October Horror Movie Massacre!!!

[ChaosTheory]

Movie # 10
The Ruins (2008)
Some tourists go check out some ruins and encounter whacky weeds and angry locals. Really boring, kind of hated it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzdto154_to

That was a really difficult premise to sell; the novel it's based on was more depressing than scary but I kind of liked it (the book, not so much the movie...)


Day Seven

DON'T OPEN TILL CHRISTMAS - a serial killer is targeting guys in Santa suits in this very 80s slasher.  Lots of splashy gore and nudity, somewhat entertaining but has an annoyingly typical post-HALLOWEEN slasher ending.  Also notice how nobody takes any security measures or precautions w/r/t the Santa suits even though the killer's MO is publicly known.  5/10
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrXZb1xT79Q


Day Eight
TRANSYLVANIA 6-5000 - Jeff Goldbloom and Ed Begley Jr. are tabloid reporters sent to investigate a possible Frankenstein sighting in Transylvania in this horror-satire.  Has a good cast, but most of the jokes feel really forced. 5/10

[SynapticBoomstick]

Currently out of commission at the hospital. Major movie lag. -via ipod

[Chainsawmidget]

TRANSYLVANIA 6-5000 - Jeff Goldbloom and Ed Begley Jr. are tabloid reporters sent to investigate a possible Frankenstein sighting in Transylvania in this horror-satire.  Has a good cast, but most of the jokes feel really forced.

It's cheesy, but I always liked it.  


Anyway, what have I saw recently...

I saw, The Return, starring Sarah Michelle Geller as somebody who isn't blonde. 




It's a very very very very very slow paced thriller/supernatural mystery, about a girl who's suddenly having memories of places she's never been and people she doesn't know.  The atmosphere in the movie is great, but it just feels like nothing is happening most of the time. 

[ChaosTheory]

I know I've seen THE RETURN, but for the life of me I can't remember what happened in it.

[Chainsawmidget]

I know I've seen THE RETURN, but for the life of me I can't remember what happened in it.

I just finished watching it and I can barely remember.  

Next movie I caught was The Strangers



I'd heard things about it but was somewhat reluctant to see it.  After watching it, I have to say that it isn't bad.  It's not great, but it's less cliche slasher/torture porn than I was expecting it to be.  In a way it takes more after the original Halloween, as the suspense is more emphasized than the blood and there's no attempt to explain why this is happening. 

[fulci420]

Was considering watching The Return as I have it on a dvd four movie pack but the near universal meh reaction makes me wary.

Movie #12
The Horde (2009)

Picked this one up on blu ray for 5$ today. This is a zombie film from France and focuses on police officers who go to get revenge for their killed partner. The culprits are Nigerian gangsters who reside in a dilapidated apartment complex. Just as the two parties are in the middle of their confrontation hordes of zombies begin pouring into the building. They have to put aside their differences and fight together if they have any hope of getting out.

This is definitely much more of an action film than a straight up horror movie. It actually reminded me quite a bit of The Raid Redemption even though this one came out first. To me it also had one of the same problems that the Raid did, that is full focus on the action and minor focus on the characters. I didn't really care if anyone survived this story and this didn't change as the movie went on. It's not all bad though there is some standout action set pieces and some parts did look particularly nice in HD. Probably will end up selling this though as I can't see re-watching it. 

[crackers]

2. Magic

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lx7smh7YHKg

I was brilliant. I don't think I have seen this mentioned on here before, but may be wrong.

[Chainsawmidget]

Oh, one thing I forgot to say about the Strangers.

It ends with one of the cheapest jump scares I've ever seen. 

[claws]

You guys stop watching The Strangers before I do   It's always on my yearly October/Halloween schedule  

10.08.13 (11)



Halloween II: Unrated Director's Cut (2009) (Blu-ray)
Whatever Rob Zombie was aiming for, I totally dig it. The majority may call it crap, I'd say Zombie's Halloween II egotrip is a surreal masterpiece of art   5/5

10.09.13 (12)



Let's Scare Jessica to Death (1971) (DVD)

No October/Halloween without my favorite! 5/5

[Jack]

I saw, The Return, starring Sarah Michelle Geller as somebody who isn't blonde. 

I made it to the part where she eventually goes to the bar.   

The Undying Monster (1942) - two people are assaulted by someone...or something?  And a couple of Scotland Yard detectives are called in to investigate.  Most of it takes place in a spooky old mansion.  The characters are all well developed and the investigation is fairly intriguing.  The family who owns the mansion is harboring a dark secret and don't want to help the detectives at all.  I really liked this, except for the epilogue where everything is explained - I guess back in the '40s obstruction of justice was just something the police laughed off.  4/5.

Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981) - camp counselors, panties, machetes...you know the drill.  This has always been one of my favorite slashers but last night I finally realized that few of these characters are actually likable.  The last girl is decent and the goofy couple who can barely stop making out for long enough to say a couple of lines are okay, but everyone else kind of turned me off.  Oh well.  Looked nice on Blu ray.  They brightened everything up so the blacks all look kind of grey, but the image is somewhat sharper.  4/5.

[FatFreddysCat]

Last two horrors I watched:

"Curse of the Mummy's Tomb" (1964) - One of the lesser known Hammer Horror films, kind of dry and took forever to get going. 

"Ice Cream Man" (1995)... it was bad. VERY very bad.

[Jack]

The Plague of the Zombies (1966) - a professor of medicine gets a letter from one of his former students - he's got a practice in a small village and people are dropping like flies, and the young doctor has no idea why.  So the Professor and his daughter travel there and try to get to the bottom of the mystery.  There's very little zombie action in this movie, it's mostly a mystery with plenty of supernatural overtones.  An old favorite of mine to be sure.  The two leads are great - the cantankerous professor (André Morell) and his cute-as-a-button daughter (Diane Clare) who cheerfully puts up with him (she's got him wrapped around her little finger of course).  Between the characters, the somewhat intriguing plot and some pretty decent atmosphere it gets a 4.5/5 from me.

Funeral Home (1980) - a young girl arrives at her grandma's house to help her fix the place up;  it used to be a funeral home but now they've made it into a a small motel.  It's not long before she starts noticing strange things happening.  Grandma's having conversations with someone in the cellar in the middle of the night, even though she insists there's no one else in the house.  And guests start disappearing on a fairly regular basis.  This wasn't bad.  It dragged a bit.  After an hour I was thinking it had already seemed like close to 90 minutes.  The plot is pretty easy to figure out, I even spotted the killer by the midpoint of the movie and I'm terrible at that stuff.  The main girl was a likable enough person.  The ending at least was fairly suspenseful with typical '80s slasher atmosphere.  3.5/5.

[fulci420]

Movie #13
Elevator (2011)- Yet another horror movie in a confined space this time its the old standby the elevator. Basically you got a nice variety of people, a reporter, a comedian, a shareholder and a CEO among others stuck in this elevator. Early on we learn that one of the passengers has a bomb and it's up to the assortment of people to find a way out. This is not a big film by any means shot with half a million dollars and with no known actors it doesn't have a lot to work with. Looking at in this light I think its a success. It's never boring at 80 minutes and even if the plot isn't all that, it is consistently entertaining. For a superior elevator horror movie go see "Devil" (2010) but this one is still worth a look. I watched it on youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nby1FwTxT0Y

[claws]

10.10.13 (13)



Messiah of Evil (1973) (DVD)

No October/Halloween without this eerie classic. 5/5

10.11.13 (14)



Roseanne - BOO! S2E7 (1989) (DVD)

My favorite Roseanne Halloween episode. 5/5

[Jack]

Lady Frankenstein (1971) - so ol' Doctor Frankenstein is doing his usual thing, unfortunately his monster kills him (They used the abnormal brain again...when will they ever learn.)  No prob' though, his daughter has just returned from medical school and she's a full fledged surgeon now.  She doesn't seem quite so interested in creating life for the purpose of advancing medical science though - she's got this "boyfriend" but he's got a bad leg (can't go out with a guy with a bad leg you know) and she'd like to put his brain in the big strong body of some retarded guy who's a servant at the castle.  So yeah, she's a tiny bit shallow I guess.  Meanwhile the local detective is investigating all the murders being committed by the shuffling hulk her father created - he seems to be tracking down the grave robbers who supplied bodies to Doctor 'stein and killing them one after another.  

This is a favorite of mine;  Lady Frankenstein is as evil as she is hot, the detective and grave robber guy are very good characters, and the plot is wonderfully sick as well.  4/5.


GRRRR!!!

Resident Evil (2002) - Milla Jovovich and a bunch of uber-cool military types go into "the hive", a large underground research complex beneath Raccoon City, where they battle a bunch of zombies and we get to listen to a bunch of Marilyn Manson music.  It has some pretty good atmosphere and the zombies are well done.  It's a fun popcorn flick, that's about all.  Best enjoyed with a few adult refreshments I think.  4/5.