Recent Viewings, Part 2

[M.10rda]

ZNO, WAXWORK is tough to swallow until one just decides to not take the movie seriously at all. 

I've been meaning to catch NIGHTMARE AT NOON for, well, 35 years!

[FatFreddysCat]

"Super Duper Alice Cooper" (2014)
Director Sam Dunn of "Metal: A Headbanger's Journey" and "Rush: Beyond The Lighted Stage" fame scores another home run with this supremely entertaining documentary profile on The Coop, from his humble beginnings as the Detroit born son of a preacher man to his peak as a '70s rock icon whose appetite for alcohol and coke nearly cost him his life. Lots of great vintage clips and commentary from bandmates and associates like Dennis Dunaway, Bob Ezrin, Dee Snider, and more. Great stuff!

[Trevor]

WAXWORK (1988):
First viewing since probably '89 of this visible but not oft-discussed curiosity that, I dare to say, may deserve a reassessment! Adolescent me was drawn in by the outrageously gory preview photos in a Fangoria feature but then somewhat alienated by the film's offbeat tone (or, perhaps, its refusal to commit to being a serious horror movie). There are lots of things about WAXWORK I wasn't prepared to appreciate then, not least of which its haute couture-sporting, pompously posturing community college student protagonists/victims. Teenagers have never looked or acted like this anywhere outside of a Bret Easton Ellis novel or David Lynch's TWIN PEAKS, which was still 2 years off at the time of WAXWORK's release. Into the bargain there's PEAKS cast members Dana Ashbrook and David Warner, a very small man in a suit speaking in a very quirky/unidentifiable accent, and also a giant in a suit looking dazed and out of place... plus female lead Deborah Foreman looking strikingly like Laura Palmer in some close-ups. All of this is coincidental but had I only seen WAXWORK a year or so later I might've thought it was the greatest thing ever.

Zach Galligan (Billy from GREMLINS) plays the rich preppie a-hole lead, who pays his Latino maid to write his poli-sci essays. That subplot pays off in one of the film's biggest (of several legitimate) laugh-out-loud punchlines. WAXWORK is... as it turns out... actually an extraordinarily broad/absurdist comedy, written preposterously but mostly directed w/ such arch camp confidence that the film seems entirely aware of its own silliness, and generally leans into it hard. (Besides the students, WAXWORK also boasts a couple of the most 80s cop movie detectives to ever 80s cop in any 80s movie.) For all of its self-conscious humor, however, the early horror setpieces do work surprisingly well, particularly the truly grisly and sadistic vampire sequence... featuring gore FX that hold up to my memories of gazing at Fango in the supermarket all those years back... not to mention the devastating Michelle Johnson getting all bloody in a lace gown while fighting vampiric Kate Bush lookalikes. I'll also mention that Foreman's nice-girl-next-door has a rather unique arc where she rejects fratboy Galligan because she's secretly longing to be satisfied in a BDSM relationship(!).

Honestly I had a ball w/ this rewatch, barring two minor caveats: 1.) The film is not sophisticated enough to mediate serious conversations about consent (at the climactic point when Galligan must "save" an orgasmic Foreman from being whipped to death by the Marquis DeSade); and 2.) the final fracas really does collapse into underchoreographed chaos, a criticism I held when I was 12 and which still holds up today. First-time director Anthony Hickox has more ambition than craft, to be sure, yet I sort of appreciate that no one stepped in and told him to simplify his screenplay or rein things in, instead just letting him go balls-to-the-wall.
3.5/5
Highly entertaining if juvenile.

Anthony Hickox passed away last week, I believe.

[Rev. Powell]

WAIKIKI (2023): A Hawaiian native who works three jobs to make ends meet undergoes a breakdown when her van hits a homeless man. Not much of a story to hang its hat on, but it offers a unique perspective on the dark side of paradies, and Danielle Zalopany is a revelation.  2.5/5.

[zombie no.one]

I've been meaning to catch NIGHTMARE AT NOON for, well, 35 years!

not a badmovie classic, but set your expectations to 'medium' and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised

Niko Mastorakis (sp?) always brings something out of the ordinary

I'd been waiting months  for my local HMV to reduce the bluray from £17.99 to something more reasonable, eventually they half priced it

[claws]

Just done watching my final movies for Halloween. All my October viewings:

 1. Donnie Darko (2001) 5.0 (A+)
 2. The Conjuring (2013) 5.0 (A)
 3. The Mummy (1999) 4.5
 4. Predator (1987) 5.0 (A+)
 5. The Others (2001) 5.0 (A)
 6. Constantine (2005) 4.5
 7. Insidious (2010) 4.0
 8. The Conjuring 2 (2016) 5.0 (A-)
 9. Blade (1998) 4.5
 10. Identity (2003) 5.0 (A-)
 11. Dark City (1998) 5.0 (A)
 12. The Fly (1986) 5.0 (A)
 13. The Crow (1994) 5.0 (A)
 14. Mama (2013) 3.0
 15. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) 3.0
 16. Lost Highway (1997) 5.0 (A)
 17. The Grudge (2004) 2.5
 18. Tremors (1990) 4.5
 19. They Live (1988) 5.0 (A-)
 20. Lights Out (2016) 3.5
 21. The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005) 4.0
 22. The Skeleton Key (2005) 3.5
 23. The Amityville Horror (2005) 2.5
 24. Friday the 13th (2009) 2.0
 25. A Cure for Wellness (2016) 3.5
 26. A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010) 1.5
 27. Suspiria (1977) 5.0 (A-)
 28. Trick 'r Treat (2007) 4.0
 29. Candyman (1992) 4.0
 30. Thir13en Ghosts (2001) 2.0
 31. Eden Lake (2008) 4.0
 32. The Wicker Man (1973) 5.0 (A)
 33. Suspiria (2018) 4.0
 34. Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (2019) 3.0
 35. The Haunting (1999) 1.0
 36. Fright Night (1985) 4.5
 37. Don't Look Now (1973) 4.5
 38. Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse (2015) 3.5
 39. The Unborn (2009) 0.5
 40. Creepshow (1982) 4.0
 41. Ginger Snaps (2000) 4.0
 42. Before I Wake (2016) 3.0
 43. The Final Girls (2015) 3.5
 44. The Amityville Horror (1979) 3.0
 45. The Loved Ones (2009) 4.0
 46. The Haunting (1963) 5.0 (A-)
 47. Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983) 3.5
 48. May (2002) 4.0
 49. The Devil Inside (2012) 0.0
 50. The Innocents (1961) 5.0 (A+)
 51. Silver Bullet (1985) 3.5
 52. From Beyond (1986) 4.0
 53. Pumpkinhead (1988) 3.0
 54. The Possession of Hannah Grace (2018) 1.5
 55. The Hidden (1987) 4.5
 56. Elvira: Mistress of the Dark (1988) 3.5
 57. Night of the Demons (1988) 3.0
 58. The Entity (1982) 4.0
 59. The Fury (1978) 3.5
 60. Tales of Halloween (2015) 2.0
 61. The Legend of Hell House (1973) 4.0
 62. Burnt Offerings (1976) 3.5
 63. Demons 2 (1986) 2.5
 64. Eyes of Laura Mars (1978) 3.0
 65. The Sentinel (1977) 3.5
 66. Dead Heat (1988) 3.0
 67. Trick or Treat (1986) 2.5
 68. Nightmare City (1980) 2.0
 69. Dust Devil (1992) 3.0
 70. Zombie Holocaust (1980) 1.5
 71. The Deadly Spawn (1983) 2.5
 72. Contamination (1980) 1.5
 73. Don't Go in the House (1979) 2.0
 74. The Boogens (1981) 2.0
 75. Spawn of the Slithis (1978) 0.0

[lester1/2jr]

holy crap thats a lot of f**king movies.

The Old Dark House (1932) = James Whale directed Frankenstein, the Invisible Man, a bunch of other stuff, and this. It's good, but would have been more fun if it was cheaper and had more corny comedy. That is, if it had been a B movie.

A bunch of people end up in a house during a rainstorm. This is no ordinary house though, it has a dark mystery! bet you didn't see that coming. They go through all the motions of this sort of scenario in an entertaining enough way, but again, it's too fancy and just doesn't have the right touch. I mean, what is Charles Laughton doing in there? This is probably why it's not remembered in the same league as Frankenstein and The Invisible Man.

3.75 /5

[M.10rda]

I did read a couple of days ago that Hickox had passed. I hope my review didn't nudge him over the threshold!

I like OLD DARK HOUSE a lot, though I agree it doesn't pay off as much as one would hope. It's got moments, though. The crazy old lunatic's first appearance is a real jolt. And who needs an excuse for a Charles Laughton performance? Not I! 

[M.10rda]

NIGHT GALLERY: RETURN OF THE SORCEROR (1972)
A wealthy weirdo (Vincent Price) hires a starchy-collared academic (Bill Bixby) to translate an ancient manuscript in this peppy 26-minute treat. Although the previous two nerds that Price hired both walked off the job once they realized (no big spoiler here) they were translating the Necronomicon, the amusingly thirsty Bixby hangs in there in order to make time w/ Price's much younger, quite randy wife. Surprisingly and pleasantly, things don't go quite the way you'd think based on that set-up.

Jeannot Szwarc directed this and a bunch of other episodes of NIGHT GALLERY before proceeding to helm a string of legendary Hollywood stinkers, yet based on this ROTS alone, he was an entirely capable and good-humored filmmaker. Price was around the peak of his powers in the early 70s (circa the PHIBES films) and walks a lovely line betwixt face--pulling camp theatrics and disarming sincerity. He's matched by Bixby, who is very effective as the straight man against a wildly colorful, almost fruity psychedelic/occult backdrop. This aired on prime-time network TV but it's got as many thrills as some 90 minute theatrical features of the era: lurid discussions of orgies and satanic sacrifices, a severed hand and foot, a(n offscreen) decapitation, Price brandishing a .22, and even a black goat that Price introduces as his father (!) and that joins the other characters at the dining room table. It's a hoot. I need to check out more episodes of NIGHT GALLERY!

4/5

And Happy Halloween, y'all!

[RCMerchant]

holy crap thats a lot of f**king movies.

The Old Dark House (1932) = James Whale directed Frankenstein, the Invisible Man, a bunch of other stuff, and this. It's good, but would have been more fun if it was cheaper and had more corny comedy. That is, if it had been a B movie.

A bunch of people end up in a house during a rainstorm. This is no ordinary house though, it has a dark mystery! bet you didn't see that coming. They go through all the motions of this sort of scenario in an entertaining enough way, but again, it's too fancy and just doesn't have the right touch. I mean, what is Charles Laughton doing in there? This is probably why it's not remembered in the same league as Frankenstein and The Invisible Man.

3.75 /5

It dosn't go fast anywhere, but the Femme family are creepy as hell, and Whale's black humor is evident throughout.

[claws]

holy crap thats a lot of f**king movies.

My average is 2.4 movies for each day in October. I made sure to watch at least one movie on work days, and double or triple features on the weekend. I also had 12 days vacation, so I watched more than one on those days.

[Rev. Powell]

RENFIELD (2023): Renfield (Nicholas Hoult) has second thoughts after over a century of enslaving himself to Dracula (Nicolas Cage), and seeks to free himself from his influence with the help of a conscientious cop (Awkwafina). This action/horror/comedy is a bloody popcorn flick, absurd and predictable but diverting, succeeding thanks to Cage stepping into a role he was born for. 3/5.

[lester1/2jr]

The Town That Dreaded Sundown (1976) - First of all, great title. It's a low budget, southern fried police procedural/ horror that was probably a lot of fun to see in the theater. The dialogue and acting are not superb but it wins you over with it's dark tone and unexpected comedy relief bits.

The hook is the killer, who wears a cloth sack over his head and terrorizes people who make the mistake of parking at Lovers Lane type situations. Produced by Sam Arkoff, but seems to be more of a regional low budget sort of effort. One reviewer at IMDB claims women were screaming and crying in the theater where he saw it and correctly asserts that it was an influence on later, more overt slasher films. The killer is tall and imposing physically and exhibits weird and unsettling psychological antics, which would become mainstays for this sort of character.

4.25/ 5 check it out

[indianasmith]

The Town That Dreaded Sundown (1976) - First of all, great title. It's a low budget, southern fried police procedural/ horror that was probably a lot of fun to see in the theater. The dialogue and acting are not superb but it wins you over with it's dark tone and unexpected comedy relief bits.

The hook is the killer, who wears a cloth sack over his head and terrorizes people who make the mistake of parking at Lovers Lane type situations. Produced by Sam Arkoff, but seems to be more of a regional low budget sort of effort. One reviewer at IMDB claims women were screaming and crying in the theater where he saw it and correctly asserts that it was an influence on later, more overt slasher films. The killer is tall and imposing physically and exhibits weird and unsettling psychological antics, which would become mainstays for this sort of character.

4.25/ 5 check it out

The ads for this thing scared me to death when I was a kid.

[M.10rda]

I'm a sucker for Charles B. Pierce. The original TOWN TDS and LEGEND OF BOGGY terrified me as a (very) young child too and somehow those primal experiences still stick w/ me and I continue to get creeped out by these very cheap, sometimes goofy films as an adult. Pierce does have a puerile streak yet he also has a deft hand for establishing a highly credible, eerie atmosphere w/ his location cinematography and sound design....... and both of these films have a handful of authentically disturbing moments.

Like Bigfoot, the Texarkana Moonlight Murders are 100% real...       ...Even the bit about about the knife on the trombone is based on a real assault. 20+ years before the Zodiac Killer, too. Makes one wonder. Well, makes me wonder anyway.......