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Post by FridayOnElmStreet on Jun 11, 2020 8:17:18 GMT
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Post by stefancrosscoe on Jun 11, 2020 10:04:47 GMT
Monsturd, eh? Boy, that sure looks like a real "stinker"! C.H.U.D. (1984) however, I really enjoyed. Planning on re-watching it later this summer, and maybe also get to see the sequel, never saw that, but always wanted to do so.
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Post by shannondegroot on Jun 12, 2020 0:11:33 GMT
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Post by teleadm on Jun 12, 2020 16:30:05 GMT
What a great group photo! ..and possibly possible if not for the man on the far right, lol
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Post by teleadm on Jun 12, 2020 17:20:46 GMT
Last week I watched two movies in the old fashioned horror category, and if you like old fashioned horror I can recommend them both: City of the Dead 1960, British, a young female student interested in old fashioned witchcraft follows a teacher's advice and travels to a secluded Massachusetts town for her research, and then disappears and is never heard of again. Her brother is worried and travels there too, and what he finds... Legendary horror actor Christopher Lee plays the teacher, and he might return later. I thought this was a good old-fashion horror chiller, very studio bound, and if the British actors made good American accents, well you hear better than me. That a young heroine disappears early in movie somehow echos Hitchcock's Psycho and the death of Janet Leigh. The similarities I think is coincidental, since they were made at the same time without knowing about each others existence. It's also available in a colorized version that I haven't seen. Mad Love 1935, made by MGM before they became a sophisticated studio of Technicolor musical. I't's the old story were and artist loses his hands and are replaced by a murderes hand, and begins to do just that. This time time the artist is a pianist about to marry, train wreck, and a just decapitated murderes hands. Peter Lorre makes a good but controversial surgeon going mad, since he loves the pianists about to be married actress. Old fashioned horror, that I like, that creeps upon you. Never seen the old Hands of Orlac version with Conrad Veidt, or the Spanish version with Mel Ferrer, but sadly the Michael Caine version.
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Post by FridayOnElmStreet on Jun 13, 2020 6:40:50 GMT
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Post by FridayOnElmStreet on Jun 13, 2020 6:43:56 GMT
Monsturd, eh? Boy, that sure looks like a real "stinker"! C.H.U.D. (1984) however, I really enjoyed. Planning on re-watching it later this summer, and maybe also get to see the sequel, never saw that, but always wanted to do so. I always loved C.H.U.D. but even more so with the Director Cut. Part 2 is alright but its more of a comedy. It really has about nothing to do with the first film ecxept they call the zombies C.H.U.D.s.
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Post by FridayOnElmStreet on Jun 13, 2020 6:47:07 GMT
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Post by FridayOnElmStreet on Jun 13, 2020 6:47:28 GMT
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Post by FridayOnElmStreet on Jun 13, 2020 6:47:45 GMT
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Post by stefancrosscoe on Jun 14, 2020 14:45:07 GMT
I really wanted to make us of this films own thread (if there exist one in here?) and I know that there has to be at least one or two of the sequel (I know, as i started one and wrote in another) but since the search function is once again down and out (extremely annoying, as I will not waste time on going through 69 pages backwards, in search of one title), and so I will just drop it by here instead: The Howling (1981) by Joe Dante "You can't tame what's meant to be wild, doc. It just ain't natural." A female news reporter (Dee Wallace) have gone deep undercover in order to try and call out a dangerous serial killer and get a hold of an exclusive interview with him. But what she gets instead from their little "rende-vouz", is something far more terrifying, and it will continue on to traumatize and haunt her very thoughts and dreams, so much, that she is sent on a short holiday towards what seems to begin with, as a far more calm and relaxing place than the busy and stressful nature of the big city. Sadly for Karen White, this change of pace will soon reveal its true face and one that surely is anything but calm and peaceful.Surely one of the most well known werewolf films of the 80s, and where director Joe Dante would follow up his cult-favorite Piranha (1978) with another cult-classic, one which sadly kind of fell a bit behind the more known or popular An American Werewolf in London, which of course also were released in 1981, but I think The Howling beat it with almost 5-6 months. Anyway, The Howling is still quite an interesting and exciting horror movie, which blends in horror, adventure, satire, erotica and comedy, and while it may not be as great as I would have liked or hoped it would be on a much later re-watch, I still believe it is one of the more original and creative films of that time. It have been a while since I last time re-visited most of the more familiar werewolf titles of that decade, but there is no question that The Howling felt more dark or creepy in tone and story, than most of the others, and of course it comes with maybe my most favorite werewolf transformation scene as well, which is downright evil and unsettling in every way. Sure, An American Werewolf in London deserves its praise, rightly so, but still I often do prefer the one (transformation part) taking place in The Howling, and while many seem to complain about it being too "slow", I would "kill" for this kind of stuff taking place in modern horror movies, where it so often looks just dull/bland. Anyway, for Karen it must have been a horrible moment, knowing very well what kind of a horrible human being Eddie Quist really is, so then to meet up with his "other" side, now that is the stuff of true nightmares, and people do react very differently when in danger. Still, the most terrifying thing about the whole transformation part has to be the evil and gruesome close up Eddie's face and eyes, and it was such a nasty and creepy scene that what followed with the full sized werewolf, almost became a small "letdown" compared to the first 3 minutes or so, and I guess An American Werewolf pretty much succeeded better at that, than The Howling. But when it comes to the transformation part, my vote would surely go to Rob Bottin and his work on The Howling. Sure, the one film had probably a budget of about 1 to 1,5 million dollars, while the other had about 5-6 extra million dollars more to work from, so with that in mind, I think Joe Dante did one hell of a job with this film. In the leading role as Karen White, Dee Wallace once again proves what a talented actress she was back then, and quite the scream queen as well, who gets the shock of a lifetime and afterwards when trying to prove all the terrifying stuff that have taken place over the last few days, the audience only dismiss it as just another attempt of BS its viewers. Something I really enjoyed about the film and the story, is that it kind of goes beyond the usually and overdone horror book "rules", and here there is no need for the full moon to rise, as those who are "gifted" with the power of the beast, can turn into a killing machine whenever they feel like it, and that is quite interesting and cool, I think. In other parts, you find the always reliable Dick Miller, this time as a bookstore owner, and of course Patrick Macnee who portrays the seemingly kind and generous Dr. Waggner, while the stunning Elisabeth Brooks almost steal the show as the seductive and dark mistress that is Marsha. Another highlight of the film, is the music of Pino Donaggio, who creates a very dreamlike yet uncomfortable mood and setting through sounds and melodies. All in all, I really wanted to hand it a higher rating, but somehow it just did not work out as well as I had hoped for, but still it quite something different from most of the other werewolf films I have seen, and feel at times more like a mystery/suspense film than a horror movie. It would soon be followed by a doze of "sequels", where some are just awful in every way, while others are actually incredible funny and very entertaining bad movies, such as the second one, Your Sister is a Werewolf (1985), which is one of my favorite bad movies, of all time. The first one is of course the best film, no doubt about it. 7,5/10
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Post by Captain Spencer on Jun 14, 2020 15:27:55 GMT
I really wanted to make us of this films own thread (if there exist one in here?) and I know that there has to be at least one or two of the sequel (I know, as i started one and wrote in another) but since the search function is once again down and out (extremely annoying, as I will not waste time on going through 69 pages backwards, in search of one title), and so I will just drop it by here instead: The Howling (1981) by Joe Dante "You can't tame what's meant to be wild, doc. It just ain't natural." A female news reporter (Dee Wallace) have gone deep undercover in order to try and call out a dangerous serial killer and get a hold of an exclusive interview with him. But what she gets instead from their little "rende-vouz", is something far more terrifying, and it will continue on to traumatize and haunt her very thoughts and dreams, so much, that she is sent on a short holiday towards what seems to begin with, as a far more calm and relaxing place than the busy and stressful nature of the big city. Sadly for Karen White, this change of pace will soon reveal its true face and one that surely is anything but calm and peaceful.Surely one of the most well known werewolf films of the 80s, and where director Joe Dante would follow up his cult-favorite Piranha (1978) with another cult-classic, one which sadly kind of fell a bit behind the more known or popular An American Werewolf in London, which of course also were released in 1981, but I think The Howling beat it with almost 5-6 months. Anyway, The Howling is still quite an interesting and exciting horror movie, which blends in horror, adventure, satire, erotica and comedy, and while it may not be as great as I would have liked or hoped it would be on a much later re-watch, I still believe it is one of the more original and creative films of that time. It have been a while since I last time re-visited most of the more familiar werewolf titles of that decade, but there is no question that The Howling felt more dark or creepy in tone and story, than most of the others, and of course it comes with maybe my most favorite werewolf transformation scene as well, which is downright evil and unsettling in every way. Sure, An American Werewolf in London deserves its praise, rightly so, but still I often do prefer the one (transformation part) taking place in The Howling, and while many seem to complain about it being too "slow", I would "kill" for this kind of stuff taking place in modern horror movies, where it so often looks just dull/bland. Anyway, for Karen it must have been a horrible moment, knowing very well what kind of a horrible human being Eddie Quist really is, so then to meet up with his "other" side, now that is the stuff of true nightmares, and people do react very differently when in danger. Still, the most terrifying thing about the whole transformation part has to be the evil and gruesome close up Eddie's face and eyes, and it was such a nasty and creepy scene that what followed with the full sized werewolf, almost became a small "letdown" compared to the first 3 minutes or so, and I guess An American Werewolf pretty much succeeded better at that, than The Howling. But when it comes to the transformation part, my vote would surely go to Rob Bottin and his work on The Howling. Sure, the one film had probably a budget of about 1 to 1,5 million dollars, while the other had about 5-6 extra million dollars more to work from, so with that in mind, I think Joe Dante did one hell of a job with this film. In the leading role as Karen White, Dee Wallace once again proves what a talented actress she was back then, and quite the scream queen as well, who gets the shock of a lifetime and afterwards when trying to prove all the terrifying stuff that have taken place over the last few days, the audience only dismiss it as just another attempt of BS its viewers. Something I really enjoyed about the film and the story, is that it kind of goes beyond the usually and overdone horror book "rules", and here there is no need for the full moon to rise, as those who are "gifted" with the power of the beast, can turn into a killing machine whenever they feel like it, and that is quite interesting and cool, I think. In other parts, you find the always reliable Dick Miller, this time as a bookstore owner, and of course Patrick Macnee who portrays the seemingly kind and generous Dr. Waggner, while the stunning Elisabeth Brooks almost steal the show as the seductive and dark mistress that is Marsha. Another highlight of the film, is the music of Pino Donaggio, who creates a very dreamlike yet uncomfortable mood and setting through sounds and melodies. All in all, I really wanted to hand it a higher rating, but somehow it just did not work out as well as I had hoped for, but still it quite something different from most of the other werewolf films I have seen, and feel at times more like a mystery/suspense film than a horror movie. It would soon be followed by a doze of "sequels", where some are just awful in every way, while others are actually incredible funny and very entertaining bad movies, such as the second one, Your Sister is a Werewolf (1985), which is one of my favorite bad movies, of all time. The first one is of course the best film, no doubt about it. 7,5/10 It's often been difficult for me to decide which is better, The Howling or American Werewolf In London. Both have those amazing, ground-breaking special effects and a great sense of humor. But I think The Howling is slightly is better for more horror value; it's darker and more chilling in spite of the humor. And there's that other high profile werewolf movie of 1981, Wolfen, which I really like as well. That one is a lot more serious with a great deal of social commentary. It's just screaming (howling?) for a special edition blu-ray release.
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Post by stefancrosscoe on Jun 14, 2020 15:47:33 GMT
Wolfen and American Werewolf I will try to get back to later this summer, as I have not seen them for a long while, but I quite enjoyed how things turned in all three films, and it was really a good year for werewolf themed horror cinema. Sadly some of those films set such high standards in both story and use of groundbreaking special effects, that very few other werewolf movies have really come close, and those who have tried (specially with the effects) have done so rather terrible, but I guess it is of course way more costly than just another bunch of vampire or zombie films, which never seems to go out of date with the industry and fans.
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Post by FridayOnElmStreet on Jun 15, 2020 2:51:23 GMT
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Post by Lebowskidoo 🦞 on Jun 15, 2020 11:03:12 GMT
Alien Predators (1986)
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Post by FridayOnElmStreet on Jun 16, 2020 7:54:30 GMT
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Post by FridayOnElmStreet on Jun 16, 2020 7:55:00 GMT
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Post by stefancrosscoe on Jun 16, 2020 8:54:40 GMT
I remember getting a free DVD copy of Murder Party, did not expect too much from it, but somehow ended up liking all the crazy stuff that was going on.
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Post by gspdude on Jun 17, 2020 12:04:15 GMT
Saw a couple of low budget horrors this week.
The Night Watchmen (2017) A Horror-Comedy about a group of inept night watchmen battling a vampire hoard led by Blimpo, the Vampire clown. Got a few chuckles out of it and there's plenty of blood. The vampires act more like Zombies than Vampires, in fact one of our heroes even refers to them as Zompires. 4/10.
Clawed (2017) Clawed monster formed from toxic waste killing campers. This one is bad. Almost raised Night Watchmen a point after watching this, as anything would improve by comparison. Poor dialogue, acting, and camera work. Only get quick looks at the monster and no really good kills. Tiffany Shepis & Felissa Rose are in it but their scene is a quick one, after which I was thinking of giving up on this but then it looked like the monster raped his next victim so the sleaze lover in me won out, but there was no more of that, just the usual chasing and killing. There's a twist at the end, if you can make it that far. 2/10
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Post by lostinlimbo on Jun 18, 2020 0:55:13 GMT
I always had a soft spot for this little slasher movie. Although this time I didn't enjoy it as much as I used to. It was heavily cut on release and denied a theatrical run by the distributor. Unfortunately it is unlikely the original version as intended by director Geoffrey Wright will ever surface. The movie had a very troubled shoot which would make for an interesting documentary in itself. I finally got around to watching the blu-ray special edition which unfortunately only has the theatrical version of the movie but in much better quality than the previous dvd release. It also has a really fascinating commentary track by the director including some very interesting trivia about the movie. I didn't know that they went over budget and were so far behind in the shooting schedule that a quite a few scenes from the original script couldn't be shot and sometimes they had only time to do one take for a scene. Regarding all this it's actually a miracle the movie works at all. I still find this to be a better slasher movie than Urban Legends or I Know What You Did Last Summer. My friend lent me his copy of the scream factory release a couple years ago, and the behind the scenes trivia was definitely fascinating. However I wasn’t a fan of the film itself. Something about it just rubbed me up the wrong way... maybe the performances, or story reveals? I don’t completely remember what it was.
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