Any horror fans in the house?

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Voros said:
Quite fond of this one, I have it on blu. Park also made the terrific vampire film Thirst, which alsp adapts Zola's classic thriller Therese Raquin.





The director of this, Kier-La Janisse also wrote a book on women-going-mad horror films (of which there are a lot!), House of Psychotic Women. Really good.

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Ooo that looks good. Great cover too!
 
Watched Jakob's Wife on Shudder, a fun and occasionally quite fresh take on vampires with Larry Fesseden and Barbara Crampton charming as the central middle-aged married couple.



Also rewatched Day of the Dead, which I haven't seen in a long time. Forgot everything besides the supergory finale, with my expectations in check I enjoyed it a lot more than when I first encountered it.

It is a much more grim, sf-ish take on the subject. Just as political as Night and Dawn but not as heavy-handed as the latter.

 
Ralph Dula said:
Eyes of Fire is the only film I recognize in the collection. Does anyone have thoughts on the others?
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I've seen a few of them.

Viy is one of my favourites. An old Russian fairy tale film, would love to see a newly updated Blu Ray transfer, as I've only ever seen a low quality VHS.

A Field in England is a pretty recent film, sort of a cross between historical drama and psychedelic 60's avant garde.

Witchammer I didn't care for. It's like an Eastern European version of Witchfinder General, if they took out all the charm and schlock and replaced it with fatalism. It's beautifully shot, but it's just cynical without being shocking.

Celia was...interesting. It's a film with a lot going on. A young Australian girl is trying to make sense of the darker aspects of the adult world , which she interprets in a dream-like fugue as a dark fairy tale, particularly revolving around the Hobyahs, a British type of Goblin here framed as something much more demonic. There's some good 80's creature effects for a low budget Australian film. Another one I'd really like to see a good Blu Ray transfer as the version I saw was practically crumbling celluloid. That said, it's one of those films that's more ambitious than effective, that I admired more than enjoyed. It's a hodgepodge than never quite finds it's rhythm or voice.

Clearcut is one I was most surprised to see in the set, not the least because it's definitely not what I would classify as folk horror, or even horror really. I think it was a made for TV film, or at least it has that kind f feel to it, of a 80's/90's TV movie of the week. The acting is schlocky, and the environmental/indigenous rights messages are heavy handed. I guess it does kinda get into survival "horror" at the end.

Dark Waters is a gem, but it is definitively Lovecraftian Horror rather than Folk Horror, and being the pedant that I am I don't like when these two are conflated (I think if we are going to have categories, that we should stick to those categories, because the more the linesare blurred, the less purpose they serve). That aside, it is a really fun early 90's horror flick that has some great cult stuff, and it was a huge inspiration for my Call of Cthulhu games, both visually and in how the cults acted.
 
TristramEvans said:
I've seen a few of them.

Viy is one of my favourites. An old Russian fairy tale film, would love to see a newly updated Blu Ray transfer, as I've only ever seen a low quality VHS.

A Field in England is a pretty recent film, sort of a cross between historical drama and psychedelic 60's avant garde.

Witchammer I didn't care for. It's like an Eastern European version of Witchfinder General, if they took out all the charm and schlock and replaced it with fatalism. It's beautifully shot, but it's just cynical without being shocking.

Celia was...interesting. It's a film with a lot going on. A young Australian girl is trying to make sense of the darker aspects of the adult world , which she interprets in a dream-like fugue as a dark fairy tale, particularly revolving around the Hobyahs, a British type of Goblin here framed as something much more demonic. There's some good 80's creature effects for a low budget Australian film. Another one I'd really like to see a good Blu Ray transfer as the version I saw was practically crumbling celluloid. That said, it's one of those films that's more ambitious than effective, that I admired more than enjoyed. It's a hodgepodge than never quite finds it's rhythm or voice.

Clearcut is one I was most surprised to see in the set, not the least because it's definitely not what I would classify as folk horror, or even horror really. I think it was a made for TV film, or at least it has that kind f feel to it, of a 80's/90's TV movie of the week. The acting is schlocky, and the environmental/indigenous rights messages are heavy handed. I guess it does kinda get into survival "horror" at the end.

Dark Waters is a gem, but it is definitively Lovecraftian Horror rather than Folk Horror, and being the pedant that I am I don't like when these two are conflated (I think if we are going to have categories, that we should stick to those categories, because the more the linesare blurred, the less purpose they serve). That aside, it is a really fun early 90's horror flick that has some great cult stuff, and it was a huge inspiration for my Call of Cthulhu games, both visually and in how the cults acted.
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Thank you very much for the summations!
 
After 13 years I finally got around to seeing Outpost last night. Someone dropped a ton of spoilers on me a bit after it first came out, and after seeing the firework claymores on Youtube I gave it a past. But I decided I’d finally watch it.



I was pleasantly surprised by the first half. A lot of things I was ready to mock the film for were later explained outright or enough information given for viewers to make their own deductions. One thing I was ready to mock until something I read nine years ago popped into my head, and I said “Yeah, that is believable.” Another thing…well, until around two years ago I believed the same thing as the scriptwriter, so I’d be a hypocrite if I mocked it.



It still had its flaws, such as the generator seemingly coming on a bit after the fellow stopped working on it. And I called the music coming on, and when I guess film bits that’s never a good sign.



Then I got to the second half of the film, and even understanding the undead are just playing with the living the entire time it made no sense.



. The undead are capable of teleporting, which the living know, and their plan consists of blocking off passages to funnel their movement and lure them by walking them down passages?



The undead can replenish their forms and change physical objects, as evidenced by their leader fixing his head and changing his clothes. Why would they keep themselves looking like rotting corpses with corroded gear and worn uniforms? Was he the only to be able to do it, despite them all undergoing the same experiment?



Sometimes physical attacks slow the undead down, and other times they don’t, with no rhyme or reason, other than plot drama.



I’m not sure it I’ll watch the sequel films or not.
 
I finally got around to seeing Hell House LLC. I’d delayed watching for years because of a major spoiler someone dropped back in the day, but figured I’d give it a go. Of course I watched the first ten minutes or so of the sequel a few days ago, thinking I was watching the first one, because it’s been that kind of week.



I was pleasantly surprised by how good it was, even with spoilers. The filming was great, it may have been my favorite found footage film so far in terms of tone (by which I mean feeling like genuinely recovered footage), and I thought the lead actress did a great job. There was a lot of show, not tell, and I appreciated that. I also liked that a few times I wasn’t certain if background sounds were just that, or supernatural sounds.



It did have things going against it. The dark nature of many of the scenes make me certain I was missing details at times, reducing the frights. The way they just got electricity going, the question of how they got the rights to work there, and the lack of nosy neighbors did hurt my suspension of disbelief; a real-life experience decades ago really made me question the last one.



I really, really want to harp on the way the idiot ball was head onto, even with proof of the supernatural going on. Then I remembered a time in college where I almost became a crime statistic because two of my friends were being naive idiots, and I found I had no room to stand on.



I think I’ll watch the second one when I get a chance.
 
My annual October/Halloween horror movie marathon has begun! This year, it's all remakes... Yes, the most blighted of god's creations, the horror remake. Of course, people tend to forget that there are some really good ones, classics even.

Tonight's viewing was Fright Night (2011) and Child's Play (2019). Two movies hadn't seen before.

Fright Night wasn't bad at all. Which makes it about as enjoyable as the original, a minor cult classic of my youth. I remember being fascinated by the cover/poster long before I saw the original film, which didn't live up to the creepiness of the art, but such movies rarely do. Anyway, the remake... It's fine. The cg is a little shaky, which let's it down somwhat, but the performances are there and it doesn't beat around the bush regarding whether vampires are real and if one lives next door! Plus, David Tennant gets to be sleazy and mean, which he does well.

Child's Play was boring. Boring and stupid. Stupider than the original (which has a serial killer swap his soul into a talking doll by voodoo magic!). Aubrey Plaza being normal is no fun either, and what was the point of casting Mark Hamill as Chucky if you can't bloody tell it's him? It pretty much misses every opportunity to make an entertaining or interesting point about everything that comes up during it's run time. Total waste of time. Roll on the Chucky tv series.
 
Ralph Dula said:
I think I’ll watch the second one when I get a chance.
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The two follow ups are not as good, sad to say. They're not horrible, but I felt they didn't live up to the first one's set up

I've been attending the 26th annual HP Lovecraft film festival this weekend. They will be streaming most of the films next weekend for those who couldn't attend. The shorts this year have been really good; usually they are a mixed bag, but the majority of the ones this year I really liked.

We go to see the pilot for a possible tv series called Black Goat from some people affiliated with the HP Lovecraft Historical Society. The first season would be based around characters from Thing on the Doorstep. The pilot was pretty good. I'm not digging the full lengths this year, save Whisperer in Darkness (which debuted at the festival 10 years ago), but the other two I've seen (one a take on Fall of the House of Usher by Poe) just didn't do it for me. Tomorrow has a feature based on Dreams in the Witch House, then all short films the rest of the day. They have some streaming only films and shorts I'll also get to see next weekend. It's been a good time so far. Smaller crowd (they're only using the main theater, not the two upstairs), and with spacing, it's about 2/3 full at capacity. Plus there's a really good Korean fried chicken wings place next door (last time there was a thai restaurant).

I did miss the last block of shorts tonight as they were running 40 minutes late, and I'd have had to wait at the train station at least an hour before the next train home due to an hour or so gap in service. Decided to ditch that and come home. I'm hope the people running the festival also run the films like they did the Portland Horror film festival, where you can rent individual blocks or films. I'd pay to see what I had to miss, because so far, 99% of the shorts have been really good this year
 
I took a break and watched Hell House 2. Young me would have been royally upset at this film, but at this point I went with it.



I liked the majority of the film. It kept the tone of the last film, and had about the same apparent budget; speaking of budget, the one effect that had some budget behind it took me by surprise, in a good way



I am amused by the psychic and his blaise attitude toward the supernatural. I’m reminded of the BBC series The Quick & The Dead (I think that was the name) where people seemed utterly skeptical of the supernatural unless a ouija board was involved, at which point it was treated as a normal thing when a “spirit” appeared. Much like that series, I’m left wondering if the supernatural is far more commonplace in this setting than the real world.



But the movie is flawed, starting with the retcon about
a cult. That retcon from the first film disappointed me, as it removed the idea the hotel owner was another victim of whatever was in the hotel, and leads to why Head Evil Ghost lives to show up hanging as died when things get spooky.



The funny thing is there’s another retcon in the film, but I don’t see any mention of it online. In the first film Alex makes a comment that the basement is the finale of the show because they can funnel people in and have them leave by the unshown storm door.
I figured no one used it as an escape in the first film because whatever was going down blocked its use. In this second film a big deal is made of having the documentary guy go along to navigate, and that storm door has apparently been retconned out of existence.
. This bit would have set young me off like nothing else



Finally there’s
. Head Ghost Dude on TV. One of the novelties fir me about the Hell House LLC is that this is only the second time I recall seeing ghosts that roam to gather victims fir their haunted locale, and the first one was terrible, the ghost apparently able to

do anything the plot demanded, no matter how nonsensical. I admit being a bit amused HGD keeps up with the times and tech, but the idea nobody from town was watching and called in to note it wasn’t the same guy (even though they sound the same? WTF?) blew my suspension of disbelief.



I still might see part three, and I learned last night a director’s cut of the first film was released, so I might have to track down.
 
Continuing my redeem-the-horror-remake month.

Tonight it was Friday the 13th (2009) and Evil Dead (2013). Fun.

Okay, so I am a huge Friday the 13th fan (part 2 is the best, fight me!) and probably shouldn't like the remake, but I actually do. The principle cast are pretty awful. Unlikeable in the way that all 2000's horror casts of 20-something, sorta attractive but oddly greasy machete fodder are in these things. The lead two are especially tiresome (apparently the lead guy is in Supernatural? No clue). However, ultimate survivalist/killer Jason is cool. While zombie-Jason is fun, I do prefer him as a living antagonist, and this movie doesn't mess that up.

Evil Dead. Fucking brutal! One act of set-up followed by a solid hour of grisly mutilation, violence and murder, plus what must be the most blood on-screen in anything ever. No comedy here, no slapstick, just intense and very visceral horror. You have to be in a very different mood to watch this than, say, Evil Dead 2... But it's definitely a worthy remake.
 
Mankcam said:
I'm a Hammer/Amicus guy, so I backed this, it's just the kind of vibe I like:
They Came From Beyond The Grave!
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...and the pdf link for this just arrived in my inbox yesterday !!!
It looks really great so far, but I'll take a better look once I have the printed copy in my hands in a few months time. I love pulpy adventure and I love gothic horror, so this was a given for me.
Looks very Hammer :thumbsup:


(ADDIT: Pre-orders are available here if anyone is interested: "They Came From Beyond The Grave!")
 
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Ralph Dula said:
I still might see part three, and I learned last night a director’s cut of the first film was released, so I might have to track down.
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If you're in the US, the director's cut is available to watch on Tubi

Finished up the HP Lovecraft Film Festival. Had to leave in the middle of the last short to catch the train home (or else wait almost 2 hours for the next one). The only full length this time around was an adaption of Dreams in the Witch House (simply called Witch House), which also seemed to have elements of Rosemary's Baby mixed in. It wasn't bad though.

There were 3 blocks of short films. The best of the bunch (and of the entire festival) was a comedic one called "Good Head", starring Matt Servitto (whose been on the Sopranos and a lot of others). He also directed/produced the film. He plays an actor in the Robert Downey Jr vein who plays an armored superhero called Silver Streak (which is funny, as they reference the Golden Age/Public Domain character of the same name, who was a super speedster and not armored). It's hilarious, and totally NSFW.
 
I'm more into the gothic fantasy side of Horror flicks, rather than slasher gorefests that have flooded the cinemas

Stumbled across this full movie on YouTube tonight, it's a great find. Klaus Kinski does a great role.
Very lush variation of Bram Stoker's Dracula novella, with lots of homage to the silent film Nosferatu
Subdued tone, not a big winner with modern audiences although lovers of gothica should find this appealing:
Nosteratu the Vamprye
:thumbsup:
 
urbwar said:
If you're in the US, the director's cut is available to watch on Tubi
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I found out what the extra footage is of in the Director’s Cut, and I think I’m good with the regular, both because it shows something I like being left up to the viewer in the original version, and it overlaps with what the spent most of the FX budget on in the second one that pleasantly surprised me.
 
urbwar said:
The only full length this time around was an adaption of Dreams in the Witch House (simply called Witch House), which also seemed to have elements of Rosemary's Baby mixed in. It wasn't bad though.
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Just out of curiosity, did it have Brown Jenkin in it?
 
Mankcam said:
I'm more into the gothic fantasy side of Horror flicks, rather than slasher gorefests that have flooded the cinemas
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You'd probably like two of the films I saw at the festival this weekend (the ones I didn't like). Fall of Usher and The Yellow Wallpaper. While Fall is a modern retelling, Yellow Wallpaper is a period film. There's a couple of other adaptations of Yellow Wallpaper, one or two of which I believe are on Youtube. One stars Juliet Landau from what I saw
 
Ralph Dula said:
I found out what the extra footage is of in the Director’s Cut, and I think I’m good with the regular, both because it shows something I like being left up to the viewer in the original version, and it overlaps with what the spent most of the FX budget on in the second one that pleasantly surprised me.
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I might watch it, as I haven't seen any of the films in over a year. I've got more films from the HP Lovecraft film festival to watch online next week (besides making most of the films available via streaming for those who couldn't attend, they had some streaming only films/shorts, which I get as part of my 3 day pass), but I put it on my watch list.
 
urbwar said:
You'd probably like two of the films I saw at the festival this weekend (the ones I didn't like). Fall of Usher and The Yellow Wallpaper. While Fall is a modern retelling, Yellow Wallpaper is a period film. There's a couple of other adaptations of Yellow Wallpaper, one or two of which I believe are on Youtube. One stars Juliet Landau from what I saw
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They both sound like they are inspired by Poe's novellas, so yes I reckon I would probably enjoy these films

Thanks for the recommendations :thumbsup:
 
Mankcam said:
They both sound like they are inspired by Poe's novellas, so yes I reckon I would probably enjoy these films

Thanks for the recommendations :thumbsup:
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The Yellow Wallpaper is based on the short story by Charlotte Perkins Gillman; Fall of Usher is, of course based on the Poe story. Usher is the better of the two, as the lead actor had better on screen presence imho. I just couldn't get into all the endless voice over monologues. I've enjoyed other adaptations of Usher in the past, but this one just didn't work for me. That doesn't mean they're not good films; I'm just not the audience for either one. So I have no problems suggesting them to others.
 
Yeah after I posted that I realised that The Yellow Wallpaper was not Poe, the one about the depressed delusional woman. Not sure if I would dig that either, it would depend on how it was presented.

Poe interests me with House of Usher and Masque of Red Death and stuff like that but for Gothic stories I prefer Mary Shelly and Bram Stoker
 
urbwar said:
The Yellow Wallpaper is based on the short story by Charlotte Perkins Gillman
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It's a wonderfully creepy little story... I first read it in a 'women's studies' class about the sociology of madness... along with some spooky Elizabeth Bowen stuff.
 
Simlasa said:
It's a wonderfully creepy little story... I first read it in a 'women's studies' class about the sociology of madness... along with some spooky Elizabeth Bowen stuff.
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Edith Wharton wrote masterful ghost stories as well, highly recommended.
 
After a night off due to being under the weather and tired, I return to my horror remakes with... Ugh. A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010).

Well, if we're going to watch a bad one of these, it might as well be the poster child for worthless 00's remakes of classic 80's horror. The principle cast of unlikeable millenials fight sleep for the length of the movie, and so did I. It is so very boring. Worst of all, it creates an interesting twist with Freddy being innocent of his crimes, but killed by overzealous parents... Then says "nah" and has him be guilty anyway.

The movie just refuses to commit to anything except absolute mediocrity. Evil Dead's remake also goes for the humourless, play-it-straight horror, but totally commits to being an increasingly horrid nightmare until everyone and everything is blood-soaked and screaming... Nightmare' is so half-hearted by comparison.

Next... Something better than this bollocks.
 
Halloween movie #6 is Piranha 3D (2010), the remake of the trashy (obviously) Corman/Dante '78 original. It's pretty much a gorier, stupider, sillier redo. I can't really fault it, since the original was dumb as a brick too. Plus, it gets to be memorable as "that movie where fish ate that guy's dick". Plus, it's got Christopher Lloyd as a mad scientist.
 
Malleustein said:
Halloween movie #6 is Piranha 3D (2010), the remake of the trashy (obviously) Corman/Dante '78 original. It's pretty much a gorier, stupider, sillier redo. I can't really fault it, since the original was dumb as a brick too. Plus, it gets to be memorable as "that movie where fish ate that guy's dick". Plus, it's got Christopher Lloyd as a mad scientist.
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And it was impressive in 3D, for a few reasons.
 
I tried watching Living Dead at Manchester Morgue, but despite my liking the trailer I gave up on it just as the first killing occurred. The whole “You damaged George’s motorcycle, strange lady, and now he’s allowed to drive your car and mock you” was too “WTF?” for me, and the disappearing zombie was just, well, lame.



I did have to laugh when the one character turned out to be a photographer, as George looked and dressed like one I knew in the late 2000s.
 
Halloween movie #7 is Candyman (2021) which, as it turns out, is not a remake after all. Oh well.
Now, considering the original '92 Candyman is one of my absolute favourite horror movies, I wasn't sure what I'd make of this...
But, y'know, I quite liked it. It's far less subtle about it's message of white privilige and minority persecution, but that seems appropriate right now. It isn't quite as slick and uncluttered as the original, but it has an identity of it's own, has it's moments, and the expansion of the Candyman mythology is far better here than either of the sequels squatted out after the original movie.
 
Halloween movies #8 and #9 are Rob Zombie's (2007 and 2009) remakes of Halloween and Halloween 2. I watched them back to back while feeling miserably ill, so feverish delerium and lack of sleep may be influencing me here.

Halloween is so different to the '78 original I still find it jarring. I'm still not sure I like the time spent on Myers as a child at th expense of rushing the rest of the film. That said, I do like RZ's grimier and more butal take. It just doesn't seem to quite fit Halloween...

...which brings us to Halloween 2. A sequel unrelated (dream sequence aside) to it's namesake. I'm going to defy popular opinion here and say I like it. It departs from the franchise, entirely becoming a RZ movie. Michael is big ol' murder hobo, Laurie is disintegrating into madness, Loomis is a greedy prick. It isn't always the best movie (production was insane) but RZ went his own way with it and I can appreciate it more.
 
For anyone interested, the streaming site Eventive has a few horror festivals streaming. Some are location restricted (or some films are restricted to specific regions), but there's a lot going on if you have the money to spend on checking out some new content. I've used it to watch films from Popcorn Frights, the Portland Horror Film Festival and the HP Lovecraft Film festival. Nightstream and Mile High Horror have stuff going on, and Grimfest in the UK will be starting soon for those in that area. There's also Toronto after Dark for those in Canada. There's also a film from Iceland called It Hatched that will air as part of the Austin Film Festival. So yeah, lots of horror going on right now
 
Halloween movie #10 is Piranha 3DD (2012), a sequel to Piranha 3D, but not really a remake of Piranha 2. It is pure trash. Roger Corman would no doubt approve of filling screen time with boobs and blood.

So, if the movie is fully aware it is junk, how do you judge it? It made me a laugh here and there, it was agreeably short, and a piranha once again ate a guy's dick... Which seems to be this franchises signature gag.
The fish don't fly though... Which is a let down.

Halloween movie #11 is Flatliners (2017), aka "the movie the world forgot was ever made".

Fuck me it's boring.

It makes the exact same mistake as the '90 original, which is to dump it's fascinating life-after-death concept in favour of self-help dullness. Most of the cast are trying to make you care... But you don't. Because they're boring.

It is less visually stylish than the original, it feels much longer (despite being a few minutes shorter), and the third act is just full of every cheap modern horror trick, whether it makes sense or not.

I'm beginning to rethink this "all remake" Halloween. I better start watching some of the better ones.
 
Halloween movie #12 is The Lighthouse (2019), a welcome break from the remakes, but a film I've wanted to watch for ages.

It is both easy and hard to describe. The easy version is "one or two men maybe go insane in a lighthouse". This isn't inaccurate, but hardly helpful. The film is dripping with theme and symoblism, so much so it is intentially hard to have a 'correct' reading for what is really going on or why. It's filmed in a confining, eerie German expressionist style, with only two cast members, both speaking antiquated New England sailor jargon when they speak at all.

...and... I sorta loved it. Dafoe is great, and Pattinson too. Their shared (?) descent into madness is compelling as all hell. I'm sure lots of people hate it. It's less accessable than Eggers' The Witch, to which it shares many thematic connections, but The Lighthouse is (by design) less modern in style, less coherent and probably less accessable.
 
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Halloween movies #13 and #14 are IT (2017) and IT chapter 2 (2019). The not-exactly-remakes of the 1990 miniseries. The one responsibly for 50% of my entirely justified clown-hate.

Everyone agrees that chapter 1 (clown torments teens) is better, and I can't disagree. Rewatching this, it confirms my opinion that mixing up the modern and historical events worked better. But overall, I still quite like them.

They suffer the same problem as the book, being too damn long, for no good reason. And make some really weird changes that don't help in the slightest. But the whole affair only really runs out of steam in the later half of chapter 2.
 
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Malleustein said:
Halloween movie #12 is The Lighthouse (2019), a welcome break from the remakes, but a film I've wanted to watch for ages.

It is both easy and hard to describe. The easy version is "one or two men maybe go insane in a lighthouse". This isn't inaccurate, but hardly helpful. The film is dripping with theme and symoblism, so much so it is intentially hard to have a 'correct' reading for what is really going on or why. It's filmed in a confining, eerie German expressionist style, with only two cast members, both speaking antiquated New England sailor jargon when they speak at all.

...and... I sorta loved it. Dafoe is great, and Pattinson too. Their shared (?) descent into madness is compelling as all hell. I'm sure lots of people hate it. It's less accessable than Eggers' The Witch, to which it shares many thematic connections, but The Lighthouse is (by design) less modern in style, less coherent and probably less accessable.
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Absolutely loved this film. The Witch as well.
 
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