Recent Viewings, Part 2

[M.10rda]

THE Suicide Squad (2021)

On a sidenote, I suppose Corto Maltese is a nod to Hugo Pratt, but it is difficult to think of a movie that is further removed from the spirit of Hugo Pratt's comic than this one.

The island of "Corto Maltese" in TSS is a nod to Hugo Pratt's comic, but it's a nod first made by Frank Miller in "The Dark Knight Returns" 35+ years ago. The banana republic island nation is now a canonical part of DC universe geography. It was a nice touch by Gunn to set the film there, though.

Also., THE SUICIDE SQUAD was da' absolute bizness. Best DC comic adaptation to date.

[M.10rda]

THE INVITATION (2022) - SPOILERS, I suppose
I assume the filmmakers had a distaff GET OUT in mind when putting this together - the comic relief sidekick really being the clincher - but this lacks the Jordan Peele's sharp intelligence and, when compared to GET OUT, is rather toothless. (Pun intended, of course.)

Nathalie Emmanuel is quite appealing in the lead and it was nice to see the always enjoyable Sean Pertwee (as "Mr. Field"). The director has good visual flair and Emmanuel's wardrobe in particular looks great. After a slooow first couple acts (which fall more into the genre of "gothic romance" than horror), the film ultimately becomes faster paced and pretty exciting towards the end. (My fiancee seemed to enjoy those gothic romance bits though so what do I know.)

Yet I can't endorse THE INVITATION entirely as it functions largely as an Idiot Plot - the kind of thing Peele got around with great aplomb and suspense in GET OUT. Emmanuel's character doesn't seem like an idiot and actually most of her dialogue is quite witty, thus I imagine the screenwriters hoped we would accept that she's simply so damn THIRSTY for "wedding destination d(ick)" as her best friend calls it that she can't help but overlook that:

* She's staying at "Carfax Abbey"...
* ...For a wedding of two people she doesn't know and has never heard of...
* ...And at multiple pre-wedding functions there's no sign of the bride...
* ...But the bridesmaids are two creepy pushy dames who really want to get in her grill, because they seem unnaturally attached to...
* ..."Lord Walt Deville", the hunky lord of the manor who immediately sets out to seduce Nathalie...
* ...While young chambermaids are disappearing from the estate at regular intervals...
* ...Did I mention the butler's name is "Mr. Field"?!

There's even more alarming blood-red herrings for Nathalie to fail to process, including a whole thing about her great-grandmother or... something. And before you know it, she's at a rehearsal dinner, asking (finally) "Where's the bride?" A big No-Prize for you if you've guessed who the bride is supposed to be.

I mean, seriously, who among us would have gotten further than the early scene where it's announced that Nathalie's arrived at Carfax Abbey without loudly exclaiming "Carfax ABBEY, are you joking with this s**t? That's where Dracula lives, I ain't staying at no Carfax Abbey...!" And we'd grab our luggage and turn right back around for the States. However perhaps THE INVITATION exists in a universe where no one has ever read Stoker's novel or seen a single Dracula movie.

Also what employment agency keeps sending maids to Carfax Abbey even though they inevitably will disappear and never resurface?

Also there's a very dumb scene late in the film where Jonathan and Mina Harker appear. Yes, this takes place in 2022.

All that said, THE INVITATION ameliorates its silliness somewhat at the climax. In the 70s, the film would've ended about 30 minutes sooner w/ a bleak and fatalistic fade-out. Instead Nathalie goes a bit Samara Weaving in READY OR NOT. There's some gore and it's satisfying to watch Nathalie turn the tables on all the s**tty rich white people in the mansion. Honestly the film works better as an allegory for Meghan Markle's misadventures in the monarchy than it does as a straight horror movie, though I'm not sure if this was really what the filmmakers had in mind.

Also, why title a horror movie something generic like THE INVITATION when there's already an outstanding 2017 horror thriller called THE INVITATION? There had to be a more marketable and non-redundant title. Come to think of it, why not call it THE MEGHAN MARKLE STORY?

[M.10rda]

Willow Creek (2013)
I enjoyed WILLOW CREEK immensely - that 20 minute continuous shot in the tent at night is one of the most harrowing scenes that I've ever watched in a horror film. In fact, in an interview the two stars said they got so creeped out during the first take that they had to stop shooting and do it over, and even the second time, much of the fear on their faces was real.

Agreed. That long take is something truly special. Phenomenal acting there. Above average film in toto. This is the rare Bigfoot thriller to recommend to people who don't like/aren't afraid of Bigfoot. 

[claws]

My 2022 viewings rated & ranked



1. Dune (2021)
2. Pacific Rim (2013)
3. The Witch (2015)
4. Identity (2003)
5. Poltergeist (1982)
6. The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017)
7. The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
8. Conan the Barbarian (1982)
9. Willow (1988)
10. Deliverance (1972)
11. ParaNorman (2012)
12. WarGames (1983)
13. Running Scared (2006)
14. Witness (1985)
15. Martyrs (2008)
16. Fallen (1998)
17. Trollhunter (2010)
18. Fried Green Tomatoes (1991)
19. Duel (1971)
20. Steel Magnolias (1989)
21. The Hitcher (1986)
22. Better Off Dead... (1985)
23. Clash of the Titans (1981)
24. The Towering Inferno (1974)
25. Near Dark (1987)
26. Phantom of the Paradise (1974)
27. Grey Gardens (1975)   



28. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)
29. Annihilation (2018)
30. Kong: Skull Island (2017)
31. Bridesmaids (2011)
32. Panic Room (2002)
33. Blade II (2002)
34. Mad Max (1979)
35. Drag Me to Hell (2009)
36. Event Horizon (1997)
37. What Lies Beneath (2000)
38. Overlord (2018)
39. Hot Shots! Part Deux (1993)
40. Eden Lake (2008)
41. The 'Burbs (1989)
42. Death Sentence (2007)
43. Dog Soldiers (2002)
44. Logan's Run (1976)
45. Stonehearst Asylum (2014)
46. Scanners (1981)
47. Empire Records (1995)
48. Night of the Living Dead (1990)
49. The Loved Ones (2009)
50. Body Double (1984)
51. The Brood (1979)
52. Night of the Creeps (1986)
53. The Entity (1982)
54. Soapdish (1991)
55. The Stepfather (1987)
56. I'm for the Hippopotamus (1979)
57. They Called Him Bulldozer (1978)
58. Someone's Watching Me! (1978)



59. War of the Worlds (2005)
60. The Blair Witch Project (1999)
61. Paranormal Activity (2007)
62. Oz the Great and Powerful (2013)
63. Twister (1996)
64. The Woman in Black (2012)
65. Evil Dead (2013)
66. Antichrist (2009)
67. The Cell (2000)
68. The Last House on the Left (2009)
69. The Raven (2012)
70. Mandy (2018)
71. The Awakening (2011)
72. New Nightmare (1994)
73. Blue Thunder (1983)
74. Rabid (1977)
75. Jagged Edge (1985)
76. When a Stranger Calls (1979)
77. Ghost Story (1981)
78. Let's Scare Jessica to Death (1971)
79. For the Boys (1991)
80. Deranged: Confessions of a Necrophile (1974)
81. The Jezebels (1975)
82. Buddy Goes West (1981)
83. Krush Groove (1985)
84. What's the Matter with Helen? (1971)



85. Snow White and the Huntsman (2012)
86. Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013)
87. Dracula Untold (2014)
88. The Strangers (2008)
89. As Above, So Below (2014)
90. Dante's Peak (1997)
91. Stigmata (1999)
92. The Amityville Horror (1979)
93. Critters (1986)
94. Firestarter (1984)
95. Damien: Omen II (1978)
96. The Toxic Avenger (1984)
97. Creepshow 2 (1987)
98. Afflicted (2013)
99. Tales from the Darkside: The Movie (1990)
100. The House by the Cemetery (1981)
101. Amazon Women on the Moon (1987)
102. Eyes of Laura Mars (1978)
103. Foxes (1980)
104. The Creeping Flesh (1973)
105. Sheriff and the Satellite Kid (1979)
106. Return to Christmas Creek (2018)  (Cheese Rating)
107. The Cannibal Man (1972)



108. Army of the Dead (2021)
109. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (2012)
110. Hollow Man (2000)
111. Priest (2011)
112. Underwater (2020)
113. Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998)
114. Cobra (1986)
115. Lake Placid (1999)
116. Victor Frankenstein (2015)
117. 54 (1998)
118. King Kong (1976)
119. Piranha (1978)
120. Return of the Living Dead II (1988)
121. Earthquake (1974)
122. Humanoids from the Deep (1980)
123. Bad Moon (1996)
124. The Exterminator (1980)
125. House on the Edge of the Park (1980)
126. The Deadly Spawn (1983)
127. Death Line (1972)
128. Nightmares (1983)
128. And Now the Screaming Starts! (1973)
130. Impulse (1984)
131. Mother Lode (1982)
132. How Awful About Allan (1970)
133. The Loreley's Grasp (1973)



134. Drive Angry (2011)
135. Piranha 3D (2010)
136. Cabin Fever (2002)
137. 47 Meters Down (2017)
138. All the Boys Love Mandy Lane (2006)
139. Sweet Girl (2021)
140. C.H.U.D. (1984)
141. Hell Night (1981)
142. TerrorVision (1986)
143. Shock Waves (1977)
144. Don't Go in the House (1979)
145. Night School (1981)
146. Psychic Killer (1975)
147. Tenement (1985)
148. Thou Shalt Not Kill... Except (1985)



149. Spring Breakers (2012)
150. I, Frankenstein (2014)
151. Madman (1981)
152. The Island (1980)
153. My Tutor (1983)
154. They're Playing with Fire (1984)
155. Heavenly Bodies (1984)
156. The House on Tombstone Hill (1989)



157. Pet Sematary II (1992)
158. Graveyard Shift (1990)
159. Wishmaster 2: Evil Never Dies (1999)
160. The Barbarians (1987)
161. Mutant (1984)
162. It's Alive III: Island of the Alive (1987)
163. Don't Answer the Phone! (1980)
164. The Seduction (1982)
165. Cyclone (1978)
166. Night Visitor (1989)



167. The Rage: Carrie 2 (1999)
168. Beyond the Poseidon Adventure (1979)
169. Final Exam (1981)
170. Green Ghost and the Masters of the Stone (2021)
171. Knights of the City (1986)



172. Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2011)
173. Doppelganger (1993)
174. Slave Girls from Beyond Infinity (1987)
175. The Being (1981)
176. 976-Evil II (1991)
177. Scared to Death (1980)
178. The Double 0 Kid (1992)
179. The Terror Within II (1991)
180. Forever Evil (1987)



181. Jaws: The Revenge (1987)
182. Candyman: Day of the Dead (1999)
183. Tentacles (1977)
184. Bloody Murder (2000)
185. The Crater Lake Monster (1977)
186. Barracuda (1978)
187. Camp Blood (2000)
188. Up from the Depths (1979)
190. Jocks (1986)
191. Rana: The Legend of Shadow Lake (1980)
192. Raiders of the Living Dead (1986)
193. Gimme an 'F' (1984)
194. Demon of Paradise (1987)
195. Crocodile (1979)
196. The Liberator (2017)

[lester1/2jr]

Revenge (2015) The Tubi info says 2018 but that's not accurate and actually confusing because there's another movie from 2018 called Revenge. As luck would have it, both these movies are awesome so it actually doesn't matter which one you see.

A reporter for a travel website goes to a hotel/ travel lodge somewhere in Norway to do a story on it. Immediately, we realize not all is as it appears. Years before, the owner of the hotel sexually assaulted the reporter's now deceased younger sister. Now she wants the titular Revenge and it's all about the cat and mouse game and trying to keep the operation going.

You could quibble about details, but the bottom line is it works. It's just a good idea for a movie and is carried out well. That said, it's not quite as awesome as the other Revenge movie, which was insane.

4.75/ 5

[M.10rda]

FEAR CHAMBER aka THE TORTURE ZONE (1968?):
Here's one last post in the spirit of BadMovies.org - honestly one of the worst movies I've seen in 45.5 years, by any reasonable standards of objective criticism. I'd never seen this one until a few days ago and I'm a little surprised it doesn't get discussed more. Then again, when I think of Boris Karloff, I like to think of him ending his career with a highlight like Bogdanovich's TARGETS or Reeve's THE SORCERORS, not his array of cheapjack quickies filmed south of the US border. Maybe horror movie lovers tactfully disregard this stuff out of respect for Karloff. Anyway...

...How does one describe a mess of this caliber? A 10-minute opening of a male and female scientist wandering a smoky and poorly lit red/black void in hazmat suits while communicating by radio to Prof. Karloff in a remote office location. The pair of explorers discover - something! - and vow to bring it back to the lab. What follows is 70 minutes of extremely discombobulated plot involving an employment agency (?) for bored looking women, where new recruits are invited to spend the night in the agency's guest room while they wait to be deployed for their next assignment (?). The guest room is secretly under observation by Karloff's sinister secretary (I think???) and a burly thug with a large scar on his shaved head. The burly thug is building a close rapport with the discovery from the opening sequence, which is some kind of geologic (???) mutant who communicates only telepathically to the thug and via early LAN technology to Karloff (????). The secretary and the thug invest a lot of energy into terrorizing their female charges, because that motivates the mutant to work harder (???to accomplish what, though???). The evil duo are abetted by a creepy perv in sunglasses and a turban (?!) and an unctuous dwarf, but it's not clear whether they're acting at Karloff's behest, or - maybe not??????? Also the mutant eventually graduates to killing a stripper (after a long dance sequence) as it wants to feed on her fear...?!?!?! The two explorers from the beginning are Karloff's daughter and future son-in-law (I mean, I guess) but are offscreen for most of the film until the climax. Karloff appears every 10 minutes or so, mostly in his office or in bed. Some of the information I've typed above can only be gleaned from a lengthy monologue by Karloff at the end of the film, which he delivers within a dream (!!!). Shortly thereafter, the finale see a frighteningly frail Karloff surrounded with fire and sparklers while tapping madly at a console and frantically yelling out gibberish commands to his fellow human. What even is this movie?!?!?!?!

Yeah, FEAR CHAMBER is a real headscratcher. For quite a while, I surmised that the much sleazier "observation room" scenes were part of an entirely different film and Karloff had no idea what he was participating in. This would make sense given the involvement of Jack Hill, co-director of THE similarly stapled-together TERROR, starring Karloff and Jack Nicholson (1963). Hill made several films which are better than this (and THE TERROR), while co-director Juan Ibanez made... nothing good ever! Moreover, the entire film is hopelessly disjointed, even in the way that it's shot - with any two characters rarely appearing in the same shot together, and with NO clear shots providing any real sense for what the mutant looks like. (It's got a mouth and a tentacle - again, I think?)

And - no scheiss - I swear that Karloff appears in several medium-wide cutaways for a duration of the film with NO moustache, and then the first time they cut to a close-up. he's got a big bushy white one. Wouldn't make that up. Very funny, obv.

In short, this is the kind of apparent paste-up that we know and love Al Adamson and Godfrey Ho for. Yet I wonder (in lieu of doing any further research) if the tacked-together quality is received through speed and incompetence rather than pure essence. While I imagine Karloff shot all of his scenes quickly at the beginning or end of production, ALL major characters DO eventually appear together and/or on the same sets, so... somehow, impossibly, FEAR CHAMBER must have all been one film produced from one screenplay....... only very, very poorly.

All that said, as authentically BAD as this film is, I did enjoy it in a relaxing, almost meditative fashion. Some of the lighting and (occasional) camera movements might actually look good in a clean print (which I am sure will never exist for confirmation). And, I might add, even elderly Karloff remains a pretty good value. (I actually think Karloff became a much better actor in his final years, but that's a different conversation.) There is one scene where his characters jokes and laughs and it's just utterly charming and delightful... and a relief that he couldn't have been suffering too much through filming this dreck.

I'm quite surprised this never (to my knowledge) received the works from MST3K, Rifftrax, or The Mads. (Correct me please if I'm wrong - it's a natural.) Perhaps it was just too sleazy for them? There is some nudity, but trimming it out wouldn't impact the narrative... which of course is barely existent and makes no sense in any case!

Anyway, on the scale that I understand you folks prefer, I would give this a 5/5 as a perfect storm of cinematic badness. Happy New Year!

[FatFreddysCat]

"Ramones: The True Story" (2005)
The Ramones' early history (from their formation up to 1981's Pleasant Dreams album) is examined in this cheap looking documentary consisting of vintage live footage and commentary from original drummer Tommy Ramone, former road manager Monte Melnick, art director/designer Arturo Vega, and CBGB owner Hilly Kristal. There's not much here that long time fans won't already know, but it's an entertaining trip down memory lane, made especially poignant now that Tommy, Arturo, and Hilly are also gone.

[indianasmith]

My last two movies of the year were both freebies on Amazon Prime.  First there was:

DRAINIAC - A teen girl with an abusive father has to help him clean out a nasty old house he's bought.  He yells at her, loads her in his van, tells her to start cleaning, and drives to the nearest bar to drink.  Some of her friends show up to help, but this house is home to an evil water elemental that wants to devour them all, and mayhem ensues.  This is a bizarre film with some cool stop-motion effects and singularly detestable characters.  I must say I was somewhat entertained (the girl's Dad and the bully who comes by to harass her and her friends meet particularly satisfying deaths).  3.5/5

Then there was an interesting tribute to 80's slashers called SLEEPER. A serial killer is murdering sorority girls with a hammer, telling them "Night-night" before he bashes their heads in. He calls the sorority house before each kill, announcing who is going to be next.  This one was definitely different - there was no motive or back story for the killer, just his relentless pursuit of these sorority sisters.  Set in 1981, it was actually very reminiscent of films like DRILLER KILLER and THE SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE.  Worth the watch.  3.5/5

[Dr. Whom]

Aloners (2021)

We follow Jin-Ah, the top employee of a credit card call center, who avoids social contact as much as possible, especially after the death of her mother. She is tasked with training a new worker, who turns out to be very social and chatty. Things do not go well, which eventually leads to a breakdown after which she re-evaluates her isolated existence.

Not much happens in this movie, which is mainly carried by main actress's Gong Seung-Yeon's cold stare, which makes Wednesday Addams seem positively welcoming. If you like your movies bleak and atmospheric, with a minimum of explicit explanation (which I do), this is one for you. If not, you'll find it tremendously boring. It is not without its weaknesses, but it is a debut movie, and a very strong debut at that. There is also a ghost in there, which is treated in a very matter of fact manner.

[M.10rda]

Horror in the High Desert (2021) - Found footage horror has come a long way since The Blair Witch Project. Actually, no it hasn't, but this was pretty alright. director uses a Dateline sort of style to tell the story of a youtube star hiker who encounters something crazy in the woods. The ending was as scary as I've seen in a while.

4.5 /5 tubitv

Hey, great pull of a deep cut! I confess that this gave me the authentic "BLAIR WITCH experience" as I honestly thought this was a "real" documentary for about half the running time, only beginning to grow suspicious as it approached the end. SPOILERS (though Lester already let the cat out of the bag...) It doesn't initially present itself as a horror movie (title notwithstanding), instead leaning more towards the recently popular MISSING 411-subgenre of unexplained disappearance type videos and podcasts. Also, the key figures (well, characters/actors) in the film are extremely... convincing? That's not necessarily to say they're great actors - just that they are so idiosyncratic (subject with a hearing/speech impairment and/or mild learning disability), banal (the cute yet charisma-challenged investigative journalist), or unappealing (the dumpy and highly negative sister) that one struggles to imagine they are anything other than real people. Who casts such performers?! Yet in fact it's kind of a masterstroke - they all come off as entirely believable, if not super-compelling.

I love REAL mysteries of this type and so was drawn into the narrative here... my one complaint it that the filmmakers either decided they didn't need to play fair near the end or they just got lazy and forgot (in several instances) that one character or another has mentioned that certain footage is "lost" or "unavailable" or has been destroyed - and then they go ahead later and show us some of that footage anyway. Dumb misstep. A little more careful editing could have avoided this problem. Still, it definitely delivers the creepy goods!

[Rev. Powell]

OFFICIAL COMPETITION (2021): Desiring a postmortem legacy, an octogenarian capitalist decides to produce a prestige film, hiring an eccentric director (Penelope Cruz) and two actors--one an academic (Oscar Martinez) who disdains populist entertainment, the other an acclaimed international superstar (Antonio Banderas)--who increasingly annoy each other. Realistic satire and survey of the varieties of narcissists found in the movie industry. From Spain. 3.5/5.

[M.10rda]

Monsieur Verdoux (1947)

The one Chaplin movie where he is cast completely against type as a suave and extremely well dressed Bluebeard serial killer. He is absolutely delightful as the loving father and husband and friend to stray cats who simply happens to be a ruthless and efficient killer. In the last third, there is some slapstick and vaudeville, whether to lighten the mood or out of force of habit, I can't tell. For me, this weakens rather than strengthens the dark comedy.

Dr. Whom, if this is your first viewing, try it again in a few years. I had the same reaction to the comedy, but it bothered me less on repeated viewings. Chaplin does a masterful job playing pathos for a change (in the majority of the film) and maintains character in the slapsticky parts well enough that it doesn't feel like it ruptures the overall tone too much. I find the ending to be totally heartbreaking, perhaps for its understatement. Beautiful film... as his talkies go, I prefer it to THE GREAT DICTATOR.

[lester1/2jr]

in general the biggest problems with movies are endings I think. They generally take more art/ life experience than the rest and it's also the part of the story people become fully focused on, as it's a summation of the whole thing.

[FatFreddysCat]

"We're Not Even Supposed to Be Here Today: 3 Decades of Clerks" (2022)
Behind the scenes doc about Kevin Smith's slacker trilogy, with Smith and most of the major players sharing memories of making the films.
This is apparently a bonus feature on the Blu-Ray of "Clerks III," which I have yet to see, but somebody uploaded it to YouTube, so I couldn't resist.

[indianasmith]

Horror in the High Desert (2021) - Found footage horror has come a long way since The Blair Witch Project. Actually, no it hasn't, but this was pretty alright. director uses a Dateline sort of style to tell the story of a youtube star hiker who encounters something crazy in the woods. The ending was as scary as I've seen in a while.

4.5 /5 tubitv

Hey, great pull of a deep cut! I confess that this gave me the authentic "BLAIR WITCH experience" as I honestly thought this was a "real" documentary for about half the running time, only beginning to grow suspicious as it approached the end. SPOILERS (though Lester already let the cat out of the bag...) It doesn't initially present itself as a horror movie (title notwithstanding), instead leaning more towards the recently popular MISSING 411-subgenre of unexplained disappearance type videos and podcasts. Also, the key figures (well, characters/actors) in the film are extremely... convincing? That's not necessarily to say they're great actors - just that they are so idiosyncratic (subject with a hearing/speech impairment and/or mild learning disability), banal (the cute yet charisma-challenged investigative journalist), or unappealing (the dumpy and highly negative sister) that one struggles to imagine they are anything other than real people. Who casts such performers?! Yet in fact it's kind of a masterstroke - they all come off as entirely believable, if not super-compelling.

I love REAL mysteries of this type and so was drawn into the narrative here... my one complaint it that the filmmakers either decided they didn't need to play fair near the end or they just got lazy and forgot (in several instances) that one character or another has mentioned that certain footage is "lost" or "unavailable" or has been destroyed - and then they go ahead later and show us some of that footage anyway. Dumb misstep. A little more careful editing could have avoided this problem. Still, it definitely delivers the creepy goods!

I'm a sucker for found footage movies, so after reading this I went and watched this one and it was EXCELLENT!