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Post by Jumpin' Jesse Walsh on Sept 3, 2019 9:15:32 GMT -5
My review of Sleepaway Camp (1983) Sleepaway Camp is basically the John Waters version of Friday the 13th. It follows the exact same concept, then spikes the camp chili with a tab of acid. It’s in turns funny, strange, unnerving, and altogether so off its rocker that I’m surprised it even got made, let alone released in theaters. As you probably know, it also boasts one of the most discussed endings in cinema history, which is worth a separate essay alone. I’ll get to that ending a little bit later in this review but first: I’m always stricken by how this movie is really, really f***** up. The world of Camp Arawak is a dark one, littered with bullies and sexual predators. The latter, with how casual and light-hearted it approaches the subject matter, is beyond the pale. There’s literally a scene where the pedo chef declares his intentions to molest the new kids to the laughter of his fellow staff members. I’m never sure how much of this movie is intentionally bonkers but nevertheless: what the actual hell? It makes sure the kids aren’t let off the hook as doomed innocents, either. In fact, these are some of the meanest kids to grace a slasher flick. Meg and Judy are unrelenting in their quest to spite Angela for merely existing (though, of course, Angela is revealed to be even more vicious). Rivalries are much more common in this camp than friendships. It’s always boys vs. girls, younger kids vs. older kids, kids vs. adults, etc. Unlike the twentysomethings masking as teens in Friday the 13th, most of the campers are actually kids, which makes them and the interactions between each other a lot more authentic. Certainly, however, just as authentic is the ending, which I’ll now discuss in earnest. My overall feelings are mixed. It’s definitely out of left field. I don’t think anyone can’t deny that. I’m just not a fan of the “gender identity as a twist” trope because that can, and often does, go down a lot of troubling roads. There are loads of interesting things the film can say about gender and sexual identity, but I ultimately don’t trust a horror film circa 1983 to handle that delicately. I did stumble upon an editorial on Dread Central about whether Sleepaway Camp is transphobic and homophobic and the verdict was that, yeah, it definitely is. But if there’s anything progressive it has to say, it’s that forcing kids into traditional gender roles is dangerous. Obviously it’s also dangerous to link that to murder, but the true extent of Angela’s trauma can loosely represent the feelings of anguish that can emerge from such an abusive upbringing. You’ll hear you need to watch Sleepaway Camp just to see the ending, but that’s oversimplifying it. The entire movie is bananas. It has a sense of undecipherable weirdness that warrants several rewatches. It deserves all of the hot takes it gets on the Internet. You definitely need to watch it, and not just for the ending. I can't recommend enough the Sleepaway Camp episode of How Did This Get Made. It's Paul, June, and Jason basically losing their mind for an hour and change about how bananas this movie is, and trying to unravel the family tree in it. It's a thing of beauty. www.earwolf.com/episode/sleepaway-camp/I listened to it this weekend! They did say Jane Krakowski was originally cast as Angela, but I think she was supposed to be Judy but dropped out at the last minute because the character’s death was too gruesome. Either way, crazy to think about.
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Ultimo Gallos
Grimlock
Dreams SUCK!Nightmares live FOREVER!
Posts: 14,376
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Post by Ultimo Gallos on Sept 3, 2019 10:54:18 GMT -5
SILENT HOUSE MEGA PIRANHA-Decent Asylum film. SHouldn't be hard to find for cheap. BATTLEDOGS-PRetty sure this was made for Syfy. LET ME IN-Ok remake of a great original. HARD RIDE TO HELL INSIDIOUS DEATH KAPPA MY SOUL TO TAKE SAW: THE FINAL CHAPTER ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER HISSS THE BEAST OF XMOOR AS ABOVE, SO BELOW-Saw this and remember nothing about it. UNFRIENDED CURSE OF CHUCKY-Damn good film. Just avoid the one after this. GET OUT-Bought this last month for $5.
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mystermystery
Dennis Stamp
Still in the White Hummer
Posts: 4,367
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Post by mystermystery on Sept 3, 2019 17:17:53 GMT -5
Sorry to double-post, but with September upon us, I'm now counting down the days to my month-long horror-thon in October. I figured now is as good a time as any to tell y'all about what I'm lining up for the month. As I've mentioned previously, I think I've watched the least horror movies from the current decade (2010-2019) of any decade in the history of horror film. I thought I'd use this October to rectify that a little bit. I do have some flicks already from the decade that I might revisit, but I'll talk briefly about the new stuff I've acquired. Everyday I check out BrodietheSlayer 's horror film tournament over in the Games Section of this here forum. I look up each film on the daily list on eBay to see if I can find it on DVD (yes, I'm one of the people who hasn't upgraded to Blu/4k). If it's a.) under 5 bucks (because I'm trying to not spend all of my money) and b.) available as disc only (since I'm out of space on my DVD shelves) I add it to my Watchlist. At the end of the week, I buy roughly $10 worth of DVDs from my Watchlist. This might not be the best way to find the best stuff the decade has to offer. But it's what I'm doing. Here's what I've picked up thus far, in no particular order: SILENT HOUSE MEGA PIRANHA BATTLEDOGS LET ME IN HARD RIDE TO HELL INSIDIOUS DEATH KAPPA MY SOUL TO TAKE SAW: THE FINAL CHAPTER ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER HISSS THE BEAST OF XMOOR AS ABOVE, SO BELOW UNFRIENDED CURSE OF CHUCKY GET OUT (we're not this far in the tournament yet, but I wanted to get this one anyway) Feel free to share your thoughts on my recent pickups (spoiler-free, please!) or discuss your plans for October horror watching. I plan on raiding through Shudder's collections during October. Plan on rewatching DEAD WAX which was a very interesting "film obviously turned into episodes" series (extremely better than their Critters attempt). Unfriended is such an amazingly nonsense concept to me that I love it based on that alone. (To note: The word "Nonsense" is not a bad thing to me. I use it for quirky, enjoyable stuff) My Soul to Take was an interesting concept and there are some good "You better believe Wes Craven knows how to scare you" moments but I didn't really care for the end result. Curse of Chucky is ridiculously good fun that works as a completely in canon sequel but also slightly soft reboots to the original film's focus. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Never watched the movie but I have the book. No, I haven't read the book...but I have it.
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Post by KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!! on Sept 3, 2019 20:34:45 GMT -5
Planning to dig into some of my Shriek Show collection in October that I've held off watching. Although I might start digging into it a bit early Also, anyone notice that this label basically had two types of releases? First, it had some fairly obscure older films (mostly from the '70s, '80s, and '90s) some of which had pretty decent releases. Then their newer films were almost always real bottom of the barrel stuff. Even the stuff that featured horror icons was mostly their more forgettable films. As for why Media Blasters almost doesn't exist anymore my guess is that they paid too much in rights fees for those older films. When they couldn't recoup the fees with sales they then gravitated toward these cheaper more recent titles. Unsurprisingly those also didn't sell great either. As far as I know the only division of Media Blasters that has released anything recently is their hentai division, but that has nothing to do with horror.
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Nr1Humanoid
Hank Scorpio
Is the #3 humanoid at best.
Posts: 5,478
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Post by Nr1Humanoid on Sept 4, 2019 16:51:56 GMT -5
Critters Attack. 2019.
The human shish kebab loving little bastards are back.
Though not nearly as memorable as earlier Critters characters the ones here are servicable enough, and thankfully cliche free.
So is the movie though some familiar horror tropes are in play.
I liked the introduction of a heroic Crite and horror maestro Dee Wallace is always a treat to enlighten movies. The kid actors are clearly older than their characters which seems rather pointless.
Some parts of Crite lore is changed, like how they multiply and a new way for them to die is introduced, but they really are not much of a detriment to the flick.
They seemed to hold back on the deaths, which is sad since its the first R rated Critters movie.
Thankfully CGI takes a well deserved holiday, leaving us with excellent, and varied Crites.
Pretty good movie, though my guess is you have to be a fan of the franchise, as I do not believe casuals would enjoy it that much.
But I had some brainless fun, which is often the best kind.
3 deadly loofas out of 5.
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Post by KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!! on Sept 5, 2019 8:38:44 GMT -5
Watched this one last night: Don't Go In the House (1979) Donny, a disturbed young man who works at an incinerator, starts killing people after his abusive mother dies of natural causes. The reason he's so messed up is because his mother would hold his arms over flames from the stove to burn out the evil in him. Psycho is obviously an influence here and I was just glad they didn't go complete ripoff and have him dress up like his mom. The body count is pretty low and the characters could really use some fleshing out. For instance, a guy from work named Bobby is Donny's only friend. However, it is never made clear really why Bobby would want to be friends with him since from the film he gets absolutely nothing out of the friendship. Another turn off for some horror fans may be that none of the murders after the first are particularly inventive. They are all the same method. However, despite whatever shortcomings this movie has it sure is an interesting watch. With a runtime of just over 80 minutes things go by quick. If a little more backstory and character development could have been woven into it, it just would have been a cherry on top. It also has that great 1970s/1980s New York/New Jersey grindhouse vibe that lots of horror fans should know and love. Strong and memorable framing for some shots add a touch of class to the wild subject matter. It was the last in a 3 pack from Shriek Show I watched called Grindhouse Psychos though I decided to watch it first. I'm eager to watch the others in the set, Tenement and Cop Killers soon. But this was a great way to start!
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Post by 'Foretold' Joker on Sept 5, 2019 8:55:26 GMT -5
Hey remember, Death bed: the Bed That Eats! Well here comes more evil carnivorous furniture Killer Sofa
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Ultimo Gallos
Grimlock
Dreams SUCK!Nightmares live FOREVER!
Posts: 14,376
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Post by Ultimo Gallos on Sept 5, 2019 16:39:17 GMT -5
Watched this one last night: Don't Go In the House (1979) Donny, a disturbed young man who works at an incinerator, starts killing people after his abusive mother dies of natural causes. The reason he's so messed up is because his mother would hold his arms over flames from the stove to burn out the evil in him. Psycho is obviously an influence here and I was just glad they didn't go complete ripoff and have him dress up like his mom. The body count is pretty low and the characters could really use some fleshing out. For instance, a guy from work named Bobby is Donny's only friend. However, it is never made clear really why Bobby would want to be friends with him since from the film he gets absolutely nothing out of the friendship. Another turn off for some horror fans may be that none of the murders after the first are particularly inventive. They are all the same method. However, despite whatever shortcomings this movie has it sure is an interesting watch. With a runtime of just over 80 minutes things go by quick. If a little more backstory and character development could have been woven into it, it just would have been a cherry on top. It also has that great 1970s/1980s New York/New Jersey grindhouse vibe that lots of horror fans should know and love. Strong and memorable framing for some shots add a touch of class to the wild subject matter. It was the last in a 3 pack from Shriek Show I watched called Grindhouse Psychos though I decided to watch it first. I'm eager to watch the others in the set, Tenement and Cop Killers soon. But this was a great way to start! Tenement is fun. I caught it on B-Movie TV months ago. But it isn't a horror film in any way. Dont go into the house is a fun piece of video nasties. That one kill is very impressive when you consider the FX budget was low.
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Nr1Humanoid
Hank Scorpio
Is the #3 humanoid at best.
Posts: 5,478
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Post by Nr1Humanoid on Sept 5, 2019 17:28:03 GMT -5
The Prodigy. 2019
I am always up for an evil kid movie and though this one was rather predictable it did have some nice twists on the genre to its credit.
The boy in question is played very well, switching effortlessly between scared innocent child and evil little shit.
The father is rather wasted but the mom gets to sink her teeth into some nice material.
This one is more suspense and crepiness than blood and gore but it did not need the latter.
What brings it down is the ending. I am all for downer endings but this was the equivalent of Pazuzu staying in control of Regan. It just did not work.
Slow, but never boring.
3 glass bottles through the foot out of 5.
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Post by KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!! on Sept 5, 2019 18:25:13 GMT -5
Watched this one last night: Don't Go In the House (1979) Donny, a disturbed young man who works at an incinerator, starts killing people after his abusive mother dies of natural causes. The reason he's so messed up is because his mother would hold his arms over flames from the stove to burn out the evil in him. Psycho is obviously an influence here and I was just glad they didn't go complete ripoff and have him dress up like his mom. The body count is pretty low and the characters could really use some fleshing out. For instance, a guy from work named Bobby is Donny's only friend. However, it is never made clear really why Bobby would want to be friends with him since from the film he gets absolutely nothing out of the friendship. Another turn off for some horror fans may be that none of the murders after the first are particularly inventive. They are all the same method. However, despite whatever shortcomings this movie has it sure is an interesting watch. With a runtime of just over 80 minutes things go by quick. If a little more backstory and character development could have been woven into it, it just would have been a cherry on top. It also has that great 1970s/1980s New York/New Jersey grindhouse vibe that lots of horror fans should know and love. Strong and memorable framing for some shots add a touch of class to the wild subject matter. It was the last in a 3 pack from Shriek Show I watched called Grindhouse Psychos though I decided to watch it first. I'm eager to watch the others in the set, Tenement and Cop Killers soon. But this was a great way to start! Tenement is fun. I caught it on B-Movie TV months ago. But it isn't a horror film in any way. Dont go into the house is a fun piece of video nasties. That one kill is very impressive when you consider the FX budget was low. IMDB defines Tenement as multi-genre with one of the genres being horror. If it’s good enough for IMDB, it’s good enough for me haha. But yeah I don’t know too much about Tenement. Much of the time I like to try to go into movies cold so I get some surprises. I am curious to see what that X rating is all about though I was planning to watch it after work today, but I had a massive headache so decided to watch an episode of Jonny Quest and take a nap instead. Probably going to get through the first disc of that before I resume this box set
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Post by KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!! on Sept 7, 2019 10:27:24 GMT -5
What do you folks have lined up for October?
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Ultimo Gallos
Grimlock
Dreams SUCK!Nightmares live FOREVER!
Posts: 14,376
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Post by Ultimo Gallos on Sept 7, 2019 14:19:09 GMT -5
What do you folks have lined up for October? Got 21 of my 31 things to watch in October lined up. Trying to narrow down the final 10. Then near the end of Oct is a buddy's birthday/Halloween party. Hopefully this year I don't drive home at 2am with a migraine. Debating on waiting till OCtober 1st to start watching the Creepshow tv show on Shudder. It comes out Sept 25th or 26th.
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Post by KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!! on Sept 7, 2019 14:27:02 GMT -5
What do you folks have lined up for October? Got 21 of my 31 things to watch in October lined up. Trying to narrow down the final 10. Then near the end of Oct is a buddy's birthday/Halloween party. Hopefully this year I don't drive home at 2am with a migraine. Debating on waiting till OCtober 1st to start watching the Creepshow tv show on Shudder. It comes out Sept 25th or 26th. Creepshow almost makes me want to get Shudder. But I have so much horror to get through already! I’m not putting together a list to keep it spontaneous but starting October 1 I plan to watch nothing but horror movies! October looks to be one of my busiest months of the year for work but I think I can watch 31 movies. Hopefully anyway Until then I’m blasting through my non-horror DVD/Blu-Ray stockpile of things I still need to watch. Namely Jonny Quest, the last disc of my One Step Beyond set, and the Weird-Noir six move set Something Weird put out.
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Post by Jumpin' Jesse Walsh on Sept 7, 2019 14:29:12 GMT -5
What do you folks have lined up for October? For the past few years, I've been picking a theme. One year I did zombie films, international horror the next, the Halloween franchise last year, etc. I'm thinking this year will be "creature feature" so really anything with giant monsters and the like. In other words, I will be watching The Killer Shrews for 31 consecutive days.
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Post by KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!! on Sept 7, 2019 14:32:06 GMT -5
What do you folks have lined up for October? For the past few years, I've been picking a theme. One year I did zombie films, international horror the next, the Halloween franchise last year, etc. I'm thinking this year will be "creature feature" so really anything with giant monsters and the like. In other words, I will be watching The Killer Shrews for 31 consecutive days. For Creature Features you may want to check out the Full Moon 3 Disc Mega Monsters set. Only if you find it cheap The first two movies are a lot of fun super low budget stuff. It was made after Full Moon’s financial backing fell out so Charles Band is really working with a shoestring budget. The third disc is just a compilation of monster movie scenes from Full Moon rather than a proper film.
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Ultimo Gallos
Grimlock
Dreams SUCK!Nightmares live FOREVER!
Posts: 14,376
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Post by Ultimo Gallos on Sept 7, 2019 14:34:14 GMT -5
Got 21 of my 31 things to watch in October lined up. Trying to narrow down the final 10. Then near the end of Oct is a buddy's birthday/Halloween party. Hopefully this year I don't drive home at 2am with a migraine. Debating on waiting till OCtober 1st to start watching the Creepshow tv show on Shudder. It comes out Sept 25th or 26th. Creepshow almost makes me want to get Shudder. But I have so much horror to get through already! I’m not putting together a list to keep it spontaneous but starting October 1 I plan to watch nothing but horror movies! October looks to be one of my busiest months of the year for work but I think I can watch 31 movies. Hopefully anyway Until then I’m blasting through my non-horror DVD/Blu-Ray stockpile of things I still need to watch. Namely Jonny Quest, the last disc of my One Step Beyond set, and the Weird-Noir six move set Something Weird put out. I end up watching something on SHudder every few days. Love how for like 55 bucks I get it for a year. Ended up doing a list of films/tv shows/whatever so I can start ripping them. Mostly cause there is a few days in October when I am not going to be home all day or most of the day. So will end up watching at least a few things on my laptop/tablet or portable dvd player.
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Nr1Humanoid
Hank Scorpio
Is the #3 humanoid at best.
Posts: 5,478
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Post by Nr1Humanoid on Sept 8, 2019 17:36:07 GMT -5
Itsy Bitsy. 2019.
I started fearing the the worst when the movie started with the young boy resenting being moved away from the city trope but happily they turned out not to dwell too much on it.
It was a nice surprise to see the mother being a flawed parent who can not see past her next pill.
The picture has a very slow build until the action starts but not enough to be bored by.
I myself did not find it intense or creepy, but that comes down to me being an old school horror connoisseur, but to many others those two categories would rank pretty significantly.
The actors do a great job.
The mother going back and forth between selfish and sympathetc with ease.
The daughter portrays innocence well plus being quite the little scream princess.
Being the most featured player the boy does great, displaying a wide variety of emotions.
Tasha Yar herself is here to class up the proceedings as usual.
Bruce Davison, need I say more?
The effects are pretty gross with all the slime and open sores. Yikes!
Tarantino would have loved this one with all the feet imagery.
Not the modern Eight Legged Freaks I was hoping for but I have no real complaints either.
Stay tuned for a post credits scene.
4 butterfly wings out of 5.
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Post by DSR on Sept 12, 2019 22:28:48 GMT -5
Hey gang, tomorrow is Friday the 13th AND a full moon! Y'all got any spooky plans for the day?
Me and my friends are finally gonna hit up the theater and check out IT: CHAPTER TWO.
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Ultimo Gallos
Grimlock
Dreams SUCK!Nightmares live FOREVER!
Posts: 14,376
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Post by Ultimo Gallos on Sept 13, 2019 1:28:50 GMT -5
Looks like I am going to have a friend put my new tire on the rim and balance my tires. Might bring along my Friday teh 13th blu ray set.
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Paul
Vegeta
Posts: 9,243
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Post by Paul on Sept 13, 2019 2:11:12 GMT -5
Looks like I am going to have a friend put my new tire on the rim and balance my tires. Might bring along my Friday teh 13th blu ray set. Well, I hope he won't be "two tired" to watch the movies with you.
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