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Author Topic: Building the Horror/Thriller 1000  (Read 63145 times)

1SO

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Re: Horror: The Final Chapter
« Reply #270 on: July 04, 2017, 12:06:54 AM »

Cigarette Burns (2005)
aka. Masters of Horror: John Carpenter’s Cigarette Burns
* * * - Good
Considered the best episode of Masters of Horror, built around a solid Ringu premise of a lost film screened only once because the crowd went into homicidal rage. Search for the film allows Carpenter to get meta more successfully than usual. First half is talky, and while there’s no way the payoff can match the expectations of the build-up, what we get is pretty satisfying. Music by Cody Carpenter sounds like Papa John, which is great.


Sheitan (2006)
aka. Satan
* ½
The bulk of the film centers on a bunch of young adults, obsessed with sex beyond even what you might expect from young adults. The script has more crass sexual talk than Deadpool, and this is a drama, so it wears really thin when the horror takes over an hour before it unleashes hell. That’s the best way to describe it. The final third isn’t supernatural and there’s no torture, but the attacks from Vincent Cassell as a whacked out shepherd have the same relentlessness as Leatherface with his chainsaw. Problem is, it isn’t entertaining to watch, not in a scary way and not in a fun way.


Final Destination 3 (2006)
* * ½
I stopped watching this series with #2 when the formula became too obvious. The spectacular openings are the highlight (and if you haven’t watched 2s log truck, do yourself a favor. While a roller coaster sounds like a great setting for mayhem, filming such a sequence requires clear images when high speeds make it difficult and too many effects diluting the stuntwork. (This entry makes up for it by having two such sequences.) A nice surprise was discovering the lead is played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead, whose recent work has made me a fan.


Fido (2006)
* * ½
Very fresh and clever take on the zombie film, with an alt-1950s where the undead are sold as pets and servants. Clever doesn’t equal funny here and the results left me empty. Like The Love Witch, this is all dressed up in beautiful details, but doesn’t go far in terms of story. Lots to admire, but barely a smile.


The Last Winter (2006)
* * ½
When I saw Wendigo a month ago it left me interested to see more by filmmaker Larry Fessenden. Little did I know this was also on They Shoot Zombies list. Another creature ghost story tied closely to the mysticism of the land (in this case an artic setting similar to The Thing). Again the vision is distinct, the ideas are muddy but occasionally effective. I see why Fessenden has a following and I also see why that following is so small. Cast this time includes Ron Pearlman, James Le Gros, Connie Britton and Kevin Corrigan.
« Last Edit: October 16, 2020, 01:12:04 AM by 1SO »

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Re: Horror: The Final Chapter
« Reply #271 on: July 08, 2017, 12:47:07 AM »

The Living and the Dead (2006)
* * ½
In an English manor house, a young adult son suffering from schizophrenia is determined to prove he can take care of his invalid mother better than an outsider nurse. This one is going to be a matter of taste. Performances pull no punches and the frenetic camerawork and disconnected soundscape certainly ring cinematically true, but there’s also a strong whiff of exploitation to the direction which places it firmly in horror. Lodge Kerrigan’s dramas about schizophrenia, Clean Shaven and Keane used a similar technique to better effect. This got me thinking about Angst, which goes down the dark path with its mentally disturbed lead but avoids exploitation with simple, bold directing decisions instead of flashy style and sentiment.


13 Beloved (2006)
aka. 13: Game of Death
* *
There have been a number of these Fear Factor horror films lately, the best one being The Game. The best of the recent batch is Cheap Thrills and Nerve is one I still debate watching. This one from Thailand has some big problems. The main character gets paid after completing each task, but he’s told up front if he doesn’t complete all 13 he loses all the money. So, why pay small dividends if it’s an all or nothing deal? The tone is terribly off, with much of the events played for laughs, which doesn’t work when your film has dead pets and parental abuse. What ultimately sinks it is a muddled finale that tries to make the games part of a personal story that doesn’t work, like a bad Hollywood rewrite. In brief, 13 Beloved < 13 Tzameti.


The Hamiltons (2006)
* * ½
Debut from a pair of filmmakers who call themselves The Butcher Brothers is about a suburban family with some deeply dark secrets. Having recently lost their parents the remaining siblings quickly unshackle all sense of morality, including but not limiting themselves to having kidnapped women in their basement. I had a lot of trouble getting onto the wavelength of the filmmakers. Don’t know if it’s the inexperience or sloppy storytelling, but the first half is a few interesting ideas slowly searching for a purpose. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Brothers have a better film in their careers, maybe even one that gets me to like this film more.


Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead (2006)
*
There was a time when I could enjoy Troma, but that doesn’t seem like a remote possibility now. Considered by many to be their best film because it’s directed by the company’s chief, Lloyd Kaufman, (who acts in the film and does a good job of it), and it incorporates many genres including musical numbers. I thought it was painful, mainly because the visual humor is so gross it’s deadening. Compare this to Cannibal: The Musical by Trey Parker, distributed by Troma but made independent of them. Parker knows how to blend horror, rude humor and songs. Poultrygeist is what you get when all of that goes horribly wrong.


Black Water (2007)
* * * - Okay
Killer croc in Australian swamp told in a minimalist style. (Not as minimal as Open Water but more than The Shallows.) This means few characters with few plans, mostly hoping to wait out the danger, which can be trying for some, but there’s still enough tension and suspense to make this a decent film for patient viewers. Later the same year, there was an Australian killer croc swamp film with a much larger budget. Looking forward to comparing the two because that one (called Rogue) is up next.

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Re: Horror: The Final Chapter
« Reply #272 on: July 11, 2017, 01:56:18 AM »

Rogue (2007)
* *
We begin with 2007’s other Australian killer croc movie, this time with money for a larger cast, including a few stars, and digital effects. The director is Greg McLean, who made Wolf Creek, a film I found tedious until it become irredeemably despicable. So maybe I’m biased, still bearing the sour aftertaste of his direction with WC, but a good killer croc movie needs suspense and there’s none here. Plenty of surprise, and it’s to the film’s credit that billing and star power - Sam Worthington, Radha Mitchell, Mia Wasikowska and Michael Vartan - do not boost chances of survival. Digital effects are pretty good, but it only adds to the empty flash compared to Black Water.


I Can See You (2008)
* ½
Coming from 366 Weird Movies, this trip into the woods has a small cult of people who respond to the off-kilter tone and David Lynch style surrealism in the last 20 minutes. There are scenes I can definitely point to as interesting, small moments where I sort of understand what the filmmaker is attempting. Largely, I’m bewildered trying to figure out what it’s trying to say. What is this film actually about?


The Cottage (2008)
* ½
Crime comedy misfire that twists into a slasher misfire. The dialogue is staged in a stiff, theatrical manner that makes the actors look like they’re ‘acting’ or doing an old comic routine. Because the director shows no flair for comedy when the film becomes Horror it loses its tone because the violence lacks that necessary splatstick element Sam Raimi and Peter Jackson used to deliver.


The Ruins (2008)
* *
The film’s most original element is the backbone of its marketing campaign. Had I watched without that knowledge, the twist might’ve had an impact and raised my interest in everything that happens after the evil is finally revealed. The cast isn’t as annoying as usual for this type of ‘vacation in hell’ film, which is strange because their actions are often annoying.

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Re: Horror: The Final Chapter
« Reply #273 on: July 11, 2017, 01:56:32 AM »

Home Movie (2008)
"Let's have a staring contest. I dare you to stare until our movie's done.
I bet you you can't."


Camcorder Horror, and this commits one of the more frustrating sins of the sub-genre, too many moments when anyone else would put the camera down or turn it off. In my post-viewing I found a number of complaints I can't argue with. The parents make some daft decisions in the face of the terrible things that happen early on. Some people also complain about the performances, which I think is typical of cam horror, where actors either show off (Adrian Pasdar as Dad) or are "natural" to the point of seeming amateur (the rest of the cast). Also typical of this type, the film takes a while establishing suburban normalcy, raising the heat ever so slowly. My biggest problem is a number of shocking moments involve (faked?) dead animals. Home Movie currently has a 5.7 on IMDB, even though there are a number of good reviews, including mine.

I realized it as the film was heading towards its finale. Twenty minutes to go and I wasn't sure what the filmmakers were going to spring for a climax, and it made me nervous. The moments leading to this point were okay, but they accumulated an uneasy feeling that was ready to payoff. I didn't know how dark things might get, or how gruesome, or perhaps it would be another disappointment. While the final seconds leave me hanging a little, the rest of the finale marks this as one of the scariest films of this Marathon, and it's not just a couple of scenes, but a rather lengthy section of sustained terror. Maybe, I'll downgrade it upon further reflection (like I did to poor Robin Redbreast), but right now this is more than Okay.
Rating: * * * - Good

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Re: Horror: The Final Chapter
« Reply #274 on: July 16, 2017, 01:13:46 AM »

Tokyo Gore Police (2008)
½
The film’s whole purpose is to be as gory as possible as often as possible, while retaining a comic sensibility that keeps it from becoming sickening. It aims for Robocop’s mix of ultra violence and black comedy – there are even strange ads between scenes – but the pursuit of severed body parts, fountains of blood and extreme body horror is at the expense of everything else. A horror version of a one-joke idea repeated for 100 minutes. It took me four days to get through this.


Mum & Dad (2008)
aka. House Massacre
* *
Kidnapped young woman is ‘adopted’ against her will into a family with no morals. There’s a good idea to this. I remember a photo on the internet of a mother with her two sons, the sons have their hands on the moms breasts. It’s an image that could inspire a fascinating horror film about how far the darkest corners of humanity have slipped. The suburban exaggerations work against the film, which end up closer to torture porn. Performances are excellent, making the film better than it should be.


Deadgirl (2008)
aka. Dead Girl
aka. Female Animated Corpse
* ½
Like Mum & Dad this premise is likely to offend, but there’s potential if handled right. A female zombie becomes a sex slave, setting this up as a fable about young male lust. Removing a woman’s right to say ‘no’ by removing her ability to speak and basic life, but not making it about a sex doll or necrophilia, gives this some original ground, but you have to tread very carefully. These filmmakers are not up to the task, with performances that needed to be stronger and a tone that needed to be less sensationalistic. In fact, this is one zombie film that should’ve been taken further away from horror and played more for emotional drama.


The Burrowers (2008)
aka. Demons Underground
* ½
My two favorite genres are Horror and Western so any film that mixes the two is a natural draw. Too bad this film – a mix of The Searchers and The Descent – has no sense of tone. No atmosphere in the lighting, editing or production design. Bland writing and direction too. Just nothing to give it some excitement or interest.


Cold Prey II (2008)
* *
Here’s a film directed with style by someone who knows at least the basics about what a thriller should look like in terms of shots and the editing of those shots. Too bad the script for this slasher has no modern perspective. It’s like they found an unproduced script from the 1980s and just filmed it like we’ve never seen this type of slasher film before. Even more specifically, the story credited to five people, is practically a remake of Halloween 2.
« Last Edit: July 30, 2017, 12:30:29 AM by 1SO »

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Re: Horror: The Final Chapter
« Reply #275 on: July 17, 2017, 12:13:45 AM »
I applaud the honest and thorough consideration you give to these bottom-of-the-barrel films. I would guess that, in most cases, your reactions are more interesting than the films themselves. Bravo!

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Re: Horror: The Final Chapter
« Reply #276 on: July 17, 2017, 12:43:51 AM »
Titles like Deadgirl and Nekromantic I would probably never select to watch on my own, but they have a reputation for some reason and I like finding positive reviews after I watch the movie so that my write-up considers those who found it worth watching.

Tokyo Gore Police is something I might have enjoyed back in the 90s when I discovered Evil Dead II and Peter Jackson's splatstick horror, but I'm just about at the age where I have little patience for a film that just wants to show off gore effects.

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Re: Horror: The Final Chapter
« Reply #277 on: July 17, 2017, 01:13:11 AM »
So you're not excited for Kuso?

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1SO

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Re: Horror: The Final Chapter
« Reply #278 on: July 17, 2017, 08:33:45 AM »
definitely not

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Re: Horror: The Final Chapter
« Reply #279 on: July 21, 2017, 12:14:44 AM »

Quarantine (2008)
* *
Reamke of the awesome [REC] is as pointless as I had heard. It doesn’t copy the original 100%, but it’s close enough to never stand as its own thing. The good news is some of the best scares from the original retain their fun shock, but it’s a shame for anyone who’s seen this instead of the original.


Dance of the Dead (2008)
* ½
American Pie with zombies. Some might find the comedy amusing which would make the characters more tolerable to hang with. I found them to be too broadly drawn, without being outright stereotypes to deconstruct, like The Breakfast Club. One of the most forgettable films of the Marathon.


Dead Set (2008)
* * ½
Producer and Writer Charlie Brooker (Black Mirror) gave me a twinge of expectations for the first time in a long time for this marathon. As I hoped, Booker hits upon a great idea for blending genre and satire, a zombie apocalypse as seen by the cast and crew of Big Brother. What keeps this from being a Discovery is every time there’s zombie action, the camera shakes like it’s being held by a paint mixer.


The Children (2008)
* * * - Very Good
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My Bloody Valentine (2009)
* * ½
Didn’t take long for the film to remind me it was made with 3D in mind. Looks like it would’ve been a benefit and excuses the overall video game look. I thought the 1981 original was a disappointing slasher, and this hits many of the same beats, though the remake has better acting, some more money to polish the production and it doesn’t take itself so seriously. It’s one of the better mysteries for a slasher, but still no more than an excuse for lots of violent death.