^ brief interview with Damian McCarthy about his process for Oddity which also explains the lack of a strong narrative for Caveat: people be doin' too much. I also appreciates his acronym for Oddity because it reminded me of the boys in Complete and how they came across their band name.

Maybe stretching the thread a bit but I really like the dread-inducing style of this artist Briscoe Park, who posts videos of nighttime flashlight explorations in dilapidated houses and such:



His still photography has a "Clarence John Laughlin listening to Midwife" kind of vibe.

Based on Gretchen Felker-Martin's recommendation, I checked out Red Rooms, a Canadian thriller about two women drawn to a series of murders-for-internet-snuff and the related trial. It was extremely disturbing in a "social mores" way but also thought-provoking - the ending is somehow both ambiguous and resolved. Recommended.

My partner and I both like cutesy goth comedy horror when it's done tastefully, and Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person fills that bill. If you found Lisa Frankenstein overbearingly referential & cutesy but otherwise fine, then you might like this one more.

Better than I thought it would be, but my expectations were super low: Influencer
Worse than I thought it would be, and my expectations were still super low: Beezel

brephophagist wrote: Tue Oct 01, 2024 8:09 pm Maybe stretching the thread a bit but I really like the dread-inducing style of this artist Briscoe Park, who posts videos of nighttime flashlight explorations in dilapidated houses and such:



His still photography has a "Clarence John Laughlin listening to Midwife" kind of vibe.

Thanks for this!

My partner and I both like cutesy goth comedy horror when it's done tastefully, and Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person fills that bill. If you found Lisa Frankenstein overbearingly referential & cutesy but otherwise fine, then you might like this one more.

This isn't gothy but it's kinda cutesy, tasteful, funny, and bloody. A teen coming-of-age horror comedy amidst a high school where people start spontaneously combusting all over the place. I dug it!

Better than I thought it would be, but my expectations were super low: Influencer

Don't remember too much from Influencer but I remember not liking the ending, like, not at all.

Worse than I thought it would be, and my expectations were still super low: Beezel

People keep big-upping this movie but I watched like 10 seconds of the trailer and it looked so chintzy. I like to be proven wrong in these occasions but your write-up bolsters my hesitation with it.

rsmurphy wrote: Wed Oct 02, 2024 10:12 pm

Worse than I thought it would be, and my expectations were still super low: Beezel

People keep big-upping this movie but I watched like 10 seconds of the trailer and it looked so chintzy. I like to be proven wrong in these occasions but your write-up bolsters my hesitation with it.

Your instincts were better than mine. The basement witch looks pretty good for a movie with this low of a budget, but that's the best thing I can say about it. The "multiple time periods" thing got me interested, but it didn't pan out. Dumb jump scares, director's wife plays a lead role featuring gratuitous sex scene... it's nothing special.

Thanks for recommending Spontaneous!

Oh and yeah, the ending of Influencer blew pretty hard. It turned into this "oh you dang ol rascal" kind of thing when it probably should have been dark as hell.
I was mostly impressed that the movie had more than one peak/valley.

Anyone else find diminishing returns on each successive V/H/S/ installment? Also disappointed in the new Salem's Lot: not much added to the original...the fighting spirit of the main kid couldn't save this remake and the Master-monster was not all that menacing.

kmc wrote: Sun Oct 06, 2024 12:04 pm Anyone else find diminishing returns on each successive V/H/S/ installment? Also disappointed in the new Salem's Lot: not much added to the original...the fighting spirit of the main kid couldn't save this remake and the Master-monster was not all that menacing.

Yes. I am dumbfounded at the amount of praise for V/H/S/Beyond. The epilogue to the wraparound was its creepiest segment, but that wasn't enough to save the earlier chapters which are derivative, pandering, and severely lacking in scares. I will state that I found some entertainment value in the previous two installments, 85 & 99, but generally speaking the franchise should die. Nothing more of substance within the franchise is being created, and since it goes straight to streaming I don't understand how it generates revenue. Not that it should strictly be a money making venture but if it does nothing for the culture and doesn't turn a profit then wtf?

Salem's Lot is on deck, but by this point it's fairly obvious that what made the original miniseries so engrossing and terrifying isn't transferable to a modern feature-length film. Filmmakers need to take into consideration the moment in time that imbue magic to any particular work. We've moved far away from the pre-technological essence of the world into an era that's more artificial where we are personally disconnected from nature and each other. Instead of attempts at recapturing alchemy more attention should be focused on creating new stories that compliment the spirit of the times.

Fuck V/H/S/Beyond for realsies.

Salem's Lot



What a complete waste of Straker and Barlow. Lewis Pullman looked like he was chewing tobacco throughout the entire movie. The scene of Danny and Ralphie walking through the woods was spectacular. And thinking deeper about it that sequence was a lot clearer than the original which left some confusion to who originally attacked Ralphie. It felt like Dauberman wanted to be faithful in part to the original, while also trying to clear-up some of the ambiguities of the original, in addition to putting his unique spin on the original, all the while hoping to cram the original miniseries worth of character development in 113 minutes which left a big mess of a movie. The vamps being repelled by the glowing crosses was kinda rad tho. Crap.

Uzumaki started of strong as hell. Beautifully disturbing animation



October better start kicking ass soon or I'm going to get upset.

Red Rooms (2023): A masterpiece of tension let down by one of the most wasted, unfulfilling endings I've seen in a while. Like this is a movie that made a person silently playing internet poker into a scene of extraordinary tension, and then the movie ends with a soft extended fart. What the hell. Stick the landing people.

Any recommendations for something good on Netflix, Prime, Apple, Criterion, or Tubi? My wife is out of town for the next couple days.

Wood Goblin wrote: Thu Oct 10, 2024 7:46 am Any recommendations for something good on Netflix

The Ritual - supernatural folk horror. SO GREAT.
His House - supernatural/haunted house. PHENOMENAL.
The Wailing - Korean supernatural thriller. EXCEPTIONAL
Gerald's Game - dark psychological. SPOOKY

Prime

Lake Mungo - mockumentary mystery supernatural. EXTRAORDINARY
Haunt - slasher spooky. FUN
The Innkeepers - supernatural haunted house. FUN
Dog Soldiers - werewolf action. THRILLING

Criterion

The Vanishing (Spoorloos) - mystery drama disturbing. Excellent
Freaks - drama thriller creepy. NOT CRAP
I Walked with a Zombie - drama mystery atmospheric beautiful spooky. MANDATORY
The Uninvited - supernatural eerie haunted house. OUTSTANDING

Tubi

The Harbinger - scary existential supernatural. A BLAST
Tunnel - found footage scary creepy. FUN
Final Prayer - found footage creepy gut punch. AWESOME
The Changeling - supernatural haunted house. TOP NOTCH
Savageland - mockumentary drama creepy underrated. SUPERB
All Hallow's Eve - slasher gory exploitation. FUN
Terrifier - slasher gory exploitation. FUN
Dark Night of the Scarecrow - creepy supernatural. CLASSIC
May - drama creepy slow burn weird. FUCK YEAH
Starry Eyes - body horror occult slow burn. NOT CRAL
The Void - cosmic horror gory. FUN
Grave Encounters - found footage haunted asylum. FUN
Hell House LLC - found footage haunted house. FUN

YMMV especially with the found footage selections. I strongly recommend His House, Lake Mungo, Final Prayer, The Harbinger (dir Andy Mitton), Savageland, I Walked with a Zombie, and The Uninvited, but they are all pretty great.