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It's finally made it onto Sky Movies.
Looking forward to watching it tonight.

Hmmm. Decently acted and I liked the premise, atmosphere and moments of black humour.
The Krautrockish synth soundtrack was excellent too.
If you sensed there is a BUT coming, you'd be right.
In The Earth has the most gratuitously OTT use of strobe lighting I can recall (yes, even worse than Alien and Aliens) which, given my tendency to suffer photo-sensitive migraines, made much of the second half of the film almost impossible to watch.
Without the ghastly strobing, I would probably have rated it around a 7/10 - not as good as Kill List, but still one of Wheatley's better films.
As it stands though, I reckon I only got maybe 4/10 entertainment value out of it.
 
Came across this on YouTube: four hours of Eli Roth and Quentin Tarantino talking about horror.

One obtained an early DVD of Paranormal Activity and couldn't sleep after watching it, and gave it to the other, who also had a rough night afterwards.
This told me something profound about both men, viz. they scare more easily than I do. :chuckle:

4 Hours of Eli Roth & Quentin Tarantino Discussing Horror Movies
 
Came across this on YouTube: four hours of Eli Roth and Quentin Tarantino talking about horror.

One obtained an early DVD of Paranormal Activity and couldn't sleep after watching it, and gave it to the other, who also had a rough night afterwards.
This told me something profound about both men, viz. they scare more easily than I do. :chuckle:

4 Hours of Eli Roth & Quentin Tarantino Discussing Horror Movies
I went to see Paranormal Activity because a friend wanted to see it. My synopsis of the movie is SPOILER ALERT:

pool cleaner is in pool….pool cleaner is out of pool…cleaner is in… now it’s out.o_O I was on the edge of my seat with ennui!
 
I went to see Paranormal Activity because a friend wanted to see it. My synopsis of the movie is SPOILER ALERT:

pool cleaner is in pool….pool cleaner is out of pool…cleaner is in… now it’s out.o_O I was on the edge of my seat with ennui!
Yup, we saw it at t'cinema, the soundtrack enhanced by the screams of surrounding teenagers. :rolleyes:
This is why we bought a huge TV. ;)

Have to say that horror/supernatural fillums haven't scared me since I was a little kid. Jump-scares don't count. :chuckle:
It's finally made it onto Sky Movies.
Looking forward to watching it tonight.
Watched this t'other night and Techy recognised Shearsmith by his voice. I immediately pictured him done up all League of Gentlemen.
Spoilied the effect a bit. :chuckle:
 
The Dead Centre: A man wakes up in a hospital morgue, is amnesiac, staggers around, finds a bed. Discovered by a nurse he ends up in the emergency psychiatric ward. A psychiatrist tries to make sense of what's going on, finally realising that his patient is the missing corpse. But this is no medical misdiagnosis, the man has died before and something has come back from the other side with him. This is a well worn trope but its set against the backdrop of a hospital which has to ration psychiatric care and there is also a story line involving a medical examiner trying to track down the misplaced corpse. A sense of paranoia builds as the narrative unfolds, most of the horror is psychological but there also some disturbingly violent scenes, people having their élan vital sucked from them and a grand guignol finale as the plot strands intersect. Shane Carruth plays the alienated patient whose pain from existential despair is palpable, Jeremy Childs is the psychiatrist who fights administrators on behalf of patients, his own sanity unraveling as he treats Carruth with Bill Feehely as the pathologist on a quest, three great performances. Written and Directed by Billy Senese. 8/10.

Available to screen (free) until 2 April 2022 at: https://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-dead-center
 
Studio 666: Comedy Horror where Foo Fighters send themselves up. There is a sharp edge to the horror though: in the opening sequence set in 1993 peoples heads are beaten to a pulp with a hammer, later a band member is shoved head first into a barbecue grill, these disturbing scenes are unleavened with humour. Otherwise it's stoner fun as a roadie is electrocuted and a couple are chainsawed in half. Subsequent beheadings and skulls split by cymbals only provoke laughter. Dave Grohl is the main protagonist as the group record their new album in the house haunted by the ghosts of the 1993 band. Dave's songwriter's block spurs the narrative forward. Possession, a nosy neighbour, a mysterious gardener, a grimoire written on and bound in human skin along with standard horror film tropes and cliches are mercilessly parodied. John Carpenter supplies some of the music and has a cameo as a sound engineer. Good fun if a tad too long at 106 minutes. Directed by B. J. McDonnell from a screenplay by Jeff Buhler and Rebecca Hughes. 7/10.

In cinemas.
I've just cut and posted your review over at Deadites because this is exactly the sort of stuff that floats our boat mate .. have this Lordi video as a reward Ramon and this Twinkie because, well, you've earned it ..

 
I've just cut and posted your review over at Deadites because this is exactly the sort of stuff that floats our boat mate .. have this Lordi video as a reward Ramon and this Twinkie because, well, you've earned it ..


Thanks!

That's a great music vid!
 
The Dead Centre: A man wakes up in a hospital morgue, is amnesiac, staggers around, finds a bed. Discovered by a nurse he ends up in the emergency psychiatric ward. A psychiatrist tries to make sense of what's going on, finally realising that his patient is the missing corpse. But this is no medical misdiagnosis, the man has died before and something has come back from the other side with him. This is a well worn trope but its set against the backdrop of a hospital which has to ration psychiatric care and there is also a story line involving a medical examiner trying to track down the misplaced corpse. A sense of paranoia builds as the narrative unfolds, most of the horror is psychological but there also some disturbingly violent scenes, people having their élan vital sucked from them and a grand guignol finale as the plot strands intersect. Shane Carruth plays the alienated patient whose pain from existential despair is palpable, Jeremy Childs is the psychiatrist who fights administrators on behalf of patients, his own sanity unraveling as he treats Carruth with Bill Feehely as the pathologist on a quest, three great performances. Written and Directed by Billy Senese. 8/10.

Available to screen (free) until 2 April 2022 at: https://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-dead-center

I was going to say I'm surprised Shane Carruth can still get work, but on Googling I see this is from 2018, before the restraining order from Amy Seimetz and this year's arrest for domestic violence.
 
Malignant: Not quite what I was expecting. It opens in 1993 at a strange hospital where young patients are being experimented on. One of them gets free and uses their ability to manipulate electricity and extreme strength to kill staff members before being subdued. Real X-Men/Mutants stuff. Skipping forward to 2020, Madison is injured by her abusive husband Derek, then electrical appliances go crazy and a shadowy figure who is invisible in light kills Derek. Madison develops the ability to see murders as they are occurring. Pretty gruesome, with many violent killings, battered to death with a trophy, stabbed with a dagger fashioned from that very award. In one police lock up cell a veritable massacre takes place. Dark corridors, a dark house, an attic lit through an airfan window where a prisoner is kept ties to a wall. We see more of the horribly disfigured assassin as he battles with police and slays his victims. The tension is maintained throughout the film as the action proceeds at a relentless pace. A good horror thriller with a few twists and surprises. Directed by James Wan, Written by Wan and Akela Cooper. 8/10.

In cinemas.

Finally caught up with Malignant tonight.
An outrageously OTT body horror, with hints of Basket Case and Brain Dead, it's as barking mad as it is gory. Plot holes aplenty, but some quite mind-blowing special effects and superbly choreographed fight scenes just about raised it to a 7/10 in my book.
Now out on Sky cinema.
 
Finally caught up with Malignant tonight.
An outrageously OTT body horror, with hints of Basket Case and Brain Dead, it's as barking mad as it is gory. Plot holes aplenty, but some quite mind-blowing special effects and superbly choreographed fight scenes just about raised it to a 7/10 in my book.
Now out on Sky cinema.

Malignant is crazy, one of those recent horrors where for about an hour you think, yeah, yeah, seen it all before, and then BAM all Hell breaks loose! No spoilers, but that stuntwoman is amazing.
 
X: A Slasher film which is self referential in much the same as the recent Scream and Texas Chainsaw Massacre were. Like them it's leavened with a strain of dark humour. It's 1979, six people set off to make an adult movie, the producer Wayne is determined to break into the emerging home video market and make his girlfriend Maxine into a star. The director, RJ, who wants to make an avant garde porn flick is joined by his uneasy girlfriend Lorraine on sound. Bobby and Jackson are two adult film actors. Arriving at the farmhouse location they are met by a crazy old man, Howard, wielding a shotgun, this combined with an old woman, Pearl, eerily staring out a window should have sent the alarm bells ringing. Wayne sweet talks the old man with money. The old geezer is suspicious of them but thinks they're just vacationing in his guesthouse. The filming commences but soon things go awry. This is a mixture of American Gothic, Wrong Turn and Deliverance with extremely violent and downright disturbing moments. One scene in particular features Pearl, slashing away, red lit by car lights, Don't Fear The Reaper playing on the radio is masterly. Indeed the film appears to pay homage to classic slasher films rather than being a pastiche. While the violence is extreme, there seems to be an inevitability to it once Pearl meets Maxine, dreams of her own lost youth and beauty and is jealous. There are a few plot twists, the old couple in particular harbour one or two little secrets. An unintentionally entertaining Fundamentalist Preacher is ranting in the background on TV in many scenes. Mia Goth is great as both Maxine and Pearl, with emerging Scream Queen Jenna Ortega as Lorraine. Written & Directed by Ti West. 8/10.

In cinemas.
 
X: A Slasher film which is self referential in much the same as the recent Scream and Texas Chainsaw Massacre were. Like them it's leavened with a strain of dark humour. It's 1979, six people set off to make an adult movie, the producer Wayne is determined to break into the emerging home video market and make his girlfriend Maxine into a star. The director, RJ, who wants to make an avant garde porn flick is joined by his uneasy girlfriend Lorraine on sound. Bobby and Jackson are two adult film actors. Arriving at the farmhouse location they are met by a crazy old man, Howard, wielding a shotgun, this combined with an old woman, Pearl, eerily staring out a window should have sent the alarm bells ringing. Wayne sweet talks the old man with money. The old geezer is suspicious of them but thinks they're just vacationing in his guesthouse. The filming commences but soon things go awry. This is a mixture of American Gothic, Wrong Turn and Deliverance with extremely violent and downright disturbing moments. One scene in particular features Pearl, slashing away, red lit by car lights, Don't Fear The Reaper playing on the radio is masterly. Indeed the film appears to pay homage to classic slasher films rather than being a pastiche. While the violence is extreme, there seems to be an inevitability to it once Pearl meets Maxine, dreams of her own lost youth and beauty and is jealous. There are a few plot twists, the old couple in particular harbour one or two little secrets. An unintentionally entertaining Fundamentalist Preacher is ranting in the background on TV in many scenes. Mia Goth is great as both Maxine and Pearl, with emerging Scream Queen Jenna Ortega as Lorraine. Written & Directed by Ti West. 8/10.

In cinemas.
I saw this the other day. I enjoyed the large scale rural scenery. It was gorgeous on a movie screen. The actors were very good and the music was great. I loved the particular scene that you describe of Pearl drenched in red, slashing away. It reminded me of Dario Argento's use of colour in his movies.

While I think the scenes and cimatography were very well done and it was quite reminiscent of Texas Chainsaw Massacre, I found the movie a little too "on the nose". It was, imo, almost too perfect. At exactly the point that I was thinking "where's the horror", the actors proceeded to explain what the movie was doing. I think that that is what I didn't enjoy. In some way, to me, it was trying to explain to viewers what a 70's horror slasher movie was, rather than just allowing viewers to enjoy it.

I was surprised in your review, @ramonmercado, that Maxine and Pearl were played by the same actor. This I didn't notice, though I did know that the characters were connected.

So, I wouldn't say I enjoyed the movie as a horror movie, but I did enjoy the production and work put into the movie. I did see the whole movie, as someone to whom I described my experience asked me "When did you walk out?" So I won't put a rating on it as I wouldn't dissuade someone who enjoys horror movies from watching it. It just isn't one that I would see twice.
 
I was surprised in your review, @ramonmercado, that Maxine and Pearl were played by the same actor. This I didn't notice, though I did know that the characters were connected.

A prequel titled Pearl has already been filmed and is now in post production. Set during WWI in 1918 and explores the origins of Pear] The events take place prior to the previous film, and explore how the cabin, where the "massacre of X" takes place, was once used as a boarding house during the war. Mia Goth will reprise her role as a younger version of Pearl.
 
The Furies: A Slasher flick which is reminiscent of The Hunt, Revenge, The Final Girl and Antebellum but has plenty of it's own shocks and gore. Women are kidnapped and wake up near an abandoned mining town in the Australian Outback. They are hunted by masked men wielding hatchets and scythes. But not just any masks, more like a cross between those of Leatherface and the killers in You're Next. The women do fight back, form alliances and enmities as the narrative unfolds. There is more to this than just a ordinary hunt as technology is used to control perimeters and the hunters also battle each other. To call this a savage film would be an understatement, the gore flows freely as heads are bisected and limbs lopped off, it is not for the squeamish or fainthearted. There are also some plot twists in this satisfying tale of terror. Directed & Written by Tony D'Aquino. 8/10.

Saw it on Film4.
 
The Exorcist was all the rage in 1973.

My wife went with family members to see this movie, and it really scared her.

That night in our small apartment we heard mommy, mommy which scared my wife again.

It turned out that was when our first baby decided to say her first word which was mommy.

Our daughter had never said any word up until that moment.

After all these years, I never took the time to watch this movie.
 
The Cellar: A family move into an isolated Irish Manor house, as could be expected the teen daughter Ellie (Abby Fitz) isn't enamoured with the change. Things take a turn for the strange when Ellie disappears in the basement while on the phone to her mother Keira (Elisha Cuthbert). The cellar itself exudes creepiness and Ellie had already been trapped there when the door jammed. We are off on a journey through possession, the opening of gates between dimensions and the discoveries of 12th century alchemists. But the Demon and supranatural effects in this case are summoned up by abstruse mathematical formulae. In the name of Schrodinger I compel thee! Some good shock scenes but most of the horror here is psychological. A bit uneven, at it's worst when dealling with Keira's viral marketing campaigns but returns to the promise of the opening when Keira meets the previous owner of the house as the narrative moves on to a cataclysmic finale. Written and Directed by Brendan Muldowney. 7/10.

In cinemas.
 
Late last night, alone in the dark, I watched the Spanish horror Verónica, loosely based on quite a famous real-life ouija-induced poltergeist case in Madrid from back in 1991, which I came across in a local ghost book, was reading up more online and found that it was made into a film - the names are changed, the special effects are a bit naff, and the music is awful, but it was terrifying in its own way. Some teenage girls play with a ouija board and it all takes off from there. Mostly psychological horror with just one gratuitous gore scene thrown in in a formulaic oops-we-don't-have-a-gore-scene-in-our-horror-film kind of way. Apparently it's on Netflix, which I don't have; I ordered the DVD from Amazon Spain.
 
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The Butterfly Room: Ann, a nasty anti-social who has an obsession with pinning butterflies decides to move on to larger prey. A line of dark humour runs through the film leavening the worse moments as she sprays people with acid and kicks ladders from under them. But there are still quite a few disturbing scenes and this is not a film for the squeamish. Various people who cross her come to a gruesome end. Confusing at times as there are flashbacks within flashbacks but the disjointed timeline adds to the tension. Barbara Steele is great as the irritable Ann with Julia Putnam as Alice a grifter schoolgirl. A couple of interesting plot twists will make you reconsider parts of the jumbled narrative. Directed and Co-Written by Jonathan Zarantonello, based on Zarantonello's short film Alice dalle 4 alle 5 (Alice from 4 to 5). 7/10.

Showing again on Friday 8th April at 10.50 PM on the Horror Channel.
 
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Robert Reborn: KGB officer Stoichkov kidnaps a toymaker, who owns a mystical book, to find a way to heal Stalin. However, things take a turn when the toymaker's dolls set out to rescue him. This is part of a killer doll franchise and is so bad it's good. terrible special effects, unconvincing dolls. Anachronisms abound, though set in 1951 a modern jet is used but when the toymaker defects to Britain the jet is intercepted by World War Two RAF planes, London has a present day skyline.Acting is terrible. Surely this is deliberate? Written and Directed by Andrew Jones. On Netflix. I'm giving it 4/10 for laughs.
 
Scream 2022 sequel: Without giving the killer away, hearing their motives was like hearing the writers bitching about the pitfalls of writing a blockbuster in the 21st Century, it was a guide for what to do and not do to appease the toxic fans. Handy if you're a budding screenwriter, but the original had at least one foot in "reality", and that balancing act made it the surprise hit it was.
 
Antlers.
A 2020 movie that seeks (not particularly successfully) to put some flesh on the bones of the Wendigo myth.
There's mangled corpses and viscera galore and a memorable performance from young Jeremy T Thomas, as the schoolboy trying to cope with some horrific domestic problems.
It's a painfully slow-burner of a movie though, that feels at least 20 minutes too long and the whole raision d'être behind the native American spirit beast preying on people is never really developed.
My wife had to nudge me to stop me falling asleep around an hour in.
I was left shaking my head sadly and thinking "Is that it?" when the credits rolled.
New to Sky Movies, but only meriting a 5/10 in my book, for a surprisingly dull film about a potentially very interesting topic.
 
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V/H/S/94 (2021): Horror anthology film. The framing segment has a SWAT team raiding a warehouse thinking its a drug bust but it's the headquarters of a strange cult. They find corpses with their eyes gouged out, mannequins, strange hypnotic commands emitting from speakers, tv sets are playing vids of the story segments. The segments are all worth watching but The Subject, about a mad scientist carrying out gruesome experiments on his captives is overlong, still it has some good shoot 'em up scenes as well as sickening cyber augmentations. Terror portrays an extremist Christian militia intent on blowing up a Federal building, boy do they have an original and creepy method of doing it. Exploding bunnies and incompetent "soldiers" is fun when viewed in a certain light.In The Empty Wake a funeral home employee notices a coffin is moving, surely it;s only the corpse releasing gasses? Best perhaps is Storm Drain where a film crew investigate sightings of a Ratman, Going into the sewers they find far worse than that, horrifying scenes of faces dissolving in vitriol but a good line of black humour leavens the horror in this segment just as it does throughout V/H/S/94. Written and directed by Jennifer Reeder, Chloe Okuno, Steve Kostanski Simon Barrett, Timo Tjahjanto, Ryan Prows. 7/10.
 
You guys have probably discussed this already, but 'The Amityville Horror' is one that I watch whenever it comes on tv.
Always gets me that 6 family members were shot in that house by one of the sons, who claimed he heard voices ordering him to do it.
I know there are those who don't believe it, but we live not too far from the house, and one of these days I want to see it for myself, just to stand there and see if anything comes to me!
 
'Schizo' 1976, British Film
Starring Lynne Frederick and the beautiful Stephanie Beacham.
Frederick stars as a young professional skater who is getting married when demons from her past arrive. Her mother was murdered when she was a little girl, and the murderer has just been released from prison.
Shock ending!
 
'Schizo' 1976, British Film
Starring Lynne Frederick and the beautiful Stephanie Beacham.
Frederick stars as a young professional skater who is getting married when demons from her past arrive. Her mother was murdered when she was a little girl, and the murderer has just been released from prison.
Shock ending!

Schizo was harshly criticised at the time by mental health groups for trivialising mental illness in the UK. Director Pete Walker must have been delighted at the free publicity (!).
 
Schizo was harshly criticised at the time by mental health groups for trivialising mental illness in the UK. Director Pete Walker must have been delighted at the free publicity (!).
I'm surprised - I just saw it recently and didn't think it trivialized anything, rather it showed what a schizoid personality might be.
Compared to modern day horror films, it's tame!
 
I'm surprised - I just saw it recently and didn't think it trivialized anything, rather it showed what a schizoid personality might be.
Compared to modern day horror films, it's tame!

I seem to remember it was the advertising campaign that attracted the most complaints, with the tagline "Where one hand doesn't know who the other hand is killing!" If it had been 30 years later, they might as well have put "LOL!" on the poster too.

But Schizo only has a passing resemblance to what actual mental illness is like, it's primarily a cheesy horror thriller. Walker was in the exploitation movie game - if you want to see real hypocrisy, watch his film Home Before Midnight, his expose of teenage girls luring men to have sex with them. Sure, Pete, OF COURSE it happened that way! Sheesh.
 
I just watched The Siren (2019). I really enjoyed it. Dumb guy falls for a girl who's a bit wet. It really did not play out the way I thought, very sad film, I would hesitate at calling it horror, more of a dark fantasy. Low budget with sparse dialogue but some great acting, there are times when the siren's bond with water is almost tangible. Great stuff.
 
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