Horror Movies

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

We've already discussed it a bit here not long ago, but regarding Duvall's performance there is an interesting story.
Kubrick wanted her to convey utter helplessness and a complete breakdown so he would often call her in the middle of the night to wake her and just remain silent on his end. He told the crew not to include her or sympathize with her so she was as isolated as possible. No one was to complement her work, or socialize with her.
*The famous "Give me the bat Wendy" scene was done at least 127(!) times (Kubrick was famous for doing many, many takes)


In addition to having to cry on demand for 12 hours a day for over a bunch of days, her hands were basically just bloody blisters after that scene.

The "Here's Johnny" scene took over 3 days and over 60 doors.

Duvall was a wreck during the 13 months on set. She lost a bunch of weight (which she couldn't afford to lose) and her hair started falling out.

I'm not a huge Duvall fan (the only other role of hers I remember liking is in Popeye) but when I heard about what she went through I viewed her performance in a different light.

Also of note is that the portrayals of both Jack and Wendy were the 2 biggest issues Stephen King had with the movie (that and probably the ending). Jack was supposed to descend into madness, not start there, and Wendy was supposed to be strong. But King's version has shown that maybe the author shouldn't always be given control of the product.

Much more importantly I hope the covid situation is under control for you. Sending best wishes to ya man!

I watched a documentary (might have been a series) on the making of this film and its impact on Hollywood. Quite the amazing “tell of the tape” and worth every minute.

You nailed it on Kubrick. Quite the perfectionist and really did an amazing job of pulling every ounce of energy & emotion from every scene. The actors did a lot of the heavy lifting in this film, but Kubrick took them to the next level to make this movie as iconic as it is.

I felt the same about Duvall. Still not a big fan of her acting in general, but I do have a lot of respect for her after hearing about everything she put herself through.

 

[Nasty_Magician]

Just watched this, The Killing of a Sacred Deer, and the @FaCe-LeE-uS synopsis is spot on as usual (with one specific point I disagree on), however...............this is one of the few times that we disagree on the overall ratings!

A very well done film from a technical standpoint. The cinematography, the soundtrack, etc are all top notch. The problem for me is that I didn't find it tense or unsettling. I found the ambience to be yawn inducing, and I wholly blame the director on this.

Every character in this delivers their lines with flat monotone, and even in the direst of circumstances they react with little emotional range (there are a couple of exceptions). The story meanders along very slowly and the "conclusion" is highly unsatisfying.

I know that the director was going for a Hereditary-type movie dealing with the character interactions, and the story itself being the main focal points, but I just can't get past the performances (again, I don't blame the actors), the inhuman lack of reactions, and the slower than necessary pace.

It is said that the worst thing a movie can be is boring. Well, I was generally bored with this. It had some fine moments and could have been really good (imo) with a slightly different approach but it was mostly a snooze fest with no conclusion. I typically enjoy a good slow-burn story but this one......?? I just couldn't connect with it.

If I had been the Farrell character the little shit would still be tied to the chair and taking a daily beating.

4 out of 10 in my book, but this goes against most reviews of it.

Last note: The title is based on Greek mythology about a hero who kills one of sacred deer of the goddess of the hunt Artemis. I get the whole "choose your sacrifice to pay for your sins" stuff but Artemis, much like the majority of the Greek gods, was prone to being an asshole who kills and/or tortures anyone who crosses them in the slightest. One lady boasted that she had 14 children so Artemis kills all of the kids. Her hunting partner accidently sees her naked so she turns him into a deer and has the hunting dogs rip him apart, etc etc.......and the guy who kills her sacred deer has to kill his child (thus this story). I don't really get the connection or why we should consider Artemis' actions as justice in any sense (unlike Farrell who actually did something wrong).

I guess the conclusion is that actions have consequences. But you could at least show a little human emotion while doing it.

My wife essentially said the same thing. The speech patterns and the way they all spoke and interacted was like aliens doing their best to impersonate humans. Very strange.

 

[returnofjakedog]

I watched a documentary (might have been a series) on the making of this film and its impact on Hollywood. Quite the amazing “tell of the tape” and worth every minute.

You nailed it on Kubrick. Quite the perfectionist and really did an amazing job of pulling every ounce of energy & emotion from every scene. The actors did a lot of the heavy lifting in this film, but Kubrick took them to the next level to make this movie as iconic as it is.

I felt the same about Duvall. Still not a big fan of her acting in general, but I do have a lot of respect for her after hearing about everything she put herself through.

I've heard about a making of documentary on it. Maybe I need to go on a horror documentary run at some point. There are a bunch of good ones out there.

There is the Room 237 documentary also. I just assume that you are not referring to that one since apparently it is the Kubrick-faked Apollo Moon landing conspiracy breakdown and how Kubrick included a bunch of clues in The Shining. I kinda want watch that one too but I worry it might just piss me off.

 

[Nasty_Magician]

Just finished Escape Room, loved it. Saw without the excessive gore.

 

[R.J. MacReady]

@returnofjakedog or @Sparhawk - Have either of you watched Sputnik (2020) yet?

Foreign subtitled film, but the trailer looks epic. Looks like IFC Midnight productions put a lot into it. I posted about it a while ago with the intent to watch it but haven't gotten around to it yet.

I found it to be a solid movie. Oksana Akinshina sets the tone for this move and she is the reason it's as good as it is.
CGI was high quality. The who or what the movies centers on ... good thinking outside the box.
And this movie has a decent ending ...most movies like this have such predictable, stupid endings
The main downside, it's a bit short on excitement.

Yea, it's in Russian but the subtitles are at a good pace. Sub titles in movies can be as good or bad at the movies itself.
Some movies just have too much dialogue and the pace is too quick that makes reading subtitles a real chore.

This was a good movie for subtitles.

I give it a solid 7.

 

[returnofjakedog]

Watched Gretel & Hansel the other day. An interesting and well done version of the classic fairy tale from director Oz Perkins, the son of Norman Bates/Anthony Perkins. He also directed The Blackcoat's Daughter, which I still need to see.



..........but of course the highlight if Oz's career thus far has to be a different kind of horror co-starring in the Gary Busey is killed and reincarnated as a yap dog in the terrifying Quigley!


Anyways, a virulent plague destroys the countryside so Gretel, 16, and Hansel, 8, flee from their village to try to find shelter with a group in the forest. Along the way they stumble into a dark home deep in the woods, and it is full of food. They are very hungry so Gretel reluctantly agrees to stay there with the kinda creepy old lady owner. From that point they add some cool twists to the old tale as G and H try to navigate the situation. All of this is framed within a legend in their own world about a young girl who had great evil powers.

The good:
*Excellent cinematography.
*A clever and well written interpretation of the story with some good twists.
*Sophia Lily (Beverly from the It remakes) does a decent job carrying the load. This is essentially a 3 person movie (Gretel, Hansel, the witch) but it boils down to Gretel and the witch. The lady that plays the witch is very good also.
*General ambience. A dark, creepy feel is pervasive throughout.

The bad:
*The story moves a bit too slow, and some of the plot points are a little weak.
*Hansel can be annoying (he is an 8 year old) but it is part of the character.

Worth a watch if you appreciate a good morality tale, or an inner struggle of light vs dark type stuff.

I give it a 7 out of 10.

 

[Nasty_Magician]

The Endless on Netflix, more sci-fi mystery than horror but toes the line a bit. Felt like a bigger budget would have helped round this movie out, instead they sort of forced you to fill in the blanks. Definitely had me intrigued.

Wounds on Hulu, I kept waiting for it to turn the corner and take the leap it needed to take but it never did. Interesting enough concept/opening 15 minutes to get you invested but the anticipated follow through never arrived unfortunately.

The House on Hulu is 6 short stories that's definitely worth a watch. Not scary but definitely fun.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

 

[R.J. MacReady]

Yes ....and lets thank Jean Claude Van Damme for quitting after a few days filming (He was playing the Predator)
After that I believe they did a complete costume redesign of the Predator and hired Kevin Peter Hall.

 

[R.J. MacReady]

 

[returnofjakedog]

@Blackshirts BLVD

Just checking to make sure you are ok and covid ain't f'n with ya too much.
(I tried to pm you but it keeps telling me I can't specifically to you for some reason.)

Either way, you can watch this to freak you out!

 

[returnofjakedog]

Watched The Innkeepers (2012) the other day.


Synopisis:
2 young folks are left alone running a big old hotel on it's final weekend before it closes. With only 2 guests (eventually 3), they don't have much to do. So they continue to try to find the ghost of legend who supposedly haunts the building. The ghost is rumored to have been a jilted bride who killed herself.

The good:
*The characters. They did a good job fleshing them out. The seem like real people, particularly younger, kinda lost ones that would have such a job.
*The acting. Goes hand in hand with the character development. The actors worked well and the director got just what he wanted out of them.
*The story. Slow and subtle but well done.
*Very few jump scares! Kind of refreshing in a way as these haunting type movies are usually loaded with them.

The bad:
*Not really bad persay, but very slow moving storyline. A lot of people will expect an Insideous-type movie but this ain't it. Not much happens........until it does. This is intentional but the trailer kinda conveys a different type of movie than you actually get.
*Some will not like the ending. I thought it was fitting but it won't be "satisfying" for some.
*Kelly McGillis looks more like an old dude who works at a hardware store than.......Kelly McGillis! I was never a huge fan or anything but I get why they didn't cast her in the new Top Gun (which I'm sure will be even worse than the original piece of crap. Just my opinion).

Intentionally on the slow side but the framework was there to step it up in the horror more than they did. Instead they went at it more from a character stand point, with the horror *almost* being secondary.

6 out of 10. Good for what it is. Essentially a 3 person character study. From a pure horror aspect it could have been turned up a few notches but that wasn't what they were going for.

 

[returnofjakedog]

Thankfully they didn't use that! Ugh.

Can you imagine the final showdown with JC and that crummy costume? It wouldn't have been intimidating in the least.

 

[Nasty_Magician]

Watched The Innkeepers (2012) the other day.


Synopisis:
2 young folks are left alone running a big old hotel on it's final weekend before it closes. With only 2 guests (eventually 3), they don't have much to do. So they continue to try to find the ghost of legend who supposedly haunts the building. The ghost is rumored to have been a jilted bride who killed herself.

The good:
*The characters. They did a good job fleshing them out. The seem like real people, particularly younger, kinda lost ones that would have such a job.
*The acting. Goes hand in hand with the character development. The actors worked well and the director got just what he wanted out of them.
*The story. Slow and subtle but well done.
*Very few jump scares! Kind of refreshing in a way as these haunting type movies are usually loaded with them.

The bad:
*Not really bad persay, but very slow moving storyline. A lot of people will expect an Insideous-type movie but this ain't it. Not much happens........until it does. This is intentional but the trailer kinda conveys a different type of movie than you actually get.
*Some will not like the ending. I thought it was fitting but it won't be "satisfying" for some.
*Kelly McGillis looks more like an old dude who works at a hardware store than.......Kelly McGillis! I was never a huge fan or anything but I get why they didn't cast her in the new Top Gun (which I'm sure will be even worse than the original piece of crap. Just my opinion).

Intentionally on the slow side but the framework was there to step it up in the horror more than they did. Instead they went at it more from a character stand point, with the horror *almost* being secondary.

6 out of 10. Good for what it is. Essentially a 3 person character study. From a pure horror aspect it could have been turned up a few notches but that wasn't what they were going for.

I really enjoyed this one for what it was.

 

[returnofjakedog]

I really enjoyed this one for what it was.

Yeah. It was good. If anything I slightly underrated it.

 

[returnofjakedog]

So........... Society (1989)! Brian Yunza's directorial debut after writing and producing such B-cult flicks like Re-Animator and From Beyond. Complete with fxs from gore legend Screaming Mad George (if you don't know SMG, check out his credits. He is up there with the likes of Savini and Baker).


Weird story of Bill (played by Billy Warlock who is basically C. Thomas Howell lite?), a rich high school kid in Beverly Hills, who thinks everything is "off". He is scared of his family and their upper class friends. His therapist and everyone tells him he is paranoid but he keeps seeing and hearing unexplainable things. This goes on for a long while until eventually "society" gathers for a big, weird, gory party called "the shunting" where all kinds of slimy, wormy, disgusting madness!

This is a strange one. It plays for as one of those "Why are you so upset? Everything is just fine." type movies with a satiric comedy edge until it explodes into a mass of body horror (there were moments of body horror all through it, but the end.....holy shit!?!).

The good:
*Special fxs! Over the top weirdness with lots of slime and guts.
*The tone/"feel"- the weird undertone of dark humor and paranoia makes for an interesting experience.
*The story itself. Cool examination of class seperation. It seems like Jordan Peele should remake it.

The bad-
*Acting is hit and miss. Eventually goes way over the top and the actors intentionally turn into strange scene chewing cartoon caricatures (intentionally so).
*So many cool fxs! But some don't work as well as others. The over the top cheesiness of some was a bit too much imo.
*While I praised the story, the storyline execution is often clunky. Things don't always progress smoothly. Plot holes are obvious (but irrelevant).
*Non-ending ending left me a bit confused. I won't say more now but if anyone has seen it, I'd like to discuss it.

Overall, a strange movie with not a lot of peers to compare it to. Almost like Cronenberg with more slime blended with an almost..........Heathers-like comedic feel?? (Not quite an apt description but thats all I can think of).

I give it a 6.5 out of 10. If nothing else you need to see the shunting party scene.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Thankfully they didn't use that! Ugh.

Can you imagine the final showdown with JC and that crummy costume? It wouldn't have been intimidating in the least.

Reminds me a lot of the Pumpkinhead design. Come to think of it, Pumpkinhead came out the following year after Predator... I wonder if there were any connections to the costume design?

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

 

[R.J. MacReady]

Reminds me a lot of the Pumpkinhead design. Come to think of it, Pumpkinhead came out the following year after Predator... I wonder if there were any connections to the costume design?

I did a quick check ..Stan Winston Studio did the creature special effects for both.

Well done!

 

[returnofjakedog]

Reminds me a lot of the Pumpkinhead design. Come to think of it, Pumpkinhead came out the following year after Predator... I wonder if there were any connections to the costume design?

Reminds me of the creature in Feast.