Horror Movies

[DJ]

LOL.

 

[DJ]

One of Ray Liotta's last films.

 

[returnofjakedog]

LOL.

It looks like fun just on the premise! Will watch.

My 2 criticisms from the trailer (as stated in the other thread):
*Cgi bear doesn't look great. Ok, but cgi is still flawed.
*The trailer gives away too much. Another common issue.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

It looks like fun just on the premise! Will watch.

My 2 criticisms from the trailer (as stated in the other thread):
*Cgi bear doesn't look great. Ok, but cgi is still flawed.
*The trailer gives away too much. Another common issue.

Should have decent humor with Elizabeth Banks running the show

 

[DJ]

 

[returnofjakedog]

View attachment 315449

I do have to admit that would be pretty awesome!

 

[Sharkonabicycle]

I do have to admit that would be pretty awesome!

Already bought two!

 

[Sharkonabicycle]

LOL.

lool.... has a Sharknado or Zombeavers kind of vibe written all over it.

 

[returnofjakedog]

Already bought two!

By two, you mean the pair front and center in the pic?

 

[returnofjakedog]

I have a request for y'all...

doesnt need to be done immediately...

But can you rank the horror movies of 2022??? if you want to wait until the end of december to make it official that is cool...

I've been WAY behind on horror movies this year... But so far this is how I'd rank what I've watched:

1. Barbarian... Best I've seen thus far.
2. Prey (not really horror, but worth a creature-feature shout-out)
3. Smile... Clever movie tailored for younger audiences. Not everyone's cup of tea, but I liked it.
4. Halloween Ends... It was a new direction, and it had its warts. But I liked that they at least tried something new and the story worked pretty well.
5. The Privilege... Pretty wild movie TBH. Goes from moody psychological thriller to full-on sci-fi craziness. Well made though.
6. Nope... Odd movie, but top notch quality. Great visual & fun tactics, but quirky. Kind of loses all its suspense before the climax.
7. Scream... Rinse & repeat of the original, but still nostalgic fun.
8. Hellraiser... Gift for the OG fans after a slew of subpar sequels.
9. Old People... Pretty funny idea but this english-dubbed movie was pretty surprising.
10. Choose Or Die... Game/tech horror genre clash with paranormal. It was well made but the concept has been beaten over the head a lot over the last 3-4 years.
11. Day Shift... Vamp Horror Comedy. The cool parts are few & far between and the comedy was cringeworthy at times. But its still somewhat entertaining.
12. Jeepers Creepers: Reborn... Very low budget lol, but at least it didn't pretend to be something more than a B-horror. I can appreciate that lol. And it helps us forget about that abomination JC3.
13. The Black Phone... Disappointed with this one. Trailers had me thinking it would be more than it turned out to be.
14. Texas Chainsaw Massacre... Really disappointed in this film. Gore was the only highlight. The plot & characters were cringe-worthy. What a waste of Sally's connected character arc.
15. The Weekend Away... Not horror, but a decent abduction thriller.

Also not sure if we want to, but like it or not, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was marketed as Marvel Studios' first scary movie. Sam Raimi did a great job blending horror elements into that film.

Good list from @FaCe-LeE-uS (as always)! I did like The Black Phone more than he did, but Joe Hill's fantasy leanings seem to not be what people expect.

Kinda surprisingly considering my output here, I don't often see films until they are a few years old as I have deep dived into older stuff recently instead. But I do want to add the Terrifier 2 is pretty awesome fun if you can handle the over-the-top gore! Art the Clown is a new horror icon imo.

 

[DJ]

 

[returnofjakedog]

Orphan (2009)-

This one has been on the to watch list for quite awhile, and after watching it I am glad to finally have gotten around to it.

A family deals with a nasty miscarriage, and the mother, played by the always good Vera Farmiga, deals with her trauma by pushing to adopt a "older" orphan. They choose Esther, a charming Russian girl notable for her excellent artistic abilities, and high intelligence. The family struggles to adapt to the situation as Esther bonds with the youngest, a deaf 6 or so year old, and the father, but clashes with the 10-12ish year old brother and the emotionally fragile mother.
As things progress, Esther shows odd behavior and skillfully manipulates the family against each other. She takes advantage of the mother's alcohol issues, and the father's decade old infidelity issues and drives a wedge between them, and she violently attempts to take out anyone in the way of her goals.
It all culminates in a violent battle for control and sanity!

The good:
*The acting is top notch. Vera Farmiga is excellent as the damaged and falling apart mother, as is 12 year old Isabella Fuhrman as Esther (she does a fine accent, persumably with some help from her Russian mother). Peter Sarsgaard us solid as the dad, and 7 year old Aryana Engineer is surprisingly good as the young deaf daughter. In my opinion, only the brother wasn't great, but he was an intentionally annoying pre-teen so I might be a bit off on my judgement of him.

*Direction and basic production quality. Spanish-American Jaume Collet-Serra does a skillful job of telling the story, and everything looks and feels well-done. In fact he is probably largely responsible for the good quality of the child acting.
In the horror genre he started with the average House of Wax back in '05, and also directed the enjoyable The Shallows which starred Blake Lively's ass in a bikini. After that he did a bunch of thriller stuff, and most recently has moved into big budget films with Disney's Jungle Cruise and the recently released Black Adam.

*The story. An interesting and somewhat original tale (based on a true story) that progresses nicely and holds a nice underlying tension. It does take a bit to really get going, but it held my interest on the way there.

*Cool twist! I assume most everyone already knows it (I knew it before watching) but I'll leave it at that.

The bad:
Not a ton, but.....
*The story could have had a few more kills but they kinda copped out on killing other children. I know why they didn't want to but, in my own twisted opinion, it would have improved the movie with 2 specific kills that were instead injuries.

*It is a little on the thriller cliche side at times, but it still worked for me.

It got generally mixed reviews from critics who seem to be all over the place on it, but the IMDB ratings are solid. I feel the negative critics were a but to close-minded, and feel the fans were more correct in their evaluations.

7 to 7.5 outta 10 from me. Esther is right up there with Damian from The Omen, or Village of the Damned, Children of the Corn, etc in the top creepy kids subgenre. Worth a watch!

Apparently last years prequel Orphan: First Kill is also good. I am interested to see how they pull off the now 25 year old Isabella Fuhrman as the younger than 10 year old Esther.

 

[returnofjakedog]

It looks good! It was the last game I played before ditching the PS a few years back and it appears to follow that very closely.

 

[DJ]

 

[returnofjakedog]

View attachment 315668

 

[Schmoopy1000]

View attachment 315671

reminds me of some old ass movie where Luke Perry's friend is saying let me in, & he says screw you! You're floating! LOL

 

[returnofjakedog]

reminds me of some old ass movie where Luke Perry's friend is saying let me in, & he says screw you! You're floating! LOL

I don't know what that one is (Buffy the Vampire Slayer?) but the attached is from the original Salem's Lot miniseries with David Soul.

That vamp kid floating outside the window, scratching on it freaked me out as a youngster!

 

[returnofjakedog]

I don't know what that one is (Buffy the Vampire Slayer?) but the attached is from the original Salem's Lot miniseries with David Soul.

That vamp kid floating outside the window, scratching on it freaked me out as a youngster!

@Schmoopy1000 - Found it! It was from the Buffy movie. David Arquette as the floating vamp.


I think that they were influenced by the Salem's Lot scenes:


I'd forgotten there were more than one scene.

As much as I recall the Salem's Lot miniseries being flawed (though much better than the sequel movie or the Rob Lowe remake), those 2 scenes still creep me out to this day!

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

 

[returnofjakedog]

Anna and the Apocalypse (2017)-


Billed as Shaun of the Dead meets LaLa Land, but I found it to be more Warm Bodies meets High School Musical (ie: not good). But I am not at all the target audience for teen musicals.

Anna is a high school senior who is planning to take time off before going to college, much to her father's chagrin. She prances around singing songs with her stereotype friends, acquaintances, and enemies as an unexplained z-pocalypse happens around them.

The good:
*It looks good. Solid enough cinematography. Didn't have a huge budget, but obviously had enough money behind it to have solid production values.

*Zombies looked decent. A couple of fun and distinct ones out there.

*A couple of ok kills here and there.

*At least they kill off most everyone. But see the bad section for more on this.

The bad:
*I hated the music. The music was praised by almost all the critics but to me it sounded like a cat dragging it's claws across a blackboard and somehow being very boring at the same time. Also there was a song every 5 minutes early on, but thankfully that let up.
As stated, I am definitely not the target audience for teen focused films, or musicals, so I am not unbiased judge here.

*The fxs were decent and the zombies looked good enough, but way to much cgi going on, particularly with the blood.

*The characters were generally annoying stereotypes. It isn't a good sign if you root against the protagonists.

*Yes, they don't cop out and save everyone. In fact almost everyone dies. But no one really seems to care, least of all the audience. In fact Anna herself cares for a moment when her father or best friend dies, but she forgets them and moves on pretty quick.
Traumatic, life changing events? Don't worry, you'll be over it in 10 minutes.

*The story has no flow or arch, and goes nowhere despite trying to make a statement.

I'll go 4 to 4.5 outta 10 and that is with me giving the benefit of the doubt regarding the music. Watch if you liked High School Musical or are a 13 year old girl.