Horror RECOMMENDATION or WARNING thread. - Page 4

There are one or two floating around. We discussed it in length a few weeks ago with the blu-ray release, so you should be able to find the thread.

I'll second my love for it. Quite a few changes from the short story, but Ryuhei Kitamura did a pretty good job.

Last Tuesday saw the release of Alien Raiders. The Thing vs. The Mist. I love a good homage/pastiche, but there's an easy demarcation between those and plagiarism. The blood test scene is lifted almost directly. I was hoping for another DTV surprise like the really fun Altered, but this was a letdown.

Still, there's some fun gore, the setup is interesting, and it looks and sounds a lot better than most DTV horror releases.

Yeah. Alien Raiders won me over quite easily.

THE UNSEEN. A gloriously retarded film featuring a glorious retard.

I've been hearing really good things about this Spanish flick SHIVER. I ordered it from Amazon and should have it by weeks end.

I didn't hate it, but it was pretty forgettable. Altered, on the other hand, I adored, if only for intestines-tug-of-war. Had it been hyped, I don't know if I would have enjoyed it less. It's such a fun little surprise.

Somebody tell me good things about Splinter. Darkmite, I'm sure you've seen this.

I've been hearing good things about LAID TO REST.

It recently aired on some HD channel - SyFy, I think - but I don't like watching edited horror.

I've heard good things about Laid to Rest, too.

I'm watching the newly released Cthulu tomorrow, which looks kinda neat. Anyone?

If it's the one with Tori Spelling I hear it's god awful. And has nothing to do with Lovecraft.

Dead god, Tori Spelling? Netflix didn't tell me that. I guess we'll see what happens.

*Insert obligatory "Does Tori play Cthulhu?" joke here*

Looking forward to seeing this one. It's another one from J.T. Petty, director of the excellent Soft for Digging and Mimic 3, and the possibly excellent Blood Red Earth (I wouldn't know because I was about to watch it on FEARnet only I don't get that channel no more do I YOU FUCKEN FUCKS)

I've got SHIVER, LAID TO REST and VINYAN for the weekend. Will weigh in on Mon.

So, LAID TO REST --

It's OK. Better than average for straight to DVD horror, but when all is said and done, that isn't saying much.

THE GOOD --

The gore is pretty great. Some good kills. The acting is decent as far as these things go. The killer, "Chromeskull" has a decent look with his, um, chrome skull although it does seem to be trying a little too hard for the Donnie Darko kewl factor. Still, he's not all fake grimy so there's that. Production values are fine for the budget. The lead, Bobbi Sue Luther has ginormous tits. Too bad she never unleashes them.

THE BAD --

The script is lazy. People do things that make no sense just because the story needs to go to another location or someone needs to get killed. The story focuses on technology in boring and unnecessary ways. Scenes feel padded. The big reveal at the end has no real impact. The film isn't scary and there's no real tension or suspense.

THE WEIRD --

Both Lena Headley and Thomas Dekker from SARAH CONNER CHRONICLES are in this, in roles that don't amount to much screentime. Did they owe this dude a favor or something? Also, Johnathan Schaech shows up for a weird but ultimately satisfying cameo. Also, one of the main characters is like Steve Buscemi's long lost brother or something.

Anyway, I'd say worth a rental if you are big on masked slashers and gore.

The Burrowers burrows tomorrow. It might be total shit, but 1800's horror reminds me to pimp Dead Birds. An old CHUD DVD review (Slater?) turned me on to this around four years ago. Worth checking out.

I've got Vinyan coming from Netflix. How was that one?

Incomprehensible in my opinion.

My layman description would be the final 20 minutes of Apocalypse Now streatched out over an entire movie, without any of that annoying character establishment.

Beautiful chinematography, excellent creepy mood and imagery, but I could not possibly care less about these bullshit one note characters.

Funny you should ask. So, VINYAN --

OK, first thing, this is being sold as a horror film and it's really not. It has loftier aspirations. It's really DON'T LOOK NOW by way of LORD OF THE FLIES. If that sounds good to you, you'll probably enjoy it. If you're looking for a genre fix, you're going to be disappointed. Really disappointed.

THE GOOD

The look of the film is fantastic, gorgeously shot and designed. The sound design is by the guy who did IRREVERSIBLE; he's known for unsettling soundscapes and he does that here to good effect. The acting by the two leads, Rufus Sewel and Emmanuel Beart is strong as you would hope. The rest of the cast is decent but spotty. There are a few moments of creepiness, usually in the form of dreams or hallucinations. If you find native jungle children scary, this is your movie.

THE BAD

If you don't find native jungle children scary, you may find much of this laughable. The film is slow until the third act, and not in a good, deliberate kind of slow. It's the Emmanule Beart staring off into the distance for the 50th time type of slow. This is arthouse horror but it's no LET THE RIGHT ONE IN. Those with an aversion to artiness should probably avoid.

THE WEIRD

It's all pretty weird.

So yeah, your mileage is really going to vary with this one. I was prepared for it so I found plenty to enjoy, but I could see hating it if you aren't in the right mood.

VINYAN- I liked it. Didn't think it was as strong as Du Welz' first CALVAIRE, which btw was also wrongly pitched as a genre film, while it was more of a pitch black comedy.
Vinyan is a big step forward for him stylistically- it looks and sounds gorgeous. But I must admit that the plot did nothing for me, and indeed too much Béart staring, as well as too much forced artsiness without any of the weird humour that I loved about Calvaire. Still, it seems to me Du Welz is a promising talent and has a really good film up his sleeve.

Anyone got anything on 'The Children'? That's on my slate for one of these days.

I just moved The Burrowers to the top of the ole' Netflix cue. Anyone have any thoughts on the film? Yea or nay?

Splinter's actually pretty great, in large part because if its unique monster. It's refreshing to see a deadly entity in a horror film that isn't necessarily evil or malevolent. Spoiler: it's a mindless fungal plague.

If you liked the monsters in Dead Space...

Making things even better is that the male and female leads swap traditional gender roles. There are a few other cool character surprises, too.

It ain't perfect, though - I didn't buy the relationship between the leads for a second - but it's worth checking out.

THE BURROWERS

Decent little flick. Not perfect by any means, but overall a really solid effort. If you like the western/horror subgenre, you're going to like this a lot.

THE GOOD

Beautifully shot, produced, acted. The western elements are superb. Almost on par with DEADWOOD. The dialogue seems authentic for the period (but hell, what do I really know) without sounding Hollywood period cheesy. All of the acting is terrific, especially Doug Hutchinson and William Mapother. I really liked the "hero" lead; he was an unconventional type for a western. The creature effects were all really good, seemed to be mostly practical. What little CG I noticed was forgivable.

THE BAD

Not too much bad, so I will preface by saying that these things might not work for you -- The film is pretty deliberate and slow. It's really just a western for the first half, and there's not a ton of creatures and gore. (But what there is of both is good.) The plot goes in directions you don't expect and threads are sort of left dangling. The film does not tie itself up in a nice neat resolution. It worked for me ultimately, but it does just sort of feel like the film just ends.

All in all, I liked this movie a lot. That said, I don't see myself returning to it much since I'm not the biggest fan of westerns and it's a bit slow in the first half. But it's a damn fine rental, and probably a buy for horror/western fans.

I agree for the most part. The characters were, I thought, pretty cliche and unsurprising. The monster was terrific, though.

Damn. I can't REDBOX The Burrowers, Laid to Rest or Alien Raiders in my area. I hate dealing with the video store anymore. I've gotten hooked on 24hr. movie access and $1 rentals.

Maybe I was a little too gushy, but I found it interesting that Splinter went out of its way to emasculate the male lead. "I can't drive stick! Oooh, ooh, let him in or he'll hurt us!"

Reminds me a little of Dagon. I don't like Paulo Costanzo that much, though.

YES! And if you only just stumbled on it, know you were spared waiting decades of waiting for this to come out on DVD. I once shoplifted an out of print VHS of this movie from a video store that wouldn't sell it to me. Sidney Lassick is amazing in this.

SPLINTER SPOILERS!!! SPLINTER SPOILERS!!!

Great film, but as usual with horror films, there was the one bit that had me roaring abuse at the TV. It's the bit where they work out if they bring the lead guy's temperature down, he'll be undetectable. He gets out of the freezer and it's a case of - "quick - go! Your temperature's rising again!" "yup, going now. It'd be a shame if I started getting warmer again." "yes it would. You need to get going now." "yes you're right - i should go now before I heat up." "absolutely, Off you go. Time is of the essence." "yup." "so, got any plans for later on? Oh, right, yeah - the urgent temperature thing." Me at home watching - "GO! GO! GO! GO! FOR GOD'S SAKE STOP YAPPING!!!!"

Other than my petty rant, great little movie. Agreed on the Dead Space comparison. Here's your perfect director for that inevitable movie (director's also a shit-hot practical special effects artist apparently).

The basement throw-down between Lassick and Flounder from ANIMAL HOUSE in a soiled diaper was possibly the highlight of my life.

It's bad. Some decent ideas in there and Thomas Jane, but it's otherwise sloppy and inconsistent in tone. As far as drug trip slasher movies go, I prefer SHROOMS, and I don't even like SHROOMS much either.

Aquafresh, thanks for your thoughts on The Burrowers. Darkmite, I'll look forward to yours.

I actually have a copy of SEVERANCE that I haven't got around to watching yet. I can say this much -- I've heard plenty of good WOM on SEVERANCE , not so much on THE TRIPPER.

BOTCHED I haven't seen.

Full retard. You don't see him until the last act. At first it's funny, but there's this really long sequence in the basement with retard Flounder and Lassick that really starts to get unsettling. You'll laugh but your skin will crawl at the same time.

I really liked the basement lair because it seemed like a real basement full of crap and not some over art-designed basement lair we'd see nowadays.

RE: FUNHOUSE, you know I didn't ever think to compare the two, but I'd say that FUNHOUSE is more serious in tone but sort of the more boring of the two. Sydney Lassick is doing his best Norman Bates performance in THE UNSEEN which I think makes it a must-see.

Both Severance and Botched are vastly more entertaining than The Tripper, as it's really a tired 80's B-Slasher retread as opposed to a riff on the genre. Shame, as there really should have been some millage in a republican obsessed killer in a Ronald Reagan mask.

I watched this as part of a horror movie marathon yesterday while sick and feverish on the couch. I was surprised at how well made it was and how much I liked the characters (and that they were all pretty believable). There are some good kills (though all with the same weapon) and the third act devolves into absolute lunacy, going somewhere quite inexplicable. I fell asleep for about twenty minutes though so I'm not sure what I missed. SPOILER: When I woke up some of the characters were actually in the movie they had previously been watching, and had to escape back into the theater.

I also watched Spiker. An awful piece of shit.

I watched The Alphabet Killer but slept through most of it. It had high production value and bigger name actors in it, though. It started out with the investigation into the rape and murder of a nine year old girl, so it isn't exactly a slasher movie or something.

Lastly, I watched Pumpkinhead, but I'm reasonably certain everyone here has seen that one already.

Not that this is shocking news or anything, but I couldn't even endure this trailer, and it's only two minutes long. Woe betide the reviewer who gets stuck with The Skeptic in his claims list. Like a month after it's released in theaters, probably.

I think it's far superior, atmospherically.

Wanted to share this gem from the Unseen commentary track, courtesy of the confused-sounding, very old producer:

"The killer isn't psychotic - he's a RETARD!"

This is pretty accurate, I'd say.

Might be repeating myself, but this movie is so much fun to show to someone who has no idea what it is. When Retard Flounder turns up, it's so much more rewarding and WTF-ific when you know nothing about it. Seriously, bust it on a slasher fan without telling them anything and watch their head explode.

Pretty good but ultimately forgettable entry into the porture torn genre. Great for an ADHF entry, but that's not much of a laurel.