The 31 Days of Halloween [Archive] - Comic Book Resources Forums

Indigo Al

10-01-2006, 06:52 PM

So I wanted to kick this whole thing off with some J-horror, but my Netflix timing was off. Therefore, since I had it handy, we begin with that big summer mega crossover to end them all - not Infinite Crisis, not Civil War,

Freddy vs. Jason

I first experienced this movie Rocky Horror style, in a Louisiana movie theater where you can get nasty tasting daquiris, with the loudest, most boisterous and most fun audience ever! Viewing it at home is not even close to rewarding.

The human element in this story just sucks -- none of these teenagers elicit any sympathy whatsoever. The one who does elicit sympathy is poor neglected freaky young Jason Voorhees. Freddy's mindf**k of Jason is probably the only interesting bit this movie has to offer, apart from the fun slapstick wire-fu-y battle scenes.

zombie

10-01-2006, 10:01 PM

Freddy vs. Jason

Though it has a lame ending, the movie is still fun just because it's Freddy vs. Jason. I guess there isn't much more they could've done for an ending, since it would've pissed off a good portion of the horror community no matter who won.

I started my month off with Guillermo del Toro's fantastic The Devil's Backbone. I knew he could do horror-action with Blade II, but now I know he can handle the more dramatic side as well. And it has one of the greatest ghost designs I've ever seen. Now I'm really looking forward to Pan's Labyrinth.

Royal

10-01-2006, 10:16 PM

Indigo Al

10-02-2006, 05:39 AM

Though it has a lame ending, the movie is still fun just because it's Freddy vs. Jason. I guess there isn't much more they could've done for an ending, since it would've pissed off a good portion of the horror community no matter who won.

I started my month off with Guillermo del Toro's fantastic The Devil's Backbone. I knew he could do horror-action with Blade II, but now I know he can handle the more dramatic side as well. And it has one of the greatest ghost designs I've ever seen. Now I'm really looking forward to Pan's Labyrinth.

That one's on my Netflicks -- good to know it's worth it. I may bump it up on the queue. I have to say I didn't really care for Blade II though.

hellokittykat

10-02-2006, 08:09 AM

I might not be able to do exactly one a night, but my husband and I will more than likely watch 31 horror movies this month too:)

We have two under our belts so far because we watched 'Wrong Turn' and 'They Live' this weekend.

zombie

10-02-2006, 09:42 AM

That one's on my Netflicks -- good to know it's worth it. I may bump it up on the queue. I have to say I didn't really care for Blade II though.

I love Blade II, but The Devil's Backbone is nothing like it, so no worries there.

zombie

10-02-2006, 09:44 AM

I was going to start with Massacre At Dinosaur Valley, but my rental was damaged. So I'm covering Bruno Mattei's Hell of The Living Dead. Mattei's a mad bastard. If Hershall Gordon Lewis relinquished his throne, Mattei would be the first coronated "King of Gore".

I can see that you're going to have a very interesting list, full of movies I've never seen, and a bunch I've probably never heard of.

Indigo Al

10-02-2006, 05:19 PM

I love it!

I'm soon to be watching "Dark Water" (the Japanese original) which screened on the Sundance channel, and I taped using the ancient art of VCR (no TiVo here).

Royal - curious about Bruno Mattei. Why is he the King of Gore, in your opinion?

hellokittykat - I thought Wrong Turn was very worthy entry into the inbred hillbilly mutant killer subgenre. I've seen bits and pieces of They Live, but it never seemed very interesting. How is it?

Royal

10-02-2006, 05:55 PM

Royal - curious about Bruno Mattei. Why is he the King of Gore, in your opinion?

He can make good gore effects on a cost-effective budget. Just like HGL.

Royal

10-02-2006, 05:59 PM

Hell of The Living Dead

A military unit is sent to New Guinea to shut down a faulty chemical plant and run into a couple of journalists sent to cover the plant as well as flesh eating zombies.

Dubbed "the worst zombie movie ever", it really shows. There is liberal uses of stock footage, a soundtrack ripped from Goblin's Dawn of The Dead score as well as concepts and costumes. Let's not beat around the bush, it's Dawn of The Dead in New Guinea. Even the makeup fx is bad. It's like they took a bunch of crap and just put it on their face and started to walk slow. "Look at me. I'm like walking slow with crap on my face. I'm so like a zombie!" Cut to stock footage of elephants. Oh look! Boobies! Cut to stock footage of humming birds. "AAGGHHHH! I'm Totally getting attacked by a zombie!! AAAGGGHH!!" Cut to stock footage of Batman. That's almost the whole movie right there. Cut to stock footage of Leave It To Beaver.

Now, just by saying it's bad, doesn't mean it's a complete wash. Franco Garofalo does his best to work with the material given to him and the people he's working with, thus making him one of the more intriguing characters of the film. And there's boobies. And....yeah. That's it.

This movie would be good if you're really bored or you and friends want to have a laugh or two. Otherwise, if you're a collector, get this when your financially tight.

And remember...

Buildings are full of people.

Next up is Wolfen.

zombie

10-02-2006, 06:06 PM

"AAGGHHHH! I'm Totally getting attacked by a zombie!! AAAGGGHH!!" ... Cut to stock footage of Leave It To Beaver.

Zombies munching on Beaver. Sums up Italian exploitation cinema pretty well.

Haunt

10-02-2006, 06:53 PM

make sure to watch Black Christmas before the g-damn remake comes out. oh and Stephen King's Graveyard Shift (just for Brad Douriff).

Indigo Al

10-02-2006, 07:52 PM

Wow. After the tacky, brainless, all-American excesses of Freddy v. Jason (which far from condemning, I enjoy for what it is), I am just awed and subtly creeped out by the slow, emotionally involving and eerie Honogurai mizu no soko kara, or Dark Water (the Japanese original, not the remake starring Jennifer Connely).

Basically it's a ghost story about a pretty divorcee named Yoshimi, and her adorable young daughter, Ikuko, who move into a haunted apartment. A mystery involving a missing girl named Mitsuko, a cute Hello Kitty kid's purse, and a perpetually dripping ceiling water stain ensues throughout.

I like how the movie plays with both images of Hello Kitty cute and relies heavily on the tension experienced by children of broken homes.

I was missing this sort of horror film that balances atmosphere, mystery and distinct characters.

Indigo Al

10-02-2006, 09:45 PM

Hey Royal - just checked out your movie review blog. I've been meaning to check out Bad Dreams since cults and cult leaders are an obsession of mine.

Also, it seems that ghosts will be the monster of the month. Last Halloween I watched a disproportionate amount of hillbilly/zombie flesh eating carnage.

zombie

10-02-2006, 10:00 PM

Session 9. Now here's a creepy movie. Not sure if it was just a guy gone crazy story, or a sort of possession story.

Only thing that bugged me was the music. A couple times it didn't seem to fit the scene and pulled me out of the movie.

DWEarhart

10-02-2006, 10:02 PM

For the first day, it was 2001 Maniacs, with Robert Englund. Call it a remake or a sequel. Either way, it's bloody good.

Tonight, it was Dario Argento's Opera.

Donald M.

10-03-2006, 12:20 AM

Crap.

I totally forgot about this on Sunday, then today I got called in to work, so I'm two days behind. I'll make up for it later in the week.

Now I just gotta decide what I'm going to watch tonight. I think I'll start with Phantasm, haven't seen that one in a while.

Royal

10-03-2006, 01:30 AM

Hey Royal - just checked out your movie review blog. I've been meaning to check out Bad Dreams since cults and cult leaders are an obsession of mine.

Thank you. Feel free to pass my URL around.

Tell me, have you looked into Van Beeber's The Manson Family? It is very interesting.

Indigo Al

10-03-2006, 07:32 AM

Thank you. Feel free to pass my URL around.

Tell me, have you looked into Van Beeber's The Manson Family? It is very interesting.

Ooh fun! I had seen that 1984 made-for-TV movie on The Family, but lost track of this.

hellokittykat

10-03-2006, 10:36 AM

hellokittykat - I thought Wrong Turn was very worthy entry into the inbred hillbilly mutant killer subgenre. I've seen bits and pieces of They Live, but it never seemed very interesting. How is it?

'They Live' starts out veeerrry slowly but once Roddy Piper discovers the sunglasses that allow him to see the aliens, it's pure gold.
It's supposed to be a sci-fi horror flick but the lines are so corny, it's more like a comedy.;)

zombie

10-03-2006, 10:46 AM

I found a way to finally see Cannibal Holocaust, so that's been added to my list for the month.

Royal

10-03-2006, 10:54 AM

hhhmmmm. You think you are ready for the Deodato?

zombie

10-03-2006, 10:56 AM

hhhmmmm. You think you are ready for the Deodato?

I'm ready for anything! Maybe. I don't know. Guess I'll find out, haha.

Indigo Al

10-03-2006, 07:01 PM

Tonight I ventured back into unapologetic garbage-land with Seed of Chucky, a deliriously trashy hoot fully informed by the spirit of John Waters, who stars in the movie!

The abominable outrageousness of this film is operatic. It’s just as self-aware as “Snakes on a Plane”. On the other hand, the last 10 minutes of “Exorcist: The Beginning” is just as hilarious, but not as aware of it.

Highlights (SPOILERS):

• RedMan’s “The Life of Jesus”
• Glen or Glenda, the titular Seed
• A flashing Tiffany doll
• Artificial insemination, Chucky style
• “God bless the little people!”
• The demise of Britney
• “Bound is on cable. Gina Gershon is fingering me…”

Royal

10-03-2006, 07:15 PM

Wolfen

Based on a novel by Whitley Striber, The murder of an industrialist and his wife takes a detective out of retirement and leads him to confront an ancient force.

First of all, let me get this out of the way. This isn't a "werewolf" movie. Yes, it was released during a small werewolf revival (The Howling, American Werewolf In London), but it is not a werewolf movie. If I were to put this movie in a sub-genre, it would have to be a "Mythic Beings" or an "Old Ones" sub-genre. Because of this, I think people thought they got ripped and gave bad word of mouth. That's why there was low turnout and gave this a cult aura. Do I blame the folks? Not one bit.

Anyways, this was a nice paced movie covering original material. The characters was well fleshed and there was great chemistry. Especially Albert Finney and Greg Hines. The location was awesome, especially the abandoned church. It also works the fx to a minimum. The special "wolf cam" really works. OH! Before I forget, Tom Waits has a cameo in this movie.

The only negative I can come up with is continuity errors in some areas. There are some areas that really make you go "Huh?" Somethings were forced, but are really forgettable. That's it.

This is definitely a must own for horror fans. If not a fan of Horror, a wolf movie fan then. If you're not a fan of wolves, then it's for pubic wig movie fans.

And Blair, if you're reading this, they weild some nice machinery man. M 16 goodness topped with nice large night scopes. Bigger then my head!

Next up, Shadow of The Vampire.

DWEarhart

10-03-2006, 09:43 PM

Tonight, it was Subspecies. Radu, what a card.

Indigo Al

10-03-2006, 09:48 PM

Tonight, it was Subspecies. Radu, what a card.

I like how he talks like Ren....

Royal

10-03-2006, 09:54 PM

I hate Band pictures.

They are thieves and liars.

zombie

10-03-2006, 10:49 PM

Marebito. Well that was very interesting. Lots of odd ideas thrown together. A little confusing too, but I guess it wouldn't be madness if it was clear.

Indigo Al

10-04-2006, 08:19 PM

Zombie just checked out Marebito, which is on my queue; tonight I saw Ju-On, the original and Buffy-free version of The Grudge.

The kiddie ghosts were vicious and certainly did not f*** around. I found it a little hard to be involved in the story though due to the Altman-esque juggling of intertwined characters. And though I'm generally not a fan of over-exposition, I am curious as to the hows and whys of the ghosts. Maybe I need to check out the DVD extras?

I think I prefer Dark Water

DWEarhart

10-04-2006, 10:16 PM

Tonight, it was I Madman. I loved watching this film when I was younger, early teens. I'd wait for it all night to show on cable. I rejoiced when I found the DVD.

Royal

10-04-2006, 10:32 PM

Shadow of The Vampire

F.W. Murnau partakes in a great experiment. Filming a vampire movie with an actual vampire. Things don't turn out the way he wants them to.

I love this movie. It's nicely paced and the characters are detailed. I totally loved the chemistry between Defoe (as Orlok) and Malkovich (as Murnau). You actually believe there is a tension there. What is really interesting is that they built the story around the simple mythology of Max Shrek. Even though it is a psudonem, the acting of the actor is so great, you really have to ask yourself if there is more to it then just a name. Another the thing that makes the movie is the score. The music mirrors the film music you might hear from 1920's music. The sets are awesome as well as the direction of Herr Merhige, a specialist in silent cinema.

If there is anything bad about it, it has to be the pacing. It starts great at first, but when it gets close to the end, it feels kinda rushed. In story as well. I can easily see this as a three hour movie, but I guess they had limitations and had to work with what they had. Come to think of it, other parts needed to be fleshed out as well.

This is definitely a movie to get for your collection if you are a horror fan. It's also a movie you can put in at any time to impress friends. An essential in the 21st Century.

Next, Evil Dead Trap

zombie

10-05-2006, 12:08 AM

Dominion: Prequel To The Exorcist. Well, it was better than the other prequel version, but not by all that much. The low quality special effects really took away from it. The possessed boy was fairly creepy though.

Indigo Al

10-05-2006, 05:02 AM

I'd forgotten about Shadow of the Vampire, which I had the good fortune to see in the theaters. I know people who despised it's dank and snuff-film atmosphere, but I didn't see it that way at all.

And as far as Dominion goes, I've already been pretty vocal about my preference for this film over ETB. It is true that the effects are not great; it's essentially not a fully polished film (due to the whole reshoot fiasco).

DDM

10-05-2006, 08:26 AM

Indigo Al

10-05-2006, 06:49 PM

Something in me is preventing me from dipping into my collection of Hammer/Universal films. Why? Maybe I want to hold out and experience a Halloween season where I only EVER watch Hammer and Universal film --- the Classics!

What do you all think? Am I being too neurotic about this???

zombie

10-05-2006, 07:52 PM

Indigo Al

10-05-2006, 08:22 PM

I don't think I've ever seen all of a Hammer or classic monsters Universal movie. *hides*

I have to put my movie watching on pause for the weekend, probably. Yay for Thanksgiving, boo for little cousins being around and not letting me watch gruesome movies.

I did a double take when you said that, when it dawned on me that you must be Canadian. Am i right?

As for your little cousins, why this is the perfect time to warp their minds! And Universal horror movies are perfect for young tykes -- they are quite low on gore and adult-centric horror.

I am going to be away this weekend and probably unable to do a Friday Sat Sun movie, unless I double or triple up tonight!!!

Royal

10-05-2006, 08:26 PM

Why not triple up Mon.?

I'm still working on my contribution.

DWEarhart

10-05-2006, 10:13 PM

Saturday the 14th: A satire of horror films from Dracula, the Wolfman, the Mummy, The Omen, The Exorcist, The Amityville Horror & of course Friday the 13th make for a good comedy. Paula Prentiss (sp?) is the mother. Richard Benjamin is the father. The house is possessed. Weird things happen. There's an ongoing subplot about vampires trying to turn their neighbors into the undead.

I remember always watching this movie when I was younger. It was amusing, I kept going back to it.

Tonight Oct. 5, it was Cemetary Man. Rupert Everett has sex. Yes, with a girl. He kills zombies too.

Really, this movie goes deep into the psyche of his character. Maybe, a bit overboard, so he can't tell what's what anymore.

Indigo Al

10-05-2006, 10:15 PM

I’ve always been a fan of the Ninth Gate, which has a great and unique atmosphere. Depp is of course outstanding. Lena Olin continues to creep me out consistently (yet, she’ll never be as creepy as she was in Romeo is Bleeding). Frank Langella rocked it too (I still have an image of him as Disco Dracula from 1979).

The Satanic ceremony was a very ridiculously campy scene. Good fun! Also a bit of very wrong fun with the Baroness’s death…..

I loved the brothers from Portugal who looked like the Thompson Twins from Tintin.

I was almost tempted to turn on the commentary with on-the-lam pedophile Roman Polanski. But if I’m so uncomfortable with the films of Victor Salva (The Jeepers Creepers series), is it not rather hypocritical of me to indulge in Polanski’s sordid history (not just with his crime, but with his wife’s tragic death at the hands of the Manson family?)

Three trailers on the DVD extras: 1 has an awful Nu Metal song, and one version uses Sonic Youth’s excellent “Titanium Expose”.

I also recommend very highly the novel that the movie was based on, “The Club Dumas” by Arturo Perez Reverte.

SPOILER:

I’ve had previous debates about whether or not Emmanuelle Seigneur was in fact The Devil. I remain convinced that she was.

Royal

10-05-2006, 10:54 PM

I remember always watching this movie when I was younger. It was amusing, I kept going back to it.

Tonight Oct. 5, it was Cemetary Man. Rupert Everett has sex. Yes, with a girl. He kills zombies too.

Really, this movie goes deep into the psyche of his character. Maybe, a bit overboard, so he can't tell what's what anymore.

Fast fact: Yours Truly has hung out with Soavi. One time in Detroit. Another in T.O. Awesome dude.

Royal

10-05-2006, 11:50 PM

Shiryo no Wana (Evil Dead Trap)

A Reporter gets a snuff movie via mail and decides to trace it. Her search leads her to an abandoned factory, not knowing a psycho killer is at large.

It doesn't take a genius to know that this is japan's version of what a Dario Argento movie looks like to them. From the gruesome murders to the music, it somewhat has Dario's fingerprints on them. That's cool. Nothing wrong with paying homage to the ones who inspire you. In fact, that's the thing that makes it great. It's a valiant effort.

What shuts it down is the last 45 minutes. I mean, yeah, try to tie it up, but do you wanna tie it up that way? It all feels rushed and listless in where you want the movie to go. This was totally breakfast meeting material. Walks in the park could have come up with better material then this. Not that I'm against leaving the audience going "WTF?" at the end, but geez, can we just anchor it a little better then what you put out. It makes everyone feel cheated.

While this is a cornerstone for J-Horror Cinema, I don't think one should put out an effort yet to search this out. If you must get it, make sure you get the essentials before it. Like Gojira and Tetsuo.

Royal

10-07-2006, 10:18 AM

Sorry I didn't post yesterday, my Blogger account was switching to Beta and I couldn't access it.

Nudo e Selvaggio (Massacre In Dinosaur Valley)

A plane crashes deep within the Amazon Jungle and the passengers must fight the wilds of the accursed Dinosaur Valley to survive.

This movie was one of many of Indiana Jones ripoffs that started in...I believe 1984. Correct me if I'm wrong. I'm humble. This movie is more on the higher level of those ripoffs. I think mainly because at the time...they were tying the last of the "Jungle Cannibal" sub genre to this movie. Try to gets an extra couple bucks out of it. Anyways, this movie has everything. Piranha, quicksand, headhunting natives, white slavery, y'know, everything you like in a Jungle Action movie.

a real nice touch is the Simonetti soundtrack. You're so used to big piping moogs and loud guitars, that you don't realize the range of the composer. Lots of nice Caribbean and Brazilian vibes going with the score. I also would like to point out that this might be the best movie of Mike Sopkiw, one of the many cult actors of the Italo-sploitation cinema.

So while yes, some of the dub is really corny and yes, the characters and effects are cheesy, this is a real nice movie. Real enjoyable for serious or even a laugh. I think you'd like it if you're a big "Jungle Peril" fan.

Buzz Dixon

10-07-2006, 12:02 PM

I was p.o.ed at MASSACRE IN DINOSAUR VALLEY 'cuz there were no dinosaurs in it. If you're going to put the word "dinosaur" in the title of your film, you dang well better have a large lizard stomping around someplace.

(ONE OF OUR DINOSAURS IS MISSING gets a pass 'cuz it at least had a purloined dinosaur skeleton as the focal point of the film.)

Dennis K

10-07-2006, 12:04 PM

Doesn't AMC or TCM run non-stop horro movies around Halloween?

zombie

10-07-2006, 09:11 PM

I did a double take when you said that, when it dawned on me that you must be Canadian. Am i right?

As for your little cousins, why this is the perfect time to warp their minds! And Universal horror movies are perfect for young tykes -- they are quite low on gore and adult-centric horror.

Yeah, Canadian. I couldn't find any Universal films in town, and their mom wouldn't let them watch anything scary or gorey anyways. She can barely sit through most horror movies.

I did manage to get my family to watch something tonight when the young kids went to bed. Actually, my mom picked it out when we went to the movie rental place: Final Destination 3. I haven't seen the others, but if they're anything like this I'll have to check them out. Pretty decent flick, with some nice kills. I'm rarely a fan of CG blood, but the set-ups to the deaths were entertaining enough that I could forgive a little CGI in the end. It reminded me a bigger, bloodier version of the old Mouse Trap game.

Tomorrow night my mom agreed to watch House Of Wax, since our company will be gone. The horror outlook for this weekend really took a nice turn.

DWEarhart

10-07-2006, 09:19 PM

Oct. 6: Night Breed: I'm still expecting a sequel.

Oct. 7: Friday the 13th pt.2:He was going for serial killer, wound up undead terror. You figure it out.

Royal

10-07-2006, 11:34 PM

Equinox

A mental patient recounts how he and his friends found themselves at the the foot of an inter dimensional portal and how they confront the horrors that it contained.

What do you get when a bunch of teens get together with $6,500 and help from author Fritz Lieber and Forrest Ackerman AKA The Ackermonster AKA Dr. Ackula? This movie. A budget monster movie that shows off the talents of Dennis Muren, who later would do the effects for movies such as Star Wars, Willow, Jurassic Park and other big budget, high effect movies. It was later picked up by a small production company and expanded into a feature film. This is a basic love letter to Harryhausen as well as other stop motion animators. Very Fun stuff. It is also rumored to inspire the Evil Dead movies, though I really doubt it.

The only downside to the movie is that it takes a while to get into second gear. Scriptwriting wasn't their strong side. Neither was pacing. It would start slow, get some pace, get slow again and then take off too fast into the tree. They would use a Theramin like it was going out of style and it would get annoying after a while.

With all it's flaws, this is one of my favorites out of my collection. It's one of those movies that...feels unique. Yes it seems amature but everyone was having fun at what they were doing. I highly recommend adding this to your collection. You won't regret it. something to watch with everyone I think.

david r

10-08-2006, 10:20 AM

Session 9: Zombie mentioned it. Few horror films really creep me out, but this one did. Truly eerie. I highly recommend catching this one. And David Caruso actually made a good movie, to boot!

Equinox: yeah Royal, I liked this one. It is an odd movie, but I liked it. It might have inspired [I] Evil Dead [/B] with that weird book and the "rape scene" with the park ranger. That scene with the park ranger was damn scary.

Equinox had a lot of ideas, but they never really followed through with them. But who can hate a movie that stars Herb from WKRP in Cincinnati?

zombie

10-08-2006, 09:29 PM

Indigo Al

10-08-2006, 11:11 PM

Glad to see everyone kept it alive throughout the weekend! I'm in the red for movies Friday and Saturday.

Best I could for horror this Sunday, with my non-genre loving GF, was Hard Candy, starring X3's Kitty Pryde, Ellen Page. (We had been hiking in the North Carolina woods, and I wanted to rent a hillbilly cannibal movie, but she wasn't having it!).

One particularly vivid gore shock made most males sympathize with a nasty pedophile.

While an interesting film, don't be fooled into thinking it's complex and multifacted. It's actually extremely simplistic and manipulative.

Indigo Al

10-08-2006, 11:16 PM

Doesn't AMC or TCM run non-stop horro movies around Halloween?

October 20th, TCM will show the greatest masterwork of cinema ever, Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!

I urge everyone not to miss it -- quite simply, it is the greatest film EVER, EVER made. I still have an existential crisis when I think that I live in a world where Titanic was revered, but FPKK still doesn't have a DVD release.

I plan to make it count towards the 31 Days of Halloween. While not strictly "horror", it is midnight cult cinema and its star is named "Tura Satana".

hoffmandu

10-09-2006, 06:14 AM

Indigo Al

10-09-2006, 07:10 AM

Just caught Halloween H2o, not a bad sequal at all. Fairly scary, a couple of good scenes. The ending was badass. ALso, I liked the Frankenstein reference. I felt like they tried to substitute mindless murder for a little backstory in this Issue, Bravo. It's what the slasher genre needs.

While I loved Jaime Lee's return, the filmmakers still didn't care to build the dread, shock and fear that John Carpenter did so skillfully in H1. It also suffered a bit from "Kevin Williamson"-syndrome (was that him, the Dawson's Creek guy?)

DDM

10-09-2006, 09:15 AM

House Of Wax, the 2005 edition. This turned out to be an alright movie. The town was pretty creepy. I enjoyed all the jabs at Paris Hilton. Some nice violence and a little gore.

The same company made House On Haunted Hill and Ghost Ship I think. This is definitely the best film they've produced so far.

Rent 1982's Tourist Trap since the 2005 House of Wax has more of resemblance to the 1982 film than the original Vincent Price House of Wax. In Tourist Trap, the psycho has an obsession with female mannaquins who seemingly come to life. He also dresses in part as a female mannaquin when stalking his victims.

Royal

10-09-2006, 10:59 AM

Due to not being able to find The Norliss Tapes in the usual places I get movies (grumble grumble), I will do a double shot later in the month.

zombie

10-09-2006, 11:17 AM

Rent 1982's Tourist Trap since the 2005 House of Wax has more of resemblance to the 1982 film than the original Vincent Price House of Wax. In Tourist Trap, the psycho has an obsession with female mannaquins who seemingly come to life. He also dresses in part as a female mannaquin when stalking his victims.

Yeah, I heard that it's more of a mixture of the two than a remake of the Price movie. I'll keep an eye out for Tourist Trap, and I think I can get Price's House Of Wax for sometime this month.

hoffmandu

10-09-2006, 04:06 PM

While I loved Jaime Lee's return, the filmmakers still didn't care to build the dread, shock and fear that John Carpenter did so skillfully in H1. It also suffered a bit from "Kevin Williamson"-syndrome (was that him, the Dawson's Creek guy?)

Naw, Moustapha aKKed I think.........whomever he is. Hard to recapture the horror of the original though, whatyagonna do.

Royal

10-09-2006, 08:46 PM

...and Netflix is screwing with me.

I might not make it due to technical issues folks. I'll write about what I get though.

Sorry.

Indigo Al

10-09-2006, 09:12 PM

Thanks to Royal’s blog, I remembered that I had always wanted to see Bad Dreams, starring gorgeous Jennifer Rubin as the sole survivor of a mass suicide hippy cult whose leader haunts her 13 years later in her dreams, Freddy Kruger-style.

It’s surprisingly entertaining. Killer/suicide cults are a trope that few horror film makers have thought to exploit, which I can’t understand given that they are a proven, not-so-infrequent, and morbidly fascinating real-life horror. (The only other movie to do so is Lord of Illusions, which is also a showcase for Clive Barker’s weird fetishism).

The cult scenes borrow liberally from Jonestown and the Manson Family. However, the film gets less interesting as the action moves exclusively to a mental hospital where the main character’s therapy group gets picked off. Essentially the plot of Nightmare on Elm Street: Dream Warriors (and I just found out that Jennifer Rubin played punk badass Taryn in that film!).

Very weak ending. The DVD extras have a test print of the original ending which is much better.

The director Andrew Fleming I believe directed The Craft.

Interesting uses of “Time Has Come Today” by The Chambers Brothers, and Sid Vicious’s “My Way” (I guess you need punk to kill a hippy dead!).

Knightmare10880

10-09-2006, 10:02 PM

I'm glad to see I'm not the only Horror fan having their on little horror movie festival this month.

Last week, I watched these movies:

Frankenstien (Boris Karloff) on Sunday, A Nightmare on Elm St. and Phantom of the Paradise on Monday, House of Wax (the original with Vincent Price) on Tuesday, Dracula (Bela Lugosi version) on Wenesday, Ju-on:The Grudge on Thursday, Texas Chiansaw Massacre (the original) on Friday, Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 on Saturday.

This week since this Friday is Friday the 13th, I'm watching the entire series from part 1 thru Jason X, mixed in from some episodes from Tales from the Crypt season 2.

I'm also watching various documenteries on various famous Horror Movies, as well as though different Supernatural subjects.

Royal

10-09-2006, 10:19 PM

House of Wax is a remake.

Yes, I mean Vincent Price's version.

Knightmare10880

10-09-2006, 10:23 PM

Point taken, I;ve got Myster of the Wax Musem but I haven't watched it yet.

I've got close to 300 horror movies(combined VHS & DVD) in my collection and it's hard sometimes to choose which ones to watch, especially with AMC's Monsterfest and Sci-fi's 13 Days of Halloween movie marathons.

Indigo Al

10-09-2006, 10:31 PM

Knightmare10880

10-09-2006, 11:00 PM

Knightmare, I'm interested in the documentaries you'll be watching.

And on the 13th, how will you be watching the F13 series, are they showing the whole damn thing? I wanna make sure I catch Part 7 this season.

I have the series on dvd as well as Jason Goes to Hell, Jason X and Freddy vs Jason (although I'm going to wait and watch that one once I'm done with the rest of the Elm St. series). I'm watching them as a double feature each night, that way I'll have watched them all by Thursday night, I'm sad to say that neither AMC which has the broadcast rights( and has 1,2 and 4 as part of it's Monsterfest schedule) to the first movies nor Spike which is owned by CBS-Paramont have plans to show any of the movies this Friday.

As to which documenteries I've been watching, so far I've watched Universal Horror (a detailed look as the golden age of horror movies), The Frankenstien Files:How Hollywood made a monster,She's Alive!(a look at the making of Bride of Frankenstien), The Road to Dracula, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Shocking Truth and The House That Freddy Built(a look at the Nightmare on Elm St. series as well as it's impact on the development of New Line Cinema into a major player into the Hollywood scene.

Other documentaries that I have slated to watch are It Runs In The Family, Tales from the Crypt: From Comicbooks to Television, The Dead will Walk (a documentary on George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead) The Many Days of Day of the Dead, Halloween 25yrs of Terror. and Amityville Confidential. I've also got various documentaries that I've recorded over the years I've got one that's deals with "real" monsters like Bigfoot, etc, another one that deals with ghosts and haunted houses and etc.

zombie

10-10-2006, 02:12 PM

I think I'll check out Nightbreed tonight. I've wanted to see it for years, but never got around to it.

Jared_Humpherys

10-10-2006, 05:37 PM

Marebito. Well that was very interesting. Lots of odd ideas thrown together. A little confusing too, but I guess it wouldn't be madness if it was clear.

the first 20 minutes of the movie was fantastic. The digital camcorder in the stairwell was extremely well done. After he finds the girl, though...meh.

Indigo Al

10-10-2006, 05:42 PM

I think I'll check out Nightbreed tonight. I've wanted to see it for years, but never got around to it.

That's such a great movie, I haven't seen it in a long while.

Indigo Al

10-10-2006, 06:25 PM

I taped Ghost Ship which screened on the Spike channel last night. My mistake. Mediocre, overly-polished, and predictable. The kind of horror movie arrived at by a consensus of unimaginative and conservative producers/executives, who eventually end up ripping off Alien.

The dialogue is making me want to caulk my ear canal.

I’ll say this: the opening kill was pretty f***ed up and cool. And what was up with that scrabble game thingy?

I thought his was a remake, but I was wrong. I do remember a vague, creepy, badly made movie I watched late at night on ABC about a haunted former Nazi battleship. Can anyone help me out on this one?

Are all ocean salvage workers attractive, fit and goateed? Do I buy Juliana Margulies as a tough crew member, trying to do her best Ellen Ripley? Did like her Love Boat crack, though…

The little ghost girl, at times, looked like Angelina Jolie’s mini-me.

Gabriel Byrne – he has a distinct horror career. He was terrific in Stigmata, a movie I mostly liked, and in End of Days, a movie that just sucked the balls of Beelzebub….IMDBing him reveals he was also in a 2002 David Cronenberg film, Spider, which I might have to check out.

Royal

10-10-2006, 06:42 PM

http://www.dacre.org/flash/www/gbq01160.jpg

Indigo Al

10-10-2006, 06:48 PM

http://www.dacre.org/flash/www/gbq01160.jpg

Sweet! Thanks!

Knightmare10880

10-10-2006, 08:26 PM

http://www.dacre.org/flash/www/gbq01160.jpg

That's sweet. Hey Royal have you ever seen Death Ship? I've been looking for it for awhile but I can't find it anywhere.

As for Ghostship, I remember when it cam out I had the choice between seeing it and The Ring, I choose Ghostship based on some pics of it I'd seen in Fangoria. Man is that movie bad, to predictable; it did have some nice scenery and the opening kill was awsome, plus I love the beging credits.

Royal

10-10-2006, 08:33 PM

Y'know. Death Ship hasn't hit DVD yet. Don't know why.

zombie

10-10-2006, 09:46 PM

I’ll say this: the opening kill was pretty f***ed up and cool.

Best part of the movie.

And Spider is pretty good.

Nightbreed was pretty good too. Monsters versus Canadian hunters and crazy cops, gotta love that. Cronenberg had an awesome mask. Most of the monsters looked pretty cool. Is the book it's based on any good?

My only real complaint is that parts of it seemed rushed, or like scenes were missing, or something.

Indigo Al

10-10-2006, 09:49 PM

Is the book it's based on any good?

My only real complaint is that parts of it seemed rushed, or like scenes were missing, or something.

I think it's based on a short story from Barker's collection, The Hellbound Heart. It was a good read, although a bit too obvious on the "misunderstood monster" theme.

zombie

10-10-2006, 09:53 PM

A Dr. Decker mask. (http://www.kreationx.com/masks_DrD.html) Cool.

hellokittykat

10-11-2006, 06:57 AM

As for Ghostship, I remember when it cam out I had the choice between seeing it and The Ring, I choose Ghostship based on some pics of it I'd seen in Fangoria. Man is that movie bad, to predictable; it did have some nice scenery and the opening kill was awsome, plus I love the beging credits.

The first fifteen minutes of Ghostship were the best part.
SPOILER
It's great because you don't really know what just happened with the bloody wire. And then you see the dancers all slowly start to fall down.
SPOILER

Ugh! I don't know if my husband and I are going to make 31 movies! It's the 10th and we're behind by five!

DDM

10-11-2006, 09:25 AM

Best part of the movie.

And Spider is pretty good.

Nightbreed was pretty good too. Monsters versus Canadian hunters and crazy cops, gotta love that. Cronenberg had an awesome mask. Most of the monsters looked pretty cool. Is the book it's based on any good?

My only real complaint is that parts of it seemed rushed, or like scenes were missing, or something.

Night Breed is based on Clive Barker's Cabal. The book goes into far more depths than the movie ever will. However, the movie is a good translation from the book.

DDM

10-11-2006, 09:27 AM

I think it's based on a short story from Barker's collection, The Hellbound Heart. It was a good read, although a bit too obvious on the "misunderstood monster" theme.

Hellraiser is based on Clive Barker's The Hellbound Heart. The Cenobites are not really shown much in the book; they are supporting characters to Kirsty, Frank, & Julia.

Indigo Al

10-11-2006, 05:38 PM

Hellraiser is based on Clive Barker's The Hellbound Heart. The Cenobites are not really shown much in the book; they are supporting characters to Kirsty, Frank, & Julia.

I stand corrected --- by a burly porn star!

Indigo Al

10-11-2006, 07:54 PM

Yesterday I checked out some VHS and DVDs from the New York Public Library, to help fill in the gaps between Netflix shippings.

I picked up a DVD called The Haint. My mistake. It turned out to be a filmed, one-man theater piece loosely based on a ghost story. I just couldn't go through with it. I just couldn't. It annoyed me the one minute I had it on.

Does that make me lowbrow?

Read about it here, if you like:
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/haint/

I moved on to the next library check out: Stephen King's Riding The Bullet.

A weak start with a strong finish.

The Weak: The story is set in a very superficial 1960's milieu (what one reviewer called the "K-Tel version of the 1960's." Lots of hippies and hell no we won't go to show you that we, TRULY ARE, in the 1960s. Dialogue felt a bit anachronistic.

Jonathan Jackson portrays a morbid protogoth named Alan Parker, who has an inner voice that speaks to him as his "twin", and hallucinates various different sarcastic morbid scenarios entirely of his own making. While at times this is interesting, at other times it's cheap and it takes you out of the movie.

Giving up a chance to see John Lennon and the Plastic Ono Band (the real horror would have been listening to Yoko's AIIIIEEEEEEEEE!) he instead chooses to hitch various rides to see his mother, who had a stroke.

You grow a bit weary of this character -- that is, until...

The Strong Finish: He hitches a ride from David Arquette, and this may or may not be another of his imaginings. From this point until the end, the character grows and "unlocks his heart." As corny as that sounds, it took me by surprise and moved me.

In case you're wondering, there's a bloody coyote attack, Death smoking a doobie, and - well - David Arquette to make this technically a horror movie.

It's based on a Stephen King e-novella which actually wasn't set in the 60's. It's pure Stephen King Maine Americana through and through. As well, the director, Mick Garris, also directed Sleepwalkers (yayyy!) and the Shining remake (never saw it).

Indigo Al

10-11-2006, 10:24 PM

Cxar mi am malantaux du tago sur mia teruro filmo projekto, this nokto mi watched Incubus, kun TJ Hooker himself!

Oni eleganta Swedish succubus volas delogi virtous sanktulan viron. Do ŝi trovas ... William Shatner? Ŝi antaŭe gvid ebria kun venereal malsano al lia hellbound pereo. ŝi estos asertas Kapitanon Kirk en la nomo de Satano?

Shatner havas virtous fratinon kiuj(n) falas predo(j) la maĥinacioj de la succubus fratino ( kiel ili estas ordo de religiulinoj, nur ili estas demona, slutty kaj ĝu turment louche viroj).

La fratino renkontas la nominalan succubus, kaj eltrov ke li certa havas ĝin en la lipoj, eĉ se ni la spektantoj ne certa li havas ĝin en la koksoj!

mi amas ĉi tiu filmo, estas gemo en mia DVD kolekto. Mi povus far ĝin son kiel estas ŝerco, sed Mi amuziĝas sia
La DVD ekstraĵoj rivelas ke estas malfeliĉa “Malbeno de Incubus.” Kelkaj de la gvid falis predo(j) al frenezeco kaj memmortigo.

(n) de pasinta epoko ĉarmo, sia(n) mezepokaj Satanaj devizoj, kaj ĝiaj aktoroj. estas iom da vera creepiness tie ĉi. Cetere, vi povus pripens Shatner kiel cheeseballo, sed rigard ĉi tiu filmo vi povas vid kial li akir ĉiuj sinjorinoj jam en la mojosa, swingin’ sixies!

And THAT, dear friends, has got to be the first time CBR has ever had a post in the international, universal language of ESPERANTO! (If I am mistaken, please let me know. Any actual Esperanto speakers here?).

Special thanks to the Esperanto translation site:
http://lingvo.org/traduku/

For more on Esperanto, read the wiki entry:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esperanto

PS - the line in the title of this post was spoken by Shatner himself ... yeah!

Royal

10-11-2006, 10:46 PM

tre bono sinjoro Indigo. tre bono.

Mark that one off my que.

Indigo Al

10-11-2006, 11:12 PM

tre bono sinjoro Indigo. tre bono.

Mark that one off my que.

OFF your queue?? but...but... it's a great movie!

Royal

10-11-2006, 11:18 PM

Oh I know. I'll see it on a later date is what I mean.

I'm not one to double track.

zombie

10-11-2006, 11:19 PM

Black Christmas. Wow, what an excellent film. I don't think there's anything I'd really complain about. The voices on the phone were the creepiest thing I've heard in some time. I haven't felt like this from a horror movie in a while.

Royal

10-11-2006, 11:50 PM

Vampyres

A traveler and a couple realize they are in the presense of a vampiric lesbian couple who snatch men off the street and feed upon them.

First things first. When has it been acceptable to use someones front yard as a camping area? Honestly? That is possibly the first plot hole I never got. Other then that, if you're are looking for a plot in this movie, forgive me for laughing in your face. Hard. This thing is pure grade A cheesy sexploitation. Wait, wait. I'm sorry. Here, if it's any concession, I'll tell you the plot. Sex, sex, sex, wine, wine, blood, sex sex, a little rest, sex, sex, sex, blood, blood, blood, wine, wine, wine, sex, sex. You get the picture. The plot's so thin, Qui Chang Kang had to walk across it to become a shoulin monk.

Now not to sound like a grumpy gus, there are some good things to this movie. Two pair to be exact. I kid. I kid. Honestly though, the ladies were lovely and played their parts wonderfully. Also, the guy behind the camera was Harry Waxman. He's was also the cinematographer for The Wicker Man. His work behind the lens for this movie definitely flourishes. Lush English forests and decrepit old manors are all the more detailed thanks to Waxman.

If you need to get this movie, that's cool. Horror completest (see! Learned a new word.) would enjoy it. Just remember, if your girl or your wife catches you watching it, tell them it's for the Waxman. Otherwise, it's for the boobies.

Royal

10-12-2006, 02:26 PM

Indigo Al

10-12-2006, 05:40 PM

If I may add, the DVD of Vampyres, made by Blue Underground, is beautifully made. Not only is sound and film restored, it also contains commentary from director Jose Larraz, but also contains interviews with the leading ladies Marianne Morris and Anulka. Check out the essay on british exploitation as well.

I think it sounds fantastic, and I will check it out.

On a related vein (Ha ha! I SLAY me!), Sundance is going to show Vampyros Lesbos!

http://www.sundancechannel.com/film/?ixFilmID=7250

Royal

10-12-2006, 06:02 PM

Jess Franco needs his own sub genre.

Buzz Dixon

10-12-2006, 07:50 PM

Jesse Franco needs his own sub -- the man would make a perfect Captain Nemo!

Royal

10-12-2006, 09:27 PM

La Morte Cammina con i Tacchi Alti (Death Walks On High Heels)

After finding out her diamond thief father was killed and is threaten by his assailant, a cabaret girl runs off with an eye doctor to England to get away. Things go for the worse as she's killed and the doctor is left critically wounded.

When people talk about giallo, they usually mention Argento, Bava, maybe even Lenzi. Nobody mentions Ercoli. This is because Ercoli never did any horror features. He was purely giallo. Most possibly the default King of Giallo. Heels is definitely one of his best works. It is very stylistic in cinematography. The color is very lush and bright. The characters are detailed and the story is very interesting. It seemingly draws you in and puts you on the edge.

Now giallo isn't for everyone. The thing that might get on people's nerves is that it tends to twist and turn three or four ways at a time. You feel that you may have lost something in translation or at least confused after watching. That's perfectly okay. Giallo, I think, is an acquired taste. You have to learn to like it sometimes.

If you're a big mystery fan, you'll love it. It would also fit well in your collect. But I must tell you that you can not watch this in one sitting all quick like. This film demands your attention and should be watched on a day when you have nothing to do an there is almost no disturbance. I believe it will be a more enjoyable experience.

Indigo Al

10-12-2006, 10:02 PM

Tonight I turned to one of the Big Three of Horror, one of the Unholy Trinity – Rosemary’s Baby.

Not much need be said about this famous, awesome and masterful thriller. I’ve seen it before, I know the outcome, and yet I’m still always at the edge of my seat when I watch it.

The dream sequence is so brilliantly weird, surreal and innovative. And for some reason, so was the scrabble tile scene. The common family household game becomes a sort of occult oracle, like a Tarot or Ouija. The phrases that are spelled out are so eerie in light of the subsequent fate not only of Rosemary, but of Sharon Tate….

It was the 60’s; alternative religion was a youth culture thing. That’s why I wonder why Polanski conceived of the witch coven as old people. Not a complaint, on the contrary it’s a lot more chilling and discomfiting this way.

I’m not fond of most of the horror prequels of great classics that are thrown our way (Exorcist the Beginning, anyone?). But I do wonder how you could make a movie around Adrian Marcato and the forebears of the 60’s coven.

I’ve seen part of Look What’s Happened to Rosemary’s Baby, and it sucked. I also read some highly negative reviews of Son of Rosemary, Ira Levin’s sequel to his book. We’d best leave this idea alone, methinks!

Royal

10-12-2006, 10:06 PM

isn't that where the dude dances slinky slow to high paced rock music.

That was freaking funny.

Indigo Al

10-12-2006, 10:13 PM

isn't that where the dude dances slinky slow to high paced rock music.

That was freaking funny.

Yep. The Satanic mime dance. I mean whuuuuu? And it also stars Ginger from Gilligan's Island.

Royal

10-13-2006, 02:24 PM

ok. Netflix is peeing me off. That's the second disc damaged that I got.

No Peeping Tom this month.

DDM

10-13-2006, 02:53 PM

Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things: Bob Clark's (Porky's, A Christmas Story) directorial debut. Alan, the leader of an actors troupe, takes his people to a remote island where criminals are buried. He reads a grimore hoping to raise the dead (and get some sex). He seemingly does neither. They play with a corpse for a time until the dead start to rise out of their graves. Terrified, they board themselves in an abandoned house. The ghouls try to get in to feast on the living victims. This movie was made 4 years after George Romero's Night of the Living Dead. It mixes humor & horror well.

Indigo Al

10-13-2006, 09:25 PM

zombie

10-13-2006, 10:45 PM

Sounds quite fun! What year was it made?

1972. I think he's working on a remake of it. Bob Clark also directed Black Christmas.

Since it was Friday the 13th yesterday, I decided to have a double feature of Friday The 13th and Friday The 13th: Part 2. Slasher classics, what could I really say about them? I think I like the second more than the first.

I picked up the boxset of the first 8 movies in the series, so I'll probably watch a couple more of them before the month is done.

Indigo Al

10-14-2006, 12:05 AM

Indigo Al

10-14-2006, 12:08 AM

Walking down Houston Street, NYC with her dog.

She saw me flipping out and looking at her. (I could see her thinking “Ugh! X-Men freak!” as she crossed the street.)

Famke Janssen was in Eulogy with John Lafayette

John Lafayette was in Loverboy with the only breakaway star of Friday the 13th Part I, Kevin Bacon. My degree of Bacon is 3.

It’s playing on Bravo, so I’m not confident I’m getting all the good stuff. But, it was and is a good satisfying slasher film before 5 billion sequels and clones were made.

This inaugural bunch of Crystal Lakers are all pretty, in shape, and rife with hormones, just the kind of thing that pisses Jason off….

Oh wait? Jason? Not quite…I think there’s a song by Danzig that addresses the true culprit of F13-1.

I actually wanted to watch Part VII, still my favorite Friday...may yet still do so

zombie

10-14-2006, 06:56 AM

Oh wait? Jason? Not quite…I think there’s a song by Danzig that addresses the true culprit of F13-1.

My friends tend to not really be horror fans, or at least not that up on the genre, so I managed to watch it last night with people who had no idea who the killer in the first movie was. They were all expecting it to be Jason. And the final scare in the canoe got one of them. It was funny.

DDM

10-14-2006, 09:27 AM

Ah zombie, you beat me to it... :)

Although Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things is going to be remade, you should see the original. The low budget sets the tone & the appeal for the zombies, the melodramatic acting, & the black humor. Yes, I believe it was release in 1972 long before the zombie craze hit in the late 70's with George Romero's Dawn of the Dead...

DDM

10-14-2006, 09:29 AM

1972. I think he's working on a remake of it. Bob Clark also directed Black Christmas.

Since it was Friday the 13th yesterday, I decided to have a double feature of Friday The 13th and Friday The 13th: Part 2. Slasher classics, what could I really say about them? I think I like the second more than the first.

I picked up the boxset of the first 8 movies in the series, so I'll probably watch a couple more of them before the month is done.

After Friday the 13th Parts 3-4, I find the other sequels boring. It just a set formula about how may ways can Jason kill his victims. And Jason seems unbeatable no matter what happens to him. Therefore, the movies lose all the suspense Friday the 13th Parts #1-4 have.

Buzz Dixon

10-14-2006, 11:53 AM

I'm a big fan of JASON X because it's a stupid movie that realizes how stupid it is and just embraces its own stupidity unashamedly. It also has a lot of clever sci-fi ideas and was the first film since RE-ANIMATOR/BRIDE OF RE-ANIMATOR to have a character get decapitated halfway through the movie and yet still finish the picture.

Seriously, the script to JASON X shoulda been the basis for ALIEN3.

Knightmare10880

10-15-2006, 05:04 PM

My thoughts on the Friday the 13th series, especially since I just got done watching all of them this past week.

Friday the 13th: A classic, it's not perfect, but it's very good.

Part 2: Jason shows up and kicks some butt, lots of good kills and I love the shrine to his mom at the end of the movie.

Friday the 13th 3-D: Jason gets his mask.

The Final Chapter: Excellent effects from Tom Savini, great performance from a young Corey Feldman and Jason's death was incredible.

A New Begining: An interesting premise, I often wonder how the face of 80's horror would have been different if Tommy had stayed the killer and Jason had never returned to the series. Also Pam is my favorite final girl of the series.

Jason Lives: I love the Alcie Cooper track He's Back (The Man Behind the Mask) and there were some great kills in this one but over all, it just kinda felt empty to me.

The New Blood: I've heeard a rumour over the years that this original started out as Freddy vs Jason, but Paramont were total jerks to New Line to were they just said forget it. Anyway back to the movie itself, to me this is the best of the series, Kane Hodder makes his premire as Jason and makes his presence know. The effects were top knotch and Tina was a good match for Jason, plus I loved seeing Susan Blu one of the all time great vioce actors and directors in a live action role.

Jason Take Manhatton: Is it just me or does that sound like the title to a musical? This one is enjoyable but, there's just not enough meat in it for me.

Jason Goes to Hell: When I was younger I hated this movie, but watching it again as at 26 yrs old. I enjoy it alot more and I can apprecate what the filmakers were trying to do. I think that all of the gags and winks to the fans make this a very fun and enjoyable movie.

Jason X: Like Buzz Dixon said this is a stupid movie that doesn't take itself seriously at all and is my second favorite in the series.

Indigo Al

10-15-2006, 06:02 PM

From Mexico, Saturday’s retroactive selection is Sobrenatural, titled All of them Witches in its US release.

As you know, All of them Witches is the title of a book given to Mia Farrow’s character in Rosemary’s Baby, and in fact, the main character of Sobrenatural has the scrabble tile scene playing on her TV at one point. Guy de Maupassant’s The Horla also has some kind of significance in this film.

The story concerns Dolores, a young housewife whose friend was murdered in her building. Both she and her husband are plagued by weird dreams and goings on, eventually leading her to consult a local witch who tells her she is cursed by “voodoo”. A menacing looking man waits outside her window constantly.

We are also treated to some doggie porn. And watch out the next time your girlfriend gives you a nice refreshing glass of OJ!

The movie dates from 1995, and it’s not bad at all, a slow building thriller that relies on a lot of normal household bumps and jostles.

Indigo Al

10-15-2006, 09:45 PM

That came out wrong…. Helloooo Police Woman in all her glory! I’m watching the Unrated Version of Dressed to Kill -- pretty hardcore opening shower scene.

Dennis Frantz appears as the sleaziest, paunchiest, moustachioed, open shirt big collared chains-on-his chest 70’s cop you’ve ever seen. Nancy Allen is here in all her 70’s glory as a disco-era hooker tormented by the titular “dresser.” Michael Caine, a shrink, gets threatening voicemails from the killer, and Angie Dickinson’s nerdy, creepy son joins in the killer hunt.

I’m torn between being engaged by this film and not being impressed. The long sequences with music and no dialogue are a bit too long. We also have an unfortunate mugger stereotype scene in the NYC subways, and Allen’s spacey line delivery doesn’t add up to good acting.

Love that famous signature DePalma split screen, and trick ending!

Indigo Al

10-16-2006, 09:38 PM

The cretins were hopping tonight!

Who says you only find hillbilly inbred killers in the U.S.? Calvaire, the first horror movie I’ve ever seen set in Belgium, puts a young traveling singer through a nasty, Deliverance style ordeal as his van breaks down in a village of nasty looking inbred creeps who

SPOILER
Mistake him for their wife/mother/sister
SPOILER

Great acting, nice shots of the European forest….but at what point does a horror movie become worth it when it stops being fun? I really did become a bit nauseous, even after 16 straight days of horror flicks.

How weird then that I was almost comforted by The Hills Have Eyes 2005, which has much more splatter and gore. Is it the cartoonish killers? Is it the funny red state/Blue State family dynamics of the RV family? Was it the gorgeous color composition of the daytime desert scenes?

I did say “almost comforted” because the hardcore turn it took spared nothing and no one. I’m depressed thinking that once, all it took to scare me was Vincent Price in Horror of the Wax Museum.

And we’re not even technically out of Europe. Wasn’t this the same Frenchman that brought us High Tension?

Hate the annoying MTV ADD jump cuts. They always lessen any horror film. 28 Days Later is a good example of that.

Is that our little Pyro playing a family man? I like this actor a lot. He was able to pull off a Richard Dreyfuss look. He should hit the Propecia and Rogaine soon.

Royal

10-16-2006, 09:56 PM

The Haute Tension crew was there. I think Aja knew he couldn't compare to the original and decided to take it in another direction.

That's why, I think, the second galf of the film felt like spagetti western.

Royal

10-16-2006, 10:10 PM

BTW folks, definatly check out Calvaire. It's worth it.

Indigo Al

10-17-2006, 12:23 PM

BTW folks, definatly check out Calvaire. It's worth it.

So what did you like about it?

Like I said, it's definitely a good film, but I don't know whether it succeeds more because it seems like "arthouse", or because of the actual horror and terror. In terms of suspense, there didn't seem to be much.

Indigo Al

10-17-2006, 06:42 PM

An all-star B-list cast graces Wes Craven’s wonderful 80s cheese, Invitation to Hell!

We all know country clubs are evil, right? Perhaps this is Craven’s critique of 80’s yuppie greed. Very superficially like an early arc of Hellblazer where Constantine’s brother in law joins a demonic yuppie pyramid scheme.

Susan Lucci, in a jump suit and enormous rat’s nest hair, unleashes all the demonic pent-up fury of decades of being snubbed for that Emmy! And she’ll smirk and look good while doing it!

Her character is named Jessica Jones – but I suspect that has way less to do with Luke Cage’s baby momma and more to do with Georgina Spelvin and Harry Reems…..

We have Robert Urich. What’s the difference between Robert Urich and Robert Wagner? We have punky Brewster. Joanna Cassidy, aka combat model Zora.

We have humanity being saved by Atari space suits. You will give your soul to Susan Lucci in a steam room. Evil yuppie children chuckle with glee at police riots.

This is an enjoyable and funny DVD to put on your Netflix queue if you’re out of ideas. My queue right now has a good cycle of movies I caught on TV as a young tyke, that have become burned in my consciousness for some weird reason.

Knightmare10880

10-17-2006, 11:26 PM

Well, I just finished the Nightmare on Elm St. Series and here are my thoughts:

A Nightmare on Elm St. : A true classic, the acting was excellent especially Heather Langenkamp and Robert Englund as Freddy, the special effects and dialouge while slightly dated and some areas still hold up pretty well for the most part.

Freddy's Revenge: I can respect the filmakers for trying to do something different but the movie just doesn't work for me, the pace of it is off and also Mark Patton(Jesse) and Kim Meyers (Lisa) have no chemistry at all which really hurts the "love conquers all" theme of the movie's ending.

The Dream Warriors: To me this the true Elm St. sequal, while Freddy's starting to become the macbre jester that he'd be in the later movies he is still very meancing here plus I love how the nightmares are made more personal towards the characters. The expending of Fredd'y back story plus the return of Heather Langenkamp as Nancy, beacuse to me she is the Batman to Freddy's Joker. Also "Welcome to Primetime Bitch" is a great Freddy qoute and I love Dokken's Dreamwarriors theme to the movie it's perfect 80's metal.

The Dream Master: It's an ok sequal the kills are becoming a little too silly; but I do like the character of Alice she's not as great as Nancy but Lisa Wilcox did a great job portraying her. The "bug-girl" scene still un-nerves me to this day.

The Dream Child: Ok NOES 4 was a big hit so New Line rushed this one out as fast as possible. One of the things that I hate the most about this movie is how agansit Alice everyone is for most of the movie, yes she's stressed and acting a little werid but by this point in the series you'd think that the people of Springwood would be a little more understanding of the situation. Also I can't stand the parents especially Great's mother I've never scene a character more deserving of a gruesome death scene in my life (and she actually gets to live), however I did like the comicbook kids death scene.

Freddy's Dead:The Final Nightmare: This one holds a very special place in my heart becuase it was the first Nightmare movie I saw, I understand why so many people hate this movie. It's too cartooning and Freddy is not meancing at all. The whole idea of eploring Freddy's back story and trying to make him more human was a good idea and in some places is handled correctly, but the whole idea of Freddy as a parent seems a little goofy to me especially the idea that the idea of the towns people taking her away is what made Freddy start his killing spree is ridiculous especially since earier in the movie it seems as though freddy had already start murdering before he killed his wife and lost his daughter; speaking of which Lisa Zane as said daughter is on and off throughout the entire movie and the character of Tracy is probably the least likeable character in the entire series (what is it about these last to movies and letting the jerkwad characters living while killing out the half-decent ones).

Wes Craven's New Nightmare: A supremly well done movie. I epsecially loved the blendy of reality and fiction as a plot. This new version of Freddy is probably the most evil that the character has ever been. Also the retunr of Heather Langenkamp as both "herself" and as Nacy was a welcome bonus, it's a true same the because of some creep that couldn't realize that "Nancy" was just a character made Langenkamp decide to give up acting becuase she is a truely gifted actress and handles all of her scens like an old pro. This was a fantastic end to the series that for a long time had lost it's way.

Freddy vs Jason: This really a NOES movie with Jason as a guest star for most of the movie, I mean really he's used as just a plot device for Freddy to make his return. Robert Englund after so many years away from the character gave an incredible performance, this time Freddy was truly evil and actually funny too. The final battle was great especially when Jason ripped off Freddy's arm and then shoved his gloved hand thru his chest.

Royal

10-17-2006, 11:47 PM

Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter

Jesus Christ is called upon when the lesbian population of Ottawa begins to dwindle thanks impart to daywalking vampires. Seeing as he might be outnumber, Jesus calls upon the services of The Saint of Wrestlers, El Santo, to help in his cause.

It's a Horror movie! It's a Bollywood movie! An overdubbed kung-fu movie! A religious epic! It's a wrestling movie! Allll rolled into one. JCVH has got to be one of the most weirdest movies I've ever laid eyes on. Made lovingly by a fan of all the genres. Made on a low budget (and I'm talking looow), this film has taken a life of it's own and has found itself on the shelf of many a genre fan. I think what makes it so is that it doesn't take itself seriously. It knows that it's poorly made and that it doesn't have the sheen of a professionally made film. And you know what? It doesn't matter. It is what is. Take it for what it's worth.
All that mattered is that it was made in fun and wasn't expecting such acclaim.

Now many will say "oh, this was poorly done. Oh, this was overdubbed. Oh, the acting was bad." and I say to them "Get a life!!" Who said they were aiming for the Oscar. Again, yes, all this is true....but who cares. Everyone is having fun. Including the viewer. So sit back, relax, get you some popcorn, maybe a nice cold beverage and relax. Have some fun. It won't hurt ya you know.

Definitely something for the collection. A must see and a must own.

Royal

10-18-2006, 12:17 AM

I forgot to add...

"It's All Good! It's All Right! We're all gonna get lllaaaiiiddddddd tonight!!"

Indigo Al

10-18-2006, 08:54 PM

I haven't seen Nightmares 4 through 6, nor Halloweens 5, 6 and 8, nor a good chunk of the F13 trilogy. Perhaps I need to see for myself if they suck as much as I think they do....

Indigo Al

10-18-2006, 09:01 PM

I thought I would enjoy Bordello of Blood as cheesy fun. As you can tell from this thread I can enjoy some abominably indefensible cinema.

But this just amounted to a whole lot of nothing. Weird, because there were some bits of starpower here, including Dennis Miller and Chris Sarandon.

Alas, I got lots of silicone, and the annoying Crypt-keeper. Mediocre at best, although it had promise at the start.

Erika Eleniak playing the good girl. She was in Celebrity Fit Club this season...

Royal

10-18-2006, 11:26 PM

So what did you like about it?

Like I said, it's definitely a good film, but I don't know whether it succeeds more because it seems like "arthouse", or because of the actual horror and terror. In terms of suspense, there didn't seem to be much.

Well first off, it's sort of a "woman in peril" movie...but with a man in the woman's place. I think that sparks different reaction.

Secondly, I think we're supposed to experiance terror because Marc was experiancing terror. We knew just as much of the situation as Marc did. And as Marc (if he did or didn't), we'd have to piece together what the hell went on in that place.

As for the lack of suspense, I don't think you needed suspense. The village was pretty blunt. "Gloria" was what they missed out of love. Out of affection.

I can understand how this may seem "arthouse". There is a large helping of Christ analogies in this thing.

Sadly, that's the usual route good horror goes these days.

Royal

10-20-2006, 11:43 AM

Psychomania

The son of a warlock successfully kills himself and comes back from the dead. He then encourages his friends to do the same. They ride together as one undead biker gang.

I think one of things that really stands out with this movie is the soundtrack. The roving guitar adds an element to the movie that you don't see in other English horrors. You also have a very original story that was played almost wonderfully. And they accomplish the whole film without an once of gore. All pure terror. The acting was great as well. There is much detailed performances.

I really can't find anything negative to say about this movie. Sure it's somewhat slow, but there's a good reason to keep it slow in order to better understand the story. Other then that, it's squeaky clean. A real gem of 70's British Cinema.

This should definitely be in your collection. My only suggestion is that you can get this at anytime. The DVD is totally bare bone. Unless a special edition comes out, I'd say get this at your own pace. Enjoy.

zombie

10-20-2006, 11:49 AM

Now that my midterms are finally over, well, besides the one next week, but that doesn't require as much studying as the two this week did, I can continue with my movie watching. I did get to see Dracula from 1931 Wednesday night in my horror fiction class, so now I've finally seen a Universal horror movie! It wasn't the greatest setting for it though. We watched it in a lecture room, on a normal sized TV at the front of the class, and the volume was much too low. But ah well. Everyone laughed at the movie. I thought it was alright, but I guess I'm too used to modern horror for it to have much impact on me.

Renfield sure was fun though.

Royal

10-20-2006, 11:55 AM

Browning or Martin version?

zombie

10-20-2006, 12:03 PM

Browning or Martin version?

Browning. What's the Martin version?

Royal

10-20-2006, 12:40 PM

Spanish version of Dracula. The better of the two. It's said that George Merin (sorry, not martin, brain fart) had gotten pointers from FW Murnau while shooting the film.

Indigo Al

10-20-2006, 03:21 PM

I think Universal and other old school horror is enjoyed more for style, atmosphere, imagination, craft and acting than for visceral jolts, fear or adrenaline thrills.

I need to take a 3 day break, unfortunately, but next week should have more than enough to enable me to make it up.

Royal

10-20-2006, 11:42 PM

H

Someone is copying the murders of the serial killer Shin Hyun a year after he's captured. It's up to the Seoul police department to stop the copycat, whoever who they may be.

This movie has a huge influence from Fincher's Se7en (Rainy season, kosai/sempai bonding, killing to stymie sin, etc.) with a dash of Silence of The Lambs (Shin Hyun asked for advice) to boot. What works is that it's very brutal and very shocking. They actors are very good and the cinematography is very well done. The only reason this hadn't sold well in Korea was that marketing at the time decided to released the movie around Christmas time. Yeah, I'm sorta flinching at that too. Who in their right mind believed this was a good idea deserved, I repeat, deserved to be fired from whatever position they were at at the time.

That doesn't mean that this movie was perfect. I think the biggest problem with this thing is how it just plods along. Like it was trying to lead us to someplace meaningful, but whatever ore wherever that place was, it was just to far to go. The anti climatic ending will also leave some people cold, although it's pretty understandable. A lot of people will somehow feel cheated and need time to think about it to truly understand it.

While this movie would be good for your collection, I don't think one is to rush out for it instantly. This is one of those movies you should at least buy at your own leisure.

oddieson

10-21-2006, 12:32 AM

[QUOTE=Royal]Equinox

A mental patient recounts how he and his friends found themselves at the the foot of an inter dimensional portal and how they confront the horrors that it contained.

What do you get when a bunch of teens get together with $6,500 and help from author Fritz Lieber and Forrest Ackerman AKA The Ackermonster AKA Dr. Ackula? This movie. A budget monster movie that shows off the talents of Dennis Muren, who later would do the effects for movies such as Star Wars, Willow
Hey old school, what did you think of masters of horror?
caught MAY last night on IFC . not for kids but reminded me of the old MS 45
last fifteen minutes were the kinda laughing horror I like best usually

Royal

10-21-2006, 07:11 AM

What do I think about Masters of Horror?

I thought it was a good idea on paper. It would have been good. But then I realized...it's for TV. Especially TV around this time. So what would turn out cool, turned mediochre. When they annouced that the Miike episode got canned to DVD, I totally knew that their scope wasn't to promote horror, but what the television perception, the television stereotype of what horror is, A more gimmicked up Tales of the Crypt.

Out of the 15(?) episodes, I'd say three (technically two) actually shined and broke out of the TV mold. Honorable mention to Gordon and Landis. They knew they were dealing with TV and worked around it.

So...that are my thoughts.

Indigo Al

10-22-2006, 09:22 PM

It's not a horror movie, but it is the Citizen Kane of midnight cinema.

it is, as John Waters has declared, The Greatest Movie Ever Made.

My paltry words would cheapen it.

I stand in humble gratitude to the Turner Classic Movie network.

http://www.filmthreat.com/UploadImages/000004673_fast1x.jpg

http://warchild13.com/images/images/FASTER,%20PUSSYCAT!%20KILL!%20KILL!(2).jpg

Indigo Al

10-23-2006, 06:40 PM

From 1978 we have Devil Dog: Hound of Hell, second in my ‘80’s played on TV, burned in my consciousness’ series on Netflix.

Imagine Damien Thorne was actually a cute little puppy, and you can see where the plot of this goes. The creators bothered to delve into Irish legends and come up with a Barghest.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barghest

After a cornball suburban family adopts a German Sheperd (named Lucky) bred by a laughably deadpan Satan cult, the family becomes the dog’s familiars! Lucky also exhibits mighty feats of pyrokinesis, super-speed, and Final Destination/Omen coincidence-fu!

The cast includes those obnoxious brats from Escape to Witch Mountain, and Hammer/Bond siren Martine Beswick. No one in this movie drives anything other than a wood paneled station wagon…

Like Invitation to Hell, it’s essentially cheese right down to its pyrotechnic showdown, but there are things to recommend it, particularly strong, in-your-face Satanic motifs of the kind you just don’t see in modern horror.

Also like Invitation to Hell, there’s a theme that I’ve just began to notice with some of these made-for-TVers. Instead of horny teens getting punished for indulging, the hero/victim is the American Dad whose family becomes subverted from within and become distant, unloving and unrecognizable to him. Divorce anxiety perhaps?

It is my feeling that Lucky the Devil Dog could totally kick the ass of Zoltan, Hound of Dracula. But I have yet to see Zoltan. And, I don’t feel like posting in the Rumbles board!

Indigo Al

10-23-2006, 10:01 PM

Cronos is a lovely, lyrical piece of Mex-horror. Despite a few visceral gross outs, it is perhaps too humorous and touching to be a proper horror movie experience. I did worry about Aurora the granddaughter there for a minute. Ron Perelman is great, I love nearly all the actors in this film, the score is all class all the way (I love the idea of funeral preparation set to traditional Mexican ballads!). A plus.

I caught bits and pieces of Halloween III: Season of the Witch as well on AMC. I am placed in the lonely lonely position of defending this film. Of COURSE it sucks; and yet? It's so bizarrely original that I can't help but applaud it! I have great affection for the Tron-like effects, for one thing.

A mean nasty Druid "trick on the children", performed for no reason at all - as ridiculous as it seems, in the 1980's American people were perfectly willing to believe Satanic Panic and apple razorblade rumors. This film could have tapped that more effectively with a bit more thought and care.

Plus, what could be more frightening than that F****G Silver Shamrock theme, what makes you want to seal your ear canal with concrete?

I'd much rather see a sequel to this, than Michael Myers going after the cousin's hairdresser of the 4th niece of Jaimie Lee Curtis and Scott Summers... Think about it. How many kids died? Was it a national broadcast? 20 years later, do people believe it was an urban legend? Did Tom Atkin's character go to jail? Do the dead children come back as ghosts for revenge? Please - the Halloween series needs more whacked out risks like this and less rehashed slasher bs.

Knightmare10880

10-24-2006, 04:28 PM

Indigo Al

10-24-2006, 10:13 PM

A Hell House, as you are probably aware, is a Haunted House exhibiting the fundamentalist christian idea of horror. No doubt this was the goal of Tribulation (thanks fer nothin', public library!).

This cast is quite bizarre and puzzling, almost giving this some cult qualities... Gary Bussey, Howie Mandel, and Margot Kidder! And Nick Mancuso playing an anti-christ named Franco Macalousso (spooooky!).

I'll confess to being both fascinated by and hostile to the Left Behind mentality, which is that of the book from which this USA movie was based. You know - at the Apocalypse, all the good moral people go to heaven and do the Church Lady superior dance, while you, a disgusting non-believer, are left to suffer earthquakes and floods and the reign of the antichrist.

However, as premises go, this had interesting ideas. An agnostic cop (Bussey) wakes up from a coma in the future where the anti-christ has come to power. Not a bad idea at all for a horror film. I'd love for someone else to run with this concept without preaching at me. The anti-christ first strikes out by having a little seance tea party in the UN boardroom or wherever, and starts psychically manipulating some poor dude who teaches a parapsychology class. While again this was executed to be annoying preaching (don't mess with the occult, kids!), I liked this image and this idea. The anti-christ tempts mankind by teaching them superpowers - again, nice idea.

So apart from lots of speechifying about accepting God while staring down a bullet from the antichrist's shock troops, we also get Mancuso and Satan himself handing out these circa 1992 virtual reality helmets which they then use to manipulate and kill their followers like Agent Smith in the Matrix. Bad, bad bad.....

Fuse network is currently playing The Evil Dead, starring the great Bruce Campbell. Check it out! Join Us!

Royal

10-24-2006, 10:21 PM

Murders In The Rue Morgue (1932)

An evil doctor uses a carnival to mask his experiments with ape blood on women. A medical student catches wind of his plan and trys to stop him.

This is one of Bela Lugosi's better films. I think it's thanks to director/screenwriter Robert Florey and cinematographer Karl Fruend. Lugosi had experience with both men and was comfortable working with them. To put things simply, it's a German horror film with American funding. You can see it in the set design, in the lighting, the camera work, even the script was a lift from Das Cabinet die Caligari (The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari) but uses an ape instead of a somnambulist. The trademarks of German Expressionism are there. This makes the movie, somewhat unique for it's time.

There are some flaws to the movie, but I believe these flaws were either out of the hands of the crew or were, at the time, limits to the technology they had. Constant cuts from man in ape suit to chimpanzee is a bit annoying. Florey was irked when he was told to eject some humor into the story to "cut the tension". I was irked too. The most the comedy was bad even for his time. It doesn't work and feels 'horned in at times. This has become somewhat the mark of the Hayes Code at the time.

This is a movie that needs to be in anyone's horror collection. No ands, ifs, or buts. Get it! NOW!

Royal

10-24-2006, 10:24 PM

I think Christians can make good horror movies.

It's just that for some reason, the looneys get the funding.

Indigo Al

10-24-2006, 10:27 PM

I think Christians can make good horror movies.

It's just that for some reason, the looneys get the funding.

I agree with that, don't get me wrong. This one was just too obvious and full of agenda.

Royal

10-24-2006, 10:42 PM

I agree with that, don't get me wrong. This one was just too obvious and full of agenda.

Be glad you didn't see the one with Casper Van Diem and Michael York. I got heartburn without even eating.

Your beteer off watching films like Rosemary's Baby (written by a former Jesuit), The Exorcist (written and specialized by a former Jesuit) or Don't Deliver Us From Evil (directed by a priest), amongst others.

Buzz Dixon

10-25-2006, 12:26 AM

Royal --

MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE was severely re-edited and re-cut prior to its release by the studio. I forget which issue it was in, but VIDEO WATCHDOG did a great reconstruction of what the film would have been (a lot of scenes were moved around and out of their original sequence) if Florey's original cut had been left intact.

Defnintely worth watching.

Royal

10-25-2006, 12:43 AM

We talk about the "Do they bite?" line and the "Your beauty was a lie" scenes, correct?

They've been restored for the Lugosi Collection put out by Universal.

Indigo Al

10-25-2006, 06:38 AM

Be glad you didn't see the one with Casper Van Diem and Michael York. I got heartburn without even eating.

Your beteer off watching films like Rosemary's Baby (written by a former Jesuit), The Exorcist (written and specialized by a former Jesuit) or Don't Deliver Us From Evil (directed by a priest), amongst others.

Hmm...never heard of Don't Deliver Us From Evil - I'll have to check it out.

I did watch the Kirk Cameron Left Behind, which was quite awful....

Indigo Al

10-25-2006, 08:38 PM

Cross Species with Rosemary's Baby, add the talent of Depp and the beauty of Charlize, and you still get the somewhat mediocre The Astronaut's Wife.

The thrills in this movie are spare. I'm puzzled by the concept of the aliens, although it's interesting. Are these beings of electricity? It's rather petty of the electro-alien to boast about doing another man's wife. Then again, since it is Charlize, I'd probably boast too...

This is the second time Charlize's womb has been a horror subject (see The Devil's Advocate). And it also strikes me that Clea Duvall is the queen of alien possession movies (The Faculty, Ghosts of Mars...).

Royal

10-26-2006, 12:07 AM

Haxan (Witchcraft Through The Ages)

Benjamin Christensen looks at the Witch Hunts of the middle ages and relates it to not only persecution from the Church, but of Hysteria and other mental illnesses.

A lot of people mistake this movie as a horror movie. And a statement can be debated since Christensen does use not only noted actors and actresses in Dutch silent cinema as well as use several forms of special effects. Some newly invented by Christensen and crew. The truth, on the other hand. is that this is a very well thought out documentary on the ignorance involved in a dark chapter of the human race. The special effects serve to show us the fevor and dementia the subjects suffer through. This is what makes the movie unique.

The movie was repackaged in 1968 by Explotationer Anthony Blauch. He gave it a jazz score, shortened the run time and gave it a voice over by Beat artist William Burroughs. Even though this gained new interest in the movie, I'd have to say that the repackage had ruined some of it's luster. Christensen had himself said that this movie would not do well as a talkie. And he was correct. As much as I like Burroughs, his voice over didn't add anything to the movie. The jazz was also completely wrong for some scenes then others. In short, Blauch was playing the movie on only it's uniqueness instead of trying to convey a lesson to all while having fun.

This is something to look out for. Christensen is one of the unsung heroes not only in the fields of Horror or Documentation, but of Film itself. A real jewel to one's collection.

Royal

10-26-2006, 11:01 PM

The Raven ('35)

A famous plastic surgeon who has a thing for Edgar Allen Poe, falls in love with one of his patients, whose father is a famous judge. The judge denies this love and the surgeon sends a criminal to do his dirty work as trade to fix his face.

This is the second meeting of Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi. I don't know what to say really about this film. It's an alright movie , but it just...it just seems that they're forcefully trying to get back the magic of the actors' first meeting except the roles are reversed. I mean, the story is ok. The story is great, it's just that it just didn't feel like enough was involved.

I think one of the problems is that the screenplay just doesn't offer anything. You got all these Poe analogies and they don't lead anywhere. Oh! You got a pit and pendulum. Oh! Scary. One of the real big problems was that you have this genius who doesn't want to get his hands dirty. He messes up this criminal's face to have him do his biding. "Not to dirty his hands". And then what happens? almost half the murder plan, the surgeon's hand is on the lever. Why even mess with the criminal? He's basically a potted plant until the end.

Even though this is something to be part of the collection, I wouldn't be that eager to buy a copy. If we were getting all the great Universal movies, this is probably the last to pick up.

Royal

10-27-2006, 07:54 PM

The Black Cat (1934)

A young couple find themselves stuck in the path of a vengeful psychiatrist who wants to get back at a demonic architect for taking everything away for him.

Even though Lugosi and Karloff portray their characters very well, the real star is the house. With it's art deco and expressionist touches, mixed with the old war battlements, the house sets give a very surealis and almost evil feeling to it where "even the phones are dead". Director Edgar Ulmer also plays a grand part. He directed this movie as well as written it very well. The conversations between Lugosi and Karloff are almost like knife fights.

The only fault with this movie is that it's too short. I'm pretty sure things could have been fleshed out a bit more. Maybe more conversations during the chess match or a monologue about how the war has affected them. I think that Karloff's satanic intentions could have been worked upon as well. Almost anything about the characters of Hjalmar and Vitus would have been great.

This is a "have" in your collection. Not only for Lugosi and Karloff, but also for Ulmer, who later on, becomes the forefather of Giallo.

Indigo Al

10-27-2006, 10:17 PM

Royal

10-27-2006, 10:25 PM

How is the movie connected to Val Lewton's Cat People oeuvre?

It's not. Two totally different stories.

Indigo Al

10-27-2006, 10:47 PM

I purchased the original 1960 13 Ghosts on impulse back in late 2004; it was on sale for $5.99. I hadn't watched it till today.

What a fool I am. This film is wonderful, and holds up today. This is the movie that makes a kid fall in love with the Saturday matinee and midnight horror movie. It's charming and innocent and yet, not devoid of chills and frights.

We get Wicked Witch of the West Margaret Hamilton as a creepy medium. But above all, we get the creepy, funny inventive spectres that are the stars of the movie.

I can't imagine what the modern remake was like, nor am I sure I want to....

Buzz Dixon

10-28-2006, 03:00 AM

The original 13 GHOSTS was a William Castle production. Castle was one of the all-time great wild men of independent film making. People laugh at his outrageous gimmicks (viz. MACABRE, THE HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL, THE TINGLER, MR. SARDONICUS, et al.), but man, did his pictures ever deliver. Several of them have been re-made with grossly bloated budgets, high powered casts, and nowhere near the thrills of the cheaper black and white originals.

Try to catch I SAW WHAT YOU DID, not a horror film but a thriller that's kind of the obverse of HE KNOWS YOU'RE ALONE. LET'S KILL UNCLE is Lemony Snicket done deadly serious, with a modern day wicked uncle out to kill two kids for their inheritance, only the kids are onto him and plotting to murder him first.

He also wrote and produced some Westerns and mysteries for the larger studios in the late 40s/early 50s before branching out on his own.

His buggest coup was was scoring the film rights to ROSEMARY'S BABY when the novel was in galley form, long before it hit the best seller lists. When it did break in a big way, Castle sold his option to a larger studio but stayed on the credits as producer even though director Roman Polanski effectively barred him from the set!

Indigo Al

10-29-2006, 03:33 PM

Indigo Al

10-29-2006, 04:01 PM

Military school seems enough like hell, so how would the Son of Satan handle it?

He thrives, of course, as we see in Damien: Omen II, a good enough sequel to the classic Omen that could have gone a lot further in exploring the idea of I Was a Teenage Antichrist.

Damien struggles briefly with his true nature. I thought I wanted to see more of his struggle, but now I think the less-is-more dictum might be appropriate.

Also underexploited is horror sci-fi icon Lance Henriksen, a pro Damien military school teacher. Why can't we see him worshipping Damien and cutting up people in his name?

I actually get a little bored of the coincidence fu murders. The Omen trilogy is the grandfather of the Final Destination trilogy. We had one cool Birds-inspired kill. Why is it classy British women can't fight a lone bird that's smaller than they are?

Indigo Al

10-29-2006, 05:20 PM

I was once quite an impressionable lad who could not sleep right after his first viewing of the Exorcist. Many years ago I read about author William Peter Blatty's experiments with EVP, and as much as I want to be a rational humanist, I'm still too chicken to try this at home:

http://darkplanet.basespace.net/nonfict/Blatty.html

Electronic Voice Phenomenon is the basis of Michael Keaton vehicle White Noise, a very good thriller with a rather weak finish.

Keaton's character loses his gorgeous spouse to a mysterious killer. An obese, obsessed man soon shows up and convinces him that his wife is speaking to him via electronic white noise - cell phones, AM radio, etc... spooky stuff ensues.

Unfortunately, we are treated to cheesy and thoroughly unscary phantoms at the end of the film.

Keaton's a good solid character in this movie - he lends weight to the loss of his wife. Thank god his son was not a spooky, morose, haunted, annoying brat...they luckily avoided this cliche (most recently and badly done in The Ring 2 - YUCK!).

Apple totally missed the boat here in terms of product placement (Sony did not). Imagine if you could listen to the dead through your IPod!

Indigo Al

10-29-2006, 07:12 PM

Crawlspace dates from 1986 and it stars Klaus Kinski as a messed up son of Nazis who owns an apartment building which he only rents to big haired bimbos. His building has air vents that may as well be hallways. He commands his legion of trained rats to torment the bimbos, one of whom, in her red slutgear, plays kinky games with her idiotic boyfriend. He keeps one victim alive in a cage. He likes to Sieg Heil while smearing makeup all over his lips (he is the precursor to Buffalo Bill). He likes to clack his knife to his palm and interrupt another shallow bimbo's hook up with a rich old man, who apparently can't perform while "mice are scampering about". There a Michael Myers-esque payoff at the end.

Can't decide if this goes in the so bad it's good file. Kinski is badass, scary motherf***er and I love to see him in movies, but this is not a classy film by any means.

Royal

10-30-2006, 01:20 AM

You get more Kinski goodness renting Nosfuratu and Aguirre, Wrath of God then Crawlspace.

Indigo Al

10-30-2006, 06:16 AM

You get more Kinski goodness renting Nosfuratu and Aguirre, Wrath of God then Crawlspace.

Hence my reaction to this movie. Nosferatu and Aguirre are excellent films.

Indigo Al

10-30-2006, 11:17 PM

Happy Samhain everyone!

Way below Near Dark but above Once Bitten stands Vamp in the laundry list of 80s vampire cinema. I think Fright Night and Lost Boys are above this film....

... which doesn't mean I didn't like it, as it brings back lots of warm, gushy 80's feelings for me. Chris Makepeace and some other dude play frat brothers who end up at the wrong strip bar. But more on that later.

Grace Jones is the titular Vamp, who performs a weird, modern-art Keith Haring striptease. It should be sexy, but it's almost too cold and automated. Later she devolves into a repulsive revenant. It was a great role for her; she would have been better as Akasha in the Queen of the Damned movie...

To make this a proper 80s movie, there is a pseudo Tangerine Dream soundtrack, a chase through the sewers, and a love interest with crimped hair, zebra print and leg warmers. Gedde Watanabe plays a nerd who's along for the ride.

Now Vamp was mentioned in imdb or somewhere like that as the precursor to Bordello of Blood and From Dusk Till Dawn. Even Blade has the theme of the vampire hooker luring the young guy at his prime to his doom; and today's torture chopshop porn generation saw a non-vamp twist on this in Hostel. Wonder what Joss Whedon could do with this?