Horror Movies

[Bear 1817]

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!

[Bear 1817]

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!

[Bear 1817]

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!

[Tokage 5930]

starting with the Christmas-related horror:

 

Dead End - Couple of familiar faces in this film about a trip for a christmas family visit gone wrong. It remains engaging and interesting throughout thanks to the snappy dialogue and it even provides some laughs here and there. Very decent film! The "mystery" has been done before but I still liked the film's take on it. The way everything gradually develops and the characters realize they are absolutely fucked is very well done. Low on gore but it's high in atmosphere. Would definitely recommend it to people who are tired of the 'killer santa / killer krampus' take on christmas horror and are looking for something different.

Edited December 23, 2019 by Tokage

[Bear 1817]

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!

[Bear 1817]

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.

[Bear 1817]

 

I think the poster tells you everything you need to know about this beautiful documentary. This is a 4 hours and 20 minutes long dive into the world of 80's horror. It goes through bigger and more well-known movies and franchises like the Halloween, Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street, The Shining, Poltergeist, Gremlins and so on, but it also finds time to mention stuff like The Changeling, Maniac, Dressed to Kill, My Bloody Valentine, Christine, Night of the Comet, Fright Night, Chopping Mall, Killer Klowns From Outer Space and more.

 

It goes through these films, they discuss the special effects, soundtracks, the art, the creation of the movies and the lasting impacts of them.

 

Features interviews with many, many directors and producers (John Carpenter, Joe Dante, Larry Cohen, Mick Garris, Stuart Gordon, Brian Yuzna and many more), it features actors and actresses (Jeffery Combs, Barbara Crampton, Tom Atkins, Doug Bradley etc), they talk to Michael Gingold (Editor-in-Chief of Fangoria Magazine), Graham Humphreys (illustrator who made posters for Evil Dead, Nightmare on Elmstreet etc) musicians like Corey Taylor of Slipknot and Spencer Hickman of Death Waltz records who specializes in releasing horror soundtracks on vinyl.

 

This is a must see for people who are already deep down into 80's horror, but also people who are only slightly interested or is just beginning to appreciate 80's horror.

 

10/10

 

The creator of this, David A. Weiner, is also working on a documentary called In Search of Tomorrow which will be all about 80's sci-fi. I expect it to be the same as this, just with sci-fi instead of horror. Can't wait!!!

[Bear 1817]

Galaxy of Horrors - An 8 part anthology sci-fi horror movie where the films are between 10 and 15 minutes long. Like most anthologies it's a bit up and down, but overall it's really fun.

 

Wraparound Segment - It's simple and kinda uses the same joke over and over again, but it's alright. 6/10

Eden - Interesting idea, but it's not really more than ok. 5/10

Iris - Pretty fun with STRONG Black Mirror vibes all around. 7/10

Flesh Computer - Pretty good movie with strong visuals and some damn nice special effects. 7/10

Pathos - This was just boring. 3/10

Eveless - Cool concept, great visuals. Enjoyable stuff! 7/10

They Will All Die In Space - Probably the best short in the entire movie. It's black and white sci-fi that's kinda familiar, but really well executed. 8/10

Entity - Easily the second best of the entire thing. The visuals are just incredible, especially considering the low budget this must've had. Looks STUNNING! 8/10

Kingz - Cool concept, but not well enough executed. Feels way too cheap to me. 6/10

 

Freddy vs. Jason - Watched this with a mate and had a blast. Didn't remember it as very good, but it was a lot better than I remembered. Really fun, although very flawed. Robert Englund and Ken Kirzinger gives us two damn fine performances as Freddy and Jason, but the teenagers are pretty disappointing. Both as characters, but also the way they're acted. Jason Ritter is just fucking AWFUL!

 

Found Footage 3D - This found footage horror was damn close to being a god damn masterpiece. A bunch of guys set out to make the first ever found footage movie in 3D. Simple concept, but it's so well-executed. Everything about it, from the horror, to the drama and to the comedy feels so natural. MUST SEE for fans of found footage. Or horror in general.

 

Texas Death Trippin' - Disappointing low-budget stoner horror comedy. It just feels way too cheap. I thought Daisy Coleman was good, but that's more or less all the positive I found in the movie.

 

Snatchers - I was a bit sceptical when I started this as it it was very teeny with some corny dialogue, but it didn't take long to make sense  and when it did it just turned into this super 80's horror comedy that brought both the laughs and scares, with some delicious practical special effects and shit. Fucking hilarious and fun as hell! Probably one of the top horror movies of the 2010's. MUST SEE for sure if you're into 80's horror.

[Bear 1817]

Hold the Dark -  Jeremy Saulnier's (Murder Party, Blue Ruin, Green Roon) first production for Netflix is a strange one. It's slow-burning, dark and incredibly atmospheric. It's psychological and nothing within this movie is as it seems, so you gotta pay close attention to details and shit. But I fucking loved it! Another Jeremy Saulnier flick that's exceptional.

 

That scene, tho. HOLY FUCK!!! If you've seen this you know what I am talking about. HOLY FUCK!!!

 

PS: was completely shocked when I heard Evilfeast's "Summoning The Splendour Once Fallen" in the movie. Obscure Polish black metal in a movie like this? Weird as fuck, but it is a fitting sound to the movie's atmosphere.

 

 

The Lighthouse - Slow-burning atmospheric piece that feels original and weird, and incredible. This was such an experience! Career highlights for both Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe as both act their fucking brains out. That's some incredible performances, guys. Magnificent!

[Bear 1817]

Silent Rage - Chuck Norris is best known for his different type of action movies (martial arts, adventure and war), but Silent Rage is something quite different. Silent Rage feels a bit like Walker Texas Ranger meets Halloween and Demolition Man. It's something like an action slasher, which in itself is kinda unique. I thought this was really good, and easily among the best Chuck Norris movies I've seen. Really cool and fun.

 

The Fury of the Demon - Some people seem to think this is a real documentary, however I think it's more of a mockumentary of some sorts. The film is about the topic of a lost film which is known to have been screened three times during history and caused a ruckus every time as people have gone crazy after watching it. People first thought it was a lost Georges Melies movie, but it's revealed that they think the movie is made by a copcycat named Victor Sicarius, who was Melies' occult protégé. In one way this is a homage and biography to one of the early masters of cinema and grandfather of horror, Georges Melies, in another way it's a documentary about lost movies and the importance of finding them. But on a third hand (for those who might have that) it's a John Carpenter-esque (think Cigarette Burns) type of movie. I thought this entire movie was spellbinding, and it's probably among my favourite movies of the previous decade. Unique, interesting, fun, suspenseful. Beautiful use of music, great interview objects (familiar directors, film historians, occultists and more) and just really well put together.

 

The Tag-Along - Pretty nice and atmospheric Taiwanese horror film. It's not flawless, and there's a few times it completely loses me (most of the time is when they use CGI. It both looks bad and feels like a dumb decision as it doesn't work within the context of the film), but it's pretty fun. A bit too slow maybe? Anyway, good stuff.

[Jigsaw9 6783]

Ready or Not - I dunno, it was okay....? I went into watching this without any expectations or knowledge of the plot whatsoever, so I guess it was decent for one watch. Plus, it starred that girl from the Baby Sitter movie, she was pretty good here too (although her role was the polar opposite to Baby Sitter, heh). The ending was a bit dumb for me, but otherwise overall the movie wasn't too bad.

Edited February 10, 2020 by Jigsaw9

[Bear 1817]

I think Ready or Not was a complete and utter masterpiece. Incredible blend of comedy, horror mystery. And yes, Samara Weaving is one of my favourite actresses in Hollywood ATM. Less than 10 years ago she was a star in Home and Away, but since then she's been in Ash vs Evil Dead, Mayhem, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, The Babysitter and Ready or Not. That's kinda incredible tbh. And not only has she's been in these movies/series, but she's been superb in them.

 

She's also been in Picnic at Hanging Rock and SMILF, but I have not seen those yet. She's also in Guns Akimbo which I am really looking forward to. New movie directed by the guy behind Deathgasm. 

[Bear 1817]

Black Site - Director Tom Paton have done his best to make a movie that's a mix of John Carpenter, The Raid and Lovecraft, and in theory there's a lot to like here. But it's just not quite there. The action isn't quite good enough, the Lovecraftian elements are kinda too in the background and the John Carpenter-esqu feeling lacks the fun and creativity. It's not bad, just not quite good enough either.

[Bear 1817]

VFW - Holy shit! I finally got to see this, and what a motherfucking movie. Imagine Hobo With A Shotgun, Green Room and Mandy having a baby. 90 minutes of ultraviolent and fun action horror (splatter) grindhouse and 80's worship starring old heroes like Stephen Lang, Fred Williamson, Martin Kove, David Patrick Kelly and George Wendt. The story is thin and only a backdrop for director Joe Begos to unleash a cool set with stylish violence, blood and gore, but that's more than enough for me. I thought this was bloody brilliant and a MUST SEE for anyone into 80's splatter or grindhouse movies. 9,5/10

 

Btw: Did I see a guy wearing a Varathron t-shirt, or was I tripping like hell?

 

I have yet to see Joe Begos' movies Bliss, The Mind's Eye and Almost Human, but I have had them on my watchlist forever and this sure as fuck made me even more curious. Will see them within a few weeks for sure.

 

Without Warning - I was sure I had seen this before but I just couldn't remember anything from it upon (re-)watching it now. Damn, what a cool movie. Low-budget horror movie where half the budget went to two of the actors, but getting them just made it better. Really cool, and apparently a huge inspiration on the masterpiece that is Predator. Recommended.

 

Creature - This is considered a rip off of Alien, but is as much of a rip of as The Thing as it is Alien. Fuck, it even mentiones the original Thing movie. Which I found to be a cool touch. But I am a sucker for these movies and thought this was great. Easily as good as other "rip offs" like Forbidden World, Galaxy of Terror, The Rift and so on. Really cool.

 

The special effects guys actually went on to work on Aliens after this. How fucking cool is that? Well deserved.

[Jigsaw9 6783]

Finally watched In Fabric. It was great! Top-notch atmosphere, visuals and music. Also had a few surprisingly funny bits. Cool stuff.

[Bear 1817]

Color Out of Space - Richard Stanley isn't only back, but he's back with a motherfucking bang! It's been 23 years since he worked on 

The Island of Dr. Moreau, and 27 years since his last proper film, Dus Devil. Color Out of Space is a very colorful and very faithful, albeit slightly updated and modern, adaption of a classic Lovecraft story, and easily one of the most faithful adaptions thus far. Nicolas Cage delivers a very over the top and oddball performance, but it really fits the entire movie, the rest of the cast is superb, it is visually stunning and super interesting throughout. I'd love for Tommy Chong to have a much bigger role tho, because he is good as hell.

 

Anyway, this is nothing short but a masterpiece. Richard Stanley was one of the 90's most unique directors, and he's just returned without having lost any of his qualities at all. Really, really, really looking forward to The Dunwich Horror, and hopefully the third movie in his trilogy. After that I would kill for him to do more H.P. Lovecraft adaptions.

[Bear 1817]

Body at Brighton Rock - The debut feature of Roxanne Benjamin who previously had one short movie and one segment to the anthology movies Xx and Southbound. This was, for most part, pretty cool and well-directed, but it kinda lost me towards the end. Thought she took a few weird decisions, but it's fun enough tho. Not a bad debut.

 

The Odd Family: Zombie on Sale - People will argue about this not being a horror movie, but it definitely is. This is a weird, oddball horror comedy with loads of romance thrown in, and it's a very fun one and it gets kinda crazy towards the end. I thought this was very good, and I can see this go on to become a cult movie for sure. I think the only problem so far is that the promotion for the movie seems to suck. If that's the case, then that's a shame because this was very good and unique.

[Bear 1817]

True Fiction - Slow-burning psychological horror movie that'll throw most people off, but for those into psychological weirdness this should be worth a look. Misery meets In the Mouth of Madness meets Peeping Tom? Or something along those lines. A bit confusing at times, but that did just add to the weirdness of it all. Very good film.

 

I Trapped the Devil - Another slow-burn, but very different from the above mentioned film. It's a different type of movie, but it was alright. Felt a bit messy tho. But good movie.

[Bear 1817]

After Midnight - A slightly unconventional horror movie which plays out as a romantic indie horror, with the horror of it being quite the mystery in some way. It's clever as it jumps back and forth in time, it's got a "what the fuck is going on" thing  going on, and it's just really well put together. It's made by Jeremy Gardner and Christian Stella who directed Tex Montana Will Survive! together. Jeremy Garder seems to be the creative force here tho as he directs, wrote and stars in this. He also did the same with 2012's The Battery. I think he's a superb actor, as was Brea Grant who plays his girl and they got some proper good chemistry like, he's a good and original write and director as well. Well worth your time if you're into indie horror and romantic movies, and slow-burns.

[Plant 56]

On 12/28/2019 at 7:41 AM, Bear said:

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.

Yess, Tremors! I used to be really into this series as a kid. I think the first two are definitely the best. I actually saw the second one first for some reason so part of me prefers it somewhat for the sake of nostalgia. I watched the fourth one for the first time recently and, I agree, it wasn’t bad.

[Insomniac Dozer 10]

The new The Invisible Man really impressed me! I'm not a big classic horror buff, so I'm new to this series, but framing this horror movie as a sort of stalker thriller concerned with controlling relationships felt very fresh to me. It's really effective at using the main character as the focalizing point, which creates an empathetic and dire atmosphere that doesn't let up. Very unpredictable, something about the structure and pacing felt unconventional, I found myself really surprised by where the movie went. Highly recommended, Leigh Whanell did a great job with this one.

[Bear 1817]

Looking forward to it for sure. I don't expect it to be as good as the original movie or a couple of its sequels, but I expect it to be good for sure. Upgrade was a masterpiece, and this looks awesome. And it loons like he's tried to make a different movie, rather than copying the original. Which I like, as long as he doesn't go all Suspiria (remake) on us.

[Bear 1817]

Zibahkhana - Hell's Ground - This is said to be Pakistan's first ever splatter, and what a film it is. It's not perfect in any way, and both acting and dialogue is a bit clumsy at times, but it evokes some of that late 70's Italian low-budget (or 70's splatter horror NOT from USA or UK in general) feeling and I absolutely adored it. The bad elements are bad in a good way, and the good elements, such as the cinematography and overall visual style of the movie, is really awesome. Nighttime shots looked really good, and overall it was really fun. Highly recommended!

 

Btw, watch out for a fantastic cameo by Rehan who played Dracula in Zinda Laash, a 60's Pakistani adaption of Bram Stoker's Dracula.

 

I seriously need to dig deeper into stuff like this. South-American horror, Asian (with the exception of Japanese and Korean) horror and the likes. Time to dig!

[Jigsaw9 6783]

Finally saw Color Out of Space, it surely delivered on the atmosphere, visuals and overall entertainment factor. Always love to see Nic Cage, this was no exception. Rest of the cast were really solid too, bonus shoutout to the alpacas and their milk. Some really brutal creature effects going on there too. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

[Bear 1817]

45 minutes ago, Jigsaw9 said:

Finally saw Color Out of Space, it surely delivered on the atmosphere, visuals and overall entertainment factor. Always love to see Nic Cage, this was no exception. Rest of the cast were really solid too, bonus shoutout to the alpacas and their milk. Some really brutal creature effects going on there too. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

 

Fuck yeah! There's never been a doubt about Richard Stanley's abilities, so having him back in the game is such a huge boost for the world of horror. Such a great director, and one so damn unique. Cannot wait for his next H.P. Lovecraft adaption.

 

I would love it if he, after finishing this trilogy, would make a TV-series or something. 10 episodes of H.P. Lovecraft adaptions. Would be perfect. So that is my one and only dream ATM.