Lick Ness Monster
Dennis Stamp
From the eerie, eerie depths of Lake Okabena
Posts: 4,874
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Post by Lick Ness Monster on Mar 4, 2009 23:38:27 GMT -5
Good to see that there are some other people who appreciate the original Last House - in the Craven review thread there were a lot of people labeling it as "cheesy," "horribly acted" and such - to which I say you're missing the point of the film entirely. It's just a pure visceral experience, and very unlike the fun, happy horror movies of the Halloween and Friday the 13th ilk, Last House on the Left is not a fun movie to watch - but that doesn't make it any less effective.
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Post by Maidpool w/ Cleaning Action on Mar 4, 2009 23:47:08 GMT -5
Basketcase. I had both of them at the Farmville store TR. I hate to do this, but I am: *sigh*
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thump
Tommy Wiseau
Posts: 90
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Post by thump on Mar 4, 2009 23:56:48 GMT -5
I hope you don't mind if I jump in this thread a little bit late. I'll try to keep up more as things go on.
As for watching Deep Red for free, or feeling ripped off because you paid money for it - I wouldn't sweat it. I'm pretty sure all the public domain releases have ugly prints and are cut versions. I'm still sitting on my old Anchor Bay disc from the late 90s. That's not without its problems either though. I don't think the print is anamorphic (a bigger deal now than it was then) and the last scene features a freeze frame that wasn't intended to be in the movie. I know there's a European release with the proper print (and Italian soundtrack to boot), but I don't know if the later Blue Underground release fixed it. I have a family now and can't but all the DVDs I want like I could 10 or 11 years ago.
All the technical garbage aside, I love that movie. It's probably tied with Bird with the Crystal Plumage as my favorite Argento giallo.
I should really get that Last House DVD pictured in the thread. At one point I was trying to get all the different prints of that movie out there, but the last one I bought was from Anchor Bay UK. That combined with the US MGM release had most of the footage available. I also have some barebones Euro release kicking around. That movie is one of my favorites; Hess's Krug is one of the sleaziest bastards I've ever seen on film. I find the whole affair hard to stomach at times though. I have to really be in the right frame of mind to watch certain parts.
I'm softer on Jason Goes to Hell than I should be. It was the first Jason movie I caught in the theaters and I have a soft spot for it.
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Tehboobz wants Ewa Sonnett
Don Corleone
Keeps his subtlety and knockers separated.
She's busty...she's Polish...and she will be mine!
Posts: 1,533
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Post by Tehboobz wants Ewa Sonnett on Mar 5, 2009 1:00:33 GMT -5
HA! I just picked up that version of Last House this morning. I've got one of the featurettes playing in the background. Jesus....they show a shot of Craven's original script at one point, and the things that man had written...they're disgusting, base, and totally uncalled for. I mean, at one point, he had wanted the character played by Lincoln to rape a dead corpse, while the camera did a close up of his "huge dog cock".
WTF?
Seriously, WTF? Anyway, I am glad I picked this up. Great review, 'Schach. I can almost guarantee though that the new one will lack the balls of the original Last House. Not a tenth of the nudity, not a hundredth of the violence, and not a millionth of the intensity. I predict that it will be as neutered as a gelding.
BTW....still intending to watch those Exploitation films. I'll get around to getting them done one of these days.
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Post by DSR on Mar 5, 2009 2:50:12 GMT -5
I've got nothing against the acting by Hess and the others in Last House, but you can't tell me the movie is "visceral and unrelenting" when there's comic relief cops showing up doing "dumb southern" schtick every five minutes. If they had completely eliminated those cops, or better yet, if Meir Zarchi could've gotten those three guys in I Spit on Your Grave, then you would have something visceral and brutal.
Now...turning to some lighter fare...my latest viewing was the abysmal "Attack of the Giant Leeches" produced by American International Pictures. Its typical low-budget tripe, with what appears to be people in garbage bags with plastic octopus parts glued on, playing these "leeches" and attacking a small southern (?) town. Really awful. The leech costumes are comically inept in design, but everything else is flat out mediocre. If you're in the mood for "so bad its good" 50s sci-fi/horror, I'd suggest "The Killer Shrews" instead.
OR...you could check out some of the stuff playing on Turner Classic Movies in the coming month! Some of the things I'm looking forward to include:
-Nightmare Honeymoon - Saturday March 14th at 3:30 AM (I'm a night person, so a lot of the stuff they show really late is perfect for me) -The Brain That Wouldn't Die - Monday March 16th at 9:30 PM (probably tape that one while I watch Raw) -Legend of Hell House - Saturday March 28th at 2 AM, followed by the original 13 Ghosts (!), and then that morning they're showing stuff like The Lodger (talkie remake of the Hitchcock silent that I still haven't watched) and Man in the Attic (starring Jack Palance), both movies based on Jack the Ripper -And lastly, Tuesday March 31st into April 1st is dedicated to 50s Sci-Fi, so they're showing stuff like I Married a Monster From Outer Space and Forbidden Planet -And REALLY lastly, Saturday April 4th at 2 AM, they're showing Massacre at Central High
Just thought I'd give everybody a heads up on this stuff, in case there's any interest.
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thump
Tommy Wiseau
Posts: 90
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Post by thump on Mar 5, 2009 8:23:53 GMT -5
I've got nothing against the acting by Hess and the others in Last House, but you can't tell me the movie is "visceral and unrelenting" when there's comic relief cops showing up doing "dumb southern" schtick every five minutes. If they had completely eliminated those cops, or better yet, if Meir Zarchi could've gotten those three guys in I Spit on Your Grave, then you would have something visceral and brutal. Now...turning to some lighter fare...my latest viewing was the abysmal "Attack of the Giant Leeches" produced by American International Pictures. Its typical low-budget tripe, with what appears to be people in garbage bags with plastic octopus parts glued on, playing these "leeches" and attacking a small southern (?) town. Really awful. The leech costumes are comically inept in design, but everything else is flat out mediocre. If you're in the mood for "so bad its good" 50s sci-fi/horror, I'd suggest "The Killer Shrews" instead. OR...you could check out some of the stuff playing on Turner Classic Movies in the coming month! Some of the things I'm looking forward to include: - Nightmare Honeymoon - Saturday March 14th at 3:30 AM (I'm a night person, so a lot of the stuff they show really late is perfect for me) - The Brain That Wouldn't Die - Monday March 16th at 9:30 PM (probably tape that one while I watch Raw) - Legend of Hell House - Saturday March 28th at 2 AM, followed by the original 13 Ghosts (!), and then that morning they're showing stuff like The Lodger (talkie remake of the Hitchcock silent that I still haven't watched) and Man in the Attic (starring Jack Palance), both movies based on Jack the Ripper -And lastly, Tuesday March 31st into April 1st is dedicated to 50s Sci-Fi, so they're showing stuff like I Married a Monster From Outer Space and Forbidden Planet -And REALLY lastly, Saturday April 4th at 2 AM, they're showing Massacre at Central HighJust thought I'd give everybody a heads up on this stuff, in case there's any interest. The goofy cops really rub some people the wrong way. They don't really bother me, but they definitely take you out of the movie. I guess that's sort of the point. I don't think they're in it to the point though where they sink the movie. I would heartily this book: It's a completely exhaustive look at Last House and its influence. Massacre at Central High is a fantastic movie that deserves more attention (and a proper DVD release)! Not a horror movie, but without a doubt one of my favorite revenge movie. I love that there's absolutely no adults to be seen in this world (well, there are, but they're all playing "kids"). Anybody who has a taste for sleaze should check out Hess in Ruggero Deodato's House by the Edge of the Park. It's an unashamed rip off of Last House from the director of Cannibal Holocaust. It's not the same though, while I consider Last House powerful, this one is just a sickie. Just a warning though, this is not for the casual viewer: it's racist, sexist, and just plain nasty. Depending on your sense of humor, you just might enjoy the hell out of it.
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Lick Ness Monster
Dennis Stamp
From the eerie, eerie depths of Lake Okabena
Posts: 4,874
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Post by Lick Ness Monster on Mar 5, 2009 12:05:21 GMT -5
The goofy cops really rub some people the wrong way. They don't really bother me, but they definitely take you out of the movie. I guess that's sort of the point. I don't think they're in it to the point though where they sink the movie. This. The Brain That Wouldn't Die Oh yes - the movie with the decapitated head taking its revenge! Love that one.
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andrew8798
FANatic
on 24/7 this month
Posts: 106,080
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Post by andrew8798 on Mar 5, 2009 15:55:42 GMT -5
New Line Cinema announced today that they will release their reboot of A Nightmare on Elm Street in theaters on April 16, 2010. Shooting for the remake begins next month in Chicago with Samuel Bayer behind the camera.
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Post by Rorschach on Mar 5, 2009 17:34:50 GMT -5
Ehh....I tend to overlook the Keystone Kops in LAST HOUSE. I know their inclusion pisses people off to a huge degree, but I think that they're needed to some extent. Maybe if they wouldn't have been so goofy, and had been more of a threat to the main players, people wouldn't hate them so much. When I say "vicious and unrelenting", I'm talking about the stuff with the three male leads and Jerramie Rain raping/murdering the protagonists. It's almost as if the stuff with the Kops belongs in another film entirely, and I really hope that the coming remake leaves them out altogether.
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Post by DSR on Mar 5, 2009 17:41:59 GMT -5
I've got nothing against the acting by Hess and the others in Last House, but you can't tell me the movie is "visceral and unrelenting" when there's comic relief cops showing up doing "dumb southern" schtick every five minutes. If they had completely eliminated those cops, or better yet, if Meir Zarchi could've gotten those three guys in I Spit on Your Grave, then you would have something visceral and brutal. Now...turning to some lighter fare...my latest viewing was the abysmal "Attack of the Giant Leeches" produced by American International Pictures. Its typical low-budget tripe, with what appears to be people in garbage bags with plastic octopus parts glued on, playing these "leeches" and attacking a small southern (?) town. Really awful. The leech costumes are comically inept in design, but everything else is flat out mediocre. If you're in the mood for "so bad its good" 50s sci-fi/horror, I'd suggest "The Killer Shrews" instead. OR...you could check out some of the stuff playing on Turner Classic Movies in the coming month! Some of the things I'm looking forward to include: - Nightmare Honeymoon - Saturday March 14th at 3:30 AM (I'm a night person, so a lot of the stuff they show really late is perfect for me) - The Brain That Wouldn't Die - Monday March 16th at 9:30 PM (probably tape that one while I watch Raw) - Legend of Hell House - Saturday March 28th at 2 AM, followed by the original 13 Ghosts (!), and then that morning they're showing stuff like The Lodger (talkie remake of the Hitchcock silent that I still haven't watched) and Man in the Attic (starring Jack Palance), both movies based on Jack the Ripper -And lastly, Tuesday March 31st into April 1st is dedicated to 50s Sci-Fi, so they're showing stuff like I Married a Monster From Outer Space and Forbidden Planet -And REALLY lastly, Saturday April 4th at 2 AM, they're showing Massacre at Central HighJust thought I'd give everybody a heads up on this stuff, in case there's any interest. The goofy cops really rub some people the wrong way. They don't really bother me, but they definitely take you out of the movie. I guess that's sort of the point. I don't think they're in it to the point though where they sink the movie. I would heartily this book: It's a completely exhaustive look at Last House and its influence. Massacre at Central High is a fantastic movie that deserves more attention (and a proper DVD release)! Not a horror movie, but without a doubt one of my favorite revenge movie. I love that there's absolutely no adults to be seen in this world (well, there are, but they're all playing "kids"). Anybody who has a taste for sleaze should check out Hess in Ruggero Deodato's House by the Edge of the Park. It's an unashamed rip off of Last House from the director of Cannibal Holocaust. It's not the same though, while I consider Last House powerful, this one is just a sickie. Just a warning though, this is not for the casual viewer: it's racist, sexist, and just plain nasty. Depending on your sense of humor, you just might enjoy the hell out of it. 1.) See, the cops doing that bit of "taking you out of the picture" actually seems counter to the point of the movie. Specifically: ...If this documentary vibe was what Craven was going for, he pretty much failed. Craven totally blinks and looks away. We go through the harrowing ordeals of the two girls, only for the dramatic tension to be obliterated by those damned cops! Its one thing to have comic relief in a horror movie that's on the supernatural side or isn't trying for the "based on a true story" mentality, but the comic relief sits so uneasily with the brutality that the film just doesn't work for me the way it was intended.* As for House by the Edge of the Park, I own a copy. It's a sick little exploitation film as well, but it fails for reasons far different from the reason I listed for Last House. I don't mean to say that I didn't enjoy the movie, in spite of (or more likely because of) its flaws. Its okay, basically. *NOTE: That quote I used above came from here: www.1000misspenthours.com/reviews/reviewsh-m/lasthouseontheleft.htm <WARNING: LANGUAGE> The reviewer (going under the handle "El Santo") echoes my sentiments regarding the movie pretty well, though I enjoyed Hess's music in Last House (again, excluding the parts regarding the comic relief cops).
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Post by Rorschach on Mar 5, 2009 17:46:25 GMT -5
That's odd, because in one of the featurettes on LAST HOUSE, CRAVEN talks about the movie VIRGIN SPRINGS being his primary inspiration for the plot of LAST HOUSE....and the way he tells it, he pretty much copied the plot bit for bit from VIRGIN SPRINGS, but added a butt-ton of violence and sex.
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thump
Tommy Wiseau
Posts: 90
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Post by thump on Mar 5, 2009 18:13:45 GMT -5
I find Craven frustrating at times because he does tend to contradict himself.
As for Last House, I'll never argue that it's a flawless movie. My wife complained that the girls in the beginning act like they're straight out of a Kotex commercial from the 80s. Still, there's a degree of anger and nihilism that seem so genuine that the movie ultimately works well for me. It's a movie that makes me feel slimy for having watched it, and anything that lingers that long with me is worth watching. It certainly may not do that for everybody.
I'm having a great time with this thread, it's more civil than most of the horror forums I've been to. I'll keep up by adding a few of my favorites soon. I hope I don't duplicate many, I think I have similar tastes as TRadar.
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Post by Rorschach on Mar 5, 2009 18:42:49 GMT -5
Looking forward to hearing more from you, Thump....in the meantime, here's another review I have been meaning to do and hadn't gotten around to: WIND CHILL tells the story of a college age girl (Emily Blunt) who is heading home for winter break. She needs a ride because this year, instead of flying home, she's decided she wants to take the Greyhound and see the sights from the road. A friend whom the girl is TXTing during her final class tells her that she should check the school RideShare board instead, as it would be far safer than riding the "old Grey Dog". Taking advantage of this is a young man (Ashton Holmes) who's number we're lead to believe the girl picks off the RideShare board at random.....only it turns out it might not be so random after all. Before long, the guy and the girl are on the road, and we sense there is something not quite on the level about the seeming "good samaritan" young man who's giving the girl a lift. He claims to be from her hometown, and yet gets wrong questions that any local would know....he claims to share her interest in psychology, yet she easily trips him up on things any first year psych student would know. But then the guy decides to take a shortcut to get the girl home faster, leading to a horrible car crash, and we discover that there are more sinister things than him lurking in the frozen night. The two leads in WIND CHILL are never given names other than Girl and Guy...and I think that works to both keep the story less personal, and also keep the viewer tuned into what these people are saying, waiting for one to say the other's name. They work very well off of each other, and the entire second half of the story is a testament to the strength of these two fine young actors, as they're literally trapped in the car and have little other than themselves to play off of. Setting things in this cramped space also lends an aura of claustrophobia to the proceedings, and I also applaud the filmmakers on giving us a real sense of the elements playing a role, as frostbite, hypothermia, and downright nasty conditions threaten our intrepid duo just as much as the demons/phantoms/spirits that assail them from the dark borders of the forest. See, it would appear that this section of road the duo crashed on is notorious amongst the locals for being cursed and haunted by the vicious spirit of an evil highway patrol officer who perished there years before. Anyone daring to take this road risks encountering the phantom trooper, who's calling card is that he sucks the warmth right out of anything living that he touches, leaving his victims frozen dead on the spot. This leads us to the central mystery of the movie: is the young man in league with this evil ghost trooper? Did he bring the girl to this spot intentionally? Or does he really mean well, and want to help her? WIND CHILL isn't an Oscar caliber movie, but it is a damn suspenseful horror movie, with two promising young actors giving everything they've got to a script that could have been a SciFi original picture in anyone else's hands, but rises above that in theirs. I wouldn't say rush out and buy it, but I liked it well enough, and it was something you don't see too often anymore: a decent original idea executed well. ***
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Lick Ness Monster
Dennis Stamp
From the eerie, eerie depths of Lake Okabena
Posts: 4,874
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Post by Lick Ness Monster on Mar 5, 2009 23:48:41 GMT -5
I'm having a great time with this thread, it's more civil than most of the horror forums I've been to. I'll keep up by adding a few of my favorites soon. I hope I don't duplicate many, I think I have similar tastes as TRadar. Yup - there's a small bunch of us that keep this thread going, and I imagine the rest of the board being quite perplexed as to how the previous thread got to 30 pages. As Rorschach once put it, this is almost like our own little WC horror roundtable. As for the movie that I watched/fell asleep to today, I revisited Jason X, watching it for the first time in almost five years. While I definitely don't hate the movie, it's still just as generic as I remember it. None of the characters are especially memorable with the exception of ASS-KICKING CHICK (capitalized for no particular reason ;D) Kay-Em and, of course, Jason himself. The "virtual Crystal Lake" sequence alone makes the movie worth seeing, but ultimately it's a pretty drab movie. Nowhere near as bad as JGTH, however. Jason X...oh, I'll say **.
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Post by DSR on Mar 6, 2009 0:08:25 GMT -5
That's odd, because in one of the featurettes on LAST HOUSE, CRAVEN talks about the movie VIRGIN SPRINGS being his primary inspiration for the plot of LAST HOUSE....and the way he tells it, he pretty much copied the plot bit for bit from VIRGIN SPRINGS, but added a butt-ton of violence and sex. Yeah, from what I gather the plot of the movie was from The Virgin Spring, but stylistic cues and the opening "based on a true story" bit seem to indicate that they were going for that documentary-like vibe. And I didn't mean to come off like the film doesn't have strong points. As I said, I respect David Hess as an actor, and he knows how to come off as a disgusting, sleazy guy...and Lincoln, Sheffler, and Rain also work well. And everyone does a good job of building the dramatic tension...its just those damn cops, man. They kill the movie dead every damn time. *shakes head disapprovingly*
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Post by Rorschach on Mar 6, 2009 1:06:41 GMT -5
That's odd, because in one of the featurettes on LAST HOUSE, CRAVEN talks about the movie VIRGIN SPRINGS being his primary inspiration for the plot of LAST HOUSE....and the way he tells it, he pretty much copied the plot bit for bit from VIRGIN SPRINGS, but added a butt-ton of violence and sex. Yeah, from what I gather the plot of the movie was from The Virgin Spring, but stylistic cues and the opening "based on a true story" bit seem to indicate that they were going for that documentary-like vibe. And I didn't mean to come off like the film doesn't have strong points. As I said, I respect David Hess as an actor, and he knows how to come off as a disgusting, sleazy guy...and Lincoln, Sheffler, and Rain also work well. And everyone does a good job of building the dramatic tension...its just those damn cops, man. They kill the movie dead every damn time. *shakes head disapprovingly* I agree, to an extent. I'm just able to ignore them, for the most part. Another funny story related in the commentary is how Fred Lincoln's name got left off the poster and box in favor of Ada Washington, who has a barely ten second cameo. Lincoln swears it's because he gave Craven such a hard time on this shoot..... You think they'll leave the cops out of the remake, DSR? Or, failing that, actually make them effective characters?
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Post by DSR on Mar 6, 2009 2:48:09 GMT -5
Yeah, from what I gather the plot of the movie was from The Virgin Spring, but stylistic cues and the opening "based on a true story" bit seem to indicate that they were going for that documentary-like vibe. And I didn't mean to come off like the film doesn't have strong points. As I said, I respect David Hess as an actor, and he knows how to come off as a disgusting, sleazy guy...and Lincoln, Sheffler, and Rain also work well. And everyone does a good job of building the dramatic tension...its just those damn cops, man. They kill the movie dead every damn time. *shakes head disapprovingly* I agree, to an extent. I'm just able to ignore them, for the most part. Another funny story related in the commentary is how Fred Lincoln's name got left off the poster and box in favor of Ada Washington, who has a barely ten second cameo. Lincoln swears it's because he gave Craven such a hard time on this shoot..... You think they'll leave the cops out of the remake, DSR? Or, failing that, actually make them effective characters? Who's to say? If I were to hazard a guess, I'd say there would probably be ineffectual cops, and they might even be portrayed as a sort of comic relief, but I really don't think we're gonna be seeing "Boss Hogg" or "Smokey and the Bandit" levels of attempted comedy on this one. If they are played for comic relief, I could probably see them more along the lines of that guy Jason kills in the new Friday the 13th, just before he finds his mask.
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Ken Ivory
Hank Scorpio
This sorta thing IS my bag, baby.
Posts: 5,282
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Post by Ken Ivory on Mar 6, 2009 5:15:17 GMT -5
New Line Cinema announced today that they will release their reboot of A Nightmare on Elm Street in theaters on April 16, 2010. Shooting for the remake begins next month in Chicago with Samuel Bayer behind the camera. Should be interesting to see how this one ends up.
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Ken Ivory
Hank Scorpio
This sorta thing IS my bag, baby.
Posts: 5,282
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Post by Ken Ivory on Mar 6, 2009 6:15:23 GMT -5
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thump
Tommy Wiseau
Posts: 90
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Post by thump on Mar 6, 2009 7:59:04 GMT -5
Thanks for the welcome, guys. I haven't seen Wind Chill, I've been out of the loop for the past 3 or 4 years. As for Jason X, some of the dialogue is just plain terrible. I cringed when that guy called Jason Slappy... The Crystal Lake flashback scene was nice, the retro music was a great touch. If you look closely on the documentary on the DVD you can see me sitting in the audience at an NYC Fangoria convention. It's very quick, but I still got a kick out of being on a Jason DVD. A friend of mine reviewed the Last House remake at www.Horrormovieaday.com He liked it, but I disagree with him quite a bit. I'll stick up a review or two this weekend.
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