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Three decent lesser-known horrors I've seen this year:



^ Slow-burning, creepy, and dreadful. Best of the three by far.



^ Great atmosphere, blows it at the end IMO, but still good.



^ Corny semi-comedic horror, a poor man's 'The Innkeepers', but still fun.

Infested is a new spider movie on Shudder that I had high expectations for, but it's reliance on CGI for hordes of attacking arachnids, along with its penchant for peppering what would be creepy sequences with loud French rap music distracted me. It borrows from REC, and the final sequence felt like a riff on The Cabin in the Woods. Melodramatic in parts. I really wanted to like it because of its strong performances, and there are a couple of tense moments, but overall its bombast and Hollywood ending didn't thrill me.

Had a nice sit down with The Coffee Table last night. Comparable with Speak No Evil in how choices can lead to abject misery, but searching for a theme here is a cop out. Whenever an anxiety-riddled soul-destroying film like this comes down the pipe I'm often reminded of a line Udo Kier's character in John Carpenter's Cigarette Burns says: film in the right hands is a weapon. Best to go in blind with this one for maximum despair, but the plot involves middle-aged newlyweds who have just become parents that are bickering over the purchase of a tacky coffee table. The wife hates it but she relents, and the rest of the film's short runtime deals with the results of that purchase. I'm sure this viewing experience will be painfully triggering for more sensitive filmgoers, but I loved it. Billed as horror-comedy ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Timely because of the cicada invasion happening inside of our borders

One of the first horror moments that shaped me as a young lad was the movie The Beast Within. I distinctly remember seeing the advert in a newspaper with the tagline reading: "We dare you to watch the last 30 minutes of this film without screaming, covering your eyes, or running from your seat!" Challenge accepted, but I had to wait for it to come out on VHS. Next to An American Werewolf in London it had my favorite transformation scene. I still think it's a bit startling for practical effects, but the movie is shit. The slithering tongue really got me tho!

Bibi Besch's character gets sexually assaulted in the woods by a giant cicada cryptid and the child born from that rape is...THE BEAST WITHIN

has anyone seen Late Night with the Devil? got an ad for it and it seems very up my alley - garbage daytime American TV, Reagan-era satanic panic, and exorcism-style scares - but I'm so leery of being marketed *anything* these days

gotdamn wrote: Sun May 19, 2024 10:05 pm has anyone seen Late Night with the Devil? got an ad for it and it seems very up my alley - garbage daytime American TV, Reagan-era satanic panic, and exorcism-style scares - but I'm so leery of being marketed *anything* these days

rsmurphy wrote: Sat Mar 23, 2024 3:42 pm Saw Late Night with the Devil and it wasn't nearly as scary as I needed it to be. Like, it'd get right to the edge of scary then cease to jump over it. It doesn't take much to frighten me. I like to think that it does, but, no, I go into movies with defense shields down praying to lose my shit.

pldms wrote: Wed Mar 27, 2024 4:34 pm

rsmurphy wrote: Tue Mar 26, 2024 8:43 pm Just watched Ghostwatch for the first time a couple of weeks ago. It didn't match what I had building in my head for so long, but it was scarier than Late Night with the Devil by a damn sight.

Just watched Late Night with the Devil and the similarity is very superficial. Late Night with the Devil throws a lot of things at the screen, but is more of a fun - and funny - rollercoaster. I agree it's not scary. It reminded me a little of those Peter Strickland films, especially Beberian Sound Studio, which are highly stylised, horror-inflected, quietly comedic, but also psychedelic.

Nice to see David Dastmalchian take centre stage, too.

numberthirty wrote: Fri Mar 29, 2024 10:12 pm Kind of a pleasant surprise that Late Night With The Devil wound up being a fairly decent drama that they are selling as a horror film.

I don't think there was one member of the cast whose performance felt like a letdown. Just that quick bit of "We Have A SYFY Network Budget..." in that one spot.

Also appreciated the Svengoolie shout out that they stuck in there really quick.

Damn! Egg on my face. Thank you, I promised I typed it into the search engine thingerjohn before posting

Tomorrow I Will Be Dirt: Scenes From The Afterlife Of Lothar Schramm

poor caleb.

rsmurphy wrote: Sun Mar 03, 2024 9:45 pm Finally took the chance to have a sit and experience Ghostwatch. Not bad, but I scared myself more from what I was imagining than what was unfolding onscreen. I had heard and read so much about it there was an imagined version playing along with what I was actually watching. Weird!

I imagine there's so much context that doesn't translate. But watching it live as a 9 year old was horrifying! I just have to make a reference to 'Mr. Pipes' to my partner and she genuinely looks like she might cry.