Horror RECOMMENDATION or WARNING thread. - Page 87

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Originally Posted by Trevor 

I don't always watch Alien cash-ins, but when I do, I prefer Galaxy of Terror.

Yeah. Heaven knows it isn't the worst of that genre of Alien ripoffs. It's goofy and silly but at least it's entertaining and it has a great cast, speaking of Sid Haig.

Ooh, good luck with watching Creature, Darkmite8. I'll be surprised if you get much enjoyment out of it.

Speaking of things I did not get much enjoyment out of, Seventh Moon. It's that one movie from a few years ago starring Amy Smart and set in China. I picked it out from Blockbuster (yes I still go to that instead of using something like Netflix; please don't laugh) as I've known about it for a few years and I've heard some mixed reviews on this board and elsewhere.

Now, the gimmick was certainly interesting and it was nice to learn something about what I understand is actual Chinese myth concerning the dead entering our world during the full moon of the seventh month of the year. There were some creepy moments and the ghouls looked nice. The other things, though... I can see why there were only a few comments about the movie in this entire thread and the majority were negative. Personally, I wish that the movie wasn't (literally) so dark. It's not Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem bad but I still wished for more illumination. And as soon as the two leads started acting stupid and bickering with each other, I was turned off. And then the shaky-cam action... I'm usually not a fan of that and I wish it would not have been used that. Not to mention, more than once I was completely befuddled as to what was going on. So thus, I did not have the best impression of this movie, despite what I said already about there being some creepy moments and the general idea being good.

At least I'm trying to see something once in awhile (if not more) to contribute something of note to the thread rather than just responding to people, you know.

My thoughts on the new Halloween reboot.....

Sure, why not?  I love the first three Halloween movies, though only the original is a "classic".  H4 is an entertaining retread.  H20 is was a decent (albeit blandish) capper to the H1/H2 story.  I actually don't mind Zombie's Halloween 2 either.

That said, the rest are shit.  Halloween 5 and Halloween: Resurrection are among the worst sequels to any major horror franchise.  Halloween 6 is only a slight improvement, but still fucked in the head overall.  Zombie's remake started out decently, but completely shit the bed when the third act turned into a Cliff Note's version of the original.  There's nowhere to go for this franchise but up.  At worst, we get a forgettable reboot like PD's versions of The Hitcher or A Nightmare On Elm Street.  At best, something entertaining (but nothing special) along the lines of their remakes of Friday the 13th or Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

As for sequels to it?  Unless it tanks, we'll actually get a new franchise out of this one..........be it at Platinum Dunes or continued at another studio.  After 30+ years of sequels, do you all REALLY think the Akkads will let this die after one more entry?  Not a chance.

As for Platinum Dunes not sequelizing their other reboots?  Well, they did with TCM, but wrote themselves into a corner.  No one liked ANOES and it underperformed, so no shock there.  As for F13, they still seem to be toying with the idea of another one and doing it "found footage"-style.  I suspect Friday The 13th 2 will happen in the near future.  Contraty to what Fuller & Form promise, they will never fully back away from the horror genre.  They might have canned (at least temporarily) their planned redos of Near Dark, Rosemary's Baby, The Birds, and Wait Until Dark.....................but their remake of The Monster Squad is still in the works.

What do I want out of a Platinum Dunes reboot of Hallloween?  A Michael Myers that isn't a cookie-cutter walking psych profile (Zombie's flicks), a Frankenstein-esque hulk of a man (H4-H6), and doesn't have some shitty convoluted backstory (H6).  Back to the basics, please!  Give me the little boy who snapped for no known reason, killed his sister, and then sat quietly in an institution for 15 years without a word or an incident.  Give me the adult Michael who is intelligent and stealthy about his movements & actions.  Give me THE SHAPE.  Start with that and then work from there.  If not, you're just wasting my time by giving me yet another shitty entry in a franchise that is already very uneven.

God, if only they had moved forward with Carpenter & Hill's idea for a Halloween 4 back in the day.  It would have completely altered the path of the characters and Michael himself, but the essence of The Shape would have remained intact.............at least for awhile.  Oh well...

What was the original idea for H4 then?

Most people seem to think Carpenter & Hill bailed on the franchise after Season of the Witch tanked and Akkad decided to no longer pursue the whole "a new horror film based around the holiday every year" Halloween anthology series.  Not true.  Even when the decision was made to go back and do another Michael Myers film, John & Debra remained on board.  The came up with a story idea and hired Dennis Etchison to pen the script.

I believe it was set 10 years after "The Night He Came Home".  No Loomis, who remained deceased.  No Laurie Strode.  No "I have to kill all my family members stupidity.  Just Halloween, Haddonfield, and The Shape.  The town had grown cold on celebrating the holiday since the '78 massacre and spoke of the incident only in hushed tones.  Long story short, all of that intense repression somehow bring Michael back to life as a pseudo-supernatural killer.  Basically, even more mysterious and enigmatic than before, literally appearing out of the shadows at will instead of only seeming to.  Like I said, a completely different path for the franchise and the character of Myers himself, but still the same in essence & tone.  It also apparently delved further into the history and the mythology of the holiday.  Would it have at least been decent?  It likely would have been at least as good as the previous two entries.  No classic, but a solid follow-up.  It also would have side-stepped most of the nonsense that came later......................although undoubtedly we'd have ended up with some other equally ridiculous plots on down the line.  We also have no way of knowing how long Carpenter & Hill might have continued to oversee the franchise.

In any case, once it became clear that Universal had no interest in producing a fourth entry after the financial disappointment of Halloween 3, the franchise was picked up and moved.  At this point, with a lack of movement happening, Carpenter & Hill lost interest and decided to share off their controlling interests in the franchise to Akkad.  Etchison's script was not apart of the deal, so their ideas for the future of the series ended there.  Akkad had wanted a pseudo-remake from the get-go, instead of a more supernatural-tinged take.  Once he controlled the entire franchise, he got is wish and we received Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers in 1988.  The rest is history.

I watched a pretty good psychological horror thriller the other day on Instant, CHASING SLEEP starring Jeff Daniels. Plot: Daniels is a writer/professor who, after the disappearance of his wife, suffers from insomnia so extreme he begins to hallucinate, finally sliding to the edge of madness. Verdict: It's a DTV film, but I found it very effective, and a little freaky. Daniels is pretty great in it. (Man, does this guy ever deserve a late career reemergence or what)

Tonite: checking out the 2005 Indie Slasher SILENT SCREAM (I recently read good things about it on Brian Collins' "Horror Movie A Day" Blog)

I'm intrigued by the 'available on Instant' British Horror movie DEVIL'S PLAYGROUND, too. Has anybody given that one a shot?

Man, to think that a few years ago I saw the 4th and 5th Halloween movies back to back on the big screen. Fathom Events went obscure and did that for one night only at various locations across the country. At least where I was at, the attendance wasn't too great. But it was my first time seeing those two movies so it was nice to see it that way. From what I remember, I definitely enjoyed 4 more than 5; the latter just had some off-putting elements, like some failed comic relief and what have you. Plus, not going with the obvious idea of little Jamie now being evil was unfortunate.

Oh crap, I just remembered... Michael also drove someone's Camaro! It's kind of hard taking it serious after you see that. But, at least it's better than 6. Speaking of that, I remember hearing in an interview once that it was the director of 5's idea to include some things, including that mysterious man in black who factored into the ending. From there they created the story of 6, and unfortunately there were many problems with production and whatnot so that's a big reason why 6 was so bad. Them drastically changing the original script and Disney suits literally being on set at times (remember, they owned Dimension at the time) didn't help either.

But onto something more modern. I saw another recent horror movie; this time I picked out something at random that was an After Dark Horrorfest film; yes, I realize that more often than not, a film put out by them isn't worth seeing. But I took a chance and saw something that I couldn't mind a mention of in this thread before. It happens to be a modern Ozploitation film (if only I can track down some of the classic ones of that genre) called Dying Breed. The plot is about some people going into rural Tasmania to look for proof of the Thylacine; from looking at some cryptozoology stuff in the past I know it's legit that the marsupial with that name went extinct in 1936 but after that there have been alleged sightings once in a blue moon and of course there's been no concrete proof to go along with those sightings. Also included is another thing from legit history, which is Alexander Pearce, a convict in the 19th century known for becoming a cannibal as he escaped from a prison that was on the island.

All that backstory I provided... I say it was more interesting than the actual movie. As the back of the DVD revealed much of the plot, I'll say that current-day cannibals get involved and you see what I'll call Australian versions of Rob Zombie white trash; I guess the main difference is that you hear the phrase "Oi!" used a few times.

My problems with it was that it took a hell of a long time to get going. And, one of the main people you follow, Jack... he's rather off-putting. He's the smart-ass of the group but I was real turned-off by the boorish act he put on. I mean, he was an unlikable asshole instead of a charming one. And he was played by the guy who starred in Wolf Creek.

Then, there were some confusing/badly told story elements that at times left me puzzled and not sure what exactly was going on. And the final 15 minutes or so are just silly; I mean, I laughed at something which was supposed to be THE scary entity of the movie; that is a problem.

It's a shame, as the Tasmanian scenery was rather pretty and what violence and gore you saw was well-done. It's also mean-spirited. The general idea sounded pretty cool but the off-putting stuff and the boredom sunk it for me. It's not awful; it just should have been more as it could have been a lot of fun. Instead, the movie just wasn't about too much and I thought it wasn't really worth seeing. But, I've come across praise for it at some places so you may feel differently.

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Originally Posted by Fat Elvis 

 

 

Tonite: checking out the 2005 Indie Slasher SILENT SCREAM

Let's face it most Slashers suck. But for those of us who like them, even the worst have their charms. So coming across a mildly clever, somewhat fresh update like this one, it's pretty damn exciting. Well paced, with lots of kills, and featuring deaths that are actually clever and cringe worthy. (The best: decapitation by V part of a tree). It's the whole package of what we love about the sub-genre. The diologue is a bit cheesy, and the killer's identity isn't that complicated of a mystery, but I wasn't that bothered. And I liked the FINAL DESTINATION-like twist ending. Verdict: worth a rent if you like this type of thing

Funnily enough, Ferocious Planet was directed by Billy O'Brien..........................the same man who gave us the wonderful Isolation (2005).  Considering the fact that he's been trying to get an original project (Creeping Zero) off the ground for the past three years, I'd say that SyFy flick was probably a paycheck and nothing more to him.  The bright side is that he's finally secured financing for his own film and will shot it this fall, potentially with Attack The Block's John Boyega in the lead.  Let's hope it turns out as well as his debut.

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Originally Posted by S.D. Bob Plissken 

Funnily enough, Ferocious Planet was directed by Billy O'Brien..........................the same man who gave us the wonderful Isolation (2005).  Considering the fact that he's been trying to get an original project (Creeping Zero) off the ground for the past three years, I'd say that SyFy flick was probably a paycheck and nothing more to him.  

Wow, really?  I haven't seen Ferocious Planet, but Isolation is remarkably solid.  It makes me sad to see a promising horror director forced to turn to this SyFy dreck to pay the bills.

Not a horror film, but fans of Tobe Hooper might want to know that Hulu is now streaming his long-lost feature debut Eggshells for $2.99.

Are there any Tobe Hooper fans? When the man hit, he hit hard. But there've been a depressing number of whiffs over the last two decades or so.

With the exception of one film, I don't think Hooper's made a decent flick since the mid-80s.  He has a new feature on the way, but apparently it's tied up in legal problems and might not even be released..............despite being completely finished!

Little Deaths: An English horror anthology featuring mutant, psychadelic-drug-spewing cocks.

It keeps a straight face, which I'm not sure is in its favor, but I admire how dark and gruesome this sex-themed horror show was willing to go. The middle story is just as fucked up as the worst Edward Lee shit imaginable.

The last vignette skews into misogynistic territory, which made me cringe:

I DVR'd THE IRON ROSE off of TCM Underground last night. Anybody know what I'm gettig into with Jean Rollin?

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Originally Posted by S.D. Bob Plissken 

Funnily enough, Ferocious Planet was directed by Billy O'Brien..........................the same man who gave us the wonderful Isolation (2005).  Considering the fact that he's been trying to get an original project (Creeping Zero) off the ground for the past three years, I'd say that SyFy flick was probably a paycheck and nothing more to him.  The bright side is that he's finally secured financing for his own film and will shot it this fall, potentially with Attack The Block's John Boyega in the lead.  Let's hope it turns out as well as his debut.

Wow. I forgot all about Isolation, which I really enjoyed when I first saw it. Glad to hear that the director has another movie lined up. Well, one that isn't being made so that SyFy can pay his bills, that is.

Juan of the Dead: Not sure what the release plan is for this film but its an absolute gem! Has the best zombie kills for years and a level of social satire to rival Romero at his peak. Plays out like what would happen if Stephen Chow did zombies. So in short, see it!

Tarantino was right - Psycho II is great! I can't believe I'd never seen it until just now.

Richard Franklin rules. PSYCHO II is my go to answer to the question 'What's your favorite Slasher?'.

For a significant portion of the movie, Perkins is either talking about or preparing sandwiches. For sandwich fans, this is the ultimate slasher film.

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Originally Posted by Trevor 

Little Deaths: An English horror anthology featuring mutant, psychadelic-drug-spewing cocks.

Judging by your context clues I presume you're not referring to roosters that are spitting out psychedelic drugs.
 

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Originally Posted by Trevor 
Tarantino was right - Psycho II is great! I can't believe I'd never seen it until just now.

Yes, it's much better than it has any right being. Psycho III... not so much. It's a shame that Richard Franklin never did more; I've never seen Patrick but of course I know it from Not Quite Hollywood. Road Games is a fun thriller with Stacy Keach and Jamie Lee Curtis. But he didn't do too much after Cloak & Dagger, a family thriller that I enjoyed as a kid and when I saw it as an adult it help up rather well. For a movie about nefarious types trying to get secret information that a 11 year old boy managed to acquire on an Atari 2600 cartridge and has Dabney Coleman as an action hero, it's pretty groovy. He was an obvious Hitchcock fan who happened to do it rather well.

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Originally Posted by MrSaxon 

Wow. I forgot all about Isolation, which I really enjoyed when I first saw it. Glad to hear that the director has another movie lined up. Well, one that isn't being made so that SyFy can pay his bills, that is.

Yeah, he was definitely coasting and collecting a paycheck to pay the bills.
 

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Originally Posted by The Perfect Weapon 

Psycho III... not so much.

Gotta disagree (and did at length). PSYCHO III is a lot of fun. Come on - Jeff Fahey crotch-lamp light show!

Also, for any DR. GIGGLES fans out there, I submit my newest trailer...

Who doesn't love doctor related puns?

I watched ATM last night. It had some things going for it.  Low on gore, but good on setting up an unsettling environment.  The ending was able to be seen from the moment they got to the ATM, so that was a bit of a letdown.   

I just couldn't get into ATM. For me, I think its professional look and notable cast worked against it. I could have maybe gotten into essentially the same movie, but done more down and dirty and pushing the concept a couple notches farther towards gonzo. But the movie wasn't anyway near as clever or intense as it thought it was. I agree with jahosive, re: the "twist." Nothing makes a movie stupider than "revealing" a big twist at the end that you were aware of the entire time and had no idea you WEREN'T supposed to be aware of.

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Originally Posted by S.D. Bob Plissken 

With the exception of one film, I don't think Hooper's made a decent flick since the mid-80s.  He has a new feature on the way, but apparently it's tied up in legal problems and might not even be released..............despite being completely finished!

Is the Tobe Hooper Invaders from Mars any good?  I remember it scaring me as a kid, but that's the only time I've seen it.  It's not on netflix, sadly.

Edit: Never mind, I forgot that youtube is a thing that exists.  That kid is awful, and while the monsters may have been scary to a six year old, they're not now.

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Originally Posted by MrBananaGrabber 

 

 

Is the Tobe Hooper Invaders from Mars any good?  I remember it scaring me as a kid, but that's the only time I've seen it.  It's not on netflix, sadly.

 

Edit: Never mind, I forgot that youtube is a thing that exists.  That kid is awful, and while the monsters may have been scary to a six year old, they're not now.

 I will also second that this film scared the crap out of me when I was 8 and it was on TV

Must check it out again...

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Originally Posted by DARKMITE8 

 

Or WINGED TERROR? Flying monkeys!

http://insidetv.ew.com/2012/03/19/winged-terror/

 

Wow, it's actually kinda surprising it's taken this long for someone to think of this. Flying monkeys have been scaring people since 1939, finally someone had a eureka moment, "let's turn this into a full blown horror movie!"

This is fun and a nice way to add some stuff to your mental and literal queue https://www.facebook.com/TimeOutLondon/app_190322544333196

For your consideration: One of the 5 greatest Haunted House movies ever, BURNT OFFERINGS is on Instant.

I got a kick out of this:

http://deadlydollshouse.blogspot.com/2009/05/devil-wears-gym-shorts.html

Tonite on TCM Underground: EQUINOX + THE GREEN SLIME

<that's a pretty cool double bill>

Green Slime!  I've been dying to see that for years.  Never bothered to buy it.  It's another in the pile of 'Scared the poop out of me when I was a kid.'

I think it will hold up better then the Hooper Invaders though.

The Innkeepers is The Winkeepers. This plus House of the Devil makes me a Ti West fan, Cabin Fever 2 and The Roost be damned.

I watched Dark Tide last night.  I must admit if a shark movie with decent sharks is presented I can't turn away.  This had real great white footage.  I couldn't turn away.  I wish I had, and I tried to turn away, and I hope if you can, do turn away.  This movie is a train wreck.  Horrible.  Horrible.  

GREEN SLIME is worth it for the theme song alone.

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Originally Posted by DARKMITE8 

 

Stan Winston creations. I liked how kaiju-wonky they were.

 

Before 2HEADED SHARK ATTACK, Brooke Hogan (Hulk's daughter) was in... SAND SHARKS.

 

 

 

Speaking of Sharks in odd places, I just watch SWAMP SHARK with Kristie Swanson and DB Sweeney (and Robert Davi). It was something. It's no PIRNANHA 3D, but (like MEGA PIRANHA) it passed the time.

 

 

And how did I not know about PIRANHACONDA (from the producers of SHARKTOPUS)?

 

 

Or WINGED TERROR? Flying monkeys!

http://insidetv.ew.com/2012/03/19/winged-terror/

 

Fun fact? All these creatures actually exist in Australia. 

Just came out, but I am going to pimp for a Wisconsin-produced film called [i]Dead Weight[/i]

Anybody seen Orca: The Killer Whale?

I hadn't seen it since I was a kid, but its on Instant, and I must say I enjoyed it quite thoroughly.  As far as Jaws rip-offs go - I believe this was one of the first - its really solid.  The premise is extremely silly (its pretty much Jaws: The Revenge), but Richard Harris really gets to ham it up and there are some unique set pieces.  There's a neat sequence where the orca attacks one of those water-front houses on stilts, and the final showdown between Harris and the orca takes place in and around a big cluster of icebergs and its kinda awesome.  

Its still very much a B-movie, so there are plenty of lol moments too.  A good chunk of the movie is devoted to the orca crippling the infrastructure of the seaside fishing village - strategically sinking boats, destroying fuel depots, etc - so that the superstitious townsfolk turn on Harris and force him to go out to sea and confront the whale.

So yeah.  Its no Jaws II, but if you're a sucker for these kind of flicks like me, you'll find a lot to like here.

Ordered Forbidden World (1982), which I've never seen, on Blu-Ray from Amazon. Expecting it in the next few days.I'm sort of on an Alien rip-off kick. I've re-watched Inseminoid, Creature, and The Terror Within, I suppose because I miss the days when you could just fucking rip-off a movie instead of rebooting or remaking it and when this kind of nonsense could actually find its way into the multiplex instead of on the SyFy channel, and not even have the decency to balance out its general lameness with obligatory nudity.

Also, I just watched Dark Night of the Scarecrow on Blu-Ray. Its greatest asset is that it's an effectively eerie fable w/ heart more than a horror film. That final scene is still as awesome as I remember it being.

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Originally Posted by JacknifeJohnny 

Ordered Forbidden World (1982), which I've never seen, on Blu-Ray from Amazon. Expecting it in the next few days.I'm sort of on an Alien rip-off kick. I've re-watched Inseminoid, Creature, and The Terror Within, I suppose because I miss the days when you could just fucking rip-off a movie instead of rebooting or remaking it and when this kind of nonsense could actually find its way into the multiplex instead of on the SyFy channel, and not even have the decency to balance out its general lameness with obligatory nudity.

Fuckin' A, let's all have a moment of silence for the rip-off as an art form. I went on a similar kick a while ago. Forbidden World is awesome, Jesse Vint is laughably macho and the breasts appear early and often. Better than Creature, though I love Klaus and had a crush on the nekkid victim chick that persists to this day. Check out Galaxy of Terror if you haven't already... Erin Moran in space! Robert Englund! Bonus points for Sid Haig (whose attempts at wordless communication are fucking priceless). Christ, this even has soon-to-be cable soft-core mogul Zalman King.

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Originally Posted by JacknifeJohnny 

Also, I just watched Dark Night of the Scarecrow on Blu-Ray. Its greatest asset is that it's an effectively eerie fable w/ heart more than a horror film. That final scene is still as awesome as I remember it being.

I really dig that flick. Charles Durning is great (as always). And I like how gruesome it is, even though it has zero gore.

I'm pumped to hear ORCA is on Instant Watch! I have fond bad memories as that movie, as JAWS was one of my absolute favorite movies as a lad. And I loved Shamu in real life. So when I discovered the existence of ORCA (I believe via TBS Super Station) I thought the planets had suddenly aligned. It was a formative moment in disappointment from my childhood. But then when i saw it again in college, I had evolved enough to appreciate the hilarity of its cheesy failures. Harris is ridiculous in it.

Goes without saying, but the Morricone soundtrack is amazing.

And flaws and all, I prefer it to JAWS II. Not even close.

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Originally Posted by Trevor 

The Innkeepers is The Winkeepers. This plus House of the Devil makes me a Ti West fan, Cabin Fever 2 and The Roost be damned.

Just watched THE INNKEEPERS myself.  Loved. Still on Team Ti.