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Author Topic: Shocktober Group Marathon 2011  (Read 58785 times)

sdedalus

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Re: Shocktober Group Marathon 2011
« Reply #170 on: October 14, 2011, 12:59:42 AM »
The Raven

The Simpsons does a reading of The Raven, with entertainment added, in about 6 minutes. This film was 80. Even more than some of the others, this seemed a tall task. But ultimately this has almost nothing to do with the story aside from there being a Raven and a lost love Lenore. What it turns into is a feud between wizards. It isn't all that compelling. Price is meh, Lorre once again annoys, Karloff hams things up. Jack Nicholson is actually in this, though I didn't realize it until the end credits. I find that the further afield they go from the Poe works, the sloppier the films tend to be.

2/5

That's one of the Poe/Corman films I haven't seen.  (It might be the only one, I'm not sure).  Can't imagine how they made a whole movie out of it.  The Simpsons sketch is one of my all-time favorites though, and has been since it first aired.

There's a Poe-ish Corman that stars Nicholson and Karloff called The Terror.  Francis Ford Coppola was the Asst. Director and Monte Hellman was the location director.
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Sam the Cinema Snob

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Re: Shocktober Group Marathon 2011
« Reply #171 on: October 14, 2011, 11:22:33 AM »
House (1977)

I expected the classic Japanese Horror film to be crazy and out there. I wasn’t prepared for how out there it would be. Equal parts high-school comedy, surreal fantasy and gruesome horror, House is a synthesis of film tones that work to good effect, but the actual film techniques get in the way of the film’s best elements.

On the week leading up to summer break, Gorgeous (Kimiko Ikegami) discovers that her plans for her friends would involve spending the summer with her widower father’s girlfriend. She quickly switches plans and takes her friends to her aunt’s house for the summer. But the small mansion where her aunt lives in the countryside harbors a great evil which unleashes itself on the unsuspecting girls.

While it might sound menacing and dark, the film is often hilarious. Upbeat music, a slapstick tempo to the action and some hammy acting make some of the darkest moments of the film also the funniest. The absurdity of the comedy also helps sell the horror which is almost never explained or clearly defined, leaving the film open to go anywhere and do anything.

There’s also a self-aware, almost meta level to the way the film presents the characters. All the girls are given names that are simply their overriding personality trait. Therefore, you’ve got characters called Melody, Kung-Fu, Prof, Sweet and Mac. While this might seem like a reductionist approach, it actually makes them surprisingly memorable and, in some ways, endearing.

At times, the film is too flashy. The film has a good number of crazy hyperediting scenes that work well in tense situations, but when everyone is just having a conversation, it becomes gratuitous. A camera pan or a wide shot would have got the job done. Therefore, by the time we get to the intense stuff, the film has already abused the editing style.

There’s also the problem of special effects. Some of them are fantastically surreal and look amazing, but other times it seemed like they just cobbled something together and threw it on the final print. A lot of superimposed effects have jagged edges or sharp contrasts that make the illusion obvious. Some might find it adds to the camp, but given that the film has more than a few sequences where the illusion looks fantastic, it comes across as lazy and inconsistent.

Still, there’s something to be said for the hyper, surreal style of the film. It’s infectiously fun and distinct, simultaneously unnerving and amusing. And the color in this film is fantastically unrestrained, creating for one of the most alluring looking horror films you’re likely to come across. Yet another example of how fantastic a film can look if left visually unrestrained.

The blending of the surreal and silly in this fever pitched dream of mad comedy and distraught horror makes House a distinct and memorable horror experience. Some will try to liken it to the modern horror spoof movie, but none of them have the momentum, allure and pitch-perfect tone of House.

FroHam X

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Re: Shocktober Group Marathon 2011
« Reply #172 on: October 14, 2011, 11:54:29 AM »
As crazy as House is, I still think it lacks the underlying heart that makes Evil Dead work so much better. Both films are very similar, though House is definitely more "out there". But the story in House is never interesting. I'm carried along purely by the craziness, which does escalate, but never gets more interesting. A totally awesome, wild, crazy movie, but I don't think it's quite the "masterpiece" some have made it out to be.
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Sam the Cinema Snob

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Re: Shocktober Group Marathon 2011
« Reply #173 on: October 14, 2011, 12:04:13 PM »
But it has pretty Japanese girls!!

Also, I think it has some heart. I find the characters more endearing than I find Ash in Evil Dead II. The Evil Dead, well, I think that film might have more heart than this.

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Re: Shocktober Group Marathon 2011
« Reply #174 on: October 14, 2011, 12:10:58 PM »
My review of House from last week which I am simply relinking to because nobody commented out of jealousy.

I do think there's a definite increase in style as the film goes on. I preferred the less crazy style moves from the beginning of the film to the bat shit insane cut-ins from the end. It's like no matter what's happening on screen, he won't let anything overpower his style.

I like that you pointed out why the simple character names worked. I couldn't put my finger on why that decision didn't bother me.

FroHam X

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Re: Shocktober Group Marathon 2011
« Reply #175 on: October 14, 2011, 12:13:16 PM »
Also, I think it has some heart. I find the characters more endearing than I find Ash in Evil Dead II. The Evil Dead, well, I think that film might have more heart than this.

I prefer Evil Dead 1 to Evil Dead 2. And I think Ash is hilariously endearing in the first film.
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Junior

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Re: Shocktober Group Marathon 2011
« Reply #176 on: October 14, 2011, 12:13:44 PM »
I'll be watching this one soon. Though the comparisons to the Evil Dead movies scare me.
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FroHam X

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Re: Shocktober Group Marathon 2011
« Reply #177 on: October 14, 2011, 12:15:48 PM »
Oh no, it's really nothing like Evil Dead stylistically or story-wise.
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Sam the Cinema Snob

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Re: Shocktober Group Marathon 2011
« Reply #178 on: October 14, 2011, 12:18:00 PM »
My review of House from last week which I am simply relinking to because nobody commented out of jealousy.


Going back and reading your review, I can see why you might have a problem with the last act, but I think the film is brilliantly paced to slowly build us to that frenzied, out there last act. If anything, I think the first act is a bit too zany and too out there, which is why I think the second act dials things back a bit and becomes more subtly creepy.

Bondo

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Re: Shocktober Group Marathon 2011
« Reply #179 on: October 14, 2011, 09:30:07 PM »
Slither

Oh, what fun. I do love a film that doesn't go where you expect it (unless going where you expect it is more meaningful). Based on the poster of this, I knew there were going to be slug thingies, but how this creature-feature develops really does a good job tying in some disparate influences like zombie films and Invasion of the Body Snatchers without being redundant to them. Generally good effects and acting, some quality kills, and a number of really awesome line deliveries from Nathan Fillion really deliver the goods here.

Looking through the cast that also includes Elizabeth Banks, Michael Rooker, Jenna Fischer and that guy Gregg Henry (and a strong part for Tania Saulnier), I also figured out that Matreya Fedor, in a fairly small part here playing one of Saulnier's sisters, was the lead in a short film, No Bikini, from the following year that I really liked (and had to rewatch upon discovering this...it is available on YouTube). So that was an added bonus crossover.

I'm not sure if I'd call Slither the best film I've watched for the marathon, but it was certainly the most fun I've had.

4/5