Horror

[Gamblour.]

The Devil's Backbone (2001)
"What is a ghost? A tragedy condemned to repeat itself time and again?"

WHATS IT ABOUT? Set during the Spanish Civil War, the film follows a boy, Carlos, who is brought to an isolated orphanage. The ghost of an orphan, Santi, inhabits the orphanage and delivers an ominous message to the boys.

IS IT SCARY? Not really. The ghost boy provides some jumps, but my fiancee didn't scream, which says something. It is, however, quite depressing.



WHAT'S GOOD ABOUT IT? The film is very similar to "Pan's Labyrinth", in its setting and child protagonist and his encounters with apparitions. It's not as engrossing, but still good. The child actors are amazing and the camera work is nice to look at. This film definitely sets up del Toro on his way to making the similar and superior "Pan's Labyrinth."

SCARIEST MOMENT: There isn't really a scariest moment, although the film's final scenes are incredibly tense and frightening.



WHY SHOULD I WATCH IT? It's a good flick that's really well made and the ghost is handled well, unlike so many horror films that inundate the cinemas today.

[bonanzataz]

i just watched the 7th victim. it was pretty good. sometimes the plot made no sense, and it was (obviously) incredibly dated, but there was enough mystery and eeriness to keep me interested. i felt like an asshole for thinking it, but i think it could benefit from a remake. i kinda want to waste a lot of time writing a spec script for one.

[RegularKarate]

Vacancy

At first I was kind of on the fence about the movie.  It's obvious that it's going to be really cliched, but that's what I'm looking for anyway tonight... cheap thrills.
It starts to gain my interest though.. taking a really shitty script loaded with lame plot points that make little sense and actually making it kind of tense (even though you know what's going to happen).
Unfortunately, the last few minutes are so incredibly bad that it doesn't even out.

Sorry, Nimrod... you got points for not changing your name, but you couldn't keep me interested through this thing.

At least it was really short and I'm not mad I watched it.

[Gamblour.]

Creepshow (1982)
"I want my cake."

WHATS IT ABOUT? A series of short stories as written by Stephen King and directed by George Romero. In order, they are "Father's Day," "The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill," "Something to Tide You Over," "The Crate," and "They're Creeping Up On You."

IS IT SCARY? Depends on which story. "Father's Day" is frightening, if only for the image of Ed Harris dancing. "Jordy Verrill" is scary for Stephen King's performance (it's really bad, and I know it's supposed to be campy). The last three are truly the best -- "Tide" and "The Crate" have very suspenseful, scary premises, and "They're Creeping Up On You" is just really gross.



WHAT'S GOOD ABOUT IT? "Tide" is I think the best known part of this film and also just plain fucking brilliant. Leslie Nielson gives a really amazing performance and kinda surprised me. Even Ted Danson was great. "The Crate" is equally good, with a great twist and great acting. "They're Creeping Up On You," like I said, is really gross and kind of good. The stories in "Tide" and "The Crate" really make those just jump out as great parts of the feature. Adrienne Barbeau's performance in "The Crate" is a lot of fun, too. However, "Jordy Verrill" is not fun and very stupid.

SCARIEST MOMENT: The studious Charlie Gereson going after the boot.



WHY SHOULD I WATCH IT? I would rank each one of these individually, but that's a bit much. "Jordy" would get 1 skull and kill all of it. I really did enjoy "Tide" and "The Crate" so much, the performances, the stories, they all coalesce into a great pair of shorts. The others aren't as good, but I won't count that against the whole feature.

[modage]

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?

8 skulls is pretty high praise, i don't know why but i didn't care for Creepshow.  maybe because i never saw it until last year so there was no built-in nostalgia.  i'm about to netflix Creepshow 2 soon anyway.

[Gamblour.]

I did see this as a kid, when I was in love with all things horror, and I kind of let the bad shorts slide and really got into "Tide" and "The Crate." I don't think nostalgia had a lot to do with it, because I don't remember anything from the movie. Well, the nostalgia of loving short horror stories, eg Alan Schwartz, probably did play into it. I love short horror stories. 8 skulls was mostly for those two specific ones. I really did hate "Jordy Verrill." Rated individually:

"Father's Day" - 4/10
"Jordy Verrill" - 1/10
"Tide" - 10/10
"The Crate" - 9/10
"Creeping" - 6/10

So, if you average that, it should really be about 6/10 skulls. But why punish the whole class for a few bad apples?

[Gamblour.]

Cemetery Man (1994)
"No, please don't! He's only eating me!"

WHATS IT ABOUT? Fracesco Dellamorte (played by Rupert Everett looking like himself and very different at the same time) works at a cemetery. His job: rekill the ever-rising undead. He is quite good at his job, until he realizes he may have accidentally murdered someone. At this point, the distinction between the dead and the living blur, and the film takes quite an existential turn.

IS IT SCARY? There is some terrifying imagery, but no scares.



WHAT'S GOOD ABOUT IT? I was flipping through past Halloween marathons and discussions, and this film came up several times. This film looks like it was shot in 1981, so I was surprised to find it was only shot in 1994. I've only seen (and hated) Suspiria, but I think it's safe to assume, considering the fact that the credits, names of the people, and the movie's locale are all Italian, that it's very much in the vein of the Italian horror genre. The humor in the film is starkly different in that it plays on the zombie moments, but some parts (Dellamorte's visit to the doctor, for example) are just plain hilarious.

The tone of the film, while a bit inconsistent, is incredibly thought-provoking, and I found myself considering the existential questions posed by Dellamorte moreso than a film with a pretense of thought provocation. The film sets up several metaphors (the phone book, the gun, to name a few) and pays them enough attention to add a layer of depth I found rather refreshing. Additionally, the imagery in the film is quite lovely. I feel like the filmmakers tried to make this something different than another Evil Dead film, and they really do succeed.

SCARIEST MOMENT: I found Dellamorte's discussion with death to be pretty scary.



WHY SHOULD I WATCH IT? Again, the film poses many interesting questions regarding Dellamorte's job and his subsequent behavior, while adding depth and a great deal of humor to the zombie genre, although it's a bit rough around the edges. The more I think about it, the more I love this film. Plus, Anna Falchi is gorgeous.

[RegularKarate]

I guess I'm the only one that's going to be posting in this thread?  (note to mod: this two threads thing is silly, we should combine them and just have one "Halloween Movie" thread)



Note:   I'm behind at least one horror movie this month because I remembered being scared by Return to Oz and also remembered Disney going though a dark period, but I watched it and I guess I was just scared the same way kids are scared by Oompa Loompas.

Every Sunday, some of my improv friends hang out at the theater and watch a bad movie on the projector.  We've been doing horror movies this month. 

Last week:


Troll 2

Most people are aware of this one by now, but if you're not, this is one of the absolute unintentionally funniest movies ever made (it;s actually funnier after multiple viewings).
It's getting such a big following here in Austin that the child actor from the film is actually making a documentary about it called "Best Worst Movie".

Troll 2 has nothing to do with the first Troll (also terrible, but not as laughably bad as this one), in fact there aren't even any trolls in it.. they're all Goblins (who live in the town "Nilbog" a name that takes the characters over half the movie to realize is goblin spelled backward). 

This thing is loaded with the most wooden delivery of some of the worst dialogue ever written... characters explain what is clearly already happening on camera... there's also a scene at the very begining where a mother is talking to her son about his grandfather and she actually says "and me, his daughter". 

Oh, and the goblins... amazing... evidently the masks were made by some ex porn star.


and this week:


The Wicker Man (2006)

Yes yes... I know.

This one isn't as funny as Troll 2, but is definitely fun to watch and make fun of.

Almost all of the good stuff has been put on Youtube, but it's still great to watch it play out... one thing the YouTube clips don't capture is the ridiculously bad editing.

Part of me thinks that this was made bad intentionally... there are just some scenes that are too ridiculous... like when Cage is leaving a message on someone's answering machine and his cell phone reception goes out and he starts saying "hello?!  hello?!" then hangs up.

now on to my next batch!

[MacGuffin]

Re-Animator Sequel Not Likely

Blame it on Stuart Gordon shooting his mouth off too much about it being a political movie or just the climate of the times, but star Jeffrey Combs told SCI FI Wire that it looks unlikely that the much-anticipated House of Re-Animator sequel likely won't be happening.

"I wish I could give you a better prognosis, but that is one of the most-asked questions I've been getting lately, and it's not even close to getting made," Combs said in an interview. "Too many people feel the heat, and studios are wary of the subject matter."

Gordon, who helmed the f1985 first Re-Animator, wanted to make the latest installment with Combs, reprising the role of Dr. Herbert West, who can bring people from the dead. Gordon and Combs plan to talk about the series at the Full Moon Convention in Little Rock, Ark., on Oct. 26. The original film was based on a story by H.P. Lovecraft.

Combs (USA's The 4400) described the movie's problem: "The latest idea is too on the nose, because it's about a vice president who has a heart attack and dies, which is terrible, because he runs the country, and a kind of Karl Rove-ian character brings Herbert to the White House to revive him. All is well for a little while, and then, of course, havoc has its day. A lot of people they took the idea to didn't want to touch it. And, of course, the real power in it would be to get it out before they are out of power."

Combs has discussed with Gordon the idea of masking the people in the White House. "My argument is that you can make it a corrupt [presidential] administration, but not necessarily this one, and then it's in Dr. Strangelove territory and the people are not so recognizable," Combs said. "Believe me, I've had this conversation many times with Stuart."

In any case, Combs said that he doesn't really agree with mixing politics and Re-Animator. "Melding political humor and reanimation hasn't happened before, so why now all of a sudden is it Michael Moore Meets Re-Animator?" he asked. "I'm as outraged as the next guy about what's going on in the country, but I think we can be less on-the-nose about it and still make the same points. But Stuart is rather tenacious, so he may still get his way someday."

Combs can next be see reprising his role as another doctor in the Oct. 16 DVD release of Return to House on Haunted Hill.

[RegularKarate]

Flatliners

I usually avoid the J to the S, but I remember thinking this movie was kind of creepy when I first saw it, but I really think it was just one slo-mo shot of some pumpkin headed dude riding a bike in the trailer.

This movie barely counts as horror, it's really more of a sci-fi drama with horror elements... it's also pretty damned boring.

A bunch of people in med school kill themselves just long enough to experience death, but all thier pasts come back to haunt them.  It could have been alright, but it's just so bland.  All the drama relies on "will they be able to revive this person once they die?" and "oh my gosh, this person is really bothered by his/her past".

I might have to go back and watch a horror movie I KNOW is good soon.

[modage]

I might have to go back and watch a horror movie I KNOW is good soon.

that's what the Best Horror thread is for. 

as for myself, my visits to this thread have been delayed because Netflix apparently didn't receive the last three movies i sent them last Friday so it'll be a few days before i get to see something new.

[Stefen]

When I was a kid, I used to have nightmares about that little shit Billy Mahoney.

[Gamblour.]

These aren't part of a movie, obviously. But I feel like these should be reviewed.


The Simpsons' Treehouse of Horror 1-4 (1990-1993)
"Well, I'm sure glad we didn't turn into mindless zombies."

WHATS IT ABOUT? Ah, Treehouse of Horror. These episodes of the Simpsons have become a staple every Halloween season, and they're still the only episodes that are almost guaranteed to be good, despite how current seasons are fairing. They've become a tradition with their returning gags – spoofed crew names and crumbling gravestones packed with irony. They typically directly parody a film or Twilight Zone episode or play of generic horror elements.

IS IT SCARY? Plenty of gruesome images, but no big scares.



WHAT'S GOOD ABOUT IT? What isn't? These episodes not only pack in the most jokes, but they carry definitely the best jokes of the entire series. Season Four's third installment features quite possibly my favorite exchange of dialogue in all of the Simpsons:

Shopkeeper:       I must warn you the doll is cursed.
Homer Simpson:       That's bad.
Shopkeeper:       But it comes with a free frogurt!
Homer Simpson:       That's good.
Shopkeeper:       The frogurt is also cursed.
Homer Simpson:       That's bad!
Shopkeeper:       But it comes with a free choice of toppings!
Homer Simpson:       That's good!
Shopkeeper:       The toppings contain sodium benzoate.
      [Homer looks puzzled.]
Shopkeeper:       That's bad.
Homer Simpson:       Can I go now?

And I guess my childhood naivety led me to never understand when Smithers said "Women and seaman don't mix." My god. The episode "Dial 'Z' for Zombies" alone has more funny lines than I can remember from any recent season. "He was a zombie?" "Excuse me, I'm John Smith" – "John Smith, 1882?" – "My mistake." "See you in Hell" – "Still pushin' that boulder?"

Aside from the great batches of dialogue, these episodes are so brilliant in their concept and execution. Rewatching "The Raven" in the first installment of Treehouse of Horror, I was definitely belly-laughing at hearing Homer recite Poe's words, something I could never appreciate as a kid.

The second Treehouse of Horror is probably my least favorite of these four, but it's not without it's brilliance. Homer's nightmare and the Monkey's Paw segment are both damn funny. I've gone on and on about the third episode. The fourth installment features the best intro of this batch, where Bart walks through a hallway of surreal and impressionistic art – Miro, Dali, Escher, Munch, and Van Gogh are all represented. Additionally, Conan helped write this episode, and it features the scene where Homer is fed an interminable portion of donuts in the Ironic Punishment Division of Hell, which I have on display on my DVD shelves.

SCARIEST MOMENT: The ghoul in "Terror at 5 ½ Feet" holding Flanders' severed head.



WHY SHOULD I WATCH IT? If you haven't seen these by now, do yourself a favor. They represent the best the Simpsons have to offer, and I haven't even gotten to the episode with The Shinning.

[Gamblour.]

1408 (2007)
"It's an evil fucking room."

WHAT'S IT ABOUT? Mike Enslin (John Cusack) is a ghost writer, in the sense that he writes about haunted houses and spooky locales. His career's embarrassing, but he's very seasoned. He receives a mysterious note about room 1408 at the Dolphin Hotel in New York. He's convinced the hotel manager (Samuel L. Jackson) is just hyping up the room to spook him and get a good plug in his new book, but his stay in 1408 turns into one hellish fucking evening.

IS IT SCARY? This is definitely the scariest movie I've watched so far. It was very dark, and every time the phone would ring or my dog would bark, I would jump out of my seat.



WHAT'S GOOD ABOUT IT? The atmosphere and tone of this film are absolutely dead on. This room is fucking creepy, and the fact that it's another man alone in a room for the entire film, yet it still remains compelling and scary, is due to the psychological exploration Cusack undergoes. Also, the claustrophobia created is disturbing, and the film doesn't use cheap jump scares -- it's all about mood, and this film nails it. The film also features very beautiful imagery and compositions, which I was surprised to find. The director, Mikael Håfström, has quite an eye.

SCARIEST MOMENT: The scariest moment may be in Cusack's encounter with his neighbor across the street, or the final moments with Samuel L. Jackson.



WHY SHOULD I WATCH IT? Yeah, I definitely recommend it. It's an easy watch and legitimately scary. Perfect Halloween fare.

[RegularKarate]

Just pushed it to the top of my queue (thought I skipped most of your review).

I do have to ask though... was this your first time watching this?  I think you need to be putting some of these into the "Horror" thread instead of this one... While I still think this whole marathon should be in one thread, Mod set it up to where this is for movies that are already established as being "great" and the "Horror" thread is for stuff you're just checking out.