Last Movie You Watched and Rate It | Spring 2021 Edition

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

I thought Blair Witch Project was scary but not Paranormal Activity. I'll try Hell House; like what have I got to lose?

Yeah, the piles of rocks were terrifying.

The only thing that could have worked for me was lifted from the Don't Look Now ending (the kids staring at the walls).

But you're right, I clearly have nothing to lose considering the amount of crap I watch. You on the other hand could miss on watching a better film. Let's report back, it's on Prime.

@jasonleaffan - should we watch the director's cut or the original one?

 

[jasonleaffan]

Yeah, the piles of rocks were terrifying.

The only thing that could have worked for me was lifted from the Don't Look Now ending (the kids staring at the walls).

But you're right, I clearly have nothing to lose considering the amount of crap I watch. You on the other hand could miss on watching a better film. Let's report back, it's on Prime.

@jasonleaffan - should we watch the director's cut or the original one?

Go with the directors cut.

I'm actually going to start watching it right now.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

Sentinelle (Leclercq, 2021) - The superefficient badass "empowering" female killing machine is not a subgenre that had a lot of success with me. This is a tame version of the same theme (which is a good thing, no training montage, and the character is somewhat fallible). Still, what a lame movie. Terrible actors trying to work their way through a terrible script. Kurylenko normally ain't that bad (though her accent in French kind of hurts your ears), so I blame the director. Funny because the last time I saw her was in Hitman, and she ends up in the "3 months later" scenes playing a female version of the character. Should have shaved her head. The film as a whole feels very cheaply done, the worst thing I've seen from a Netflix production - again I might blame the director. It's not even worth 2/10.

 

[kihei]

Oscar ranking:

Nomadland (the best movie I saw from anywhere this year)
The Father (brilliant take on dementia with superb acting)

Promising Young Woman (sharp teeth)
Judas and the Black Messiah (one of the best betrayal stories in a long, long time)
Sound of Metal (very vivid and convincing approach to losing your hearing with fine acting all around)

Mank (technically fascinating but soulless)
Minari (sweet-natured Oscar bait, but sort of likeable anyway)

The Trial of the Chicago 7 (at this late date, who the hell cares--I don't see the praise for this film)

 

[jasonleaffan]

Yeah, the piles of rocks were terrifying.

The only thing that could have worked for me was lifted from the Don't Look Now ending (the kids staring at the walls).

But you're right, I clearly have nothing to lose considering the amount of crap I watch. You on the other hand could miss on watching a better film. Let's report back, it's on Prime.

@jasonleaffan - should we watch the director's cut or the original one?

I forgot about the slow building dread that envelopes this movie, and all the subtle things that leave a knot in my chest as I watch.

 

[kihei]

I forgot about the slow building dread that envelopes this movie, and all the subtle things that leave a knot in my chest as I watch.

I remember how effective the uses of a totally black screen was, a classic example of how if you leave it up to the audience's imagination they will scare themselves silly. The movie certainly worked on me.

 

[jasonleaffan]

I remember how effective the uses of a totally black screen was, a classic example of how if you leave it up to the audience's imagination they will scare themselves silly. The movie certainly worked on me.

So you watched and found it scary? Just the movements of the clowns heads was enough for me, I had to turn the lights on back when I first watched this.

All the horror is left up to our imaginations in Hell house, and we do an excellent job of filling in the blanks.

 

[NyQuil]

The Trial of the Chicago 7 (at this late date, who the hell cares--I don't see the praise for this film)

Yeah, it was pretty much a paint-by-numbers Oscar bait film.

Too broad and not deep enough for any real emotional impact.

 

[ItsFineImFine]

One Two Three (1961) - 5/10

Isn't 1961 a bit too late to be doing slapstick? It was slapstick too reliant on a non-funny James Cagney as well. Definetely Billy Wilder's worse film I've seen so far and a chore to get through, could've been so much more interesting if it was toned down and further developed outside the office.

I'm gonna go with Mean Girls and The Last King of Scotland and that Tom Cruise airplane film for the weekend/Friday to have a few days of fun accessible Hollywood romps cos this was deflationary.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

Hell House LLC (Cognetti, 2015) - There's a few things that I found interesting. The description of the Hell House night at the beginning, saying that people paid to be scared in a safe environment but that their experience ended up in total chaos was certainly a nice introduction to the first YouTube clip: we as spectators are taken in, expecting something scary, but that video only ends up in chaos, with people running out to the doors. People paying to be scared in a safe environment is the foundation of horror films' quasi-fear, a bit of reflexivity that is echoed through visual and sound glitches and the constant references to recording equipment (we even have rewinding at some point to go back to a looming figure). The horror-attraction theme works well with the structure of the whole found footage section, which gradually works as a series of short scary setups (oh, there's someone behind him / oh, there's someone playing the piano), mostly, like the Hell House project itself, of people going through the scary sceneries*, but it leads to every scare being announced and to too much repetition to be really effective for me as horror. The scare tactics are pretty classic (sometimes textbook classic), and I thought it was again pretty telling (and funny, because I'd just posted about it) that the most effective moment for me was of Sara staring at the wall (Don't Look Now, Blair Witch Project). The structure as a whole was interesting but I thought the ending with the reporters was too goofy and ended on a low note. Still, it was a lot better than what I expected. 4.5/10

*running around scared and not opening the lights of their own exhibition, as though they were clients of the experience.
**that grown man hiding under his bed sheet was the most ridiculous thing ever.

 

[silkyjohnson50]

Sinister wasn't sinister and Insidious wasn't insidious, 3As to both. The search for a genuinely scary horror movie continues.

Agreed with not being impressed with those two. Of the popular horror movies like those in the past decade or so, The Conjuring was probably the one I enjoyed the most.

I really wanted to love The Witch, but didn't. It Follows had its moments.

I still need to see Hereditary though.

 

[jasonleaffan]

Hell House LLC (Cognetti, 2015) - There's a few things that I found interesting. The description of the Hell House night at the beginning, saying that people paid to be scared in a safe environment but that their experience ended up in total chaos was certainly a nice introduction to the first YouTube clip: we as spectators are taken in, expecting something scary, but that video only ends up in chaos, with people running out to the doors. People paying to be scared in a safe environment is the foundation of horror films' quasi-fear, a bit of reflexivity that is echoed through visual and sound glitches and the constant references to recording equipment (we even have rewinding at some point to go back to a looming figure). The horror-attraction theme works well with the structure of the whole found footage section, which gradually works as a series of short scary setups (oh, there's someone behind him / oh, there's someone playing the piano), mostly, like the Hell House project itself, of people going through the scary sceneries*, but it leads to every scare being announced and to too much repetition to be really effective for me as horror. The scare tactics are pretty classic (sometimes textbook classic), and I thought it was again pretty telling (and funny, because I'd just posted about it) that the most effective moment for me was of Sara staring at the wall (Don't Look Now, Blair Witch Project). The structure as a whole was interesting but I thought the ending with the reporters was too goofy and ended on a low note. Still, it was a lot better than what I expected. 4.5/10

*running around scared and not opening the lights of their own exhibition, as though they were clients of the experience.
**that grown man hiding under his bed sheet was the most ridiculous thing ever.

Did it scare you at all?

4.5/10, but where do you rank it on the scale of strictly found footage films?.

 

[jasonleaffan]

Agreed with not being impressed with those two. Of the popular horror movies like those in the past decade or so, The Conjuring was probably the one I enjoyed the most.

I really wanted to love The Witch, but didn't. It Follows had its moments.

I still need to see Hereditary though.

If you didn't love The VVitch, you'll probably feel the same with Hereditary. Personally I can't see why everyone loves it so much.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

Don't Look Now --- The Blair Witch Project --- Hell House LLC

Did it scare you at all?

4.5/10, but where do you rank it on the scale of strictly found footage films?.

Well, I felt at some points that it was going to be scary, but it never really got there, the scares are too common and announced. As for found footage films... Tough to say. I thought it was less lazy for sure than the two or three Paranormal Activity films I've seen, for some reason I hated The Blair Witch Project, but I thought REC was more interesting. And I don't know how to compare this to the harder stuff... It's not as dumb as August Underground, but maybe not as effective either. And well, Cannibal Holocaust is top-10 horror of all time for me, so we're far far far away from it. Worst one I've seen might be The Amityville Haunting, we're far away from that too. Did I miss an important one (there's so many)? Cloverfield is not exactly horror, but as found footage go, it's very well written and executed...

 

[Osprey]

I watched Hell House LLC tonight, as well. My thoughts are similar to Pranzo's. I liked the haunted house premise and it had my attention at various points, but the scares were a little too predictable and familiar. We've seen them before, especially in other found footage films. There really wasn't anything that was new, which might've been OK if the story had been interesting, but I found that rather underwhelming, as well. I was initially intrigued by the mystery of what happened in the basement, but that gradually evaporated as I got the feeling of what it was going to be and then it ended up being exactly that, which was disappointing. Overall, it didn't work for me (though, in fairness, most found footage films don't), but I appreciate the recommendation, jasonleaffan. I probably would've learned of and watched it eventually, anyways, and I'm glad to have done it now, at the same time as several others here. Also, at least it's a lot better than Halloween: Resurrection, which I was reminded of by the haunted house setting.

 

[kihei]

Hell House LLC: I thought it was a good college try, but I wasn't scared except for one brief goosebump moment (the blurry black and white footage in the hallway in which there seems to be a couple too many strange beings). I kept thinking the long buildup was leading somewhere but then I figured out all the little scares along the way was the journey.That being said, I enjoyed it way more than Sinister or Insidious. I'd give it a 6A, as it held my attention. Thanks for the recommendation, jasonleaffan.

I have two found footage horror films that I really liked: The Blair Witch Project and [Rec], both 7A.

 

[kihei]

It's funny, I never think of Don't Look Now as a horror movie, just as a monumental work of art. Maybe it is horror for some, but to me it transcends that genre.

 

[jasonleaffan]

Hell House LLC: I thought it was a good college try, but I wasn't scared except for one brief goosebump moment (the blurry black and white footage in the hallway in which there seems to be a couple too many strange beings). I kept thinking the long buildup was leading somewhere but then I figured out all the little scares along the way was the journey.That being said, I enjoyed it way more than Sinister or Insidious. I'd give it a 6A, as it held my attention. Thanks for the recommendation, jasonleaffan.

There are quite a few little scares along the way that the actors never acknowledge and unless we're paying attention they'll go unnoticed. For example, when they're woken by the clown and carry it downstairs, they get distracted by the girl talking to the wall, at one point there's eyes staring out of the clown mask. Another is when the documentary crew break in at the end, as the camera pans around we see a colorful costumed character one second, and the next it's changed to the guy was kidnapped. Surprisingly the crew doesn't notice, and the scare isn't spoon fed to us the viewer.

There's a sequel that explains the ending, but it's basically the cult had opened up a gate to hell and the victims were dragged in. That's why the authorities were not providing a cause of death for the 15 dead, they couldn't without a body.

 

[jasonleaffan]

It's funny, I never think of Don't Look Now as a horror movie, just as a monumental work of art. Maybe it is horror for some, but to me it transcends that genre.

Have you seen the recent film Saint Maud?

 

[Puck]

I think I've grown out of the horror movie genre. I also don't have much use for Hallmark romance movies, Bollywood musicals and reality tv shows.... and most anything with Adam Sandler in it; well I was ok with Uncut Gems but that might have been because they blasted him.

There are way too many horror movies out there. The 16-30 year old demographic love it, and that's the group that is still going to movie theatres in droves. So Hollywood will keep pumping them out on a mass production line.

 

[kihei]

Have you seen the recent film Saint Maud?

I saw Saint Maud at TIFF 19, and have been banging the drum for it ever since. It's among the very best horror films of the past decade, for sure.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

I watched Hell House LLC tonight, as well. My thoughts are similar to Pranzo's. I liked the haunted house premise and it had my attention at various points, but the scares were a little too predictable and familiar. We've seen them before, especially in other found footage films. There really wasn't anything that was new, which might've been OK if the story had been interesting, but I found that rather underwhelming, as well. I was initially intrigued by the mystery of what happened in the basement, but that gradually evaporated as I got the feeling of what it was going to be and then it ended up being exactly that, which was disappointing. Overall, it didn't work for me (though, in fairness, most found footage films don't), but I appreciate the recommendation, jasonleaffan. I probably would've learned of and watched it eventually, anyways, and I'm glad to have done it now, at the same time as several others here. Also, at least it's a lot better than Halloween: Resurrection, which I was reminded of by the haunted house setting.

Oh... "Thanks" for reminding me of Halloween: Resurrection... The terribly low point of a vastly terrible series. True that there is links to be made. I'm with you with the basement mystery, it was pretty well built, but majorly disappointing. It showed how limited the production was, I was hoping for something gruesome to counterpoint the whole "leave it in the dark" approach.

It's funny, I never think of Don't Look Now as a horror movie, just as a monumental work of art. Maybe it is horror for some, but to me it transcends that genre.

I hate to be that guy, but:

Playing a hunch on not much information--pick up The Double Life of Veronique, which again is not a horror film but which does have a very haunting quality that sticks in the back of one's consciousness and just sort of slumbers there. I don't know if you will like the movie or not, but I'd be very curious to get your take on it. The only horror film that comes close in terms of feel to it is Don't Look Now and even that is just around the edges.

But you're right. Don't Look Now is not exactly a horror film - it's actually one of the very rare true "fantastic" films, as Todorov understood the genre.

Have you seen the recent film Saint Maud?

I've watched it recently because it was mentionned here (by kihei and someone else), and I liked it a lot. In fact, someone just asked me for my horror recommandations of the last 10 years, and this is what I sent her (horror understood in its widest form):

Saint Maud (2019)

Possessor (2020)

The Strange Color of Your Body's Tears (2013)

The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017)

The Babadook (2014)

Berberian Sound Studio (2012)

Hereditary (2018)

Under the Shadow (2016)

Suspiria (2018)

It Follows (2014)

Under the Skin (2013)

Mother! (2017)

The Woman in Black (2012)

The Conjuring (2013)

Evil Dead (2013)

The Neon Demon (2016)

The Void (2016)

The Witch (2015)

Color Out of Space (2019)

The Lighthouse (2019)

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

 

[kihei]

Here's my list for the 2010s:

Valley of Shadows
November
Under the Skin
Under the Shadow
The Lighthouse
Annihilation
Saint Maud
The Killing of a Sacred Dear (thanks to PO's list; I forgot it on my original list)
The Wailing
His House
The Girl with All the Gifts
Train to Busan

The Witch
Ravenous
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
Kill List
Spring
The Babadook
Housebound
Swallow
Possessor
Revenge
Raw Exports: A Christmas Tale

Get Out (more great social commentary than horror for me)
Before We Vanish (more science fiction than horror, but a very different take, regardless)

 

[kihei]

I hate to be that guy, but:
But you're right. Don't Look Now is not exactly a horror film - it's actually one of the very rare true "fantastic" films, as Todorov understood the genre.

Damn, you have a long memory. If I remember correctly, I regretted that about five seconds after I wrote it, but damn good sleuthing on your part.

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

Here's my list for the 2010s:

Valley of Shadows
November
Under the Skin
Under the Shadow
The Lighthouse
Annihilation
Saint Maud
The Killing of a Sacred Dear (thanks to PO's list; I forgot it on my original list)
The Wailing
His House
The Girl with All the Gifts
Train to Busan

The Witch
Ravenous
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
Kill List
Spring
The Babadook
Housebound
Swallow
Possessor
Revenge
Raw Exports: A Christmas Tale

Get Out (more great social commentary than horror for me)
Before We Vanish (more science fiction than horror, but a very different take, regardless)

Bold = I NEED TO SEE THIS
The number of films you manage to see is impressive!

The Girl with All the Gifts was cute, Annihilation was kind of fun, and a pretty film - I almost had it on my list and maybe should have. The Wailing and Train to Busan were kind of a bore to me.