Horror Movies

[Sharkonabicycle]

Agreed. I'm a sucker for creature features littered with gore. Trailer reminds me a lot of The Ritual (2017), but with more dramatic flair.

YES! I was thinking The Ritual as well! I couldn't remember the name off the top of my head but I was actually thinking it was going to be a sequel to that (think I saw it a year ago). The empty/abandoned house with the upstairs, and dead animal (in the trailer), and the portrayed psychosis with the boy?

Another good film btw to the rest of the thread (The Ritual 2017)... One of the coolest monster designs in recent movie years I can think of.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Eli (2019)


Netflix film! This was a very problematic, gimmicky & nonsensical movie. I think it outsmarted itself with too many would be reveals & twists. It's what happens when a director & writers/producers don't know when to stop themselves with foreshadowing & plot reveals. There were so many "they should just do this" type scenarios that could have ended the movie. Its purely manufactured drama. What made matters even worse was that those decision making often went against common sense. The twist in the last 15 minutes sort of convoluted the mess even further, and it felt cheap like "oh yea, NOW we have the real REAL reveal, forget all the previous stuff". I'm not quite sure if the movie would have been better off without it though because it had a memorable uniqueness to it. This film also foreshadows really hard across almost every....single......frame start to finish, letting you know there is going to be a big twist at the end and what that twist will be. As if I wasn't already content being contemplative to my own devices, this film feels the need to condition us for every turn like it's forcibly holding our hand along a maze.

While I did find most of the movie to be irritating, there were still some good parts. The story itself was interesting. The progression starts out a bit slow, but then ramps up the creepiness with good effect. It establishes a good background with the family and their quest for Eli's treatment. It does a good job of giving us a surface level understanding of what the family has gone through to get where they are now without forcing us through anything exhaustive. The climax, although it did feel cheap after all it drug us through, was at least a unique twist. There were several ways to go with it and they chose the non-conventional path. Its probably the only highlight that I'll remember from the film. The overall tone was generally tense even if the sequence of events sort of detracted from it. The cinematography was pretty solid. Some dark frames were subpar, but overall supported the tone of the film.

For a film made with ~$10m you have to wonder where all that money went. It certainly didn't go to the writers, casting, or designers where it could have been used better. The cast was full of decent cred, but the general level of acting in this film was mailed in. Cringeworthy performances by Shotwell's lead and Dr. Horn (Lili Taylor).

It's a watchable movie, but you'll get frustrated with it. Overall it felt like a generic film with too much manufactured drama. And the scare tactics were cheap thrills, most all of it contained within the trailer sadly. At least they weren't jump scares or cheap cgi.

Frustrating experience... 6/10

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Honestly this looks terrible. Still haven't even watched Jiggsaw.

 

[DetroitDevil]

 

[Fleet]

Terrifier is fucking awesome. Huge horror fan as well.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Nightmare On Film Street (horror movie blog) has been touting this one. Lookin forward to watching it.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

This looks... ridiculous....ly fun

 

[Taddy Mason]

COMING SOON!


Release Date: Feb 7th

Synopsis: A man in his thirties travels to a remote cabin to reconnect with his estranged father.

I like McHattie and Wood, but this just felt flat all around. In the end it was just a bunch of scenes that happened.

 

[Diamondeye]

Terrifier is fucking awesome. Huge horror fan as well.

A sequel is coming out soon.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

The Clovehitch Killer (2018)


From the outside looking in this film looks like a horror film with its IFC Midnight branding & menacing title, but this was actually a well thought out crime drama. It's a slow burner with far less glamour, but it had a strong story. The story is very loosely based on the BTK killer (Dennis Rader). It's not a direct adaptation of Rader's killings, but it takes a lot of inspiration from the heinous & sadistic case: husband, father, cub scout leader, devoutly religious, small town community ill-equipped to deal with something of this nature, the BTK method, etc. Its a haunting reality that a seemingly upstanding citizen could be responsible for not only killing a person, but committing multiple gruesome acts of violence over an extended period of time without being caught.

This particular story is told from the perspective of a child who loves their father. This kid just so happened to be raised by a serial killer. The mystery slowly unravels itself as the kid's clue-fueled curiosity leads him down a path of investigating his father. It deals a lot with his personal conflicts with the terrifying truths to the situation. Even though it was slow, the movie never really felt that way for me. I think everyone can understand me when I say this, but its natural to be interested in serial killers. Especially ones of this nature that look & feel much closer to home than, say a more outlandish take filled with gore. A serial killer in disguise as a normal citizen of your community. What's more realistically terrifying than that? Even more so if the killer is in direct relation to you. Imagine trying to overcome something like that? The entire story was organically magnetic. The director did a great job of presenting this mundane thriller in a sinister & moody tone, without much use of a musical score either.

The acting in this film was pretty good. Charlie Plummer looked & acted the part of the seemingly normal 16-year-old living the life of a religious teenager. He was somewhat forgettable though and didn't display emotion very well. Where I think he ultimately fell short is just before & during the climax. The building of personal conflict felt like it fell very flat in that sequence. Almost as if it dismissed the boy's character arc. That boy should have been displaying a lot more emotion when he discovered that his father was the killer during that "devised plan", and when he entered the victim's house to confront him. Especially when he drew the gun on him. Kid seemed uneasy at most. Not a chance. I blame the director though. That's something that should have been implored into the film. McDermott played the manipulative serial killer in disguise pretty well. He had an uneasy tone to tense lines that felt naturally unsettling.

My biggest gripe with the film, apart from the emotionless climax, was the resolution. Spoilers ahead! I understand perfectly well why the boy chose to do it (didn't want it to tear apart his family), but he robbed other victims of closure just to conceal the secret. How did his new friend agree to that? Simply because she got her closure to see the killer's end? Maybe I can get behind that. Just felt like it needed something more preponderate about it. Plus, the mother briefly alluded to the police not believing it was suicide. As if the story was far from being concluded, but ultimately felt like it was swept under the rug.

Overall there was nothing flashing about this film, but it was still gripping nonetheless. If you don't have a natural fascination over true crime elements or serial killers in general, then this may not be your bag. It's a drawn out, slow-burner crime film. Not a perfect film by any stretch, but I'd still recommend it to the true crime fans out there.

Slow burning true crime drama... 7/10

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

The Intruder (2019)


This movie was annoyingly frustrating. There are so many dumb moments that plague this film, which gives it a forced plot feel. This film treats its main characters as if they are complete idiots, to the point of nausea. Especially the female lead. Her character was incredibly naive & gullible. Frustratingly so. She was manipulated throughout the entire film and rarely ever did she appear to question anything or have a shred of common sense in her brain. There were so many moments with her character that felt unfeasible. That character has to be in the running for one of the dumbest to ever be seen in a movie.

The film was littered with subplots that never really connected. The husband's stance on gun use & the relationship drama are 2 examples that come to mind, even though there were plenty more. The husband's stance on gun-use felt contrived & pointless up until the climax, where it tried to give that character some sort of triumphant closure but didn't connect at all. And the relationship drama was dumb. I think they wanted us to believe the couple was drifting apart, maybe reasoning for why the wife wasn't at the hospital after the husband got hit? Or why she was so open & forthcoming to Quaid's character? Sure didn't feel or look that way to any of it. She was an emotionless dimwit. Especially since the director felt the need to install 2 separate PG-13 sex scenes overlapped with cheesy R&B music. I'm all for some smut, of course, but those scenes felt oddly place, like a couple of brief softcore cheesy pron sessions with no relation to the rest of the film. They served absolutely no purpose. Not that smut needs purpose lol, mainly just sayin they were oddly placed scenes and didn't connect any of the aforementioned drama. The overall progression was a predictable mess of stupidity, and the climax felt like a clumsy sendoff. Was I really supposed to believe these idiots are suddenly badasses that aren't to be trifled with?

The acting was a mixed bag. The only highlight of this film was Dennis Quaid. His particular brand of psycho was decent, even if the premise & motives were stupid. There was a point towards the climax where his character started to feel less sinister & believable, and maybe a touch of overacting (typical Quaid). But I think it had a lot more to do with the terrible story in general. Meagan Good was bad all around, further compounding a terrible character in this film.

Overall this was a far-fetched & clumsy film filled with stupidity. The premise & backgrounds were terrible and nothing about the film felt fluid. Apart from a cool setting/house, some well-shot filming & Quaid's performance, there was nothing good about this film. It did embed some unnecessary political subtext that I found humorous. Like putting Quaid in a MAGA-esque hat during some scenes. Sure, lets label the psycho a right-winged, gun-toting redneck. Lol! And the gun stance felt contrived enough for me to believe that it was also political subtext. #BlackLivesMatter, amirite? FOH with all that liberal

BM: 4/10 (covered smut scenes)

Stupid premise, predictable & contrived, & filled with stupidity... 4/10

 

[Shanemansj13]

The Clovehitch Killer (2018)


From the outside looking in this film looks like a horror film with its IFC Midnight branding & menacing title, but this was actually a well thought out crime drama. It's a slow burner with far less glamour, but it had a strong story. The story is very loosely based on the BTK killer (Dennis Rader). It's not a direct adaptation of Rader's killings, but it takes a lot of inspiration from the heinous & sadistic case: husband, father, cub scout leader, devoutly religious, small town community ill-equipped to deal with something of this nature, the BTK method, etc. Its a haunting reality that a seemingly upstanding citizen could be responsible for not only killing a person, but committing multiple gruesome acts of violence over an extended period of time without being caught.

This particular story is told from the perspective of a child who loves their father. This kid just so happened to be raised by a serial killer. The mystery slowly unravels itself as the kid's clue-fueled curiosity leads him down a path of investigating his father. It deals a lot with his personal conflicts with the terrifying truths to the situation. Even though it was slow, the movie never really felt that way for me. I think everyone can understand me when I say this, but its natural to be interested in serial killers. Especially ones of this nature that look & feel much closer to home than, say a more outlandish take filled with gore. A serial killer in disguise as a normal citizen of your community. What's more realistically terrifying than that? Even more so if the killer is in direct relation to you. Imagine trying to overcome something like that? The entire story was organically magnetic. The director did a great job of presenting this mundane thriller in a sinister & moody tone, without much use of a musical score either.

The acting in this film was pretty good. Charlie Plummer looked & acted the part of the seemingly normal 16-year-old living the life of a religious teenager. He was somewhat forgettable though and didn't display emotion very well. Where I think he ultimately fell short is just before & during the climax. The building of personal conflict felt like it fell very flat in that sequence. Almost as if it dismissed the boy's character arc. That boy should have been displaying a lot more emotion when he discovered that his father was the killer during that "devised plan", and when he entered the victim's house to confront him. Especially when he drew the gun on him. Kid seemed uneasy at most. Not a chance. I blame the director though. That's something that should have been implored into the film. McDermott played the manipulative serial killer in disguise pretty well. He had an uneasy tone to tense lines that felt naturally unsettling.

My biggest gripe with the film, apart from the emotionless climax, was the resolution. Spoilers ahead! I understand perfectly well why the boy chose to do it (didn't want it to tear apart his family), but he robbed other victims of closure just to conceal the secret. How did his new friend agree to that? Simply because she got her closure to see the killer's end? Maybe I can get behind that. Just felt like it needed something more preponderate about it. Plus, the mother briefly alluded to the police not believing it was suicide. As if the story was far from being concluded, but ultimately felt like it was swept under the rug.

Overall there was nothing flashing about this film, but it was still gripping nonetheless. If you don't have a natural fascination over true crime elements or serial killers in general, then this may not be your bag. It's a drawn out, slow-burner crime film. Not a perfect film by any stretch, but I'd still recommend it to the true crime fans out there.

Slow burning true crime drama... 7/10

Saw that movie awhile ago...really enjoyed it

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Saw that movie awhile ago...really enjoyed it

How did you feel about the resolution? Burying the secret sotospeak...

I didn't remember the line from the mom correctly in my review, which actually helped me understand it better. She didn't say "the police didn't think it was suicide", which would have opened the door to a possible investigation, but rather she said "the police didn't think it was an accident". Alluding to the police believing their staged suicide.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

New movie poster for Antlers (2020)

With Guillermo del Toro on with the Production team this one is guaranteed to have good attention to detail! Can't wait!

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

 

[Sparhawk]

I was able to watch Terrifier.
Nice little clown movie.
Fairly simple in some parts, special efx were okay, and not a long run time.
The way the ending tied into the beginning was quite clever and didn't see coming.
Solid 6/10.

 

[Shanemansj13]

How did you feel about the resolution? Burying the secret sotospeak...

I didn't remember the line from the mom correctly in my review, which actually helped me understand it better. She didn't say "the police didn't think it was suicide", which would have opened the door to a possible investigation, but rather she said "the police didn't think it was an accident". Alluding to the police believing their staged suicide.

It's been so long I actually forgot parts but I just remember I enjoyed it. Actually I want to rewatch it to clear up some things and bc it was that good.

 

[Taddy Mason]

If you find yourself browsing some horror titles and pick something seasonal, Cupid ain't the one.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

If you find yourself browsing some horror titles and pick something seasonal, Cupid ain't the one.

This one?

Cupid (2020) - IMDb

Looks pretty bad lol.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

It's been so long I actually forgot parts but I just remember I enjoyed it. Actually I want to rewatch it to clear up some things and bc it was that good.

Gotcha.

I just didn't care for how they buried the secret just to preserve his family sotospeak. I mean, instead of being torn apart by reputation & circumstances surround the murders they are still torn apart by grief. Even if they "make do" as a family, its still going to haunt them. Not to mention doing so has preserved his murderous father's reputation & legacy... And denied the other victim's families closure.

Just seemed so ass backwards to me.