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Post by Prime etc. on Oct 21, 2020 7:37:55 GMT
I Saw What You Did and I Know Who You Are 1965 --kind of wacky film with a soundtrack that is awfully light-hearted at times. But I liked it. The sense of humor wasn't antiquated. It's kind of weird having John Ireland lecturing a girl about prank calls after he committed two homicides. John Crawford--it's also weird to see him go from starring roles (Hell is A City) to what might be a bit part (although he had even less to do in Jason and the Argonauts).
Quatermass and the Pit 1967 - Rewatch. Jumping! Leaping! One of the best science fiction films of the 1960s yet tends to get overshadowed by others like 2001 which is too bad--I think it holds up well and even the spectral martian still looks pretty cool especially when glimpsed from different vantage points.
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Post by stefancrosscoe on Oct 21, 2020 15:07:57 GMT
October Horror Challenge - 2020 - Day 20:
50. What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) by Roger Aldrich
Finally got around to watch this classic, and while a bit too long, still the performances to that of Crawford and Davis are of course great, and where Davis steals the show as the unforgettable Baby Jane.
8,5/10
October Horror Challenge - 2020 - Day 21:
51. Hospital Massacre (1981) by Boaz Davidson
Have been meaning to try at "wipe" out a few of the horror related titles that have been lying around in my watchlist for a long while now, and sadly Hospital Massacre is yet another one of those "interesting" early 80s slasher films, which comes with a catchy title and a promising movie poster, but where very little else is of any worth to bring up in a positive manner.
I kind of like the idea of hospital/mad doctor slasher plot, but this one was just extremely boring and annoying, and I would rather have a re-watch with the much more creepy and well done Visiting Hours (1982).
3,5/10
52. Deadly Friend (1986) by Wes Craven
A decent but still somewhat enjoyable sci-fi/horror film, which feels like a combination of something like Frankenstein or Not Quite Human (1987), but where I guess the infamous ball scene to the explosive head, is what most people seem to remember when this one gets brought up. It kind of opens up with a bit of a light hearted, almost family feel-good theme to it, but that soon changes when we meet up with the sweet next-door neighbour (Kristy Swanson) whom soon is the victim of her violent father.
The main character, some brilliant teenager, ends up putting his former robot-friend (Bee-Bee) brain or micro chip into her head, and then we get a very powerful and vengeful Kristy Swanson, which looks a bit like Pris (Blade Runner). Sadly, the film kind of feels like it is a bit too rushed, almost like it was meant to be a tv-movie or something.
Anyway, I have seen it earlier on, and always quite enjoyed it, even thought it is far away of being a "great" film.
6/10
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Post by FridayOnElmStreet on Oct 21, 2020 22:19:37 GMT
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Post by FridayOnElmStreet on Oct 21, 2020 22:20:06 GMT
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Post by FridayOnElmStreet on Oct 21, 2020 22:20:18 GMT
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Post by FridayOnElmStreet on Oct 21, 2020 22:20:31 GMT
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Post by FridayOnElmStreet on Oct 22, 2020 2:21:23 GMT
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Post by stefancrosscoe on Oct 22, 2020 10:42:15 GMT
53. The Hills Have Eyes (1977) by Wes Craven Another round with Craven, and this time we meet up with two very different types of families, and where an unlucky group of people suddenly find themselves trapped right into the spiders web, but where the hunters eventually gets a whole lot of a tougher fight than first expected, as their victims starts to fight back for their lives and revenge. Not seen, for at least 15 years or more, but since then I have already visited the sequel, which came out during the early 80s (I believe), and of course was a far more cheesy and comical display than the original. Still, while the first film is an absolute cult-classic within the whole "crazy cannibal family" located in some hell hole in the desert, kind of entertainment, I really wished they would have toned down a bit of the more clumsy/comical characters, and instead focused way more of the creepy atmosphere and less showing. A huge highlight was that I had completely forgotten what a badass Beast was, and certainly one of the most toughest and loyal movie dogs I have ever seen in a horror film, and it was just lovely to witness him chewing on these filthy and nasty creatures, making them pay for killing off his mate, along with his human family members. Sadly, I still felt a few of the villains got away far too "easy". All in all, I really enjoyed watching it again. 7,5/10
October Horror Challenge - 2020 - Day 22:
54. Dolly Dearest (1991) by Maria Lease Have seen it earlier, way back that is, and I was not exactly too "impressed" by this poorly made and acted killer-doll title, which lacked most of the fun, charm and atmosphere that I usually enjoy with those kind of films (Dolls, Puppet Master franchise, The Chuck franchise etc) and instead this one turned into a very boring annoying (the children especially, but the parents were not that far behind) adventure, and if not for the always likable Rip Thorn, I might have just given it a lower rating, but ended up with the same as last time: 4/10
55. The Evil Below (1989) by Jean-Claude Dubois Another re-watch, and one which came along with Dolly Dearest (and two other titles) in a "Great" Horror Movies DVD collection, and I was a bit afraid I had wasted 90 minutes on a film that would not end up as a horror title, as it felt much more like a poorly and cheap made adventure-thriller which was sold as an underwater horror release. Still, from what I have seen (both Letterboxd and IMDb) have put it down into the horror genre, so I guess it will stand. Anyway, a pretty standard and dull movie, that ends up putting into a bit of overnatural horror stuff, probably so the viewers might not end up falling asleep of total boredom, and again, another forgettable "classic". 4/10
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Post by Prime etc. on Oct 23, 2020 5:52:35 GMT
BARON BLOOD 1972 - There's a scene where Elke Sommer is trying to run from the killer and she is pleading to get inside a house. The scene is not milked for suspense like a similar one in Halloween. Atmospheric film though. Creepy painting too.
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Post by Feologild Oakes on Oct 23, 2020 8:25:10 GMT
I think it was the first Scream movie
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Post by stefancrosscoe on Oct 23, 2020 10:06:56 GMT
56. Lake of the Dead (1958) by Kåre Bergstrøm A group of people on a cabintrip, soon finds out that evil powers are nearby, and where it all seem to be coming from a mysterious lake, not far away. A norwegian classic, but even with barely 74 minutes, it felt as if it lasted for some periods, much, much longer. Not that I disliked the film, but I soon grew very tired of all the psychological talking and did not expect a bloodbath, but maybe that they would have spend a bit more time on making much better use of the atmosphere around the cabin, as the film sureley do feature some stunning scenes, specially involving the nearby lake, that seems to draw the visitors into its mysterious dark and deep bottom. Anyway, a remake was recently made, but I highly doubt I will bother wasting money or time on that, as most modern norwegian remakes of older classics have been at "best" mediocre. All in all, I think the "trollsk" atmosphere was quite something, and I really wished the makers would ditch the boring and endless talking, discussion and overanalysation and go for a far more moody and creepy setting, as the nature where all there, no need for special effects, just have the mystic forrest do its job in the moonlight: 6/10 October Horror Challenge - 2020 - Day 23: 57. Headhunter (1988) by Francis Schaeffer Film number 3 from the (4 "Great" Horror Movies) DVD, and here it seems like they went all in for a mix up of buddy-cop action, supernatural horror and a bit of sci-fi as well, and I have seen it earlier on, but mostly forgotten about it. Anyway, once again, we meet up with a lot of the same people who starred in The Evil Below (1989), and where Wayne Crawford plays a very stereotypical anti-hero, who drinks, smokes and swears a lot, and whom all of a sudden, find out that his wife, through 7 years of marriage, suddenly have become a full blossomed lesbian, even wearing her former husbands clothes and throwing him out of their apartment. To make things worse, the hero, have a certain crush on his female co-worker (Kay Lenz), who are busy with some sleazy street cop, and on top of that, some murdering voodoo maniac goes around and butchering and chopping the heads off, lots of unlucky victims in Miami City, at night time. Thankfully, this one actually did get a little more enjoyable a second time around, as there is just something very funny and laughable about these late night 80s and early 90s b-movie horrror titles, where there are som many ridiculous and totally awesome "random" scenes that you sure do not often get to see anymore: In one, we meet up with a murdering lunatic, who waves around with a huge machete, and what do the police do? Do they try to talk him to put the weapon down and come in "nicely"? No, they just blow the scum away with a huge shotgun, and how do the big crowd of people in the background react? They end up giving the trigger happy police a standing ovation, for cleaning up their neighbourhood for vermin. The whole scene just feels like something that was taken directly out of one of the later Death Wish sequels, and I remember that even Paul Kersey did something similar (heck, the local police even hired him to clean up the troubled community, by using any means necessary in order to vipe out the trash, permanently). Another "classic" cheesy as hell scene, comes right at the end, where the hero is in bad need of a demon-killing weapon, and what is his choice of tools? Of course, he just runs like a maniac, straight into the nearest hardware store, grabs a hold of a chainssaw and goes to action. As mentioned, this one was certainly a lot more fun to see again, and of course helped out by all the hiliarous stuff and scenes which takes place, and also because I have always been very fond of Miami, and there is just something about the beautiful and stunning scenery in the night scenes and by making fine use of the Miami skyline. 5/10
58. Inner Sanctum II (1994) by Fred Olen Ray The last of all these "fantastic" horror movies from the 4-Disc DVD I have been through for the past 2 days, and seen this one as well, but that is a long time ago. Anyway, no big changes in the rating, and where I guess the fans of Fred Olen Ray might get a kick out of all the cheese and sleaze which takes place in this b-movie. Never seen the first film, and I guess it is very unlikely I will ever bother with that one. In this film, the "plot" seems to rely on 1/3 of sleazy and over-the-top sex scenes, spread all over the place, among with some sort of everybody tries to fool each other, in order to get to the money. Anyway, it turns into more of a soft porn movie at times, then some horror clichees are thrown in as well, and yeah. A bad movie, no question about that, but one where comes with a certain trashy "charm" to it, and also a bunch of noticable faces and names: David Warner, Sandahl Bergman, Michael Nouri, Margeoux Hemingway, and even Joe Estevez gets to top it off by delivering some terrible attempts of one-liners, here and there. 4/10
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Post by Prime etc. on Oct 24, 2020 5:41:52 GMT
THE NIGHT STRANGLER 1973 - Some of my favorite lines:
"I'll buy the possibility that its some guy a killer that strangled the 6 women in 1952 but a man Carl, not some kind of SUPER DEAD MAN!"
"I'll give you 20 bucks. Here's a down payment."
"I can live three months on that five bucks."
"I've been a policeman for 37 years and an idiot for twice that long!"
"Kolchak. You were supposed to be in Puyallup for the daffodils!"
"Where? Vincenzo what's the matter with you? You ought to see a doctor you know, I'm serious. You sound terrible. It's awful."
"What are you doing to that poor man? I have never seen anyone so close to total stark insanity before."
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Post by FridayOnElmStreet on Oct 24, 2020 8:25:59 GMT
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Post by FridayOnElmStreet on Oct 24, 2020 8:27:02 GMT
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Post by stefancrosscoe on Oct 24, 2020 10:21:12 GMT
59. Insidious (2010) by James Wan
Well, it was just one of those "nights", were it all started out the wrong way, and with very little to cheer for later on either. Sadly, Insidious did little to help out, as it is just filled up with all the wrong supernatural/haunted house clichees they could stuff in, and I should have taken the hint, early on, when the DVD brags about: "From the makers of Paranormal Acitivyt", a film which I hated last year.
Anyway, Lin Shaye shows up, and it kind of, for a short while, got a little "better", but suddenly it just went way down, and a lousy way of starting up the friday evening with.
3,5/10
October Horror Challenge - 2020 - Day 24:
60. Annabelle (2014) by John R. Leonetti
Another round with possessed and evil killer-dolls, and while it was not all that bad, as the earlier horror film, I realized that this is just not my kind of "entertainment".
4/10
61. Patrick (1978) by Richard Franklin
I was ready to throw in the towel, as my motivation to keep on torturing myself with bad/poor horror films had reached its end, but then I remembered this early Richard Franklin horror-thriller, which I had seen, but it had been very long since last visit. Anyway, it starts up rather promising, sadly, with a runtime of almost 2 hours, it just kind of falls flat, and this one is surely not even close to match Franklin's far better and more well paced horror releases which was followed with the great Road Games (1981) and Psycho II (1983).
6/10
62. The Hills Have Eyes Part: II (1985) by Wes Craven
Kind of incredible, that this came out, just less than a year after his former horror classic, Nightmare on Elm Street, but I guess his luck in trying to cash in on his earlier cult-film The Hills Have Eyes, and then turn it into a successful franchise as Halloween or Friday the 13th, kind of ended rather fast. Still, the second part does come with some absolute ridiculous and cheesy moments, no question about that. As there is lots of flashbacks (even the badass dog Beast seem to have a good memory) and once again, Pluto shows up, even though Beast almost ripped the guys head clean off, and where we are treated with a new baddie, Reaper, who is more comical than ever coming to be "scary".
As few of the original gang also returns, where Bobby (in a much smaller part) and Ruby is back, and where the rest of the gallery of actors, seems to be headed towards one of the Friday the 13th sequels, but did not make it, so instead they ended up in this film. And there is obviously a big Friday the 13th feel and look to it, as the music, characters all feel very much in similar, but what it lacks the most, is an iconic baddie, like that of Jason. All in all, nowhere near of being a "worst movie" title, but surely not much of a worthy follow up to the superior original.
4,5/10
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Post by Prime etc. on Oct 25, 2020 7:03:33 GMT
VAMPIRE CIRCUS 1972 I tend to overlook this one although I generally like it--in rewatching it there are some particularly good elements like the atmospheric start--a real bat crawls out of a skull. Child sacrifice and vampire sexual depravity. Mitterhaus I think it one of Hammer's best vampires--bad, mean-looking, the same for Emil (Goebler from Raiders of the Lost Ark). Considering these two where of the handsome vampire variety they were able to convey nasty characteristics without any ghoul makeup beyond the extra long fangs. I give Hammer credit for trying something different with the genre.
SATAN'S SLAVE 1976 - This was a welcome surprise. Despite some all too obvious gratuitous nudity and violence it was still well-acted with some clever twists. The heroine is resourceful, allowing Michael Gough an especially good final line of dialogue after she does something which is especially nasty and hard to watch to make her attempted escape.
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Post by stefancrosscoe on Oct 25, 2020 13:34:13 GMT
63. The Exorcist (1973) by William Friedkin Not seen since the summer of 2003, so about time to bring it up again and give it a go. Yeah, a classic no question about that, and since the last time I have been through most of the uneven sequels, where the third film stands as my favorite of the bunch. Anyway, the original is one of those I think nothing bad of, but then again I will probably not see it as often as the third one from 1990, as there is just something about that one and the whole re-watchability which I just could not find with the first film. 8/1064. Blood Tracks (1985) by Mats Helge Swedish horror, and one which seems like it owes a lot to Wes Craven s The Hills Have Eyes and where once more the ridiculous and over-the-top hair metal scenery is put into action, where a popular act named Solid Gold (played by a band under the name of Easy Action) are on location for their next music video, but instead of a good time they end up battling it out against a murdering bunch of cannibals along with some dangerous avalanches. Have seen this one before back in spring/summer of 2016, bought it only because of the rather cool looking DVD artwork, and that the same director is pretty much most well known (I think) for his attempt on cashing in on the whole 80s ninja/karate craze, with The Ninja Mission (1984). Anyway, his more horror-related feature was sadly a very boring and dull affair, still, early on we are treated with actually a pretty "promising" start, with lots of sexy girls, hair, make-up, laughable stiff "acting" and a kind of feel-good party vibe going on, but sadly as with so many similar slasher titles, the less characters that are kept alive, the less interesting things get, as the ones we are left with are not really either very interesting or likeable to begin with, and it just end up getting very tiredsome, even if the film just runs for about of 85 minutes or. Anyway, the music or soundtrack was actually not all bad, I kind of liked the theme song, very catchy stuff in smaller doses. The trailer and poster makes it out to be far more enjoyable than it really is, and again, it seems like my search for a decent/good hair metal horror film beside Trick or Treat (1986) is about to be not all that impressive after all. 4/10October Horror Challenge - 2020 - Day 25:65. Rockula (1990) by Luca Bercovici A 400 year old vampire-virigin, in desperate need of getting rid off an old curse, where his 22 year old girlfriend, every 22 year ends up getting kidnapped to never be seen again, by some sleazy pirate, and yeah, this actually turned into not an all that bad but very cheesy film. Music is a big part of the film, where artists such as Toni Basil (does a lot of dancing) and Thomas Dolby seems to enjoy his part som the sleazy villain. Sadly, the main lead is played by "none other than" Dean Cameron, that "funny" guy from the rather terrible snow/winter themed teen sex comedies that is known as Ski School during the 90s. Anyway, he comes off a bit more "likeable" in this one. Still, I enjoyed the music (mostly that is) some very beautiful women, a solid party-feel-good atmosphere and also since I am a fan of Thomas Dolby and his music, it was nice having him deliver (probably wrote a few of the other songs used in the film as well) including stuff like To Budapest in a Blimp. 5/10
66. Moontrap (1989) by Robert Dyke A sci-fi/horror b-movie, which comes with a promising name, poster and knowing that you have cult-hero Bruce Campbell in one of the two main leads, well, how could it go wrong? I did watch it back in summer of 2017, and remember that I was not exactly too impressed by what I got in return. And last night kind of proved why. It is very slow moving, for those expecting Campbell to play his usual one-liner over-the-top version of Ash from the later Evil Dead movies will surely be disappointed, but he do have a few cracks of attempting on some one-liners here and there, but not many that stands out. Anyway, it is not terrible stuff, there are some funny moments thrown in, but all in all, I just end up with the same feeling from last time, no changes in rating and another poor film is done and watched for now. 4/10
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Post by FridayOnElmStreet on Oct 25, 2020 15:57:13 GMT
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Post by FridayOnElmStreet on Oct 25, 2020 16:00:02 GMT
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Post by FridayOnElmStreet on Oct 25, 2020 16:00:44 GMT
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