Movies: Horror Movie Discussion

[BostonBob]

Terrifier 3 - 5/10

This was easily the weakest of the three movies I've seen.

If you saw it in the theatre did you get one of these ???

 

[PK Cronin]

If you saw it in the theatre did you get one of these ???

No, and now I'm more upset by not receiving one than I am from anything in the movie.

That's a great little promotional gimmick though.

To just address the supposed public freakout to the gore in this one:

The level of gore and depravity wasn't far off from what we've already seen in the earlier movies so I tend to think the outrage/freakout is manufactured to help drive people to see the film.

Spoiler

What is different from most movies that could get people to say the director crossed a line is that murdering and dismembering teenagers is a perfectly acceptable part of horror movies, doing the same thing to children is generally a no-go. Sure, there are films that show children turn into zombies, demons, etc. or get killed off, but it usually happens rather quickly and/or off screen. That's where Terrifier 3 dared to be different, showing the audience children getting hacked to pieces by an overly excited clown in a Santa Claus outfit.

During the lead up I found myself wondering if they'd actually show it. I was definitely a little turned off by seeing it, but at no point did I think it crossed a line that would make me get up and leave or need to vomit into a bag. It was more of a, "wow, they really don't give a f***" and a "that's uncomfortable to watch" reaction.

Later on in the movie blows up a bunch of children but most of that happens off screen so it wasn't nearly as bad for the viewer.

 

[Blackhawkswincup]

I don't get appeal of Terrifier films

I love horror but this shit is just straight up trash and takes torture porn genre that I despise to even lower depths

 

[shadow1]

Friday the Thirteenth: The Last Chapter (ironically in the first half of films in the series) is such a good one, along with Part 3. The "He's killing me!" line is often made fun of online, but I actually think it's a really good one for that character. Nobody knows how they would ever act in a situation like that, and the absurdity and delivery of the line actually add to the realism strange as that may seem.

I was on vacation this past weekend and our cottage had a basement that looked just like the one where that character was killed in the movie. So of course I made myself go down there when it was pitch black with a little flashlight just to scare myself.

In addition to Hausu, which in retrospect I think I enjoy more now than upon first watch, I have also watched The Lighthouse and Mothman Prophecies as additions to this year's spooky season theme of "Atmospheric Horror." I can write reviews on them if people would be interested.

The former was something of a slog to actually get through, but it had some hilarious moments and some really thought provoking moments. It's the kind of movie you need to watch multiple times to get your head around, but frankly it's not very enjoyable (and that's not an insult) so I don't really feel compelled to do so. Thank goodness for YouTube video essays to explain things to me like I was a golden retriever (and that's not a compliment).

The latter was a cool early 2000s movie. It's billed a horror/thriller but I didn't find it scary or thrilling. However, Richard Gere gave us a fine performance and it made me wish Laura Linney broke out as a star earlier than she did. Nothing really special or memorable about the movie, but it has good enough performances from its actors and it's well-crafted. You lot could put much worse movies on your Halloween watch list.

Erich Anderson, Rob from that scene, just passed away from cancer recently. RIP.

 

[shadow1]

Bhoot (2003) - 6/10

A woman is possessed by the spirit of her apartment's previous tenant.

Ajay Devgn and Urmila Matondkar star as Vishal and Swati (respectively), a married couple who move into a high-rise apartment at a ridiculously low price. The reason? The previous tenant killed herself and her son inside the unit. Vishal initially keeps this fact from Swati, as he isn't superstitious. But once she finds out, Swati begins experiencing hallucinations and behaving strangely...

Bhoot was written and directed by Ram Gopal Varma. This was Varma's second horror film (the first being 1992's Raat) and broke a lot of Bollywood formulas, going against type by starring a woman, having no songs, and being relatively short (2 hours long). How does Bhoot fare?

It's pretty good! One of the better things I've seen recently. Bhoot is a very low-budget movie (less than $800K), and you can tell right away from the quality of the camera. It looks almost camcorder-esque... but I think it actually helps the movie. It gives Bhoot somewhat of a unique look, and reminds me a bit of Chungking Express (1994) . The camera quality ultimately doesn't matter because the film is well shot.

And well acted. The leads give good performances, as do Victor Banerjee and Nana Patekar, who were both memorable in their roles as a doctor and police inspector (respectively). This is important because this is a dialogue heavy film. There isn't a ton of set variety due to the low budget, but I was still sucked in to the story. The film does have one scene outside of the usual three or four locations we're stuck in, and I'd argue the scene is great. I'm going to remember it for a long time.

So, why not a higher score? I want to go with a 7, but there are a couple things holding me back from rating Bhoot higher. Firstly, 30 minutes could easily be trimmed and it would help the film. This is a minor spoiler, but there's a side character who has a close family member pass away from a degenerative disease. This subplot is completely pointless and it's handled in a borderline hilarious way considering how fast the character moves on. Worse, it eats up enough screen time that it's worth mentioning as a negative. Additionally, the bigger negative is how quickly the ending comes together. For a film as long as Bhoot, it feels like the movie crams in narrative elements it could've introduced way earlier, and they lose impact as a result.

Overall, Bhoot is a solid ghost story. Though it meanders at times and the ending seems to partially materialize out of thin air, the film has memorable performances and one standout scene. Bhoot earned ₹239M against its ₹67M budget.

Laddaland (2011) - 5/10

A family moves into a new house and begins experiencing paranormal phenomena in the neighborhood.

Saharat Sangkapreecha stars as Thee, who's moved from Bangkok to the gated community Laddaland, where he's purchased and furnished a new house. He's soon joined by wife Parn (Piyathida Mittiraroch), teenage daughter Nan (Sutatta Udomsilp), and and young son Nat (Athipich Chutiwatkajornchai). Thee has a strained relationship with Parn and a very poor relationship with Nan, but hopes this move will be a reset for the family dynamic. However, following a grisly murder within the neighborhood, the family begins experiencing paranormal activity...

Laddaland was directed by Sophon Sakdaphisit and written by Sakdaphisit and Sopana Chaowwiwatkul. The setting, Laddaland, is based on an actual condo development in Chiang Mai, Thailand that is rumored to be haunted. How does it fare?

Ugh... this movie annoyed the crap out of me. Laddaland doesn't feel like a horror movie most of the time; it feels like a character drama surrounding Thee and his family. Here's the problem: Thee and his family are extremely unlikable. Thee is a gullible optimist who fails at almost everything he does because he's an idiot; Parn is a doormat and likely an adulteress; Nan is an angsty teen, but with more venom. Nat is fine, I guess. The point is you don't care about these people. They're probably realistic depictions, but that doesn't make the film entertaining.

I *think* Laddaland was going for subtext about the erosion of the middle class and suburbs, but I'm honestly not sure. If it is, it's not handled well. It's unquestionably a supernatural story, but the movie double dips between the paranormal and the realistic. For example, in one scene Parn notices bruises on her neighbor, obviously implying domestic abuse. If the ghost(s) had done it, it could've been a good allegory for domestic abuse, and made the ghost(s) symbolic of all of the issues struggling families go through. But no, it's later revealed her husband is just a wife-beater.

Yet, there are ghosts in the movie... for some reason. I'm pretty sure I'm on the money about their symbolic purpose in the film. But if I'm not, what I'll say is the ghost/supernatural storyline is half-cooked, with no motive or explanation for their actions. Laddaland has a story to tell, and whether or not it's full of subtext or just straight horror, it's an unenjoyable one capped off by a really crappy ending.

Overall, I didn't enjoy Laddaland. It's unquestionably a well-shot and well-acted movie. I get what it was going for (I think), but for me it was a swing and a miss. Though I couldn't find any budget information, Laddaland earned $5.7M worldwide.

The Town That Dreaded Sundown (1976) - 4/10

Based on a true story, a serial killer stalks the border town of Texarkana in 1946.

This mockumentary film has no stars, but features Ben Johnson as Captain J.D. Morales, a Texas Ranger who is called into to Texarkana after a string of attacks by an unknown assailant. The assailant wears a bag on his head and strikes every 21 days, leaving the citizens of Texarkana afraid to leave their homes...

The Town That Dreaded Sundown was directed by Charles B. Pierce and written by Earl E. Smith. The film is based on a string of real-life 1946 killings, though it takes many creative liberties. The Town That Dreaded Sundown received backlash upon release, and production was sued by a family member of one of the deceased. How does it fare?

It stinks. Having Sundown in the title is good foreshadowing because this is one snoozefest of a movie. The Town That Dreaded Sundown starts off by presenting itself as a documentary. There's voiceover narration presenting facts like dates, names, and places as it tries to paint a picture of what things were like when these attacks occurred. Soon after, we get our first attack, but the scene is mediocre at best.

The film then shifts to the police investigation. None of these officers are memorable or have any character development, and the insight to their tactics is bland. Morales is the most notable of the bunch, but only because he's as red-blooded of an American as there ever was. These police scenes are interlaced with more attacks by the masked killer, which once again are mundane and poorly directed.

If that wasn't bad enough, The Town That Dreaded Sundown begins injecting a significant amount of comedy into the film. One officer in particular becomes the comic relief, and it works about as well as the clown music cops in Halloween 5 (1989). Actually, it's worse because this film is based on true events. Right before the ending, this film has the gall to do what Tombstone (1993) did and tell us where all of these officers eventually ended up, as if we give a shit.

Overall, The Town That Dreaded Sundown is a bad movie. It tries to be a documentary, horror movie, and comedy all at the same time and none of it works. Despite what I think of it, this film has a 6.0 on IMDb and 2.9/5 on Letterboxd, so take this review with a grain of salt. The Town That Dreaded Sundown reportedly earned $5M against its $400K budget.

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

For the first time in five years, a local theater where I live is hosting an overnight horror marathon in October. Past versions were 11-12 movies and a full 24 hours. This is a little shorter, 7 movies over 12 hours. It's got a rock 'n' roll/killer soundtrack theme.

Five movies have been announced:
The Lost Boys
Return of the Living Dead
Deathgasm
Trick or Treat
Maximum Overdrive

Final two movies are a surprise that won't be announced until they play. That's a fun element I haven't encountered before. My friends and I have been speculating about what they could be. More literal rock-horror like Slaugherhouse Rock or Black Roses? Music is key to The Lords of Salem. Or something more akin to The Lost Boys or Maximum Overdrive, i.e. horror with memorable soundtracks.

I'll report back.

So this event went down this past weekend. I was one for two on the mystery movies. One of them was Black Roses, which also wound up being the only one of the seven-movie lineup that I hadn't seen before. The other surprise movie was The Gate.

The organizer did such an on-point job that he coordinated the schedule around some of the events in the movies. Return of the Living Dead was timed to end at the time in the movie where it ends. Maximum Overdrive started at the time in the movie where that story starts. There might have been other little organizational easter eggs but those were the two I picked up on.

Of the lineup itself, as I said, I'd seen six of the seven before. Four of them I've seen on the big screen as part of previous horror marathons as well.

Trick or Treat and Return of the Living Dead are fun, reliable crowd pleasers. Deathgasm too though it suffers a bit from that modern horror movie issue of making sure you know the writer-director has seen and likes the same movies you do. It works here at least because it is legit funny.

Haven't seen The Lost Boys in god knows how long but I'd watched it so much when I was young I could still finish most of the lines. Perhaps a product of getting older, I felt for Diane Wiest being a good mom trying to do her best in a way that never resonated with me before. Also, Grandpa just drills three-pointers in every scene he's in including the movie's last line. I wondered if any of the rest of it would diminish for me, but it really didn't.

The Gate is this nice blend of 80s kid-venture and horror. Even has a sneaky bit of heart like the best of 80s kid-venture movies alongside some stop motion monster fun.

Maximum Overdrive starts strong (and hilariously) but drags in a couple of stretches between its big set pieces. I forgot this despite having rewatched it just last year.

Black Roses was the only completely fresh experience for me. It is rock-n-roll horror. It is a tad bit weird and has more than a little good-because-it's-bad elements (some of the acting is a little stiff). But if those elements normally appeal to you then I'm sure you'd enjoy this. I did. It's not a total WTF movie, but it flirts with it.