67. Dead Snow 2: Red vs. Dead (2014) by Tommy Wirkola
The sequel to the Norwegian splatter-slasher horror comedy
Dead Snow (2009), picks up, pretty much from where it left off, and surely (maybe also wisely) ditches the slasher vibe of the former movie, and just seems to go all in, for delivering an overblown operatic piece of gore, guts and blood, being plastered all over the place, throughout the next 90-100 minutes.
Even though it did at times, come off as maybe a bit too repetitive and "safe", and where I kind of wished the film would try to focus a little more on the Zombie Squad team, and also some of the local Police officers, who I felt delivered some of the funnier moments. Sure there is lots more to see of the German Nazis, but yeah, the gorehounds would most likely have a blast with this one, and it does not hold back when it comes to the nasty gore and violence, even if some of the attempts of comedy were kind of hit and miss, some lines (in Norwegian) felt a bit too forced, and the scenes that I thought worked better, were the ones that was more "random", and not having to constantly overuse "shocking" violent parts to deliver the "message".
All in all, I thought the first film was slightly better, but the second one, moves on, a lot smoother and yeah, two very good and well made splatter films.
6/10October Horror Challenge - 2021 - Day: 2368. Videodrome (1983) by David Cronenberg
"Long live the new flesh!"
Trying to compete with the big guns of the Network, a sleazy TV-channel producer of Civic TV, Max Renn (James Woods) are constantly on the search for finding the most exclusive and shocking new videos and shows he can get a hold of. And when one day stumbling upon the seemingly non budget program, known only as Videodrome. He realizes that this is exactly what his viewers might get off on. However, it is Renn himself, that seems to be getting the most out of the whole Videodrome experience, and soon he find himself deeply obsessed about the shows potential and also more importantly, who is really behind it all.Finally! I was pretty pleased with being able to get to re-watch one of my all time favorites, even if it has been like "forever" since my last visit.
I knew that I wanted to watch a Cronenberg classic this month, and had my picks between
The Brood (1979),
Scanners (1981) and Videodrome, where the latter turned out to be, well, not a bad choice after all.
Some films, they just click instantly, the moment you watch them, and then never quite leaves, ever. Videodrome is surely one of those films, that have been stuck with me, and I am glad it still lives up to my memories.
Seeing it for the first time, very late on tv back in the late early 00s, was quite a thrill, not just because of the gore, sex and weird stuff happening, but from the very first go, by having the Universal Logo and the unsettling industrial music by Howard Shore in the background, you just knew that you were in for something different, and not always it works like magic, but this time it did.
Of course, another important thing, is that back then, I would often tape whatever went on at night time, specially during the weekends, and sometimes you would "accidentally" find a new and interesting tv-channel, as in Norway there would at times be certain German or Dutch channels, that would air for a short while, then never to be seen again, where as others, would seem to be there, for quite a while.
This kind of random searching, for something different than the usual channels, would lead me onto a Dutch station (forgot its name) and which would after midnight, send all kind of weird, gory, sexy and very creepy films, mostly from the 70s, 80s and early 90s, and it was also how I found out about Troma Productions, and seeing
The Toxic Avenger (1984) for the first time, and yeah, after that, my view of movies and entertainment, never were the same again.
These gory, super violent films, often very funny, would arrive over and over again, and I kept wanting more and more, and must have taped a dozen of video cassettes, as I did notice that they rarely sent the same films, more than once.
Also, you had not tv schedule in the newspaper to be on the lookout for what kind of films they would send at night, so in a way, you never knew what would come up next, and that was also a big part of the excitement, which nowdays is not easy to come by, as "everything" is out there, and still, I very much regret that I threw away all those video cassettes, but yeah, I guess that my "Videodrome experience", and also got me hooked onto more low budget horror and action films, and found just as much fun and amusement in watchin those, as the big budget Hollywood titles.
Anyway, back to the film. I think Videodrome still holds up, very well. Not just the plot, but the fantastic special effect and make-up by Rick Baker and his team, but the industrial noise score, done by Howard Shore is still among my all time horror movie favorite soundtracks, and then you have one of James Woods giving one of his best performances, and the lovely Deborah Harry is, well just as seductive and sultry as ever, in the part of the radio DJ Nicky Brand, who seems to have her own sexual needs and desires, towards more violent and freaky stuff, and then of course Jack Creley, as the voice of Videodrome, Brian O'Blivion.
All in all,
The Fly (1986) might be Cronenberg s finest achievement, but Vidoedrome is a film that I more often returns to, even if it has been quite a while since last time.
Also remember that a potential or talked about remake, was in the making a few years ago. Not sure if that will happen or not, but I guess some big changes will be done, if it goes ahead.
Anyway, one of my proudest DVD purchases, will always be the great looking Criterion Collection release of the film, that had it lying inside a Betamax similar artwork/cover, and includes lots and lots of neat bonus features, and a very informative booklet as well.
I guess I should be upgrading it, to Blu-ray one of these days, as with many other favorites within the horror and sci-fi genre, but I feel no hurry as of now, and well, I think my old DVDs still hold up very well.
10/1069. Dark Angel: The Ascent (1994) by Linda Hassani
I believe that Chalice of Evil started a thread for this film, way back in 2017. Always been around on my Watchlist, yet never got to see it, until last night.
This film felt like a potential pilot episode for an upcoming tv show, which is not a bad sign, but I just never really grew into the film or the characters, as much as I had liked.
Not a bad one, but by this time, I was very tired and it did effect how I probably viewed the movie, as I began just, well, looking at how much time left there was, and maybe one day, I will try to re-watch it, with a more "clearer" mind, and not just trying to include another seen movie to the list this month.
5,5/1070. Demonic Toys (1992) by Peter Manoogian
Re-watched it for the first time in years, and well, it did not go down as well as the last visit. Sure, there are some absolute ridiculous and laughable scenes and lines being thrown in, here and there. But there is also lots of boring stuff going on, and I was just not up for this kind of entertainment, I guess. At least not last night.
Anyway, I did enjoy more the Demonic Toys vs. Dollman, that arrived a couple of years later on, and might take a closer look at the Demonic Toys 2, which I think came much later on.
Anyway, compared to other Full Moon Features killer doll films, like Dolls (1987) and the Puppet Master franchise, I think Demonic Toys were a step down, or more.
4,5/10