Horror Movies

[Chef99]

Watching Zombie Tidal Wave

It's enjoyable, but why they always gotta kill off the hot black chick?

 

[DJ Fieri]

Bteaking news: Zombie Tidal Wave tonight at 9pm PST on Sy Fy.....think it's a brand new Sy Fy original.

Missed it last night.....watching it now.

22 minutes in and not too bad.

 

[Taddy Mason]

Figured I'll check out Chapter 2 sometime this week, so rewatching It yet again, still not getting it.

Recently caught:
I Trapped the Devil - Was interesting at times, overall was disappointing

No One Lives - Not necessarily horror, Luke Evans was nice.

Lords of Chaos - Again, not necessarily horror, did make me feel bad while watching, I think in a good way.

The Heretics - Meh, it was a movie, could have been something.

 

[Taddy Mason]

Child's Play just came out on VOD, I believe. Caught it last night.

I guess it was okay. Knew from the teaser trailer I saw they were moving from psychopathic voodist to our IT devices are going to kill us. While I'll go spoilers after this, the opening scene reminded me of the one simpsons treehouse of horror with the Krusty doll, where they pretty much start off with, oh, we've set this doll to evil (though really, not sure it checks out...)

So, that is the opening premise. From there, if we buy it, meh. More leaps are needed. Had some cool shots here and there. Honestly, was never really that big on the original anyway. It made more sense to me than this, though.

Spoiler

So, this doll is returned because his eyes are red? Okay, seems like something you would have tried to troubleshoot through. The first part of the process seems to be imprinting on the kid (still not as creepy as the imprinting in the Twilight movie). That seemed to be the basis for him always wanting to please Andy. Doesn't seem like he already killed his previous owner he would have implanted on, so again, minor point.

From there just seemed weird how the AI that was supposed to be learning to please this kid just went in a fatal attraction direction and wanted no one else in his life.

For the ending, felt like they really borrowed a bit from Daisy Chain (2001: Space Odyssey) and a hint of T2, at least it reminded me a bit of the final scenes there.

Not the worst watch in the world.

 

[Taddy Mason]

new season of AHS starts tonight. supposedly going for the 80s slasher genre, might be decent.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

new season of AHS starts tonight. supposedly going for the 80s slasher genre, might be decent.

Looks absolutely terrible... But wouldn't surprise me if its good.

 

[Taddy Mason]

Midsommar now available. About an hour in and I hope the script is flipped soon. Recall this being a darling earlier in the year in the horror category, but so far, it's just playing like an art flick that critics like. As I said, only an hour in and there's still 90 minutes left on this, hope it goes a Mandy route and gets really nuts from here. Been pretty bright and relaxing so far.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Head Count (2018)


On Netflix! This one was a helluva missed opportunity. It's a very low-budget film, but it had a pretty unique mythical element that was really cool. But it was all for naught due in large part to the climax. Once the creature revealed itself I had to yell out, "WTF they went with that silly thing?" The creature design was simply laughable. And if I'm honest, in retrospect the entire film really didn't deliver much of anything for me. Acting was uncomfortable, and the characters were dumb. Nobody really added anything to the plot. Just a bunch of cardboard cutouts of stereotypical college kids. Basically all they wanted was a college-party cast but tried to develop sympathetic characters to no avail. I liked the part where the creature starts forcing the characters to do things against their will. Mainly the cliff scene. Wished they could have parlayed that into more menace. Instead they waited until the climax to feature that concept in abrupt fashion. Shame as it could have been used a lot better. Also would have been cool if they wrote the myth into something more of a geographical folklore instead of just something the kid read off his phone. Would have been pretty easy to do, and would have added a more menacing element to it. And the creature we could have completely done without. I think they were going for an Area 51 vibe, but it just didn't work. Side note, had to laugh when they straight up tell you that you HAVE to say its name 5 times to conjure it, and he only said it 4 times. Hilarious. Also they had some discontinuity fails with the filming. For instance, the last trip out into the park the group leaves early morning, and arrives mid-morning. They realize a problem and head back to the house, but don't arrive until it's pitch black out? You can tell they filmed the subsequent scene prior to the trip out and had to stick with it. Because darkness equals a scarier scene, right? Also, why did the creature feel the need to rearrange everything in the house in bizarre fashion? They went against the theme of 5's there with all that nonsense, and it didn't make any sense. Also have to say the score was stupid. Score-produced jump scares are lame. Essentially you get a loud sound effects choreographed into the music just to transition screenshots. Bush league.

Unique concepts, but subpar execution... 3/10

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Horror enthusiasts... We lost an icon today.

RIP Sid Haig! One of the most memorable character actors of all time. He passed away at the age of 80.

"You want to be an actor? Be an actor. If you want to starve to do it. Starve to do it. But if you're not passionate about what you want to do, you won't be good at it." - Sid Haig

Rest easy Mr. Haig. You made our favorite genre more interesting & entertaining. You gave your all in everything you appeared in. We salute you sir!

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Brightburn (2019)


First off I have to say that I loved the concept of this film. A fresh take to the tiresome cinematic world of superhero/fantasy films. That said however, the execution of this film was quite poor. It relied very heavily on the cgi/fx. Those scenes were very well done and just as you'd expect if Superman ever went rogue, but they could have played up the sinister element better. Instead the writers made the kid into an intimidating bully of sorts. Plausible, but didn't create good horror. I liked the scenes where the kid was drawn to his craft, but it didn't quite materialize those scenes. There is little to no suspense either. The only scares are jump scares during the cgi/fx kill scenes when the kid does his kamikaze- flybys. The score pumps up the sound fx in those moments to create the jump scare too, because you are fully expecting the kill to happen. The gore was good but it wasn't enough to make the experience more memorable.

The acting was simply not good. I liked the kid and thought he was the star of the cast. As for the rest, I had a hard time not finding the emotional scenes as laughable. Wasn't completely their fault though. I love Elizabeth Banks but she was miscast in this role. Never been a fan of David Denman, and he was bad. Theres a dramatic scene between him & the son (Brandon, superman kid) that could have been very epic but ends up being a headscratcher. Really it was just the kid actors that played their parts well lol. But the script didn't do anyone any favors.

The progression of the film is also terrible. It gave no time for the characters & relationships to evolve meaningfully. Some scenes will pass days by in seconds, whereas others drag on for 20-30 minutes of the film. Made the entire experience feel like an unfinished story filled with missed opportunities & bland characters. There wasn't a single character to sympathize with. And when you get to the climax, you get that inevitable conclusion that you've been waiting for.

Very disappointed with this film that had such fertile ground to work with. M Night Shyamalan sort of broke ground for this subgenre, or at least paved the way for it. When you think of the things they could have done with this film, the ideas they could have explored... it's actually quite depressing that this was the end result. They wasted a lot of time on superfluous tension building tricks and ominous build-ups with musical swells... Overall its nothing more than popcorn entertainment, and even at that feels mediocre. Good cinematography all around and I loved the setting.

Great premise but leaves A LOT to be desired... 5/10

 

[Taddy Mason]

Crawl is out to stream now. If I can manage to stay awake long enough, will give it a shot later, hope it's a decent watch.

 

[Taddy Mason]

I mean, I definitely liked A Quiet Place, but don't recall leaving the theater wanting to know what happens next

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

I mean, I definitely liked A Quiet Place, but don't recall leaving the theater wanting to know what happens next

Hmm... Do they call it "A Quieter Place" ?

Judging by the cast returning it's gotta be a sequel. Also excited to see what Cillian Murphy brings to the table. Maybe an additional antagonist?

So we have a mother, 2 kids & a baby... Probably going to be a small timeline jump so as to alleviate the baby issue, which already presents all sorts of problems to the script.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Crawl is out to stream now. If I can manage to stay awake long enough, will give it a shot later, hope it's a decent watch.

Planning to watch it this weekend.

 

[Taddy Mason]

Hmm... Do they call it "A Quieter Place" ?

Judging by the cast returning it's gotta be a sequel. Also excited to see what Cillian Murphy brings to the table. Maybe an additional antagonist?

So we have a mother, 2 kids & a baby... Probably going to be a small timeline jump so as to alleviate the baby issue, which already presents all sorts of problems to the script.

Can't be worse than what Netflix tried to do with The Silence. For those that haven't caught it:

Spoiler

Similar to AQP, making noise is a no no (birds or bats are attacking, it's been a minute). however, while this phenomenon is only like a day old, our heroes run into a band of cultists that have already cut out their tongues and formed some kind of religion the same day. so fucking dumb

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Can't be worse than what Netflix tried to do with The Silence. For those that haven't caught it:

Spoiler

Similar to AQP, making noise is a no no (birds or bats are attacking, it's been a minute). however, while this phenomenon is only like a day old, our heroes run into a band of cultists that have already cut out their tongues and formed some kind of religion the same day. so fucking dumb

Yea wasn’t big on that one either. Average film with lots of problems.

My review of The Silence: Horror Movies

 

[R.J. MacReady]

Bad Match (2019)


On Netflix! This movie reminded me a lot of Swim Fan or Fatal Attraction, just giving either an updated 'Tinder' twist. The production company's tag line was "Fatal Attraction for the tinder generation". lol. Although neither actor in this film could hold a candle to Michael Douglas & Glenn Close, even if they did an admirable job. One immediate problem that I noticed was with perception of the film's progression. The writing & directing was simple & effective (couple of holes here & there), yet the viewpoints can drastically change the experience. You are led to believe that Harris is the victim & Riley the villain, which is as black & white as I can make it without giving anything away. That is how I perceived it, however my wife felt that Harris was far too unsympathetic & unlikable to ever see him as a victim. That viewpoint came to fruition when the climactic twist comes into play. It was a WTF moment for me, but for her it was a "I called it" moment.

Not a horrible movie by any stretch of the imagination, just needed a little more to it. The predictability of it made the waning moments feel exhausting, but the twist rewards you. Didn't care for the explanation of the twist (delivered from the lawyer) because I felt like it was far-fetched & lazy just to deliver the wow moment. The ending scenes between Harris & Riley were interesting and it had its moments where it shines, but overall it was sort of a forgettable experience.

Unbridled revenge thriller with a twist... 5.5/10

I'm going to watch it just for the Lili Simmons factor. She is hands down the sexist thing alive today.

You will understand when you watch "Banshee" Which was a fantastic show in it's own right.


.

 

[R.J. MacReady]

Hollywood needs to make a new good ol fashioned haunted house movie.

This was surprising good.
They did a pretty good job at making this movie interesting as it slowly ramps up.

It's not a "fantastic" movie ..it was just good 6.5

 

[R.J. MacReady]

Head Count (2018)


On Netflix! This one was a helluva missed opportunity. It's a very low-budget film, but it had a pretty unique mythical element that was really cool. But it was all for naught due in large part to the climax. Once the creature revealed itself I had to yell out, "WTF they went with that silly thing?" The creature design was simply laughable. And if I'm honest, in retrospect the entire film really didn't deliver much of anything for me. Acting was uncomfortable, and the characters were dumb. Nobody really added anything to the plot. Just a bunch of cardboard cutouts of stereotypical college kids. Basically all they wanted was a college-party cast but tried to develop sympathetic characters to no avail. I liked the part where the creature starts forcing the characters to do things against their will. Mainly the cliff scene. Wished they could have parlayed that into more menace. Instead they waited until the climax to feature that concept in abrupt fashion. Shame as it could have been used a lot better. Also would have been cool if they wrote the myth into something more of a geographical folklore instead of just something the kid read off his phone. Would have been pretty easy to do, and would have added a more menacing element to it. And the creature we could have completely done without. I think they were going for an Area 51 vibe, but it just didn't work. Side note, had to laugh when they straight up tell you that you HAVE to say its name 5 times to conjure it, and he only said it 4 times. Hilarious. Also they had some discontinuity fails with the filming. For instance, the last trip out into the park the group leaves early morning, and arrives mid-morning. They realize a problem and head back to the house, but don't arrive until it's pitch black out? You can tell they filmed the subsequent scene prior to the trip out and had to stick with it. Because darkness equals a scarier scene, right? Also, why did the creature feel the need to rearrange everything in the house in bizarre fashion? They went against the theme of 5's there with all that nonsense, and it didn't make any sense. Also have to say the score was stupid. Score-produced jump scares are lame. Essentially you get a loud sound effects choreographed into the music just to transition screenshots. Bush league.

Unique concepts, but subpar execution... 3/10

As usual ..your review was spot on.

Coming up with a unique monster is such a hard thing to do today.
When you can do that and get polished actors/script ...you get "It Follows"

When you don't do the latter ...you get this disappointment.


.

 

[R.J. MacReady]

Props to whoever recommend "Kingdom" ...I can't find the post I saw it on.

3 episodes in ...and it's fantastic. 8.5

The Koreans don't mess around. Their horror movies/shows always seen to be shot in super hi resolution and clarity.





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