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Post by jamesbamesy on Sept 1, 2019 2:30:30 GMT
Just came back from seeing this. I was pleasantly surprised by how good it was. Probably my favourite horror of 2019 so far (Child’s Play is a strong contender as well).
I like the premise of how these creatures come to life from a book that writes itself. The way the monsters were done was also fantastic and were pretty scary, especially the scarecrow.
Anybody interested in this? Has anyone else seen it? If so, whaddya think?
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Post by masterofallgoons on Sept 1, 2019 4:55:06 GMT
I liked it too. I didn't really know much about the books except that they existed and that I somehow missed them when I was a kid, even though it's the sort of thing I really would have loved. Maybe it was before my time.
But the Alamo Drafthouse does a little primer sort of video before some of the movies, provided by Birth Movies Death, and it was cool to see that, primarily to get acquainted with the stories and their legacy, as well as then illustrations. Maybe mostly the illustrations.
The movie was fun and clever and had the right tone for a child friendly horror movie. I would have loved this if it came out when I was like 10. The story wasn't entirely original, the whole thing with the book writing itself and manifesting in real life has been done before, but it was done pretty well. I liked that the old stories still exist as stories in the context of this movie that are conjured to happen to these characters rather than reinventing them for these new characters or just making a straight anthology adapting them. The story ultimately focuses on a monster that's really not the bad guy because she was wronged, which is the ultimate cliche for a family friendly horror, but it does it well.
The atmosphere is very strong and the kids are all decent enough actors. The lead girl is good and nobody was too annoying. It was a little bit of a shame to see Hank from Breaking Bad show up and have nothing to do, but mostly everyone else had a moment to shine. The ending left something to be desired as the attempt to set up a sequel was very obvious, but that was ok.
There's one effect that works but is just a bit of too-obvious CGI, but otherwise the effects are such an extraordinary translation of the illustrations. It's pretty amazing how well they captured that imagery and how well it works on screen. And for what is essentially a kids movie it really does get pretty intense.
It was a good time, and I hope it will be a really strong intro-to-horror type movie for a lot of kids.
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Post by jamesbamesy on Sept 1, 2019 11:14:40 GMT
I liked it too. I didn't really know much about the books except that they existed and that I somehow missed them when I was a kid, even though it's the sort of thing I really would have loved. Maybe it was before my time. But the Alamo Drafthouse does a little primer sort of video before some of the movies, provided by Birth Movies Death, and it was cool to see that, primarily to get acquainted with the stories and their legacy, as well as then illustrations. Maybe mostly the illustrations. The movie was fun and clever and had the right tone for a child friendly horror movie. I would have loved this if it came out when I was like 10. The story wasn't entirely original, the whole thing with the book writing itself and manifesting in real life has been done before, but it was done pretty well. I liked that the old stories still exist as stories in the context of this movie that are conjured to happen to these characters rather than reinventing them for these new characters or just making a straight anthology adapting them. The story ultimately focuses on a monster that's really not the bad guy because she was wronged, which is the ultimate cliche for a family friendly horror, but it does it well. The atmosphere is very strong and the kids are all decent enough actors. The lead girl is good and nobody was too annoying. It was a little bit of a shame to see Hank from Breaking Bad show up and have nothing to do, but mostly everyone else had a moment to shine. The ending left something to be desired as the attempt to set up a sequel was very obvious, but that was ok. There's one effect that works but is just a bit of too-obvious CGI, but otherwise the effects are such an extraordinary translation of the illustrations. It's pretty amazing how well they captured that imagery and how well it works on screen. And for what is essentially a kids movie it really does get pretty intense. It was a good time, and I hope it will be a really strong intro-to-horror type movie for a lot of kids. Yeah, it’s definitely good for older kids. I didn’t realize it was PG-13 when I watched it, but not knowing the rating really helped the experience. |
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Post by masterofallgoons on Sept 1, 2019 13:53:08 GMT
Yeah, it’s definitely good for older kids. I didn’t realize it was PG-13 when I watched it, but not knowing the rating really helped the experience. Yeah I could see that being better. I knew before hand and saw how they were trying to stretch the rating, which I admired, but I did notice the whole time. This was the movie that Goosebumps should have been.
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Post by jamesbamesy on Sept 1, 2019 14:01:37 GMT
Yeah, it’s definitely good for older kids. I didn’t realize it was PG-13 when I watched it, but not knowing the rating really helped the experience. This was the movie that Goosebumps should have been. Didn't see that one, but I haven't associated myself with that franchise at all yet. |
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Post by masterofallgoons on Sept 1, 2019 14:46:36 GMT
This was the movie that Goosebumps should have been. Didn't see that one, but I haven't associated myself with that franchise at all yet. I haven't seen the cheaper, less seen sequel but the first one was an ok silly kids movie. The 90s show was, to me, a lesser 'Are You Afraid of the Dark?,' but I liked those books when I was a kid. |
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Post by novastar6 on Sept 2, 2019 5:26:38 GMT
Didn't see that one, but I haven't associated myself with that franchise at all yet. I haven't seen the cheaper, less seen sequel but the first one was an ok silly kids movie. The 90s show was, to me, a lesser 'Are You Afraid of the Dark?,' but I liked those books when I was a kid.
I wasn't allowed to read Goosebumps as a kid, I read some when I was older and I don't know why...except the writing is bad. I think even if I'd read them as a kid I'd know how bad they were.
Interestingly enough when I was 10 I was allowed to read the Fright Time books,
which honestly, should've been as big of a hit as Goosebumps were, why they never caught on I'll never know, I loved those stories, they were written similar to Goosebumps but the writing was superior and the characters weren't annoying pieces of shit you just want to smack the hell out of. Some of them were kind of 'meh' at the time, others were really freaky because you did wonder about what if your computer was trying to kill you through the other electronics in the house, what if you woke up one day and there was no record of your existence, etc?, and they're actually written in a way that to a kid, it seems believable. Not like say, One Day at Horrorland, the 10 year old brother 'oh the car just blew up for some unknown reason, let's go inside the amusement park and go on the rides'. WRONG, even a brain dead 10 year old is going to wonder 1. how the hell did that happen? 2. How the hell are we gonna get home?
Something I did notice I find interesting, I read one Goosebumps book that was actually pretty decent about a ghost in a suit of armor, but if you look inside the cover, a woman wrote it. So how many people actually wrote the Goosebumps stories?
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Post by novastar6 on Sept 2, 2019 5:29:15 GMT
Just came back from seeing this. I was pleasantly surprised by how good it was. Probably my favourite horror of 2019 so far (Child’s Play is a strong contender as well). I like the premise of how these creatures come to life from a book that writes itself. The way the monsters were done was also fantastic and were pretty scary, especially the scarecrow. Anybody interested in this? Has anyone else seen it? If so, whaddya think? I saw this movie, it's the first time I've ever seen a horror movie actually in the theater...I wouldn't say I was disappointed, the story was interesting, a lot DEEPER than I was expecting it to be, but there were just a bunch of little things that if not for this, it would've been a lot better. But there's something that really didn't make sense to me. We never actually find out if the stories about Sarah Bellows were true, that she was hidden away all her life and never went out and nobody saw her. If this is true, she wouldn't have gone to school, she wouldn't be educated, so how could she know that the mercury from the paper mill was poisoning the water supply that was killing the children? And is that even something that anybody would've actually known back in the 1890s? Even if she heard her brothers/father talking about it, would they have known?
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Post by jamesbamesy on Sept 2, 2019 12:51:58 GMT
Just came back from seeing this. I was pleasantly surprised by how good it was. Probably my favourite horror of 2019 so far (Child’s Play is a strong contender as well). I like the premise of how these creatures come to life from a book that writes itself. The way the monsters were done was also fantastic and were pretty scary, especially the scarecrow. Anybody interested in this? Has anyone else seen it? If so, whaddya think? I saw this movie, it's the first time I've ever seen a horror movie actually in the theater...I wouldn't say I was disappointed, the story was interesting, a lot DEEPER than I was expecting it to be, but there were just a bunch of little things that if not for this, it would've been a lot better. But there's something that really didn't make sense to me. We never actually find out if the stories about Sarah Bellows were true, that she was hidden away all her life and never went out and nobody saw her. If this is true, she wouldn't have gone to school, she wouldn't be educated, so how could she know that the mercury from the paper mill was poisoning the water supply that was killing the children? And is that even something that anybody would've actually known back in the 1890s? Even if she heard her brothers/father talking about it, would they have known? My best guess is she was educated at home and then somehow heard about the poisoned mill water from one of her family members from downstairs (or wherever she was hidden). People in the 1890s could’ve been poisoned themselves and that was enough proof. Maybe in the possible sequel, they’ll explain it in more detail. |
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Post by masterofallgoons on Sept 3, 2019 17:34:14 GMT
I wasn't allowed to read Goosebumps as a kid, I read some when I was older and I don't know why...except the writing is bad. I think even if I'd read them as a kid I'd know how bad they were.
They were somewhat poorly written, but they were explicitly for kids, and younger kids at that. It was not so much those books in particular but that it was an introduction to the genre that clearly is an allure for so many children. I can't speak to the specifics of those details you're drawing on, and I don't have much of an interest to revisit those books, but they were huge when I was a kid and they were among my first horror genre materials.
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Post by masterofallgoons on Sept 3, 2019 17:35:00 GMT
I saw this movie, it's the first time I've ever seen a horror movie actually in the theater... Wow, really?
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Post by novastar6 on Sept 3, 2019 17:53:12 GMT
I saw this movie, it's the first time I've ever seen a horror movie actually in the theater... Wow, really?
Yeah. We had no theater in our town between the years I was 12 and 16, and it doesn't get a whole lot of horror movies, and the ones that look like they'll be good, usually it doesn't get, so I was surprised when they had the poster for this one on the marquee.
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Post by Toasted Cheese on Oct 20, 2019 10:15:43 GMT
I just saw it. Thought it was tiresome and horrible. Horrible actors, horrible characters, horrible atmosphere and crappy jump scares. While the story had potential, it came across as perfunctory and drawn out and full of cliches. Horror scenes similar have been done a million times before. Not much new here.
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Post by jamesbamesy on Oct 20, 2019 10:53:51 GMT
I just saw it. Thought it was tiresome and horrible. Horrible actors, horrible characters, horrible atmosphere and crappy jump scares. While the story had potential, it came across as perfunctory and drawn out and full of cliches. Horror scenes similar have been done a million times before. Not much new here. Are you sure we were watching the same movie? Just kidding. Sorry you didn’t like the movie, but to each his own. |
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Post by Toasted Cheese on Oct 20, 2019 13:41:16 GMT
I just saw it. Thought it was tiresome and horrible. Horrible actors, horrible characters, horrible atmosphere and crappy jump scares. While the story had potential, it came across as perfunctory and drawn out and full of cliches. Horror scenes similar have been done a million times before. Not much new here. Are you sure we were watching the same movie? Just kidding. Sorry you didn’t like the movie, but to each his own. I just wasn’t getting into it. I found the characters unappealing first and foremost and the demon shadow cgi is old hat now.
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Post by jamesbamesy on Oct 20, 2019 13:46:49 GMT
Are you sure we were watching the same movie? Just kidding. Sorry you didn’t like the movie, but to each his own. I just wasn’t getting into it. I found the characters unappealing first and foremost and the demon shadow cgi is old hat now. I thought the main girl was interesting.
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Post by Toasted Cheese on Oct 21, 2019 10:36:48 GMT
I just wasn’t getting into it. I found the characters unappealing first and foremost and the demon shadow cgi is old hat now. I thought the main girl was interesting. I thought she was ugly, over-acted her scenes because she couldn't really act and in the course of the movie, we have these characters scared because they are going to be next, and like I was supposed to care that these jerks got spooked pg13 style.
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Post by masterofallgoons on Oct 22, 2019 14:18:23 GMT
I thought the main girl was interesting. I thought she was ugly, over-acted her scenes because she couldn't really act and in the course of the movie, we have these characters scared because they are going to be next, and like I was supposed to care that these jerks got spooked pg13 style. Haha, jeez. She's a perfectly normal looking girl made to come off a bit nerdy. I thought all the kids were fine, and I'm almost always annoyed by child/teen actors. |
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Post by Toasted Cheese on Oct 22, 2019 23:24:16 GMT
I thought she was ugly, over-acted her scenes because she couldn't really act and in the course of the movie, we have these characters scared because they are going to be next, and like I was supposed to care that these jerks got spooked pg13 style. Haha, jeez. She's a perfectly normal looking girl made to come off a bit nerdy. I thought all the kids were fine, and I'm almost always annoyed by child/teen actors. What is normal per se?
None of these kids acted era contextual, they looked millennial, sounded millennial and the whole movie was about superficial dress up facade, with stupid shock scares to make up for its lack of originality and depth.
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Post by masterofallgoons on Oct 23, 2019 14:58:48 GMT
What is normal per se?
None of these kids acted era contextual, they looked millennial, sounded millennial and the whole movie was about superficial dress up facade, with stupid shock scares to make up for its lack of originality and depth.
Normal as in she looks typical of most or many teenage girls, and calling her ugly was sort of a funny, bitchy 8th grade girl thing to say. Not sure what the rest of this has to do with anything that I said, but I'm not sure how you got 'millennial' from the movie. I'm not saying it's got the greatest period authenticity, but they were teenage kids dealing with their friends, dealing with bullies, dealing with their parents, etc. Like teenagers in movies always have. I didn't see any cell phones or kids saying that seeing Night of the Living Dead at the drive in would be 'lit.' I've said my piece above weeks ago, but I never argued it was great or anything. True that it didn't anything new, but I thought the familiar beats that it hit it hit pretty well.
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