Author Topic: Shocktober Group Marathon 2018  (Read 31113 times)

1SO

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Re: Shocktober Group Marathon 2018
« Reply #150 on: October 26, 2018, 01:50:54 PM »
I will rewatch Eyes Without a Face one day.

I'm aiming to never watch The Forest, but I can make no guarantee.

Of course I had to look up Ziva Rodann. She's no Barbara Steele.
Is the film a Mummy movie or a Vampire film? The plot description reads like they try to have it both ways.

Captain Kronos is the kind of film that should be remade. The premise is sound, but it needs a more charismatic cast and a fight choreographer.

Antares

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Re: Shocktober Group Marathon 2018
« Reply #151 on: October 26, 2018, 04:12:08 PM »
Is the film a Mummy movie or a Vampire film? The plot description reads like they try to have it both ways.

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smirnoff

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Re: Shocktober Group Marathon 2018
« Reply #152 on: October 27, 2018, 12:05:54 AM »
Friday the 13th

I'm all about that ending, when the swamp leper jumps out of the water. It's really the only memorable part of the film for me. The only part I would call great. The fight with Mrs. Voorhees was good. Watching her take a gun butt to the face was kind of funny, because she goes down like the old sack of potatoes that she is. I wish more of the violence had the head-shaking humour of that scene. Other than that the film is unremarkable. A bore really.

4/10

1SO

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Re: Shocktober Group Marathon 2018
« Reply #153 on: October 28, 2018, 12:45:43 AM »
It's not that I haven't been watching Horror films. I just haven't been into writing about them.

The Old Dark House (1963)
Let's Kill Uncle (1966)
★ ★
Love William Castle, but these later films show him rapidly losing steam. Shot in washed-out color with questionable performances, Castle had a knack for the fun side of terror, but these films are only slightly weird, which is neither scary nor fun.

The Others (2001)
★ ★ ★ - Very Good
Earlier this month I showed Mrs. 1SO The Innocents and she was as disappointed as I am (twice now). I've always thought of this as the better adult and children ghost story, but the wife had an oddly negative reaction to the twist, which she thought was too much of a twist. While it makes logical sense she didn't like how it's like (in her words) "serving you tea and then telling you it's actually a milkshake." She also thought Kidman was all bug-eyes while her voice alternates between whispers and shrieks.

I liked it even more this time and wish Alejandro Amenábar would make make more films with this much style.
The Strangler (1964)
★ ★ ˝
It's a post-Psycho world, with scantily-clad ladies and a killer who is clearly climaxing when he commits murder. Victor Buono is a very interesting presence, large in size, yet there's a sweetness to his face and very handsome eyes. The police scenes are routine, but Buono has picked up the soulfulness of Peter Lorre.

When a Stranger Calls Back (1993)
★ ★ ★ - Good
I forgot I had seen this until it got to the extremely clever finale. I always remember the beginning (as good as the first film), but this is ultimately better. Not saying much, but I know smirnoff is a fan so I'd like to let him know it's still a good one.

smirnoff

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Re: Shocktober Group Marathon 2018
« Reply #154 on: October 28, 2018, 04:22:39 AM »
When a Stranger Calls Back (1993)
★ ★ ★ - Good
I forgot I had seen this until it got to the extremely clever finale. I always remember the beginning (as good as the first film), but this is ultimately better. Not saying much, but I know smirnoff is a fan so I'd like to let him know it's still a good one.

Woop! Glad to hear it! :) That ending was one of the scariest things I can remember seeing in a film. As a kid it got in my head. Now I just think it's an incredibly neat trick and really well executed.

Bondo

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Re: Shocktober Group Marathon 2018
« Reply #155 on: October 28, 2018, 07:18:00 AM »
The Terror

Watched the first four episodes of this series from AMC. Best I'd describe it is it is Lost, but instead of a plane crash into the tropics it is royal navy ships getting iced in the arctic. There is terror, but it felt too inexplicable to be actually be tense to the viewer (though I'm sure that only makes it worse to be the person in the story).

Junior

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Re: Shocktober Group Marathon 2018
« Reply #156 on: October 28, 2018, 07:35:53 AM »
It becomes more explicable as the show progresses. Things ramp up in the back half.
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Knocked Out Loaded

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Re: Shocktober Group Marathon 2018
« Reply #157 on: October 29, 2018, 05:51:39 AM »
Sleepwalkers (Mick Garris, 1992)

The opening scene here is a pretty ugly one and in a way it sells the movie short as it gives us a prevision of where will arrive at, at the end of the movie.

The story itself begins with a mother and her son who are new in town. They are refugees you could say, since they lead an existence that in a way reminds of some sort of vampire-like creatures. They can withstand the daylight but they need to feed. Their relationship isn't a very healthy one, to say the least, on more levels than this one. The son seems to have got the responsibility to bring home food to the table on his shoulders and he tries to do that by dating suitable girls at school, so in some ways the movie has motifs like those you find in an ordinary high school movie. Mind you, the story itself has some plotholes and the script a few stupid solutions. Like a romantic picnic, but set in a grave yard.... Stephen King, who has written the original story, at least got the opportunity to do a fun cameo as a caretaker here. The movie is pretty entertaining for the most of the time but some parts are unnecessarily sleazy.

One final objection I have is that the nasty opening scene isn't fully compatible with how the movie in fact ends.

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Knocked Out Loaded

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Re: Shocktober Group Marathon 2018
« Reply #158 on: October 29, 2018, 05:54:35 AM »
The Others (2001)
★ ★ ★ - Very Good
Earlier this month I showed Mrs. 1SO The Innocents and she was as disappointed as I am (twice now). I've always thought of this as the better adult and children ghost story, but the wife had an oddly negative reaction to the twist, which she thought was too much of a twist. While it makes logical sense she didn't like how it's like (in her words) "serving you tea and then telling you it's actually a milkshake." She also thought Kidman was all bug-eyes while her voice alternates between whispers and shrieks.
I really like The Others and I think the twist is a clever one that holds up for severeal viewings.
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1SO

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Re: Shocktober Group Marathon 2018
« Reply #159 on: October 30, 2018, 10:44:28 PM »

Psycho II (1983)

I can understand why it's taken so long for this film to get the proper respect. A sequel to Psycho is an unthinkable idea and will surely be compared negatively up and down from the lesser quality to anything that "just isn't Psycho." Even if it was filmed in Black & White and used the original score as inspiration, there are still moments where the film is falling in line with 80s slashers. However, the continuity from the first film is very strong - I love how they got Vera Miles to return, and how her character has changed over time - while it's a more modern film it's a much classier production than other horror films from the same era, and most of all, Anthony Perkins demonstrates he still has a lot in the tank with the return of Norman Bates. The performance here may not be as iconic, but there's a lot more layering as the Norman fights to keep his sanity.

While my month with Mrs. 1SO has been largely successful, she had thought I was playing it too safe with fun thrills like Happy Death Day and Rollercoaster. Even Halloween, which certainly has its moments didn't get under her skin as much as it excited her to finally understand what the legend was all about. With Psycho II, the month finally got dangerous, and she thinks had it been released in Black & White, it would make as fitting a companion to the first film as Incredibles 1 & 2.
Rating: ★ ★ ★ - Good
Mrs. 1SO: ★ ★ ★ ˝

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Island of Lost Souls (1932)

I really got this one wrong the first time. While the film is dated, there's a dangerous quality to it unusual for films of this time. The elaborate makeup, twisted sets and a plot that's like an unholy abomination are unsettling and the film rarely takes a break for something less horrific. Meanwhile, Charles Laughton just lords over everything ignorant of the dark side of his scientific surgeries. I got it this time, one of the best horror films of the early 1930s.

The wife... not so much. She liked the cast and found the premise fascinating, but there was a spookiness missing and for all its disturbing ideas, the film itself never really got nasty or mean.
Rating: ★ ★ ★ - Good
Mrs. 1SO: ★ ★

- Some of the imagery and ideas are disturbing