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Post by teleadm on Oct 6, 2022 17:25:36 GMT
The Gorilla 1939 directed by Alan Dwan and based on a stage play by Ralph Spence from 1925, filmed before in 1927 and 1930. Remember seeing a picture from this movie in Dennis Gifford's "A Pictorial History of Horror Movies" from 1973. It's a Horror Comedy Parody filled with clumsy detectives, mysterious butler, screaming housemaid, strange disappearances, trap doors, secret passages, a young heiress, old house and a gorilla on the loose. A story that was transformed into a Ritz Brothers vehicle, plus well-known old time horror actors Bela Lugosi and Lionel Atwill. I'm not very familiar with The Ritz Brothers frenetic comedy style, but here it was just frenetic and not so funny, actually rather tiresome. The old dark house with secrets set-up unfortunately didn't work this time around. Fun to have seen though. Something for Bela completists maybe.
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Post by gspdude on Oct 6, 2022 18:12:48 GMT
Julia X (2011) A Psychopath abducts his computer date. IMDB IDs it as a hor-com, I found it hard to think of it as a comedy with all the violence, which is not played for laughs. But it does have amusing moments, and Kevin Sorbo's psycho character, while despicable, is quite entertaining. 5/10.
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soggy
Sophomore
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Post by soggy on Oct 6, 2022 18:49:41 GMT
The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave (Emilio Miraglia, 1971) Weird little Italian horror movie with a bit of everything. Random S&M murders that could be removed without changing the plot (and actually with removal would have made a more consistent tone)? Check. Family members being killed off one by one? Check. Evelyn coming out of her grave? Check and check. It's really kind of got it all. It's not great by any means, and there's some really weird choices to it, but it was entertaining for the run time. 5/10
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soggy
Sophomore
@soggy
Posts: 722
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Post by soggy on Oct 6, 2022 20:25:59 GMT
Deadstream (Joseph and Vanessa Winter, 2022) Alright everyone, this is a gem. It's found footage horror movie about a disgraced YouTube celebrity trying to make a comeback spending the night in a haunted house and live steaming it. It’s super low budget, and some of the special effects are a bit too cheesy, but it makes up for it with some great scenes and wonderful parody of some YouTube channels. I do not say this lightly, but if you have Shudder, check this out. It nails the parody of YouTube "stars" and makes for a really fun found footage movie. 8/10
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Post by gspdude on Oct 7, 2022 1:35:38 GMT
The Black Phone(2021). A child abduction movie with a really creepy abductor. Supernatural phone calls from beyond and psychic dreams give it a Twilight Zone feel, which is not a bad thing. 6½/10.
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soggy
Sophomore
@soggy
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Post by soggy on Oct 7, 2022 3:33:38 GMT
Q: The Winged Serpent (Larry Cohen, 1982) This movie is a love letter to the old Ray Harryhausen films of the 50s and 60s, but with a cynical 80s edge and it is so damn charming. David Carradine just looks like he's having a blast. 6/10
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Post by stefancrosscoe on Oct 7, 2022 10:19:29 GMT
19. Cannibal Campout (1988) by Jon McBride
Decided to look up this other late 80s SOV low budget Jon McBride horror release, which I believe also was put on DVD as part of the Retro 80s brand, years ago. However, while it contained some nice slice of cheese and not that bad music, the film lacks the charm and far more easy going pace, I found with his later movie in Woodchipper Massacre. It is also two very different films, as Cannibal Campout is more of a backwood redneck slasher, a rather boring one as well, but it does contain far more gore and blood, so those who enjoy that, might have a blast, but yeah, the last 30-40 minutes just took "forever", and got very little out of it.
4/10
20. Haunted by her Past (1987) by Michael Pressman
We follow two couples on a little vacation from the big city, but where they suddenly ends up in some antique bed and breakfast home, and where one of the women end up totally obsessed of some old painting, later on also a mystical mirror. Both of them, seems to have a rather bad impulse on her, and soon she is turned into a whole other person, which will bring with a lot of trouble for her husband and friends.
Below average supernatural horror-thriller, with the typical pretty soap opera/television actors, that is not exactly either too interesting or likeable, but the film does have some nice atmosphere, here and there. All in all, just another forgettable made for TV film.
4/10
October Horror Challenge - 2022 - Day 07:
21. Bloodlust: Subspecies III (1994) by Ted Nicolaou
Third chapter in the Subspecies saga, and once again, the evil Radu is back on the trail, to get his "beloved" Michelle to be his dear fledling, all while her sister tries to set up a risky and desperate rescue mission, in order to save her from the curse of the eternal darkness.
Somehow, this one did work out a bit better than part 2, and while not a whole lot to bring up, but Anders Hove once again steals the show, while the lovely Denice Duff still looks stunning as the pale, dark beauty of the night, but yeah, beside the clumsy Detective Marin, the rest of the human characters lacks any charm and I could not care much about, and when Marin is suddenly "written out", I ended up cheering for the vampires to win.
Again, I enjoy the great use of atmosphere, images, specially during night and just before day time, so yeah, doubt any of the later ones, will be able of topping the first film, but might re-watch them later this month.
5/10
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Post by Nalkarj on Oct 7, 2022 14:04:55 GMT
I felt the same way about this movie, stefancrosscoe. The third story, the one everyone likes, mostly just annoyed me (when she’s trying to grab the knife blade—ugh, how dumb can you get?). The final shot is cool, but it’s a twist without a buildup, a punchline without a joke. We’re never told the fetish doll can possess people, so the ending comes out of nowhere. The second segment is obvious, boring, and immediately forgettable. The segment I liked best is the first, which is far from great but does have a twist that surprised me. Unlike the third segment, the first does the work of setting up the twist, and I thought Karen Black gave a better performance in this segment than in the others. That said, I found the whole movie dull and cheap. The lighting in particular is so flat and ugly. Everything I’ve seen of Dan Curtis’s looks like a soap opera, whether it is an actual soap opera ( Dark Shadows), a made-for-TV movie ( Dracula), or a relatively big-budget film ( Burnt Offerings). I know people love Curtis’s work, but I just can’t warm up to any of it.
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Post by theravenking on Oct 7, 2022 14:22:21 GMT
13. Sputnik (2020; Egor Abramenko) In Soviet Russia no one can hear you scream. In 1983 a Russian cosmonaut returns from a space mission carrying an alien organism inside his body. The military brings in a tough female therapist to help him. Typically for this type of scenario she's initially left in the dark about some of the aliens more sinister habits. For the first half this is a rock solid Russian Alien rip-off with convincing performances and a suitably scary alien parasite. Sadly the second half introduces so many contrivances, weird jumps in logic and aims for an emotional pay-off which feels unearned, that what should've been a simple genre exercise almost collapses under the weight of its own ambitions. 6/10
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Post by theravenking on Oct 7, 2022 14:47:35 GMT
14. The Snorkel (1958; Guy Green) I'm not sure why imdb has this labelled as horror, because it's very much a classic suspense thriller. Perhaps everything done by Hammer automatically gets horror stamped on it. Paul Decker kills his wife, Madge, by drugging her and then gassing her in a room in their Italian villa, sealing all the windows and doors but concealing himself under floorboards in the room, covered by a rug and using a snorkel attached to air pipes to breathe while hidden. Household servants discover her body in the morning and as the room has been locked and sealed from the inside, it appears to the local Italian police Inspector and British Consulate Mr. Wilson to be a case of suicide, although no suicide note has been found. Normally in this sort of inverted mystery the movie invites you to root for the villain, or at least tries to present both sides, the killer as well as the investigators as somewhat sympathetic. No such thing here. Peter Van Eyck who plays the murderer is shown as a remorseless bastard from the start, so we asked to root for his young stepdaughter who immediately smells something fishy and openly accuses Decker of being a killer. The Snorkel has some nice Italian location photography and decent acting, but sadly the plot has its fair share of problems. The tale might've made for a solid episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, but there's just not enough material here for a feature film, so the story suffers from the snail-like pacing and lack of any great surprises (although the death of the adorable dog is completely unnecessary). Ultimately despite some interesting ingredients I found this to be an underwhelming offering from Hammer. 5/10
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soggy
Sophomore
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Post by soggy on Oct 7, 2022 16:41:14 GMT
Hellraiser (David Bruckner, 2022) Well, it is probably the best Hellraiser movie since the first, which is sadly not saying much as bad as many of those have been. Hellraiser is one of my favorite horror movies, so much like those who keep opening the box, I will continue seeking out the sensations of the first movie while only receiving pain.. well, at least this one is entertaining at times though. 6/10
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Post by teleadm on Oct 7, 2022 18:56:31 GMT
Baron Blood aka Gli orrori del castello di Norimberga 1972 directed by Mario Bava. A young man, visiting the castle of a murderous ancestor in Austria, accidentally brings his dead relative back to life - searching for new victims, but there is a formula to reverse the spell, only it accidentally burned up. Since this movie has occultism and supernatural spells, it's only natural that it doesn't follow any logic, and I buy that. To my own surprise I actually liked this movie, it has many good scenes and chases and it takes it's story seriously. not on a 10/10 level but at least around 6,5 to 7/10. There is blood but not too much. Joseph Cotten, Elke Sommer and Massimo Girroti fills out their roles well, but the real lead role as the ancestor was played by someone named Antonio Cantafora, who I know very little about. The version I watched was 8 minutes longer than out old site states and had the original soundtrack by someone called Stelvio Cipriani that some thinks is annoying, it do sound like elevator music at the start and during end titles, but maybe it was a signal that this was just a movie. Burg Kreuzensteinin in Austria played the part of Baron Blood's castle, at least the exterior.
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soggy
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Post by soggy on Oct 7, 2022 19:44:51 GMT
Murder-Rock: Dancing Death (Lucio Fulci, 1984) Flashdance meets Giallo in this ridiculous little film from Fulci. Not anywhere near as violent as the director's usual work, and honestly the plot isn't that great... BUT FLASHDANCE MEETS GIALLO! Worth a watch. 6/10
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Post by stefancrosscoe on Oct 8, 2022 10:39:14 GMT
22. Friday the 13th (1980) by Sean S. Cunningham Not much to say, that others have not already done, and surely among the most well known and beloved 80s slasher-classics. However, one that I have never truly warmed up to, no matter how many times I try to go in, and hoping for something more rewarding or enjoyable. 10 years on the wait, and still no changes in how I feel. For me, I would easily put the four next entries, above it on a top 5 list of my favorites, or those I enjoy/like the most. 6/10
October Horror Challenge - 2022 - Day 08:
23. Evilspeak (1981) by Eric Weston Supernatural horror film, with Clint Howard in the leading role, this time as a lonely student set at a highly respectable military academy, and where the main lead is under constant torment and bullying from his fellow students. However, when he stumbles upon a mystical book written by a possessed man from the 15th century, it is all of a sudden payback time! Re-watched this Clint Howard film, as I had seen it a few years ago, then through a very disappointing 2-disc DVD from Anchor Bay, and where the so called uncut version, was quite awful in both sound and picture quality, and of course, with no subtitles, it did not help much for my part either. Thankfully, I got hold of a much more recent, and far superior 88 Films DVD, and it sure helped out this time. Sure, the film and the main plot and characters, can get a bit too overdone, as the constant bullying, tormenting and humiliation, seems to take "forever", and I lost count on how many times Howard fell, stumbled or got knocked down to the ground, and yeah, we get the point, he is the victim, pretty much everyone else, is a bunch of douchy assholes, that you just hope will pay dearly. Thankfully, the film does deliver the goods, and more, but it might take a little time and some annoying frustration to get there. While it might not match similar themed "the victim seeks out help from the darkside" type of supernatural horror releases of the 70s and 80s, it does sure bring forward lots of sleaze, cheese and some rather unforgettable scenes as well. The stuff with communicating with evil powers, through the help of a computer, that is not something I have seen too often, and the visuals was not all bad. In fact I thought they looked pretty damn good, at times. All in all, I got more out of it last night, and where those last 10 minutes, has to be among the wildest finals in a horror film, at least of that era. And to see Clint swing his sword, surrounded by an inferno of flames, maneating pigs, and yeah, total mayhem on the loose Now that is something quite special to behold. 6/10
24. Dream House (1998) by Graeme Campbell Another boring high-tech horror-thriller, where an unsympathetic big city family, moves out to the country and into a high-tech house, being part of an experiment in a big business opportunity set up by dad. Here they will live under the same house, as their futurustic "nanny". But the idyllic lifestyle, soon erupts into a lot of fighting and yelling, when realizing things are starting to become a bit too digital. Timothy Busfield with yet another middle aged dad role, sitting firmly for most of the time, on his ass, all while the far too sexy and not very likeable wife, along with an even lesser likeable couple of kids, sadly dominate too much. Not horrible, but rather bland and forgettable stuff, and yeah, thankfully I did not end the night with this one. 3,5/1025. Deadly Blessing (1981) by Wes Craven The old and the new new, seems to be in constant war out in the country. And things are not getting any better in trying to ease up this already bad relationship, as several mystic deaths, seems to be taking place on both sides. Another nice re-watch, and one I sure got much more out of this time, as Wes Creven put in a well made and quite creepy at times, supernatural slasher, where several of his classic later trademarks, would surely be used very well. Like in the snake ending up in the steamy bathtub, where the camera pans in on between the legs of the main female lead, and instead of Freddy and his glove arising from the foamy water, it is a big snake. Then you have quite an elegant and still very nasty mouthful of spider-nightmare dream sequence, with a young Sharon Stone. Did not hurt, that it also came with some incredible beautiful and sexy women, where I already mentioned a very young Stone, but to me, she was completely set aside by Maren Jensen in the lead, and I was kind of disappointed to see, she only did around 3-4 films in total, as she sure did the final girl part, very well. In other parts, the usual likeable and kind Ernest Borgnine, comes off as a rather nasty and ruthless figure, all while Michael Berryman I thought would hang in there, at least for a bit more. Seen it before, but kind of forget a few things, specially towards the end, and yeah, nice to go out last night, with a much better horror film, and glad I decided to revisit it once more. 7/10
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Post by gspdude on Oct 8, 2022 12:06:28 GMT
The Thirsty Dead (1974) In The Philippines a blood drinkers cult is abducting pretty girls for nourishment. PG rated, so no nudity and a bare minimum of gore. 3/10.
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Post by theravenking on Oct 8, 2022 12:56:45 GMT
Laurin (1989; Robert Sigl) Children have been disappearing under mysterious circumstances in a 19th century German village. A young girl soon becomes haunted by disturbing visions of the missing kids. This is a dark fantasy film shot in Hungary, featuring an almost entirely Hungarian cast, despite the plot taking place in Northern Germany. It has turned into something of a cult movie over the years, because of its unique standing in German cinema. As the saying goes: In the land of the blind the one-eyed man is king. Director Robert Sigl deserves praise for creating this unusual little dark fairytale-like picture (some have compared it to Werner Herzog's Nosferatu, but there is little else of its kind in German film), but as lovely as the movie sometimes looks, I find that on an international level it barely rises above solid in quality. It's strong on atmosphere, but the rather average plot can't match the unique setting, and despite its short running time I felt that the middle part dragged a bit. Still one can only speculate what Sigl could've been capable of, had he received the opportunity to make more films of this kind. 6.5/10
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Post by Captain Spencer on Oct 8, 2022 13:39:40 GMT
The Thirsty Dead (1974) In The Philippines a blood drinkers cult is abducting pretty girls for nourishment. PG rated, so no nudity and a bare minimum of gore. 3/10. I remember seeing this waste of celluloid on TV a long time ago. 3/10 is being generous.
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soggy
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Post by soggy on Oct 8, 2022 13:50:04 GMT
Island of Lost Souls (Erle C. Kenton, 1932) I watched this on a whim because my subscription to the Criterion channel is about to expire and it was only 70 minutes so I could finish it in time… and was surprised by how good it was! An absolutely wonderful classic that manages to adapt a book I don't even like (The Island of Dr. Moreau) and turn it into a wonderful atmospheric film. Charles Laughton is wonderful as Moreau, we get a brief appearance from Bela Lugosi and it's pre-code so there's some fun implications that certainly would not have made it into the film even a few years later. This is a wonderful film for any classic film fan. 9/10
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Post by theravenking on Oct 9, 2022 10:16:41 GMT
The Serpent And The Rainbow (1988; Wes Craven) There was something in the air in the second half of the 1980s. A whiff of voodoo came wafting through movie theaters. Films like Angel Heart (1987) and The Believers (1987) showed us how ancient Afro-Caribbean customs were practiced in the heart of the US. For The Serpent And The Rainbow Wes Craven decided to go back to the source sending an American anhtropologist to Haiti, looking for the secret of resurrection. When the story of a man who was buried and is said to have returned from the dead reaches a pharmaceutical company they want to use what they believe is a zombie drug as an anesthetic. While Alan Parker created an immersive dark atmosphere for Angel Heart and John Schlesinger managed to deliver a few genuinely disturbing scenes in The Believers, Wes Craven mostly seems to operate by throwing every voodoo cliché one can think of at the screen, probably hoping, that some of it will stick. The result is a movie that felt to me like an extended version of the santeria scenes from Bond movie Live And Let Die, and it's about as scary as that film with the most memorable moment one where Pullman's character is cuddling a tame Jaguar. Even though it tries to throw in some political subtext with the plot taking place in the last days of the Papa Doc Duvalier dictatorship, there is little substance to this and the whole mystical mumbo jumbo feels like a load of bollocks. Overall I found this to be a bit dull and formulaic. 5/10
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Post by theravenking on Oct 9, 2022 12:29:00 GMT
Terror Train (1980; Roger Spottiswoode) It's murder on the New Year's Eve Express as a bullied schoolkid takes revenge on those who played a cruel prank on him 3 years ago. Set on board of a moving train this has a neat enough concept, but does too little with it. There's surprisingly little gore and the characters are typically obnoxius teenagers. Stage illusionist David Copperfield appears as a magician, it would remain his only role in a fictional movie. 4/10
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