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

[Jim H]

Knocked another one that has been on my list for AGES recently - Evil Ed.  How could you NOT want to see it after seeing the cover art (the good one, not the crappy one they had in the edited version)?



Suffice to say, it doesn't quite live up to the cover art.  How could it?

It's reasonably entertaining, though far less gory than I expected.  Very obviously done by foreigners, even though it's original language is English (it's Swedish), the whole film gets a very weird vibe from the dubbing - on top of the already weird nature of the film.  The plot concerns a film editor tasked with editing an atrocious series of films called Loose Limbs, and how he is driven mad by them.  I use the term 'plot' loosely.  The bits we see of Loose Limbs are actually quite funny.  The film itself has a sort of Raimi esque sense of humor, though not that good.  There's tons of Raimi references thrown in - a side character is named Sam Campbell, we get the spirit-cam from the Evil Dead, and numerous visual references.  Actually, the visuals of the film are probably its strong point - a shootout towards the end of this film makes me think the director of this should try his hand at an action movie, he could probably do a decent job on a limited budget.

My review is all over the place, just like the film.  Basically, worth a watch on Netflix instant, now that it has finally landed there.

7/10, just barely.

Today I watched Sint.  It's a Dutch horror film from a couple years ago about the TRUE story of Saint Nicholas, and how he actually comes each full moon that falls on December 5 (the eve of the day he died, according to the film) to murder people.  Oh, and he comes on a pirate ship with a bunch of guys with swords and axes.  Yeah.  Probably sounds a lot like Rare Exports, though it's not as good.

Quite good opening scene, and seems like it'll be pretty cool...  But the film never quite comes to its potential somehow.  There's gore that's well-executed, but not really that much of it.  It seems like the title character will develop a bit of personality, but then it never really gels.  I dunno.  I wanted to like it, but it's just kind of competent.  Also, the English dub (the only language available on Netflix) is HORRENDOUS, but that's not the director's fault.  Eh.  It's OK.

Just barely a 6/10.

[claws]

19 (24) ~ Let's Scare Jessica to Death (1971) 5/5
20 (25) ~ Altered States (1980) 4.5/5 BD
20 (26) ~ The Fly (1986) 5/5 BD

[AndyC]

The Lady in White (1988) - Set in upstate New York in 1962, this movie is based on an actual legend of a ghostly woman who is sometimes seen searching for a lost loved one. Lukas Haas plays 9-year-old Frankie Scarlatti, who gets himself locked in the school cloakroom on Halloween by a couple of pranksters. That night, he encounters the ghost of a girl who reenacts the events of her own murder in that cloakroom ten years earlier. The attacker, however, can be neither seen nor heard. Shortly after, the real killer enters the cloakroom, his face hidden in darkness. He discovers Frankie and strangles him, but the boy is rescued and revived in the nick of time.

These events kick off a number of plot threads. The girl's ghost continues to haunt Frankie, begging him to reunite her with her mother, The school janitor is arrested as a serial child killer, and charged with 11 murders (plus one attempt), even though the evidence is purely circumstantial. Frankie, meanwhile, is using the clues from his cloakroom experience to perhaps learn the identity of the real killer, who is still at large.

The way The Lady In White started out, I was afraid it was going to be a kids' movie, or some lightweight piece of baby-boomer nostalgia, as was common at the time. But it turned out to be a pretty darned good ghost story. Quite creepy in places, tense in others, with a few good surprises. Meanwhile, we still have the nostalgic setting, the family moments and the humour. Another unexpected treat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fM9pIeZSy5Q

[JoeTheDestroyer]

Movie 39: Case 39 (2009)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wtgVerQuso

Note: The trailer is nothing like the actual movie, and is kind of misleading.

Not a great film by any stretch, but not as bad as I had heard it was.  For the most part, it's a creepy kid sub-genre exercise with a couple decent death scenes (including one where Bradley Cooper breaks his own neck), some interesting commentary on social work, child abuse, and the fear of becoming what our parents; and a passable role reversal theme.  Only recommended if you're a creepy-kid die hard.

[claws]

Movie 39: Case 39 (2009)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wtgVerQuso

Note: The trailer is nothing like the actual movie, and is kind of misleading.

Not a great film by any stretch, but not as bad as I had heard it was.  For the most part, it's a creepy kid sub-genre exercise with a couple decent death scenes (including one where Bradley Cooper breaks his own neck), some interesting commentary on social work, child abuse, and the fear of becoming what our parents; and a passable role reversal theme.  Only recommended if you're a creepy-kid die hard.

Filming began in 2006 and was completed in 2007, and then shelved by the studio until 2010. Not a good sign indeed but the film still turned out to be alright. Makes for a fun double feature with Orphan (2009).

[JoeTheDestroyer]

Movie 40: The Being (1983)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hk2pZ7BOQCY

Movie 41: Dead Alive (1992)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rC6WAAlNHt4

Movie 42: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDqwLna8fwY

[Rev. Powell]

LISA AND THE DEVIL (1974): An American finds herself staying overnight at an Italian chateau managed by a butler who is the spitting image of a picture of Satan on an local fresco. A spooky and perverse final act doesn't overcome the slow and muddled opening two-thirds. 2/5.

[Zapranoth]

Creepshow, I've decided, didn't age particularly well.  Although "Just tell it to call you Billy" remains a hilarious line.  :)

The Thing (1982), however, *did* age well and remains one of the finest horror movies that I've ever seen.  Tense and paranoid the whole way, and the ending just makes me smile.  Sure glad that no producers managed to pressure in a nice happy ending, which surely did not belong.

[Andrew]

"Devil's Wedding Night" hosted by Elvira.  The movie is a boring confusing mess, and I have to comment that every other woman in the film had larger breasts than Countess Dracula (and yes, we saw them all).  The bat screeching sound was so loud and annoying that it jolted me awake from a half-doze, and it also freaked out the cat.

Elvira's skits at the commercial breaks were also extremely painful.  I remember her being a lot less chatty and not so many bad one-liners when I watched her show in the 80s.

The Thing (1982), however, *did* age well and remains one of the finest horror movies that I've ever seen.  Tense and paranoid the whole way, and the ending just makes me smile.  Sure glad that no producers managed to pressure in a nice happy ending, which surely did not belong.

I love that movie.  It's probably my favorite horror/science fiction film.

[AndyC]

Sssssss (1973) - Strother Martin secretly experiments on Dirk Benedict, who begins to take on the characteristics of a snake. Mostly kind of dull, until it gets around to the homicide. Nice example of an ecologically-conscious 70s thriller, with lots of snake trivia shoehorned into the script. Martin's mad scientist, like many of his movie brethren, believes his experiments are mankind's only hope, for reasons that would probably only make sense to him if he ever really explained them. The guy seems to have some kind of cobra fetish or something. The ending was pretty much a string of WTF moments for me. On the plus side, Strother Martin was one of the best actors for playing nice, folksy people who are really evil bastards. The snakeman makeup is also well done.

[ChaosTheory]

CARNIVAL OF SOULS (1962) which had been on my list FOREVER.  I liked it; very Twilight Zone-y and atmospheric, even if the ending isn't that much of a twist. 7/10


HORROR HIGH (1974)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKAlI3Nt-oY

modern-day Jeckyll & Hyde story about a high school loser whose bio experiment goes horribly awry.  Real grindhouse quality; I enjoyed it except for the epileptic soundtrack.  6/10


JAWS (1975)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbisc9pKPx8

okay, so it's technically not horror.  Whatever.  Almost 4 decades later, it's still scary and still my favorite Spielberg movie. 9/10

[Chainsawmidget]

"Devil's Wedding Night" hosted by Elvira.  The movie is a boring confusing mess, and I have to comment that every other woman in the film had larger breasts than Countess Dracula (and yes, we saw them all).  The bat screeching sound was so loud and annoying that it jolted me awake from a half-doze, and it also freaked out the cat.

Elvira's skits at the commercial breaks were also extremely painful.  I remember her being a lot less chatty and not so many bad one-liners when I watched her show in the 80s.

Elvira's skits really varried in quality  Sometiems she knocked them out of the park, sometimes they just horribly limped along. 

Sssssss (1973) - Strother Martin secretly experiments on Dirk Benedict, who begins to take on the characteristics of a snake. Mostly kind of dull, until it gets around to the homicide. Nice example of an ecologically-conscious 70s thriller, with lots of snake trivia shoehorned into the script. Martin's mad scientist, like many of his movie brethren, believes his experiments are mankind's only hope, for reasons that would probably only make sense to him if he ever really explained them. The guy seems to have some kind of cobra fetish or something. The ending was pretty much a string of WTF moments for me. On the plus side, Strother Martin was one of the best actors for playing nice, folksy people who are really evil bastards. The snakeman makeup is also well done.

It's worth seeing just to watch Big McLargeHuge picking a fight with Templeton "Faceman" Peck. 

So, the latest movies on my list ...

The Fog (classic version).  Lovely bit of atmospheric horror. 

Cabin in the Woods:  If you haven't seen this movie and you like modern horror, see this movie!  I can't tell you anything more without spoiling it. 

The Last Slumber Party:  Generic slasher movie with a bug eyed maniac in a doctors outfit.  There is one scene I love though.  At one point, the killer has snuck into the house and he's hiding in the bedroom.   Later the nerd that they were picking on in several scenes earlier sneaks into the house and murders the boyfriend character.  The whole time the killer is just watching this like "what the hell!?!"

[fulci420]

Film 16
Return of Swamp Thing
Hadn't seen this film since when I was a little kid and was happily surprised to see it hold up so well. More of a comedy than a horror really, this movie doesn't take itself seriously for a second. Heather Locklear stars and looks great as the plant loving love interest of the swamp thing. Hilarious campy acting and dialogue throughout. One of my favorite b movies.

Film 17
In the Mouth of Madness
IMO Carpenter's last truly excellent film. Village of the Damned is not that bad either but this is the last movie of his that I would call "classic". This movie strikes a nice balance between the scares and the laughs making it thoroughly enjoyable. Sam Neil does a great job as usual as the protagonist.

[fulci420]

Film 18
Pontypool
I had heard good things about this movie, so I went in with high expectations. What I got was something that was in no means bad, but certainly not the hidden gem that some had made it out to be. I liked the characters and some of the concepts, but ultimately found this to be disappointing. I was completely drawn in for the first half, but as soon as the explanations started coming in the latter half I found myself losing interest. I think the filmmakers thought that their main idea was a bit more interesting than I did, and I think that's the main problem I had here. I cant recommend it but I cant say it's crap either.

[JoeTheDestroyer]

Film 18
Pontypool
I had heard good things about this movie, so I went in with high expectations. What I got was something that was in no means bad, but certainly not the hidden gem that some had made it out to be. I liked the characters and some of the concepts, but ultimately found this to be disappointing. I was completely drawn in for the first half, but as soon as the explanations started coming in the latter half I found myself losing interest. I think the filmmakers thought that their main idea was a bit more interesting than I did, and I think that's the main problem I had here. I cant recommend it but I cant say it's crap either.

It helps not to go in with high expectations.  I went in not knowing what to expect and came away pleasantly surprised.  I think, though, had I expected brilliance I would have been disappionted.


Movie 43: The Tall Man (2012)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_QqA0sDMec

Not an amazing thriller by any stretch, but definitely better than I expected.  More than anything, I was thrilled to see a movie that took place in my home state other than The Ring or Benny and Joon.


Movie 44: Cujo (1983)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0k21yeVMbM


Movie 45: Hellraiser (1987)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0alNBYrLuE