Halloween Horror Marathon '15

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Monterey Jack
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Re: Halloween Horror Marathon '15

#16 Post by Monterey Jack »

-Shocker (1989): 1/10

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The most shocking thing about this gigantic pile of crap is how gaspingly inept it is. Wes, I'm sorry, and not to speak ill of the dead, but when you whiffed on a movie, you WHIFFED. Hard to believe that Craven was coming off two of his best films (the original Nightmare On Elm Street and The Serpent & The Rainbow) when he made this, because this plays like someone else's fourth-rate Nightmare knockoff, with atrocious overacting (including a pre-X-Files Mitch Pileggi as the Freddy Krueger wannabe Horace Pinker), dreadful special effects, a concept that makes no sense whatsoever (okay, Pinker has a limp...but when he possesses a new body, that body also has a limp...?) and a total dearth of scares. Nice to see a young Peter Berg, as well as Ted "Theodore" Raimi, but this is absolute garbage.

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AndyDursin
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Re: Halloween Horror Marathon '15

#17 Post by AndyDursin »

Finally a film we agree on! :)

Though THE HORROR SHOW (HOUSE III) is much worse. :shock:

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Re: Halloween Horror Marathon '15

#18 Post by AndyDursin »

POLTERGEIST
2015

6/10

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As needless, inferior remakes go, this watchable, workmanlike re-do reworks Steven Spielberg’s 1982 classic with the “Bowen” family – led by mom (Rosemarie DeWitt) and dad (Sam Rockwell) and their three kids – running afoul of spirits after they move into their new suburban home. Director Gil Kenan reprises most of the memorable moments from the original in a film that lacks the character development of its predecessor – not to mention Jerry Goldsmith’s score – but is at least much more entertaining than most modern horrors, with decent special effects.

Marc Streitenfeld’s okay score can’t hold a candle to Jerry Goldsmith, but if you remove all thoughts of the original (hard to do, admittedly), you might find this to be an alright, tidy 90-minute remake that at least reprises its predecessor’s spirit, foregoing extensive gore and violence.

What can I say? I was prepared to HATE it...and it at least pays proper respect to the original, which you can't say for some of these recent recyclings.

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Re: Halloween Horror Marathon '15

#19 Post by Monterey Jack »

-It Follows (2015): 7/10

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Like many "indie" horror films that are extravagantly praised by critics in limited release only to receive a fierce backlash once mainstream audiences finally have a chance to see it, It Follows is neither the masterpiece that the former group proclaimed nor the overrated piece of crap the latter did. What it is is an intriguing effort from writer/director David Robert Mitchell, playing off the ancient horror trope of "You get laid, you die" and crafting a stylish homage to 80's cinema (from the ominously elegant camerawork to the throbbing John Carpenter/Tangerine Dream-esque electronic score by "Disasterpeace") that's studded with memorably eerie imagery and a fine central performance by Brittany Murphy ringer Maika Monroe, as a young woman who is told by her boyfriend -- after they have sex for the first time -- that the titular "It" that has been haunting him has now been passed onto her, and will continue to come, unstoppably, until she has sex with another partner and passes the curse along, like a chain mail letter from hell. As well-made and occasionally frightening as the film is, it also has a central premise that's thinly-explained and full of holes (can "It" -- whatever it is -- interact with the physical world, or not? Why does "It" continue to appear in the guise of different people? Where did "It" originate?), and the glacial, Kubrickian pacing reminds me of the old axiom about warfare being "long stretches of boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror". It's undoubtedly a film worth seeing for horror fans (and I'm interested to see what writer/director Mitchell comes up with for an encore), but I can't quite love it, despite all of the fine production values and interesting concepts and subtexts contained within.

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Re: Halloween Horror Marathon '15

#20 Post by Monterey Jack »

-Curse Of Chucky (2013): 5/10

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Eh...certainly miles better than the curiously overappreciated Bride Of Chucky and the truly godawful Seed Of Chucky (one of the worst and most truly disgusting horror movies I have ever seen), but it's still not terribly good. It's nice to see an 80's horror franchise still relying on animatronics and puppetry in this day and age, and Brad Douriff's daughter (in the lead role) is super-cute, but it's not especially scary or funny, merely surprising by being somewhat competent.

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Re: Halloween Horror Marathon '15

#21 Post by AndyDursin »

certainly miles better than the curiously overappreciated Bride Of Chucky
MJ, whatever road you are currently on, take the next exit that says REALITY and let me know you are okay. :lol:

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Re: Halloween Horror Marathon '15

#22 Post by Monterey Jack »

Not drinking the "Bride is a brilliant comedy!" Kool Aid, sorry. 8)

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Re: Halloween Horror Marathon '15

#23 Post by AndyDursin »

It's definitely not brilliant, but it's by far the best film in that mediocre series.

I was totally bored by that lame direct to vid sequel, but I do agree it was better than SEED, a candidate for one of the worst movies ever made. And I'm not exaggerating there either.

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Re: Halloween Horror Marathon '15

#24 Post by Monterey Jack »

Seed was truly vile, just a repugnant, unpleasant, and all-around ugly piece of filmmaking. Compared to that, Bride is freaking Psycho. :lol:

-Ginger Snaps (2000): 8/10

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A clever crossbreeding of lycanthropy and teenage angst, this is one of the better werewolf movies of the past two decades. When a pair of sullen, death-obsessed sisters (Katharine Isabelle and Emily Perkins) run afoul of a mysterious beast that has been ripping the local pet population to shreds in their small, Canadian suburb of Bailey Downs, older sister Ginger is mauled and starts to...change, while younger sister Brigitte looks on in growing horror. Is this just the result of a particularly late entrance into puberty, or is something more sinister at hand? Ginger Snaps is a sly horror film with a sharp sense of humor, and like all good werewolf movies, a certain degree of pathos, and it's nice to see a modern-day take on the genre with bracingly old-school creature effects (no slick, unconvincing CGI transformations here). Isabelle and Perkins make for an ideal pairing, the former's new-found confidence and sexual aggression in the wake of the attack perfectly attuned to the latter's withdrawn anguish at seeing the sister she made a death pact with at the age of eight ("Out by sixteen or dead on the scene, but together, forever") growing apart from her. Not quite an all-time classic, but a film with plenty of upsetting sexual subtext to go along with the requisite genre shocks and gross-outs.

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Re: Halloween Horror Marathon '15

#25 Post by Monterey Jack »

-The Legacy (1979): 2.5/10

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Defiantly weird, awfully funny horror movie (was there a stranger time to release a horror film than the late-70's?) with a couple of L.A. architects (Katharine Ross and Sam Elliott with his trademark bristle-brush 'stache) who find themselves enticed to a gloomy English manor house, where a group of Satanists (or something) are awaiting the demise of their mysterious beneficiary, who will bequeath his supernatural powers onto one of them after killing off the rest in a variety of gruesome/amusing ways. Directed by Richard Marquand (Return Of The Jedi) and co-written by Hammer veteran Jimmy Sangster, The Legacy is just plain bizarre, and not scary in the slightest, but it's so defiantly odd it's hard not to keep watching. Where else can you watch The Who's Roger Daltrey receiving a botched tracheotomy after choking on a chicken bone, Sam Elliott having a standoff with a rooftop sniper armed with a crossbow, or a horseback getaway scene scored with disco music?

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Re: Halloween Horror Marathon '15

#26 Post by AndyDursin »

I love how all these people on the Blu-ray.com board seem to think every film Scream releases is a classic. About the best thing you can say for THE LEGACY is that it's better than the putrid piece of crap called THE SENTINEL, one of the worst horror films of that decade. 8) :lol:

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Re: Halloween Horror Marathon '15

#27 Post by Monterey Jack »

AndyDursin wrote:I love how all these people on the Blu-ray.com board seem to think every film Scream releases is a classic.
It really is bizarre what Scream Factory deems worthy of an HD upgrade...for every overlooked genre gem like Monkey Shines, there's some piece of crap like Terrorvison or New Year's Evil or whatever. Who buys this garbage?!

Anyways, for something that decidedly does not suck...

-The Innocents (1961): 10/10

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Superb, atmospheric ghost story about a British governess, Miss Giddens (Deborah Kerr), given the task of looking after two young children (Pamela Franklin, Martin Stephens) by their distant uncle (Michael Redgrave), and who arrives at their lovely, rural home with the greatest of enthusiasm...only to find herself realizing that her two young charges may or may not be getting slowly possessed by the spirits of the manor's recently-deceased valet (Peter Wyngarde) and his illicit lover (Clytie Jessop). Based on Henry James' The Turn Of The Screw (with a screenplay co-authored by Truman Capote), The Innocents is disturbing on all of the obligatory genre levels...creaking doors, soft whispers and shadowy, half-glimpsed specters all make their customary appearances. But viewed as a potential depiction of a mental breakdown, where the "ghosts" are just projections of the stressed Miss Giddens' vivid imagination, the film flowers into truly unnerving territory, with a daringly unsavory sexual subtext that must have been truly shocking over fifty years ago and still packs a punch today. Whether or not you believe that haunting are actually occurring, the film remains a classic, with Kerr's tremulous, high-strung performance anchoring all of the spooky goings-on, and Freddie Francis' superb cinematography making the viewer peer fearfully into every corner of the meticulously-designed Cinemascope frame (with excellent use of deep focus).

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Re: Halloween Horror Marathon '15

#28 Post by Monterey Jack »

-The Wolfman (2010): 8/10

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A perfect example of how movie geeks always see the glass as half-empty, this sumptuous, atmospheric homage to the classic Universal monster movies of the 30's and 40's was roundly pilloried upon release for the SACRILEGE!!! of utilizing CGI to "punch up" Rick Baker's makeup effects (not to mention the behind-the-scenes turmoil that removed original director Mark Romanek right before filming was to commence and ever-shifting release dates that ultimately left the movie to die in a lonely February release slot), but I find the final product to be highly underrated and perfect Halloween-time viewing. Benicio Del Toro is ideal casting as the doomed Lawrence Talbot, Emily Blunt is glowingly lovely, and Anthony Hopkins chews the scenery and everything else he can get his teeth into. Director Joe Johnston is far from an "auteur", but he is a top-notch, unfussy genre filmmaker, and, inheriting about half of Tim Burton's usual tech team (production designer Rick Heinrichs, composer Danny Elfman), crafts a beautifully-gloomy period production that's bracingly R-rated without grossing the viewer out and maintains the proper sense of impending dread that most werewolf movies never quite nail.

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Re: Halloween Horror Marathon '15

#29 Post by AndyDursin »

I've always held the same affection for THE WOLFMAN. Which cut did you watch?

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Re: Halloween Horror Marathon '15

#30 Post by Monterey Jack »

AndyDursin wrote:I've always held the same affection for THE WOLFMAN. Which cut did you watch?
The extended cut (I've never watched the theatrical version). There's an odd continuity glitch with the addition of the prologue with Emily Blunt meeting Benicio Del Toro in person to deliver the news that his brother has been killed, and yet throughout the rest of the movie, he keeps talking about "receiving a letter" instead. The added scene with Max Von Sydow is a nice bit, though (mainly because Sydow classes up any movie).

It's a seriously good movie that fanboys bitched and moaned about because of "the crap CGI!", and while I'll admit there are some dodgy transformation shots, overall the film looks beautiful, is nice and scary, offers up plenty of Hammer-style gore without being too nasty about it, and boasts a splendid Danny Elfman score (thank God they didn't use the replacement score by Paul Haslinger, although I'd love to hear it just for the sake of morbid curiosity). It's perfect Halloween-time fare, and would make a great double-feature with Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow.

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