A_Man_Who_Tries wrote: Fri Oct 25, 2024 2:20 am

Wood Goblin wrote: Sun Oct 20, 2024 10:56 am Twenty-some years ago, I watched a version of Woman in Black made for British TV that my uncle had videotaped in the 80s or 90s. It had the look of a TV movie, but once you got past that, it was absolutely excellent. Scary as hell, in fact.

The only version worth a damn, and one of the great horrors.

Absolutely, up there with the very best ghost films and possibly the best. Written by Nigel Kneale. For no reason I can fathom Susan Hill had objections to it, but seemed to like the 2012 version (which is obviously massively inferior).

I watched Azrael and I liked it. Samara Weaving is so terrific at going from "completely distressed" to "Ima fuck you up" (see also "Ready or Not")...and I thought the monsters were cool/gnarly enough. Nothing revolutionary in the post-apocalyptic setting here, but 2024 is slim pickings for horror, so, I recommend it. I especially liked the scene in the truck where how to respond to music was taught: classic comedy moves!

robert eggers put together a pretty great list of some more obscure classics https://www.avclub.com/24-hours-of-horr ... ert-eggers

kmc wrote: Mon Oct 28, 2024 4:30 pm I watched Azrael and I liked it. Samara Weaving is so terrific at going from "completely distressed" to "Ima fuck you up" (see also "Ready or Not")...and I thought the monsters were cool/gnarly enough. Nothing revolutionary in the post-apocalyptic setting here, but 2024 is slim pickings for horror, so, I recommend it. I especially liked the scene in the truck where how to respond to music was taught: classic comedy moves!

It's been on the list. Ready or Not was awesome.







I reacquainted myself with Savageland. What a great movie. The carnographic side of me would like a sequel or a reboot to visualize more of that world, but the rational side of me thinks it should be left alone. Leaving it all up to imagining just what in the hell those things were, as well as the particulars of the massacre allows you to go wherever it takes you. I don't think they were zombies. They are definitely undead, and their victims could be reanimated if not hacked to pieces, but the "zombies" look demonic not decaying. Its usage of photography instead of live-action sequences to instill fear is phenomenal. What would normally be a flurry of activity gets frozen in time. It sits quietly like some thing staring at you in the corner of your room. No jump scares, no loud noises, just silent dread. What elevates it all is the examination of race and immigration. Working in the mockumentary format and buoyed by solid performances one would think they are watching a documentary about a massacre that happened at a border town replete with racist police, radio hosts, townspeople, and the journalists and allies who know better.

EDIT: almost forgot to mention the unsettling soundscape provided by :zoviet*france:

zircona1 wrote: Mon Sep 30, 2024 12:03 pm

Krev wrote: Mon Sep 30, 2024 11:10 am Has anyone seen The Substance yet? I feel like the hype, walkouts, etc. are going to lead to disappointment. I hope I'm wrong.

Yeah, I saw it this weekend. It is nuts. Reminded me a lot of Cronenberg's The Fly and Requiem For A Dream. It is not subtle and not for the squeamish - teeth are pulled, backs are split open, faces smashed, and lots of needles are used, most in extreme close up. It was hard to watch at times. It gets crazy by the end, one scene had me laughing out loud. It is hard to forget, though, and the performances are solid. If you're ok with all of that, I'd recommend it.

A_Man_Who_Tries wrote: Mon Sep 30, 2024 2:25 pmIt's an experience. It's not a great film. I'm glad I saw it, and won't ever have need to see it again.

Good times. Sad times. I enjoyed it and though the third act is indeed chaotic and met expectations I've seen some worse fucked shit in other movies. Desensitization stinks.

kmc wrote: Mon Oct 28, 2024 4:30 pm I watched Azrael and I liked it.

It was aight. At least we got to see the baby unlike in that stuck-up Immaculate. Both left me with questions!

Crossposting w the other movie thread. With all the quoting I got confused what goes where.

rsmurphy wrote: Tue Jun 25, 2024 11:34 am Oh! I I Walked with a Zombie is so gorgeous-looking and atmospheric. I don't see how anyone could not like this movie.

Stunned, really. Indelible performances, intense. The decision to use a calypso song, the way it's shot ... what a film.

Rewatched Dan Faltz's 2009 short Weak Species, which adapts some of Dennis Cooper's novels and poems. Desire, rough sex, & worse. Perfect cast, really focused performances. Fantastic, ghastly sound design. I appreciated more of the film than I did in 2009, was readier to accept the ending.

Got a hankering for more body horror so I revisited Starry Eyes. Good flick. Somewhat underrated and undone by its first half, but the third act is a doozy. Alex Essoe gives a spirited performance as an actor in search of fame but instead is reborn into a satanic cult.

Almost embarrassed to admit this but you can't see everything seeing everything isn't possible. Up until last night I had never watched Ju-On: The Grudge. My stars that was terrifying. You know a movie is powerful when its signifiers become a part of pop culture but don't lose their initial impact because them pale vengeful ghosts and black wraiths with their death rattling fucked. my. shit. up. So much better than The Ring. Perfect movie. Got right into business and didn't let up.

I've never seen Ju-On, either, even though I loved that wave of horrors and was blown away by The Ring and even more so by Pulse/Kairo. It seemed like a bland story and approach so I never bothered, but I guess I'll have to catch up now.

I liked that the story was simple: traumatic death provokes a curse that dooms all who encounter the domain where the deaths occurred. No symbolism just supernatural shenanigans, and on that front the visual and audio components delivered spooky vibes. Conversely, I watched Nick Frost's new movie, Black Cab, that failed on the audio/visual wavelength with a generic-looking ghost that borrowed heavily from the herky-jerky ghosts of Ju-On. Like, dude, come on...enough with those hyper-kinetic ghosts. A lot of the scares from Ju-On were these exceptionally creepy slow-moving sequences.