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Horror Films

I reckon the nursery rhyme 'There was an old lady who swallowed a fly' would make a good short horror film if it was done correctly .. if we could watch each stage of the song but shot with a real life actress instead and the consequences of each stage .. innocent enough sounding song for little kids but what if it was ....... real? *crack of lightning then thunder*

 
Saltburn: A black comedy/psychological thriller which slides into the slipstream of horror. 2006, Barry Keoghan plays Oliver Quick, a working class lad from a grim background who makes it to Oxford University on a scholarship. He ifeels unable to fit in with the In Crowd but one day does a favour for the popular, aristocratic Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi). this gets him (literally) a seat at the table with the society he longs to join. When Oliver's father dies, Felix invites him to his stately home, Saltburn for the Summer. The Catton family are ghastly, Felix hears them gossiping about his family, when he is presented to them they feign love and interest. Everything is so shallow about them though the father. Richard E. Grant is quite manic in his role, constantly grinning. Felix's mother (Rosamund Pike) also pretends to care about people but only for appearances sake. his sister Venetia (Alison Oliver) suffers from bulimia but appears to interest Oliver. Things morph from a comedy of manners to a dark horror comedy as Oliver shows hidden depths. Some really disturbing scenes which are leavened by the blackest of black comedy. A Dickensian tale mixed with Brideshead Revisited, a dash of Ripping Yarns with a soupcon of The Talented Mr Ripley. A film you will mull over long after the final credits have rolled. Written, Directed and Produced by Emerald Fennell. 8.5/10.

In cinemas.
 
ramonmercado said:
Becky: Not a new concept, an isolated holiday cabin, escaped convicts seeking something hidden there, a family held hostage, a plucky teen. Becky (Lulu Wilson) is more able than your average thirteen year-old though. Savage violence on both sides as Becky takes on the gang. Again not unusual but the sheer gore and ferocity of Becky's fightback makes this film stand out. Tense chases through the woods, ambushes, this is an action driven narrative. Not for the faint of heart or those who swoon at the sight of blood. Directed by Jonathan Milott and Cary Murnion, from a screenplay by Nick Morris, Lane Skye, and Ruckus Skye. 7/10.

Showing again on the Horror Channel on Friday 20th May at 10.50 PM.
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The Wrath of Becky: Two years later Becky (Lulu Wilson) is back, an opening scene and graphics in the titles show how Becky and her dog Diego have passed through several foster families and gone on the run, having many adventures before she meets up with an elderly woman, Elena (Denise Burse) who gives them a home and treats Becky as an equal. Now 16, Becky hones her survival skills in the woods. She works in a Diner and clashes with members of the Noble Men, an extremist Christian group with misogynistic tendencies. They follow her home and break in, resulting in a deadly confrontation, Diego is also stolen. Becky sets out for revenge but discovers that a vaster conspiracy is at play here, the broader group intend to provoke violence at a rally in a nearby town. A certain element of dark humour infuses her preparations and deaths which occur. some extremely violent deaths and mutilations will almost make you laugh but there is also a seriousness about the encompassing plot (even if it has a few holes suspension of disbelief is easy in this case). Again let squeamish beware lest the gore frighten them. In a cameo Kate Siegel plays a CIA Agent. Directed by Matt Angel and Suzanne Coote. Angel wrote the screenplay based on a story by himself and Coote. 7.5/10.

Stream on Google Play and Apple TV.
 
Thanksgiving: This slasher flick is no turkey as the broad sweep reason for the slasher's actions are set up in the opening sequence. A greedy store owner in Plymouth MA, decides to open his Black Friday Sale on Thanksgiving night forcing workers to quit their celebrations. A large unruly crowd gathers outside the store and a riot looks imminent. Mayhem is initiated when the store owner's teen daughter and her friends get in a side entrance and some of them taunt the crowd. The crowd becomes a mob, charge through barriers, people are crushed and trampled, the store's glass doors shatter. Fighting breaks out in the store, people are killed. The real horror starts with that melee. A year later someone dressed as the first Governor of Plymouth Colony starts to threaten people through Social Media. This Petrifying Puritan Pilgrim soon moves on to start killing those they hold responsible for the deaths which occurred. A victim soon finds out that her mutilated face isn't recognised by her phone so it won't unlock. This isn't just another teen slasher film, actually the adults involved are better actors and both they and the kids end up as victims. The killings are OTT, in some ways almost funny in a dark comical manner. But many of them are gory and extremely disturbing, this slasher displays ingenuity in their myriad modes of murder. The tension is well maintained as several possible suspects are identified with a school of red herrings thrown in. Thanksgiving might have benefited from having 10 minutes shaved off of its 106 minute running time but it is an entertaining addition to the Slasher Canon. Directed by Eli Roth, Co-Written by Roth and Jeff Rendell. 7.5/10.

In cinemas.
 
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Tor (Kazakhstan, 2023).

As this film is quintessential `psychological horror` - albeit with the accent on the first word, I think it just about belongs here.

A youngi man named Arman finds himself to be in a maximum detention centre somewhere in present day Kazakhstan with no idea of how he got there or what he has supposed to have done. He is subject to a brutal prison regime of isolation and constant surveillance.

Nevertheless he has a cell mate who becomes a confidante who does what he can to clarify the situation. Who then he vanishes.

Arman is plagued by strange dreams, or are they flashbacks? Is he really so innocent after all?

The man is subject to monitoring in the form of regular interviews with a prison psychiatrist. In return for this he is allowed limited freedoms such as being given a Nokia phone allowing him to call out. He calls a random number scrawled on the wall and ends up speaking to a young woman who presents a kindly presence.....

The film is every bit as bleak as it sounds and dialogue heavy and I struggled with the (Russian) language but nevertheless was kept gripped throughout its hour and a half showing time by films mysterious and ambiguous ambience.

There are echoes of the Soviet gulags here - many of Staslin's prison camps were located in Kazakhstan -but also some visual nods to Guantanamo Bay.

Tor could be seen as a a contemporary take on The Trial (The Orson Welles adaptation of the Kafka novel) - something that resonates in this time of increasing authoritarianism.

In Central Asian cinemas.

 
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Eileen: A Noir film with not just one but possibly two Femmes Fatale (depending on how you look at it). This movie strides through the genres: from lesbian romance akin to Carol to Classic Noir to Horror, even a touch of Hitchcock with a soupcon of Black Comedy. Massachusetts, early 1960s Eileen (Thomasin McKenzie) is a young secretary in a juvenile prison, she's lonely, dreams of love with one of the young guards, is fascinated by an inmate Lee Polk who killed his father, the Polk family are central to the unfolding of the narrative. Eileen looks after her alcoholic ex-cop father, he's verbally abusive but some of this might be designed to drive hr away to her away, to find a life of her own. A new prison Psychologist, Rebecca (Anne Hathaway) arrives and sweeps Eileen off her feet, takes her drinking and dancing, then involves her on a strange and dangerous situation. There is a plot twist at this point that cannot be revealed here without giving too much of the storey line away. The Classic Noir tinged with Horror takes over at this point, Eileen reveals her own hidden depths of depravity. matching or even outclassing Rebecca. Her fantasy life has always been quite violent and some of this may have have bled through to influence her real life actions. Great performances from McKenzie. Hathaway and Marin Ireland as Rita Polk, Lee's mother.Directed by William Oldroyd with a screenplay by by Ottessa Moshfegh and Luke Goebel. 8/10.

In cinemas.
 
ramonmercado said:
Thanksgiving: This slasher flick is no turkey as the broad sweep reason for the slasher's actions are set up in the opening sequence. A greedy store owner in Plymouth MA, decides to open his Black Friday Sale on Thanksgiving night forcing workers to quit their celebrations. A large unruly crowd gathers outside the store and a riot looks imminent. Mayhem is initiated when the store owner's teen daughter and her friends get in a side entrance and some of them taunt the crowd. The crowd becomes a mob, charge through barriers, people are crushed and trampled, the store's glass doors shatter. Fighting breaks out in the store, people are killed. The real horror starts with that melee. A year later someone dressed as the first Governor of Plymouth Colony starts to threaten people through Social Media. This Petrifying Puritan Pilgrim soon moves on to start killing those they hold responsible for the deaths which occurred. A victim soon finds out that her mutilated face isn't recognised by her phone so it won't unlock. This isn't just another teen slasher film, actually the adults involved are better actors and both they and the kids end up as victims. The killings are OTT, in some ways almost funny in a dark comical manner. But many of them are gory and extremely disturbing, this slasher displays ingenuity in their myriad modes of murder. The tension is well maintained as several possible suspects are identified with a school of red herrings thrown in. Thanksgiving might have benefited from having 10 minutes shaved off of its 106 minute running time but it is an entertaining addition to the Slasher Canon. Directed by Eli Roth, Co-Written by Roth and Jeff Rendell. 7.5/10.

In cinemas.
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That's me sorted for tonight. I like the John Carpenter HALLOWEEN opening shot so far and the fashions look 70's so I'll give it a go although I can usually take or leave Eli Roth.

I'm not holding my breath it's going to be as good as INTRUDER aka Night Crew - The Final Checkout or CHOPPING MALL.
 
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Swifty said:
That's me sorted for tonight. I like the John Carpenter HALLOWEEN opening shot so far and the fashions look 70's so I'll give it a go although I can usually take or leave Eli Roth.

I'm not holding my breath it's going to be as good as INTRUDER aka Night Crew - The Final Checkout or CHOPPING MALL.
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Chopping Mall! Love that one.
 
brownmane said:
Chopping Mall! Love that one.
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I used to see Chopping Mall on video store shelves in the 80's but never rented it back then for some reason. I watched it for the first time within the last five or so years and it's great fun, the same sort of vibe as Demon Wind.
 
V for Vengeance: Two estranged sisters who as children were turned into vampires in an attack where their parents were murdered combine forces when they discover that their other sister is alive and under threat. One sister is still with the pack which took them in, the other is more discerning and only feeds on predatory males. A good B Movie romp with good vampires, bad vampires, a vaccine which will prevent humans from being turned and a duplicitous bounty hunter. Vampires aren't a secret, There's even a Federal Vampire Control who do stakeouts or stake ins rather. Silver bullets will kill Vampires as will Holly Wood. an interesting mixture of science and the supernatural. Some good fast moving Vampires and throats ripped out/cut. A lot of double dealing and plot twists as well. Well worth watching. Directed by Kelly Halihan. Written by Steven Paul and Peter Moore Smith. On Netflix. 6.5/10.
 
blessmycottonsocks said:
It's a Jim Wynorski movie (like the utterly brilliant Deathstalker 2).
All of his movies are worth watching.
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I never heard of that. I first rented Chopping Mall from video store (remember those:)). Then when they sold off their older videos, I had a copy. I no longer have it because, you know, no more video players.

I had 200 videos, mostly of horror and had bought most of them used. I got rid of them about 10 years ago because I couldn't play them any more.

I miss all of the good B horror movies. I had Basketcase, Reanimator, Evil Dead etc
 
brownmane said:
I never heard of that. I first rented Chopping Mall from video store (remember those:)). Then when they sold off their older videos, I had a copy. I no longer have it because, you know, no more video players.

I had 200 videos, mostly of horror and had bought most of them used. I got rid of them about 10 years ago because I couldn't play them any more.

I miss all of the good B horror movies. I had Basketcase, Reanimator, Evil Dead etc
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You must try Deathstalker 2.
Since I first saw it back in the 80s it has become one of my all-time favourite movies (and it stars John Terleskey, who was also in Chopping Mall).
 
blessmycottonsocks said:
You must try Deathstalker 2.
Since I first saw it back in the 80s it has become one of my all-time favourite movies (and it stars John Terleskey, who was also in Chopping Mall).
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It looks like the only platform I can watch it for free is Tubitv. I'll have to watch. I watched the trailer and it looks hilarious.
 
Stormkhan said:
I found it once on You Tube. Don't know if it's still there. There's a pretty funny riff on the channel Good Bad Flicks on the series.
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I did see it. I like Chopping Mall better. It is because I don't watch a lot of sword and sorcery and so got none of the in jokes, other than the reference to Conan.
 
brownmane said:
I did see it. I like Chopping Mall better. It is because I don't watch a lot of sword and sorcery and so got none of the in jokes, other than the reference to Conan.
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There were cheeky hat-tips in Deathstalker 2 to Spaghetti Westerns, Hawaii 5-O, Conan, Star Wars and even Bugs Bunny, but it was the inspired one-liners that really cracked me up e.g. . Three thugs: "Do you know who we are?" Deathstalker: "The village idiot and the two runners up?", "grave-robbing carries a rather stiff penalty in these parts", and when confronted by the huge Amazons' champion, Deathstalker asking her if she has to buy her clothes at a special shop. And watch out for all those spit-takes!
 
The 2021 comedy horror Black Friday was better than I was expecting.

The basic storyline is it's a night shift Black Friday sale with the regular customer madness, slamming on the Toys R Us style stores doors desperate for the store to open for their bargains. We meet every cliché of staff member (the staff supervisors who need to get a life, the trainee, the hero 'I've been here for ten years kid' guy, a Walt Disney type senior manager played by Bruce Campbell, the earnest cash register girl, the temp on his first ever retail shift etc). None of the staff want to be there because it's Thanksgiving except Bruce's character. We find out why later in the film during a sort of The Breakfast Club style confessional scene when they're all bolt holed in the warehouse.

Things I liked about this film. There's no real heroes. The staff all have their good and bad moments. Visually, it's a mixture of DEMONS, THE BLOB and with a THE MIST type of vibe due to the setting. The F/X are extremely '80's creature feature so you get loads of rubber monsters and some splatter, very well done by 80's F/X veteran Robert Kurtzman of KNB fame It also has a fun survival theme that will have you shouting "YOU IDIOTS! .. THAT WALL BEHIND YOU IS COVERED IN TOOLS. GET THE TOOLS?!" .. or "OK, WELL DONE FOR ESCAPING THROUGH THAT TRAP DOOR BUT SHOULDN'T YOU CLOSE IT NOW AND PUSH SOMETHING AGAINST IT!!". I think the director and Bruce Campbell did that on purpose :chuckle:. They (the film producers) know we grew up watching B-Movies so they don't waste our time in explaining why customers are turning into demons, something's mumbled on a TV set in the background for about ten seconds about a meteor shower and that's it.

There's one scene that reminded me of the kids in Jurassic Park where they were shuffling round that kitchen to hide from the Velociraptors. There's a similar tightly shot and edited scene in this film except our middle aged hero decides to put on a pair of roller skates while he's being stalked? .. it's blatantly a horror comedy.

(There's also a little Evil Dead in joke line Bruce delivers)
 
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blessmycottonsocks said:
There were cheeky hat-tips in Deathstalker 2 to Spaghetti Westerns, Hawaii 5-O, Conan, Star Wars and even Bugs Bunny, but it was the inspired one-liners that really cracked me up e.g. . Three thugs: "Do you know who we are?" Deathstalker: "The village idiot and the two runners up?", "grave-robbing carries a rather stiff penalty in these parts", and when confronted by the huge Amazons' champion, Deathstalker asking her if she has to buy her clothes at a special shop. And watch out for all those spit-takes!
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I did love that the Amazons rescued them.

And the woman playing the even larger Amazon was wonderful. I knew she was a wrestler because I used to watch WWF (now WWE) in the nineties and recognized the moves.

Here is her wiki bio:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dee_Booher

I loved watching wrestling on tv before they turned it into a gab fest with no wrestling. It was well choreographed.
 
brownmane said:
I did love that the Amazons rescued them.

And the woman playing the even larger Amazon was wonderful. I knew she was a wrestler because I used to watch WWF (now WWE) in the nineties and recognized the moves.

Here is her wiki bio:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dee_Booher

I loved watching wrestling on tv before they turned it into a gab fest with no wrestling. It was well choreographed.
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Dee Booher, aka Queen Kong.

I paid tribute to her over on the RIP thread.
 
ramonmercado said:
The Conference: A Swedish Slasher film which provides an entertaining blend of horror, comedy and satire. A group of public sector employees are off on a team building exercise prior to the sod being turned on new shopping/enterprise centre project they've worked on. THere is disharmony as not all of the ream are happy to stay at an outdoor activities camp. Also not everyone agrees that the project has been properly put together. The camp comes under attack from the slasher, using a machete and other implements to massacre first the unfortunate camp staff and then moving in ti the project team. It's hard not to root for the slasher given how local farmers have been cheated of their land even if not all of his victims are culpable but hey, that's slasher movies for you. Some good and funny hand to hand combat with gory scenes which might wipe the smile off your face. Might have been a better film if 10 minutes had been shaves off the 1h 40m running time. Directed & Co-Written by Patrik Eklund. On Netflix. 7/10.
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Just watched it tonight.
Some very blatant hat-tips to the original Friday 13th, but with a hefty dollop of black humour thrown into the gory mix.
One the most entertaining slasher movies I've seen for many years.
Loved the sound track too!
7.5/10 from me.
 
My mate Eddie Mallet co starred in this horror film five years ago. They shot it in France somewhere, he's the bloke with the big beard. When he's not doing this, he comes out on paranormal investigations with my crew. It's going to be be on one of the TV channels soon but he doesn't know which one ..

'The movie that I starred in in 2019 has been bought by a film distributor.
They'll be putting it on 5 different movie & TV platforms.
I'm not sure if they will be on Netflix or Amazon.
We wait to see
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May be an image of 6 people and text



It's obviously not high budget but the bits I've seen so far look like it was a good laugh to make. He did his own behind the scenes clip for fun of him pretending to have the midnight munchies as himself then chowing down on the gory props.
 
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dastur 1.jpg


DASTUR (Tradition) (Kazakhstan, 2023).

With a lurid promotional poster and provocative title, this film has been released in the winter/New Year holiday period in Kazakhstan - when the usual home grown fare consists of anodyne `family comedies`. It was bound to cause a stir - and so it has.

By a new director, known only for Youtube shorts until now, Dastur is already being called `the first Kazakh horror movie`. This claim is not entirely accurate. There have been attempts before, but most of these have been lame exercises in copying Korean or Japanses horror films. The exception was Vzyaperti (which I reviewed above) - although this really was more of an old fashioned ghost yarn, and more Russian-Kazakh than Kazakh.

This film is full on Kazakh - and full on horror. It is a sort of a Revenge Tragedy, meets demonic possession tale meets psycholiogical thriller.

It is set in a village in contemporary Kazakhstan. We first get a sort of social realist birds eye glimpse of life there one summer. Then we focus on Bolat - a sneering ne'er do well protected by a comfortably-off livestock farmer father and - Diana - a young and beautiful single woman.
One drunken evening, following a school celebration, Bolat rapes Diana. For this he is taken into custody but it soon becomes apparent that no charges will be made against him - his father is too powerful in the community.

Worse is to come. Bolat's family suggests that Diana should marry Bolat - as the tradition is that if a young man `seduces` a young woman they should then marry. The father of Diana shamefacedly agrees - on condition that he is given ten million tenge (the local currency) as a dowry.

The deed is done and Diana goes to live in Bolat's family home. One night, however she attempts to hang herself and, full of remorse, Bolat cares for her in the privacy of his bedroom in which no one else can enter....

Then a two headed calf is born and the mother of the household is beset with ghostly events - such as the TV turning on and showing scenes from Diana's childhood....

The plot bears some resemblance to Carrie, but is much more grown up. It also recalls something from The Sinister film cycle. Most of all though, this can be seen as the Central Asian answer to Hereditary -and I don't make this comparison lightly.

The special effects are few - a possessed Bolat is shown walking on walls without the use of CGI. There is more emphasis on creepiness rather than shock tactics. Also throughout there is an implicit critique of the iniquities of certain customs which still exist in rural Kazakhstan.

Unusually for a local horror film from a new director - Dastur is really pulling the punters in and these consist of twenty-something Kazakhs with whom the film clrearly resonates in some way. Trust me: this is one smouldering meteorite of a film and I suspect that an English subtitled version will become avaialable soon. Do look out for it!

Already, the trailer has English subtitles:

 
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