Badmovies.org's 2012 Annual October Horror Movie Watching Thread

[voltron]

Sole Survivor: Anita Skinner is the only survivor of a terrible plane crash. She ain't searching for answers but a former famous actress charged with psychic abilities is giving them to her anyway. Creepy and scary horror with excellent atmosphere, setting, acting and whatnot. 5/5

Virtual karma Claws! I also LOVE Sole Survivor. Blew me away when I saw it first on VHS, and I still love it to this day now that I've got the dvd.  

[fulci420]

Movie 8
Stir Of Echoes-Saw this on blu ray last week for 6$ and said what the hell. Kevin Bacon stars as someone who contracts psychic abilities after a hypnotism session with his his sister in law (Ileana Douglas). He begins to see images suggesting a murder and it's up to him to investigate what's going on. Not so much as a horror as a mystery/thriller this late 90's effort is flawed but refreshing at the same time. No jump scares, no excessive violence or CGI, just a spooky story, with nice performances and some good use of music.
7/10
The blu ray itself while offering a nice image is not representative of the best that blu ray can offer, but if you see it for you cheap you could do worse than pick it up. Special features include a commentary, deleted scenes and a featurette.

[JoeTheDestroyer]

Movie 10: Saw II

Wasn't going out of my way to see this one.  Like Dawn and Flight of the Dead, this one was randomly snatched out of my box of goodies that have been hiding out in the closet. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6w41uDYWSI

Movie 11: Ju-On (1998)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4O3liLcfGwU

Movie 12: Don't Torture a Duckling (1972)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjV7oWtsf-w

[Jack]

Dracula Has Risen from the Grave (1968) - Christopher Lee stars, or at least his name is listed first in the credits - he's actually got a very small part in this.  It's mostly about a young couple, and Dracula has taken an interest in the young lady.  Still a very entertaining story, with likable and well-developed characters.  And Hammer Films' wonderful Gothic style.  4/5.

[ChaosTheory]

Watched Pontypool (2008).  Really enjoyed it! 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ehq2a8lum_4

I love that movie!  Such a unique take on the zombie genre 

Anyway,
10-4:  SHOCK.  A young woman witnesses a murder and is so stunned by it she goes into a near-catatonic state.  For help her husband brings her to a renowned psychiatrist (Vincent Price) - who happens to be the murderer.  Not terrible, but really only worth noting for a genuinely great performance by Price. 4/10

10-5: THE SHE-BEAST.  An 18th century witch is improperly executed and her body is left at the bottom of a lake.  Cut to modern day and a pair of vacationing twits happen wreck their car in the lake and the witch attempts to swap places with the wife.  Filmed for gas money and edited in a blender, it's a big mess.  Barbara Steele is theoretically the star but she's barely in it.  1/10

10-6: didn't watch anything, was helping my sister move.

10-7: THE DEVIL'S MESSENGER.  Anthology time!  The wraparound: a cheerful corporate Satan (Lon Chaney) convinces a suicide to help him collect souls in exchange (maybe) for leniency. In the first story a sexual predator gets haunted by one of his victims via photograph.  In the second (and weakest) story an anthropologist becomes obsessed with a woman's body found in a glacier.  In the third, a man is told when he will die and tries to worm his way out of it, a very TWILIGHT ZONE-esque tale.  Cheap but fun.  5/10

Also watched the "Nasty " episode of THE YOUNG ONES.  9/10

10-8:  HOUSE OF THE DEAD.  Not that one, this is another anthology from 1978.  The wraparound:  a man coming back from a booty call gets lost in the rain and stumbles into a mortuary.  The Mortician tells the tales of his most recent "customers".  Story 1, a b***hy teacher gets a lesson in home invasion.  Story 2, a serial killer who likes to record his crimes.  Story 3, two fueding detectives try to dissect the perfect murder.  Story 4,an anti-social exec learns being alone isn't all it's cracked up to be. Not outright scary but creepy in parts and pretty fun.   6.5/10

[claws]

10/08/12 Filmcount: 9



Mega Shark vs Crocosaurus (2010)

Giant something vs giant whatever. Your typical The Asylum production lacking heart, charm and atmosphere. 2/5

[Jim H]

Just saw Pontypool myself.  Solid little film, not a huge fan of the final act though.  7/10.

Also watched The Howling Reborn.  It's better than the last 4 or 5 entries in the series, but that isn't saying much.  It's well-made, decent effects, competent acting.  Nothing special though, and has a few big holes in the logic of the film.  I did like the VERY end (the credits) more for the idea than the execution.  Worth a watch for werewolf fans, it's at least better than the Twilight films.  5/10.

Finally, saw Riki-Oh again (hadn't seen it in a couple years).  Not sure if it counts as horror or not - the level of gore puts it close to it at least.  I find it to be a pretty entertaining film, even if in many ways it is kind of awful (huge gaps in storyline, for example).  Was also kind of fun watching it with my girlfriend, who speaks Cantonese, and evidently the bishounen-style character (the androgynous member of the Gang of Four) speaks in a very deep-masculine sounding voice but his mannerisms and ending patterns are very feminine.  8/10

[fulci420]

Movie 9
Bride of Reanimator
My second Brian Yuzna film of the month (first was Return of the Living Dead III). This one wasn't nearly as good as Return III, but wasnt complete crap either. The main problem with this movie is that while retaining the cast of the first Reanimator it fails to live up to the first film on pretty much every level. While the first film was funny and original this one is only kind of funny and not original at all. Where the first film was insanely over the top, this one only kind of (at least until the last 10 or so minutes). So pretty much this movie just made me want to watch the first one, but I dont own the first one so I'm straight of luck!

Anyways to sum up, this doesnt hold a candle to the original. That does not mean it is completely without merit however. It has a great ending, some decent jokes and cool SFX, so if you are sick of watching the first film go check this one out. Just dont pay too much (I got mine on the new liongsgate multipack)

[JoeTheDestroyer]

Movie 13: High Lane (2009)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pV9yYSu6qA4

Not impressed.  It was basically a French Wrong Turn, except tamer and with awful English dubbing.  The version I saw, which was on Netflix instant streaming, didn't have French with English subtitles.

I think they should have called it Kinda Not Right Turn instead.   

Movie 14: Santa's Slay (2005)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKrsAFWPnl4

Movie 15: Shaun of the Dead (2004)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JF4EyXhZudo

Movie 16: Mutant (1984)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CwjqfgCbxc

[Jack]

The Mummy (1959) - Peter Cushing stars as an archeologist who digs up a mummy (well actually his father does) and once he gets back to England, one of the followers of the mummy's religion seeks revenge on all those who desecrated her tomb.  Christopher Lee is the mummy, and he makes for quite a creepy presence.  One of my favorites, with Cushing at his dramatic best and lots of wonderfully Gothic atmosphere.  4.5/5.

Lady Frankenstein (1971) - Dr. Frankenstein creates a monster but it kills him, so his daughter continues his work.  She's beautiful but completely immoral and twisted, which makes for a very interesting plot.  The doctor's former assistant is in love with her, but he's kind of old and weak;  she'd really like it if his brain was in the body of a much younger and stronger man    Meanwhile the monster is wandering about the local village killing everyone it meets.  Another old favorite of mine.  Great characters, plenty of stuff going on to keep the plot moving, and that great Gothic atmosphere.  4.5/5.

[Rev. Powell]

I finally saw something I can add to this thread:

FRANKENWEENIE (2012): When Victor's beloved pet dog dies, he figures out a way to bring him back to life: but what happens if that reanimation technology gets into the hands of neighborhood kids all desperate to win the upcoming science fair? With it's glorious black and white visuals, lots of "monster kid" references and scary-sweet storyline, this is the best thing Tim Burton has done in many years. 3.5/5.

At the theater a little girl, probably about 5 years old, was bawling uncontrollably during the emotional finale, so obviously kids connect with these characters---maybe too well.

P.S. And although this was good, I think PARANORMAN is the best animated kids horror movie of the season.

[SynapticBoomstick]

Monster Flick #2

Proteus, October 6^th


This is another one from 1995. I did not plan it that way, all the crap monster movies I enjoy just somehow get released around the same time. Maybe I should try to go all October with '95 movies  .

Proteus follows the standard pattern that a lot of survival/scifi-horror action films used during the decade: a group of shady characters wreck their boat and end up stranded on a seemingly abandoned structure, in this case a group of drug smugglers winding up on an oil rig. Exploration reveals a genetics lab, something that generally isn't included as a standard in roughneck equipment, and a hostile meatball that can absorb and then mimic anyone that it kills.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ca27eaoGIfI

Note that they're refered to as "explorers" here. That's another thing that every movie in this sub-genre shares, any mention of the crew refers to them as a group of "explorers" or a "rescue team" rather than pirates or smugglers. I don't know why writers would bother with a touch like that because more often than not you're dealing with an unwholesome collection of people. Maybe one or two of them might have redeeming qualities but right from the get-go you're told, "Don't drink the water, it's scummy." Call them "wrecked survivors" because that's what they are. Their boat exploded, you don't do much exploring in a life raft with no paddles while the spoiled girlfriend whines that she has to pee.

On a final note, all of the effects work in this movie is practical. That's one of the things that I love most about late 70s to mid 90s monster movies, the monsters were there in front of the camera and for the most part they looked really cool. The final monster in Proteus is pretty sweet to look at both from a visual and technical standpoint, or maybe I'm just a sucker for animatronics.

Rating: Milky Way
Still, if I had the choice of anything this would be pretty low on my list. The characters are mainly sulky addicts so you might not have enough interest beyond the hormonal kind to feel sorry when somebody gets liquified.

[ChaosTheory]

10-9: THE KILLER SHREWS.  Ohhhhh lord......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAXYR9E-_F0

[voltron]

Watched Autopsy (1975) last night. Cool giallo!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDMr-iryM0E

[claws]

10/09/12 Filmcount: 10



The Boogens (1981)

People always complain the creature looks too cheap. It's not Ed Wood cheap. Actually, I think it looks cool. Obviously of rubber origin but still cool. That said, I always enjoy watching this more and I'm happy to own it on Blu-ray 4/5