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Horror TV

Bram Stokers Dracula film is on the horror channel right now,,!, One of my fave films .
I've been watching American Horror Stories online, it's a new series with stand alone episodes . Some episodes are better than others, I recommend the Ba'al episode, the "naughty list" , the cursed film one and " feral" .

The American Horror Story proper is also back ! Double Feature. I watched the first 2 episodes online last night and it's excellent so far. .... Which is good because some of the later seasons (Roanake and 1984 in particular) have been flops compared to the early seasons.

With Double Feature it is looking to be back on form! I won't write any spoilers, just watch it!
 
ramonmercado said:
Crimson Rivers Season 2 showing on More4 Fridays at 9 pm and will end up on All4. "Muti" murders; Relics stolen, priest crucified upside down. Good stuff.
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I will deffo be checking that out, sounds right up my street.,
 
Midnight Mass: Catholic Guilt, alcoholism, mass killing of feral cats, new priest arrives on an island after the old priest goes on a pilgrimage to Israel/Palestine. Three episodes in it's spooky and weird. Hypocrisy and manipulation in a small community also figure. As do a clash of faiths. In episode 3 there's a reveal which you may have guessed at. Get your teeth into this one! Created, Directed and (mostly) Written by Mike Flanagan. On Netflix. 8/10.

Mike Flanagan Explores His Private Horrors in ‘Midnight Mass’
In the new Netflix series, the acclaimed adapter of works by Shirley Jackson and Stephen King tells a more personal story.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/24/arts/television/midnight-mass-mike-flanagan.html
 
Essay/Review of Midnight Mass which also looks at the wider trope of Religious Horror.

Warning: Here Be Spoilers!

Of all the subgenres of horror, religious horror tends to be my favorite.

When it’s good, you get all-time classics like Rosemary’s Baby, Hereditary, and The Exorcist. When it’s over-the-top, you get operatic shit like The Omen, Hellraiser, or, for my money, Constantine. And when it commits to being goofy as hell, you get… The Conjuring series. Even the bad examples of the genre will provide decent exorcism scenes or fun Satanic cults. And religious horror has inspired fantastic comedy like Good Omens, SNL’s Exorcist II, and some of the funniest scenes in This is the End.

This essay is going to dive into Midnight Mass’ place in the tradition of religious horror, and the Catholic iconography used—and it’s going to spoil everything, so if you want a light spoiler review you can head over here, but otherwise this essay assumes you’ve watched the whole show.

In most of these movies, religion is used in one of two ways: Catholicism is a creepy backdrop that is only vaguely understood by the protagonists, and adds to the horror; Catholicism is a series of rituals that are used to ward off the horror element—spiritual caulk plugging a crack in a wall. (And yes, it’s almost always Catholicism.

I think Catholicism is just more visual. Where Protestantism lends itself to stark meditations on faith and doubt like First Reformed and most of Ingmar Bergman’s oeuvre, Catholicism is colorful and ancient. Exorcisms just sound better in Latin.)

Rosemary is a lapsed Catholic who doesn’t think about religion much, and thus is vulnerable to the Devil and her shitty, shitty husband. Chris MacNeil is actively atheist, and thus can’t protect her daughter Regan from Captain Howdy. The elite family of The Omen are Catholic, but don’t seem to practice… until it’s too late. (muahahaha.) Ed and Lorraine Warren use rosaries like dowsing rods to locate demonic entities, then yell rote prayers at increasing volume until the demons get fed up and leave… FOR NOW. (muahahaha.)

But, until recently, you didn’t get conversations about what demons are, what evil is, what it would mean to live in a universe where this stuff was all real. (Plenty of people live in a universe where this stuff is all real, and plenty of people don’t, and it’s the same universe, and the cultural ramifications of this fact will never stop being interesting to me.) Suddenly, I live in a universe where I can rewatch the two perfect seasons of The Exorcist TV spinoff. I can watchEvil. And now, I can watch Midnight Mass. ...

https://www.tor.com/2021/10/01/religious-horror-and-horrific-religion-in-midnight-mass/
 
Post Mortem: No One Dies in Skarnes: Horror, (sort of) Nordic Noir and Black Comedy merge in this tale of small town Norwegian life. A woman is found dead in a field but comes back to life on the autopsy table. Soon she has strange thirsts, yes, she's a vampire. Some in the town know whats really going on, a mystery that dates back to her mother's death decades ago. There's also the family undertaker business which is going under as not enough corpses are going underground. A gritty dark thriller leavened y gallows humour and the keystone antics of the local cops. Directed by Harald Zwart and Petter Holmsen, written by Holmsen, Sofia Lersol Lund and Øyvind Rune Stålen. On Netflix. 8/10.
 
Hellnound: Korean horror series. Monsters/Demons appear chase sinners, rend them asunder and then reduce their remains to burnt bones and ashes. This is preceded by visitations by "angels" who tell the damned of the time and date of their death. A Cult leader claims that these deaths are god's judgement and the dead are sent to Hell. A Social Media influencer, Arrowhead, seeks out those who have been condemned to out them and also calls on his followers to attack wrongdoers. A condemned woman decides to allow her death to be live-streamed. The Arrowheads savagely attack the police, lawyers, anyone who aids the damned. Rather disturbing, especially the sociopathic Cult leader, Jung Jinsu, laughing at the idea that the police would investigate the will of god. The scenes portraying the relentless attacks by the Demons as they pursue, attack and tear their victims to pieces are really top notch horror. Mixed in with this is the tale of a detective, Kyunghu,n investigating the deaths and how Jung Jinsu involves Kyunghun's daughter in the cult's activities. Good and gruesome. Directed by Yeon Sang-ho (Train To Busan), written by Choi Kyu-sok. On Netflix. 8/10.
 
ramonmercado said:
Essay/Review of Midnight Mass which also looks at the wider trope of Religious Horror.

Warning: Here Be Spoilers!

Of all the subgenres of horror, religious horror tends to be my favorite.

When it’s good, you get all-time classics like Rosemary’s Baby, Hereditary, and The Exorcist. When it’s over-the-top, you get operatic shit like The Omen, Hellraiser, or, for my money, Constantine. And when it commits to being goofy as hell, you get… The Conjuring series. Even the bad examples of the genre will provide decent exorcism scenes or fun Satanic cults. And religious horror has inspired fantastic comedy like Good Omens, SNL’s Exorcist II, and some of the funniest scenes in This is the End.

This essay is going to dive into Midnight Mass’ place in the tradition of religious horror, and the Catholic iconography used—and it’s going to spoil everything, so if you want a light spoiler review you can head over here, but otherwise this essay assumes you’ve watched the whole show.

In most of these movies, religion is used in one of two ways: Catholicism is a creepy backdrop that is only vaguely understood by the protagonists, and adds to the horror; Catholicism is a series of rituals that are used to ward off the horror element—spiritual caulk plugging a crack in a wall. (And yes, it’s almost always Catholicism.

I think Catholicism is just more visual. Where Protestantism lends itself to stark meditations on faith and doubt like First Reformed and most of Ingmar Bergman’s oeuvre, Catholicism is colorful and ancient. Exorcisms just sound better in Latin.)

Rosemary is a lapsed Catholic who doesn’t think about religion much, and thus is vulnerable to the Devil and her shitty, shitty husband. Chris MacNeil is actively atheist, and thus can’t protect her daughter Regan from Captain Howdy. The elite family of The Omen are Catholic, but don’t seem to practice… until it’s too late. (muahahaha.) Ed and Lorraine Warren use rosaries like dowsing rods to locate demonic entities, then yell rote prayers at increasing volume until the demons get fed up and leave… FOR NOW. (muahahaha.)

But, until recently, you didn’t get conversations about what demons are, what evil is, what it would mean to live in a universe where this stuff was all real. (Plenty of people live in a universe where this stuff is all real, and plenty of people don’t, and it’s the same universe, and the cultural ramifications of this fact will never stop being interesting to me.) Suddenly, I live in a universe where I can rewatch the two perfect seasons of The Exorcist TV spinoff. I can watchEvil. And now, I can watch Midnight Mass. ...

https://www.tor.com/2021/10/01/religious-horror-and-horrific-religion-in-midnight-mass/
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I'm in middle of Midnight Mass. Fun show, but I want a specific character to die a prolonged and painful death. Probably won't happen.:incan:
 
Chucky: A glorious eight episode series. Chucky is as savage as ever, perhaps the best scene is when Chucky is under the seats during a charity screening of James Whale's Frankenstein, stabbing away gleefully. A great cast of young teen actors who combat Chucky, faced with unbelieving adults until some Chucky hunters arrive (fresh from Cult of Chucky). This is very much an adult series with Chucky dispatching people by electrocution, decapitation, defenestration and throat slashing. We also get flashbacks of the past of both chucky, his human progenitor and his sidekicks. Hoping for a second season! Created, Co-directed & Co-Written by Don Mancini. On Sky TV in RoI & UK. 8/10.
 
ramonmercado said:
Midnight Mass: Catholic Guilt, alcoholism, mass killing of feral cats, new priest arrives on an island after the old priest goes on a pilgrimage to Israel/Palestine. Three episodes in it's spooky and weird. Hypocrisy and manipulation in a small community also figure. As do a clash of faiths. In episode 3 there's a reveal which you may have guessed at. Get your teeth into this one! Created, Directed and (mostly) Written by Mike Flanagan. On Netflix. 8/10.

Mike Flanagan Explores His Private Horrors in ‘Midnight Mass’
In the new Netflix series, the acclaimed adapter of works by Shirley Jackson and Stephen King tells a more personal story.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/24/arts/television/midnight-mass-mike-flanagan.html
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I intend to check this out. Thank you for your reviews I find your insights to be really useful keep up the good work!
 
Okarin said:
I intend to check this out. Thank you for your reviews I find your insights to be really useful keep up the good work!
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It is well worth your time. The ending was worth the whole thing. Many multilevel philosophical questions and possible human responses (it might just be me, as my sister watched it and did not see meaning beyond just the mundane in the show) were presented in the best genre (horror) possible that allows for philosophical thought, imo.

Much more than just a horror tv series.
 
Thoroughly enjoyed Mark Gatiss's adaptation of The Mezzotint by M.R. James, this is the closest he has got to the spirit and style of the 1970s Ghost Story for Christmas so far. Nicely acted, really liked the interplay between Rory Kinnear and Frances Barber, and the ending was appropriately freaky. One of the highlights of Christmas TV for me.
 
GNC said:
Thoroughly enjoyed Mark Gatiss's adaptation of The Mezzotint by M.R. James, this is the closest he has got to the spirit and style of the 1970s Ghost Story for Christmas so far. Nicely acted, really liked the interplay between Rory Kinnear and Frances Barber, and the ending was appropriately freaky. One of the highlights of Christmas TV for me.
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Agreed. Gatiss reined it in, yet succeeded in adding a good twist to an already superior ghost story.

maximus otter
 
maximus otter said:
Agreed. Gatiss reined it in, yet succeeded in adding a good twist to an already superior ghost story.

maximus otter
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It was excellent, wasn't it? Didn't outstay its welcome, either. But it's so long since I read the story I can't remember what was added - any spoilers for me with my fading memory?!
 
GNC said:
It was excellent, wasn't it? Didn't outstay its welcome, either. But it's so long since I read the story I can't remember what was added - any spoilers for me with my fading memory?!
Click to expand...

James’ tale ended with the academics realising that Gawdy (the poacher, last of an ancient house) had ended Squire Francis’ line by taking Francis’ only child.

Gatiss “added a generation”, by revealing that Williams - the central character of the telly version - was the illegitimate grandson of the squire; so Gawdy had to kill him, too, in order to accomplish his mission from beyond the grave.

maximus otter
 
GNC said:
…a lot of the James stories blend into each other in my mind...
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giphy.gif



maximus otter
 
ramonmercado said:
Just finished Archive 81 on Netflix. Cults, found footage, attempts to raise a demon. Review to follow. 9/10.
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No terminal spoilers please, as I'm only 2 episodes in!
Found it a bit slow, but the way the two timelines intertwine and the vaguely unsettling atmosphere were enough to hook me in.
Found footage has been rather an oversubscribed genre since Blair Witch, but Archive 81 seems to throw a few twists into the formulaic mix.
 
Archive 81: A film curator in the present day is hired by a billionaire to restore fire damaged video tapes which were shot in 1994 in an apartment building which burned down. The researcher soon discovers that he has a personal link to the fire. Timeslips, Occult Covens, worship of a God/Demon and strange drugs are involved. He also finds a lost film by a famed horror film director. Quite a few jump scares but the conspiracies and apparent contact between timelines - 2020, 1994, 1924 - add to the overall strange mood of the series; psychological horror predominates. So many secrets held by different people and contending forces. Great performances by Mamoudou Athie as Dan Turner the film curator, Dina Shihabi as Melody Pendras the researcher who shot the tapes in 1994 and Ariana Neal as Jess Lewis, a precocious young teen who gets entwined in the mystery. This series goes far beyond it's found footage roots in the way the past timelines are fleshed out. Developed and Co-Written by Rebecca Sonnenshine from a Podcast by Daniel Powell and Marc Sollinger. Eight episodes on Netflix. 9/10.
 
ramonmercado said:
Archive 81: A film curator in the present day is hired by a billionaire to restore fire damaged video tapes which were shot in 1994 in an apartment building which burned down. The researcher soon discovers that he has a personal link to the fire. Timeslips, Occult Covens, worship of a God/Demon and strange drugs are involved. He also finds a lost film by a famed horror film director. Quite a few jump scares but the conspiracies and apparent contact between timelines - 2020, 1994, 1924 - add to the overall strange mood of the series; psychological horror predominates. So many secrets held by different people and contending forces. Great performances by Mamoudou Athie as Dan Turner the film curator, Dina Shihabi as Melody Pendras the researcher who shot the tapes in 1994 and Ariana Neal as Jess Lewis, a precocious young teen who gets entwined in the mystery. This series goes far beyond it's found footage roots in the way the past timelines are fleshed out. Developed and Co-Written by Rebecca Sonnenshine from a Podcast by Daniel Powell and Marc Sollinger. Eight episodes on Netflix. 9/10.
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My wife gave up on it after 3 episodes, due to the glacial pace trying her patience, but I stayed the course and watched the last two episodes of series 1 last night.
About half-way through episode 8 I did wonder how they were going to wrap it all up in the next 25 minutes and ...

... well they didn't! I gather series two is now being filmed, in which the roles of Melody and Dan are kind-of reversed, so she now in the present day, has to find a way of rescuing Dan from the aftermath of the Visser fire. Hmmm... can I be bothered to watch something that's in danger of becoming another Lost? Not sure. My hoots of derision moment was the blatant rip-off of The Ring when Kaelago starts emerging from the TV.
Did you spot the continuity errors? At the 1924 party when Rose is serving drinks, the number of glasses on her tray changes from second to second (why would guests keep putting drinks back onto her tray?) and Melody's mum in the final episode slices open her hand so pints of blood are gushing out to cover the totem but, when Melody reappears, there's not so much as a drop of blood on her fingers.

Overall, whilst there were things to like, like the numerous twists and impressive use of old English/Anglo-Saxon for the spell, it felt like a 90 minute horror/sci-fi movie built on homages to The Ring, Blair Witch and Rosemary's Baby, stretched out to a grinding 7.5 hours and I wish it had concluded properly.
Maybe 6/10 in my book.
 
blessmycottonsocks said:
My wife gave up on it after 3 episodes, due to the glacial pace trying her patience, but I stayed the course and watched the last two episodes of series 1 last night.
About half-way through episode 8 I did wonder how they were going to wrap it all up in the next 25 minutes and ...

... well they didn't! I gather series two is now being filmed, in which the roles of Melody and Dan are kind-of reversed, so she now in the present day, has to find a way of rescuing Dan from the aftermath of the Visser fire. Hmmm... can I be bothered to watch something that's in danger of becoming another Lost? Not sure. My hoots of derision moment was the blatant rip-off of The Ring when Kaelago starts emerging from the TV.
Did you spot the continuity errors? At the 1924 party when Rose is serving drinks, the number of glasses on her tray changes from second to second (why would guests keep putting drinks back onto her tray?) and Melody's mum in the final episode slices open her hand so pints of blood are gushing out to cover the totem but, when Melody reappears, there's not so much as a drop of blood on her fingers.

Overall, whilst there were things to like, like the numerous twists and impressive use of old English/Anglo-Saxon for the spell, it felt like a 90 minute horror/sci-fi movie built on homages to The Ring, Blair Witch and Rosemary's Baby, stretched out to a grinding 7.5 hours and I wish it had concluded properly.
Maybe 6/10 in my book.
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Interesting article on Archive 81 which zones in on the film restoration angle but appreciates he rest of the plot.

Archive 81 Is a Wonderfully Creepy Ode to Film Restoration​

First things first: Archive 81 is fun as hell, most of the time, and reliably creepy. The writers and directors went all-in on atmosphere and mounting dread, and rely on horror to grow out of psychological terror rather than gore. There is almost no physical violence in this show? The horror plot reminded me more than anything of an old-timey 1930s haunted house movie, which is exactly what I wanted to watch over a freezing winter weekend.

The show opens on a wide shot of the Flatiron Building, one of my very favorite buildings in New York, where I worked for over six years, and then the main character takes the R train to the Museum of the Moving Image, the place where I spent the vast majority of my summers for about five years. I was not expecting to feel so many emotions in the first five minutes of the fun horror show!

There are three main threads here. First, obviously, is the horror plot. A mysterious corporation hires film archivist Dan Turner (Mamoudou Athie) to restore some videotapes that were shot in 1994. The tapes were nearly destroyed in a fire that, presumably, killed their creator, Melody Pendras (Dina Shihabi). As Dan restores the tapes, he begins to feel an uncanny connection to Melody, learns that the shadowy corporation is (surprise!) hiding a secluded-mountain-compound’s worth of nefarious secrets, and starts to uncover the truth about a cult.

Generally, each episode opens with a piece or artifact that comments in some way on what’s to come. The show hops between the present day (either New York City or a compound in the Catskills where Dan is restoring the video) recordings, or back to what’s on the recordings themselves (in which NYU student Melody tries to interview the residents of the Visser Apartments in 1994 New York City). As the plot unspools, the lines between present and past blur, as do the lines between natural and supernatural. ...

https://www.tor.com/2022/01/18/archive-81-netflix-horror-series-review/
 
Watched a couple of episodes of new Korean zombie series "All of Us Are Dead" last night.
Set almost entirely in a sprawling high school campus, it features very rapid-moving zombies (rather like 28 Days Later) and some brilliantly choreographed fight scenes obviously filmed in one long take. There's poignancy too, as students realise they've been infected and it's only a matter of time before they experience the hideous, bone-breaking change. Some very welcome black humour punctuates the visceral action.
Korea is building a reputation for hugely entertaining TV series and this, whilst not really breaking any new ground, is certainly compelling.
7/10 is my rating so far.
 
blessmycottonsocks said:
Watched a couple of episodes of new Korean zombie series "All of Us Are Dead" last night.
Set almost entirely in a sprawling high school campus, it features very rapid-moving zombies (rather like 28 Days Later) and some brilliantly choreographed fight scenes obviously filmed in one long take. There's poignancy too, as students realise they've been infected and it's only a matter of time before they experience the hideous, bone-breaking change. Some very welcome black humour punctuates the visceral action.
Korea is building a reputation for hugely entertaining TV series and this, whilst not really breaking any new ground, is certainly compelling.
7/10 is my rating so far.
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l’m at about the same point as you. The action scenes are breathtakingly kinetic, as the camera pans 360⁰ with ghastliness occurring everywhere. l’m finding it strangely uninvolving, though, as it seems to rely on nothing inventive, just large second helpings of yesterday’s leftovers.

I’ll give it another episode to see if it engages me.

maximus otter
 
You might know the recent Sabrina witch tv-show, which was based on a character from Archie comics. There is also a tv-show based on Archie called Riverdale. At the beginning of season 6, they are having a few episodes which instead are taking place in Rivervale, some kind of alternate horror version.
 
Feria: The Darkest Light: A tale of a Gnostic Cult who might well be summoning up more than they bargained for as they reach across to another world. Two teen sisters are caught up in the aftermath of the death of 23 cult members following a failed ritual, their parents, the apparent leaders of the sect are missing. A secret is shared by many in the town even though the girls are shunned. Set in Andalusia in Spain in 1995, there are flashbacks to 1975 when similar events occurred (the death of Franco in the background also symbolising the birth of a new reality). Gnostic rituals are performed or rather transformed to bring about a better world, even if human sacrifice is required. Some savage scenes of violence when people are possessed as well as strange entities creatures fro the "other side" which are well imagined. Also an ancient underground temple in an old abandoned mine. I'd like to read the comments of a Gnostic scholar on this but I found it to be an entertaining horror/thriller series. Created and Written by Carlos Montero and Agustín Martínez; Directed by Jorge Dorado and Carles Torrens. Eight episodes on Netflix. 8/10.
 
I seem to be on a 70's binge at the moment (What with the Columbo boxset) and now I have bought the full box set of Rod Serling's "Night Gallery". I remember seeing the first season but not the final 2. Also, Creepshow season 2 to watch.
 
Damien said:
I seem to be on a 70's binge at the moment (What with the Columbo boxset) and now I have bought the full box set of Rod Serling's "Night Gallery". I remember seeing the first season but not the final 2. Also, Creepshow season 2 to watch.
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Night Gallery was a favourite of mine, as a kid. Better than The Twilight Zone.
 
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