Horror Movies

[Schmoopy1000]

View attachment 318347
RiP Bill Paxton!

loved that movie

 

[Schmoopy1000]

You're mileage may vary.
Definitely check it out.

I kind of felt the same way about Smile.
Great 2/3 start.
Just didn't finish well for me.

I enjoyed The Menu. Even after giving up the end plot with "the Mess" kept me wondering who or if anyone was gonna survive & how if they did.
Smile I agree with. most the movie was really good to me. The smiles were creepy. but then the end of the movie, left me thinking Dammit! Could have been so much better.

 

[returnofjakedog]

loved that movie

I propose director Kathryn Bigelow > her ex-husband James Cameron.

Near Dark was her debut effort!

 

[Sharkonabicycle]

So just watched M3gan....

Not gonna lie, a little disappointed... I mean I get this is a movie you don't question and logic is thrown out the window, but the film got a little lazy about it. Maybe I watched too many of the trailers.... IMDB 4/10... some of the dialogue and acting was straight cheesy. I'd still bang Alison Williams. Disappointing she didn't go nude in this... Was surprised this actually got rated R..

Edit: Oh nevermind, it got PG-13 bullshit for the kiddies... well hopefully we make M3gan and she kills of Hollyweird and all the teenagers.

 

[returnofjakedog]

Bird Box (2018)


On Netflix! I'll just go ahead and say this will contain spoilers, so be warned.

In a nutshell, this film is a post-apocalyptic thriller in the same vein of A Quiet Place. There are plenty of differences that make this movie worth watching but overall it has a hard time giving the viewer a new or different experience. As I was watching I was able to predict most of the things that happened, and a twist that should have been shocking ends up being the weakest part of the movie. The combination of a thin plot, too much character building, an abundance of plot holes, and a lacking antagonist weakened the film. The movie is at its best when the tension from the mysterious creatures is heightened in small places. When there are too many characters on screen you don't feel the urgency or connect with the characters that may not make it. And honestly some of the moments in this movie insulted my intelligence and character stupidity was abundant. The scene where they are driving the car blind was absurd. There's no f*cking way that would be possible. And I laughed when they pulled up to the store, and the black dude said (while blindfolded) "the door should be right over here", as if he knew exactly where they had blindly parked. And the boating down the river was hard to imagine. Do-able, yes, but not as easily as they made it look. And the final sanctuary? How was that place protected? Might have missed something, but all they said was birds were an early warning system, not a deterrent.

Casting was a failure in my opinion. Not only did Malkovich not get enough screen time, but they vastly underutilized Sarah Paulson. Honestly she was better suited for the lead role and the movie would have benefited immensely from it. Sandra Bullock was not very good. And I'm honestly starting to question why I ever thought she was good in the past. Her acting is just abrasive, and lacking emotional range. The emotional moments of this film, which were supposed to have great impact on plot development, felt very dull because of her. Her character arc should have landed better, but I think she held the role back. I thought Trevante Rhodes put on a good performance. Also think the movie would have benefited from a smaller cast.

This is nothing more than a high-budget, high-gloss version of the typical end-of-the-world disaster flicks. Decent entertainment if you're looking for new material, but its nothing close to what the internet craze is making it out to be. It's chalked full of plot holes. A Quiet Place was far superior in almost every facet.

Decent but dull entertainment... 5.5/10

Late to the party but finally watched Bird Box. Can't really disagree with @FaCe-LeE-uS 's review: a post-apocalyptic film with a budget, and bunch of nonsense thrown in. Probably worked well enough as a box but doesn't translate well to the screen.

*I fully agree that Sarah Paulson would have done better as the lead. Sandra Bullock is just ok at best, but Paulson is a far better actress.
*I see The Quiet Place comparison. While I was watching it I also was heavily reminded of the stupid shit from The Happening.
In addition to the stuff in the attached review, I found Bullock's character arc unbelievable. The fact she spent 5 years with the kids and she never bonded enough to bother naming them beyond "boy" and "girl" was just stupid (as many things were, like the driving and river rafting) and her "partner" would most certainly have named them in that time.
*The initial collapse and destruction stuff was fun. Give us more of that,!

Put Paulson in the lead, dial back on the doing stuff while blind and invisible threat stuff, and instead make the crazed followers of the "creature" more of a consistent enemy and they might have been able to salvage it. But as it is, an average flick with big names that looks good but fails in execution largely due to stupid shit going on.

I can't disagree with the 5.5 outta 10 rating. Maybe a 6 at best.

 

[returnofjakedog]

Wednesday (2022)-

Netflix series based on the classic Addams Family cartoon and tv series. Surprisingly it appears not to have been discussed here.

Pugsly Addams is getting tortured by jocks at the local high school, so Wednesday drops a bunch of piranhas into the pool with the jocks. This leads to her getting shipped off to Nevermore Academy, a school for monsters and supernatural weirdos, where she gets dragged into a mystery involving a series of ongoing nasty murders in the surrounding area.

*Largely quite well done with Tim Burton being heavily involved as a producer, and also a director for half of the episodes.

*Everything looks good with the exception of overuse of cgi on the creatures.

*The rest of the Addams family is only used in cameo form, with the exception of Thing, the disembodied hand, who is a pretty awesome sidekick.

*Well written and executed story.

*Everyone praises Jenny Ortega for her performance but the character demands are very simple as she just needs to be flat and emotionless with deadpan dark humor. Not the most demanding to perform. Still, she does good job!

*The side characters are a bit hit and miss. They can be kinda cardboardish and/or annoying at times. But her overly cheery teenage werewolf chick roommate plays for humor off of Wednesday quite well.

*Too much teenage pandering. But it was made to appeal to a large audience including family and young adult so it accomplished it's mass appeal goal.

*It is essentially a Harry Potter movie with Wednesday Addams instead of Harry. Nevermore Academy just is Hogwarts with less magic. So a bit redundant in that respect.

All in all, well done! I'm not their target audience persay as I'll always want something darker and gorier, but I enjoyed it and they did a good job overall.

7 to 7.5 outta 10 from me. Solid, yet a bit predictable. Apparently a season 2 is in production.

 

[returnofjakedog]

Popcorn (1991)-


A group of college students run an all night horror movie marathon at a local theatre. But things go wrong as they find a weird cult short film, and a killer from the past rises up and starts taking them out one by one during the festivities.

Another interesting one, with quite a bit of cool, fun mixed in with the poorly executed stuff.

The good:
*The 3 movies within the movie are probably the highlight. They pay homage to the likes of William Castle with prop and gimmick hooks.
-The first is a 3D flick about giant mosquitos created from nuclear radiation. Some fun fxs, and intentional '50s style cheese add to the enjoyment. They use a giant mosquito prop on a wire during it not only to complete the homage, but also as a weapon!
-The second is basically Shocker/House 3 as a killer is to be executed via electric chair only to gain massive electrical powers instead. He goes on a rampage, as the theatre goers receive small shocks to correspond from their seats.
-The third is an ode to Odorama where they pump different smells into the theatre as the movie plays. This one gets less screen time as the finale of the "real" movie plays out instead. So it isn't as formed as the others.

*The killer looks pretty cool, with some fun fxs in his Darkman-style disguises.

*Schlocky fun with a very '80s feel even though it is early '90s.

*A conceptually interesting main story involving cults, and evil from beyond the grave.

*A bit of giallo style nightmare like quality for the female lead as she tries to unravel the mystery.

*The crowd thinking some of the deaths are part of the show and reacting is fun.

The bad:
*The execution of the main story is haphazard as the set up to the festival is often uninteresting or even boring. There is even a poorly executed '80s style montage of prepping the theatre. Things pick up and get fun when the festival starts but it takes awhile to get there.
Mark Harrier, who played Billy in Porky's, directed and I can see why it is his lone directorial credit.

*Character development and acting. There are some recognizable faces here and there but generally speaking the character development is not very existent, and the acting ranges from ok to pretty bad. Dee Wallace Stone has a supporting role as the lead's mom (she was everyone's mom in movies back then) but isn't given much to do. Ray Walston has a bit role that comes to nothing. The eventual killer goes over-the-top and it works sometimes, but he also spouts immature dialogue like "I'm rubber, and you are glue. What bounces off me sticks to you!" in an attempt to highlight his lack of stability and stuck in childhood I guess?
Most of the main cast of students comes off like Saved By The Bell level cheese. I won't go through them all but I'll use Kelly Jo Minter as an example. She has a cool list of horror credits that includes Nightmare on Elm Street 5, The Lost Boys, The People Under the Stairs, and this but I most remember her from Summer School. The problem is that she can't act beyond her singular character as she always plays every role I've seen her in exactly the same: the sassy black Latino supporting role. She seemingly has no range beyond that. The other characters are generally similarly shallow stereotypes.

*A completely out of place reggae dance number just suddenly appears. It makes no sense in the context of what is going on. But I found out afterwards that the movie was filmed in Jamaica.

All in all, there is some fun stuff in this if you can handle the stupid that comes with it, and get through the first 40 or so minutes of slog. Watch if you like '80s cheese and odes to '50s schlock, with some Phantom of the Opera tossed in for good measure.

I'll go 6 outta 10 overall. But the early stuff is largely boring crap. It picks up as things progress.

 

[Nasty_Magician]

Weird NJ – Weird New Jersey on Instagram: "FRIDAY THE 13th (THEN AND NOW) IN WEIRD NJ Jason Voorhees roams the streets and alleys of downtown Blairstown every Friday the 13th in tribute to the 1980 cult slasher classic “Friday The 13th, Part 1”, film

2,066 likes, 78 comments - weirdnjinsta on January 12, 2023: "FRIDAY THE 13th (THEN AND NOW) IN WEIRD NJ Jason Voorhees roams the streets and alleys of downtown Blairstown every Friday the 13th in tribute to the 1980 cult slasher classic “Friday The 13th, Part 1”, filmed in and around this...

www.instagram.com

 

[returnofjakedog]

 

[Sparhawk]

Watched this on Peacock the other night.
Not bad. 7.5/10

The premise is good.
I thought there were one or two plot holes that dropped the rating a few points, but otherwise solid.

One epic kill scene that is heavily foreshadowed, but pulled off quite effectively.

Not much gore, but this is definitely a horror movie.
Reminded me of Hush.

Excellent use of tracking shots with Hitchcockian elements where we see the intruder moving about but the character in the shot doesn't.

 

[returnofjakedog]

Watched this on Peacock the other night.
Not bad. 7.5/10

The premise is good.
I thought there were one or two plot holes that dropped the rating a few points, but otherwise solid.

One epic kill scene that is heavily foreshadowed, but pulled off quite effectively.

Not much gore, but this is definitely a horror movie.
Reminded me of Hush.

Excellent use of tracking shots with Hitchcockian elements where we see the intruder moving about but the character in the shot doesn't.

Had not heard of it!
......it is now on the list.

 

[returnofjakedog]

The Innocents (1961)-

A naive young lady gets a job as a governess to care for 2 children whose parents died and are now in the care of a rich dude who wants nothing to do him. She travels to the huge old estate to meet up with the 6-7ish girl, the maid, and eventually the 9-10ish boy. She finds the kids ideal at first but slowly madness seems to creep in with apparations, hearing a bunch weird whispering and singing, and general strangeness enhanced by the kids syrupy weirdness. She begins to suspect possession and takes steps to fight it.

This one is on many, many all-time great horror movie lists, and while I can appreciate this (it is good) it comes off quite dated in the performance style imo.

*The kids are good but they can be really annoying more than a few times (like real kids!) and the lead lady is just kind of ditzy with an over-the-top nervous energy (again, I'm guessing intentionally). This is the weakest part of the movie for me.

*Cool ghostly possession story. Well directed. Good story flow. Gothic psychological horror.

*Considered a historically important for opening up the horror genre to a new era.

*Based on The Turn of the Screw novel by Henry James

6.5 to 7 for me. However it gets a 7.8 on IMDB, a 95% critic and 86 audience from RT so I am rating it quite a bit lower than the concensus, which is a little rare.

Watch if you are a fan of classic horror.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

 

[Sparhawk]

I feel like I don't even have to look, but given the weirdness of that picture, it has to be David's son, yes?

 

[returnofjakedog]

The link takes me to ticket sales, so here is a more direct trailer link:

I feel like I don't even have to look, but given the weirdness of that picture, it has to be David's son, yes?

Yep!

 

[returnofjakedog]

Mister Frost (1990)-

Frost (Jeff Goldblum) is a millionaire dude who intentionally gets arrested when he openly tells the police about the many mutilated bodies buried around his estate. He then gets placed in a mental institution where he doesn't say anything for 2 years until he meets a female doctor who he manipulates to try to make her kill him because that will make him more powerful or something weird like that. Also the cop who arrested him is running around telling everyone Frost is Satan, which Frost himself also claims. Frost manipulates people until a conclusion is reached.

An interesting story with a kinda fun conclusion but slow moving with a lot of nonsensical stuff happening. If I had to decribe it, maybe Fallen mixed with Silence of the Lamb but not really well executed?

Why did the doctors at the asylum just let Frost do seemingly whatever he wants? Why do they (the doctors and staff) just let themselves be manipulated? I guess the "He is Satan" explanation is enough?

Slick Goldblum slow energy hams it up, and the other actors are decent but the script or at least the execution is a bit shoddy imo. Not a lot of violence or gore despite the initial horrific mass murderer stuff.

I dunno. Maybe 5ish outta 10? Had potential but didn't establish very much tension and wasn't really scary. Had the potential to where a proper remake could be better.

 

[Podunkparte]

We're All Going To The World's Fair

I'm all for low budget, subtle psychological horror, but this was such a shallow dive into all the themes it tried to address that it was pretty much just a bore fest.

"Isolated teens can be easily manipulated online" isn't some kind of deep thought, though it could be an interesting topic if leaned into. Instead, this film whispers that message, along with hints at abuse and mental illness.

Pick a lane and make a point, is what I wish this one did. It didn't.

 

[Nasty_Magician]

This looks... not good

 

[Nasty_Magician]

Also catching up, I thoroughly enjoyed Black Phone. I know it was overly hyped and then got some backlash but those 2 things combined may have tempered my expectations and I thought it was a fun ride.

Also saw The Menu which I guess is horror adjacent? It was very meh, thought it tried a little too hard.

 

[DJ Fieri]