Horror Films

[Meechyemoo]

Child of Darkness, Child of Light: Not one but two Immaculate Conceptions! One will be The Second Coming, the other The Antichrist! But which is which? The Vatican sends a priest to investigate. There is also have a Prophecy of The Virgin Mary which is only incrementally revealed. Teenage bullies, vicious crows, black clad assassins on motorbikes! Even a friendly pet dog is turned savage by the powers of darkness. Not great but considering that it's a TV movie from 1991 not bad either. Entertaining and worth watching. Showing again on the Horror Channel on Monday 4th January at 11.00 AM. 6/10.

This was on earlier this evening on Horror. I missed it! It is really ridiculous good fun.

 

[ramonmercado]

The Empty Man: A figure who can be summoned up by blowing into a bottle on a bridge, over a period of days it gains strength and on the third day it strikes. This seems to be another urban legend before a girl goes missing, then her friends commit suicide. But it's more than any myth gone deadly. In the pre-credits sequence we see hikers in Bhutan who come across a huge skeleton in a cave (a Yeti?) , one of them is possessed and gets the others to kill each other. There is also an Occult Society whose outer face resembles the Scientologists but has darker aspects. A disturbing film with scenes of mass suicide, slasher style killings and eerily, a mob of cultists in pursuit of an ex-cop who is investigating the girl's disappearance. A crowd of cultists dancing around a fire and then turning in lockstep to chase an intended victim through Mark Twain National Forest is a sight to behold. You also get Tulpas and some interesting plot twists. A good horror/mystery thriller which would have worked better if perhaps 30 minutes had been shaved from it's 137 minute running time. Written and directed by David Prior. 7/10.

 

[Peripart]

There is also an Occult Society whose outer face resembles the Scientologists but has darker aspects.

So, for legal reasons, nothing like the real Scientologists?

 

[GNC]

So, for legal reasons, nothing like the real Scientologists?

There was a really fine horror out about a year ago called Apartment 1BR which is basically what would happen if the Scientologists took over without naming them as such. A bit cheeky, but it has a definite kick to it.

 

[Swifty]

The Shining - 'The Wendy Theory'

Jack Nicholson didn't go mad in The Shining .. Wendy did, she was having psychotic hallucinations that Kubrick hinted at using editing techniques and deliberate mis continuity errors according to this theorist. Wendy injured Danny because of Munchausen by Proxy, imagined all of the demented Jack scenes and in fact killed Jack fairly early on in the maze ..

The Wendy Theory - This Finally Explains The Shining! - YouTube

 

[ramonmercado]

The Unfolding: Found footage film set to the background of an impending nuclear conflict. A coupe travel to an isolated house on Dartmoor to explore paranormal phenomena, they are greeted by ponies and climb a Tor where they may have spotted something odd. Over the course of a few days they are joined by other investigators and a medium. Poltergeist effects, crying babies, attacks by ghosts do provide a few scares. There is a malevolent ghost present who confronts them. Rather dark shots in black & white and washed out colors add to the gloomy atmosphere and the tension is racked up by news reports about developing hostilities. All a bit murky in more ways than one as the parts don't gel together too well. Just about watchable. Written and Directed by Eugene McGing. On the Horror Channel. 5/10.

 

[blessmycottonsocks]

The Empty Man: A figure who can be summoned up by blowing into a bottle on a bridge, over a period of days it gains strength and on the third day it strikes. This seems to be another urban legend before a girl goes missing, then her friends commit suicide. But it's more than any myth gone deadly. In the pre-credits sequence we see hikers in Bhutan who come across a huge skeleton in a cave (a Yeti?) , one of them is possessed and gets the others to kill each other. There is also an Occult Society whose outer face resembles the Scientologists but has darker aspects. A disturbing film with scenes of mass suicide, slasher style killings and eerily, a mob of cultists in pursuit of an ex-cop who is investigating the girl's disappearance. A crowd of cultists dancing around a fire and then turning in lockstep to chase an intended victim through Mark Twain National Forest is a sight to behold. You also get Tulpas and some interesting plot twists. A good horror/mystery thriller which would have worked better if perhaps 30 minutes had been shaved from it's 137 minute running time. Written and directed by David Prior. 7/10.

I quite fancied watching this, but couldn't find it on Sky, Prime or Netflix.
Where did you watch it?

 

[ramonmercado]

I quite fancied watching this, but couldn't find it on Sky, Prime or Netflix.
Where did you watch it?

Found it <cough> online </cough>.

 

[SketchyMagpie]

Has anyone seen the french horror movie ‘Climax’? I watched it towards the beginning of the pandemic and it’s definitely become a favourite, very effective.

More recently, ‘His House’ is incredibly creepy.

 

[ramonmercado]

Has anyone seen the french horror movie ‘Climax’? I watched it towards the beginning of the pandemic and it’s definitely become a favourite, very effective.

More recently, ‘His House’ is incredibly creepy.

I liked His House, my review: https://forums.forteana.org/index.php?threads/horror-films.59441/page-80#post-2007517

Climax was bizarre, I'd give it 7/10.

 

[SketchyMagpie]

I liked His House, my review: https://forums.forteana.org/index.php?threads/horror-films.59441/page-80#post-2007517

Climax was bizarre, I'd give it 7/10.

Bizarre is definitely something I look for in a movie XD
It reminded me of "mother!" a little, which is another absolute favourite (though I'd say a lot better)

 

[ramonmercado]

Paranormal Activity 3: Found footage prequel set in 1988. The young Katie and Kristi have their first encounter with the Demon. Kristi has an "imaginary friend" Tobi. Soon poltergeist effects take place, odd things are recorded on camera, the situation spirals with attacks on the girls and others. A dark film, starts a bit slow but then the incidents rise to a crescendo. Katie is lifted into the air by her hair by an invisible entity, furniture rises to the ceiling and crashes down. People levitated, dragged, thrown around by the Demon. Also a generations long conspiracy is revealed through plot twists. Good Demonic Thriller with convincing effects. Directors: Henry Joost & Ariel Schulman, written by Christopher Landon. On Netflix. 7/10.

 

[blessmycottonsocks]

Just watched "Follow Me" aka "No Escape" (2020) on its Sky Movies Premier.

Whilst not credited as such, it's basically a gory remake of the 2007 movie Catacombs, but set in a Moscow escape room, rather than the Paris catacombs.

I twigged what the twist was going to be after about 20 minutes, which made the rest of it rather a waste of time.

If you haven't seen Catacombs, then 6/10, otherwise 3/10.

 

[brownmane]

Sorry if someone has already reviewed this one, but search wouldn't come up with anything.

The Blackcoat's Daughter with Kiernan Shipka and Emma Roberts. It involves three girls - Katherine (Shipka), Joan (Roberts) and Rose (Lucy Boynton) It starts with Katherine waking from a seemingly prescient nightmare. She and Rose are attending a girls boarding school and are stuck together while both await their parents arrival to take them home for the school break. Joan is someone who is seemingly hitch hiking from somewhere to somewhere. The story oddly breaks into three parts, each part titled with one of the girls' names. This set up actually gives away the ending and supposed twist to the story.

I like both Shipka and Roberts as actors in general so that is why I watched the movie. The acting is good. The story line is ok. I did like the dark and muted colouring of the film. Not a bad watch if you are looking for a fairly good movie. 6/10.

 

[ravensocks]

The Unfolding: Found footage film set to the background of an impending nuclear conflict. A coupe travel to an isolated house on Dartmoor to explore paranormal phenomena, they are greeted by ponies and climb a Tor where they may have spotted something odd. Over the course of a few days they are joined by other investigators and a medium. Poltergeist effects, crying babies, attacks by ghosts do provide a few scares. There is a malevolent ghost present who confronts them. Rather dark shots in black & white and washed out colors add to the gloomy atmosphere and the tension is racked up by news reports about developing hostilities. All a bit murky in more ways than one as the parts don't gel together too well. Just about watchable. Written and Directed by Eugene McGing. On the Horror Channel. 5/10.

I have a real soft spot for The Unfolding. It is slow moving in places, but I like the extra horror of the escalating nuclear threat, and there are a couple of effective jump scares. Great wee film.

 

[sherbetbizarre]

Sorry if someone has already reviewed this one, but search wouldn't come up with anything.

The Blackcoat's Daughter

It was on UK's Netflix under the title February...

 

[ramonmercado]

She Dies Tomorrow: A strange film, difficult to classify but I think it qualifies as psychological Horror. Amy is wandering aimlessly around her newly purchased house, she's convinced that she will die tomorrow. She contacts a friend who also ends up infected with this meme and herself passes it on to others. We see that Amy isn't the only vector of this virus and through flashbacks how she originally caught it. Amy thinks back to a relationship, she goes out, doing odd things, racing in a go-kart at night, spreading the contagion yet further. She wants to have her skin made into a leather jacket when she dies. It's the differing ways in which people deal with the reality of this epidemic which perhaps provides the best scenes of quotidian terror. Written & Directed by Amy Seimetz. 7/10.

 

[blessmycottonsocks]

Just watched Lasso (2017) on Prime Video.

Set in the rodeo from hell, it is an extremely brutal gorefest, with some spectacularly inventive methods of execution.
A few moments of black humour are thrown in to relieve the tension - including a delightful hat-tip to Monty Python's Black Knight.
Watching one of the wimpiest heroes ever finally growing a pair and turning the tables was quite fun too.
Utterly bonkers, with no real logic behind it, but perversely entertaining and all fans of the slasher genre should find much to enjoy here.
7/10.

 

[ramonmercado]

Paranormal Activity 4 (2012): Another found footage film set five years after Paranormal Activity 3. A young boy Robbie moves in with a family as his mother is ill, he swiftly becomes friends with the family's son Wyatt. Things rapidly turn strange a Robbie has an invisible friend, Toby, who can also be seen by Wyatt. The narrative unfolds slowly and it's about halfway through the movie before a chandelier almost brains someone, We then get a knife embedding flying around, levitation ad other poltergeist style effects. The horror will have arrived too late for some but there are brutal killings by both human and Demonic assassins. Even a car turns deadly. Great performance by Kathryn Newton as Wyatt's teen sister Alex. Well worth watching even if it's unevenly paced. Directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman from a screenplay by Christopher Landon. On Netflix. 7/10.

 

[ramonmercado]

Shadow in the Cloud: Feels like a mix between the Amazing Stories episode "The Mission", The Twilight Zone episode Nightmare at 20,000 Feet and Memphis Belle, with even a homage to Aliens. Maude (Chloe Grace Moretz) hitches a ride on a B-17 going from Auckland to Samoa, she's carrying secret documents but even though she's a WAAF pilot the crew give her a hard time. She has to go into the belly bubble gun-turret for take off but ends up being trapped there. Then a gremlin, a large bat/rat/ape creature appears and starts damaging a wing and attacking her turret, the crew disbelieve her at first. Much of the action is based in the bubble and the outside of the plane, with the airmen only being heard over the intercom until Moretz gets back into the fuselage. It's not just the monster that they have to fear though, Japanese Zeros also attack. The gremlin is quite convincing as are the hand to hand battles with it and the dog fights with the Zeros. Some of the events do require a suspension of disbelief but Moretz literally kicks gremlin, misogynist and Zero ass. A couple of interesting plot twists makes this into an Air Ace scary pulp story. Directed and Co-written by Roseanne Liang. 7/10.

 

[GNC]

Didn't realise that was a horror movie, I thought it was going to be an Amelia Earhart-type drama!

 

[ramonmercado]

The 3rd Eye: Indonesian horror flick about those whose 3rd Eye is open. They can see dead people, mostly angry dead people. Two sisters whose enhanced vision is live clash with vengeful ghosts in their home. Some terrifying scenes of broken bodied ghosts attacking but also ghosts who just display their injuries and ask that messages be passed on to loved ones. Rituals are performed to summon and dispatch the restless dead. but they are also capable of possessing people, going dybbuk. An interesting plot twist late in the film and a visit to Hell makes The 3rd Eye well worth watching. Written & Directed by Rocky Soraya. On Netflix. 7/10.

 

[ramonmercado]

Blood Vessel: WW2 Vampire movie. A motley crew are adrift in a lifeboat when a German ship appears in the fog. Making their way onboard they find the crew and soldiers slain, beheaded, burned to death. A young girl is the only survivor, she speaks Romanian and leads them into the bowels of the ship in search of her family. Apart from an opening long shot of the lifeboat the action occurs mostly below ship, in the passageways, engine room, storerooms. The child is great as a vampire, leaping up and biting, kudos to Ruby Isobel Hall. The older vampires don't look so human, more bat-like, don't ever open an ornately carved casket on a drifting ship! The background story of the undead is more hinted at than explained, pictures of SS members (likely from the Ahnenerbe Institute) locating the coffins, artifacts, crucifixes. Holy Water works on these vamps! Some great claustrophobic battle scenes below deck. Written And Directed by Justin Dix. 7/10.

 

[ramonmercado]

Scar (2007): Slasher/Serial Killer flick.As a teen Joan was abducted and tortured by a serial killer who murdered her friend. She returns to her hometown to attend her niece's graduation but the killings begin again, body pops up in a a lake during the Town's Fish Festival. More teens go missing and Joan becomes a suspect. Typical incompetent cops. The film cuts between Joan as a teen and the present day. Really disturbing torture scenes. Not just stabbing but being drained of blood (takes place in a funeral home). Some interesting plot twists. Directed by Jack Weintrob & written by Zack Ford. On the Horror Channel. 6/10.

 

[brownmane]

Ratu Ilmu Hitam (The Queen of Black Magic) 2019, directed by Kimo Stamboel. Indonesian film, subtitled. Apparently this is a remake of a 1981 film of same name (did not know this until I looked it up). The story centres around a family that visits an orphanage that their father was raised in. He and a couple of other men are asked to return on the premise that the owner is nearing death and he has asked for them. Of course there are secrets that have been hidden and the the visit sets off repercussions to all involved.

I could not figure out, until closer to the ending, if the events happening were due to supernatural or hallucinatory/suggestive influences. The story is interesting and well written and the acting is good. Nothing seemed to be lost in the translation. The special effects are well done and creepy. I did not really see who was behind all of the happenings until late into the film (which is always a good thing in my books) and so it did keep my interest. Well worth the 90ish minutes. Shudder Tv. 8/10

 

[ramonmercado]

Just watched The Voices (2020), IMDb have it at 3.7/10, I'd give it 7/10. Review to follow.

 

[ramonmercado]

The Voices (2020): A curious film which explores the intersection of mental health problems with horror. Grace has had a traumatic break up with her fiance, on the way to visit her sister Catherine she encounters a mysterious old woman who gives her a crucifix. Catherine who suffers from paranoid-schizophrenia has lived in thee isolated family home since the death of her daughter Abby. Their mother also suffered from schizophrenia and committed suicide when they were young. Catherine still talks to Abby and Grace now starts to see visions and hear voices, Abby appears to her. An Ouija Board and a demon called Penny is also involved. Some shocks and scenes of horror and violence. Grace's dreams are particularly disturbing, not just for her but for viewers. Most of the horror in this film is psychological as you try to differentiate between reality and the imagined. An intriguing plot twist sets the film off in another direction. Directed by Wesley Alley and Bradley Fowler, written by Bradley Fowler. 7/10.

Free to view (ads): https://www.contv.com/details-movie/CEG10029550/the-voices

 

[ramonmercado]

The Woman in the Fifth (2011): Quirky ghost story, An American writer (Ethan Hawke) comes to Paris to visit his daughter who is living with his estranged wife. Things don't go well and he ends up being robbed. He's stuck in a fleabag hotel whose owner gives him a job as cctv doorman at a shady club. He meets a mysterious woman (Kristin Scott Thomas) at a literary party and becomes her lover but it later turns out that she died 15 years ago, He has a mortal muse (Joanna Kulig) at the hotel but the ghost is persistent. Strange events occur, murders, disappearances. This could all be explained in a non-supernatural manner but it would require the involvement of an unlikely culprit. A psychological horror story which will leave you pondering it's meaning. Written and Directed by Pawel Pawlikowski. 7/10.

Streaming (free): https://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-woman-in-the-fifth

 

[Lb8535]

You have the greatest job. But I guess you also ethically have t sit through the total junk.

 

[blessmycottonsocks]

Watched Mr Jones (2013) on Prime tonight.

A young couple take time out from life in NYC to film a nature documentary.
Their remote cabin turns out to be not quite as remote as they thought and their mysterious neighbour is none other than the eponymous Mr Jones.
Thought to be a reclusive artist, reknowned for creating grotesque, skeletal effigies, Jones' notoriety is such that the couple abandon their original project and decide to make a documentary about him.
Things soon start to go very wrong, when realisation hits that they are dealing with something that may not be of this world - or did someone forget to take their anti-psychotic meds?
With hints of Blair Witch, Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Jacobs Ladder in here, Mr Jones does a decent enough job of creating an unsettling and nightmarish atmosphere. Sadly though, the latter stages were ruined for me by gross overuse of strobe lighting and rapidly shifting images, that pushed me to the verge of a migraine.
Maybe 5/10 overall.