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Post by stefancrosscoe on Jul 8, 2017 8:58:51 GMT
Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998) Had not seen it since 1999 and back then I guess I was far more "impressed" as I had not seen to many horror/slasher films. Jamie Lee Curtis is back, and so is Michael Myers. The opening scene sets up the film in a very annoying and poor way. Like in the rest of the film, we have one dull and cheap "thrill" momement thrown at us after another, followed by a bunch of forgettable characters that do not stick out in either a good or bad way. The only cool/neat part is the ending, which also was the only scene I actually remember, after all these years. It feels more like a poor rip-off of late 90s horror films such as Scream sequels or I Know What You Did Last Summer films, than a "worthy" comeback for the Halloween series, and it does not help much by having Jamie Lee Curtis thrown in either. Josh Hartnett and Michelle Williams are god awful "actors" and rapper LL Cool J is supposed to be the "funny" character, where he shows up here and there. Michael Myers is the biggest disappointment in the film. He just looks so very random, and pose as no threat at all. More comedy than horror. Still, it did not get boring, and so I end up giving it a kind rating, but this one will go into the garbage bin, and is not worthy to stand beside the first three films of the franchise. 4/10
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Post by mszanadu on Jul 8, 2017 15:09:49 GMT
Another good one I'm currently watching on the FXM Channel ( and it's still very eerie every time I watch it too ) . The Legend of Hell House 1973 IMPO - Excellent storyline and memorable cast in this classic horror flick too . Added note - Nice mansion house too bad it's evil and haunted . Now following up on this same channel with the next horror flick ( TV Movie ) . Mark of the Devil 1984
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Post by lostinlimbo on Jul 11, 2017 5:53:59 GMT
Rewatched the sequel Poltergeist II: The Other Side (1986). Somewhat serviceable follow-up, that lacks that natural family dynamics and humour of the original, but delivers strong technical effects with some decent shocks. Julian Beck might only have a few scenes, yet he leaves such an unnerving impression.
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Post by stefancrosscoe on Jul 11, 2017 10:24:12 GMT
Raging Angels (1995) Bottom of the barrel, mid 90s super-natural/horror film with some truly god-awful post-grunge soundtrack going on, and while it does features two lovely blond babes, it really was not much to remember from it. I had to see the film "twice" as I ended up falling to sleep half way through the first time, as it was that boring and slow paced. 3/10
Bless the Child (2000) Kim Basinger stars in another typical late 90s/early 00s super-natural horror/thriller that comes with horrible CGI effects, a silly plot and one of the least scary bad guys on the screen. But, it is kind of entertaining b-movie, and as I have always been kind of weak, when it comes towards Basinger, I end up being a bit to easy on the rating, as it really is more of a 4/10 kind of movie, and so I ended up with a very kind 5/10
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maxwellperfect
Junior Member
@maxwellperfect
Posts: 3,966
Likes: 1,683
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Post by maxwellperfect on Jul 11, 2017 21:02:28 GMT
Triangle (2009).
I enjoyed it.
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Post by Captain Spencer on Jul 12, 2017 2:31:03 GMT
The other night I watched Four Flies On Grey Velvet (1972), Dario Argento's third movie. Not one of his better efforts, it has a cheap and shoddy look to it. It was as if it was Argento's first movie shot on a really low budget. And the murder scenes were nowhere nearly as excitingly staged or gruesome as compared to other Argento films.
Nevertheless, I still thought it was a pretty good thriller. It does benefit from some stylish visual touches, and the story was interesting enough. And as usual, Ennio Morricone provides a beautiful, haunting music score.
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Post by mszanadu on Jul 12, 2017 15:16:30 GMT
Triangle (2009). I enjoyed it. Triangle (2009) I so agree here maxwellperfect and I sometimes watch this one back to back with another similar film which I really enjoy too . Ghost Ship (2002) IMPO - Both storylines are very intriguing and creepy .
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maxwellperfect
Junior Member
@maxwellperfect
Posts: 3,966
Likes: 1,683
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Post by maxwellperfect on Jul 12, 2017 21:17:51 GMT
Triangle (2009). I enjoyed it. Triangle (2009) I so agree here maxwellperfect and I sometimes watch this one back to back with another similar film which I really enjoy too . Ghost Ship (2002) IMPO - Both storylines are very intriguing and creepy . 'Ghost Ship' is a pretty fun little modern ghost story. It's not as complex as 'Triangle', but it does have the same deserted ocean liner vibe going on, alright.
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Post by mszanadu on Jul 12, 2017 21:24:04 GMT
The other night I watched Four Flies On Grey Velvet (1972), Dario Argento's third movie. Not one of his better efforts, it has a cheap and shoddy look to it. It was as if it was Argento's first movie shot on a really low budget. And the murder scenes were nowhere nearly as excitingly staged or gruesome as compared to other Argento films. Nevertheless, I still thought it was a pretty good thriller. It does benefit from some stylish visual touches, and the story was interesting enough. And as usual, Ennio Morricone provides a beautiful, haunting music score. Four Flies on Grey Velvet (1972) This film actually looks really good here . Thanks so much Dramatic Look Gopher for your movie recommendation here too .
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Post by Captain Spencer on Jul 13, 2017 1:02:45 GMT
The other night I watched Four Flies On Grey Velvet (1972), Dario Argento's third movie. Not one of his better efforts, it has a cheap and shoddy look to it. It was as if it was Argento's first movie shot on a really low budget. And the murder scenes were nowhere nearly as excitingly staged or gruesome as compared to other Argento films. Nevertheless, I still thought it was a pretty good thriller. It does benefit from some stylish visual touches, and the story was interesting enough. And as usual, Ennio Morricone provides a beautiful, haunting music score. Four Flies on Grey Velvet (1972) This film actually looks really good here . Thanks so much Dramatic Look Gopher for your movie recommendation here too . No problem, mszanadu. If you do end up seeing Four Flies and enjoy it, then I strongly recommend Cat O' Nine Tails, which was Dario Argento's second film and also a giallo thriller. In my opinion it's much better.
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Post by mszanadu on Jul 13, 2017 3:47:35 GMT
No problem, mszanadu. If you do end up seeing Four Flies and enjoy it, then I strongly recommend Cat O' Nine Tails, which was Dario Argento's second film and also a giallo thriller. In my opinion it's much better. I also checked the other two movies on Wikipedia these looked really good as well . The Bird with the Crystal Plumage 1970 The Cat o' Nine Tails 1971 IMPO - A couple of good channels that should show all three of these films together is TCM ( Turner Classic Movies ) and COMET ( especially for this Halloween - that would be awesome ) . Thanks again Dramatic Look Gopher .
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Post by stefancrosscoe on Jul 13, 2017 12:04:49 GMT
Cat O' Nine Tails, I think of as one of Argentos earliest and best films. The Bird with the Crystal Plumage 1970 and Four Flies on Grey Velvet (1972) I have not seen for a while, but I remember feeling that they were not as good/enjoyable as Cat O' Nine Tails, but I did like the atmosphere/music that was included, and it might be time for a re-watch anytime soon.
Turner Classic Movies, I miss this channel as my TV company or what their name is, have decided to get rid of it from my TV abonnement and once there was 3-4 really good movie channels that featured lots of 60,70s,80 and early 90s horror, and now there is sadly none.
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Post by lostinlimbo on Jul 20, 2017 9:26:19 GMT
The Japanese sure love their outrageous splatter films, and "Bloody Chainsaw Girl"(2016) doesn't sway from the trend. While it might not reach the great heights of those it's patterned on, still it's an amusingly loony experience none-the-same. While all dressed up (just look at that beast of a chainsaw!), the budget does limited how far it can go. This only highlights the thin, stretched out premise built around striking visual gimmicks, a heavy dose of (dodgy) CGI carnage, exaggerated performances and showdowns after showdowns of a delinquent high-school girl and her custom made chainsaw going up against fellow students turned mutant cyborgs by an overzealous student outcast holding an unknown grudge towards her. All she wants to do is complete her exam, but the school grounds become a warzone. The way the narrative is put together is beyond slapdash, sometimes even sputtering along when it slows down for some reflective monologues and character building flashbacks. But that’s broken up by its slow-mo duels and tongue-in-cheek approach, as the protagonist uncontrollably laughs off everything.
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Post by forca84 on Jul 20, 2017 23:08:01 GMT
"Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension... I was pretty stoked to finally see it. It answered some questions but I felt it was pretty ballsy to end it like that. I wish some other character's fates would've been revealed from other sequels. I was pretty satisfied with it. The "ghost dimension" effects were interesting.
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Post by stefancrosscoe on Jul 21, 2017 12:51:11 GMT
Contagion (2002) A sloppy/poor suspense/thriller where the President of the United States is attacked with a deadly virus, which means he ends up at a hospital. The villains (played by Lin Shaye and Jeffrey Combs) show up here and there, while some beautiful expert/doctor played by Megan Gallagher saves the day. I only saw it because of Shaye/Combs. Two very likeable character actors, but this was pretty damn hard to watch at times. Thankfully the film did not last too long, and I managed to stay awake for most of the time. 4/10
Trapped: Buried Alive (2002) The other film that came along in the double-disc DVD version, which also featured the movie above. Typical low-budget disaster thriller, with a bunch of unlikeable, annoying characters that do everything wrong, and the one "sane" person, has to follow the idiots around, while trying to tell them that "YOU'RE GOING THE WRONG WAY!!!!!" Below average, maybe even below that, but it was a times so silly that it became more of a bad comedy than thriller/suspense. 4/10
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Post by stefancrosscoe on Jul 22, 2017 12:20:46 GMT
American Perfekt (1997) Roadtrip, black comedy, romance, thriller and probably much more, thrown in. Robert Forster and Amanda Plummer do a pretty good job here, or well with what little they got to work with, but halfway through the film suddenly tries to be more clever/sharp and serious than it can handle, and it all falls down. I enjoyed the chemistry between the two leads, but when Fairuza Balk shows up along with Paul Sorvino, it just does not work anymore and it ends up as a below average movie that I was very tempted of turning off. A wasted opportunity. 4/10
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Post by stefancrosscoe on Aug 1, 2017 14:45:27 GMT
The Glass House (2001) The DVD cover seemed to make it out to be just another dumb teen slasher, and so I was pleased how the film took such a different turn. This was nothing like a slasher movie, but more a psychological thriller with some great acting and beautiful/stylished locations/directing, and if it had not been for the disappointing end scene which felt like they kind of chickened out. Stellan Skarsgård and Diane Lane was terrific, and I was surprised to see how badly the film did amongs both the audience and critics. I wanted to give it a 7/10 but some of the scenes at the last 10-15 minutes seemed very typical with a lot of clumsiness, falling to the ground, grabbing legs, falling again, and overused and silly horror cliches that they should have just dropped, and instead gone for something a bit more "worthy" to such a good film, and I read afterwards that over 60 minutes of footage went missing, which I guess kind of helps bring some light towards why the films climax felt so "cheap", compared to the rest of the film. I really enjoyed the "art deco" house that was used in the film, very spooky and far more menacing than some old mansion/castle. These art deco houses are back in style, and they always have this empty vibe over them and it looked like it came out of one of Michael Manns 80s/90s films. Clean and luxurious but something is clearly missing, as the kids in the film will find out later. "Do not touch, it is art!" That line was chilling. 6,5/10
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Post by mszanadu on Aug 2, 2017 3:01:27 GMT
Watching this classic technicolor thriller noir gem on TCM ( Turner Classic Movies ) right now . Also one of the early films of actress Marilyn Monroe too . Niagara 1953
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Post by stefancrosscoe on Aug 2, 2017 11:58:07 GMT
Glass House: The Good Mother (2006) "Hey, you know that movie The Glass House? The one that became a box office bomb? Lets make a poor remake of that, and sell it as a sequel to cash in on the former films big success". Somehow, the 2001 film got a "sequel" 5 years later on, but is probably more of a remake. The plot is pretty much the same stuff, two kids end up having their parents die in some freak accident, and they have to move in with their new "parents" and then all hell break loose. The problem is that things become very "suspicious" too early on, the new mum is clearly a psychotic bitch and her busband is a complete coward, I guess the director thought it would be "smart" thing to switch the roles from the 2001 film. But where the first film was more a chilling and well acted thriller, the 2006 movie is closer of a bad parody at times, resembling some random cheap act from a TV soap opera, where the films two main characters are throwing bottom of the barrell insults and remarks at each other, even getting involved into a short and laughable "cat-fight". My main problem is that the film seems very rushed/sloppy made and made worse by the horrible use of shaky-cam and poor editing which really puts the movie down several places, and the final climax is just comedy hour and any suspense left, is thrown out the window when the bitchy ice queen gets kicked down the stairs, crack her head in the pavement (you can hear the sounds of her skull crush) then of course you know damn well that she will still come back fighting for a second time. Anyway, the kids in the first film, I kind of felt sorry for, but the kids in the 2006 version I could not care less about. Very below average DTV film, that will find its way into the garbage bin, very soon. 4/10
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Post by gspdude on Aug 2, 2017 14:32:55 GMT
The Babadook (2014) FTV 7/10. The beginning was a bit slow moving and I found the child annoying, but as it went on I got more into it, wondering how much was real and how much, if any, was hallucination. Enjoyed it enough to forgive the slow start, indeed, it may have helped. Essie Davis as the mother was quite good.
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