Horror Movies

[returnofjakedog]

We haven't seen FaCe-LeE-uS here in over a week! I hope he is ok.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

We haven't seen FaCe-LeE-uS here in over a week! I hope he is ok.

Tag a brother next time! I’ll see it sooner! Sometimes this thread goes days without activity so I forget to stop by.

Sorry though my horror brethren... Life’s been feeding me to the lions lately. COVID is easy to handle when it doesn’t hit close to home, but once it does... man there’s just little that can prepare you for how quickly it hits & uproots everything!

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Ok. Finally got around to watching Halloween (2018). I thought it was pretty decent on it's own but I understand some of the backlash for a few "issues".

In this timeline (#6 from my Halloween timeline breakdown post) everything after the first movie is gone. The next night in the hospital? Gone. The whole blood cult controlling Big Mike? Nope. Busta Rhymes verbally abusing Michael before beating him twice with his awesome karate skills? NEVER HAPPENED!!
I guess my point here is that this is both a plus and a minus, but in a franchise as convulated and retconned as Halloween does it really matter?? (Seriously. I don't know anymore!)

So it opens with a couple of Brit reporters visiting the asylum where Michael has been held for the last 40 years before an impending move the next day. Apparently Michael hasn't spoken or responded to anything in the entire time. They don't learn much but a bit of rambling about deception and evil from the psychologist who does his best to channel a bit of good ol' Doc Loomis.

We meet Laurie, who has been ptsd'd since the original night, and is a drunk with failed relationships who lives in a parnoid deathtrap of a house. We meet Laurie's family which includes the estranged daughter, her weird husband, and the grand daughter whom we follow around for a bit.

So of course the bus transferring the patients crashes and Michael escapes by killing a dad and his son who really just wanted to dance, and taking their truck. He happens to see the Brit journalists at a gas station and kills everyone to get his original mask, which the dumbass journalist had shown to Michael earlier.

Big Mike goes on a bit of a rampage, going from house to house killing folks. Police get involved. Laurie freaks out and her daughter and weird hubby go back to her fortress home with police protection. They track down the granddaughter and she gets transported there also (Don't ask how. I'll cover that in "the bad" portion), Michael kills a bunch of people, then the girls are hunted through the house. Girls escape. House burns. Movie over.

Overall I thought it was decent. Some parts worked very well. Other parts kinda sucked. Acting and direction were generally ok.

The good:
*They kept it a tight, little story with no room for a bunch of b.s., or meta stuff, or karate kicking rap stars, or massive blood cult conspiracies, much like the original.
*I thought that the broken Laurie character was portrayed very well in the writing, and Jamie Lee Curtis' acting. It seemed very realistic. It does bear to question how come she never got the help she needed but it was pointed out that she had refused any such support.
*The story as a whole is good. There are some issue in the details and execution along the way. The overall idea works well though.
*High quality fxs when they used them. Some nice kills and blood stuff.
*A good Michael mask! You wouldn't think this could be an issue but it has been in the past. More than a couple times.
*The movie is dark and a little gritty, which contributes well to the tone.

The bad:
*According to some things I've read Michael caused the bus crash. In the version I saw the bus was already crashed when the dad and the son who just wanted to dance stumbled onto it. What really happened? I don't know. They didn't clarify at all.
*Off screen kills. Way to many kills occur off screen. That sucks. At least they had the decency to show quite a few of the post kill body displays. I wonder if there is a better cut of the movie that puts the kills back in.
*For all of the training and preparation to kill Michael that Laurie has done over the last 4 decades, her house and set up is a bit eh in my opinion. She built a hidden cellar, but it really isn't very secure (plus she gives away the location by shooting up through the floor). She has some cool stuff set up, like the room door bars, but I felt it was a bit lacking.
*The replacement Dr. Loomis (Sartain?) and his crazy turn was ridiculous. It was an obvious plot contrivance to get the granddaughter to the house but it could have been done in a much better way.

Some other stuff:
*Lots of references, easter eggs, etc. I won't go into details here, but many, many of the same shots and homages from the series are used and done well. But this is a divisive topic as many liked it, but many others thought it was too much.
*Nick Castle, who played the original Michael (The Shape), makes a return to the role for a couple scenes. Also P.J. Soles returns as a teacher.
*Danny McBride(!) spearheaded, and was a main writer of this project.
*Two more on the way! Halloween Kills next year, and Halloween Ends the year after.

I'll go 6.5 - 7 range out of 10. I would put it solidly at #4 in the movies of the franchise.

As far as timelines go, I wish that they could have incorporated the events of Halloween 2 into this one. It would have explained her ptsd, and Michael's being obsessed enough to hunt her down as she would be his sister. I can understand why they didn't as they wanted to move away from that aspect. Also trying to explain away Michael's eye injuries and death by massive fire stunt would be iffy at best. But I will withhold judgement until I see how this timeline plays out over the next 2 movies.

Excellent recap & review!

I don’t remember too many specifics about why this movie disappointed me so much... but it really crushed me. I think I amped it up to much before it came out and my expectations were just too damn high. Pretty sure my review in here wasn’t too kind lol. Now that it’s been a year or more since I watched it I should give it another go.

I do recall that final house scene being just over the top stupid. “Oh shit he’s here, let me put my back up against the only entrance with a window he can reach through” and then the house not having backup power or much Michael-proofing other than the bars & weapons. And wtf was up with the mannequin room? I sort of got behind the “baiting tactics” theory... but nothing about the progression of that scene made me think she was luring Michael into that final endgame, at least not until they did the switcharoo.

Love love loved the tone & atmosphere of this movie... took me right back to that midsummer night when my dad took me to the drive in theater to see the ‘78 film for the first time. But by the end of the movie the stupidity in the writing had taken me out of it.

 

[returnofjakedog]

Excellent recap & review!

I don’t remember too many specifics about why this movie disappointed me so much... but it really crushed me. I think I amped it up to much before it came out and my expectations were just too damn high. Pretty sure my review in here wasn’t too kind lol. Now that it’s been a year or more since I watched it I should give it another go.

I do recall that final house scene being just over the top stupid. “Oh shit he’s here, let me put my back up against the only entrance with a window he can reach through” and then the house not having backup power or much Michael-proofing other than the bars & weapons. And wtf was up with the mannequin room? I sort of got behind the “baiting tactics” theory... but nothing about the progression of that scene made me think she was luring Michael into that final endgame, at least not until they did the switcharoo.

Love love loved the tone & atmosphere of this movie... took me right back to that midsummer night when my dad took me to the drive in theater to see the ‘78 film for the first time. But by the end of the movie the stupidity in the writing had taken me out of it.

I can completely understand how someone can be frustrated to have 9 movies just erased. But after doing that post on the different timelines I just can't bring myself to get angry about another, particularly one that follows John Carpenter's vision as he was a script consultant who worked directly with Danny McBride (and persumably the other writers) on details. I have to assume that this timeline will end up being one of, if not the best of the 6(!) when all is said and done.

As you note, the tone and atmosphere are spot on to the original. It has a gritty, realistic feel to it. That is probably it's biggest strength.

It's biggest weakness? A couple of choices.
The doctor behavior was batshit crazy. Apparently he admitted to helping to crash the bus and free Michael. I didn't catch that the first time through. So yeah, the doctor sucked.
As face noted, the house was pretty weak considering the time she had to prepare. But I suppose this can be explained by her wreck of a life, alchoholism, finances, and just general mental instability. Still, a lot of the set up was pretty lazy. If she could afford all of those dummies, not to mention the weapons and ammo, she should have easily been able to reinforce the house a bit more. But in retrospect of the "twist" I suppose maybe it wasn't deemed necessary in her questionable plan.

Anyways, I previously ranked all the movies, and I broke down the different timelines so the next logical step would be to rank the timelines!

6. Rob Zombie's Halloween and Halloween 2:
I like the graphic gritty violence that RZ brings to these movies. I hate virtually everything else. For a guy who claims to revere classic horror, RZ sure treated the Halloween with little respect imo.

5. Halloween 3:
The stand alone. I probably should rank it last as it is a one off anthology without Mike but it isn't a bad movie (for what it is) and I actually kinda like it. The RZ movies just make me angry. So this gets the nod.

4. The Curse of the Thorns timeline- Halloween 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6:
The biggest of the timelines. Very convoluted. By the end of it we have a weird mystic cabal who sends a guy that slaughters a police station to free Mike. Michael's niece Jamie is introduced as his possible replacement, and apparently 6 years after the events of #5 Michael captures Jamie and impregnates her?!? I don't recall that but the article I read said that the director's cut has this info on it. It is a bit of mess.

3. Halloween 1, 2, H20, and Ressurection:
This might have been in the vicinity of the top spot if not for how awful and shitty Ressurection is. Fuck I hate that movie. The other 3 are all good though!

2. Halloween 1 and 2:
The original intended timeline. Well, technically the first movie was always supposed to be a stand alone and Carpenter says he was basically forced to work on part 2 if he wanted his other projects to get greenlit. Regardless, I will always have a soft spot for part 2.

1. Halloween (1978) and Halloween (2018):
I'm going with this timeline as numero uno because it is thus far the closest to the original vision and intent of JC. As noted, the 2 movies match in tone and feel. It fits almost seemlessly with the first movie. However, I do retain the right to change this opinion based on the upcoming 2 additional movies that will be added but I have faith that McBride and company will hold true based on the quality of the 2018 movie.

 

[returnofjakedog]

So I watched Peninsula, the sequel to the excellent South Korea zombie flick Train to Busan. I went in hyped but sadly, it is mostly inferior to it's predecessor despite a larger budget.


The movie opens with military officer Jung fleeing the z outbreak with his sister, her husband, and his young nephew. They ignore anyone elses pleas for help and manage to board a boat but a zombie turns and infects the passenger area, including the sister and nephew.
Fast forward 4 years later and Jung and his brother are no part of a 2nd class citizenship living in the slums of Hong Kong. They are approached by mobsters to help bring a truck filled with money out of the zombie zone, so they head back in.
Once they find the truck they attempt to escape but are stopped by a paramilitary group who captures the brother and make him fight in a gladiator style event against zombies for the amusement of the survivor group.

Meanwhile Jung is rescued by a small group that contains a mother, grandfather, and 2 young daughters aged around 10 and 5. It turns out they were one of the groups that Jung left behind in the exodus 4 years ago but it doesn't really matter (despite the fact they try to push this narrative as Jung's redemption attempt). It is a bit of a plot contrivance in a city perviously of 10 million, but whatever.

So Jung works with the family to break into the compound and resteal the money truck. Meanwhile the leader of the paramilitary group is also looking to flee with the truck after talking with the mobsters via satradio as his 2nd in command actually controls his troops and they view him as unnecessary.

They escape with the truck but are pursued by the military. This goes on for quite awhile until they reach the harbor and the final showdown occurs.

So this is a real mixed bag. It contains little of what made Train to Busan such a surprise hit but it isn't without some good.

The good:
*The zombies are generally pretty cool. They are fast, and tend to overwhelm in large number hordes so that aspect of their attacks feels realistic.
*The storyline unto itself is decent. There are issues but from the overall pov it works ok.
*The direction is ok. The action sequences are well shot and the story moves forward at a decent pace. The most main character's are decently developed (unfortunately this is only Jung, his bro-in-law, the mother, and a few side characters. The rest.....well, I'll address that below).
*The fxs- zombie close ups, and gore shots done using practical fxs are good......but the cgi. Ugh. Again, more below.

The bad:
*The zombie hordes- I understand the use of cgi when attempting such a large scale but it makes them kinda unrealistic and not very scary. An overwhelming threat but no tension because of how they are presented and act.
*The characters- too many are one dimensional and cartoony. No nuance and little believability. The antagonists might have well have "bad guy" stamped on their heads. Also, the two small girls comes off really ridiculous as the 10 year old is somehow the greatest stunt driver ever and the 5 year old is her dumb comic relief sidekick. I don't buy it at all and it comes off stupid
*CGI- So this movie uses a lot of cgi. Way too much cgi. When things devolve into the big final chase scene it is largely cgi and it comes off as over the top, redundant, and kinda boring because of that.
*Lack of tension and terror- too much, too fast. While it is visually impressive it fails in similar fashion to the worst cgi action scenes in World War Z, and therefore has no suspense.
*The finale. Eh. I didn't care much if anyone other than Jung lived or died. In fact the 2 kids dying early would have helped this movie.

So they took it in a different direction than the original but I think they took on too much. A smaller scale story with stakes the viewer could care more about would have worked but instead they threw Romero's Day of the Dead (the paramilitary group), Romero's Land of the Dead (the group living in the infected zone), 28 Days Later (Korea being a contained infection area), and World War Z (hordes of cgi zombies) into a blender, then tossed a big assed Road Warrior chase scene in for good measure.

I'll go 5.5 out of 10. It's a shame because I really wanted to like it more. Recommended if you like action zombie movies with the emphasis on action. General zombie fans and Train to Busan fans might enjoy, or it might piss them off.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Quick thoughts on a rash of movies I recently watched...

His House (2020)... Pretty solid movie all around. Seemed a little bit disappointed with the climax, but the story was good.

Numb (2020)... Thriller. Treasure hunters in the winter cold. Lots of stupidity, but generally a pretty solid story. Even though I didn't care for any of the characters I was still very interested in the story.

Host (2020)... Ah yes, the parlor tricks movies... This one had more of the same shock values, but overall a more unique storyline. Still, there have been numerous movies like this so I'm not sure why this is so popular. You know exactly what you're going to get.

The Cleansing Hour (2019)... This movie was awesome. Exorcism movies are a dime a dozen, but this one knocked it outta the park. Gets a little cheesy at the end, but it is what it is. Still highly recommend this if you're into these types of movies.

Frenzy (2018)... TV shark movie. 2.8/10 on imdb lol. We were in the mood for something cheesy & this delivered! Low budget syfy esque affair. Acting sucks, the plot has some hilariously asinine moments... Much like you'd expect from something syfy. The way the sharks hunted was hilarious.

JeruZalem (2015)... Aside from being annoyed with the main characters for most of the movie, this one was wild! Now I don't think I ever was to go anywhere near Jerusalem. Not sure if you can classify this one as a zombie-flick? But pretty much... Zombie demons? @returnofjakedog - have you seen this? Another first-person or "found footage" type film, but the cg/fx were good!

Summer Camp (2015)... Pretty sure I had seen this one before. Viral zombies! Love the idea and the progression is awesome. This one deserves to be rated higher.

Do Not Reply (2019)... Abduction survival type movie. Creepy movie, but sort of lacked any bite. Acting was ok.

Ghosts of War (2020)... You know how I love my war & horror mashups! This movie had a good mixture of these elements, and a pretty solid story. There were some moments that felt flat, but overall I liked it. The climax was a unique concept, but sort of detracted from the realism of the entire experience.

Freaky (2020)... Decent amount of gore & comedy. Could have used more of both but this movie was meant for young teens/adults.

 

[returnofjakedog]

Quick thoughts on a rash of movies I recently watched...

His House (2020)... Pretty solid movie all around. Seemed a little bit disappointed with the climax, but the story was good.

Numb (2020)... Thriller. Treasure hunters in the winter cold. Lots of stupidity, but generally a pretty solid story. Even though I didn't care for any of the characters I was still very interested in the story.

Host (2020)... Ah yes, the parlor tricks movies... This one had more of the same shock values, but overall a more unique storyline. Still, there have been numerous movies like this so I'm not sure why this is so popular. You know exactly what you're going to get.

The Cleansing Hour (2019)... This movie was awesome. Exorcism movies are a dime a dozen, but this one knocked it outta the park. Gets a little cheesy at the end, but it is what it is. Still highly recommend this if you're into these types of movies.

Frenzy (2018)... TV shark movie. 2.8/10 on imdb lol. We were in the mood for something cheesy & this delivered! Low budget syfy esque affair. Acting sucks, the plot has some hilariously asinine moments... Much like you'd expect from something syfy. The way the sharks hunted was hilarious.

JeruZalem (2015)... Aside from being annoyed with the main characters for most of the movie, this one was wild! Now I don't think I ever was to go anywhere near Jerusalem. Not sure if you can classify this one as a zombie-flick? But pretty much... Zombie demons? @returnofjakedog - have you seen this? Another first-person or "found footage" type film, but the cg/fx were good!

Summer Camp (2015)... Pretty sure I had seen this one before. Viral zombies! Love the idea and the progression is awesome. This one deserves to be rated higher.

Do Not Reply (2019)... Abduction survival type movie. Creepy movie, but sort of lacked any bite. Acting was ok.

Ghosts of War (2020)... You know how I love my war & horror mashups! This movie had a good mixture of these elements, and a pretty solid story. There were some moments that felt flat, but overall I liked it. The climax was a unique concept, but sort of detracted from the realism of the entire experience.

Freaky (2020)... Decent amount of gore & comedy. Could have used more of both but this movie was meant for young teens/adults.

Damn the trailer for JerZalem looks really familar but I can't pin it down. I think I saw it. I'm 80% sure I did. But I can't remember any details.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Damn the trailer for JerZalem looks really familar but I can't pin it down. I think I saw it. I'm 80% sure I did. But I can't remember any details.

Easy to forget found-footage films. Seems like I've watched at least 100 of them over the last 10 years lol. They sort of all blur together.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Koreans are dominating rate now...

Netflix’s Korean Horror Series “Sweet Home” Unleashes an Insane-Looking Monster Pandemic [Trailer]

“I decided it was time to die… and the world agreed with me.” It’s pretty incredible how much international horror Netflix brings to the table every year, much of it (unfortunately) dropped onto the streaming service with little fanfare. But one upcoming horror series that should most definitely...

bloody-disgusting.com

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Christ... The SJW's are out in full force...

The Milla Jovovich-starring monster movie was actually pulled from release in China over the weekend amid complaints about a brief dialogue exchange that was deemed racist and offensive; the exchange in question will be removed from the movie.

 

[DJ]

Tag a brother next time! I’ll see it sooner! Sometimes this thread goes days without activity so I forget to stop by.

Sorry though my horror brethren... Life’s been feeding me to the lions lately. COVID is easy to handle when it doesn’t hit close to home, but once it does... man there’s just little that can prepare you for how quickly it hits & uproots everything!

You got it?

 

[DJ]

Koreans are dominating rate now...

Netflix’s Korean Horror Series “Sweet Home” Unleashes an Insane-Looking Monster Pandemic [Trailer]

“I decided it was time to die… and the world agreed with me.” It’s pretty incredible how much international horror Netflix brings to the table every year, much of it (unfortunately) dropped onto the streaming service with little fanfare. But one upcoming horror series that should most definitely...

bloody-disgusting.com

Whoa.....that looks good.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

You got it?

No... Grandfather did, and I thought my youngest son but he ended up testing negative.

 

[DJ]

No... Grandfather did, and I thought my youngest son but he ended up testing negative.

How is he doing?

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

How is he doing?

Day to day rollercoaster but seems more stable now. Admitted to the ER 11/27 because of respiratory failure & a stroke due to blood clotting that formed in his lungs. At that point they told us he had hours to live. Tested positive a week before that and was showing very minor symptoms up until that day. He's been surviving on blood thinners & oxygen tanks ever since.

 

[DJ]

Day to day rollercoaster but seems more stable now. Admitted to the ER 11/27 because of respiratory failure & a stroke due to blood clotting that formed in his lungs. At that point they told us he had hours to live. Tested positive a week before that and was showing very minor symptoms up until that day. He's been surviving on blood thinners & oxygen tanks ever since.

Not on a ventilator?

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Not on a ventilator?

Probably for a stretch, but no longer. Just supplemental oxygen to get his blood-oxygen levels up. They won't release him until those stabilize.

 

[DJ]

Probably for a stretch, but no longer. Just supplemental oxygen to get his blood-oxygen levels up. They won't release him until those stabilize.

Hope he gets better. Not a praying type but sending positive vibes and sech.

 

[DJ]

Not Horror but this made me LMAO.