Dedicated Horror Nerd Thread

[Buzz Fledderjohn]

what's so wrong with new nightmare

[hiddenicon]

i fucking hate it and you're wrong

[futurist]

i carved pumpkins to this tonight even tho it's still 80 degrees in los angeles. hate this city.

[futurist]

i mean it's all commercials and no music videos, but u can find those in another playlist. the vignettes with cooper are great.

[RIXX]

i carved pumpkins to this tonight even tho it's still 80 degrees in los angeles. hate this city.

Fuck
This is the first time I’ve second guessed my move back home
I’m gonna miss seasons

[Poptone]

this rules

i have never ordered a piece of wax from discogs this hard/quickly

a million thanks for bringing this to my attention

[Poptone]

i've really fallen behind this month

8. Lisa and the Devil, 1973. 3.5/5



Another Bava flick I've been neglectful of. I liked this a fair sight better than Baron Blood, but it doesn't either really get there for me, either. Never as colorful as I'd want, maybe a bit too twisty and languid at points, but there's some fun setpieces and Telly is always fun to watch, especially as he's chowing down on constant lollipops.


9. Willard, 1971. 3.5/5


This barely counts as a horror film but whatever. I'd only seen the Crispen Glover remake, which I remembered enjoying (if thinking it was a bit too grimdark), and this was fun enough. I didn't think Bruce Davidson was ever that young, and Ernest Borgnine was the best unexpected surprise cast member this month outside of Don Rickles in X. More of a psychological study of a terminally put-upon loser than anything else.


10. What We Do In the Shadows, 2014. 5/5

Second rewatch of the season. I love showing this to people who haven't seen it, though that number is dwindling every day. Just the absolute best.


11. House of Wax, 1953. 4/5


Wow, this was so much more lurid and violent than I expected given the year of release. Moves at a quick pace, engaging characters, nice makeup effects, and Price is in top form.

[Rainbow Battle Kid]

Gremlins 2

slaps

i had forgotten about Phoebe Cates's scene parodying the first movie, where she starts monologuing about something horrible that happened to her on Lincoln's Birthday, and everyone like kinda rolls their eyes or checks their watch or whatever lol

[Ampersand]

New podcast!



Download here

"Have you ever wondered what would happen if Disney made a movie about a fictional town called Halloweentown? Well, wonder no longer! Because they totally did. Jeffrey and Richard take the bus to Hallowizzle Town and get completely lost in its almost but not really spooky at all vibe. And then something horrifying happens!"

[mothjoke]

What I’ve watched so far:

The Wailing
Pulse
The Hills Have Eyes (1977)
Prom Night (1980)
Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II
Hellraiser
Candyman
Pieces
Possibly in Michigan
Bug

Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer

I wanted to write something at least to mention this is the only movie that scared me even though I've seen it more than once. It's one of the bleakest movies I've ever seen.

Meridian: Kiss of the Beast

I watched this because from the trailer it looked like Sherilyn Fenn wanted to have sex with this dumb looking monster. I assumed this would be a fun erotic horror movie. It actually features one of the longest rape scenes I’ve ever seen. It’s shot in a very sensual way and I found it to be pretty disgusting. This was probably the worst movie I watched out of the bunch.

Us

Can someone please explain why you enjoyed this movie? I know it’s a lot about the surrounding hype but I always feel baffled by the love of a Jordan Peele movie. I was much more into this during the first half than I was Get Out. Once they started really explaining everything it sort of fell apart for me. It's a shame because I wanted to like it. I'd should revist Get Out.

Anyway, I’m going to watch Nightmare on Elm Street 1, 3, and 5 today because the library never gave me the other ones.

[Poptone]

Us

Can someone please explain why you enjoyed this movie? I know it’s a lot about the surrounding hype but I always feel baffled by the love of a Jordan Peele movie. I was much more into this during the first half than I was Get Out. Once they started really explaining everything it sort of fell apart for me. It's a shame because I wanted to like it. I'd should revist Get Out.

I sure as hell can't, because I also thought it was *wildly* overrated. I'm willing to admit that I might just be missing something in it, though? I dunno. It was a great disappointment for me because I *do* love Get Out unreservedly.

[dan]

Oct. 14
Freakshow (1989)

After being ditched by her cameraman because of her manipulative behavior at a murder scene, a reporter wanders through town looking for a phone she can use. She finds a small museum, where the proprietor invites her in to have a look around before leaving. In one room, she encounters a strange jar which causes her to have strange visions, visions that are supposedly drawn from her own mind. These 'visions' make up the rest of this four- part anthology, which includes horror and suspense stories about a junkie chasing a dog for his runaway fix, a pizza delivery boy who gets a Halloween surprise, a living but paralyzed OD victim forced to undergo her own autopsy because everyone thinks she's dead, and a deal between a golf course owner and a gravedigger that has some unexpected consequences.

One of the weirdest openings for an anthology horror: a huge group of people getting gunned down in a mass shooting outside of movie theater, filmed super graphic and intense. This eventually leads the (implied slightly complicit) reporter to the freakshow museum where the 4 stories unfold, some connected to the victims, some not (the second one doesn't even have any introduction it just happens). All this is made weirder by how deeply Canadian the whole thing feels. Anyway the first story plays out like Buster Keaton trying to get cocaine and is very entertaining. The second has the nerdy newbie at a pizza place (staffed by like 19 people for some reason) delivering to the haunted girls school at 1313 Bram Stoker Blvd. where basically the world's limpest "sexy" music video plays out. Boring wasted opportunity. The third story about the woman who's living through her own autopsy is disorienting and captures the feeling of being powerless surrounded by people who don't care. Short but really well done. And the last story, of two gravediggers secretly transporting all the graveyard's rich dirt to the fancy country club in order to make some side money is a real hoot. It's like a grubby stoner buddy comedy with fake Mike Myers and John Candy living large off heisted dirt before zombies start killing a bunch of rich people. Great stuff. Liked the whole compilation except for the pizza story, and the freak museum framework is above average plus it looks cool like the Unsolved Mysteries set. B-

Oct. 15
Death Row Diner

A wealthy Hollywood tycoon is framed for murder and sent to the electric chair without the customary last dinner. Years layer his comes back looking for revenge, and he's hungry.

From director B. Dennis Wood (Biker Chicks Cum Easy, Brentwood Housewife Hookers, Biker Chicks Cum Easy 2) comes a mostly silly, sometimes entertaining 80's horror comedy. It's surprisingly competently directed, and there's a few decent laughs outside the racism, but it struggles to actually fill up it's 67 minute runtime (the rest of the VHSrip I watched was footage of a bunch of strippers). Sadly the movie ends right when it finds a really good hook: the reanimated producer from the 1940s becomes head of the studio again and is bashing Bruce Willis while trying to book Lorne Greene. Also want to say the guy playing the director channels some serious John C. McGinley energy, he's acting more than everyone else in this combined. D+

[concerning]

house of the devil on 35mm ruled!!! more roles for jocelin donahue!!

[Riverchrist]

I posted Crypt Jam a bunch last year but it's never enough.

[Rainbow Battle Kid]

dang i forgot Greta was in House of the Devil

<3

[concerning]

not only is greta in it, lena dunham has a cameo as the 911 operator

[aububs]

just watched lake mungo, scared the shit out of me. loved it. p much perfect.

if you can stomach found footage Lake Mungo is a classically underrated film. there's one scene towards the end that's pretty divisive among the people who've seen it but overall it's a highly effective, creepy slow-burn of a mockumentary

what is this scene? there is a moment during the end credits when they're showing glimpses of alice in footage that struck me as off (it's the moment when they show the doctored photo of her in the back garden and there she is, sitting off to the side of the photo, un-doctored...surely that would have been noticed)Toggle Spoiler

[hiddenicon]

38. A Blade in the Dark

Look, I've said it said before... with standard issue giallos, even the best ones, I tend to struggle. I've grown to love em more and more once I properly aligned my expectations for sluggish pacing, narrative cul de sacs, and fuck awful dubbing . All about the style, of course. But I still drift and I did at times during this one. There is an exceptionally brutal set piece near the middle and some minor memorable bits scattered about. Some occasional fun editing. After this and Demons 1 & 2 ,I think I'll pause on the Bava Jr. for a bit. (amazon)

39. The Evil (1978)

Standard haunted house on top of a gateway to hell fare. Richard Crenna and some other people are trapped by slamming shutters and locked doors, as demonic powers pick em off one by one. Goofy but commendable capper to the whole thing. A solid Halloweeny movie if you're saving up or making a list. Despite feeling like an Amityville knock-off, this predates it by a year. (amazon)

40. Haunt (2019)

I liked this one a lot more than maybe I should. I appreciate that it gets weirder than it needs to (I was expecting more of a redux of last year's Hellfest, which I also enjoyed). Just a solid slasher throwback with enough style and "new" to make it worth existing. So much shit getting lost in the glut of streaming these days... hope this one finds a bit of a fanbase. Not earth shattering and a bit over reliant on the jump scares early on but stick it out and you'll get a little weirdness along with the touchstone comfort food horror. (shudder)

41. Prey (1977)

I REALLY struggle keeping up pace around this point of the marathon and Prey, while a completely fine and off kilter offering that mixes Man Who Fell to Earth with cottage bound, rainy English horror, lost me. Might chalk my disinterest up to poor marathon placement, but the tension I felt it was going for landed with a thud for me and, sure, yeah... budget constraints and all of that but the laughable make-up effects for our alien deflated ANY horror taking place while he was on screen. Only watched this last week, but my memory of 3/4 of this one has already faded out. Fans of this one: should I give it another try some time? Sell me. (amazon)

42. My Bloody Valentine (1981)

Needed a classic slasher to try and lock back in. Been the better part of a decade since my last viewing. Holds up. Brutal but not without humor, a unique enough set-up, and a varied cast of characters. Deserves its status as one of the best old school slashers. (amazon, hulu)

43. TerrorVision

Charles Band nonsense from the mid-80's is some of the best nonsense. I'd never seen TerrorVision previous to this. It was alright. Fun monster. Goofball tone that misses as much it hits. Stupid. Charming. Stupid. (Amazon)

44. The Ghost of Yotsuya

Ghosts get their revenge on a prick samurai. If you watch any pre-80's Japanese horror, you've seen this story a bunch... standard issue Edo kaidan and it's almost always great. It is here also, if not top tier (Onibaba, Kwaidan, Kuroneko, etc) then maybe just outside. A lot of set-up, making sure you root for the comeuppance when it arrives in the final act. Great use of silence. Ghostly, creepy visuals. (Criterion Channel)

45. The Devil Rides Out

Hammer time. Christopher Lee kicking satanist ass in 1920's England, written by Richard Matheson. I'm in. This was one of Terence Fisher's last directorial offerings, after working for over a decade cranking out genre shit for Hammer and he lets loose his entire bag of tricks that he's learned. The Angel of Death, giant spiders, car chases... this movie is pretty stacked. As with most Hammer, another great Halloween watch. (not streaming)

46. Strays

Man, I knew I was in for one bonedeep moronic time with this one (feral cat castle seige of a country home with Timothy Busfield and Kathleen Quinlan... made for the USA Network in 1991) and it delivered. If it wasn't for the dull stretches (sideplot about Quinlan's sister trying to get it on with Timothy and his irresistible Busfieldity) this would be an undisputed lame classic. So many shots of bored housecats with menacing music laid over em and Quinlan threatening them with a water pitcher. Fuck, this was dumb. Another great time. (Youtube maybe?)

47.One Dark Night

What a great back-to-back this was with Strays. How had I never seen this? Meg Tilly has to stay overnight in a masoleum where a recently deceased telekinetic madman has been interred. Some awesome, gooey effects, atmosphere, and use of its (mostly) one locale. I even think the intentional humor mostly works, which can be rare for buried genre shit. Meg Tilly, the mean girls, and most of the cast are solid and... the fuck is Adam West doing in this? (Amazon)

48.The Plague of Zombies

Back to the Hammer. Not as strong an outing as Devil Rides Out, but a lot of charm anyway. One of the last strong "voodoo style" zombie movies before Romero rewrote the rulebook two years later. Like the bulk of Hammer films, this one coasts by on gothic atmosphere (though this one feels a bit more sinister than many others), with strong visuals and a cool score. The plot was also above average, though (another staple of Hammer films) it just sort of ends in a flurry and fire. Solid old school romp. (amazon)

[hiddenicon]

49.Poltergeist III

Grew up hate watching this movie (less so Part 2... that gifted me the "God Is In His Holy Temple" song I used to torment my sister with), but hadn't seen it in a while. Still complete shit, but a fun watch regardless. Some cool in-camera effects, prime era Laura Flynn Boyle, and one of the least likable "heroes" (Nancy Allen) in film history. (Amazon)

50.The Exorcist III

Really wish Blatty had directed more films. Really worth the reappraisal this one has gotten over the last 20 years... mild pacing and ending issues aside, this is a stone cold classic. (amazon)

51. The Dead Center

Double feature with Exorcist III that I knew nothing about going in... turned out to be a great pairing. Mysterious patient who leaves a trail of bodies in his wake catches the attention of burnt out doc. Always nice to see Shane Carruth and this movie, while deliberately paced, has a lot of interesting stuff going on. Would probably pair well with something like Absentia also. Low-budget, slow ramp to a solid payoff. Sorta loved this. It scratched an itch. (rent through Microsoft?)

52. The Convent (2000)

Now this was primo late 90's garbage. Doesn't seem to have much of a following, but hopefully that's changing. Yeah, it's a haunted convent movie. Adrienne Barbeau is a shotgun slinging dead ringer for Snake Plissken. Coolio plays a cop. Feels very much of its time but has enough tongue in cheek spunk to power through the fog of straight-to-video forgettable schlock of the era. Finding a lot of fun little gems this year that I'll probably rewatch relatively soon. (Amazon)

53. Alligator

Robert Forster didn't make a ton of horror films, surprisingly. Dug this Jaws rip-off up after hearing of his death. It was fine. The character stuff (Forster carries this) trumps the horror/creature-feature stuff for the most part, which makes some sense since John Sayles penned it. Takes itself just seriously enough and gets by largely on charm. Not sure I'll seek it out again, but I was entertained.

54. Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III

I was a bit less entertained here, though it nearly pushes into the so bad it's good sweet spot. Almost. Alright maybe. Probably. Viggo Mortenson. Ken Foree. Essentially Chainsaw Massacre 4 (the one with Zellweger/McConaughey) if it tried a bit harder to be a real movie. A bit harder. For a decade often derided for its horror films, seems appropriate this was released in January 1990. It's a checklist of many of the mistakes made by studio offerings from that era.

55. The Horrible Dr. Hichcock

Starting to flag a little again... figured some gothic horror with Barbara Steele would snap me back into focus, but this was a little too paint by numbers to hold my attention. nothing much wrong with it. Had the atmosphere I was after and I imagine it was mildly risque for the time. Music cues that sound suspiciously like Raiders of the Lost Ark less bombastic stuff, oddly. This was fine... always nice to see something new with Steele in it. (amazon)

56. Bones

It's Snoop as a revenge-minded ghost. You sorta know what you're in for when you sign up here... what I wasn;t expecting is that the filmmakers would actually try to make this a bit more than just a cash grab. There is some genuine, almost Brian Yuznaesque weirdness here. Entire subplots dead end and I think some characters just vanish, but if you're in the right mindset (think you know what I mean... ahem), this is just good, dumb fun. (tubi, if you can handle the occasional ad)

57. Shivers

Fourth or fifth time watching this one... really is, surprisingly, one of my fave Cronenbergs. Sex zombies. Gotta love it. So 70's. So Canadian. So Croney. Oh hey, Barbara Steele again. (amazon, hulu)

58. In the Tall Grass

Wasn't expecting much. Got less. One of the worst movies I've watched this year. Somewhere between the Ruins and Triangle (though lacking either's modest charms), with characters that behave nothing like real people, in a plot that just meanders and confuses and wastes a simple but potential-heavy set-up. Vincenzo Natali (Splice, Cube) has an eye, though it's often wasted here under shit digital FX... the occasional visual is the only thing this movie has going for it. Patrick Wilson tries to scenery chew his way through, but it's a suicide mission. Netflix bombs out with this year's October horror offering (after a decent last couple years with 1922, Gerald's Game, Hush, Apostle, Haunting of Hill House). (netflix)

[Poptone]

TerrorVision and Alligator are all-time faves

[concerning]

it's too bad to hear about in the tall grass, i always thought vincenzo natali was on the edge of greatness and i was super stoked when he was attached to neuromancer for a while.

[aububs]

i'm going to watch it based on the ruins and triangle comparison

[fresh salad]

don't!

[futurist]

i thought it was a good popcorn movie. i didn't have to think about a single thing.

[dan]

Oct. 16
Death by Invitation (1971)

A young woman learns that one of her ancestors was executed three centuries ago under suspicion of being a witch. She decides to take revenge on the descendants of the people who had her killed.

Has practically no actual plot, wildly different tones between actors, a color palette of almost exclusively sludge brown and blinding white, scenes that drag for an eternity, and air conditioner drone plus ear-splitting organ improv playing over most of the movie. And so of course I thought it was fantastic. A deeply off-putting assemblage of footage that's cold, cruel, and barely functional but if you're in the right headspace could appreciate. B

Oct. 17
Vampire Holocaust (1997)

A gang leader attempts to bring fallen comrades back from the dead, resulting in vampires overrunning a city.

Written (but not directed) by legend Todd Sheets this is just a very standard no budget zombie horde movie but they're vampires instead of zombies despite them never doing anything vampire-y (at least we meet vampire lord Caleb Tiamat in his videostore hideout). The remarkably diverse gang plot is hilarious, but the other groups of people who converge into the zombpires are total snores. Rico Love who plays "Tommy" absolutely kills it every scene and singlehandedly raises the grade of this up a letter. D+

[Ampersand]

love love love Death By Invitation

[futurist]

those vampire holocaust gifs look so up my alley

[emotional fascism]

yeah both of those seem like Extremely My Shit. will track them down if they are not in the db

[FourLegsGood]

Finally got around to watching "Twins of Evil" and "The House That Dripped Blood". Both were fucking amazing and I'm on a Hammer kick now. Any reccs as to what I should watch next?

[R C]

has anyone seen Scream for Help? Supposedly it’s an insane movie that requires a group of people in party mode. Wondering if it is indeed as crazy as I was told