pinja
Unicron
Posts: 3,023
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Post by pinja on Oct 9, 2022 12:38:13 GMT -5
5. Deep Red / Profondo Rosso (1975) by Dario Argento In preparation for NaNoWriMo next month I have an excuse to watch as many Giallos as possible. I'm not sure if that is a good thing. I've seen most of the big names in the distant past, some I haven't. "Deep Red" belongs to the latter. I thoroughly enjoyed it, but Argento's movies are all so easy to dislike. Plot and characters are just plain crap. I'd like to see how he tackles script writing, because he can't go possibly beyond a first draft. Things ... happen, the reasons are never good, there're no real relationships between characters. Yet "Deep Red" is magnetic. Great style, great set pieces, absolutely amazing music. If Argento would've just directed music videos for Goblin, showing off his cool kill scenes, his bold camera angles, his sense for colour, that'd be enough for me. After having seen Opera a few weeks ago, I don't know how much Giallos I can take in succession before losing sense for any logic. The new "Hellraiser" sounds like a worthwhile vacation from my plan. Oh, and for a movie called "Deep Red", the red used isn't very deep.
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Ultimo Gallos
Grimlock
Dreams SUCK!Nightmares live FOREVER!
Posts: 14,568
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Post by Ultimo Gallos on Oct 9, 2022 14:32:31 GMT -5
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Post by SneakMan on Oct 9, 2022 18:09:29 GMT -5
Saw Smile earlier today. Was not a fan. There were glimpses of a creepy, effective horror movie in there, and there were also glimpses of a hilarious so-bad-it's-good mess, but by and large it was just completely mediocre with a huge overreliance on jump scares. Sosie Bacon did an excellent job, but beyond that it just basically reminded me of other, better horror movies.
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Post by DSR on Oct 10, 2022 0:03:07 GMT -5
DAY OF THE DEAD (1985) is the third film in George Romero's thematic series (no characters recur) about zombies, begun with NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD and continued in DAWN OF THE DEAD. Like DAWN, DAY features special visual effects from Tom Savini, with help from Greg Nicotero and Howard Berger, who would go on to become two thirds of the venerated KNB EFX Group.
Zombies (or walkers or ghouls or whatever you want to call them) have overrun the Earth. Our story today concerns a small pocket of humanity at an underground military base. A handful of scientists are tasked with trying to come up with some way of controlling the zombies...there aren't enough bullets in the world to simply shoot all of them, so maybe domesticating them could work?
The scientists are supposed to be aided in this mission by the small cadre of soldiers that share this base with them. Unfortunately the soldiers are all obnoxious, racist, misogynist assholes. AND they've gotten particularly angry of late, as they've lost some of their men trying to corral small numbers of the zombies for the scientists' experiments.
The lead scientist, Dr. Matt "Frankenstein" Logan (Richard Liberty, THE CRAZIES) is most proud of one test subject, a zombie he's nicknamed "Bub" (Sherman Howard, Lex Luthor on the late 80s/early 90s Superboy TV show). Bub is a zombie that can actually learn things, or at least remember them from when he was a living human. And Bub doesn't impulsively attempt to eat humans the way other zombies do. Dr. Logan gives Bub treats whenever he exhibits "civilized" behavior, but when the already unhinged soldiers learn those treats are parts of their fallen friends, all hell will break loose between the two camps of humans!
All of the tension of the film is shown/seen through the eyes of Dr. Sarah Bowman (Lori Cardille, of the soap opera The Edge of Night). Sarah is actually the main character of the film, a strong-willed woman, spending most of the film acting as an attempted voice of reason. She starts out the film in the scientist camp, but gradually moves towards a third one: the base's helicopter pilot and radio technician don't see the point in scientific study OR shooting the shit out of the zombies. They think the best course of action is to just get the hell out, find some place away from the apocalypse, and essentially start society over on a smaller scale.
DAY OF THE DEAD is extremely pessimistic about mankind, and all the characters in the film are to one extent or another over-the-top. The more realistic approach to characterization of NIGHT or DAWN is gone. This feels almost like the comic book approach of CREEPSHOW is still being carried over, but without that film's sense of fun. Characters like Bub and Capt. Rhodes (Joseph Pilato, KNIGHTRIDERS) have memorable moments and/or lines, but really the characters are grating to be around for the film's 90 minutes. Though, as I think about it, they are dealing with the stress and trauma of being potentially the last bit of humanity left, so maybe there is some realism to the way they behave under those circumstances.
Beyond character work, the film is notable for some of the best zombie makeup effects ever offered. Plenty of decay and decomposition, people being torn apart and guts spilling all over the place. It's some of Savini's best work, from a time where he was REALLY churning out exceptional work.
I think DAY OF THE DEAD is a good film. Not a GREAT film, but a good one.
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Welfare Willis
Crow T. Robot
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Game Center CX Kacho on!
Posts: 44,259
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Post by Welfare Willis on Oct 10, 2022 1:54:20 GMT -5
Day 7: Hellraiser 2022 easily the best hellraiser movie in a very long time. I was thoroughly entertained and I think this movie handsome interesting ideas such as tying the box with the themes of addiction. This movie balances having the cenobites get more screen time but without over exposer. I will say though I wasn't really that impressed with Jamie Clayton as pinhead. She does okay enough but nothing that left a impression. I do like how this movie brought back the original score and likewise took it's time to tell the story. Finally the kills and effects are top notch. Day 8 Terrifier 2. Man I had a blast watching this movie. Like I was never bored at all with the film. This movie improves on the first one and fix's some of the flaws of the previous movie. Art the clown further cements himself as a new horror icon and mixes dark humor with being a menacing threat. He now his a new final girl to compete with and I found Sienna to be a likeable leading girl. In general the movie does a good job developing the characters and making you care. Finally this movie does not go soft on the violence and it seems like they looked at the hacksaw death scene from the previous movie and said "you think it can't get worse then that, we'll show you otherwise". I'm still wincing thinking about a certain death scene (and you'll know it when it happens). The gore is top notch. The mid credit scene is wild and certainly makes me wonder what happens next. Btw look out for a certain cameo in that mid credit scene. I liked the new hellraiser as well. I liked Jaime Clayton in the role a bit more though. I just feel like Doug Bradley version is so iconic, gender bending the role works. I'm not knowledgeable about Barker's works outside the films, but I believe the original story intended for the hell priest to be female. She was creepy but I did feel like the cenobites could have used a bit more screen time. They spent a lot of time slowly building the world and introducing the cenobites bit by bit. I like the rules they added to puzzle box and the metaphor of the heroine's drug addiction (although the Evil Dead remake had a similar drug addiction metaphor). I thought the ending {Spoiler}{SPOILER: CLICK TO SHOW}watching the villain turn into a cenobite could confirm others replacing dead cenobites (he looked like another chatter) so as to allow for multiple people being pinhead over time. Or they could be setting him up as a Dr. Chanard like cenobite in the sequel. I'd to know what twisted rewards their god rewards for some of the other desires like love or resurrection.
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Post by DSR on Oct 10, 2022 2:31:55 GMT -5
PSYCHO III (1986) chronicles the continued adventures of Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins, who this time also directed). The end of PSYCHO II saw Norman visited by a woman claiming to be his actual birth mother, so Norman did what came natural to him: killing her, stuffing her, and putting her body in the bedroom of his gloomy house!
The third film sees Norman hounded by a nosy reporter (Roberta Maxwell, THE CHANGELING) trying to find out what happened to that woman. Also showing up at the motel is Duke (Jeff Fahey, THE LAWNMOWER MAN) a sleazy wannabe rockstar who Norman hires as an assistant manager. Duke has a penchant for bringing girls back to his room at the motel, providing the kind of "whores" Norman's "Mother" targets with her attacks.
Meanwhile, a young nun named Maureen (Diana Scarwid, MOMMIE DEAREST) has lost her faith and run away from the convent and wound up at the Bates Motel. The now ex-nun has short blonde hair and the initials MC, causing Norman to have flashbacks to Marion Crane, the woman he killed in the famous shower scene of the first movie. When Mother tries to kill Maureen, she finds the young woman had attempted suicide in the bath, and Norman takes over his own body and gets the girl help. Shortly after her recovery, a romance blossoms between Norman and Maureen.
PSYCHO III retreads a lot of the scenes and themes from the first two films, but with an eye towards updating the film to the trashy, slashy 80s! More blood! More boobs! (Minor scream queen Juliette Cummins from FRIDAY THE 13TH PART V and SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE II has a small role). The score by Carter Burwell (BLOOD SIMPLE) has flourishes of 80s pop production, including a "sexy" saxophone solo that calls to mind Tim Capello in THE LOST BOYS. It's kind of curious to see arguably THE proto-slasher trying to catch up to the thing it created. Like it's not exactly the Steve Buscemi "How do you do, fellow kids?" meme of horror movies, but it's kinda close.
I'll say the film is fun and interesting, but non-essential.
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Post by tntchamp on Oct 10, 2022 7:38:45 GMT -5
Day 7: Hellraiser 2022 easily the best hellraiser movie in a very long time. I was thoroughly entertained and I think this movie handsome interesting ideas such as tying the box with the themes of addiction. This movie balances having the cenobites get more screen time but without over exposer. I will say though I wasn't really that impressed with Jamie Clayton as pinhead. She does okay enough but nothing that left a impression. I do like how this movie brought back the original score and likewise took it's time to tell the story. Finally the kills and effects are top notch. Day 8 Terrifier 2. Man I had a blast watching this movie. Like I was never bored at all with the film. This movie improves on the first one and fix's some of the flaws of the previous movie. Art the clown further cements himself as a new horror icon and mixes dark humor with being a menacing threat. He now his a new final girl to compete with and I found Sienna to be a likeable leading girl. In general the movie does a good job developing the characters and making you care. Finally this movie does not go soft on the violence and it seems like they looked at the hacksaw death scene from the previous movie and said "you think it can't get worse then that, we'll show you otherwise". I'm still wincing thinking about a certain death scene (and you'll know it when it happens). The gore is top notch. The mid credit scene is wild and certainly makes me wonder what happens next. Btw look out for a certain cameo in that mid credit scene. I liked the new hellraiser as well. I liked Jaime Clayton in the role a bit more though. I just feel like Doug Bradley version is so iconic, gender bending the role works. I'm not knowledgeable about Barker's works outside the films, but I believe the original story intended for the hell priest to be female. She was creepy but I did feel like the cenobites could have used a bit more screen time. They spent a lot of time slowly building the world and introducing the cenobites bit by bit. I like the rules they added to puzzle box and the metaphor of the heroine's drug addiction (although the Evil Dead remake had a similar drug addiction metaphor). I thought the ending {Spoiler}{Spoiler}{SPOILER: CLICK TO SHOW}watching the villain turn into a cenobite could confirm others replacing dead cenobites (he looked like another chatter) so as to allow for multiple people being pinhead over time. Or they could be setting him up as a Dr. Chanard like cenobite in the sequel. I'd to know what twisted rewards their god rewards for some of the other desires like love or resurrection. I certainly am curious to see where they go next with the ending. It certainly seems they want to set it up for something. Clayton I feel she tried and while not terrible kind of comes to Doug, she is no where near his level. I am okay with gender bending the characters since like you, I heard Pinhead (or hell priest as Barker would prefer) was supposed to be female or at least Barker intended for that character to be. PSYCHO III (1986) chronicles the continued adventures of Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins, who this time also directed). The end of PSYCHO II saw Norman visited by a woman claiming to be his actual birth mother, so Norman did what came natural to him: killing her, stuffing her, and putting her body in the bedroom of his gloomy house! The third film sees Norman hounded by a nosy reporter (Roberta Maxwell, THE CHANGELING) trying to find out what happened to that woman. Also showing up at the motel is Duke (Jeff Fahey, THE LAWNMOWER MAN) a sleazy wannabe rockstar who Norman hires as an assistant manager. Duke has a penchant for bringing girls back to his room at the motel, providing the kind of "whores" Norman's "Mother" targets with her attacks. Meanwhile, a young nun named Maureen (Diana Scarwid, MOMMIE DEAREST) has lost her faith and run away from the convent and wound up at the Bates Motel. The now ex-nun has short blonde hair and the initials MC, causing Norman to have flashbacks to Marion Crane, the woman he killed in the famous shower scene of the first movie. When Mother tries to kill Maureen, she finds the young woman had attempted suicide in the bath, and Norman takes over his own body and gets the girl help. Shortly after her recovery, a romance blossoms between Norman and Maureen. PSYCHO III retreads a lot of the scenes and themes from the first two films, but with an eye towards updating the film to the trashy, slashy 80s! More blood! More boobs! (Minor scream queen Juliette Cummins from FRIDAY THE 13TH PART V and SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE II has a small role). The score by Carter Burwell (BLOOD SIMPLE) has flourishes of 80s pop production, including a "sexy" saxophone solo that calls to mind Tim Capello in THE LOST BOYS. It's kind of curious to see arguably THE proto-slasher trying to catch up to the thing it created. Like it's not exactly the Steve Buscemi "How do you do, fellow kids?" meme of horror movies, but it's kinda close. I'll say the film is fun and interesting, but non-essential. I finally saw Psycho 3 a few years ago and was let down but it. It has some good stuff but it seemed to pale badly in comparison to both Psycho and the shockingly really good Psycho 2. I also wished they didn't cop out on the big reveal Psycho 2 had went with. Day 9: A girl walks home alone at night-Pretty good movie but I really wasn't the biggest fan of it. I like the idea and think the execution is decent including the chemistry between the two leads but I didn't find myself completely engaged with it. It is in the same boat with Speak No Evil that I watched last week where I go "That's good enough" and never watch again.
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Post by SneakMan on Oct 10, 2022 8:47:40 GMT -5
Just got tickets for Halloween Ends. Kills was corny at points and had a super-abrupt ending but I still thought it was pretty enjoyable; if Ends sticks the landing it'll be a good way to wrap the franchise up (ignoring the inevitable reboot once the series rights go back to Malek Akkad).
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Post by tntchamp on Oct 10, 2022 9:42:52 GMT -5
Just got tickets for Halloween Ends. Kills was corny at points and had a super-abrupt ending but I still thought it was pretty enjoyable; if Ends sticks the landing it'll be a good way to wrap the franchise up (ignoring the inevitable reboot once the series rights go back to Malek Akkad). Same got my tickets for Thursday and I am going in cautiously hopeful. I kind of liked Halloween Kills but it was also a mess and a major drop compared to Halloween 2018, I am hoping this one gets the trilogy back on track and ends it on a good note.
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pinja
Unicron
Posts: 3,023
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Post by pinja on Oct 10, 2022 10:12:02 GMT -5
I was intrigued by the title, but never watched it. Is it a true recommendation or more like "if you think 'Deep Red' is a mess, wait till you saw this one"?
Is Color Out of Space among the other two Nic Cage vehicles?
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Ultimo Gallos
Grimlock
Dreams SUCK!Nightmares live FOREVER!
Posts: 14,568
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Post by Ultimo Gallos on Oct 10, 2022 13:59:28 GMT -5
I was intrigued by the title, but never watched it. Is it a true recommendation or more like "if you think 'Deep Red' is a mess, wait till you saw this one"? Is Color Out of Space among the other two Nic Cage vehicles?
I find Stendhal to be one Argento's best movies. And yes Colour out of Space is one of the other two,the other is Mandy. Ended up buying all three on blu then they just sat on the shelf forever until I watched them. For close to 10 years if Cage was in a film I avoided it,cause dude was in some total shitballs. But now I will at least give the trailer a look thanks to three good films in a row. TITLE-Night of the Animated Dead SOURCE-WB DVD I remember ,hell has to be a decade ago,when a bunch of animators went and remade the classic Night of the Living Dead. Having never seen this interesting experiment when I saw the above DVD cover at a local store I just assumed the DVD was that animated remake of NOTLD. NOPE! This is one animation team doing the entire film. Adding a few extended scenes that aren't in the original. Plus getting a fairly decent cast to do the voices. The one drawback is the animation in some scenes looks a bit odd,not cheap but just odd. The biggest offender is early on when we see the car heading down the road to the graveyard. The car looks like a low level CGI effect and the rest of the scene looks like fairly decent animation. The voice cast is packed with names and people that should be names. First off doing various voices you got the late Kirk Baily. Best known to people over 30 as Ug Lee on Salute your shorts. He had a decent career doing voice work. Dule Hill,currently the father on the Wonder Years reboot,is Ben and manages to sound a bit like the original actor but not a total clone. Josh Duhamel,best known to me for being on the show Las Vegas,is Harry Cooper. As Barbara the film has horror scream queen Katharine Isabelle. She was Ginger in Ginger Snaps and also been in a pile of horror films.Nancy Travis is perfectly cast as Harry's wife Helen. Two voices that surprised me,cause I had no clue they did voice work,was Katee Sackhoff as Judy. Now that I know she is voicing Judy I can tell it is her. The other is Will Sasso,yep the MadTV dude,as Sheriff McClelland. I know of some indie filmmakers that gripe about people remaking stuff like NOTLD,me I don't care if someone remakes it. For me each remake is a new way to view one of my favorite horror movies. Yea at full list price this DVD ain't worth it. But I keep seeing this marked down to 8 bucks or so. Which isn't a bad deal. As far as extras on the disc all you have is making of. It is shortish. And really feels like one of those EPK you would see on mid 80s HBO between films. Night of the Animated Dead gets a B.
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Post by DSR on Oct 10, 2022 19:51:53 GMT -5
A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 3: DREAM WARRIORS (1987) sees Wes Craven return to the series after skipping out on FREDDY'S REVENGE. He co-wrote the screenplay with 3 other writers (one of whom is Frank Darabont, later of THE MIST fame), with the intention of closing out the series.
DREAM WARRIORS deals with a group of teens at a psychiatric hospital; they've all attempted suicide or self-harm. According to the doctors, they also all have a shared delusion. They think some monster is attacking them in their nightmares. Dr. Neal Gordon (Craig Wasson, BODY DOUBLE) believes this is more of a symptom of their problems rather than a problem in and off itself. But new intern Nancy Thompson (Heather Langenkamp, back from the first movie) hears one of the teens frantically singing a familiar nursery rhyme and realizes the kids' nightmare problem is an old foe: Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund, INKUBUS).
One night Nancy is pulled into the dream of one of the teens, Kristen Parker (Patricia Arquette, LITTLE NICKY). This leads Nancy to believe that Kristen's ability could pull the whole group into one collective dream and together they can defeat Freddy. Meanwhile, Dr. Gordon is repeatedly visited by an enigmatic nun (Nan Martin, The Drew Carey Show) who seems to know everything there is to know about Freddy...including how to lay him to rest once and for all!
When I watched this movie as a kid, I always found the kids using powers in their dreams to fight Freddy to be super dorky. But, y'know, I was in denial about my own dorkiness. Nowadays I'm cool with it. It really is a unique way to give Freddy's potential victims a way of trying to get the upper hand.
Also, DREAM WARRIORS features Freddy starting to crack jokes, a trend that would continue in further sequels (sorry, Wes!). And he starts throwing around the word "bitch", which I don't think happened in the previous 2 movies. AND some of his backstory is fleshed out and some Dracula-esque lore about how to defeat him gets brought up.
Acting is good (I didn't even mention Laurence Fishburne and John Saxon rounding out the cast), special effects are great. While it's not my favorite ELM STREET movie, it's easy to see why it's ranked highly among fans and critics. It's up there with SON OF FRANKENSTEIN as one of the best Part 3s I've watched so far this month!
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Post by tntchamp on Oct 10, 2022 20:12:58 GMT -5
A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 3: DREAM WARRIORS (1987) sees Wes Craven return to the series after skipping out on FREDDY'S REVENGE. He co-wrote the screenplay with 3 other writers (one of whom is Frank Darabont, later of THE MIST fame), with the intention of closing out the series. DREAM WARRIORS deals with a group of teens at a psychiatric hospital; they've all attempted suicide or self-harm. According to the doctors, they also all have a shared delusion. They think some monster is attacking them in their nightmares. Dr. Neal Gordon (Craig Wasson, BODY DOUBLE) believes this is more of a symptom of their problems rather than a problem in and off itself. But new intern Nancy Thompson (Heather Langenkamp, back from the first movie) hears one of the teens frantically singing a familiar nursery rhyme and realizes the kids' nightmare problem is an old foe: Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund, INKUBUS). One night Nancy is pulled into the dream of one of the teens, Kristen Parker (Patricia Arquette, LITTLE NICKY). This leads Nancy to believe that Kristen's ability could pull the whole group into one collective dream and together they can defeat Freddy. Meanwhile, Dr. Gordon is repeatedly visited by an enigmatic nun (Nan Martin, The Drew Carey Show) who seems to know everything there is to know about Freddy...including how to lay him to rest once and for all! When I watched this movie as a kid, I always found the kids using powers in their dreams to fight Freddy to be super dorky. But, y'know, I was in denial about my own dorkiness. Nowadays I'm cool with it. It really is a unique way to give Freddy's potential victims a way of trying to get the upper hand. Also, DREAM WARRIORS features Freddy starting to crack jokes, a trend that would continue in further sequels (sorry, Wes!). And he starts throwing around the word "bitch", which I don't think happened in the previous 2 movies. AND some of his backstory is fleshed out and some Dracula-esque lore about how to defeat him gets brought up. Acting is good (I didn't even mention Laurence Fishburne and John Saxon rounding out the cast), special effects are great. While it's not my favorite ELM STREET movie, it's easy to see why it's ranked highly among fans and critics. It's up there with SON OF FRANKENSTEIN as one of the best Part 3s I've watched so far this month! Love Elm Street 3. It is maybe my personal favorite of the series but then again Nightmare 1, 3 and New Nightmare all probably tied. Favorite horror series btw lol
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Post by DSR on Oct 10, 2022 20:15:52 GMT -5
A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 3: DREAM WARRIORS (1987) sees Wes Craven return to the series after skipping out on FREDDY'S REVENGE. He co-wrote the screenplay with 3 other writers (one of whom is Frank Darabont, later of THE MIST fame), with the intention of closing out the series. DREAM WARRIORS deals with a group of teens at a psychiatric hospital; they've all attempted suicide or self-harm. According to the doctors, they also all have a shared delusion. They think some monster is attacking them in their nightmares. Dr. Neal Gordon (Craig Wasson, BODY DOUBLE) believes this is more of a symptom of their problems rather than a problem in and off itself. But new intern Nancy Thompson (Heather Langenkamp, back from the first movie) hears one of the teens frantically singing a familiar nursery rhyme and realizes the kids' nightmare problem is an old foe: Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund, INKUBUS). One night Nancy is pulled into the dream of one of the teens, Kristen Parker (Patricia Arquette, LITTLE NICKY). This leads Nancy to believe that Kristen's ability could pull the whole group into one collective dream and together they can defeat Freddy. Meanwhile, Dr. Gordon is repeatedly visited by an enigmatic nun (Nan Martin, The Drew Carey Show) who seems to know everything there is to know about Freddy...including how to lay him to rest once and for all! When I watched this movie as a kid, I always found the kids using powers in their dreams to fight Freddy to be super dorky. But, y'know, I was in denial about my own dorkiness. Nowadays I'm cool with it. It really is a unique way to give Freddy's potential victims a way of trying to get the upper hand. Also, DREAM WARRIORS features Freddy starting to crack jokes, a trend that would continue in further sequels (sorry, Wes!). And he starts throwing around the word "bitch", which I don't think happened in the previous 2 movies. AND some of his backstory is fleshed out and some Dracula-esque lore about how to defeat him gets brought up. Acting is good (I didn't even mention Laurence Fishburne and John Saxon rounding out the cast), special effects are great. While it's not my favorite ELM STREET movie, it's easy to see why it's ranked highly among fans and critics. It's up there with SON OF FRANKENSTEIN as one of the best Part 3s I've watched so far this month! Love Elm Street 3. It is maybe my personal favorite of the series but then again Nightmare 1, 3 and New Nightmare all probably tied. Favorite horror series btw lol One October I watched the entire series over the course of a weekend with a friend. We agreed that they're all great. Some are just greater than others.
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Post by tntchamp on Oct 10, 2022 20:25:50 GMT -5
Love Elm Street 3. It is maybe my personal favorite of the series but then again Nightmare 1, 3 and New Nightmare all probably tied. Favorite horror series btw lol One October I watched the entire series over the course of a weekend with a friend. We agreed that they're all great. Some are just greater than others. Perfectly stated lol
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Post by DSR on Oct 11, 2022 1:10:28 GMT -5
THE VVITCH: A NEW-ENGLAND FOLKTALE (2015) is the debut feature film for writer-director Robert Eggers (THE LIGHTHOUSE). The film is set in the 1630s, with lots of wouldst thou's and doth thine's, and people speaking in hushed tones made it difficult to parse what exactly was being said at times, but I think I caught the jist.
A puritan family is banished from their village and settles in a remote location near the woods. Eldest daughter Thomasin (Anya Taylor-Joy, THE NEW MUTANTS) takes her infant brother Samuel to play peekaboo, only for the baby to disappear while she conceals her face. It's debated whether the child was snatched by a wolf or a witch. This would be devastating enough for the family, but then the family's crops aren't producing enough food for the winter. Head of the household William (Ralph Ineson, THE GREEN KNIGHT) takes 12-year-old son Caleb (Harvey Scrimshaw, ORANGES AND SUNSHINE) hunting with him to little avail. At night the parents fret over how they and their children will eat and survive the harsher months to come.
Caleb and Thomasin take the family horse into the woods to check a hunting trap early one morning. A hare spooks the horse, causing Thomasin to fall off and get knocked unconscious. Caleb wanders in search of the hare and becomes lost, until he's met by a beautiful woman in a red cloak. The woman embraces him and her arm becomes withered! Thomasin returns to the family home first and arguments start up between her, her father, and her mother Katherine (Kate Dickie, PROMETHEUS) about what happened with Caleb, what happened with Samuel, what happened with a silver cup that had sentimental value, etc. Caleb shows up later, naked in the pouring rain and suffering a mysterious disease.
The family, fully believing they have been cursed, will continue to unravel as they question each other on just why. Are some family members in league with the Devil? If so, which ones?!
THE VVITCH displays director Eggers' meticulous attention to period detail, in clothing, dialogue, set design, sound design, architecture. Everything is designed to be as close to period accurate as is possible. The film also displays Anya Taylor-Joy in her feature length debut, giving a great performance as our main character. Not that the cast around her are slouches. Harvey Scrimshaw also delivers an incredible performance for such a young actor.
THE VVITCH was distributed by A24 Films, a company now famous for its release of slow-burning, arthouse/"elevated" horror films (take this year's X and PEARL, for example). Looking at the distribution/production house's filmography, it seems this film is the beginning of that trend. There is some blood but the film is not overly gory. There aren't jumpscares, this film is built on performances and the horror of the situation and implying rather than outright showing the horrific things that happen. In that regard, I'll say that I thought the denouement was a letdown. Maybe it's enough for some people, but when this one ended I had a feeling of "That's it? Okay, I guess." Thought the film was great otherwise, just had an unsatisfying conclusion.
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Post by tntchamp on Oct 11, 2022 9:59:27 GMT -5
Day 10
Black Sunday: a atmospheric goth horror movie that put Mario Bava on the map. This is a really good effective movie and it almost unique combination of a vampire and witch genre film. Barbra Steel makes for both a good villain and likeable leading girl too. This movie has some effective scenes that I can imagine were disturbing for audience in the 60s. It is one of Bavas best films and still holds up well today.
Stagefright (1987): Not to be mistaken for the Alfred Hitchcock movie or the 2014 film with Meatloaf. This movie is a almost hybrid of a Slasher film but also the elements of a giallo. In terms of directing, this might be the most stylishly filmed slasher movie ever created-like it has some fantastic shots in it. The score is a nice jazzy vibe to it that is probably its second biggest strong point. While The characters are pretty flat, I found this to be a fun watch and unlike a lot of other slasher films, actual had tense scenes and real suspense. Also the ending is strangely funny and if this was a more well known movie would have made for a great meme or t-shirt if just for the repeated line.
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pinja
Unicron
Posts: 3,023
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Post by pinja on Oct 11, 2022 14:25:22 GMT -5
[...]Stagefright (1987)[...] Excellent coincidence, because: 6. Aquarius / Stage Fright (1987) by Michele Soavi I have read lots of good things about it (and forgot most of'em ), it's a common entry on lists of underrated slasher movies. While I also enjoyed "Stage Fright", I'm mostly disappointed. The killer with the owl head is a great visual, the theatre background could make for some nice meta horror (which isn't there) and I generally like Phantom of the Opera type stories. This has, as you said, some great, creative shots, typical for Italian Giallos, but applied to a more conventional Slasher movie. The direction is rather tight, it feels very American. Still I think it lacks that overall strong aesthetic of Italian horror. The killer being clear from the start is a bad decision in a movie like this, because it leaves no room left for intrigue. Now maybe my biggest gripe is the soundtrack. The jazzy vibes I feel are out of place and overall "Stage Fright" sounds like two different movies at the same time. I instantly recognized some of the instruments and harmonies, because Simon Boswell also did the soundtrack for "Demons 2" just one year before. Listen to it and you'll see: This I find excellent in comparison, while "Stage Fright" sounds wonky at times. Still, it was an enjoyable watch!
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Post by tntchamp on Oct 11, 2022 14:32:52 GMT -5
[...]Stagefright (1987)[...] Excellent coincidence, because: 6. Aquarius / Stage Fright (1987) by Michele Soavi I have read lots of good things about it (and forgot most of'em ), it's a common entry on lists of underrated slasher movies. While I also enjoyed "Stage Fright", I'm mostly disappointed. The killer with the owl head is a great visual, the theatre background could make for some nice meta horror (which isn't there) and I generally like Phantom of the Opera type stories. This has, as you said, some great, creative shots, typical for Italian Giallos, but applied to a more conventional Slasher movie. The direction is rather tight, it feels very American. Still I think it lacks that overall strong aesthetic of Italian horror. The killer being clear from the start is a bad decision in a movie like this, because it leaves no room left for intrigue. Now maybe my biggest gripe is the soundtrack. The jazzy vibes I feel are out of place and overall "Stage Fright" sounds like two different movies at the same time. I instantly recognized some of the instruments and harmonies, because Simon Boswell also did the soundtrack for "Demons 2" just one year before. Listen to it and you'll see: This I find excellent in comparison, while "Stage Fright" sounds wonky at times. Still, it was an enjoyable watch!
What a coincidence lol. One of the things you said I actually feel the same on is that I don't like them showing the killers face from the start. To me it is a lot scarier if all we knew the killer's look on was the Owl mask he wore-which is a unique a shockingly menacing look. When I see his face it kills some of the menacing aurora to him. I have to respectfully disagree about the jazz soundtrack but I can see why it may not work for everyone.
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Post by Jumpin' Jesse Walsh on Oct 11, 2022 19:24:57 GMT -5
Up next in my focus on black & white horror . . .
Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943)
Plot: The Wolf Man and Frankenstein’s Monster team up to search for a doctor who’ll cure all their woes. Spoiler: it doesn’t end well.
Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man was Universal’s first official monster mash, paving the way for the Freddy vs. Jasons and the Alien vs. Predators of the future. Rather than give the Wolf Man and Frankenstein’s Monster their own sequels, the studio decided to give us two for the price of one. Does the long-awaited clash between of two of the studio’s most iconic characters result in an epic blockbuster? Meh, not really.
This is a fun movie, but there’s a looming sense it could’ve been better. The most disappointing aspect is the regression of the Monster. The complexity Boris Karloff brought to the role is gone and the character is now a grunting, one-note giant with a silly walk. It wasn’t supposed to be like this, mind you. Dialogue for the character was filmed, and it even explained his now-satirized walk, but Bela Lugosi’s delivery was apparently so bad that it was cut. By the way, if you had no idea it was Lugosi under the bolts and makeup, you’d be forgiven. Just a completely shapeless performance. The Monster doesn’t even get to kill anyone. The murder and mayhem are almost completely driven by the Wolf Man.
The first half focuses on the resurrection and tortured soul of Lawrence Talbot. The story in this half moves along at a nice pace. The werewolf transformation scenes are even an improvement from its predecessor. To me though, the best part involves neither monster. It’s when, for seemingly no reason at all, the movie decides it wants to be a musical. We see the residents of Visaria sing and dance at a festival in a full-on musical number. It’s great watching the villagers celebrate for once as opposed to them living in a constant state of fear. The song is catchy too, and it transitions nicely into Talbot’s internal moral torment.
It’s just unfortunate the second half settles for routine—a spooky castle, buzzing lab equipment, angry mobs of villagers, etc. You’ve seen it all before. Nothing of major significance seems to happen during this stretch until the last 5-10 minutes, where we finally see the monsters tussle. Their climatic battle is neat; I just wish they’d gotten to it sooner. Then again, I wish a lot of things for Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man. It should be an all-out war, but it feels like a minor dust-up.
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