|
Post by KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!! on Apr 28, 2024 15:16:41 GMT -5
I actually got to watch some SOV horror this weekend. I looked at my movie tracker and was surprised I haven’t watched an SOV narrative film at all (outside of documentaries) since like January. I got around to watching… And FINALLY this… Tales from the Quadead Zone (TFTQZ) is one of those movies that’s been on my watchlist for like 20+ years. Well kind of. I remember I first got interested in it when reading about the scarcity of the VHS when I was still in high school. There’s two rare VHS versions, one that looks like the one pictured above and a clamshell version that is even rarer. I’ve read that one sold for $700, then they were selling for $2,000, and recently I just saw one that sold for over $7,000. Crazy stuff! As far as the actual movies Black Devil Doll From Hell (BDDFH) definitely has the worse video quality, but is a much better movie. I just found it hilarious how gratuitously sexual it was. It’s like a softcore porn starring an African-American Chucky. I tend to go into films as cold as possible so I was pretty much just expecting an extended SOV version of that one Trilogy of Terror segment. What I got really came out of left field! TFTQZ was a little disappointing after BDDFH, since the latter raised my expectations. With the name having “Quad” in the title and the poster advertising “3 Tales of Evil Beyond Belief” I was hoping for three segments and a wraparound story (4 segments total). Instead it was only two segments with a wraparound story. Annoyingly the first segment in TFTQZ is barely even a story. It was like one of those short Night Gallery segments that used to be between the main segments. It’s just about a poor rural white family that doesn’t have enough to eat so one of them goes crazy. I think the whole thing is about 5 minutes. The second segment is better and is about a man who steals the corpse of his brother to get some twisted revenge. The wraparound story is pretty good and features the actress from BDDFH in the Cryptkeeper role. I’d definitely recommend both. If you don’t let the first film raise your expectations too much, it’s a really fun double feature.
|
|
|
Post by Jumpin' Jesse Walsh on Apr 28, 2024 18:17:31 GMT -5
Finally watching the producer's cut of Halloween 6 and I'm absolutely blown away by how much of a different movie it is compared to the theatrical cut?!?
The Thorn cult is still goofy AF, but it feels like you get a much better handle on it in this version.
|
|
|
Post by KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!! on May 4, 2024 7:09:57 GMT -5
I’m doing a series of Troma rewatches/watches (I’m not sure what will break the streak) and just finished The Toxic Avenger Part III: The Last Temptation of Toxie.
I never really got the hate for II and III as it’s not like there’s a giant drop in quality between the original and these. The original is a better self-contained story, given the Troma team was overly ambitious to the point where they shot enough footage to make 2 movies instead of one when they did the sequel. As such there is some obvious structural issues and some of the reused footage in III gets annoying (but not egregiously so like with some sequels). But some of the practical special effects are fun and that theme song is great.
As it relates to horror movies though, the opening of III with Toxie beating up thugs in a video store is highly underrated. One of my favorite openings for any Troma movie (maybe even my favorite). I just love that a real video store was used and there are posters and VHS tapes for all sorts of real life obscure movies. Of course Troma is highlighted (Redneck Zombies, Blood Hook, Sizzle Beach U.S.A. and others are all prominently featured), but there’s some other good stuff too including a WrestleMania IV poster. Next to it I’m pretty sure is a poster for one of the Starrcades too, but I’m not sure which one as it doesn’t look like any of the ones on Wikipedia. It was tough to make out, but it looked like Nikita Koloff inside of a steel cage and then just had the Starrcade logo.
Anyway, after I finish rewatching 4 and the 4 making of documentary I’ll probably rewatch/watch one of these (if anyone has any thoughts or suggestions):
Class of Nuke ‘Em High Combat Shock Cannibal! The Musical A Nymphoid Barbarian in Dinosaur Hell Jefftowne Bazaar Bizarre: The Story of Kansas City Murderer Bob Berdella Tales From the Crapper When Nature Calls
|
|
|
Post by DSR on May 11, 2024 1:10:08 GMT -5
WHAT LIES BENEATH (2000) comes to us from director Robert Zemeckis (DEATH BECOMES HER) and screenwriter Clark Gregg (yes, the guy who plays Coulson in MARVEL'S THE AVENGERS).
The story concerns a middle-aged couple, Norman (Harrison Ford, AIR FORCE ONE) and Claire (Michelle Pfeiffer, BATMAN RETURNS). Shortly after seeing their daughter off to college, Claire takes to spying on her new next-door neighbors. The married neighbors have a volatile relationship, and after an apparent fight, the missus seemingly disappears.
Claire starts to experience strange paranormal phenomena around her and Norman's big gorgeous house. Light stuff at first, a door seemingly opening by itself, a picture falling off of a desk. But one day she sees what she thinks is a woman's corpse in the lake near the house!
Norman, forever wrapped up in his work as a scientist, tries to be understanding, but thinks Claire is suffering from Empty Nest Syndrome. (Claire also had a mental breakdown a year prior to the start of the film). Scary ghost lady persists in spooking Claire, though, until she confronts her neighbor Warren (James Remar, TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE: THE MOVIE) and winds up learning Warren's wife is alive and well...she just left town after an argument with Warren and then came back.
If the apparition haunting Claire isn't the neighbor lady, who is she? And is Norman really oblivious to the supernatural going on in his house, or does he know more than he's letting on?!
WHAT LIES BENEATH plays out like a lot of other "gaslighting a mentally unstable person" movies, but with slick production values and some a-listers in the cast. It's a great looking film, with some neat visuals, and it's well-acted. But the story itself is pretty well-worn territory. There's a number of nods to Alfred Hitchcock throughout the film: the name Norman seems an obvious shout-out to PSYCHO (and there's a bathtub scene that also recalls that film). There's the REAR WINDOW-esque section where Claire spies on neighbor Warren because she believes he killed his wife. There's also a number of scenes that are filmed (or at least designed to look like) one long continuous shot, a la ROPE. But even Hitchcock homages feel like an easy go-to when you're making a horror film but want to appear more "high brow".
It's fine. In another thread on this forum, Chaz Kangas noted it was made so Zemeckis could keep the crew for CAST AWAY together while Tom Hanks lost weight and grew a beard for that movie. But it doesn't really have much lasting impact beyond being a footnote to a more culturally significant movie. Maybe it deserves better, since again it's so well-made. But it does feel like a case of "been there, done that".
|
|
|
Post by KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!! on May 12, 2024 16:26:10 GMT -5
I haven’t watched the Class of Nuke ‘Em High trilogy since the original DVD box set came out. I watched the first one today and was blown away by how great the special effects were for a Troma film.
From a production standpoint, Troma may have peaked from 1984-1989. Really it was just due to the original Toxic Avenger being a sleeper hit in 1984 and the 1989 sequels bombing at the box office. Some of the productions between these two points look like they were handled with more care than usual by Troma and the original Class of Nuke ‘Em High certainly benefitted from it.
I’ll be watching the second and third installments next and am expecting a dip in quality since the second didn’t come out until 1991. I’ve watched them before but since it’s been almost 20 years they all kind of blend together.
|
|
|
Post by DSR on May 12, 2024 16:53:03 GMT -5
I haven’t watched the Class of Nuke ‘Em High trilogy since the original DVD box set came out. I watched the first one today and was blown away by how great the special effects were for a Troma film. From a production standpoint, Troma may have peaked from 1984-1989. Really it was just due to the original Toxic Avenger being a sleeper hit in 1984 and the 1989 sequels bombing at the box office. Some of the productions between these two points look like they were handled with more care than usual by Troma and the original Class of Nuke ‘Em High certainly benefitted from it. I’ll be watching the second and third installments next and am expecting a dip in quality since the second didn’t come out until 1991. I’ve watched them before but since it’s been almost 20 years they all kind of blend together. CLASS OF NUKE EM HIGH 1 and 2 would play on USA Up All Night all the time when I was a kid. I remember loving Part 2 and thinking 1 was kinda alright back then. More recently I watched the 4 films out at the time, the original was my favorite. 2 and 3 kinda blend together, the Cretins in Part 1 have more individual personality, and the original has way more of that New York/New Jersey vibe, while 2 and 3 were made in Arizona but feel more like LA movies. RETURN TO NUKE EM HIGH felt like it wanted to course correct and be more like the first one. I still haven't seen RETURN TO RETURN TO NUKE EM HIGH.
|
|
|
Post by Non Banjoble Tokens on May 13, 2024 2:00:30 GMT -5
They made a found footage movie that's about the Loveland Frogman. This needs to be viewed by me as a soon as humanly possible.
|
|
|
Post by DSR on May 13, 2024 2:50:05 GMT -5
They made a found footage movie that's about the Loveland Frogman. This needs to be viewed by me as a soon as humanly possible. Despite you not providing a title ( ), I managed to find a trailer... Made by Anthony Cousins, who worked on the SCARE PACKAGE films...which I have not seen.
|
|
|
Post by Jumpin' Jesse Walsh on May 13, 2024 17:15:49 GMT -5
Frankenstein’s Castle of Freaks (1974)
Plot: Count Frankenstein conducts experiments on a Neanderthal man while his former assistant schemes to undermine him and unleash terror onto the village.
Hammer horror, but make it slutty! Frankenstein’s Castle of Freaks is unabashed drive-in slop; it’s not even trying to hide it. It’s rife with cheap sets, costuming that barely qualifies as period-appropriate, and makeup effects brought to us by Spirit Halloween. Oh, and topless women! This is a shameless piece of Elvira’s Movie Macabre trash, but is it good trash?
Well, not really. For all its pretenses of shock and smut, the film is weighed down by excessive talkiness for much of its runtime. Yes, there’s a few topless scenes, including one where two women go skinny dipping and are spied on by a lecherous little person who drives the plot of the film. But it’s pretty tame stuff, all things considered. And nothing really all that shocking happens. Take away all the cheesecake and general lechery, and you have standard Gothic fare, albeit with a lower budget compared to other Italian horror films of its era.
If the film gets by on anything, it’s its generally weird vibe. Why the hell are there Neanderthals in 18th century Europe or whatever? The film offers zero explanation for this and the characters act as if it’s completely normal. But at least it’s worth it to see two Geico cavemen square off in the film’s closing minutes. That’s the thing about this movie; it’s trying to give us a little bit of everything. What it’s actually offering isn’t that great but, hey, it’s trying. I think that’s why it’s been able to survive on the budget set circuit. No self-respecting $5 Drive-In Classics set should pass it up!
Frankenstein’s Castle of Freaks clearly wants to be an extravaganza of cinematic trash, but it can only deliver maybe 10% of what it promises. Ironically, its biggest weakness is that it doesn’t allow its freak flag to fly high enough.
|
|
mystermystery
Dennis Stamp
Still in the White Hummer
Posts: 4,387
Member is Online
|
Post by mystermystery on May 14, 2024 19:15:28 GMT -5
The director of Sorority Row (and writer of SAW X) Josh Stolberg is calling his shot. The most important part of Sorority Row is coming back...that's right. The Tricked Out Tire Iron WILL RETURN.
One of my better Twitter experiences was when he was nice enough to dig out the rough drawings they used to design it when I asked him about the inspiration for it. Glad to see he's working on something after announcing the next Saw movie won't involve him.
|
|