October Horror Movie Massacre!!!

[Jack]

Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966) - some people are travelling through Europe and end up at a castle owned by some guy named Dracula.  Hmmmm...sounds safe    Kind of slow to get moving but eventually picks up.  Gorgeous Gothic everything.  My wife watched the first half of it with me but then she had to go watch Dancing With The Stars    4/5.

Phantoms (1998) - some people arrive in a small town in the mountains and find the place deserted and strewn with dead bodies.  But people...or something...still seem to be around;  they just can't find them.  This was a cool concept and had an okay sense of suspense about it, but was dragged down by a listless cast.  Peter O'Toole was the only one who put in a performance.  3.5/5.

[claws]

10/05/14 (7)



The Hearse (1980) ~ After a dirty divorce that caused a mental breakdown, Jane has enough of the big city life. She quits her job and moves into her dead aunts house somewhere in the sticks. Townsfolk aren't friendly ("City-b***h!") because the house has a history of hauntings. Soon enough Jane must face evils from the past trying to kill her.
Low budget Crown International chiller that became a favorite over the years. It's not very original but I do enjoy the set up and how the story unfolds. 4/5

The Nesting (1981) ~ After suffering through a series of anxiety attacks, Laura has enough of the big city life. She packs her stuff and moves into an old house somewhere in the sticks. Townsfolk aren't friendly ("You city women wan't all the same") because the house has a history of hauntings. Soon enough Laura must face evils from the past trying to kill her.
This starts off pretty good but once they arrive at the house things get quite mediocre. Still good enough for a watch. 3/5

I was surprised at the similarities The Hearse and The Nesting share . Two women starting new all over after a traumatic event, both seeing a psychiatrist, both leaving the big city behind. Both living in a haunted house with dark secrets somewhere in rural hicksville. Both women receiving a flower from admirer, both women chased and rammed in their cars, and - both women drinking a glass of milk  

[SynapticBoomstick]

That's an awesome poster for all its simplicity.

[claws]

10/06/14 (8)



Scanners III: The Takeover (1991) (First Time Viewing) ~ Young scanner-woman suffering from side effects (headache) steals untested drugs from her stepfather who owns a pharmacy company. The drugs bring out the evil within and soon enough she wants to challenge her scanner-brother who's been living in Thailand with monks trying to control his scanning powers.
Mind-blowing Trash that made me rub my eyes because wow, talk about taking a dump all over Cronenberg's brilliant idea. You know you're in B-Movie heaven when evil scanners take mind-control over kickboxers and make them attack the good scanner  This movie is full of ridiculous yet amazing ideas (transmitting sexual pleasure to people on live TV) so in the end you're somewhat highly entertained for all the wrong reasons. 3.5/5

[Jack]

Watched "There's Nothing Out There" again (saw it on Netflix before and now I got the DVD).  Listened to the commentary track too.  It was mildly amusing.  Apparently the lead actress was a real witch with a capital B, and they told some stories about her antics.  There were 4 or 5 people on the track but the director probably did  99% of the talking.  4/5 for the movie and 3/5 for the commentary track.

[StinkerMadness]

For our podcast we are going to be doing "Netflix Spooktober Fest". We started with 2012's V/H/S last night. Unfortunately, this movie sucks. It's a compilation movie that is all shaky camera found footage crap. Yes its EXTREMELY cheap to make but this movie fails in so many ways. A - Nothing is explained. Nothing. It's "Well to make this scary we need to have X happen" without any care as to WHY X happens. It just does. Poorly conceived and lazy says me. Some of the makeup was decent though.

This movie is for - Teenagers who want to use it as a launch-pad for making out, basement dwellers who enjoy gore-porn, film students who want to learn how NOT to do it.

[Jim H]

For our podcast we are going to be doing "Netflix Spooktober Fest". We started with 2012's V/H/S last night. Unfortunately, this movie sucks. It's a compilation movie that is all shaky camera found footage crap. Yes its EXTREMELY cheap to make but this movie fails in so many ways. A - Nothing is explained. Nothing. It's "Well to make this scary we need to have X happen" without any care as to WHY X happens. It just does. Poorly conceived and lazy says me. Some of the makeup was decent though.

Funny, I watched it and enjoyed V/H/S last night.  Nothing spectacular, but I thought it was generally well-acted, had some creepy moments, good gore, and good use of a low budget.  Some parts were stronger than others, for sure (the part with the couple traveling cross country was very meh, I thought).  Going to watch the sequel, has Jason Eisner (Hobo With a Shotgun) and Gareth Evans (Raid and Raid 2) directing parts, along with the director of the Blair Witch Project.  I'd give it...  A 7/10 I guess.

Also, SLIGHT spoilers I guess, about VHS...


I find it kind of bland how practically every horror anthology has the same ending.  That is, where the main characters "Lose" if you understand me.  Why can't anthology horror films have happy endings?  It makes them very predictable.



I also saw Reeker last night.  I liked it..  OK.  It was decent.  Fairly good acting and some creepy scenes.  Didn't add up to much though.  6/10.

[Jack]

It! (1967) - Roddy McDowall stars as a timid (and somewhat psycho) assistant museum curator who discovers that by placing a secret scroll in the mouth of a really fearsome looking statue in the museum, it comes to life and he can control it.  At first he uses it to get rid of a few people he doesn't like, but things eventually spiral out of control.  This is an old favorite of mine;  McDowall creates a great character and watching the statue lumber around, infinitely strong and completely indestructible, is just so cool    It has a nice sense of suspense as well.  Jill Haworth costars as the super cute love interest.  4.5/5.

[StinkerMadness]

 Going to watch the sequel, has Jason Eisner (Hobo With a Shotgun) and Gareth Evans (Raid and Raid 2) directing parts, along with the director of the Blair Witch Project.

Well knowing about THAT now I may be talked into doing the second one. Jason Eisner is brilliant and I have really high hopes for his career. "Youngbuck" in ABCs of Death was AMAZING (other the "Dogfight" this compilation movie is NOT for viewing).

[claws]

10/07/14 (9)



The Mighty Peking Man (1977) ~ An expedition into the Himalayas to find the legendary Peking Man turns into a sexy encounter when Johnny meets Samantha - Jungle babe Sam was raised by the giant ape, now she's raising Johnny's hopes of fame and fortune when he brings PK and Sam to civilization. Excellent SB Trash cashing in on the back then King Kong remake. 5/5

[SynapticBoomstick]

Hyperdrive time!

5. The Sadistic Baron von Klaus (1962)

Rating: 4/5 (+2 setting, +2 characters)
Candy Rating: Snickers - I love 'em, I just need to be really hungry.

I don't think I'll ever really understand the jazz soundtrack but I like the European architecture and ragtag cast of jolly rogues, especially Hanzel and Theo.


6. Hercules Unchained (1959)

Eh, these are cramped and tiny, forget posters for now.

Rating: 2/5 (+1 comical fights, +1 dumb sidekick)
Candy Rating: Warhead - If I'm feeling daring (almost never) I'll eat one but only after running water over it for a few seconds.

I've seen a bunch of different Hercules movies from several collections as well as on TV and I've decided that they're all pretty much the same movie. The acting is bland compared to the set design and the villain throws hordes of ineffective spears and soldiers against him yet he gets captured by a net. So I had to settle on finding little things to enjoy about this movie. The terrible fight scenes are always a mood booster and the sidekick here has a few effective comic bits but that's it.


7. Evidence (2013)

Rating: 3/5 (+1 Rusty truck stop of DOOM, +1 twists, +1 effective scares)
Candy Rating: Jolly Rancher - middle of the road

Police pour through the collective tapes and phones of murder victims found in a burned-out truck stop to figure out who the culprit it. It's "found-footage" so you know what to expect in the camera work and acting department. Red herrings abound and you just wish everyone would shut up sometimes. That said, the setting is visually interesting and many of the scares are effectively scary instead of eye-rolling. I personally like the twists.

[Jack]

Dracula Has Risen from the Grave (1968) - a monsignor sticks a big crucifix on the front door of Dracula's castle...doesn't make ol' Drac too happy.  He follows the monsignor to his home town and bites his daughter - will her boyfriend be able to save her in time?!?!  This is another old favorite of mine.  Great characters and some fun subplots, and plenty of nice atmosphere.  4.5/5.

[JaseSF]

3. The Werewolf of Washington (1973): Watched via Elvira's Movie Macabre, this is the story of a reporter named Jack Whittier (Dean Stockwell) who takes an assignment in Budapest where he unexpectedly gets bitten by a werewolf. Sure enough, he gets called back the United States to work for the President (Biff McGuire) as a press assistant and shortly thereafter there's a werewolf roaming around the White House and Washington, D.C. usually targeting hapless female victims. The government tries to use it to place the blame on their political enemies and control the media while a werewolf continually stalks the night in their midst.

This movie is just so completely wacky. Yeah, it's a bit of a total howler so to speak. Hmm, let's count the ways. (1)The director has a weird thing for bathrooms as they frequently appear interspersed throughout the film often with two male characters going to the bathroom together?! One scene even starts filmed from the perspective of inside a toilet bowl?! (2) Mysterious bizarre characters briefly appear throughout the film and in the background only to disappear out of the film without explanation. Particularly bizarre is Dr. Kiss (Michael Dunn), a dwarfish mad doctor conducting experiments in the White House basement who has an henchmen seemingly constantly shadowing the President. (3) The werewolf seems to be able to teleport from place to place given how we see him locked in a room in one scene (or just leaving a room) and then seconds later he's mysteriously somehow in a completely different location. The werewolf also likes to bark and pant like a dog, and seems particularly like a demented, angry, horny hairy dwarf in some scenes given he's often much shorter than other characters in the film including those he attacks and he most often pounces on or towards female victims. (4) The acting is way over the top by most of the players involved including Stockwell. Jane House also stands out in this regard as the President's daughter Marion.

This tries to be some sort of 1970s political satire suggesting those in government just might be wolves in disguise but really fails to get its point across as it's chock full of so many "What the hell? Did I really just see or hear that?" scenes and sequences. A bizarre oddity but also a potential bad movie classic. Best enjoyed in my opinion with Elvira in the Elvira's Movie Macabre version but certainly ripe for riffing on its own.  

[StinkerMadness]

The misses and I did two last night:


Student Bodies - its a horror spoof from 1981. It's not great but there's some pretty funny moments and jokes. Definitely recommended.
On Amazon Prime for free: http://www.amazon.com/Student-Bodies-Kristen-Riter/dp/B001ZDYWHS


The Monkey's Paw - well....it's ok. Starts out pretty slow but picks up towards the end. A solid DTV effort, but a little too preachy for my tastes. Still worth a view.
On Netflix streaming: http://www.netflix.com/WiPlayer?movieid=70294881

[Anthony Fallone]

Personally my favorite horror/thriller movie is "Turkey in the Straw" sadly it is kind of obscure and i really wish it would get more recognition. It is basically about a loner named Adam Hills who tries to go on a date with his co-worker Stacy on Thanksgiving but she refuses and he goes on a rampage killing people. The kills are really unique especially one scene where Adam takes a hose and jabs it into this guy's neck then he turns the faucet causing the guy's head to swell up until it explodes. The soundtrack is also amazing, it is very eerie and creepy. The music was composed by Dick Klein who also worked on "Scanners" and "The Exorcist"