Horror Movies

[Shanemansj13]

Trailer is on point! Love horror movies with new lore elements.


@Shanemansj13

Definitely looks like a good one

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Netflix Horror 'Bird Box' Sequel Reportedly in Development at Netflix - What's on Netflix

 

[returnofjakedog]

Ok. I think I have a semi-coherent reaponse to rating the Halloween series.
Note that I still haven't seen the 2018 reboot/reimagining/whateveritis so I will exclude that one for now with the note that it is very highly rated overall.

10. Halloween: Resurrection (2002)-
What I remember:
*Basic crap from the time period with low-res shakey cam being way overused.
*Stupid plot of reality tv format and staying the night in a mass murderer's house.
*Shit performances (looking at you Tyra Banks) and unlikable characters make you root for their deaths.....
*.....but the worst part for me was Busta Rhymes kicking Michael's ass with karate sequences, getting stabbed a couple times, then coming back later to kick Michael's ass again. WTF?!? Totally takes away all of Michael's menace.
Fuck this movie. 2/10


9. Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989)-
What I remember:
*Mute niece with physic connection to Michael. This was shown at the end of part 4 implying she is also evil, but instead they make it so she can't talk (until she suddenly can?).
*Speaking of the end of part 4, Michael is shot and falls down a mineshaft. Here a weird hermit dude takes care of him. Apparently he is there unconcious for a year with no food or water while the hermit dude just hangs out with him? Michael wakes up, and immediately kills the hermit (no good deed goes unpunished!)
*Weird and immediately tossed away subplot of the Man in Black who shoots up a police station and frees Michael, only to disappear from the series. Who was he? Why did he kill everyone and free Michael? I have no idea.
*Also, 2 bumbling cops show up several times to act like idiots, complete with their own goofy music.......because the Halloween series needs more comic relief??
*Oh, and Michael sheds a lone tear.
Another "fuck this movie". 3/10.

Those 2 were easy but it gets a bit more convoluted from there.

8. Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995)-
*Infamous for production issues, re-shoots, and studio meddling. I don't remember too many details as it is more boring than offensive.
*Paul Rudd is decent in his screen debut as the weird lead dude Tommy, a grown up version of the kid Laurie was babysitting in the original.
*Stupid subplot about a cult controlling Michael. Immediately tossed away and forgotten in future lore.
I wish I had more to say, but I'll leave it with a mediocre 4/10.

7 and 6. Halloween (2007) and Halloween 2 (2009)-
Ah yes, the Rob Zombie flicks. I've grouped them together here for convenience and the fact that they stand seperate from the rest of the Halloween lore.
*Are they bad? Well, no. As stand alone movies they would have been fine, and in my mind probably even better than most of the RZ catalog. But the problem is that they aren't stand alone movies and they don't really work in the series canon (but after all the retcons in this series I suppose there are worse sins).
*Gritty, dark, unhinged, and violent? Yes, they check all those boxes. These Zombie troupes are positives. The films unfortunately suffer from other negative RZ troupes.
*Every RZ movie takes shitty, dislikeable characters and tries to make them relatable and sympathetic protagonists while turning the characters who would typically be "good guys" into horrible assholes. These 2 movies are no exception. I don't need to feel sorry for Michael. He doesn't need a sympathetic back story. He is supposed to be pure evil, not someone who became evil because other people suck. John Carpenter famously hated the RZ interpretation because of this and I totally agree with him.
*Speaking of character development gone off the rails, part 2 turns Dr. Loomis into a greedy, abusive piece of crap with no redeeming qualities. No reason for it except to pander to RZ's infatuation with trying to make good guys into bad guys, and bad guys into good guys.
I note that this could be done effectively with a bit of nuance and subtlety but restraint is not in RZ's vocabulary. It works better in (some of) his other flicks but not in Halloween lore.
*RZ's constant casting of his wife has always been annoying. She had become a slightly better actress over the now decades (she had nowhere to go but up! I actually thought she was decent for the first time in the trippy Lords of Salem) but the stupidity of her bathed in bright light with a white flowing dress and a white horse is ridiculous. Not her fault this time but it would be much better if these hallucination scenes were completely cut.
*6'9" Tyler Mane as Michael is an intimidating as all hell. He absolutely destroys his victims at times! I don't really need the unmasked hobo Michael scenes but other than that he works great.
*Change the character's names and take these movies out of the Halloween lore, and these would be good additions to the RZ catalog. But they fail as Halloween movies because of RZ has to follow his "vision" regardless of context or history. He claims to love classic horror but he goes out of the way to screw it up here.
A sad 5.5/10 from me. Dark, gritty, and violent but I still don't like them very much. They could have been great but RZ keeps shooting himself in the foot.

5. Halloween 3: Season of the Witch (1982)-
A complete departure from the rest of the series, it is a decent little B-movie as a stand alone.
*An evil corporation plans to brainwash children on Halloween using cursed pagan masks. Weird that they only have 3 different mask options....but ok??
*Silver Shamrock song is both semi-iconic, and very annoying at this point!
*Tom Atkinson chews up the scenery as the alcoholic doctor bent on stopping the Stonehenge style pagan worship.
I reviewed this not too long ago on these boards so search it up for a full review.
5.5/10

4. Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988)-
*A decent storyline and a return to the minimalist slasher style. The niece Jamie works well as the young protagonist, and it gives you a good twist ending. Too bad they screwed up that tangent badly in part 5.
*So they kill Laurie off in an auto accident, but bring back both Loomis and Michael after an all-time great fire stunt in part 2? Obviously necessary but a bit of an "Ugh" from me. Loomis has some relatively minor burn scars on the side of his face now and Michael shows little signs of being burned to an absolute crisp.
*Direction is good. Character development is good. They make good use of minimalist sets and fxs (as all good Halloween flicks do). 6/10

3. Halloween H2O: 20 Years Later (1998)-
*For good or bad, it is the Scream influenced smart, sassy teen entry in the series. I thought it was well done and enjoyed it but not everyone agrees.
*They managed to bring back Laurie Strode by explaining that she faked her death. But this doesn't explain the teenage son, or what happened to her daughter Jamie or why she apparently abandoned her to begin with. Either way, Jamie Lee Curtis does a great job in reprising the role.
*The finale is a really well done showdown. Even if the rest of the movie drags a bit exploring relationships and such, the final build up and conclusion are at the top of the series. Too bad the next entry screws up the events of this one. 7/10.

2. Halloween 2 (1981)-
*Original cast, soundtrack, writers, and even use of the same filming techniques really gave it a feel of the first movie.
*Small stupidities hurt the movie (see my full review on the last page) but the overall is good enough to work well despite these.
*Again as noted in my full review, works as an almost seemless transition from the first and could be watched together as a single movie for a best viewing experience.
I stated 7/10 on the review with 8/10 when watched in conjunction with the first but that may be a bit light? 7.5 to 8/10.

1. Halloween (1978)-
I'm not going to expand too much on Carpenter's masterpiece as it has already been analyzed to death. An alltime great movie of any genre and it deserves the respect. Tight and solid story, great direction, great performances by the leads, great camera work, great soundtrack, great, great, great! And all done on barely any budget. A genre spawning classic! Not much else to say.
*It is interesting to note that it was originally titled "The Babysitter Killer".
10/10

Agree? Disagree? Let me know!

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Ok. I think I have a semi-coherent reaponse to rating the Halloween series.
Note that I still haven't seen the 2018 reboot/reimagining/whateveritis so I will exclude that one for now with the note that it is very highly rated overall.

10. Halloween: Resurrection (2002)-
What I remember:
*Basic crap from the time period with low-res shakey cam being way overused.
*Stupid plot of reality tv format and staying the night in a mass murderer's house.
*Shit performances (looking at you Tyra Banks) and unlikable characters make you root for their deaths.....
*.....but the worst part for me was Busta Rhymes kicking Michael's ass with karate sequences, getting stabbed a couple times, then coming back later to kick Michael's ass again. WTF?!? Totally takes away all of Michael's menace.
Fuck this movie. 2/10


9. Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989)-
What I remember:
*Mute niece with physic connection to Michael. This was shown at the end of part 4 implying she is also evil, but instead they make it so she can't talk (until she suddenly can?).
*Speaking of the end of part 4, Michael is shot and falls down a mineshaft. Here a weird hermit dude takes care of him. Apparently he is there unconcious for a year with no food or water while the hermit dude just hangs out with him? Michael wakes up, and immediately kills the hermit (no good deed goes unpunished!)
*Weird and immediately tossed away subplot of the Man in Black who shoots up a police station and frees Michael, only to disappear from the series. Who was he? Why did he kill everyone and free Michael? I have no idea.
*Also, 2 bumbling cops show up several times to act like idiots, complete with their own goofy music.......because the Halloween series needs more comic relief??
*Oh, and Michael sheds a lone tear.
Another "fuck this movie". 3/10.

Those 2 were easy but it gets a bit more convoluted from there.

8. Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995)-
*Infamous for production issues, re-shoots, and studio meddling. I don't remember too many details as it is more boring than offensive.
*Paul Rudd is decent in his screen debut as the weird lead dude Tommy, a grown up version of the kid Laurie was babysitting in the original.
*Stupid subplot about a cult controlling Michael. Immediately tossed away and forgotten in future lore.
I wish I had more to say, but I'll leave it with a mediocre 4/10.

7 and 6. Halloween (2007) and Halloween 2 (2009)-
Ah yes, the Rob Zombie flicks. I've grouped them together here for convenience and the fact that they stand seperate from the rest of the Halloween lore.
*Are they bad? Well, no. As stand alone movies they would have been fine, and in my mind probably even better than most of the RZ catalog. But the problem is that they aren't stand alone movies and they don't really work in the series canon (but after all the retcons in this series I suppose there are worse sins).
*Gritty, dark, unhinged, and violent? Yes, they check all those boxes. These Zombie troupes are positives. The films unfortunately suffer from other negative RZ troupes.
*Every RZ movie takes shitty, dislikeable characters and tries to make them relatable and sympathetic protagonists while turning the characters who would typically be "good guys" into horrible assholes. These 2 movies are no exception. I don't need to feel sorry for Michael. He doesn't need a sympathetic back story. He is supposed to be pure evil, not someone who became evil because other people suck. John Carpenter famously hated the RZ interpretation because of this and I totally agree with him.
*Speaking of character development gone off the rails, part 2 turns Dr. Loomis into a greedy, abusive piece of crap with no redeeming qualities. No reason for it except to pander to RZ's infatuation with trying to make good guys into bad guys, and bad guys into good guys.
I note that this could be done effectively with a bit of nuance and subtlety but restraint is not in RZ's vocabulary. It works better in (some of) his other flicks but not in Halloween lore.
*RZ's constant casting of his wife has always been annoying. She had become a slightly better actress over the now decades (she had nowhere to go but up! I actually thought she was decent for the first time in the trippy Lords of Salem) but the stupidity of her bathed in bright light with a white flowing dress and a white horse is ridiculous. Not her fault this time but it would be much better if these hallucination scenes were completely cut.
*6'9" Tyler Mane as Michael is an intimidating as all hell. He absolutely destroys his victims at times! I don't really need the unmasked hobo Michael scenes but other than that he works great.
*Change the character's names and take these movies out of the Halloween lore, and these would be good additions to the RZ catalog. But they fail as Halloween movies because of RZ has to follow his "vision" regardless of context or history. He claims to love classic horror but he goes out of the way to screw it up here.
A sad 5.5/10 from me. Dark, gritty, and violent but I still don't like them very much. They could have been great but RZ keeps shooting himself in the foot.

5. Halloween 3: Season of the Witch (1982)-
A complete departure from the rest of the series, it is a decent little B-movie as a stand alone.
*An evil corporation plans to brainwash children on Halloween using cursed pagan masks. Weird that they only have 3 different mask options....but ok??
*Silver Shamrock song is both semi-iconic, and very annoying at this point!
*Tom Atkinson chews up the scenery as the alcoholic doctor bent on stopping the Stonehenge style pagan worship.
I reviewed this not too long ago on these boards so search it up for a full review.
5.5/10

4. Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988)-
*A decent storyline and a return to the minimalist slasher style. The niece Jamie works well as the young protagonist, and it gives you a good twist ending. Too bad they screwed up that tangent badly in part 5.
*So they kill Laurie off in an auto accident, but bring back both Loomis and Michael after an all-time great fire stunt in part 2? Obviously necessary but a bit of an "Ugh" from me. Loomis has some relatively minor burn scars on the side of his face now and Michael shows little signs of being burned to an absolute crisp.
*Direction is good. Character development is good. They make good use of minimalist sets and fxs (as all good Halloween flicks do). 6/10

3. Halloween H2O: 20 Years Later (1998)-
*For good or bad, it is the Scream influenced smart, sassy teen entry in the series. I thought it was well done and enjoyed it but not everyone agrees.
*They managed to bring back Laurie Strode by explaining that she faked her death. But this doesn't explain the teenage son, or what happened to her daughter Jamie or why she apparently abandoned her to begin with. Either way, Jamie Lee Curtis does a great job in reprising the role.
*The finale is a really well done showdown. Even if the rest of the movie drags a bit exploring relationships and such, the final build up and conclusion are at the top of the series. Too bad the next entry screws up the events of this one. 7/10.

2. Halloween 2 (1981)-
*Original cast, soundtrack, writers, and even use of the same filming techniques really gave it a feel of the first movie.
*Small stupidities hurt the movie (see my full review on the last page) but the overall is good enough to work well despite these.
*Again as noted in my full review, works as an almost seemless transition from the first and could be watched together as a single movie for a best viewing experience.
I stated 7/10 on the review with 8/10 when watched in conjunction with the first but that may be a bit light? 7.5 to 8/10.

1. Halloween (1978)-
I'm not going to expand too much on Carpenter's masterpiece as it has already been analyzed to death. An alltime great movie of any genre and it deserves the respect. Tight and solid story, great direction, great performances by the leads, great camera work, great soundtrack, great, great, great! And all done on barely any budget. A genre spawning classic! Not much else to say.
*It is interesting to note that it was originally titled "The Babysitter Killer".
10/10

Agree? Disagree? Let me know!

Nailed it. Great post! Where do you rank Halloween (2018)?

Only change I have for my list is dropping H20 down a peg or 2. I have mixed feelings on 3 & 4, but they both have great redeeming qualities even if they go against the grain. H20 was decent, but I was just more disappointed with it than most. Even after that flop with Curse of MM.

Your 8, 9 & 10 are easily the basement dwellers. Although I have seen some people put the RZ reboots near the bottom with Resurrection. Curse of MM set out to ruin everything about the mystery of why Michael never dies with a very misguided mixture of witchcraft & BS. Everything about Revenge of MM felt lazy & uninspired, all the way down to the characters. Cringe-worthy movie all around.

Tier 1
Halloween (1978)
Halloween II (1981)

Tier 2
H4: Return of MM (1988)
H3: Season of the Witch (1982)

Tier 3
Halloween (2018)
Halloween H20 (1998)
Halloween (2007)
Halloween 2 (2009)

Trash Tier
H5: Revenge of MM (1989)
H: Curse of MM (1995)
H: Resurrection (2002)

And honestly I could even mix my Tier 2 & 3 together... I like all 6 of those movies, all for different reasons.

 

[DJ]

Want to see!!!!!

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Want to see!!!!!

Haven't gotten around to watching it ever since @Shanemansj13 said he was disappointed with it.

 

[Shanemansj13]

Haven't gotten around to watching it ever since @Shanemansj13 said he was disappointed with it.

I had high expectations, that's why...wasn't that impressive to me but others might think it's good. I was very disappointed.

 

[returnofjakedog]

Nailed it. Great post! Where do you rank Halloween (2018)?

Only change I have for my list is dropping H20 down a peg or 2. I have mixed feelings on 3 & 4, but they both have great redeeming qualities even if they go against the grain. H20 was decent, but I was just more disappointed with it than most. Even after that flop with Curse of MM.

Your 8, 9 & 10 are easily the basement dwellers. Although I have seen some people put the RZ reboots near the bottom with Resurrection. Curse of MM set out to ruin everything about the mystery of why Michael never dies with a very misguided mixture of witchcraft & BS. Everything about Revenge of MM felt lazy & uninspired, all the way down to the characters. Cringe-worthy movie all around.

Tier 1
Halloween (1978)
Halloween II (1981)

Tier 2
H4: Return of MM (1988)
H3: Season of the Witch (1982)

Tier 3
Halloween (2018)
Halloween H20 (1998)
Halloween (2007)
Halloween 2 (2009)

Trash Tier
H5: Revenge of MM (1989)
H: Curse of MM (1995)
H: Resurrection (2002)

And honestly I could even mix my Tier 2 & 3 together... I like all 6 of those movies, all for different reasons.

I still haven't seen the 2018 reboot/reimagining/new timeline/whateverthefitis. I need to do that at some point.
Of note:
*Apparently the Laurie Strode character has been killed off 3 different times in this series. Pre-story Halloween 4, Halloween: Resurrection, and the Rob Zombie lore in the director's cut.
*Depending on the source, Michael has killed about 145 people. This number does remove kills by other characters in the series but there is a +/- possibility for offscreen and/or persumed kills.
*So many timelines! Apparently 6 timelines in the series.
#1: Original Halloween, and Halloween 2. This timeline ends with Michael and Loomis' deaths after the big explosion and awesome fire stunt at the end of part 2 as originally intended by the series.
#2: Halloween, Halloween II, Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers, Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers, Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers. This is also known as the Curse of the Thorns timeline due to the pagan druid curse stuff and all of the extra Myers family.
#3: The seperate Halloween 3 Silver Shamrock timeline.
#4: Halloween, Halloween II, Halloween H20: 20 Years Later, Halloween: Resurrection. This is known as the Laurie vs Michael timeline where they remove all of the pagan/druid stuff and all of the additional Myers family stuff from the Curse of the Thorns timeline. I like the timeline but it ends horribly with Resurrection.
#5: Halloween and Halloween 2 (2007 + 2009)- The Rob Zombie timelines. Much more (unnecessary) Michael backstory, and RZ's redneck hellbilly stylings.
#6: Original Halloween and Halloween 2018- The Reinvention Timeline. Though I still haven't seen it, it is common knowledge that this timeline retcons all of the movies except for the original (with the possible exception of Halloween 3: Season of the Witch I guess?).

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

I still haven't seen the 2018 reboot/reimagining/new timeline/whateverthefitis. I need to do that at some point.
Of note:
*Apparently the Laurie Strode character has been killed off 3 different times in this series. Pre-story Halloween 4, Halloween: Resurrection, and the Rob Zombie lore in the director's cut.
*Depending on the source, Michael has killed about 145 people. This number does remove kills by other characters in the series but there is a +/- possibility for offscreen and/or persumed kills.
*So many timelines! Apparently 6 timelines in the series.
#1: Original Halloween, and Halloween 2. This timeline ends with Michael and Loomis' deaths after the big explosion and awesome fire stunt at the end of part 2 as originally intended by the series.
#2: Halloween, Halloween II, Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers, Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers, Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers. This is also known as the Curse of the Thorns timeline due to the pagan druid curse stuff and all of the extra Myers family.
#3: The seperate Halloween 3 Silver Shamrock timeline.
#4: Halloween, Halloween II, Halloween H20: 20 Years Later, Halloween: Resurrection. This is known as the Laurie vs Michael timeline where they remove all of the pagan/druid stuff and all of the additional Myers family stuff from the Curse of the Thorns timeline. I like the timeline but it ends horribly with Resurrection.
#5: Halloween and Halloween 2 (2007 + 2009)- The Rob Zombie timelines. Much more (unnecessary) Michael backstory, and RZ's redneck hellbilly stylings.
#6: Original Halloween and Halloween 2018- The Reinvention Timeline. Though I still haven't seen it, it is common knowledge that this timeline retcons all of the movies except for the original (with the possible exception of Halloween 3: Season of the Witch I guess?).

Holy hell this is awesome stuff... I've always wondered how that jumbled mess tied together because it seemed every new movie always contradicted the predecessors. Just didn't invest the brain power to figure it all out!

#6 timeline really pisses me off. The 2018 film honestly felt like such a slap in the face with how much nostalgia they included by recreating certain scenes from the original, and yet completely obliterated the rest. But I understand why from a writing standpoint. The previous writers spent 20+ years f*cking it all up lol. I just think it wouldn't have taken a lot of trouble to bridge some connections based on assumptions that can be drawn. But that didn't ruin the movie for me. The logical flaws in the writing were just too much.

 

[returnofjakedog]

Holy hell this is awesome stuff... I've always wondered how that jumbled mess tied together because it seemed every new movie always contradicted the predecessors. Just didn't invest the brain power to figure it all out!

#6 timeline really pisses me off. The 2018 film honestly felt like such a slap in the face with how much nostalgia they included by recreating certain scenes from the original, and yet completely obliterated the rest. But I understand why from a writing standpoint. The previous writers spent 20+ years f*cking it all up lol. I just think it wouldn't have taken a lot of trouble to bridge some connections based on assumptions that can be drawn. But that didn't ruin the movie for me. The logical flaws in the writing were just too much.

If I had to choose, I would probably go with the original timeline of Halloween (1978) and Halloween 2 (1981). I would actually prefer the Laurie vs Michael timeline (Halloween, 2, H20, Resurrection) only if you could erase Resurrection from it.

The best of the Halloween series trivia I was able to find:
-Other masks considered: Leonard Nimoy, Richard Nixon.
-Original script was called The Babysitter Killer and didn't take place on Halloween.
-Carpenter tried to base the look and feel of the shooting on Polanski's China Town.
-The original Michael was played by Nick Castle who received $25 per day for the role. Perhaps more interesting is that he became a director whose more commercial films include The Last Starfighter, Dennis the Menace, and Major Payne.
-The knife in flesh sound fxs were made by stabbing a watermelon. (I find it interesting!).
-At the end of the original Halloween Laurie tells the kids to "Go down the street to the MacKenzie house". In Scream, Casey Becker's dad repeats this instruction to the mom. In H20, Laurie tells her son to "Go down the street to the Beckers".
-As I noted in the series review, Dana Carvey played an assistant reporter in Halloween 2. Of course Dana's most famous comedy work was in Wayne's World with......Mike Myers!

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

If I had to choose, I would probably go with the original timeline of Halloween (1978) and Halloween 2 (1981). I would actually prefer the Laurie vs Michael timeline (Halloween, 2, H20, Resurrection) only if you could erase Resurrection from it.

The best of the Halloween series trivia I was able to find:
-Other masks considered: Leonard Nimoy, Richard Nixon.
-Original script was called The Babysitter Killer and didn't take place on Halloween.
-Carpenter tried to base the look and feel of the shooting on Polanski's China Town.
-The original Michael was played by Nick Castle who received $25 per day for the role. Perhaps more interesting is that he became a director whose more commercial films include The Last Starfighter, Dennis the Menace, and Major Payne.
-The knife in flesh sound fxs were made by stabbing a watermelon. (I find it interesting!).
-At the end of the original Halloween Laurie tells the kids to "Go down the street to the MacKenzie house". In Scream, Casey Becker's dad repeats this instruction to the mom. In H20, Laurie tells her son to "Go down the street to the Beckers".
-As I noted in the series review, Dana Carvey played an assistant reporter in Halloween 2. Of course Dana's most famous comedy work was in Wayne's World with......Mike Myers!

Keep this stuff coming! I'm eating up every word! Some of it I know but you're adding lots to it!

Any details on the mask that was chosen? Who, what, and why? Have always been curious.

 

[returnofjakedog]

Keep this stuff coming! I'm eating up every word! Some of it I know but you're adding lots to it!

Any details on the mask that was chosen? Who, what, and why? Have always been curious.

Not 100% sure why they went with the Shatner mask but one can speculate.
I assume that they went to a costume shop, found a bunch of different masks (I'm assuming they tried more than the 3 listed), and tried them out. Specifically on the 2 listed that were rejected: Nimoy was probably a Spock and was probably too recognizable even without considering the ears. The Nixon, while also probably too recognizable, most likely looked absolutely ridiculous (can you imagine Michael in a Nixon mask, throwing up the double peace sign?? Ugh.).
As far as the Shatner mask goes, they shaved off the eyebrows, cut the hair back, and painted it white.

 

[Sparhawk]

Keep this stuff coming! I'm eating up every word! Some of it I know but you're adding lots to it!

Any details on the mask that was chosen? Who, what, and why? Have always been curious.

Isn’t it urban legend that it’s a colorless mask of Shatner???

 

[returnofjakedog]

Isn’t it urban legend that it’s a colorless mask of Shatner???

From what I can tell, it is often referred to as a blank Shatner mask as the basis but I was able to verify that it was painted white via several sources.
A cool note is that Shatner says he wore a Michael version for his Halloween costume one year!

Here is a before and after of the mask alterations:

 

[Sparhawk]

Just watched Oculus.
The film was mentioned briefly here a ways back.
2013 release.
Katie Sackhoff and Karen Gillan star.

Really liked the first 3/4 of the movie.
Really good use of shifting time between the kids when they were younger and older.
Really good lore on the history of the mirror.
Really good setup.

And then..... I think it got away.
I still liked the movie.
Some really good scare scenes, especially the one involving the light bulb.

The intertwining of the brother/sister between when they were older and when they were younger was good a few times, but they may have gone to the well one too many times with this. I mean, sure, I get it, their lives were kind of 'mirroring' between their younger and older selves.

The film really could have used some kind of expert on the supernatural that we typically see that could have infused the story with a little more lore and perhaps given us one more death once the mirror realizes how formiddable this person might be.

Not very heavy on the gore, but some decent scares.
6/10.
Would recommend just to see what others think.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Isn’t it urban legend that it’s a colorless mask of Shatner???

This is what I thought. Didn’t think it was anything more than an urban legend though!

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Watched The Babysitter: Killer Queen (2020) last night. Pretty good sequel. There were lots of stupid moments that were very unnecessary, and plenty of logic flaws in the plot, but it was still pretty enjoyable. Good amount of gore spatter.

I like the original better.

 

[Nasty_Magician]

2 Netflix watches this weekend, #Alive and The Babysitter.

I thought #Alive was fantastic. Zombie flick that dove head first into the action and kept me interested throughout. Really fun movie.

The Babysitter I've never quite had the urge to watch but finally went for it and enjoyed it more than I was anticipating. Like Home Alone where people are killed. Good mindless watch.

 

[UVA_Guy81]

Has anyone ever seen the movie Arbor Demon? It has Fiona Dourif and Jake Busey in it. I made it about 25 minutes and got bored with it and was wondering if it got any better.

 

[Sparhawk]

So, just watched The Possession, with Jeffery Dean Morgan and Kyra Sedgwick.
This was almost the complete opposite of Oculus, which I just reviewed above.
This was another older movie. 2014?

After my gripe with Oculus, we don't get just one consultant/expert on the supernatural, we get two!

The movie centers around an ornate wooden box with Hebrew writing on it.
JDM obtains it and the possession revolves around his daughter.

First, our hero goes to a college professor to understand the origins of the box. Lore background #1.
Then, our hero goes to the Hasidic/Orthodox section of NY to find the experts. Lore background #2.
Naturally, the elder of the crew shuts him down, but his wily son offers to help, as he is required to.

Again, just like Oculus, the first 3/4 of the movie is pretty good.
But, again, they just couldn't finish strong.

The ending takes place in a hospital, and I mean, there must have been nobody around to stop them from carrying a kid from her room all the way to the basement to get some privacy for an exorcist. Happens all the time.....

Solid 6/10. Would recommend.