Horror RECOMMENDATION or WARNING thread. - Page 97

I watched a film called Blood Car on Friday, its possibly the cheapest film I have seen but its so damn funny and clever that I couldnt help but kinda love it.

Also with regards to De Palma, I watched Body Double for the first time on Netflix recently...what the hell is that all about? I can't believe this was made in 1984 it feels so ahead of its time and you can see its been ripped off quite a bit over the years. Narratively its a bit of a mess but yeah....kinda loved it too : )

Didn't enjoy DETENTION as much as most people in the thread. I dug the pacing, the references and a many of the different moment, but ultimately it felt pretty hollow and with a very palpable sense of 2 guys writing the script by doing a lot of "Hey, wouldn't it be cool if...?"

A look back at the underrated Horror Comedy SEVERANCE

http://badassdigest.com/2012/08/07/collins-crypt-movies-i-love-severance/

Speaking of underrated, what do you guys think of 28 WEEKS LATER? I recall not caring for it, but revisiting it last night i found it to be a terrific follow up to Boyle's brilliant original. The cold opening is one of the great sequences of the last decade of Horror. Anyone else dig?

I like it too, although I think the excellent opening is very much the high point; I'm pretty much checked out by the time zombie Robert Carlyle starts chasing his kids around London.  Although its fun to see folks like Jeremy Renner and Idris Elba pop up in a movie like this.  And for the record, the chopper sequence in 28 Weeks totally blows the one in Planet Terror out of the water.  

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Originally Posted by Fat Elvis 

Speaking of underrated, what do you guys think of 28 WEEKS LATER? I recall not caring for it, but revisiting it last night i found it to be a terrific follow up to Boyle's brilliant original. The cold opening is one of the great sequences of the last decade of Horror. Anyone else dig?

I think it's better than 28 Days.  

As we eagerly await the JAWS Blu, here's a look back at the spectacularly crappy final sequel JAWS: THE REVENGE

http://www.slantmagazine.com/house/2012/07/summer-of-87-jaws-the-revenge-this-time-its-impersonal/#more-30177

Watched a DePalma double feature tonite of CARRIE + THE FURY. Both Top 5 for me. (In the recent Sight & Sound poll CARRIE not BLOW OUT made QT's Top 10. An interesting change up) The pig's blood sequence is brilliantly executed, both before and after, worthy of the master Hitch himself, with the long drawn out build up especially excruciating suspenseful. Everytime I watch, i hope Amy Irving somehow can stop the cruel practical joke in time, and Carrie can enjoy her prom night and live happily ever after. Not to be. It's horrifying to know the prank was cutting enough to completely snap her. And it's even more horrifying what she has waiting for her upon return home - her own mother waiting to kill. Some might argue Margaret White's orgasmic crucifixion at the hands of her daughter was overdoing it and a heavy-handed misstep, but i think it fits, and she would be orgasmic in her achieving a final warped martyrdom.

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Originally Posted by Fat Elvis 

A look back at the underrated Horror Comedy SEVERANCE

 

http://badassdigest.com/2012/08/07/collins-crypt-movies-i-love-severance/

It's a fun movie, but I think the protagonists are a little thin...I mean, it's essentially some sort of diablo ex machina of "pissed off Eastern Europeans." 

I think the first half is great, though. 

If anyone's looking for a 80's sleeper, check out Oliver Stone's THE HAND. A smart little thriller, with an exceptional turn from Michael Caine. I love that he starred in a series of weird movies in the early 80's that he completely gave his all to.

So I watched The Tunnel the Australian faux documentary that was funded via  website on the internet, I'm conflicted....On the one hand it has some really creepy moments and some good scares but on the other hand it stretches believability a bit too far. It would be too spoiler laden to go into why but you'll realise when you see it.

All I could think of whilst watching it though was the superior and similar Lake Mungo...

A Netflix Instand heads up: the creepy Peter Straub adaptation THE HAUNTING OF JULIA aka FULL CIRCLE is up. An underrated 70's Horror entry.

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Originally Posted by Fat Elvis 

Any DePalma fans in the thread?

Massive De Palma fan right here.  I'm really looking forward to both Passion and his Untitled Heat (no, not THAT Heat) Remake.

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Originally Posted by Joshua Miller 

I liked [REC]3. Thought it was fun. Though I didn't really give a crap about [REC]2. Didn't like how it expanded upon the first. So I guess take that as you will. 

Hmm.  I really liked [REC], but I absolutely love [REC]2.  I'm still excited for the third, but I was always more interested in the fourth.  While they are best together, separately Jaume is the better of the two.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fat Elvis 

Speaking of underrated, what do you guys think of 28 WEEKS LATER? I recall not caring for it, but revisiting it last night i found it to be a terrific follow up to Boyle's brilliant original. The cold opening is one of the great sequences of the last decade of Horror. Anyone else dig?

Weeks is a very underrated sequel and I really hope they do another one at some point.  Boyle himself is the one who keeps bringing it up, so hopefully he'll direct if it ever gets made.

BTW, apparently Boyle himself directed the opening of Weeks.

Is DEADGIRL any good?

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Originally Posted by Evi 

Is DEADGIRL any good?

Disturbingly yes.  It is definitely a strain on human decency, but it is a low budgeter that sticks with you well after the credits roll.  A thing it attempted to do and succeeds. 

Watched The Reverend last night, a British take on the vampire myth based on a graphic novel I have never heard of....

Its.....absolute......shite

The whole thing is incredibly low budget and cheap and suffers greatly from a confused tone, as far as I can tell its set in a Welsh village and has a weird bluesy country and western soundtrack which never works. The opening scene with Rutger Hauer gives the impression it might be good but its all downhill from there...

AVOID

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Originally Posted by fuzzy dunlop 

I like it too, although I think the excellent opening is very much the high point; I'm pretty much checked out by the time zombie Robert Carlyle starts chasing his kids around London.  Although its fun to see folks like Jeremy Renner and Idris Elba pop up in a movie like this.  And for the record, the chopper sequence in 28 Weeks totally blows the one in Planet Terror out of the water.  

The opening scene of 28WL may be the single best scene for any zombie movie since the genre got it's rebirth in the late 90s. When Carlyle is running for that boat,..man, what a rush!

I hope TCM hasn't dropped its Friday night Underground film block. The last few weekends they haven't had it.

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Originally Posted by Fat Elvis 
A look back at the underrated Horror Comedy SEVERANCE

 

http://badassdigest.com/2012/08/07/collins-crypt-movies-i-love-severance/

That is a film I managed to enjoy when I saw it about a year or two ago. It was also funnier than I expected. I understand most of the quibbles... I still dug it.

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Originally Posted by Lloyd Dobler 
Watched The Reverend last night, a British take on the vampire myth based on a graphic novel I have never heard of....

 

Its.....absolute......shite

 

The whole thing is incredibly low budget and cheap and suffers greatly from a confused tone, as far as I can tell its set in a Welsh village and has a weird bluesy country and western soundtrack which never works. The opening scene with Rutger Hauer gives the impression it might be good but its all downhill from there...

 

AVOID

Boy was I disappointed to see Hauer's name in there. I shouldn't be surprised that he'd still be doing crap as that's what he's done for many years now, even if he was the lead in the awesome Hobo With A Shotgun.

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Originally Posted by Fat Elvis 

I hope TCM hasn't dropped its Friday night Underground film block. The last few weekends they haven't had it.

I looked online and it's just taking a break this month. Only a schedule for September is up but it does have some relevant films for late Friday night, such as Legend of Hell House, House on Haunted Hill, Equinox, Wasp Woman, and The Town That Dreaded Sundown.

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Originally Posted by jahosive 

Disturbingly yes.  It is definitely a strain on human decency, but it is a low budgeter that sticks with you well after the credits roll.  A thing it attempted to do and succeeds. 

Yup, it's disturbing as hell, but good shit. Actually thought it might be a prequel to THE WOMAN for a bit, there.

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Originally Posted by Evi 

 

Yup, it's disturbing as hell, but good shit. Actually thought it might be a prequel to THE WOMAN for a bit, there.

Lol, this made me laugh.  I watched them about 2 years apart, and now that you mention it........ 

I thought it was much creepier than THE WOMAN.  The condition she was in when they started, I was literally squirming.  

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Originally Posted by jahosive 

I thought it was much creepier than THE WOMAN.  The condition she was in when they started, I was literally squirming.  

As well. Mckee added a bit of camp to The Woman, which helps distance you a bit from what's happening. No such luck here.

The writer and the directors have barely done anything since.  The one director as a segment in the ABCs of DEATH.  Shame, I would really be interested in seeing another movie by them.  I nominate the for the hopeful VHS 2 (maybe they can title it DVD).  

Haven't seen VHS yet, but they definitely need to get more serious stuff going. And looking it up, I have also just realized that the writer is the awesome Troma Superstar, Trent Haaga.

I did not like Deadgirl. It flailed away at themes it didn't fully understand. I came away feeling like I had just watched some horrible rape porn.

Yes, what a cool surprise, just opened my envelope and saw that Netflix sent me "Matango: Attack of the Mushroom People". It'd been on Very Long Wait seemingly forever.

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Originally Posted by Trevor 

I did not like Deadgirl. It flailed away at themes it didn't fully understand. I came away feeling like I had just watched some horrible rape porn.

I'd be interested to know why you think it "flails" at those themes, because though much of it was on the nose I really did appreciate what it had to say and the way it used the zombie genre.

Everyone's seen The Reef, right? All this Jaws talk made me remember it, and it's gotta be the second most effective shark movie ever.

Big fan of THE REEF. I'm not sure how well it will hold up to repeat viewings, considering so much of the film was based on the tension of wondering when the shark might drift into a shot. But man, I was on the edge of my seat.

Yeah, I'm a big fan of THE REEF, too. Second best shark movie tho? That can't be right.

Deep Blue Sea might be in the conversation as well.  Its still The Reef at number 2 for me though.

Loved THE REEF, makes OPEN WATER redundant. Not sure about rewatchability though. In that regard, DEEP BLUE SEA is the gift that keeps on giving. I would argue that taken on their own terms, JAWS 2 and 3  are great fun, and though not a shark film, ORCA is a second tier masterpiece. 

Reading Harry's DVD column, I see the Denzel Horror movie FALLEN is getting a Blu release. Always been a guilty pleasure of mine. Also of note - JUAN OF THE DEAD. That one sounds awesome.

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Originally Posted by Fat Elvis 

Reading Harry's DVD column, I see the Denzel Horror movie FALLEN is getting a Blu release. Always been a guilty pleasure of mine.

"Tiiiiime is on my side, yes it is..."

I'm a fan.

Underrated film.  Pre Tony Soprano Gandolfini too.  (used to love his character acting, would still if he did much of note)

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Originally Posted by Evi 

 

"Tiiiiime is on my side, yes it is..."

 

 

I like when Goodman does the Jagger strut.

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Originally Posted by Fat Elvis 

Reading Harry's DVD column, I see the Denzel Horror movie FALLEN is getting a Blu release. Always been a guilty pleasure of mine. Also of note - JUAN OF THE DEAD. That one sounds awesome.

Juan of the Dead is all kinds of great....think less Romero and more Stephen Chow with zombies....

JUAN falters in a few places, tonally, but is still extremely overall. I really liked it.  Sebastian OB and I screened it a couple months back as part of our horror series in LA, and the audience went nuts for it. 

Has anyone talked about "The Revenant" in here?

Just saw it, absolutely LOVED it. At first I kinda thought it was cheap, and Chris Wylde just seemed like an overactive douchebag. But then you sort of get the thematic significance of what's goign on,l and the film keeps going into unpredictable genre directions, and I slowly realized I was 100% captivated. Loved it loved it loved it.

Also saw "The Awakening." Rebecca Hall is pretty boss as a ghost debunker, but this is pretty formula Victorian-era horror. Dominic West is kinda fun, and horror scholars will find a lot to appreciate about the overly-symbolic peephole scenes. Yes, Rebecca Hall and peepholes. *High five*

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Originally Posted by Arjen Rudd 

But what then? It's a big drop off after number one. Open Water likely has its supporters.

I love Open Water, but I one of the few.  

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Originally Posted by Joshua Miller 

Big fan of THE REEF. I'm not sure how well it will hold up to repeat viewings, considering so much of the film was based on the tension of wondering when the shark might drift into a shot. But man, I was on the edge of my seat.

Open Water and The Reef both were so underwhelming to me...probably because they played their respective hands so early that it just became a monotonous exercise to get to the respective finish lines. The Reef was also really guilty of having the most predictable body count order.

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Originally Posted by Dan Benenson 

Is THE REVENANT officially available now? Knew it was finally picked up for release but didn't know when that was happening, or how. Did you see it theatrically? VOD? DVD?
Been waiting for years to see it.

I believe it's being released next week, though I'm not sure how.

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Originally Posted by Agent Z 

 

Open Water and The Reef both were so underwhelming to me...probably because they played their respective hands so early that it just became a monotonous exercise to get to the respective finish lines. The Reef was also really guilty of having the most predictable body count order.

That's how I felt about OPEN WATER, re: monotony. I didn't dislike it by any means, but it didn't give me much of a thrill watching it. THE REEF really sunk its hooks in me emotionally, as far as getting wound up by the tension of anticipation - far more than I would have expected. 

An Apreciation of the Influence of JAWS:

http://badassdigest.com/2012/08/14/collins-crypt-how-jaws-spawned-two-sub-genres/