Horror Movies

[returnofjakedog]

Just watched The Cursed (2022 film). Pretty good take on a creature feature film. Reminded me quite a bit of VVitch. Can drag a little in areas but it still kept me entertained throughout the whole film - I was not skipping through parts and/or falling asleep. Great atmosphere/surrounding and some tense moments. Doesn't rely on stupid jump scares which is great and the music is pretty good. Effects are a LITTLE left to be desired but the creature is actually not shown that often (IMO a plus) so it's not bad.

Could definitely plug it in around Halloween for a re-watch. Again if you liked VVitch check this out.

Watched The Cursed (2021) with my bro-in-law a few days back.

A well done twist on the werewolf legend.

Well done production all around. Good direction, acting, cinematography, storyline, dialogue, etc.

The cgi creature wasn't bad but it wasn't great either. They do a good job of mitigating this via the quick shots, and use of a weird vibration-camera effect instead of the shakey cam. They also do a great job with the practical fxs on the "dead" beast and the individuals inside them.

Good fxs overall though. Not a ton of gore but when they do it they don't hold back. The war scene at the beginning was pretty brutal, as was the gypsy slaughter scene. I was particularly impressed with the latter as they just used an unmoving long shot encompassing the entire gypsy camp and you witness everything. Simple and effective.

The story does progress a little slowly, and a few questionable decisions (such as the fact that everyone is having the nightmares but no one organizes and acts on the situation, at least not in a timely manner.

The biblical ties are interesting and a nice twist on the legend.

7.5 to 8 outta 10 area. Highly recommended from myself.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

The Black Phone (2021/2022)


Been a while so lets see if I remember how to do this...

I'll just start off by saying I was disappointed in this film. Everything about the PR for this film looked like it was going to feature the killer more, a la slasher film genre, but in actuality we didn't get to see him very much.

Pacing was ok, but the suspense was really lacking. Could have used more emotional pull from the story. They went for more of an overall dreadful tone, which felt somewhat flat at times. The best emotional aspects we got were from the protagonist & his sister, and even that arc felt somewhat unfulfilled. The antagonist's methods seem a little implausible. Kidnapping kids in broad daylight? Guess that is somewhat passable for the 1970s lol. But the black van & black balloon signature? Basically style points they went for but seems like an easy thing for the police to key on. Don't imagine there are that many places you can purchase balloons from in this small town. Seems odd they couldn't track him down if the police were finding these balloons at each abduction crime scene. The black phone & spirit aspects were cool but they really could have upped the intensity with it. The floater was about the only scene that got your attention in that area. Also I thought this film had far too many plot "conveniences" where the stars align so nicely for the outcome.

Ethan Hawke gave a decent performance, but overall it was somewhat lacking due to the writing. His character becomes fairly uninteresting after a certain point in the movie. Mainly because you don't see him very often, and the scenes you do get to he offers up the same shtick each time (mask and gravelly voice). Not much range. The main protagonist did an admirable job but was kinda ordinary overall. The father was a pretty weak character. Not nasty enough to invoke the fear they tried to start with, and not sympathetic enough to believe in his troubled history with the psychic mom. Honestly they could have done away with many plot threads altogether: the psychics & the antagonist's brother. Felt like they realized they didn't have enough horror in this movie so they wanted to throw in a kill scene, so they haphazardly threw together the brother's character. That character alone brought forth too many plot holes.

Not a bad movie overall. It has decent acting and good cinematography, but its full of plot holes & disappointingly it is a farcry from the slasher flick I was hoping it would be. Only get 1 kill scene, and some obscured ghost appearances of mutilation. It reminded me a lot of crime drama films like Summer of 84 (2018) or The Clovehitch Killer (2018) where the setting is somewhere 20-40 years ago. I'm sure there is a laundry list of comparable films, but those 2 jumped to mind first lol. I think the movie could have offered up a simple twist that would have really taken the Grabber to the next level; the voices Finn heard in the phone should have been the Grabber's. Suddenly the Grabber becomes Kevin from Split (2016).

Mediocre & poorly executed crime drama that lacks suspense... 5/10

 

[returnofjakedog]

The Black Phone (2021/2022)


Been a while so lets see if I remember how to do this...

I'll just start off by saying I was disappointed in this film. Everything about the PR for this film looked like it was going to feature the killer more, a la slasher film genre, but in actuality we didn't get to see him very much.

Pacing was ok, but the suspense was really lacking. Could have used more emotional pull from the story. They went for more of an overall dreadful tone, which felt somewhat flat at times. The best emotional aspects we got were from the protagonist & his sister, and even that arc felt somewhat unfulfilled. The antagonist's methods seem a little implausible. Kidnapping kids in broad daylight? Guess that is somewhat passable for the 1970s lol. But the black van & black balloon signature? Basically style points they went for but seems like an easy thing for the police to key on. Don't imagine there are that many places you can purchase balloons from in this small town. Seems odd they couldn't track him down if the police were finding these balloons at each abduction crime scene. The black phone & spirit aspects were a cool aspect but they really could have upped the intensity with it. The floater was about the only scene that got your attention in that area. Also I thought this film had far too many plot "conveniences" where the stars align so nicely for the outcome.

Ethan Hawke gave a decent performance, but overall it was somewhat lacking due to the writing. His character becomes fairly uninteresting after a certain point in the movie. Mainly because you don't see him very often, and the scenes you do get to he offers up the same shtick each time (mask and gravelly voice). Not much range. The main protagonist did an admirable job but was kinda ordinary overall. The father was a pretty weak character. Not nasty enough to invoke the fear they tried to start with, and not sympathetic enough to believe in his troubled history with the psychic mom. Honestly they could have done away with many plot threads altogether: the psychics & the antagonist's brother. Felt like they realized they didn't have any horror in this movie so they wanted to throw in a kill scene, so they haphazardly threw together the brother's character. That character alone brought forth too many plot holes.

Not a bad movie overall. It has decent acting and good cinematography, but its full of plot holes & disappointingly it is a farcry from the slasher flick I was hoping it would be. Only get 1 kill scene, and some obscured ghost appearances of mutilation. It reminded me a lot of crime drama films like Summer of 84 (2018) or The Clovehitch Killer (2018) where the setting is somewhere 20-40 years ago. I'm sure there is a laundry list of comparable films, but those 2 jumped to mind first lol. I think the movie could have offered up a simple twist that would have really taken the Grabber to the next level; the voices Finn heard in the phone should have been the Grabber's. Suddenly the Grabber becomes Kevin from Split (2016).

Mediocre & poorly executed crime drama that lacks suspense... 5/10

Bummer. Both you and Shark have similar conclusions, so it seems to be a consensus here.

It still has high ratings on the big sites (83% critic, 89% audience on RT, and 7.0 on IMDB) but I'll probably just wait a year or two until it is free somewhere.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Bummer. Both you and Shark have similar conclusions, so it seems to be a consensus here.

It still has high ratings on the big sites (83% critic, 89% audience on RT, and 7.0 on IMDB) but I'll probably just wait a year or two until it is free somewhere.

I let it sit on me for a week after watching before posting my review... I'll put it this way, my initial thoughts were worse than what you read in my review.

 

[returnofjakedog]

So, apparently Robert Englund was NOT the original Freddie Krueger!



David Warner (Titanic, In the Mouth of Madness, Tron, Star Trek) was the original actor. Sadly, he passed away yesterday.

 

[Sparhawk]

So, apparently Robert Englund was NOT the original Freddie Krueger!

View attachment 303062

David Warner (Titanic, In the Mouth of Madness, Tron, Star Trek) was the original actor. Sadly, he passed away yesterday.

View attachment 303063

RIP David Warner.

Totally lost his head filming The Omen.
Good villain in Time Bandits.

That being said, and with all due respect, I don't think Warner would have been a very good Freddy.
I just don't see that kind of maniacal playfulness that Englund brought to the role.

 

[R.J. MacReady]

RIP David Warner.

Totally lost his head filming The Omen.
Good villain in Time Bandits.

That being said, and with all due respect, I don't think Warner would have been a very good Freddy.
I just don't see that kind of maniacal playfulness that Englund brought to the role.

David Warner in Time bandits:

"Dear Benson, you are so mercifully free of the ravages of intelligence"


An all time classic line that i have never forgotten.

RIP David.

 

[DJ Fieri]

Posted a meme that Jack escaped from Jack in the Box.

Horror movie idea.....Jack escapes and havoc ensues. Have to change the name since they'd never sign off on the idea.

 

[Sparhawk]

Posted a meme that Jack escaped from Jack in the Box.

Horror movie idea.....Jack escapes and havoc ensues. Have to change the name since they'd never sign off on the idea.

The Jack in the Box (2019) ⭐ 4.2 | Horror

1h 27m

www.imdb.com

 

[DJ Fieri]

The Jack in the Box (2019) ⭐ 4.2 | Horror

1h 27m

www.imdb.com

LOL.

 

[DJ Fieri]

The Jack in the Box (2019) ⭐ 4.2 | Horror

1h 27m

www.imdb.com

I meant the fast food guy.....

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

So, apparently Robert Englund was NOT the original Freddie Krueger!

View attachment 303062

David Warner (Titanic, In the Mouth of Madness, Tron, Star Trek) was the original actor. Sadly, he passed away yesterday.

View attachment 303063

That's wild!

RIP Mr Warner! So many good roles... One of my childhood favorites was TMNT2

 

[Sparhawk]

That's wild!

RIP Mr Warner! So many good roles... One of my childhood favorites was TMNT2

Totally forgot he was the Klingon leader in one of those Star Trek movies.
Undiscovered Country?

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Totally forgot he was the Klingon leader in one of those Star Trek movies.
Undiscovered Country?

Never got into the Trek movies. I've seen 1 or 2 of the newer stuff, mainly because of Alice Eve...

Lawd have mercy

Spoiler

 

[Sparhawk]

Never got into the Trek movies. I've seen 1 or 2 of the newer stuff, mainly because of Alice Eve...

Lawd have mercy

Spoiler

She's Out of Your League
Also, early role in Starter for 10 with James McAvoy, Rebecca Hall, and Benedict Cumberbatch.

 

[returnofjakedog]

RIP David Warner.

Totally lost his head filming The Omen.
Good villain in Time Bandits.

That being said, and with all due respect, I don't think Warner would have been a very good Freddy.
I just don't see that kind of maniacal playfulness that Englund brought to the role.

I think that he could have done a decent (but different) job in the original movie. But he wouldn't have been well suited for the more humor leaning sequels.

The make up looks good on him though!


Looking at his filmography, you tend to go "Wow, he was in a lot of stuff I've seen! I've forgotten he was in <insert film name here>!

As far as horror goes:
*From Beyond the Grave (74)- anthology film. I haven't seen it, but it is now on the list.
*The Omen (76)- A classic!
*Time After Time (79)- I remember this one! He plays the time traveling Jack the Ripper.
*Nightwing (79)- Apparently a Jaws rip off about bats??
*The Island (80)- I vaguely remember this one with the also prolific Michael Caine.
*The Company on Wolves (84)- I recall this is a trippy horror version of Little Red Riding Hood.
*My Best Friend is a Vampire (87)- Average horrorcom.
*Waxwork (88)- A fun but kinda mediocre one. Reviewed here recently.
*H.P. Lovecraft's Necronomicon (93)--Brian Yunza film with Jeffrey Combs. Also recently reviewed here.
*Body Bags (93)- John Carpenter anthology flick. Another that was reviewed here.
*In the Mouth of Madness (94)- John Carpenter classic! Love this weird flick.
*Ice Cream Man (95)- Starring Clint Howard. I recall this one kinda sucked.
*Scream 2 (97)- I forgot he was in this one!
*Straight Into Darkness (04)- Never heard of it. I will tentatively add it to my list.
*Black Death (10)- Sean Bean vehicle. I think I've seen it?

He also did episodes of The Outer Limits, Tales From the Crypt, Sweeny Todd, and Penny Dreadful.

.......thats just the horror, and I'm sure I missed something. A very prolific actor who will be missed.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

I felt some inspiring need to watch Piranha 3DD....

And it was fucking hilarious. I went in with SUPER low expectations, and the movie was clearly made with those same low expectations. Koechner's death was fucking priceless. I was losing it, especially after he gives the money to the kid and then runs her over lmao WTF?

I mean when a movie that bluntly throws it out there that they simply don't give a fuck and are just willing to show you gratuitous female nudity, horrible CGI kills, and an absolutely ridiculous plot... that's something special in my book.

I'd recommend this to anyone.

Forgot to mention... I used to throw this on whenever I had chicks over in college. It was a good way to gauge their interest in horror movies, while also seeing their viewpoint on gratuitous nudity.

If they don't like horror... it's a short end to the date night
If they don't like the nudity... it's a short end to the date night
If they like both... then our pants are off before the midway point of the movie

The FACE system

 

[Sharkonabicycle]

Forgot to mention... I used to throw this on whenever I had chicks over in college. It was a good way to gauge their interest in horror movies, while also seeing their viewpoint on gratuitous nudity.

If they don't like horror... it's a short end to the date night
If they don't like the nudity... it's a short end to the date night
If they like both... then our pants are off before the midway point of the movie

The FACE system

 

[returnofjakedog]

Gothic (1986)-

Well, this wasn't quite what I expected but considering it comes from Ken Russell, who gave us the great but insane Altered States, and also the rather bizaree Lair of the White Worm, maybe I should have seen it coming?

Anyways, this story is centered around the famous Lake Geneva summer of 1816: (full synopsis of events in the link)

‘Frankenstein’ Was Born During a Ghastly Vacation | HISTORY

As rain poured down, conflicts between Mary Shelley and her fellow vacationers reached a boiling point.

www.history.com

.....where famous poets, Lord Byron, and Percy Shelley meet for a "vacation" with the not-yet author Mary Shelly, crazy cousin chick, and weirdass Doctor Polidardi.

Mary is the kinda the main focus but is just along the ride compared to the ranting and scene chewing of this crew. Gabriel Byrne is extra energy on kinda being an ass, Julian Sands is constantly on the verge of melting into a puddle of emotional goo, and the cousin chick and the Doc are just weird freaks.
I might be overstating this a bit, but I went into this expecting a cohesive story but instead got.........something??

Lots of things happen, a bit of violence amongst the perpetual nasty weather, some bizaree fxs, brief appearances of creatures, a dab of body horror, a demon imp, etc, etc, etc but the whole thing plays like a bizaree dream. They don't ever really delve into the famous stories that were conceived there, only elude to them in horrific moments instead.

So here is the thing, apparently the idea of this movie was to more explore the mind through the fog of the opium and/or the Doc's that the group was all using. The problem with this is that it doesn't really show much of the actual drug use, and only talk about it a little bit. So the actors run around spouting almost prose in various states of undress with the mindset of hyperactive 12 year olds.
The constant running everywhere does lead to several funny moments where the actors slip and fall that they just leave it in the movie!

All in all, I don't know. It was beautifully shot and the cinematography is good. The fxs and the quick shot shocks were generally excellent. The coke-crazed performances were.......well, they certainly put out the effort!

This movie looks and feels like a 8 to 8.5 area, but the lack of story in general when I was expecting more insight into the creation of the lore, or a more literal cross over of fantasy and reality then this.
A frustrating 6 outta 10. Not quite up to Altered States' level. Also most certainly on the "give it one more try" list for a few years down the road

The esteemed author Harlan Ellison loved it, and had this hilarious dissertation on it:

"Gothic is loopy and fatally flawed and an aberration. Yet I treasure this film. So may you. If you, as am I, are out of your head... you will cleave to this tortured bit of cinematic epilepsy because it is ALIVE. It is yet another crime of passion committed by Ken Russell, and his sort of berserk creativity has fallen on such hard times in this age........, that simply to be exposed to the ravings of an inspired madman is cathartic. I came away from GOTHIC with my soul on fire... The final assertion of critical judgement on GOTHIC is not whether or not it is good, or whether one likes it or not. The undeniable truth of GOTHIC, as in all the work of Ken Russell (an artist who is either so mad or so foolhardy as not to care if he wins or loses), is that it is palpably ALIVE. It is riot and ruin and pandemonium. But it will have you by the nerve-end

 

[returnofjakedog]

Chiller (1995)-

A 5 episode anthology series that was promoted as "England's answer to The X-Files". Despite this, it bears little resemblance to the Mulder and Scully vehicle, as they are unrelated stories of the supernatural that have no central characters.

The series has a rather cool intro, and generally positive reviews but, to me, it fell a bit short of it's potential.
Good production values (they had a decent budget for a tv show), and apparently name actors for the time and location (I didn't really recognize many but '90s Brit tv isn't my area of expertise). It does feel more early '80s than mid '90s to me.

The first episode might be the strongest (either this one, or the last episode) dealing with a group of Iron Maiden listening college kids who go to an empty house, have a seance, and then start mysteriously dying off in kinda Final Destination-like manners. The other episodes deal with a lady who is pregnant with a ghost(?), a perceived as schizophrenic man who may or may not be possessed, an idiot professional ghost debunker who moves his family into an old estate and then refuses to acknowledge the fact they are being haunted (this episode was probably the bottom of the 5), and lastly a detective investigating druid related child murders and trying to stop his son from being a victim.

Overall it was a good enough series, but it drags at time, and nothing really stood out as excellent. Things are light on the onscreen gore and even the violence is somewhat downplayed (made for tv). The stories are solid but I've been watching so many horror anthologies lately that this one kinda just blends in with the rest in my brain. The acting and directing are solid enough.

6 outta 10 range from me and that might be just a tiny bit high. Worth a watch for a deep dive, but there are better horror anthology options out there.