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Post by lostinlimbo on Apr 26, 2021 22:23:07 GMT
Caught this on Netflix a couple years ago. I liked the novel approach the screenplay took on familiar devil/possession tropes. Also great to see "Alice, Sweet Alice" get a little plug on the TV.
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Post by Dramatic Look Gopher on Apr 28, 2021 3:02:05 GMT
 Waxwork (1988) College kids are invited to view wax museum displays in a mansion, with each of the exhibits containing a portal to another dimension. When some of the teens enter the portals, they get involved in fatal misadventures with classic movie monsters. Fun, entertaining, tongue-in-cheek horror cheese. First-time director Anthony Hickox demonstrated a keen sense of visual style and a good eye for detail, as well as knowing homages to classic horror. An innovative story, however it ends up deteriorating into a formulaic show-down type finale, plus that cliched "the horror may not be over" final shot. But for the most part, a dandy little horror gem. For a young director making his debut, it was really quite impressive that he was able to round up an impressive cast that includes David Warner, Patrick Macnee, and John Rhys-Davies. And I could have sworn the dwarf servant was played by Harry Earles, who was Hans in the 1932 horror classic Freaks, but as it turns out it was another diminutive actor. |
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Post by gspdude on Apr 29, 2021 11:26:08 GMT
 The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005) A priest goes on trial for the death of a young woman who died during an exorcism. I don't often care for courtroom drama, and this was about half courtroom drama and about half supernatural flashback. But this was so well done and acted that it kept me totally interested, and at times engrossed, until the end. 8/10. |
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Post by mgmarshall on Apr 29, 2021 18:11:52 GMT
 Two Evil EyesIt's been quite a while since I revisited this one. I was on quite an Argento kick years and years ago in the tail end of high school. This one came at the end of that, and I had pretty mixed feelings about it. On a re-watch, I still do. Something about it just never quite gels. I know it was supposedly planned to be an Edgar Allan Poe-based anthology series, and that's really what it feels like, two otherwise unrelated episodes of an anthology. I can only really address it as such. Romero's episode, "The Facts in the Case of Mr. Valdemar," is pretty far from his strongest work. It has solid make-up effects by Tom Savini, but despite the presence of Adrienne Barbeau, E.G. Marshall, and Tom Atkins (who I swear must exist in some kind of 40's-50's noir cop bubble, between his appearances in this, Night of the Creeps, Bruiser, and Drive Angry. It's all anybody seemingly asks of him.), it never manages to reach the sublime heights of Creepshow. Maybe it's just that the story doesn't quite fill its near-hour-long runtime. Maybe it's that it deviates too far from the source material- Romero's additions feel much more Lovecraft than Poe. Still, there's some okay stuff here. As mentioned, the effects are impressive and the performances are strong; and Romero's commentary on capitalism and greed, while about as subtle as a brick to the face, is still relatively effective. Argento's episode, "The Black Cat", is really where the movie shines. I admit, I haven't seen much of his post-80's work beyond this movie, the Masters of Horror episodes, Mother of Tears, and Dracula 3-D; but from what I've seen this is one of the last flourishes of the true Argento- wild camerawork, expressionistic lighting, and gruesome, near-impossible gore effects. I also like how Argento adapts Poe in basically the same way Roger Corman does, throwing elements from multiple stories in there. Plus, I'll never turn down a batshit Harvey Keitel performance. Still, the segment's a touch longer than it really needs to be, and it does start to drag a bit. Overall, the movie's not too bad, but if you want a Romero/Argento collaboration, I'd stick with Dawn of the Dead.
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Post by Dramatic Look Gopher on Apr 29, 2021 20:08:19 GMT
Two Evil EyesIt's been quite a while since I revisited this one. I was on quite an Argento kick years and years ago in the tail end of high school. This one came at the end of that, and I had pretty mixed feelings about it. On a re-watch, I still do. Something about it just never quite gels. I know it was supposedly planned to be an Edgar Allan Poe-based anthology series, and that's really what it feels like, two otherwise unrelated episodes of an anthology. I sible can only really address it as such. Romero's episode, "The Facts in the Case of Mr. Valdemar," is pretty far from his strongest work. It has solid make-up effects by Tom Savini, but despite the presence of Adrienne Barbeau, E.G. Marshall, and Tom Atkins (who I swear must exist in some kind of 40's-50's noir cop bubble, between his appearances in this, Night of the Creeps, Bruiser, and Drive Angry. It's all anybody seemingly asks of him.), it never manages to reach the sublime heights of Creepshow. Maybe it's just that the story doesn't quite fill its near-hour-long runtime. Maybe it's that it deviates too far from the source material- Romero's additions feel much more Lovecraft than Poe. Still, there's some okay stuff here. As mentioned, the effects are impressive and the performances are strong; and Romero's commentary on capitalism and greed, while about as subtle as a brick to the face, is still relatively effective. Argento's episode, "The Black Cat", is really where the movie shines. I admit, I haven't seen much of his post-80's work beyond this movie, the Masters of Horror episodes, Mother of Tears, and Dracula 3-D; but from what I've seen this is one of the last flourishes of the true Argento- wild camerawork, expressionistic lighting, and gruesome, near-impossible gore effects. I also like how Argento adapts Poe in basically the same way Roger Corman does, throwing elements from multiple stories in there. Plus, I'll never turn down a batshit Harvey Keitel performance. Still, the segment's a touch longer than it really needs to be, and it does start to drag a bit. Overall, the movie's not too bad, but if you want a Romero/Argento collaboration, I'd stick with Dawn of the Dead. It's been a long time since I've seen Two Evil Eyes, but I remember not thinking too highly of it. Still, I should see it again as well, for some possible re-evaluation.
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Post by gspdude on May 1, 2021 13:13:56 GMT
 Underwater(2020) An underwater deep sea drilling complex has been destroyed, perhaps by an earthquake(we're not quite sure) and the survivors are being stalked by a new species. The story shifts back and forth from under water to areas of the complex still habitable as the survivors try to make their escape. Vincent Cassel and Kristen Stewart were believable, but the darkness of the underwater scenes often kept me in the dark as to what was going on, and I've never been a fan of the shaky camera thing, which is used a lot. 4.5/10. |
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Post by FridayOnElmStreet on May 2, 2021 9:28:09 GMT
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Post by FridayOnElmStreet on May 2, 2021 9:29:28 GMT
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Post by FridayOnElmStreet on May 2, 2021 9:31:24 GMT
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Post by mgmarshall on May 3, 2021 8:00:25 GMT
 The Monster ClubAn utter mediocrity. Incredibly talented cast saddled with half-baked, corny stories and embarrassingly cheap effects and production values. Meh, Vincent Price and John Carradine seem like they're having fun; the vampire segment with Donald Pleasance and Richard Johnson isn't too awful; and Patrick Magee manages to imbue his thankless role with some genuine creep factor. That man truly never lets me down. Still, despite the cast's best efforts, this is totally lacking any of the charm or atmosphere of Milton Subotsky's earlier, Amicus-produced anthologies. If this movie's any indication, R. Chetwynd-Hayes was no Robert Bloch...
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Post by lostinlimbo on May 3, 2021 12:48:18 GMT
 A surprisingly decent follow-up to the original with a ever reliable Vincent Price under the bandages.
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Post by Anonymous Andy on May 4, 2021 12:46:34 GMT
The Monster ClubAn utter mediocrity. Incredibly talented cast saddled with half-baked, corny stories and embarrassingly cheap effects and production values. Meh, Vincent Price and John Carradine seem like they're having fun; the vampire segment with Donald Pleasance and Richard Johnson isn't too awful; and Patrick Magee manages to imbue his thankless role with some genuine creep factor. That man truly never lets me down. Still, despite the cast's best efforts, this is totally lacking any of the charm or atmosphere of Milton Subotsky's earlier, Amicus-produced anthologies. If this movie's any indication, R. Chetwynd-Hayes was no Robert Bloch... I hear your grievances but... man, this movie just hit my sweet spot. I discovered it a few years back during an Amicus deep dive and while, yes, none of the segments are great, the whole thing is incredibly enjoyable and cheesy in the best possible way. I've watched it a few times since. And those new wave songs performed in between segments are still stuck in my head. |
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Post by Anonymous Andy on May 4, 2021 12:48:51 GMT
 Not just "good for a TV-movie" but legitimately good. Characters you love to hate, autumn atmosphere up the wazoo and Larry Drake. What's not to love? 8/10 |
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Post by Anonymous Andy on May 4, 2021 12:52:25 GMT
 Maybe I'm getting softer as I age, but time has been incredibly kind to some of the Amityville sequels. It's not a great film by any means (the acting is hacky and the whole thing is overly lit), but there are more than enough haunted house tropes and hijinks to keep things moving along. The garbage disposal scene and the guy under the crawlspace drowning in muck still get me every time. The presence of Patty Duke definitely helps make this better than it has any right to be. 5/10 |
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Post by Lebowskidoo 🎄😷🎄 on May 4, 2021 14:28:28 GMT
The Wolf of Snow Hollow (2020)  Certainly not your typical werewolf picture. Cool poster!
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Post by mgmarshall on May 4, 2021 15:41:59 GMT
Maybe I'm getting softer as I age, but time has been incredibly kind to some of the Amityville sequels. It's not a great film by any means (the acting is hacky and the whole thing is overly lit), but there are more than enough haunted house tropes and hijinks to keep things moving along. The garbage disposal scene and the guy under the crawlspace drowning in muck still get me every time. The presence of Patty Duke definitely helps make this better than it has any right to be. 5/10 You know, I never made it past Amityville 3-D, myself. Maybe I should check the rest of them out sometime...
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Post by Anonymous Andy on May 4, 2021 15:50:53 GMT
Maybe I'm getting softer as I age, but time has been incredibly kind to some of the Amityville sequels. It's not a great film by any means (the acting is hacky and the whole thing is overly lit), but there are more than enough haunted house tropes and hijinks to keep things moving along. The garbage disposal scene and the guy under the crawlspace drowning in muck still get me every time. The presence of Patty Duke definitely helps make this better than it has any right to be. 5/10 You know, I never made it past Amityville 3-D, myself. Maybe I should check the rest of them out sometime... Depending on your stomach for '90s direct-to-VHS fodder, you might find some of them to be worlds better (or at least more enjoyable) than 3, which I personally think just flat-out sucks. 1992: It's About Time is a personal guilty pleasure favorite. I haven't watched Dollhouse yet, but I hear good things. Having said that, I'd approach everything that came after that one with extreme caution. |
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Post by mgmarshall on May 5, 2021 4:37:06 GMT
You know, I never made it past Amityville 3-D, myself. Maybe I should check the rest of them out sometime... , you might find some of them to be worlds better (or at least more enjoyable) than 3, which I personally think just flat-out sucks. 1992: It's About Time is a personal guilty pleasure favorite. I haven't watched Dollhouse yet, but I hear good things. Having said that, I'd approach everything that came after that one with extreme caution. Well, hell, I made it through all the Puppet Master sequels, I'm sure I can handle it.
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Post by stefancrosscoe on May 5, 2021 11:29:23 GMT
 Deep Blue Sea (1999) by Renny Harlin I believe this was supposed to be a more "serious" film. One which were gonna "re-update" the scary image of the classic Jaws (1976), but ignore the over the top and campy sequels. Well, so it was said, at least according to some of the hype, surrouding its release, during summer of 1999. But looking at it, once more, I guess all that, was completely lost, as Deep Blue Sea is quite a messy and not the bit "scary" or "atmospheric" film, it is however, a big budget, at times fun, late summer (or was it fall?) forgettable blockbuster, which comes with lots of familiar names and faces, some not that terrible special effects/CGI use, but it is just not a very memorable or good movie. When Stellan and Samuel L. Jackson is abrubtly (I guess for the whole shock effect) written off, we are mostly left, with a pretty weak gallery of cliches, where the ice cold female scientist and Thomas Jane (never been a fan, but he just never seemed to have what it takes, to be a leading man) and for me, the two remaining, who kind of had some fun together, were that of LL. Cool J and Michael Rapaport, thankfully Janice Sopranos and the fat shaming bird were also soon written out, but yeah, nice that Cool J managed to survive for such long, but all in all, a pretty dull sci-fi/horror movie, which I rated 4/10, years ago. Then re-watched it, and well, this was probably Harlin's last big budget shot, at trying to "save" his Hollywood career, but compared to his earlier films, I felt Deep Blue Sea is his weakest one, and I much more liked his later one, I believe to be, Mindhunters, but then again, there were not that many shark related horror films of the 90s, probably due to how poorly the later Jaws sequels had ended up with its audience in the 80s. Did not know, that there were recently put out, a couple of DTV "sequels" to this one, but I strongly doubt, I will ever bother with those. 5/10 Also got a bit of a laugh out of the above poster, which even adds more to how "nice" the sharks in the film come off as.
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Post by Anonymous Andy on May 5, 2021 12:50:34 GMT
Deep Blue Sea (1999) by Renny Harlin I believe this was supposed to be a more "serious" film. One which were gonna "re-update" the scary image of the classic Jaws (1976), but ignore the over the top and campy sequels. Well, so it was said, at least according to some of the hype, surrouding its release, during summer of 1999. But looking at it, once more, I guess all that, was completely lost, as Deep Blue Sea is quite a messy and not the bit "scary" or "atmospheric" film, it is however, a big budget, at times fun, late summer (or was it fall?) forgettable blockbuster, which comes with lots of familiar names and faces, some not that terrible special effects/CGI use, but it is just not a very memorable or good movie. When Stellan and Samuel L. Jackson is abrubtly (I guess for the whole shock effect) written off, we are mostly left, with a pretty weak gallery of cliches, where the ice cold female scientist and Thomas Jane (never been a fan, but he just never seemed to have what it takes, to be a leading man) and for me, the two remaining, who kind of had some fun together, were that of LL. Cool J and Michael Rapaport, thankfully Janice Sopranos and the fat shaming bird were also soon written out, but yeah, nice that Cool J managed to survive for such long, but all in all, a pretty dull sci-fi/horror movie, which I rated 4/10, years ago. Then re-watched it, and well, this was probably Harlin's last big budget shot, at trying to "save" his Hollywood career, but compared to his earlier films, I felt Deep Blue Sea is his weakest one, and I much more liked his later one, I believe to be, Mindhunters, but then again, there were not that many shark related horror films of the 90s, probably due to how poorly the later Jaws sequels had ended up with its audience in the 80s. Did not know, that there were recently put out, a couple of DTV "sequels" to this one, but I strongly doubt, I will ever bother with those. 5/10 Also got a bit of a laugh out of the above poster, which even adds more to how "nice" the sharks in the film come off as. Yeah but
LL Cool J's hat is like a shark's fin.
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