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Horror Films

Body Cam: Dark Horror filmed in dark streets and dark houses. Even when it's in a bright shop lights flicker and go off. An unknown entity has slaughtered a police officer leaving him impaled on a gate. Officer Renee arrives on the scene and looks at the dash cam, sees the dead officer being levitated, but the cam is damaged and no one else sees it. She's not believed as she's just back on operational duty after a PTSD related incident. The death toll rises and Renee is the only one to suspect something odd is going on. It is a pretty gruesome flick with people being stabbed, shot and smothered as they are raised into the air by an invisible force. We even get a swarm of roaches flying out of a drawer when it's opened. There is enough intrigue mystery and horror to maintain the tension throughout the narrative, plus a couple of plot twists. Directed by Malik Vitthal from a screenplay by Nicholas McCarthy and Richmond Riedel. On Netflix. 7/10.
 
Two: Two people, a man and a woman awake in a bed to find their abdomens have been stitched together. They have never met before and there is mutual suspicion. However they have to reach a modus vivendi and co-ordinate their actions to actually move. There are some scenes of horror here, even existential terror but is far too wordy. All is explained and though there is a grand guignol ending Two does not follow the brevity of that school. Even at 70 minutes it's too drawn out and might have worked better as an episode of an anthology series or film. Directed by Mar Targarona, Written by Cuca Canals,Christian Molina & Mike Hostench. On Netflix. 5/10.
 
Tonight's dose of psychological horror was Wired Shut (2021) on Prime Video.
A struggling author, recovering from a car accident resulting in reconstructive surgery on his jaws (which are wired shut - geddit), has an unexpected visit from his strangely surly daughter.
An opportunity for an initially awkward but ultimately rewarding family reunion?
Well maybe not quite, as a couple of twists take the movie into brutal home invasion territory, with a few home truths and revelations thrown in.
Obviously a low budget movie, with the cast of just three, but they put in decent enough performances.
There's plenty of tension and a little wince-making gore. Plus the huge modern but somehow still gothic house made for an interesting backdrop.
Some of the action though struck me as far from plausible and the irritatingly OTT soundtrack featuring a constant droning wind noise, tried my patience a bit.
A reasonable pay-off though and my rating: 5/10.
 
I know I'm late to the party but the sequel to (or whatever it wants to call itself) The Shining, Doctor Sleep, was way way better than it had any right to be. I'm very impressed with it. I can't imagine Ewan McGregor saying "What's this script again? .. a sequel to The Shining you say?" and being enthusiastic after the hate for the Star Wars films he was in but somehow Doctor Sleep didn't piss on The Shining at all.
 
Swifty said:
I know I'm late to the party but the sequel to (or whatever it wants to call itself) The Shining, Doctor Sleep, was way way better than it had any right to be. I'm very impressed with it. I can't imagine Ewan McGregor saying "What's this script again? .. a sequel to The Shining you say?" and being enthusiastic after the hate for the Star Wars films he was in but somehow Doctor Sleep didn't piss on The Shining at all.
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It was its own thing all the way through to the end where it all got a bit messy where the hotel got shoehorned in minus the full scale of majestic horror and menace.
 
Lb8535 said:
Carpenter is very aware of royalty issues. How does u tube let people post full movies?
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I remember reading an interview with the director of a low budget horror movie who was - get this! - trying to make a living out of his work! Poor fool! Anyway, he found his movie kept turning up illegally on YouTube and the more he got it taken down, the more there would be another upload in its place. It was getting so that foreign language versions were being uploaded! It's insane. Most people just don't care about copyright. YouTube, however, continue to make enormous profits.
 
Just watched The Sound of Violence (2021) on its Sky Movies premier.

Original, but bizarre and implausible gore-fest, featuring a serial killer seeking to gratify her perverse form of synaesthesia.
Jasmin Savoy Brown is a chillingly cold and merciless villainess, who gets her kicks from recording percussive soundtracks of her tortured victims' death throes.
If torture-porn with a heavy drum & base vibe appeals to you, then you may get something out of this.
Despite the original premise and decent acting, notably from Brown, who switches from apparent innocent normality to complete psycho mode with consummate ease, I found my credulity was stretched way too far (and, to be honest, torture-porn has never been my genre).
Watch out for a particularly wince-making scene with a harp!
Overall maybe a 5/10.
 
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Last night, I saw Vivarium, starring Imogen Poots and Jesse Eisenberg.
Highly original and distinctly creepy. It's a slow-moving film with a small cast, which slowly builds up the horror.
I usually like a happy ending, but this ended tragically. However, because of the inexplicable nature of the film and the Fortean-ness of it, I still found it fascinating.
It is not obvious until part-way through the film what is going on - essentially, a young couple have been abducted by some very odd and sinister aliens to raise a young alien so that he will blend in with humans, presumably for the purpose of infiltrating and invading Earth.
I give it a 7/10 - i.e., worth watching.
 
Mythopoeika said:
Last night, I saw Vivarium, starring Imogen Poots and Jesse Eisenberg.
Highly original and distinctly creepy. It's a slow-moving film with a small cast, which slowly builds up the horror.
I usually like a happy ending, but this ended tragically. However, because of the inexplicable nature of the film and the Fortean-ness of it, I still found it fascinating.
It is not obvious until part-way through the film what is going on - essentially, a young couple have been abducted by some very odd and sinister aliens to raise a young alien so that he will blend in with humans, presumably for the purpose of infiltrating and invading Earth.
I give it a 7/10 - i.e., worth watching.
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Definitely a Marmite movie.
I quite enjoyed it, but felt it was really a 40 minute Twilight Zone sort of story stretched out a tad too far.
Thought the creepy estate agent Martin (who seemed to have modelled himself on Ron Mael from Sparks ) stole the show!
Maybe a 6/10 from me.

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blessmycottonsocks said:
Definitely a Marmite movie.
I quite enjoyed it, but felt it was really a 40 minute Twilight Zone sort of story stretched out a tad too far.
Thought the creepy estate agent Martin (who seemed to have modelled himself on Ron Mael from Sparks ) stole the show!
Maybe a 6/10 from me.

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Yes - I did get a strong 'Twilight Zone' vibe from it too.
There was some excellent acting in it, I thought.
 
Scream (5): Not a reboot, more of a requel as the film's characters describe the latest version of Stab, there are some angry fans about. Maybe call it Scream: The Next Generation, even though characters from the previous films gradually arrive, a new set of teens take centre stage. A new Ghostface comes on the scene, threatening Tara, she has to answer his questions about Stab movies even though she is more into The Babdook, The Witch and Hereditary, predictably there many in jokes and quite an element of satire in Scream. From the outset the violence is brutl and gory, quite shocking at times. Even the strain of black humour which permeates this pastiche does't really leaven the dark mood of the narrative but you will get a few jokes though they might die in your throat as it's slit. Surprises, plot twists, secrets revealed and a body count of characters both old and new make Screaming an enjoyable watch. Directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett and Written by James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick. 8/10.

In cinemas.
 
I've always loved the 80's zombie punk classic Return Of The Living Dead. Now I've just discovered this cut of it .. :p

'RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD (1985) - FULL UNCUT EXTENDED VERSION / THEATRICAL & WORKPRINT COMPOSITE. UNDERTAKER180 FAN EDIT....
Here we have the awesome Dan O'Bannon Zombie flick...Return of the Living Dead (1985) - Full Uncut Extended Version Theatrical & Workprint Composite. The workprint has been around for quite a few years but the quality is very poor and dark and it's almost unwatchable. I have tried my best to remaster and restore the workprint to make it watchable and good enough to do a full uncut extended composite of both the theatrical and workprint versions combined which is what this video is. This took me a long time adding all the different extended and alternate scenes and matching the original audio soundtrack to match the original theatrical version audio (now rare). ENJOY!!!'

https://ok.ru/video/3627182459565
 
Return of the Living Dead arguably has the best zombie of the 80s in it, no, not Linnea Quigley, I mean Mr Creosote. Oh, wait, I might have his name wrong...
 
GNC said:
Return of the Living Dead arguably has the best zombie of the 80s in it, no, not Linnea Quigley, I mean Mr Creosote. Oh, wait, I might have his name wrong...
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I've watched loads of dull Monroeville Shopping Mall fan videos because Dawn Of The Dead was filmed there and although I've been jealous of anyone who visits, the place has been remodelled so much since the '70's I'd feel I was only being polite and reverential going there these days .. it's all fat sweaty fucks in Dawn T Shirts getting autographs off someone who was briefly seen as a zombie for 5 seconds these days while dispassionate fans stand frozen filming it on their phones .. and fans aren't allowed access to everywhere that was used in the film. Most of the youtube visits to this location are sterile .. which is what makes this '93 'winging it' visit video much more fun. They get to slide down the elevator and somehow even get up on the roof, they get hassled by security .. :cool:. When there's no more room in hell, teenagers will take the piss ..

 
Halloween Kills got some terrible reviews and a poor audience reaction last October, so I braced myself and just watched it. And it's flippin' great! I've seen it described as The Last Jedi of Halloween sequels, I liked the previous one well enough, but wasn't mad for it, but this does really interesting things with the slasher movie template, looks fantastic and is brave enough to be brutal, so much so that it's maybe not much fun to watch. But should murder be fun, anyway?

Also, a fun fact I gleaned: the actor Michael McDonald in this is the only person to be killed on screen by Michael Myers and Mike Myers (in Austin Powers)!

I almost didn't watch this, but I'm so glad I did, it has fascinating things to say about how groups of people act when they're frightened.
 
Swifty said:
I've watched loads of dull Monroeville Shopping Mall fan videos because Dawn Of The Dead was filmed there and although I've been jealous of anyone who visits, the place has been remodelled so much since the '70's I'd feel I was only being polite and reverential going there these days .. it's all fat sweaty fucks in Dawn T Shirts getting autographs off someone who was briefly seen as a zombie for 5 seconds these days while dispassionate fans stand frozen filming it on their phones .. and fans aren't allowed access to everywhere that was used in the film. Most of the youtube visits to this location are sterile .. which is what makes this '93 'winging it' visit video much more fun. They get to slide down the elevator and somehow even get up on the roof, they get hassled by security .. :cool:. When there's no more room in hell, teenagers will take the piss ..

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The only real bit of DotD memorabilia I got was the soundtrack, when Trunk records compiled all the library music Romero used to score the movie. Well, I liked it! Can't beat The Gonk...
 
GNC said:
The only real bit of DotD memorabilia I got was the soundtrack, when Trunk records compiled all the library music Romero used to score the movie. Well, I liked it! Can't beat The Gonk...
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I was too young for Dawn when it was released, I worshipped Day when that came out and it's still my favourite all time zombie film. I worked my way backwards to Night and Dawn after Day and they all have their merits. I want to love Land but I don't, it's just OK IMO.
 
Swifty said:
I was too young for Dawn when it was released, I worshipped Day when that came out and it's still my favourite all time zombie film. I worked my way backwards to Night and Dawn after Day and they all have their merits. I want to love Land but I don't, it's just OK IMO.
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Yeah, the first trilogy is the one, the second trilogy had the impression of existing because it's all Romero could get funded. His career descent is really sad, full of projects that were his second choice because he couldn't get money for his real passion projects.
 
GNC said:
Yeah, the first trilogy is the one, the second trilogy had the impression of existing because it's all Romero could get funded. His career descent is really sad, full of projects that were his second choice because he couldn't get money for his real passion projects.
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I've seen Martin but I've never seen (or had the urge to watch) Knightriders .. jousting on motor bikes sounds like a shit premise for a film to me.
 
Swifty said:
I've seen Martin but I've never seen (or had the urge to watch) Knightriders .. jousting on motor bikes sounds like a shit premise for a film to me.
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Knightriders was a case of one of his pet projects being made, but it's so personal, so eccentric, that it appeals to a very small audience (unlike Dawn, which he partly did for the money). It's basically King Arthur on motorbikes. In America. Tom Savini is in it!
 
GNC said:
Knightriders was a case of one of his pet projects being made, but it's so personal, so eccentric, that it appeals to a very small audience (unlike Dawn, which he partly did for the money). It's basically King Arthur on motorbikes. In America. Tom Savini is in it!
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I know about it, I've just never wanted to watch it, Savini or no Savini. I own all the Romero zombie films but I can't remember any of the plot for either Diary or Survival which is a shame .. and as much as I love Dennis Hopper (but clearly not as much as 60's kid Romero), Land Of The Dead really didn't need him IMO.
 
Swifty said:
I know about it, I've just never wanted to watch it, Savini or no Savini. I own all the Romero zombie films but I can't remember any of the plot for either Diary or Survival which is a shame .. and as much as I love Dennis Hopper (but clearly not as much as 60's kid Romero), Land Of The Dead really didn't need him IMO.
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Diary is the found footage one, Survival is the one where someone bites a zombie instead of the other way around. Land of the Dead is all right, but they obviously hoped it would pave the way to better things, and it got lost in the zombie plague of horror movies of the 00s and 10s.
 
GNC said:
Diary is the found footage one, Survival is the one where someone bites a zombie instead of the other way around. Land of the Dead is all right, but they obviously hoped it would pave the way to better things, and it got lost in the zombie plague of horror movies of the 00s and 10s.
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At least none of them were 'Children Of The Living Dead'. Savini cameo or not, that film should have been drowned at birth.
 
Nightmare Alley: More of a Noir drama about carnies, clairvoyant acts and grifters rather than Horror. Some critics have described the film as Neo-Noir but I think del Toro has returned to the classic Noir of the 1940s. The novel Nightmare Alley was published in 1946 and first filed in 1947, this version contains many of the tropes and characters of original Noir: a shady past. the chance to make it big, making big bucks by swindling the gullible. Bradley Cooper is the drifter/grifter Stan Carlisle; Rooney Mara plays Molly, the ingenue carnie performer won over by Stan; Toni Collette is Madam Zeena, a clairvoyant; Cate Blanchett puts in a storming performance as the femme fatale psychologist who is both Stan's nemesis and lust interest; Willem Dafoe as the carnie boss deux ex-machina who launches Stan on his carnie career Some really disturbing scenes of violence but even more shocking perhaps is the treatment of the Geeks, biting heads off chickens. Stan and Molly rise from being carnies to performing at exclusive cabaret clubs with their Medium act but it's not enough for Stan. A morality tale with a sting in it's tail. Directed by Guillermo del Toro, Screenplay by del Toro and Kim Morgan. 8 .5/10.

In cinemas.
 
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