Horror Movies

[Diamondeye]

Tried watching the new Hellraiser movie on Hulu.

The key word in that sentence is 'Tried'.

I didn't absolutely hate it, but my expectations for Hellraiser movies had gotten pretty low by this point after all the shit Miramax had dragged the franchise through.

I liked this version's take on the box. It was interesting and refreshing from the same shit we've seen over the past 10 or however many movies.

The movie didn't need to be 2 hours in length, though, as it feels like there was some filler and unnecessary story/character development early on

 

[Sparhawk]

I didn't absolutely hate it, but my expectations for Hellraiser movies had gotten pretty low by this point after all the shit Miramax had dragged the franchise through.

I liked this version's take on the box. It was interesting and refreshing from the same shit we've seen over the past 10 or however many movies.

The movie didn't need to be 2 hours in length, though, as it feels like there was some filler and unnecessary story/character development early on

It was a good take.
Fresh.

It just dragged a lot in the middle there.
Feels like this would have been better as a 10 episode series with some good background.

 

[Think McFly Think]

I didn't absolutely hate it, but my expectations for Hellraiser movies had gotten pretty low by this point after all the shit Miramax had dragged the franchise through.

I liked this version's take on the box. It was interesting and refreshing from the same shit we've seen over the past 10 or however many movies.

The movie didn't need to be 2 hours in length, though, as it feels like there was some filler and unnecessary story/character development early on

The wife and I started watching it the other night but we only watched the first hour because we were both tired, it intrigued us enough to finish it sometime soon.

Out of curiosity, has anyone here seen Smile yet? I would like to hear your takes if so.

 

[DJ]

 

[michaeljordan_fan]

The wife and I started watching it the other night but we only watched the first hour because we were both tired, it intrigued us enough to finish it sometime soon.

Out of curiosity, has anyone here seen Smile yet? I would like to hear your takes if so.

Some pretty solid jumpscares.

Reminded me of a mix of Fallen (with Denzel) and The Ring.

Overall like 7/10

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

 

[DJ]

 

[michaeljordan_fan]

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Interesting theory.

I wonder if Freddy is around to take a stab at it?

 

[DJ]

 

[BeaReylo]

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It almost looks like the aliens from Attack The Block.

 

[Nasty_Magician]

Decided to go old school and watched Horror of Dracula on HBO. I dug it. Pacing was decent for an older movie and Christopher Lee is a great horror actor. The set pieces and score are very dated but that's part of the fun of the old movies. Great background movie for this time of year.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Decided to go old school and watched Horror of Dracula on HBO. I dug it. Pacing was decent for an older movie and Christopher Lee is a great horror actor. The set pieces and score are very dated but that's part of the fun of the old movies. Great background movie for this time of year.

No better time for the classics! Great choice sir!

 

[returnofjakedog]

........so since Terrifier 2 is currently out, I thought I'd dig into the other Damien Leone films that have led to his relatively slow ascent up the horror ranks on the back of his character Art the Clown.

First off, I looked at a bunch of sites, and read several interviews with Leone but only really found out that he is from Staten Island, has worked in horror for about 14 years, and appears to be in his mid-30s. He not only really connects with his Art the Clown character, but he has almost exclusively centered his career output with Art in the mix (except for his 2015 Frankenstein vs the Mummy).

The 9th Circle (2008)-

Leone's first film is a short. I couldn't find a full video of it (everything links up to a 2007 film by another amateur director), but it is apparently mostly included in the full length feature All Hallow's Eve, so I'll address it more there.

Terrifier (2011)-
Another short film. This one is also included in the All Hallow's Eve anthology film.

All Hallow's Eve (2014)-

So Leone made a framing narrative about 2 kids on Halloween that find a VHS tape in their candybag. They watch it with their babysitter and find:
-The 2008 The 9th Circle short. About a girl who gets kidnapped by Art, but wakes up in an underground lair being held captive by a demon cult. We get weirdos in masks, pregnant belly slicing, demon r*pe, etc.
After that fine watch with the children, the sitter sends them to bed and watches the next feature......
-A woman alone in a country house is stalked and then attacked by a strange alien creature. Not much to it, but there is an Art the Clown related reveal to tie it in to the overall story.
-The 3rd story is the 2011 Terrifier short about a girl who witnesses Art killing a gas station attendant, and then chasing her as she attempts to escape. It doesn't end well at all!
-That leads to a horrifying conclusion with the babysitter and the kids.

6 outta 10 area from me. Art is the highlight.

All Hallow's Eve 2 (2016)-

So Leone only acts as a producer on this one, as they tried to move the franchise towards an ABC's of Death or V/H/S type format where unrelated shorts from different sources are held together with the same "found vhs tape" format from the original.
The big "downfall" here from me is no Art the Clown, and the shorts are so random that they don't fit together great.
Still, a couple of the 6 shorts are ok, with the rest being mediocre.

5 outta 10 from me. Too much variance to feel cohesive.

Terrifier (2016)-

This is where most horror folks really started to be aware of Art the Clown.

I've discussed it here before. This one is solely a vehicle for Art the Clown. While All Hallow's Eve was dark and gritty, this one goes all into the gutter with extreme gore and violence. It still comes off as fairly cheap, and it is barely a movie (no real story to speak of, acting is mostly a miss, no character development, etc) but Art is great and the fxs are bloody and nasty!
The thing that pushed it up a level imo is the replacement of Mike Giannelli as Art the Clown in the previous features with David Howard Thornton.
Now don't get me wrong, Giannelli did a fine job as Art, but Thornton completely owns it! His mime mannerisms are both creepy and terrifying as he grins, stalks, and slices up his victims in horrific fashion.
As previously noted, I fanboyed out and gave Terrifier a too high rating initially as Art is great but the movie exists solely to slice and dice. I'd still go 6.5, or maybe even a 7 outta 10, largely for Art's presence.

That brings us up to........
Terrifier 2 (2022)-

Terrifier 2 | Official Trailer

After being resurrected by a sinister entity, Art the Clown returns to Miles County where he targets a teenage girl and her younger brother on Halloween nigh...

m.youtube.com

So I still haven't seen it, but the reviews are great (Rotton Tomatoes has an 82% critics, and a 91% audience score, while IMDB currently is at a 7.6!). The "odd" thing for me is the approach:
*Despite Terrifier being a dark, gritty, low budget gorefest, this one is said to retain much of the violence and gore but have a more "mainstream" feel to it (as much as an over the top slasher can be mainstream I guess?)
*It is 2 hours and 20 minutes long!
I have no idea how they stretch it out for that length but apparently Leone makes it work!

I do find it interesting to see how Leone's career has slowly progressed from a low budget amateur who pushed his vision slowly for 14 years until he now finally gets a "major" release.
I didn't find a budget for the initial shorts, nor for All Hallow's Eve, but:
*Terrifier (2016) was made for 35k. Now, it is a cheap looking film but very impressive what this did with it. They embraced the dirty, grimy realism of the locations and really turned it into a positive, and obviously spent the majority of the money on the practical gore fxs.
*So apparently the new Terrifier 2 was crowd funded. They initially tried for 50k to be able to up the gore fxs, and get a somewhat name actor for a protagonist. Instead it garnered 250k!
Last week it garnered about $1.5 million in it's first 5 days on a limited release and the distributor, Bloody Disgusting, has announced a 700 to 850+ theatre full release (I guess this weekend?)

Also Bloody Disgusting is pushing the "fainting and vomiting in theatres" narrative:

‘Terrifier 2’ – Several Fans Have Reportedly Fainted and Vomited During Theatrical Showings?!

All of us here at Bloody Disgusting were thrilled to be able to bring Damien Leone‘s insane slasher epic Terrifier 2 to the big screen over the weekend, unleashing the fully UNCUT and UNCOMPROMISED sequel into 850+ theaters across the United States beginning on Thursday night. We’re thrilled to...

bloody-disgusting.com

William Castle would be proud!

I'm already pushing Art the Clown up the pantheon of horror villians list. He obviously isn't in the range of Jason, Freddy, Micheal, Leatherface, etc level yet, but he has the potential to rise to that level imo.

 

[returnofjakedog]

This one could be good! It looks like Ex Machina with a more horror bent to it.

 

[Mr. Shickadance]

I watched the trailer for this last night. That doll is creepy AF. Just this side of the uncanny valley. If the movie is as good as the trailer makes it look it could become an instant classic.

 

[michaeljordan_fan]

I'll be very interested to discuss Halloween spoilers with yall.

Bold choices were made.

 

[Sparhawk]

I'll be very interested to discuss Halloween spoilers with yall.

Bold choices were made.

I just tried watching it.

Meh.

 

[Nasty_Magician]

3 movies and an episode of a show down so far this weekend.

First episode of Midnight Club was decent, very slow place setter episode with enough breadcrumbs to pique your interest. I think the series has potential.

Curse of Bridge Hollow on Netflix which is aimed more at young adult but it's fun. For what it is, a mindless kids horror movie it's a good time. If you have kids or just need something entertaining on in the background it's a solid choice.

Also watched Bad Candy on Amazon, an anthology movie set in a small town. Honestly, none of the stories were home runs. The movie at best was meh but mostly bad. They very loosely and incoherently attempted to loop them all together and it didn't work at all. I think they would have been way better off condensing the number of stories and spending what little budget they had on say 4 stories instead of 8-10. Instead they were all watered down and pretty weak. It's a pass unless you're really desperate.

Night Teeth, not really horror but more action movie with vampires. Actually enjoyed this one, mainly because the 2 main actresses were unbelievably attractive.

 

[Sharkonabicycle]

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PFFFFFFFT, never had a girl invite me over for a Friday the 13th Marathon... that happens, and:

 

[Sharkonabicycle]

"I thought we were having a conversation..."

Allison Williams be like, "BITCH, YOU SAY THAT TO ME!?"

You know that doll... you get one of those dolls and that doll is fuckin' the husband when she gets home. "Babe, BABE, it's not what it looks like!!!! She's a doll! I mean Real Doll is a thing right?" Wife is like, "Well... yah." Meanwhile M3gan over there is whirring up the blender to cave in the wife's head!

I mean I've heard of rubbers but GOD DAYUM!