Movies: Horror Movie Discussion

[the squared circle]

I ended giving Carnival of Souls another go last night (watched it a couple years ago). I really enjoyed it this time. The main star, Candice Hilligoss, is easy on the eyes too which helps. Recommended.

 

[Osprey]

Since this thread has now been bumped, I'll duplicate a review that I put in the main movie rating thread the other day.

Hush (2016) - 6/10 (Liked it)

A deaf, mute writer (Kate Siegel) who lives alone is trapped in her house and toyed with by a psycho with a crossbow. This home invasion horror/thriller film by writer/director Mike Flanagan is rather standard genre fare, except for the fact that the victim can't hear. That twist on things makes it a lot more compelling than it otherwise would've been, much like how it does for A Quiet Place (which came out two years after). It held my attention well. At times, it's pretty smart (like when she causes distractions to move around) and it even bothers to rule out some options so that you aren't always wondering why she doesn't try certain things. At other times, though, it's a little dumb and cliched (like when she repeatedly lets go of weapons after striking one blow). I really liked the first hour and thought that I might give it a 7/10, but the questionable decisions in the end and the tepid finale were a bit of a disappointment. I still ultimately liked it, though, and recommend adding it to your Netflix queue if you have 90 minutes and a thriller/horror with a twist, like Don't Breathe, sounds good to you.

 

[the squared circle]

Anyone ever see "Evil Stalks This House" with Jack Palance? Great b-movie I came across on tv once in the late 80s. It's actually on youtube. Looks very "Canadian" but I am not sure if it is a Canadian film. It's also known I believe, as "Tales of the Haunted".

 

[the squared circle]

Just finished Nosferatu, The Vampyre (1979) - its on amazon prime right now - This truly has some creepy moments, and then some funny moments which i am guessing were not intentional. The opening credits scene with the music is fantastically chilling. The demise of the Count however, was underwhelming. Overall however, I would certainly recommend this film. One of my fave Dracula films.

 

[Osprey]

Just finished Nosferatu, The Vampyre (1979) - its on amazon prime right now - This truly has some creepy moments, and then some funny moments which i am guessing were not intentional. The opening credits scene with the music is fantastically chilling. The demise of the Count however, was underwhelming. Overall however, I would certainly recommend this film. One of my fave Dracula films.

I actually watched that for the first time just two nights ago. Honestly, it didn't do anything for me. It felt like a TV movie. It starts out well enough, but then he gets to the castle, which didn't seem to me to look like a castle, especially indoors, and then the last third of the movie was just boring to me with little happening. I didn't get the feeling that a terrible threat was descending upon civilization. I watched the 1922 original a few nights before and feel that it did everything just as well, if not better (ex. I liked the sets, locations and building of dread better), even though it's 57 years older. The 1979 version is a nice homage to it, but one of my least favorite Dracula films.

 

[ManwithNoIdentity]

Well the test screening for Halloween Kills was interesting

 

[Osprey]

I was visiting Rotten Tomatoes and discovered an editorial commemorating the 40th anniversary of The Fog (Feb 8, 1980), which was a couple of days ago. It's just a hastily whipped up editorial, but it's still somewhat interesting. The few times that I've seen the film, it didn't feel nearly as effective as Halloween or The Thing, but I know that others consider it a classic.

7 Low-Budget Filmmaking Lessons from John Carpenter’s The Fog << Rotten Tomatoes – Movie and TV News

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

Cross-posted from the Last Movie thread both because it's horror and also (as noted elsewhere), it's that time of year ...

Criterion has a really diverse and stellar lineup of 70s horror this month (plus a few interesting 80s choices under their "Women Filmmakers of New World Pictures"collection.) Dove into a pair this weekend:

Images. This was unfamiliar to me both as a horror film and as a Robert Altman movie. It's a familiar subgenre I like to call: "Woman somewhat confined at a remote home slowly goes crazy. Hormones?" Polanski's Repulsion would be a clear comparable. I thought this was a nice, creepy little gem. Movies like this live and die with your lead and Susannah York is great. You never quite know what's real and what's not and much of that is conveyed through her. She's an interesting twist on a common character in that she takes a more pro-active approach to coping with her demons even if she seems fully aware they may not exist in a physical sense. They're real to her dammit. Altman's got a few simple, but effective tricks, particularly how characters enter and exit scenes. Looking for something under the radar that's more to the spooky than scary side? This might fit your bill. Makes me wish Altman dabbled in horror a little more.

The Witch Who Came From the Sea. Too trashy to be taken seriously but also just serious enough to not quite fully reach bad-good (or is it good-bad?) territory. It certainly puts forth some ideas about childhood abuse that I don't want to laugh at but the main character also ties up and murders two members of the LA Rams and she gets a mermaid tattoo that I'm pretty sure rubs off during the course of a later murder. If you have an affinity for odd, poorly made trash, the first hour of this is works pretty good. It's an entertaining jumble of sex, psychosis and talk of the sea. Starts to wear a little thin in the last 30 minutes or so though. Two interesting (at least to me) side notes: There's a character in here named Jack Dracula and he isn't even a Dracula! Also, in researching the director it feels like he's at least partial inspiration for Sam (Mark Maron) in the show Glow.

 

[TD Charlie]

Recently saw what keeps us alive which was fantastic, and the first purge which was abysmal. I’ll call the first purge horror just for how terrifyingly bad it was. What keeps us alive...really really fun. Has kind of a High Tension vibe to it, but shot and scored so beautifully. Highly recommend.

 

[GretzkytoKurri9917]

Few of my favorites.

 

[Osprey]

I watched the original Dawn of the Dead and the remake the other night. For the classic that the original is, I was surprised by just how much of a B movie it felt. It has a barebones plot, undeveloped characters, bad makeup and tries to make up for all of it with gore. Speaking of bad makeup, I kept thinking that the characters should just go into the cosmetics store, paint their faces grey (since that's all that the film crew did for the extras) and see if the zombies would then leave them alone. Finally, it was just way too long. It should've been 90 minutes, IMO, not well over 2 hours. To be fair, I'm not a big fan of zombie movies, but I expected better from one regarded as one of the best.

The remake was a quite a bit better, IMO, and held my attention. The security guards were a good addition, as was the gun store owner, and simply having more characters besides them also helped (even though some, like the curly blonde girl were really undeveloped). It goes without saying, as well, that running zombies are a lot more effective than walking ones. The length was also good. The movie was still nothing to write home about, but it was decent as popcorn entertainment goes.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

I watched the original Dawn of the Dead and the remake the other night. For the classic that the original is, I was surprised by just how much of a B movie it felt. It has a barebones plot, undeveloped characters, bad makeup and tries to make up for all of it with gore. Speaking of bad makeup, I kept thinking that the characters should just go into the cosmetics store, paint their faces grey (since that's all that the film crew did for the extras) and see if the zombies would then leave them alone. Finally, it was just way too long. It should've been 90 minutes, IMO, not well over 2 hours. To be fair, I'm not a big fan of zombie movies, but I expected better from one regarded as one of the best.

The remake was a quite a bit better, IMO, and held my attention. The security guards were a good addition, as was the gun store owner, and simply having more characters besides them also helped (even though some, like the curly blonde girl were really undeveloped). It goes without saying, as well, that running zombies are a lot more effective than walking ones. The length was also good. The movie was still nothing to write home about, but it was decent as popcorn entertainment goes.

The Romero version is just a little over 2h, and the Argento European version just under 2h and paced a little faster. The well-over 2h version is just an extended cut, but not the movie as intended by any of them. As for the rest, I think you're delirious. ;-)

 

[kook10]

HBO Max has Romero's Day Of The Dead. It's filled with cheesy 80s soundtrack and bad acting, but great gore and overall classic zombie goodness.

 

[LokiDog]

So here’s a question for y’all. My fiancé and I both don’t particularly like “scary” movies but adore stuff like The Haunting of Hill House/Bly Manor (beautifully shot, acted, written + eerie/tense?) and even some American Horror Story (a little campy and heavy handed for us, but also more atmospheric and eerie than flat out horror). Even the first season of The Sinner was awesome. We’re more into the eerie, atmospheric mystery with some supernatural or psychological twists but we’re both very unfamiliar with the genre.

 

[Osprey]

The Romero version is just a little over 2h, and the Argento European version just under 2h and paced a little faster. The well-over 2h version is just an extended cut, but not the movie as intended by any of them. As for the rest, I think you're delirious. ;-)

I'm aware that I watched the extended cut and recognize that that couldn't have helped. Still, even the theatrical cut would've been half an hour too long, IMO. 90 minutes long, like The Quiet Earth, would've been better. In fact, I mention that movie because I noticed similarities while watching. Both movies feature characters having their run of an indoor mall and come down to a trio consisting of an attractive white woman, a slightly older white man in a relationship with her and a black man who initially conflicted with him. Have you ever noticed that? The thought that The Quiet Earth was sort of like an Australian rip off of Dawn of the Dead lowers my impression of the former just slightly.

 

[Osprey]

So here’s a question for y’all. My fiancé and I both don’t particularly like “scary” movies but adore stuff like The Haunting of Hill House/Bly Manor (beautifully shot, acted, written + eerie/tense?) and even some American Horror Story (a little campy and heavy handed for us, but also more atmospheric and eerie than flat out horror). Even the first season of The Sinner was awesome. We’re more into the eerie, atmospheric mystery with some supernatural or psychological twists but we’re both very unfamiliar with the genre.

Is your question about what other films/series are like that? If so, you should watch Rosemary's Baby if you haven't already. It's everything that you said that you like (beautifully shot, acted, written, etc.) and just happens to be one of the most classic films of the genre, even though there's very little actual horror in it. Also, since you like 'The Haunting', I think that you might like the 2001 film The Others, with Nicole Kidman, since it's about a haunted mansion (and, in fact, seems like it was inspired by The Turn of the Screw, as 'Bly Manor' also was), but is more atmospheric and mysterious than scary.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

So here’s a question for y’all. My fiancé and I both don’t particularly like “scary” movies but adore stuff like The Haunting of Hill House/Bly Manor (beautifully shot, acted, written + eerie/tense?) and even some American Horror Story (a little campy and heavy handed for us, but also more atmospheric and eerie than flat out horror). Even the first season of The Sinner was awesome. We’re more into the eerie, atmospheric mystery with some supernatural or psychological twists but we’re both very unfamiliar with the genre.

The Others is probably your best bet. I was also thinking of The Changelling, or A Tale of Two Sisters (less sure about this one).

If you don't mind black and white older films, go for The Haunting and The Innocents, they're the best adaptations of the stories that Hill House and Bly Manor were based on, and there's been quite a few.

The Shining is the best film that answers to your criterias, but that might be too scary for your tastes.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

Since there's a horror thread and were almost at Hanoween, I'll post this here too: if you (used to) like body horror, watch The Void, it's on Prime.

 

[c9777666]

Best/Worst films of the Nightmare on Elm Street series?

 

[Osprey]

There was some discussion of that last year, ChrisK97, if you go back and read the last 3 or 4 pages in this thread. Blackhawkswincup, especially, reviewed the entire 'Nightmare' series and a few other series, as well:

Blackhawkswincup reviews all A Nightmare on Elm Street movies

Blackhawkswincup reviews all Friday the 13th movies

Blackhawkswincup reviews all Halloween movies

Bonus: Osprey (not Blackhawkswincup) reviews all Child's Play movies

 

[member 51464]

So here’s a question for y’all. My fiancé and I both don’t particularly like “scary” movies but adore stuff like The Haunting of Hill House/Bly Manor (beautifully shot, acted, written + eerie/tense?) and even some American Horror Story (a little campy and heavy handed for us, but also more atmospheric and eerie than flat out horror). Even the first season of The Sinner was awesome. We’re more into the eerie, atmospheric mystery with some supernatural or psychological twists but we’re both very unfamiliar with the genre.

I am blanking so hard on the name. It is an older black and white film from, I think, the 1950's. It is about a woman going out to a large estate in England to take care of two children after their prior helper stopped coming. Shenanigans ensue. She may be losing her mind.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

I am blanking so hard on the name. It is an older black and white film from, I think, the 1950's. It is about a woman going out to a large estate in England to take care of two children after their prior helper stopped coming. Shenanigans ensue. She may be losing her mind.

The Innocents is from 1961.

 

[ORRFForever]

Ranking the 4 Blumhouse films released on Amazon Prime in October...

Black Box
Evil Eye
Big Lie
=====
Nocturne

 

[member 51464]

The Innocents is from 1961.

That's the one! Thanks. I think the other poster might enjoy it.

 

[Blackhawkswincup]

There was some discussion of that last year, ChrisK97, if you go back and read the last 3 or 4 pages in this thread. Blackhawkswincup, especially, reviewed the entire 'Nightmare' series and a few other series, as well:

Blackhawkswincup reviews all A Nightmare on Elm Street movies

Blackhawkswincup reviews all Friday the 13th movies

Blackhawkswincup reviews all Halloween movies

Bonus: Osprey (not Blackhawkswincup) reviews all Child's Play movies

Forgot about those posts from last October ,, Might as well continue on with Texas Chainsaw Massacre series

Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) = 9/10

A classic of genre and a film that is close to masterpiece. Sure it has some flaws and its is a cheaply made film but those add to the quality and the cast of relative unknowns works well for the teen victims while the family of killers add to the odd/creepy feel of movie

Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986) = 6/10

A film that came about as part of the Hooper/Cannon deal (Hooper's big deal with major studio saw 3 disappointing if outright box office bombs). A drastically different take from first film as black comedy is amp'd up on steroids and Tom Savini effects help take center stage. It is all in all a movie that is either loved or hated by TCM fans for most part. I find it overall entertaining and Dennis Hopper's shines as obsessive uncle on revenge trip.

Major cuts take away some of the Savini magic and some scenes simply dont work well honestly overall its a a mixed bag for me

Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3 (1990) = 6/10

A film that had so much promise sunk as a result of budget , forced MPAA cuts and a storyline that lacked cohessiveness. But I still enjoyed this take on series and the film was well cast with some pretty good performances. Overall its a film that tries to find balance between original tone and part 2's campy/black comedy overdrive. Overall like part 2 its a mixed bag but a decent effort to bring new life into franchise under New Line Cinema (Who had part rights hoping to parlay series into success like Nightmare on Elm Street but it failed at box office)

Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation (1995) = 0/10

I hated this f***ing film ,,,, Absolutely no redeeming qualities from the weak kills to , poor acting and the stupid decision of making Leatherface into an emotional/angry drag queen. I dont know what the hell Henkel thought he was accomplishing with this absolute trash

And that ending is absolutely terrible with the whole "This was part of conspiracy" nonsense. I mean holy shit that makes the Halloween Druid angle look amazing by comparison. If not for McConaghey an Zellweger becoming stars this movie would have stayed buried in trashcan of history. They tried to capitalize on stardom of those two in 97 with re-release that no doubt was embarrassing to the stars and saw film fail at box office again

Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) = 4/10

Why does this film exist ,, Why? As we saw in that decade there was rush to remake many horror classics but with very little noteworthy changes making them unneeded rehashes of original films. This film really adds nothing of value to franchise

I did enjoy the acting in film (Ermey especially) and effects were fine but outside of that there was very little to like or love

Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (2006) = 4.5/10

This quasi prequel is not much better then 2003 remake and with a bunch of plot points that fall flat or make no sense but overall I found this take to be slightly more enjoyable then 2003 remake and I dont honestly know why. Overall effects and acting are fine in this film as they were in remake but it really did nothing for me and is rather forgettable film

Texas Chainsaw 3D (2013) = 0/10

A so called prequel to original that ignores all sequels and leaves us with an absolute mess... Jesus christ this film sucked from beginning to end and even the kills were underwhelming. The plot is full of holes and inconsistencies. And the acting was pretty bad

Leatherface (2017) = 3/10

Hey look another prequel that again falls flat and is littered with a mess of a storyline/script and an ending that seemed to try to purposely go against what fans were expecting intentionally in a "Gotcha moment" that didn't work. Also this movie seems strangely tame outside of a scene or two with very little

There was potential here with this project and the cast was pretty good collection of talent. But in end it just ended up being an underwhelming film

Assessment/future

Honestly at this point the TCM franchise should probably be put down for good but yet another sequel is in pipeline one that is already a disaster with leaked plot points making it seem like a really generic rip off of various other films in series and the fact the brother duo directors were fired one week into production shows how much of a mess this film likely will be