Bluegum LaBloat wrote: Mon Aug 26, 2024 6:21 pm Not lesser-known, but I'd been looking forward to it and I'm really annoyed so I'm going to post about it. Longlegs is a bunch of cliches strung together in the A24/Neon house style. In the field of middlebrow crossover horror shit that's made mainstream pop-cultural waves over the last few years, it's not as purely entertaining as Barbarian, and it's not even in the same league of dread and terror as Hereditary. In fact, it's not scary at all. Nicolas Cage - and I like Cage in general - is a joke, a catastrophic casting decision and likely the single most undermining element to the movie's aspirations. An unknown in this role would have made this film ten times more effective. There's plenty of those screenwriterly details and 'subliminal' images that keep youtube/reddit epic kino guys and other morons occupied, so naturally it's lit up the online movie world, but unfortunately trivia doesn't make for great or even good art. Overall, it's not bad and it's not good - it's just tepid. If you haven't already seen the movie: the trailer is superior to the actual film, just watch that.

I'm kind of in agreement with this, save for the Barbarian appreciation. It's definitely not scary, but as someone who doesn't care for Nic Cage's unique brand of horror histrionics he was serviceable in the role of Longlegs. The movie isn't memorable and as such looking for deeper meanings or subliminal images is a thought that has never occured to me. Besides, if a director has to pepper their film with nerdy Easter eggs to keep watchers engaged after the fact, then substance probably wasn't a priority. I also hate that apparently all of the T. Rex references were random and inconsequential, and as a T. Rex stan with that I cannot abide.

Taken into consideration the amount of times I've been let down this year by horror features Longlegs was OK and that was informed mostly by its preternatural marketing vibes. So far Oddity has been the runaway favorite but his previous film, Caveat, is much better though it's plot isn't as strong. Special shout-out to In a Violent Nature for its provocations and and first-person perspective on how comedic it looks when the victim goes to check after only incapacitating the killer.

rsmurphy wrote: Mon Aug 26, 2024 7:38 pmI'm kind of in agreement with this, save for the Barbarian appreciation.

You didn't even enjoy the beginning, up to the discovery and early investigation of the cellar room (the best part of the film)?!?! I don't believe you.

rsmurphy wrote: Mon Aug 26, 2024 7:38 pmBesides, if a director has to pepper their film with nerdy Easter eggs to keep watchers engaged after the fact, then substance probably wasn't a priority.

Having now exposed myself to a few interviews with Perkins, I can tell you this is exactly the level of filmmaking he operates on. Guy's an idiot, perfect for boxchecking, easter-egging, reference-getting, fanservicing internet culture. I'm afraid he's going to have a huge career, which, having seen four of his movies, is legit the most terror this schlepper has instilled in me.

Bluegum Labloat wrote:You didn't even enjoy the beginning, up to the discovery and early investigation of the cellar room (the best part of the film)?!?! I don't believe you.

You are correct! The first half was tense, engaging, and I was even entertained by Justin Long's introduction, but everything else, especially the lore, just left me cold and giggling with my friend in the theater at parts that didn't include Justin Long. A lot of my distaste was purely watsonian in nature, like, I couldn't get past the labyrinthian bunker under a basic Detroit tract house; and the characters just made dumb decisions like when Tess finally escaped WITH HER WALLET AND CELL PHONE and she's trying to convince the police that she's not a homeless junkie. Like, girl, JUST SHOW THEM YOUR WALLET AND CELL PHONE Also, I'm not sure if you've seen The Harbinger from Andy Mitton, but it was released the the same year as Barbarian, and got completely overshadowed by it. So I'm being petty because The Harbinger was one of the scariest and most unique horror films released that year and should be recognized as such. I might rewatch that one tonight. Tip-top pandemic-related movie that has one of the most singular and existentially terrifying methods of dying in a horror film.

As for Oz I need a rewatch on The Blackcoat's Daughter, but I remember enjoying Gretel & Hansel (I think) and it's been such a long time since I've watched I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House that I barely remember it, which I guess could be a testament to the short-lasting nature of his movies.

EDIT: AND TESS HAD HER CAR KEYS!!! How many homeless junkies are wandering Detroit neighborhoods with a wallet, cell phone that would have the information of the Airbnb she rented, and her car keys? The cops were useless, Tess was useless...smdh

I haven't seen The Harbinger, but I will remedy that asap. I'm not holding up Barbarian as a good film, only as one that seemed to be in it for the crowd-pleasing and succeeded on its own terms. I only liked the beginning, too, and I have to credit the hard tonal shift to the Justin Long stuff for being one of the few times in recent memory where I had no idea where a movie was going. Sadly it went to shit

First class spookfest of a tour of a traditional Japanese home which appears to be caught in a time loop. Narration appears in subtitles and with each walkthrough the decay grows as photographs and stains grow more unnatural. Super eerie and uncomfortable viewing. I'm on my third watch and each time you catch something new. Perfect on a stormy night like tonight. A+++ slow burn.

The Vourdalak looks well shot

Though pretty silly, Dreamscape is still a banger. The stop-motion snake-man gets me.

RE: Longlegs, I went in knowing nothing. My wife said "kids are gone, let's do our annual movie night out." She picked it, I had no idea what it was.

I was kinda into it even though it was a little too formulaic, but man, they fucking botched the ending. The premise was good, and I like that it was at least a goddamn original screenplay, but with a quarter of the movie left they just......explained everything like the end of a dateline episode. So un-creative and boring.

And the hail satan shit was 80's era cringe.

Found Oddity stagey and airless, which is weird because Caveat had a terrific mood, even though it had an equally pedestrian, though less fussy, 'Tales of the Unexpected' type story. I suppose in general I don't like classic/corny horror cliches, or filmmakers who say they enjoy 'playing' with them [vomit], but at least something like 'Inside Number 9', which this reminded me of, is funny. Musty stuff.

Frankie99 wrote: Sat Aug 31, 2024 10:34 pm RE: Longlegs, I went in knowing nothing. My wife said "kids are gone, let's do our annual movie night out." She picked it, I had no idea what it was.

I was kinda into it even though it was a little too formulaic, but man, they fucking botched the ending. The premise was good, and I like that it was at least a goddamn original screenplay, but with a quarter of the movie left they just......explained everything like the end of a dateline episode. So un-creative and boring.

And the hail satan shit was 80's era cringe.

Felt the same, they could’ve made it farrrr darker