Horror Movies

[darken65]

Man I hope they don't fuck this one up. Looks good.

So many remakes fall short but this one looks to be a good one.

 

[B_dub]

So many remakes fall short but this one looks to be a good one.

I agree. Looks like a much darker tone from the trailer anyway.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

So many remakes fall short but this one looks to be a good one.

What did you think of the Poltergeist remake?

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

So many remakes fall short but this one looks to be a good one.

I agree. Looks like a much darker tone from the trailer anyway.

Considering the director they chose for it, Andrés Muschietti, I have very lofty expectations... That guy rocked the horror world with one of his first directorials, Mama (2013). If you haven't seen that one, then I highly recommend it.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Thirst (2015)


This movie felt like somethin straight outta the syfy channel. Sub-par cgi creature-feature with horrible acting. Right up @DJ's alley lol. Capt Hindsight would tell them if they voided the helicopter from the film they could have boosted their cgi budget. Minor details... This movie started off pretty good as the creature was mostly shown at night in obscured fashion which covered up the cgi deficiencies. But once you see it in the light, in all its alien-mechanical glory (which how in the f*ck did that thing 'hatch' from an egg?), you get that 'cheesy' feeling. The acting didn't take more than 2-3 script lines before it annoyed me so I knew I was in for a questionable experience. And sadly enough, the creature's first couple kills within the main group took out the 'better' actors. From then on it was a game of survival cast with laughably daft miscreants. I think you can guess how this one plays out from there. Decent cinematography & production values. Good setting as well. Decent entertainment for the right viewers. Didn't even register on the BM @Chef99

Spoiler

If you are a Walking Dead fan then you will recognize the Burt Character (the recently deceased Richard in TWD). He was cast as the Aside from the poor souls at the beginning of the setup phases of the movie, he was the first to go within the main group.

Typical syfy material... 5/10

 

[DJ]

Thirst (2015)


This movie felt like somethin straight outta the syfy channel. Sub-par cgi creature-feature with horrible acting. Right up @DJ's alley lol. Capt Hindsight would tell them if they voided the helicopter from the film they could have boosted their cgi budget. Minor details... This movie started off pretty good as the creature was mostly shown at night in obscured fashion which covered up the cgi deficiencies. But once you see it in the light, in all its alien-mechanical glory (which how in the f*ck did that thing 'hatch' from an egg?), you get that 'cheesy' feeling. The acting didn't take more than 2-3 script lines before it annoyed me so I knew I was in for a questionable experience. And sadly enough, the creature's first couple kills within the main group took out the 'better' actors. From then on it was a game of survival cast with laughably daft miscreants. I think you can guess how this one plays out from there. Decent cinematography & production values. Good setting as well. Decent entertainment for the right viewers. Didn't even register on the BM @Chef99

Spoiler

If you are a Walking Dead fan then you will recognize the Burt Character (the recently deceased Richard in TWD). He was cast as the Aside from the poor souls at the beginning of the setup phases of the movie, he was the first to go within the main group.

Typical syfy material... 5/10

That's totally right up my alley.....LOL.

Check out this review I found on IMDB:

"If there is a problem with script it is that the characters never acknowledge the makeup of the alien. So the viewers are left to figure out what ideas are combined here. My guess is terminator meets the thing. But you may pick others. What matters is that the story is action packed from beginning to end. Some of the characters could be better fleshed out, but the ones you'll end up caring about are fleshed out well enough that you'll have a good chance of anticipating their behavior. And the logical progression of the story moves easily forward. The camp for wayward teens is well developed. And for the most part all the characters act in a way that makes sense but for the lead male not fighting with all his resources earlier. I for one would watch a sequel to this. So for a bit of fun in a movie as entertaining as the tremors series (without being tongue in cheek) I recommend this."

 

[darken65]

What did you think of the Poltergeist remake?

Haven't seen it yet. Did you do a review on it?

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

That's totally right up my alley.....LOL.

Check out this review I found on IMDB:

"If there is a problem with script it is that the characters never acknowledge the makeup of the alien. So the viewers are left to figure out what ideas are combined here. My guess is terminator meets the thing. But you may pick others. What matters is that the story is action packed from beginning to end. Some of the characters could be better fleshed out, but the ones you'll end up caring about are fleshed out well enough that you'll have a good chance of anticipating their behavior. And the logical progression of the story moves easily forward. The camp for wayward teens is well developed. And for the most part all the characters act in a way that makes sense but for the lead male not fighting with all his resources earlier. I for one would watch a sequel to this. So for a bit of fun in a movie as entertaining as the tremors series (without being tongue in cheek) I recommend this."

Some good points in there... Adding a few notes:

"makeup of the alien... terminator meets the thing"
Pretty close to spot-on lol. Wouldn't go with "the thing", rather Tremors or maybe Animal (2014). Had a hard time believing that something hatched from an egg could produce a exo-skeleton made of metal. Shmantics, right?

"story is action packed from beginning to end"
Yep. Which is probably the biggest lure to anyone that is debating on watching it. Didn't disappoint in that category.

"logical progression of the story moves easily forward"
I guess? Only logical in the sense that its a typical survival scenario (ie do what must be done to survive). Doesn't deviate from that aspect.

"camp for wayward teens is well developed"
Not buyin this. It's a rag-tag service ran by a family of sorts. And you never understand why, or how it came about. I wasn't even sure it was a boot-camp until I pieced it together through dialogue. Thought for a bit that it was just a weekend-getaway campout for delinquents lol.

"lead male not fighting with all his resources"
Spot on. The resource in question was the shotgun. Even the nephew had multiple opportunities when he first acquired it but never used it until the 3rd clash with the creature. I kept screaming at the tv sayin "use the goddamn shotgun you fool!"

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Haven't seen it yet. Did you do a review on it?

Yep... here are the reviews I found in this thread. Courtesy of @Chef99 , @jakedog56 & myself.

Poltergeist (2015)


Dedicating this review to our late friend @RoboticDreams ... You would have loved this movie buddy!

First things first, I DO NOT think this movie was better than the original. Remakes RARELY ever surpass their predecessors, especially when the original is one of the greatest horror films ever made. Obviously it is very difficult for remakes to be as groundbreaking as the original, however, that does not mean that it wasn't a great movie. I thought they did an excellent job recapturing the magic that fans once fell in love with in the first place. The cult-followers of the movie will be quick to point out its flaws, because it obviously tweaked the original. The introduction of technology, the elimination of the original "beast", the extended roles of the siblings, first-person visuals of the spirit realm, twist on the ending, etc etc. The brother annoyed the shit out of me early on, but most of the actors did a pretty good job overall. The biggest drawback of this remake for me was the lack of character development. The original had much better acting, more due to the character relationships being more believable. This remake felt a little rushed, and I think that is mainly where the characters lost a bit of credibility. The presence of Sam Rockwell really elevated the movie though. He did an excellent job. The CGI/fx of the movie is what made this remake worthwhile. And they didn't overdo it, which was good (I was afraid they would). The spirit realm cgi was a bold new look. Probably one of the biggest selling points.

Not better than the original, but excellent nonetheless! 7.5/10

(tagging a few that had asked about my thoughts... @jakedog56 , @Win TWINS!!! , @Center Ice , @Chef99 )

I watched the remake of Poltergeist last night. It was basically what I expected in that it was decent but fell well short of the original.

The production values were good. The fxs were good. They did a good job in making the tree pretty spooky.

The big problem was character and story development- Everything felt rushed. The back story was not followed through well. They just randomly mention a few things here and there to round out the details. The characters were ok but (again) not well rounded enough to connect with them. Basically it felt like they said "Let's squeeze this into 90 minutes", when maybe 2 hours of material with additional story and character work would have been a much better movie.

I like Sam Rockwell as an actor but he just was not given enough to really pull it off here. I blame the director for this. The rest of the actors were just ok.

All in all, it would have been a decent horror flick if it was a stand alone work, but when it is based on an all-out classic like the original Poltergeist it fell far short. Pretty much all aspects of the story were done better in the original, from the father with the mirror to the bodies coming out of the ground. The only part that I would say was more interesting was when they actually went into the "other dimension", which was not really shown in the original.

Bottom line: Worth watching if you have nothing better to do but suffers heavily when comapred to the original. Better to get the 1982 version and watch that again if you have a choice.

A couple of things: I finally watched the remake of Poltergeist and loved it. The cast was spot on, especially the son and the dad. I think I remember someone saying on here that Rockwell didn't cut it, but I disagree; he played the somewhat befuddled-but-kinda-cool-even-tho-he's-stressed-dad to a tee, imo. Special effects were, of course, top notch. Liked the ghostbuster who sacrificed (?) himself as well. Good stuff.

Second thing: I've been killing M. Night Shamalamadingdong in this thread...but Split looks pretty dang cool.

About to check HBO Now and Netflix for tonight's horror movie choice.

I'll be back; until then, meet my new pet. She's such a good little ...GHOUL...

 

[DJ]

Heading out to Vons and then go buy some clothes to update my wardrobe. Gotta get some shit done I've been neglecting. Never fear, DJ shall return!!!

 

[Chef99]

Yep... here are the reviews I found in this thread. Courtesy of @Chef99 , @jakedog56 & myself.

Damn, I love that gif.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

The Watcher (2016)


On Netflix! This movie was a downhill decent. Started off pretty strong and established great suspense & atmosphere, only to slowly unravel to the point it was almost comical. Mostly because of the climax being one of those "did they really?" moments, and not in a good way. One of those 1-twist-too-many type deals. The overall suspense build is ok, the progression is average, and the twists didn't have much shock-value. Felt like a long string of strange occurrences, but it kept me watching so in a way it succeeded. The story itself is rather interesting even if its chalked full of holes. The cinematography, production values & acting were all great. I have mixed feelings on the Raven creature. In some scenes it looked somewhat terrifying, and in others it looked like a high school mascot lol. And the 'raven noises' used during suspenseful scenes sounded ridiculous to me. Overall I would call it a decent film. It presents an interesting story & has most of the face-values of a good horror film. But the absurdities mixed with a silly climax were too much to overcome.

As Dr Dre says, things just ain't the same for Ravens... 5/10

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

We Go On (2016)


This was an interesting film. But I have to say that it wasn't the horror thiller that it was labeled to be. Rather it was a well written & clever piece of work that never really felt very suspensful but still very intriguing. Sort of like a less-thrilling 6th Sense vibe. The structure & ideas of the plot & script were quite good and brilliantly executed. Great performances by many of the lead actors. Clark Freeman, in particular, had a very challenging role. That of a necrophobe (one who fears death to the point of being paralyzed by it). As you can probably guess, it's a psyche filled with extreme depression, fear, anxiety, and irrational behavior. Freeman pretty much nailed it. There were moments where he came off somewhat monotoned, but I think that had more to do with his character's need to be distanced or emotionally closed off. Can't imagine what living an entire life filled with fear would be like. The story this film presents is primarily of supernatural mystery, with hints of noir elements, and it is quite interesting if you have the patience for it. With such a lack of suspense it could very easily bore most of its viewers that want more shock value so I wouldn't recommend it to everyone. The film never falls apart, but it never "takes off" either. I would have loved the film if it kicked up the suspense a notch, but I was still pleased with it. Excellent cinematography, production values & settings.

Creative independent film that lacked suspense... 6.5/10

 

[jakedog56]

I just watched Johnny Frank Garrett's Last Word. Posting from work, so no preview available due to youtube blockage.

Decent little horror story about a possibly wrongfully convicted killer who curses everyone involved in his trial and their loved to suffer.
Quite low budgety. Relies on lots of shock imagery being thrown at the screen in flash succession. Acting was decent from some of the cast. Direction was meandering a bit too much. Script was meh (as in not memorable). Soundtrack from Dario Argentino protege Simeon Boswell was pretty good.

The most interesting thing about the movie was that it is supposably based on real events and that many people died from strange circumstances after the execution.

Great premise but generally misses the mark. I go about a 5.5 out of 10 range.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

I just watched Johnny Frank Garrett's Last Word. Posting from work, so no preview available due to youtube blockage.

Decent little horror story about a possibly wrongfully convicted killer who curses everyone involved in his trial and their loved to suffer.
Quite low budgety. Relies on lots of shock imagery being thrown at the screen in flash succession. Acting was decent from some of the cast. Direction was meandering a bit too much. Script was meh (as in not memorable). Soundtrack from Dario Argentino protege Simeon Boswell was pretty good.

The most interesting thing about the movie was that it is supposably based on real events and that many people died from strange circumstances after the execution.

Great premise but generally misses the mark. I go about a 5.5 out of 10 range.

Let me be of service!


At face-value it looks pretty good! Adding to the list! Thanks!

 

[SDGuy73]

I Love the first two movies I've seen. I haven't seen the third, yet.

Purge TV Series to Make All Crime Legal on the Small Screen

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

I Love the first two movies I've seen. I haven't seen the third, yet.

Purge TV Series to Make All Crime Legal on the Small Screen

Never heard of Blumhouse Television... Seems like its brand new. But if they can get the right writers this could be epic. Definitely more worthwhile than what the 2nd & 3rd movies have tried to do.

If you're a fan of the 2nd then you will like the 3rd. I wasn't huge on either, but I loved the 1st. Writers & directors definitely leaned more towards a drama-less shock-value approach and weeded out almost all of the horror elements.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

The Poughkeepsie Tapes (2007)


Heard of this movie through some reviews on horror.net as it was being touted as a rare low-budget/independent gem. Took me a while to track it down, but finally found it online in perfect condition so I gave it a go. Overall it's not a ground breaking movie but it has a really good creepy vibe. Even though its lower grade imagery for the most part, a lot of the "real time events" shown on the tapes are very well done. At the risk of causing extreme motion sickness to the viewers, the director voided most of the focus on filming to give the 1st person filming effect a much more real feel. Felt like watching some of my childhood videos filmed by my g-pa back in the early 90's. Minus the murder of course, but lots of shaky & out-of-focus shots lol. This film is setup like a documentary to give it that Unsolved Mysteries vibe, but without the presence of Robert Stack. For the most part it works well, but I didn't care much for the interviews. Definitely felt like a weak point to me. It is done by the same guys (written, directed & produced by the 2) as Quarantine so it has that same feel. It wasn't as brutal or gory as I thought it would be but again the creepy vibe is there and for the most part it was enjoyable. This movie definitely served as some sort of inspiration for the V/H/S series because they follow the same formula. Wouldn't call this film a gem, but it was a pretty cool as far as low-budget indie movies go. Documentary style films like these take some patience, so keep that in mind if you decide to give it a whirl.

Creepy documentary style indie... 6/10

 

[SDGuy73]

Never heard of Blumhouse Television... Seems like its brand new. But if they can get the right writers this could be epic. Definitely more worthwhile than what the 2nd & 3rd movies have tried to do.

If you're a fan of the 2nd then you will like the 3rd. I wasn't huge on either, but I loved the 1st. Writers & directors definitely leaned more towards a drama-less shock-value approach and weeded out almost all of the horror elements.

I like this idea for the show. "Yes a 10 hour purge - 10 episodes devoted to 1 hour of the purge each - a bit like 24....."

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

The Void (2017)


The tale of 2 halves... Yin & Yang. The first half of this movie was incredible. It was a homerun. The setup, the progression, the suspense, great acting, an insane set of frightening events, crazy antagonists etc. I was f*ckin hooked! But then after the characters went into the basement of the hospital it took a Rob-Zombie-esque turn towards WTF-ville. Written & directed by one of the guys that did some of the newer Resident Evil movies, so it made sense. Great cinematography & production values. The setting & atmosphere were awesome. Even the details like the yellow tinted incandescent lighting added a cool element to some of the scenes. And the cgi/fx were outstanding. Lots of gore & creatures that were all sites to behold. From what I could tell the fx were primarily makeup & latex. So in that regard you have to assume that it took an absurd amount of time to produce the fx they achieved. Kudos to that department for some crazy final products. Overall I loved what this movie achieved in the first half as it was remarkable & a masterpiece, but could have done with some simplifications to the 2nd. Didn't care for the "other dimension" element as it felt a little over-the-top. If they had just let the 1st half play out as more of a survival thriller then this movie would have been a big time favorite of mine. I still recommend it. Felt very reminiscent of the 2006 Silent Hill movie. A lot of cool elements to this movie that every horror fan can enjoy.

Crazy movie... 8/10