The last horror, thriller or suspense film you watched

Kadokawa Mystery & Horror Tales vol. 1 (2002)
Low budget J-horror anthology straight to video/dvd distribution. Three short stories 30-40 mins each that are not tied together in any way, not that it matters, wraparound stories are hardly ever interesting. The first one, Tomoyuki Akashi's "Meinichi" is nearly worthless, the most generic Japanese ghost story imaginable badly made, and involves a ghost kid, a cursed cat and one strange death. Akashi returns to direct "Cruel Kidnapping", a darkly comic tale about a family man who's baby is kidnapped. Unable to raise the required sum, he then comes up with a very unwise plan to become a kidnapper himself, despite being a total amateur at crime. This would have been a good 15 minute short, but at over 30 minutes the joke wears thin. Kenji Nakanishi directs the last episode "Desire to Kill" about a teenager who breaks into woman's apartment and confesses having just killed his foster mother. What sounds like an exploitation movie premise is here treated as a tragic, even touching psychological mini drama-thriller. By far the best episode, this one also has good cinematography and acting, Akashi's episodes suffering from both cheap digital look and amateurish actors.

Not a great collection overall, but the last episode made me curious about the other two volumes.

Evil Dead II (1987) I'm a rare horror fan who didn't appreciate Evil Dead, so I passed on this one til now. For those who haven't seen it, it's a horror comedy that's absurd in an entertaining comedic way with lots of blood and gore. A nice 7.7 rating on IMDB but I gave it a 4/10.

Werewolf: The Beast Among Us (2012) In the 1800s a European village hires a crew of mercenaries to rid their town of a particularly troublesome werewolf. Solid Werewolf movie. It even has a gypsy recite the "Even a Man Who is Pure in Heart..." werewolf poem. 7/10.

DIE SCREAMING MARIANNE - 1971 --Should have known from my previous experiences with Pete Walker that this would suck.

The College Girl Murders (1967) a horror/thriller where the killer masterminds a needlessly complicated plan to achieve his objective. 5/10.

I've recently watched "See no evil 2", "Wishmaster", "Dark tourist", and "The Cottage" (2008).

Gotta love the artwork, and the dedication to it.

 

The Vourdalak (2023) A lost traveler in a medieval forest is granted shelter by a family in an isolated home, but it turns out the family is besieged by a Vampire like creature. Not exactly my style of vampire movie and the foppish traveler was kind of annoying, but the story was interesting with a good finish. In French with English subs. 6/10.

That's ironic about the Vourdalak because the second movie is about the exact same subject and plot!


THE HORROR OF PARTY BEACH - 1964 - I had seen this before and forgot much of it except the monster(s). Looking at it again, what stands out is that it is hardly a beach party movie and the two leads--who seem around 30, are in no way professional actors and appear to be dubbed. Not smart. If you are going to end up dubbing them--why not use people who are photogenic-charismatic? Unless they are related to the people who funded it.


THE NIGHT OF THE DEVILS - 1972 --Another repeat. Very creepy atmosphere generated in this story of a guy whose car breaks down in a remote forest where a creepy family is worried about what comes out in the dark.