Horror RECOMMENDATION or WARNING thread. - Page 112

I was genuinely surprised by where the story went in the third act. There's not a lot of movies that manage to catch me off-guard like that but this one did.

Be warned thou, the third act twist may catch you off guard, but that's because it's makes literally no sense, given what's gone before.

The Pact's third act is like The Woman in Black, but on crack. (The attack in the back - plausiblity it lacks.)

Very curious.  Bumping The Pact to the top of my queue as we speak.

Tonight on Turner Classic: Lemora (a good 'un but a weird 'un... and a Dan B favourite if I remember correctly) and Count Yorga (worth watching just for Robert Quarry; a great unsung vampire performance, like Jack Palance in Dan Curtis' Dracula, and William Marshall in Blacula)

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Originally Posted by Disciple_72 

Tonight on Turner Classic: Lemora (a good 'un but a weird 'un... and a Dan B favourite if I remember correctly) and Count Yorga (worth watching just for Robert Quarry; a great unsung vampire performance, like Jack Palance in Dan Curtis' Dracula, and William Marshall in Blacula)

I came in here to post that.  LEMORA blew me away after having it recommended to me a few years ago. It's like a nighmare fairy tale. It's even stranger than THE COMPANY OF WOLVES, its closest cousin.

COUNT YORGA is one i haven't seen. looking forward to it.

Just watched a 2004 movie called Dead Birds - not half-bad, with a pretty nice cast of B-listers (Henry Thomas, Patrick Fugit, Michael Shannon, Mark Boone Jr,  Isaiah Washington, Nicki Aycox...maybe I should change that to "C-listers"), summary from IMDB:

I thought it did a nice job of building atmosphere over the first 2/3 or so; things get a little confusing, but it uses a bit of a "less-is-more" approach with the monsters - they are utilized but aren't all over the place. 

I'd say worth a watch, moderate expectations. 

There was an odd chick who posted here years ago who had DEAD BIRDS in her all time top 10. I mean it's allright, but she was rightly made fun of for that.

31 Performances Ripe for Rediscovery: Donald Sutherland in INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS

http://mooninthegutter.blogspot.com/2012/12/31-performances-ripe-for-rediscovery-19.html

Dead Birds is great. It gets points from me simply by not being set in the present day (I find horror movies set in distant time periods to be more interesting usually) and from the genuinely creepy monster design. Great cast too, as you say.

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Originally Posted by MrSaxon 

Dead Birds is great. It gets points from me simply by not being set in the present day (I find horror movies set in distant time periods to be more interesting usually) and from the genuinely creepy monster design. Great cast too, as you say.

Yeah, I didn't mean to diminish anyone by the "C-lister" label, but in just about any other movie, that cast would generally be lucky to get 4th or 5th billing, despite the fact they're all pretty good. 

I like Dead Birds. It feels a bit like Black Death, if I recall. I'm always impressed by a low budget period film that manages to work.

The VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED remake was on Encore Suspense last night. Definitely Carpenter's nadir, right? Baffling at how badly he fails. None of the fun creepiness or unsettling mood of the 60's original. Still, I had to stop myself from giving it another chance.

The New Cult Canon: [REC]

http://www.avclub.com/articles/recs-use-of-confinement-makes-it-a-paragon-of-the,90091/

Talking of [REC], I finally got around to watching Quarantine 2 yesterday and I actually quite enjoyed it despite my expectations. I thought the setting was quite interesting and appropriately claustrophobic (moving from a plane to a closed-off section of the terminal itself). It wasn’t without its flaws (how does one get a loaded gun onto a plane this days?) and I much prefer the supernatural explanation of the original [REC] series rather than the scientific one here. The actors were largely pretty good, as were the effects. I get the feeling that it was originally intended for an appearance in theatres and it was certainly a lot stronger than some horrors that did make it to the big screen (I’m looking at you The Devil Inside).

I liked the airplane portions of QUARANTINE 2 quite a bit.

Not exactly horror as usual, but boy Michael Haneke's Amour is hard to sit through. The moment the lead character realizes that his elegant dame of wife is really close to dying (not a spoiler, first scene in the movie shows her dead, then jumps back), has already given up all hope, even hates herself for being such a problem for her husband, and that things will only get worse and worse without any help or hope... and that's when there's still 50 minutes to go.

It's for dying of age what HUNGER was for starving to death. You need a tough stomach to get through this.

Haven't seen so many people leave the theatre since Drive.

Yeah, "Amour" is an immensely rough sit. Haneke really makes horror movies with some pretty basic, no-frills elements. I figure they're hard-sits, but if you can take nasty torture porn horror, you can take a Haneke.

Just watched the "Silent Night" remake. Actually pretty good, nicely shot, good atmosphere, a decent slasher. Some of the kills go overboard, but there's a subtle sense of humor to it that allows it to be faintly scary but still amusing. A little less than a wink. The director did the festival movie The Aggression Scale, did anyone see that?

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Originally Posted by Gabe T 
I just saw the Mondo Macabro release of "Seven Women For Satan." Oh, God, this is a must. Sleazy and creepy as hell. The first scene is a four minute sequence of a dude on a horse chasing and whipping a naked woman as she runs away through the forest and then dies. It then cuts to him at his desk, staring off into space. "Oh, sorry, I was distracted for a moment." It just gets sillier and bloodier from there. Well worth it.

That sounds like some French sleaze, for sure.

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Originally Posted by Tim K 
Anyone else notice The Pact's unhealthy obsession with Dr. Pepper? I thought it was funny that the soft drink kept on showing up. I guess it's the only soda that exists in that world, there is even a vending machine that if you looked closely had Dr. Pepper and Diet Dr. Pepper as all the choices.
I liked the movie by the way. it moves fast for such a simple story and definitely doesn't overstay it's welcome. Thanks for pointing it out.

I suppose I should see that film one of these days, just to check it out. I laugh at worlds where you obviously see only product available. For example, in Demolition Man the only restaurant existing is Taco Bell, of all places.

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Originally Posted by Chavez 

Just watched a 2004 movie called Dead Birds - not half-bad, with a pretty nice cast of B-listers (Henry Thomas, Patrick Fugit, Michael Shannon, Mark Boone Jr,  Isaiah Washington, Nicki Aycox...maybe I should change that to "C-listers"), summary from IMDB:

I imagine the film at least has to be much better than the God-awful Curse of the Cannibal Confederates. The cast at least looks like a solid group of people you usually see in indie productions. The setting does sound nice in that it's different and not what you usually see.

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Originally Posted by Fat Elvis 
There was an odd chick who posted here years ago who had DEAD BIRDS in her all time top 10. I mean it's allright, but she was rightly made fun of for that.

I'd ask who it was but I have more than one idea and if I bring up the name I afraid it'll be like a Beetlejuice or Candyman thing and they would return!

Sometime tonight I'll finally watch for the first time Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale. I figured this would be the perfect day to do such a thing. Once I do I'll give my thoughts on it.

So, earlier tonight I did watch Rare Exports. Not too much to say. It wasn't exactly what I was expecting based off of what I heard and assumed and I thought it was good rather than great, but I am still glad I finally watched it when I got the DVD months ago. The scenery was great and those grizzled bearded Finnish men were amusing. So was the dynamic between the little kid and what was pretty much a surrogate older brother. I wish there would have been more between the two.

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Originally Posted by The Perfect Weapon 

So, earlier tonight I did watch Rare Exports. Not too much to say. It wasn't exactly what I was expecting based off of what I heard and assumed and I thought it was good rather than great, but I am still glad I finally watched it when I got the DVD months ago. The scenery was great and those grizzled bearded Finnish men were amusing. So was the dynamic between the little kid and what was pretty much a surrogate older brother. I wish there would have been more between the two.

Didn't Rare Exports* feel like a really nice fireplace tale, but perhaps not one with much replay value? You really

I recommend that people watch it though. It's still very inventive and fun. It's also currently on Netflix Instant in HD.

* I haven't seen the original 2003 short on which it's based though.

Finally got around to watching the very un-Christmasy Stake Land last night. What a great movie! I've only just realised the director also made Mulberry Street which I remember enjoying a few years back. I'll have to keep an eye on him.

I liked his killer rat/zombie movie, thought Stake Land was quite well made but a bit tedious (I think you need to be really special to stand out in the post-apoc genre these days). Lead actor gets points for looking like Big William Smith though. And holy shit, that's Kelly McGillis?
 

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Originally Posted by Disciple_72 

And holy shit, that's Kelly McGillis?
 

My God! I forgot to look up who played the nun and thought she looked familiar! HOW THE HELL HAS TOM CRUISE BARELY AGED WHEN TIME HAS RAVAGED MCGILLIS?!!

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Originally Posted by MrSaxon 

 HOW THE HELL HAS TOM CRUISE BARELY AGED WHEN TIME HAS RAVAGED MCGILLIS?!!

Cocaine is a helluva drug. 

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Originally Posted by Chavez 

 

 

Cocaine is a helluva drug. 

I guess so. Either that or Tom Cruise bathes in the blood of virgins every night.

At some one's recommendation (or was it warning) my Christmas viewing included Silent Night 2012.

Thank the gods for fast forward..

Pursued bimbo throws her self out of second floor window and there just happens there's a bunch of full trash bags piled up against the wall under said window. She runs ,wearing just panties, and screaming, thru a Christmas tree lot (unmanned?) and runs by a wood chipper, which suddenly turns on. What does she do but stop and go back to check it out.  And of course she eventually is fed to it. Dumb waste of time.

Well, if we're being realistic, based on the average aging scale, 5 years is a lot for a woman in their age range. Plus Cruise obsessively focuses on keeping in tip top shape. I doubt she did. Also, yeah, black magic.

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Perfect Weapon 

So, earlier tonight I did watch Rare Exports. Not too much to say. It wasn't exactly what I was expecting based off of what I heard and assumed and I thought it was good rather than great, but I am still glad I finally watched it when I got the DVD months ago. The scenery was great and those grizzled bearded Finnish men were amusing. So was the dynamic between the little kid and what was pretty much a surrogate older brother. I wish there would have been more between the two.

The problem with RARE EXPORTS is that it is only the first 2/3s of a film. The first 2/3s of a great film I thought, but it ends so quickly, just when it is getting really strange and interesting, that it is hard to not walk away from it underwhelmed or disappointed.

Tonite on TCM Underground: NIGHT OF THE CREEPS + TERRORVISION

"Thrill me."

Last night I watched 2010 French horror movie The Pack (or La meute, to use its proper title). I can't remember the last time I watched such a schizophrenic movie. It begins as a torture movie, changes to a monster movie and then settles on becoming a siege movie. Unfortunately, only one of those parts really works and the first third of the movie is a bit of a slog to get through. I don't get the feeling that there was a high budget here which makes the monster designs even more impressive as they're pretty great. Not really worth a watch but an interesting failure none-the-less.

OK Saxon, I've downloaded a copy (dubbed in English, cause that's how I ride) and i'm gonna give it a go tonite.

I'm surprised you saw that as a recommendation but, hey, perhaps you'll enjoy it more than I did!

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Originally Posted by Fat Elvis 

Tonite on TCM Underground: NIGHT OF THE CREEPS + TERRORVISION

 

"Thrill me."

That's a solid double feature right there.

The Pack  ( La meute) -

A young lady picks up a hitchhiker (the actor looks distractingly like a young Andy Serkis), he leads her to stop at a local bar. He goes into the restroom and doesn't come out. She goes in to investigate, finds him gone with no apparent way out (a locked door in the room maybe, but woman running the bar says it's been locked up a long time).  Young lady has run in with a trio of bikers and leaves, but comes back / breaks in that night to search for the hitchhiker. She gets knocked out and comes to in a cell in a filthy basement. The bar lady and the hitchhiker are working together, capturing folks with the intent of appeasing underground dwellers. The final act is the bikers and young lady (and hitchhiker) in a shack being assaulted by the pack of creatures, which, not unlike Jason Voorhees, get back up again when shot. There is a predictable ending of course.

The movie moves very slowly, but is good at bringing out the bleakness and hopelessness of the situation. It borrows bits from other, better, films --a huge metal door to the 'containment room' that slides shut, just like the original Texas Chainsaw movie. The acting is very low key, the direction pretty pedestrian (tho the director has a couple fancy camera moves).

The 'monsters' (coal miners that got trapped underground and somehow evolved into nocturnal flesh eaters...yes, chuds) are very effective , eyeless, bald and with big nasty lower jaw tusks, and  are the best  part of the film. 

As MrSaxon said it's interesting but ultimately barely worth the sit thru (for the monsters) tho I've certainly seen much worse, and I didn't find myself hitting the fast forward button. A more lively tempo and inventive direction would have helped it. Maybe a bit more color besides brown and grey..even the blood shown is dark.  It really doesn't add much to the genre of 'backwoods folk having their way with stray loners'. 

Not so much a recommendation, not so much a warning, as a 'have a cocktail and a toke and watch when you're starved for something to do'.

Video store girl recommended PARANORMAN to me yesterday, saying that as a Horror fan I'd like it, but I didn't pull the trigger on it (I've got like 5 movies out already). I'm not a big animation guy, but I'm intrigued enough by its reputation (I know Devin digged) to pick it up next time I'm in. I was a big fan of the annimated horror/comedy MONSTER HOUSE back in the day.

Saw KILL LIST last night. Starts out more like a riff on Cassavetes than Horror, but goes to dark and strange places. Its uncomfortable effectiveness has a chance of earning it a place alongside the British Horror classics of the past. I strongly recommend.

KILL LIST has a very interesting sound design. It was created with the express intention of doing things to your body and mind to make you really uncomfortable while watching the film. Definitely something to see in theater or with good sound system.

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Originally Posted by Fat Elvis 

Video store girl recommended PARANORMAN to me yesterday, saying that as a Horror fan I'd like it, but I didn't pull the trigger on it (I've got like 5 movies out already). I'm not a big animation guy, but I'm intrigued enough by its reputation (I know Devin digged) to pick it up next time I'm in. I was a big fan of the annimated horror/comedy MONSTER HOUSE back in the day.

It's worth a watch. I like Monster House all right, but ParaNorman has a different vibe. Definitely recommend it to horror fans.

It also has me wanting to pull the trigger on a pair of these: http://www.amazon.com/Toy-Vault-Zombies-Afoot-Slippers/dp/B005BKTCJ4/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1357260378&sr=8-2&keywords=zombie+slippers

recommendation:

Cockneys VS Zombies.

Yeah, I know...with a title like that, how can it be good? But it IS!

Think along the lines of Juan of the Dead, a comedy with extreme and clever zombie action.

First it has the best opening credits, animated and with a real good theme song (VERY memorable and catchy).

Story: A couple guys who work days delivering meals to a retirement community, but outside of work are part of a group who has decided to rob a bank. Among the group is a big scary black dude with a enormous scar on his head where doctors have placed a metal plate..and he loves headbutting people .

The robbery goes bad, they step outside and they're surrounded by police (silent alarm) and they duck back inside. They gather their resources and start back outside but everyone there is dead, victims of slow moving walking dead! Eventually they retreat to the old folks home, who are under siege as well. 'Good Neighbors' Richard Briers is one of the residents, who has fallen asleep in a lawn chair, and therefore goes unnoticed by the eaters. When he's made hip to the situation from inside via yelling from the window, he gets up and using his walker heads towards the house, pursued closely by equally slow moving biters--hilarious!

There's clever kills and good quality physical special FX and makeup, and even great music during the end credits. Despite the 'cockney' part it's easy to understand the dialogue..there's even one character that insists in talking cockney-slang--that no body understands and has to be explained. HA!

It's fast and fun and real entertaining~ give it a try and respond here with your comments, unless you didn't like it, in which case keep it to yerself.

Embarrassing admission: I kind of like the '03 TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE; finding it for the most part creepy and effective. The movie succeeds in building a sense of dread, and Biel is a pretty underrated scream queen. I'd rate the movie as right behind part 2. (I also really like the choice of going with inherently scarier 70's setting)

Nothing to be embarrassed about, it's a fine horror flick. The first is undoubtly the best; 2 is delightfully weird, 3 is shit, and 4 is even worse, but at least it has the best McConaughey performance besides Magic Mike. 2003 isn't as impressive as the original, but really solid, with even a great performance in Ermy ,and Beginning is a weak re-hash, but still better than 3 because of Ermy.