Horror Movies

[DJ]

 

[DJ]

Not horror related but man related.

Prime rib at a steakhouse here in TN last night.

 

[DJ]

2nd best ever steakhouse experience. Best ever was at The Hydra in Sandpoint, ID. Smoking good ribeye.

 

[R.J. MacReady]

Not horror related but man related.

Prime rib at a steakhouse here in TN last night.
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I'm sure that resulted in a serious food Coma ....and well worth it I'm sure.

.

 

[DJ]

I'm sure that resulted in a serious food Coma ....and well worth it I'm sure.

.

This morning the wife said I fell asleep within 20 seconds of laying down for the night.

 

[Chef99]

Not horror related but man related.

Prime rib at a steakhouse here in TN last night.
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That ain't no horror, it's a thing of beauty.

 

[DJ]

That ain't no horror, it's a thing of beauty.

I know. Just wanted to share.

Some just in here and don't get around the hoop like @FaCe-LeE-uS and I do.

 

[returnofjakedog]

It actually is a solid story, but I was so psyched by the idea of Boris and Jack together, I was just so disappointed.

I probably over-rated it a bit. Jack wasn't quite the full on Jack we learned to know and love a few years down the road, and Boris wasn't quite what he was a decade or two previous. But you could still see the bones of their greatness in the performances.
The story was well done (except the twist, which others may like but I didn't) and Corman did a very good job on the direction. It was a nice movie to look at. All this considering a quite low budget.

I liked it more than the critics (37% on RT) and general audience scores (5.0 on imdb), so my rating is probably off but I'm sticking with about a 6.5 to 7.

 

[returnofjakedog]

Witchfinder General (1968)-

A nasty little tale starring Vincent Price as a corrupt and evil witchfinder who goes from town to town with his equally vile assistant, where they perform lethal tests to ascertain the guilt of persons accused of witchcraft. This is all under the cover of an ongoing civil war. They kill a village priest and blackmail and r*pe his daughter, but they didn't count on her soldier fiancee returning to hunt them down.

The good:
*An excellent peak Vincent Price performance. He oozes self-centered ego and evil throughout. His assistant fits perfectly as a slimy willing accomplice. They know that they are manipulating the "law" and the situation for personal power and wealth but don't mind destroying other people if it gets them a few shillings. They also openly enjoy their murderous masochism.
*A good story with strong antagonists. The movie apparently kick started a second round of Edgar Allen Poe movies, but the story wasn't written by Poe, so.....??
*Some nice cinematography. The English countryside is nicely represented, often in moments of horrific torture and/or execution, which makes for an interesting contrast.
*A great disturbing ending!

The bad:
*The protagonist's characterizations are weaker than the antagonists. The main hero guy does better than the others though.
*A bit over the top in that I don't always buy that people would accept and allow this behavior, even in the 1640s. I might be wrong in that, but I don't see how no one calls bullshit on the methods used by Price and his accomplice. I would think even ignorant hicks could see how dumb the witching tests were.

Overall, an excellent Price flick. I'll go 7.5 to 8 outta 10 range.

Sadly, it was the young director Michael Reeves 3rd and final film as he died only a few months after it's release from an overdose at only 25 years old.

 

[BeaReylo]

Maybe they'll finally do it justice.

The tv mini series is a classic and one of the finest outings of horror regardless of medium.

 

[returnofjakedog]

The tv mini series is a classic and one of the finest outings of horror regardless of medium.

I'm assuming you mean the original miniseries from 1979, since the 2004 version was fairly mediocre.

I haven't seen the original in years, but I recall it being decent. I also recall that it is very obviously a 1970s look and feel to it. The vampire kid floating outside the window, and scratching on it scared the heck put of me when I was a kid.

I know Tobe Hopper directed. I need to check it out in full again at some point.

 

[Sharkonabicycle]

Not horror related but man related.

Prime rib at a steakhouse here in TN last night.
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That Sperry's? If so that place is delicious!

 

[Podunkparte]

Finally got around to a movie that caught my eye when the trailer came out and then was never available til streaming.

Suspiria (2018)

I enjoyed the atmosphere and the vintage horror cinematography. After it was all said and done, the most accurate thing I can say is that it was interesting to have seen. It feels like there was a message to be said, but instead of saying it, they whispered it into a hurricane.

 

[DJ]

That Sperry's? If so that place is delicious!

Yep, it was really good. Kind of expensive but every once in a while you gotta splurge.

I knew a shark on a bike would appreciate a good chunk of meat.

 

[DJ]

 

[Chef99]

Yep, it was really good. Kind of expensive but every once in a while you gotta splurge.

I knew a shark on a bike would appreciate a good chunk of meat.

As does a chef. Splurging on a good piece of meat is the BEST.

 

[Nasty_Magician]

Just finished Halloween Kills. Honestly, better than the original..

 

[DJ]

 

[returnofjakedog]

Finally got around to a movie that caught my eye when the trailer came out and then was never available til streaming.

Suspiria (2018)

I enjoyed the atmosphere and the vintage horror cinematography. After it was all said and done, the most accurate thing I can say is that it was interesting to have seen. It feels like there was a message to be said, but instead of saying it, they whispered it into a hurricane.

Check out the 1977 original. A great film. Italian giallo, so the dubbing is a negative but other than that it is pretty great.

I haven't seen the 2018 version yet but your response regarding the lack of message is probably applicable for both films. The giallo genre is famous for being light on story.

 

[returnofjakedog]

Despite this thread apparently being on life support at this point, I'll continue plowing ahead.

Jack's Back (1988)-

Someone in LA is recreating Jack the Ripper's murders on their 100 year anniversary. Humanitarian doctor intern James Spader plays John who investigates but dies by an apparent suicide. The police blame John for the murders, but his slightly bad boy twin brother Rick dreams details of his murder and tries to bring the real killer to justice. Of course the blame shifts to Rick who races to stop the real killer before the police arrest him.

The good:
*Some decent actors.
*A cool story concept. But, sadly, the execution wasn't great.
*Decent production values.

The bad:
*Comes off a bit generic. Feels like just a step above a made for tv movie.
*Not much blood or fxs gore. Just a bit of Hollywood violence.
*Spader does well in the first half as a very good guy, but he didn't work well as the kinda "bad boy" twin brother.

Overall, about a 5.5 outta 10 from me. It was directed by Rowdy Herrington who also gave us Roadhouse.

Psycho 3 (1986)-

After the events of Psycho 2, a fine movie in which Norman Bates is framed for a series of murders that eventually makes him return to his schizo Mother persona, Anthony Perkins both returns as Norman, and sits in the director chair this time.

A fallen nun (with obvious mental issues of her own) ends up at the Bates Motel where she starts up a relationship with Norman. Meanwhile, bad guy Duane starts working as a handyman/desk clerk at the motel where he ends up suspecting Norman of bad stuff.

A decent little thriller that works well as a continuance of parts 1 and 2. It obviously doesn't hold up to the original, and doesn't have as intriguing of a story of the sequel. But it is well executed and worth a watch for fans of the Psycho lore.

The good:
*Some good acting. Perkins basically is Norman, so that always works. Jeff Fahey does a great job as bad boy Duane.
*Good production values and execution.
*Not a ton of blood and gore but what it does have are well done.
*Perkins did a good job as the director and holds true to the original vision.

The bad:
*The story isn't really bad but it suffers by comparison to the previous movies.
*While it does work as a stand alone movie, it works much better in conjunction with the previous movies in the series. If you don't have Norman's backstory then you won't relate or sympathize with him much.

I'll go about 6 to 6 5 outta 10 range. Psycho has to be at least a 9, and part 2 would be about 7 to 7.5 outta 10 so the law of diminishing returns is in play but still a decent flick.

Note that I have seen both of these movies in the first two reviews before many years ago but didn't really remember them until the recent rewatch.

Twins of Evil (1971)-

A Hammer Film!

Peter Cushing plays an angry puritan witch hunter whose 2 really hot nieces come to live with him in an area currently under night time attacks by powerful undead aristocrat Count Somethingorother. The nieces choose different paths, as one ends up on the side of evil..........

The good:
*Acting.
Cushing chews up some scenery as the over the top religous zelot, the evil Count and secondary characters were all decent to good. The twins weren't horrible which is all that could be expected (more on that below).
*Solid production value overall. Standard Hammer quality at that time.
*Decent enough story (not sure about the script dialog though).

The bad:
*It comes off a bit slow, and has a generic feel to the execution.
-Since the acting was good, and the story was ok, I guess it would have to be a director and/or writer problem? Not sure.

Considering the movie was made pretty much just to highlight Playboy's first twin centerfolds it isn't too bad. Their acting isn't great in this, but they aren't horrible either, which is all that could be expected.
I'd go about 6 to 6 5 outta 10.