Horror RECOMMENDATION or WARNING thread. - Page 23

Seriously, you do Darkmite. And if you don't love the ever loving shit out of it, I'm revoking your B-Movie lover card personally. With a chainsaw.

Happy Birthday To Me is one of the stupidest slashers I've ever seen, and yet, I kinda sorta loved it. Just weird enough to be fun. (meathead killed while lifting weights is the lol-iest sequence) Oh, what a strange decade J. Lee Thompson had in store for us all!

(Youtube "Happy Birthday To Me 6" to see the kill i'm talking about; right around 3 minute mark)

I didn't know there was a Rec 2, but I'm about to watch it. Loved the original (both versions).

REC 2 is real good.

I really liked REC 2. I know a couple people who really hated it, but I honestly have a hard time understanding why.

There is a point at which the ending becomes incredibly obvious, though. So if that kind of thing bothers you, your enjoyment may take a bit of a slide 2/3 in.

It didn't bother me so much, but then again any movie with violence towards children in this day and age is OK in my book.

I loved Rec 2, its a perfect sequel in almost every way.

Word is Rec 3 will be a prequel, which I'm not sure I'm all that jazzed about.

Last night I saw a film I'd heard a bit of hype about - the new Mexican cannibal film Somos Lo Que Hay (We Are What We Are). I did not like it. Concept had some potential, but I thought the execution was obnoxious. The film was going for a realistic tone but no one behaves realistically, which always bothers me. I didn't care about any of the characters to the point where it really didn't matter to me what happened at any moment in the film - any character could live or die. The movie just passed over me and my friends as a lukewarm wave, eliciting no real reaction other than indifference.

The Burrowers was awful. Watched that the other night, pretty terrible.

That is a film I have a hard time categorizing my reaction to. Ultimately I was kinda bored with the film, but I really enjoyed that it was going for something interesting. So I respected it more than I actually liked it, if that makes any sense. I was glad it existed and that I watched it.

the monsters were laughably bad at the end.

anyone got some good netflix instand horror recomends? Could really go for a good horror film tonight.

I just watched the Australian flic PATRICK. Not full on horror or anything but it's nutty and worth seeing. And SANTA'S SLAY, which is meh but has an awesome opening scene that I highly recommend.

Just added SHIVER and THE WOODS to my instant queue. Can't say if they're good but I'm intrigued.

Hey, sorry to go off topic for a sec, but what happened to IggyTheBorg? Hasn't posted since Feb.

I kinda liked The Burrowers, it was fairly stylish compared to most straight to DVD efforts and I liked the feeling it left me with at the end.

The Woods (the Lucky Mckee one right?) was on TV the other night and I have HD'd it so I'll give it a watch later.

In terms of (more or less) straight to DVD efforts I can reccomend Dance of The Dead and Philip Ridley's Heartless which I LOVED!

Watched The Stepfather the other day. It's PG-Rated balls.

And yeah, Iggy's been noticeably missing. Hope he's ok.

His second to last post may have something to do with it.

Managed to make it all the way thru Feast 3 last night. Awful film, thou that is of course no surprise.

Feast 2 was extreme for the sake of being extreme, I mean killing a baby? What!!

Curious what you thought about it Elvis. Loved part 1 massively, but felt the sequel was a load of shit.

I was wondering the same thing. He was my go to guy for horror novel recommendations. His second to last post was very critical of Devin, but it doesn't appear he was banned. Maybe he's just taking a break.

Really, why? I felt like it was a natural extension of the original. The segment with the teens was hard to watch though.

As said, it is pretty much an extension of the first one with an obvious attempt to be Aliens to Aliens. The effectiveness isn't there, nor the element of terror, but i wouldnt go so far as to call it a load of shit. It feels more like a video game, and that was irritating. But there were still several interesting directions that they could have gone; sadly, they constantly took the more obvious route.

The only character I liked was the priest leading the team. Call me old school, but I like when religious symbols like the crucifix and holy water work against the supernatural. He was almost a standin for the Catholic church itself. Like organized religion,, he means well but keeps screwing up. The great little small scene in the movie is when he tries to test the blood sample and it lets just say it goes wrong.

The climatic big reveal instead of being a "Holyee shit!1!" moment, was groan-inducing.

Yesterday i watched a little Horror sleeper that I'd DVR'd off of IFC: Penny Dreadful. Very creepy set up, that was clever, and delivered the chills. I was hooked. Then it had just about the biggest fall off since Jeepers Creepers. By the ending, it was pretty much full retardo. In better, more talented hands, it could have been a contender. Anyone else catch it? (Maybe I'm being too harsh)

IggyTheBorg kinda left the boards for now, after the virus debacle.

And guys, don't spoil Rec 2!!!!

Rec/Rec 2 SPOILERS


I like that stuff too, but I prefer it in more conventional horror films. Such things have no place in the world that Rec established. That movie was a pure, intense, visceral, adrenalin rush, and a major contributing factor was that all you needed to buy into was this communicable disease that was causing humans to go crazy and kill others. It was all fairly rational and credible, not much suspension of disbelief needed relative to other horror flicks. It never directly told us that what was happening was supernatural in nature. The room reveal suggested to me that what Catholics call diabolical possession actually had some kind of pseudoscientific basis- it was human rabies, which made good movie sense (that the Vatican had been trying to understand and contain the problem in its own foolish primitive way, added a nicely disturbing layer to things). It was a great twist: remember those stories about people becoming "possessed by the devil"? That's what you're up against, only it's not some invented religious bullshit, it's real. And God isn't there to protect you. Rec was so brilliantly frantic of course, that just as you're starting to chew on this it's all holyshitwhatisthatovertherewiththehammer?

But in Rec 2, the monsters are different, no longer pure, mindless, raging 28 Days Later style freaks, instead they are now these actively evil creatures who use different voices and who threaten/taunt people, and who respond to Catholic stimuli like a crucifix or a passage from the Bible. We find out that the infection is both an actual disease AND some kind of supernatural dealie. So bites can transmit HIV, hepatitis, and apparently, Satan! It's such a retarded nonsensical idea that it took me out of it completely. The whole time I was watching Rec 2, rather than getting caught up in the ride, I was thinking "how the hell does that work?". It's certainly an extension of part 1, but to me it's a really bad one because when a movie's logic breaks down like that, any in-your-face verite power it might have had is gone.

And I think the sequel is just inferior in terms of action, tension, characters, acting, you name it. There's nothing in part 2 that is as good as the first introduction to freaky shaking fat lady, or that doozy of a falling fireman jump scare, or mother in denial about her infected daughter until sweetie bites mom right in her fucking face, or that great collective horror moment when everyone locked in the building realizes that they have been thrown under the bus. Rec 2 just feels like a total cash in. I'm rarely this negative on anything, but when I know that the main creative talent usually has such great horror instincts, and when the original is such a fantastic piece of work...

Great post. Yeah, you really hit the nail on the head on why the more you think about it, Rec 2 is a disaster.

Stan Helsing's on Netflix Instant, but not really worth the watch. Concept is sound enough- one of Van Helsing's heirs forced to do battle with every famous horror villain from Pinhead to Freddy to Cujo, but the whole goddamn thing is so silly and reliant on dumb sex jokes that it comes off like a DTV Scary Movie film. Which it pretty much is.

Although if you want to see a movie that's full of Diora Baird's distracting cleavage you could do a lot worse.

Also, have to disagree with Nick P on The Burrowers- I was pleasantly surprised by that one. Nice little monster movie, really loved the Western flavor.

The Burrowers has one of the most affecting child deaths in recent memory. It's not a thrill-a-minute gorefest or anything, so I can see why some people were disappointed, but it's actually a pretty thoughtful movie.

I remember Netflixing Burrowers after reading your review.

Please tell me someone has seen Hanger: the killer abortion fetus monster

I have. It's not good. Maybe because I was hoping they would play the premise somewhat straight but it's basically just a shitty Troma wannabe.

Burrowers was overlong, and a bit up it's ass, but still one of the best monster movies I've seen in a while, and a great concept. The Western setting was a plus.

My thoughts exactly.

Anybody dig The Children? Got that on deck for tonite.

It's a cool little flick. Acting is above average, and the direction is confident- the film isn't in a rush to go anywhere, just a great slow build. Some nice moments of style, especially that one overhead shot (you'll know it when you see it). Definitely a worthy addition to the killer kids horror subgenre.

I also liked The Children. Not a bad little movie at all and, though not really scary, there were parts that certainly get under your skin.

Liked THE CHILDREN as well. Won't be revisiting it any time soon, but I appreciated it's nerve.

Anyone brave PARASOMNIA yet? The dvd art is just horrendous (though it's the hilarious pictures on the back that make me want to watch it), but this poster for it is all kinds of retro awesome




And yeah, The Children has some solid violence going on

The Children actually freaked me out a bit. Great sense of anxiety. Good triple feature with Who Can Kill a Child and Devil Times Four.

Saw a screening with Malone present. He's a really nice guy. I know it may not be saying much, but this is the best film he's made. If you can get past the kind of ridiculous plot, and some very amateur acting, you'll have a good time. Don't expect a whole lot though, definitely not worth a buy. Combs is great, the deaths are good, and a few fun cameos by Landis and Co.

You're shy one devil.

How's Patrick Kilpatrick? It amuses me how he gets the special "and" credit.

Glad to see some (low key) love for THE CHILDREN. The editing and sound design really stuck out to me as really effective both at building tension and at heightening the visceral impact of the film's violence. They don't really show that much but man I felt a lot of the stuff that happens. Killer kids is far from an original premise, but for me it's the execution that matters more and THE CHILDREN stood out in that regard.

Also happy to see other people here liked THE BURROWERS. I had gotten the impression before seeing it that the horror elements were minimal and the end result boring, but I found the western side of things compelling and the balance between that and the monster movie half to ultimately be just right. It's just a slow burn.

Haha, so I am.

Absolutely wonderful as the killer/antagonist of the film.

Troma"s version of the The Children was corny but entertaining and interesting story line. The "remake" from ghosthouse was good. I thought it was slow at first but then it start to get good.
I picked up in a bargin bin was Girls Night Out. Was fun slasher flick and my wife and I had a good laugh.

Pretty much agree with this. Sums up my love really well.

The weirdness of the kids as they slipped into the sickness; especially during dinner scene was brilliantly done.

To be honest I really didnt like The Children at all. From what I remember there is never an explanation of why the kids start being murderous lil shits, or did I miss something? It just felt cheap. A lot of recent British horror is like that. Shock value over story.

For a better killer kids film watch Eden Lake, that film is HARSH.

The hint is there, but why would you want the movie to over explain that aspect? Kinda beside the point, don'tcha think? Like getting frusterated at NOTLD cuz u don't know why the dead have come back to life and started attacking.

Cool. I like Malone's stuff (with one obvious exception), but now I have another reason to rent this.

I must have missed it, what did the movie hint at as the cause?

I think that less is often more, but there are some "explanations" in the killer kids genre that I do like, e.g. Wyndham's "Midwich Cuckoos" idea of aliens using humans as surrogates is classic, and like everybody else I LOLed when Orphan revealed its secrets to me... but far and away the best is for Serrador's Who Can Kill a Child? with that fucked up opening consisting of real newsreel war/famine footage setting up the karmic chickens come home to roost scenario.

Not that I think an explanation is needed, but the kids are vomitting and have other flu symptoms.