Bear

Been diving into the Tremors franchise these last few days and watched all of the five sequels. I can't believe I have not done that before, because there's loads and loads of fun here. Despite being a direct-to-video franchise this has been very positively received by fans.

Tremors II: Aftershocks - The first movie was all about Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward's characters, but despite having Fred Ward reprise his role in this, it's all about Michael Gross and his character Burt Gummer. If you enjoy the first movie, you should absolutely enjoy this and I thought this was really good. Not quite as good, but not too far off either. Hilarious and with great special effects.

Tremors 3: Back to Perfection - Michael Gross as Burt Gummer is hilarious as always, but the movie as a whole is a bit disappointing. The thing that is a bit disappointing is the use of CGI monsters, whereas all the effects in the two previous movies was mainly practical. Some CGI in the second, but more subtle than in this, much due to the graboids having mutated quite a bit. Than, and the fact that it is a much more light-hearted movie overall. Not as dark. But it's fun, and it's good.

Tremors 4: The Legend Begins - This is a prequel where we see Michael Gross playing Burt Gummer's great gandfather, Hiram Gummer. This was a massive step up and more or less as good as Tremors II: Aftershock. So while the first Tremors movie especially is a neo-western horror movie, this is more straight up a western horror movie without the neo in front of it. Great movie with a different type of atmosphere. Awesome as hell!

Tremors 5: Bloodlines - While Michael Gross as Burt Gummer rules supreme, this film is overall very disappointing. They go to South-Africa, which in itself is pretty cool. But they don't make the most of it and there's too many characters, they lost the neo-western feeling of it and the claustrophobic feeling of the past movies are gone. Mediocre at best tbh.

Tremors: A Cold Day in Hell - This time Burt Gummer travels to Canada and it kinda works? The CGI's surprisingly well done. Like...fuck. Despite being a low-budget movie (I would say the budget was between 2-5m somewhere) the CGI is no worse than what you'll see in 200m+ budget blockbuster movies. Fuck it, it's actually better than tons and tons and tons of the CGI found in these monster budget movies. That in itself is remarkable. But it's big, dumb and fun. I liked it a lot.

Looking forward to Tremors 7 next year. Will also dig into the 2003 TV-series.

Btw, there was supposed to be a new Tremors TV-series starring both Kevin Bacon reprising his role from the original movie, but somehow they stopped production after or before the pilot. That fucking sucks! Would kill for someone to pick that up and make it.

Death Race 2, Death Race: Inferno, Death Race: Beyond Anarchy

Yeah, I watched the three installments in the new Death Race series. The first one, a remake starring Jason Statham, was fun and all. Death Race 2 is a prequel to the 2008 remake, with Inferno being a sequel to the prequel and Beyond Anarchy a sequel to the 2008 remake. They're dumb, stupid and brainless fun. Nothing more, nothing less. Decent entertainment if you turn your brain off for 110 minutes each movie.

Death Race 2050 - You can call this a remake, sequel to the original, classic 1975 movie or a soft reboot of the franchise. Doesn't matter, they all fit. This has nothing to do with the Death Race series I talked about above.

This isn't as good as the original, but this is still pretty damn good. Did not see that coming. This is super silly, over the top and campy, but it does feature much of the charm of the original. It's obvious they've found their inspiration in the original here, and not the reboot of the franchise. Would love to see a sequel to this as this was a lot of fun. Highly recommended if you like the 1975 movie. Damn son!

The Last Stand - Rewatched this today. This was Kim Jee-woon's first American movie after having impressed with one amazing movie after another in South-Korea, and it marked Arnold Schwarzenegger's return to action movies. The Last Stand is an over the top, silly and stupid action movie in the vein of the 80's, and it's amazing. Liked it even more now than when it was released. Great film!

Ocean's Eight - A spin off, or just a sequel if you want, to the Ocean's movies starring a female cast. Not nearly as bad as the Ghostbusters remake which also featured a female cast, but not very good either. It lacks the wit, intelligence and style and is just boring. Awkwafina is fun, but Rihanna is just beyond fucking awful and James Corden should just put a shotgun to his temple and pull the trigger already. He's just annoying as hell.

VHS Massacre - Documentary about the rise, but more than all fall, of the VHS. It's fun and entertaining, but not close to being the best documentary about VHS. 

Lost Holiday - Disappointing crime comedy that's neither funny nor smart or interesting. Calls inbetween everything. Boring.

12 Strong - Oscar bait. Decent entertainment, but not a very good film. Takes an interesting plot and makes it into a standard war film by Americans, for Americans. Losers.

Midnight Run - Classic buddy cop film. Not nearly as funny as some of the other 80's buddy cop movies, but the plot and characters is really good. Very good movie!

Bikram: Yogi, Guru, Predator - Interesting story about yet another charismatic figure who were able to get plenty people to his side, then abuse them and act like a good. Sad stuff tbh, but it's interesting how we see this shit over and over and over again. People, both like this guy and his followers, are fucking pathetic.

Zombieland: Double Tap - It took no less than 10 years to get this out, and it was a bit too late. Like... 5-6 years too late. But personally I found myself caught off guard here, because this was way, way, way better than I dared hope for. As good as the original IMO. There's one part whioch featured awful, obvious CGI, but other than that this was a fun ride. Thumb up!

The Ice Cream Truck - This is an attempt to make a slow-burning horror comedy, but it lacks the laughs, it lacks the suspense, it lacks the mystery and, more than anything, lacks anything interesting at all. Very disappointing.

The Zero Boys - Awesome late 80-s action horror that nobody's heard of, and what a shame this is. It's stupid, but loads and loads of fun throughout. Highly recommended!

Leprechaun: Origins - I looked forward to this, but aside from a few cool moments of gore there's nothing to enjoy here. This is meant to be a reboot of the Leprechaun genre, but it has nothing to do with Leprechaun at all. It's just a badly designed monster in a standard monster movie. The Leprechaun POV shots were the worst. Truly awful!

Leprechaun Returns - Holy shit, YES! Steven Kostanski (The Void) makes this TV-made sequel to the original Leprechaun, and he just nails it. Everything from the visuals to the story and characters feels like they belong in the Leprechaun universe, and it's awesome. This just feels like a natural sequel. Magnificent! While the original Leprechaun does feel very 90's, this feels incredibly 80's and that's awesome. This is as good, if not better, than the original and makes it the best in the series so far. Hands down!

6 Underground - Michael Bay's first film for Netflix feels like Michael Bay is trying to make an unofficial Fast and the Furious movie. And it works. I thought this was fun. It's silly, dumb, over the top and fucking stupid. But it's fun. Turn your brain off and let yourself be entertained.

Turtle Power: The Definitive History of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Documentary about the creation of TMNT, its impact and so on. Thought this was a really good documentary, but it's a tad too short at 98 minutes. Could've been twice as long as it moves a bit too fast in parts. But it was really good.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - The classic 1990 movie. This has truly stood the test of time and is really good. Much darker than I remembered, but really good and fun. Awesome!

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze - Not nearly as good as the first, and a much more lighthearted affair, but it's really fun throughout nonetheless.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III - A bit darker than the second, much of it due to the fact that the TMNT went back to using their weapons a bit more again. Similar to the first. But still not as dark as the first movie, but very fun nonetheless. Love the setting in ancient Japan.

Brick - The 2005 Rian Johnson movie. Unique in many ways, and especially with the overall, hard-boiled detective neo-noir story and characters, but with a High School setting.  Joseph Gordon-Levitt is a huge minus as he sucks, but the movie itself is awesome.

Hellboy - There's a lot of positive to say about this movie, but sadly there's equal parts negative to say. It's too messy, the overall tone of the movie changes so much it's hard to take it serious in any way. In one part it's dark horror, then in the next scene it's a lighthearted, silly comedy, then it's pure badass action before it turns into a horror-comedy...and then a lighthearted adventure movie. And so on. David Harbour is fantasti and badass as Hellboy, but he's let down by a poor script and poor directing.

Never Back Down - Heard this was supposed to be bad, and it was. But watched it because I heard the sequels are good.

Never Back Down 2: The Beatdown - Michael Jai White's directorial debut, and he does well. But the movie is just too rooted in drama. I wish it let loose a bit and just went wild with fights. Better than the first, but not very good. Decent at best.

Puppet Master: The Legacy - By far the worst in the series. This is two characters talking about the previous happenings with a shitload of flashbacks. Truly abysmal movie.

Demonic Toys - Often talked about as nothing but  Puppet Master rip off, but this movie is so much more than that. A very, very different movie, despite the demonic toys. I thought this was fucking awesome! Cheesy, cheap, poorly written and poorly directed, but a shitton of fun anyway. Great stuff!

19 hours ago, platy said:

I'll second you here, Leprechaun is definitely underrated as a dark comedy (wouldn't go as far as to call it horror). You made me want to watch it again 

Why would you not call it horror tho? That makes no sense to me.

Have you seen the two newest? Origins and Returns, a reboot and its sequel.

Edit: I'm mistaken. Leprechaun: Origins is a reboot, but Leprechaun Returns is a direct sequel to Leprechaun, ignoring every movie made after the original. Interesting...this just made me even more keen to see it.

Leprechaun 4: In Space - The most over the top and silly movie in the franchise so far, but it's fun alright. But liking this film more or less depends on if you enjoy the silly humour or not. But I did. Weakest in the series so far, but still fun IMO. THere's some IMMENSE practical special effects throughout this film tho that on its own makes it worthwile. IMMENSE!!!

Leprechaun - Super underrated and super fun horror comedy that balances horror with comedy in a really good and fun way. Warwick Davis is excellent as the titular character, and a young Jeffnifer Anniston is super as well. Fantastic film!

Leprechaun 2 - The second movie goes more into the lore of it all, as well as leaning a bit more towards comedy. But it''s great fun. A small step down, and not as well-acted as the first, with the exception of Warwick Davis which is phenomenal, but other than that very good. Fun stuff! Super underrated.

Leprechaun 3 - Even sillier than the second one, but still great fun. Warwick is, once more, phenomenal as the titular creature. Well worth your time if you want something good and silly.

Looking forward to the rest of the series. In Space, in that Hood I & II and the most recent reboots Leprechaun: Origins and more than anything Leprechaun Returns, directed by none other than  Astron-6's Steven Kostanski (The Void, BioCop, Manborg), Should be a blast!

On 11/30/2019 at 9:03 AM, Jigsaw9 said:

Only the material from 2003 to early 2006 is real, the rest is just different shades of embarrassing imo.

 So true!

Who Killed Captain Alex? - The Ugandan movie that started it all (not the first, but the one who started it for sure!). Who Killed Captain Alex? is a super low-budget action movie made on around $85. This is the type of movie that's not made to make money or to please anyone with the exception of the people included. It's poor and awful in so many ways, but it's full of heart and the icing on the top is the video joked VJEmmie. A video joker is someone who runs jokes and gags over the movie throughout the film, and this is quite common in Uganda. It's hilarious and perfect for an evening with friends, beer and pizza.

Bad Black - Another Ugandian action movie made by the same guy, with the same VJ. This isn't quite as good, but it's still hilarious and well worth a watch. Incredibly silly and over the top.

I highly recommend everyone with a slight interest in movies and cinema to check out the documentary Wakaliwood: The Documentary which is about Nabwana I.G.G., the godfather of Ugandian action cinema. A must see!

Fright - Very early 70's proto-slasher from UK. It starts off as a bit of a standard gothic horror movie, but slowly evolves into something completely else. Great atmosphere, superb suspense and some truly magnificent performances. I'm sure Black Christmas was very, very inspired by this. Feels like it. Highly recommended.

Terror Train - Classic early slasher film featuring a very young Jamie Lee Curtis in her third slasher movie, and fourth (horror) movie overall. It's an early slasher and follows all of the rules, and it does it in a fantastic way. Not the best slasher around, but amazing nonetheless.

The Mutilator - Mid-80's slasher. Feels really cheesy, but is a lot of fun and features some amazing kills. Very very good!

It's not awful, but it's kinda boring tbh.

Compiled Fragments 1997–2003 is also a must if you're a fan of screamo. Collects tracks off splits and a few other tracks. Only thing bad about the release it's that because it's Envy, you'll miss out of Yaphet Kotto's three amazing tracks of the split with Envy and This Machine Kills. Which is a totally killer split with three great bands. Yaphet Kotto completely stole the show on the split tho.

4 hours ago, sleepy coffee said:

so im really digging this and now i wanna hear more but i also see the band has been around for ages and idk if i can find time to do a deep dive in their entire discography atm. any standout/must listen releases you guys recommend?

You won't go wrong with anything up until 2007. Everything's great. The further back in their discography you go, the less post-rock and more screamo you'll get.

I always end up recommending From Here to Eternity, All the Footprints You've Ever Left and the Fear Expecting Ahead and Insomniac Doze as they're my three favourite Envy albums. Three pretty different albums that they showcases their early, more screamo oriented sound (From Here to Eternity), the transition album where they started incorporating more post-rock (All the Footprints...) and the album where they leaned more towards beautiful, atmospheric post-rock and soundscapes, but without completely leaving the screamo behind (Insomniac Doze). 

So it all comes down to if you want screamo Envy, post-rock Envy or a little of both. I prefer the first, but that's just me.

Tales from the Lodge - A different type of anthology movie that just doesn't quite live up to its premise. It's fine for what it is, but it lacks laughs, blood/gore or suspense. It just kinda falls inbetween.

The Final Terror - Cult slasher movie made in 81 and released in 83.  It's kinda like Friday the 13th meets  Deliverance, and that Deliverance-vibe makes it stand out tbh. Really awesome movie and highly recommended for fans of slashers.

Kairo/Pulse - Re-watched today. I am  bit disappointed tbh. Don't get me wrong, it's fantastic and both plot and atmosphere is really good. I just thought it was a bit too long, and the first half is way creepier than the second half. But it's a solid 8/10

Ju-on: The Curse - A cool, atmospheric and ballsy movie. It's told in a weird way, and the different stories doesn't feel as connected as they maybe should, but Takashi Shimizu does his own thing and it really pays off in the end. Really good film, and it would go on to become better.

Sigh.

Cold Skin - Great concept, but incredibly disappointing. The two main characters are boring, the CGI looks awful, and there's no punch in it at all. Thought it was boring. Things have really gone downwards for Xavier Gens since his amazing debut movie Frontier(s).

Absentia - An early film by Mike Flanagan who would go on to direct the amazing The Haunting of Hill House, as well as Hush and the recent Doctor Sleep. I don't like the overall look of this film. Looks very cheap and digital, with weird lighting throughout, but the movie itself is really good. The story is good, the characters feels really real and fleshed out, the atmosphere is good and the Lovecraftian vibe is spot on. Like, this shit is really damn Lovecraftian. A must for fans of Lovecraft. Very good movie, despite some major flaws.

The Dyatlov Pass Incident - I am a huge fan of found footage, and this didn't disappoint...until the end at least. I really liked it, and I liked the overall feeling of it. But I was left slightly disappointed by the ending. They simply revealed a bit too much, and showed a bit too much. But I really liked it anyway. But the unknown is always scarier, so it would have been good to show a bit less. Strong on atmosphere and mystery too.

Black Mountain Side - Amazing, semi-Lovecraftian horror movie set to the big nowhere Northern Canada. It's a slow-burning movie, but it has got great atmosphere, great characters, great set-pieces and a super cool plot. Thought this was amazing!

Lifeforce - Mid-80's Tobe Hooper movie where he adapts Colin Wilson's Lovecraftian The Space Vampires. This is a slight disappointment, but it's a cool movie and you won't find a vampire movie more original than this. Very 80's throughout, and that's always a plus.

Dirt Dauber - 30 minute Lovecraftian short movie. It's good, but it left me a bit disappointed. The car scene was just too long. They did not have either the actors or dialogue to make the scene that long. But overall it was a cool short film. Loved how it went from black and white to colour after a long while. Excellent choice!

Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman - This is far from Kôji Shiraishi's best horror movie, but it's still a really solid piece of work throughout. Great atmosphere and suspense, bleak and brutal in its own way. Very good!

Occult - Another Kôji Shiraishi flick, but this time a found footage, which seems to be his favourable format of horror. It's low-budget (made on a micro-budget as far as I know), and the creators doesn't try to hide that. In fact they used that as well as they can and take great advantage of that. This isn't as good as Noroi: The Curse, but it's a good one nonetheless. Some nice Lovecraftian vibes throughout.

Marebito - Felt like re-watching this and this was as great as I remembered. Quite unique and different, incredibly Lovecraftian and really weird. It's a very original movie. Great stuff, heavy on the atmosphere and mystery.

Harbinger Down - Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff Jr. of special effects studio Amalgamated Dynamics felt so betrayed and disappointed when they saw what had happened to their special effects on The Thing (2011, which originally had some AMAZING special effects, only for a studio to put cheap, awful CGI over them in post-prod) that they decided to start a fundraiser and create something with actual practical special effects and something that felt old school. They raised 380k, got some move money from somewhere else and made this. Harbinger Down has close to 0% originality. It's 85% The Thing (1982) and 15% Alien. The story is familiar, the setting is familiar, the monster is familiar, the characters are familiar and so on. But I thought this was AMAZING! Fantastic special effects, it's just a shame there's not more of them. And if you worship The Thing (1982) and other monster flicks from that era I can't really see how you can not like this. This was phenomenal!

Ready or Not - Horror-comedy bu Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett (V/H/S, Southbound), starring a truly outstanding Samara Weaving (Babysitter, Mayhem). I think this movie will be a bit hit or miss for most people, but I loved it. Through it was phenomenal and among the best movies of 2019. I'd say that if you liked You're Next there's a big chance you'll like this.

On 11/20/2019 at 6:14 PM, psychonnect_rozen said:

However, I think because most (not all) metal and rock fans despise pop all together, you obviously get a sort of superiority complex.

Most metal and rock fans despise pop? I am sorry, but where exactly do this retarded generalization come from? I have, throughout 15+ years og going to metal concerts, going to (mainly) metal bars and hanging with metal people, and discussing metal online on a shitload of metal foras, only talked to a couple of handful of metal fans who did not love pop. The vast majority absolutely adores pop, especially cheesy 80's pop and 90's eurodance. I have been to a countless amount of "metal vorspiels/nachspiels", plenty of them with highly regarded (mostly extreme) metal musicians, and the most played genre at, by far, pop.

It's absolutely fucking shocking that people throw around statements like that in 2019. Being so bigoted in 2019? The fuck is this shit?

Baron Blood of the Greek titans Necromantia passed away today due to a heart attack. What a shame! He played the 8 string bass in Necromantia. Everyone has to check out Necromantia too. Their two first albums are incredibly unique, despite sounding very Greek. Amazing stuff!

The Witching Season - A 5 episode anthology series that contains 5 short episodes, ranging from 9 minutes to 31 (with a minute and a half intro included). It's a bit up and down, but it's fun throughout. Each episode is predictable as hell, but they're fun and I like how each episode pays homage to a different type of horror sub genre.

Shame I missed out on the VHS release of this. Would've loved to own this on VHS.

Btw, best part of the entire series is the intro. Looks and sounds like something John Carpenter could've made in 1979. With music by Slasher Dave, a guy best known for his work with psychedelic death/doom and cheesy horror metallers Acid Witc. But his soundtracks and synth-music is really good and fun. Highly recommended if you like John Carpenter's horror scores