  Just a fair warning.

[Ravi]

I watched Final Destination 3 the other day.  Pointless.  It mostly looks and feels like a TV movie and the actors are some of the blandest I've seen.  There are three or four generic-looking brunettes in the film and I had difficulty discerning them at times.  There's no real suspense.  It felt like a list of required elements was being checked off.

[ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ]

I know this isn't news to a lot of people here, but I forgot just how good Rosemary's Baby was.  It is very well paced and shot, very bizarre and it never really lets up.  I highly recommend watching it this Halloween (or in general) if you haven't seen it.

[RegularKarate]

Session 9

I'm sure most have seen this, but I hadn't.  Hearing mixed reviews, I decided to finally see for myself.

It started out pretty creepy and actually got me a little spooked during a couple of scenes.  It was actually well made for the first half an hour.

Once I realized it was basically a rip off of the Shining (with almost none of the brilliance), I got a little disappointed, but was still engaged enough to stay with it.  Unfortunately the "pay off" at the end ended up very cliched and almost ruined the movie.

It's worth checking out for the set up, which was handled pretty well.. the mood is established and gets your hooked and abandoned mental hospitals are just fucking creepy, but it's like a piece of really good candy with a poorly placed razor blade inside... fortunately, you can see the razor blade coming before it cuts you so you don't get so excited that you get a mouth full of blood, but it's still a disappointment.

[modage]

this was a lot of fun.  completely ridiculous but fun.  it was a pretty famous william castle film where they actually rigged the seats in the theatre with buzzers and planted people in the audience to faint and be carried out.  the film Matinee with john goodman is loosely based on castle.  anyway, the film stars vincent price as a scientist/surgeon who discovers that fear causes a large parasite to crawl up your spine that can only be relieved by screaming, (yep, i'm serious), and the film has some utterly ridiculous moments like when "the tingler" is finally revealed and you can see the wires but like 13 Ghosts and House On Haunted Hill, they are pretty well made films and vincent price makes the ridiculous dialogue almost convincing.  at one point he even injects(!) himself with lsd so he can experience fear.

[modage]

watched a few movies recently.  London After Midnight, for those of you that don't know is one of the most famous "lost" films of all time.  the last known copy of the film was destroyed in a vault fire at MGM over 50 years ago though i had always been curious to see the film having grown up seeing pictures of Lon Chaney in his famous makeup.  so randomly, recently, while flipping channels i noticed that Turner Classic Movies had London After Midnight on the guide for later that night.  i thought "thats impossible, it's a lost film" and surely if they'd found it, it would've made SOME kind of news?  i checked the description and it said it was indeed the Lon Chaney film.  upon watching it i discovered the film is still lost, but an archivist had actually re-constructed the film using stills and a new score.  it was interesting but difficult to sit through as curious as i was.  watching a black and white film takes a certain getting used to at first, as does one with subtitles, as does one that is silent, but to take away ALL these things and have a film that does not MOVE either is really a discipline. 

Vampyr, which is actually Carl Dreyers follow-up to The Passion Of Joan Of Arc which i enjoyed but the quality of the transfer really affected my viewing experience.  i'd like to see it again, especially if someone takes the time to clean it up a bit, but it was no Nosferatu or more importantly no Dracula (which was released the same year), making this seem inexcusably ancient. 

somehow i don't believe i ever saw the original Godzilla, and definitely never the Japanese version Gojira which had not been released in the US in some time (if ever).  though i had seen many of the ridiculous sequels the original is obviously quite different.  i'd really like to see the American version now to see how drastically the story was changed by inserting Raymond Burr into new scenes, redubbing the film and cutting 20 minutes.  this had a great score, used the actor from many Kurosawa films, and had a lot of good destruction.

Creepshow i didnt like.  like most anthology films it just doesnt work more than it does. the tone of the shorts is all over the place as is the length, though none are scary (now).  the film goes WAY out there with some of the comic book editing (20 years before The Hulk and American Splendor!) but it gets a little obnoxious.  the costumes are ridiculous, tom savini, tell me you are NOT responsible!   at the very least i have to imagine the film paved the way for Tales From The Crypt which works much better on the whole.  maybe Creepshow 2 is better?

[MacGuffin]

maybe Creepshow 2 is better?

Yes.

[RegularKarate]

Phenomena

Originally released in the states as Creepers with almost half an hour cut, this is Dario Argento combining the feel of his Supernatural films with that of his Giallo films.

Argento's never been very good with dialog... or with actors, really... he writes strong situations rather than strong characters.  There are some boring scenes with the characters basically explaining who they are and why they're there, but when it comes down to the overall film, this is really fun.

The music gets jarring at points... it goes from creepy ambient stuff to literally Iron Maiden... I like the effect, not that I know how intentional it was.

This is also one of Jennifer Connely's first roles and considering she was only fifteen at the time, it's a little creepy how sexualized her character is... Running around in slips and "Exciting" a beetle.  Donald Plesence's character has some kind of gross old man scenes with her as well.

[RegularKarate]

Creepshow i didnt like.  like most anthology films it just doesnt work more than it does. the tone of the shorts is all over the place as is the length, though none are scary (now).  the film goes WAY out there with some of the comic book editing (20 years before The Hulk and American Splendor!) but it gets a little obnoxious.  the costumes are ridiculous, tom savini, tell me you are NOT responsible!   at the very least i have to imagine the film paved the way for Tales From The Crypt which works much better on the whole.  maybe Creepshow 2 is better?

This absolutely belongs in the Best Horror Movie thread.  One of the best camp horror movies ever.

How can you not LOVE the translation of the EC comic style?  How can you not LOVE Ted Danson gargling "If you can hold your brrrreeeeeeeeaaaaaaattthhhhhh!"?

My copy is signed by Romero!

[Ghostboy]

I loved Creepshow, but I haven't seen it in years. I'm pretty sure I'd still love it, just for nostalgia value if nothing else.

RK, I felt exactly the way you did after I saw Cannibal Holocaust (and I saw it on the big screen!). Over time, though, that dirty feeling fades and it becomes sort of campy and funny in your head. I never want to see it again, though.

[modage]

this was bad.  really really bad.  how bad was Feast?  MASTERS OF HORROR bad. 
i'm sorry Gulager, i will give you the benefit of the doubt.  the script sucked ass, you were underbudgeted and you did the best you could. 

[Astrostic]

totally agree.  I was unfortuante enough to catch it with a friend at a midnight screening in Houston in mid-late September and it was so bad.  The opening along made me hate with it's "clever" introductions to all of the characters and lame "suspenseful" build up to the monsters outside.  My friend was downright angry at how bad it was, and said it was the worst movie she's ever seen.  I don't think it was THAT bad, but the fact that so many people seem to be loving it has me worried.

[MacGuffin]

My friend was downright angry at how bad it was, and said it was the worst movie she's ever seen.

Your friend obviously hasn't seen Jeepers Creepers.



Just kidding, mod. Blair Witch 2 is FAR worse.