Horror Movies

[Bear 1817]

One Body Too Many

Frank McDonald is probably best known for making western films, musical and directing numerous episodes for western series, many with Gene Autry and Roy Rogers, but he also stepped away from these genre and tried something else now and then. one Body Too Many is one of these films.

 

One Body Too Many sees Frank McDonald try his luck making an Old Dark House film, which basically means a mystery thriller/horror. This also has some comedy thrown in, but the majority of the attempts at comedy stinks. But when it's not trying to be funny it's actually fairly atmospheric and got some nice suspense.

 

And it's got Bela Lugosi. Bela Lugosi. Bela Lugosi. Bela Lugosi. Bela Lugosi.Aight? Bela Lugosi!

 

There is one hilarious scene, tho. And I mean HILARIOUS! The Lugosi-Haley coffee scene.

 

6/10

[Bear 1817]

White Zombie

This gem is recognized as the first zombie fil ever. However, the zombies in this film is quite different from the modern zombie seen in Night of the Living Dead and later zombie films which is cannibalistic in nature. The zombies in White Zombie are mindless, unthinking henchmen under the spell of an evil magician.

 

It's a melodramtic horror film starring none else than the glorious Bela Lugosi, where atmosphere is the key to everything. It's a flawed film, with lots of awful acting and some poor timing, but the atmoshere is unique and makes this film to what it is, along with Bela Lugosi of course.

 

I really like this film!

 

8/10

[Bear 1817]

Attack of the Giant Leeches

Sci-fi horror made by Gene Corman, brother of legendary producer/director Roger Corman. It's a farirly standard 50's creature feature, cheap, b-film horror shlock. This is an entertaining film. It's dumb, it's silly, it's stupid and it's bad, but in a very fun, charming and entertaining way.

 

Not a masterpiece by any means, but it's cool alright.

 

7/10

[Bear 1817]

 

The Screaming Skull

I think I mentioned this among the godawful so bad it's gone films in this pack, but I'm not sure what I was thinking. I must have mixed it up with another title. Because I don't think this is a bad film at all and do not let the 3,4 rating on IMDB fool you. The Screaming Skull is cheap, it's silly and very predictable, but it's got tons of fantastic atmosphere throughout the entire film. Highly recommended!

 

Love the opening with the narrator btw: "The Screaming Skull" is a motion picture that reaches its climax in shocking horror. It's impact is so terrifying that it may have an unforeseen effect. It may *kill* you!

Then he tells you you will be buried for free if you die of fear during this film. That's how you start a movie!

 

8/10

 

 

 

[Bear 1817]

The Beast of Yucca Flats

The Beast of Yucca Flats is a legendary bad film and is quite often included in worst movies ever lists. Why you ask? Well, because it suck donkey ass. The direction, acting, cinematography, editing, dialogue and the cheesy, pretencious narration are all fucking shit. The Beast of Yucca Flats ia an absolute travesty of a film. But you know what? This is so bad it's good. This is one of the very few films I've seen which I've rated 1/10, and 1/10 for me is quite a good score. It's what I rate the worst of the worst.

 

This deserves a mention alongside films such as The Nail-Gun Massacre, Manos: The Hands of Fate, Plan 9 From Outer Space, Troll 2 and a dew more as some of the worst films ever. Love it!

 

Highly recommended together with some nachos and a shitload of beer.

 

1/10

[Bear 1817]

The Terror

The Terror is a very cheap film filmed on sets by previous AIP movies, like The Haunted Palace and The Raven, that has Roger Corman as a director and Boris Karloff, a very young Jack Nicholson and Sandra Knight among other in the cast. But wait a minute. Roger Corman as a director? Yes, he was. But there's also a lot of uncredited directors of this film. Francis Ford Coppola, Monte Hellman, Jack Hill and Jack Nicholson also directed big parts of this film.

 

It's rushed, it's poorly written, slow as fuck and is just overall lackluster. Not even Boris Karloff or a young babyfaced Jack Nicholson can save this.

 

However, it's not a total waste. The sets are beautiful and Boris Karloff is Boris Karloff.

 

5/10

[Bear 1817]

Revolt of the Zombies

Revolt of the Zombies are Victor Halperin's atempt to make a sequel and recreate the magic from White Zombie, but he fails in all ways possible. Everything about it is poor, and the zombies disappointing. In White Zombie they feel a bit menacing and threatening, but there's nothing like that about them in this film. The lack of atmosphere is also really sad.

 

It's a failure through and through.

 

4/10

[Bear 1817]

The Giant Gila Monster

While not a great classic, this creature feature took me by surprise. It's not a good film at all and the lizard usef for the giant gila is just hilarious. It looks sad and tired, and barely moves. But that's just part of the fun in a film like this. One thing I especially liked was the whole Hot Rod part of the film. It really helped set some special mood to the entire film.

 

But the film just has that nice 50's horror/sci-fi feeling to it, and I just can't get enough of that.

 

The thing I did hate in this film though, was Don Sullivan's fucking singing with the god damn ukulele. Fuck off! Someone should've smashed the ukulele over his head and raped him with the remains.

 

 

Just listen to that abomination of a song. God damn!

 

6/10

[Bear 1817]

The Fatal Hour

The Fatal Hour is as far as I know the fourth film in a series if six films about the chinese detective James Lee Wong, played by none other than Boris Karloff the Uncanny! The Fatal Hour is not a horror film, and it's not a very good film. The Fatal Hour is a crime-mystery made to cass in on the success of the much better Charlie Chan film series, which consists out countless films, some which has been lost.

 

Anyway, The Fatal Hour is a surprisingly tame film with poor pace, a boring mystery and a less than interesting cast. I love Boris Karloff and he is fantastic, but he doesn't really fit the role of a chinese detective. But maybe my relationship to horror-esque Karloff is a bit too strong. I don't know.

 

I've seen worse, but I wasn't entertained.

 

5/10

[Bear 1817]

Dead Men Walk

In many ways Dead Men Walk is just a Dracula rip off, but in some other ways it comes off as rather unique. I did not expect much from this, but it took me completely off guard. It's slow, it's poorly directed, weirdly acted and so on, but the atmosphere is just fantastic and Dwight Frye's Renfield-esque character is really cool.

 

The part where the vampire gets up from the grave and chants some black artsy mumbu jumbo really sets the tone for the film. It's a campy moment, but it's just awesome.

 

7/10

[Bear 1817]

The Mad Monster

The Mad Monster is another Sam Newfield film, but it was made the year before Dead Men Walk. It also stars George Zucco who starred in Dead Men Walk. It's basically a mix of The Wolf Man and The Devil Bat and it's bad, but in a very charming, fun and entertaining way. Absurd, but with plenty atmosphere, and lots of camp. It's very hard to dislike something like this.

 

George Zucco is an awesome actor. No matter how shit the film is, he's there to impress you like hell.

 

6/10

[Bear 1817]

Maniac

Maniac (1934), or Sex Maniac as it is also known as, is a 1934 exploitation horror film by Dwain Esper who made several exploitation flicks. Maniac is one of those "educational" films and I bet good ol' Dwain Esper thought he was both making a good film and educating young younger people on the subject of insanity.

 

But Maniac, party based on The Black Cat and Murders in the Rue Morgue, isn't much of an educational film at all. It's a cheap, sleazy and truly abysmal exploitation flick where nothing is good at all. This film is trash, but it's interesting trash. It's like a tranwreck and no matter how awful it is, you just gotta keep lookin'. I also love how every new actor brings something of their own to the table. It seems like they were trying their best to overdo the last actors performance. It's hilarious!

 

This surly isn't for everone, but I did enjoy it quite a bit. Which means I loved it!

 

1/10

 

 

Let me also say something about the character 1/10. 1/10 is the character I give to the worst of the worst. Plan 9 from Outer Space, The Astro-Zombies, The Nail Gun Massacre, The Beast of Yucca Flats, Things, Microwave Massacre, Dragon Ball: The Magic Begins (dubbed version of course), and now this masterpiece, Maniac. The ultimate shitfets!

 

[Jigsaw9 6783]

The Purge: Election Year - I gotta say, I kinda warmed up to this franchise by now. I thought the concept itself was pretty cool when the first movie came out, but then the movie itself was kinda mediocre stupid. The second one was appropriately trashy, and this one too, but not gonna lie, I enjoyed it. Gotta love some of the over-the-top acting and tryhard grotesque scenery too, haha. Also, Elizabeth Mitchell is pretty fiiiiiiiiiine~

 

[Tokage 5930]

Pieces: Hilariously insane movie wherein a mysterious killer wielding a chainsaw stalks co-eds at a college campus in order to make his own 3d jigsaw puzzle out of their bodyparts. Did I say this movie is insane? It feels like a damn fever dream at times cuz of how absurd it is; the unexpected run-in with the Bruce Lee clone at night, the BASTARD! BASTAAARD! yelling scene, the majority of the kills, that fucking gardener and his 1 (one) single goofy facial expression.... This is the good stuff.

[Bear 1817]

Pieces is just a brilliant film in so many ways. Raw, sleazy exploitation slasher. Pure magic! On top of that it's got the best tagline ever: You Don't Have To Go To Texas For A Chainsaw Massacre!

[Bear 1817]

 

 

 

I have three goals in life at the moment:

 

1. Travel to Japan and stay there for way too long

2. Get a complete Sigh collection

3. Get my hand on one of those Friday the 13th blood-filled liquid vinyls

 

 

Here is a list of what I would trade to get my hands on one of those vinyls:

 

 

I would trade all at once.

 

The prices it's been sold for is crazy as fuck, though:

 

Lowest: €359.30

Median: €630.35

Highest: €720.40

 

Jesus fucking christ.

[Bear 1817]

Lights Out - I liked the short and there was quite a bit of fuzz surrounding this film at the time of its release as it was supossed to be super scary and whatnot. But what we have here is another modern popcorn-horror flick that relies on jumpscares throughout the entire film and doesn't spend any time whatsoever to build its characters, its plot or the supernatural element. It's a film made to scare regular movie theater goers that's not very much into horror.

 

Popcorn horror is what this is, in the true sense of the words. It simply doesn't look like David F. Sandberg have put much thought into this film at all. Kept taking the easy ways out of things. Shame.

 

However, it's not a bad film. It's just not a great one either. Decent enough if you want something easy on a late sunday evening, but if you want something that'll stick to you this isn't it, unless you've watched less than 25-30 horror films during your life. Then it might just please you a lot.

[Bear 1817]

Road Games - This was not at all what I was expecting, but it was a nice surprise to say the least. It starts really slow and atmospheric and while you can sense something is going on, the pace is slow and it just takes ages before things starts happening.

 

The first half of the film plays out like a very dramatic thriller, filled with a Hitchcockian turn of suspense and an incredible amount of tension. But as it goes on, it turns more into a horror film, but it never gives anything away.

 

It's well-written, directed and acted, but there's especially two elements that takes this above your entertaining horror/thriller: it is visually striking. The fields, the forests and the roads set for an amazing setting, and the atmosphere it creates is amazing. It looks and feels very rural, and that is something that I have come to love over the years.

 

The second thing is the soundtrack by Daniel Elms which is really atmospheric and nice.

 

The end credits are among the best I've seen. There's not much going on, but as the credits roll we see pictures of the rural countryside, with Carpenter fuckin' Brut's Hang 'em High playing. That is as simple as it gets, but it's absolutely magnificent. Holy shit, talk about a clever move! So simple, yet so effective.

 

[Tokage 5930]

Finally got more time to watch movies since my summer vacation's started a couple of days ago, so here's some thoughts about some of my recent viewings:

 

Terrorvision: Pure cheese incarnate. This falls somewhere half between an '80s comedy and a horror movie, though IMO it leans far more towards comedy than horror. Some of the dialogue is absolutely ridiculous in the best possible way, and the acting's also plain ridiculous at times. Cool rubber monster costume, lots of slime, nice retro soundtrack... Only thing that marred my experience of this one both now and the last time I watched it was the lead kid actor. 

 

Tourist Trap:  I'm still amused by the fact Naughty Dog sampled the witch mannequin thing's laugh for their Crash Bandicoot games. Other than that, pretty damn nice and atmospheric horror movie featuring my one true weakness - creepy dolls and mannequins. Gets me every time. Even though the movie apparently has a PG13 rating, it's still sufficiently unsettling, even without any excessive amounts of gore. That first kill sequence was absolutely intense. Killer's doll-like appearance is incredibly cool too. I gotta be honest though; while the animated mannequins were cool and spooky, I still felt like the killer's psychic powers were kind of poorly explained away, they could've handled that just a BIT better..

 

Paper House: Okay, IMDB doesn't list this as a horror movie, but I felt like there are enough creepy/surreal moments in here to let it count at least MILDLY as a horror film. This movie presents an example of child actors done right; the worst part here was the terrible dubbing job done on the mother. Some beautiful cinematography in this one, the scenes at the abandoned train station and just about everything involving the surreal dreamworld  especially stand out. Shame the lead actress apparently never went on to do anything else after this film, as she had potential...

 

Friday the 13th III: DUDE WE'RE MAKING A 3D MOVIE LMAO... Other than the obvious 3D baiting all over the place, what is there to say? It's Friday the 13th. You know what to expect already, and you get exactly that. Unfortunately, I think I missed out on most of the gore, as I'm p. sure I wasn't watching one of the uncut versions.

 

[Bear 1817]

XX - A brand new anthology horror film featuring 4 short films directed by four female directors, as well as the main frame. Which was pointless IMO:

 

Main frame (Sofia Carrillo)

A stop-motion film that's beautifully animated, but that's it. Thought it was awful.

 

The Box (Jovanka Vuckovic)

Wile not perfect, this was a nice one. It's more drama/mystery oriented tho, and not much of a horror film. 6/10

 

The Birthday Party (Annie Clark aka St. Vincent)

This looks excellent and it's hard to believe that St. Vincent is new to the game of directing. Visually stunning and beautifully shot, but the story doesn't quite do it for me. 5/10

 

Don't Fall (Roxanne Benjamin)

Roxanne Benjamin has already directed a short film for the anthology Southbound, and this time she really let us know she's one to look out for. Don't Fall are easily the best short of XX. It's a familiar story and all that, but it's lots of fun and it's horror as fuck. 8/10

 

Her Only Living Son (Karyn Kusama)

Karyn Kuasa might be best known for directing the abysmal Æon Flux, but ten years later she actually directed the masterpiece that is The Invitation. And while this is no new The Invitation, this one's very good and interesting. 7/10

 

This is another example of how shitty the IMDB rating system is. 4 point fuckin' 6. Ridiculous!

[Tokage 5930]

Xtro: Initially, I thought this was just going to be yet another sci-fi horror made to cash in on the popularity of Alien, but things soon turned out to be much, MUCH weirder. Scenes of man-sized toy soldiers blasting the fuck out of nosy old ladies, an evil midget clown pouring... juice? into a toppled-over fridge, a woman giving birth to a full-grown adult man, another woman turned into a literal egg-laying factory... All this along with a synth-based soundtrack that gives the impression the director was just utterly tripping balls the whole time. The practical effects are, quite frankly, AMAZING for the movie's budget. This was a trip from start to finish. Apparently the surreal atmosphere WASN'T actually intentional at all, and the director supposedly hates the movie.. I'm inclined to disagree, this is gold.

 

The Hidden: Officer Dale Cooper & his by the books cop buddy chase down a body snatching alien parasite. The unofficial prequel to Twin Peaks David Lynch DOESN'T want you to know about. Not entirely a horror movie, as it's basically more of a buddy cop film w/ sci-fi and horror elements sprinkled throughout, but whatever. Movie's a wild ride, I loved it. The action starts right off the bat and never really lets up for too long. 

 

Class of 1999: Even though IMDB says it's from 1990, this pretty much feels like the most '80s movie EVER. It has everything; punks, a ridiculous evil scientist who looks like J. Jonah Jameson with a mullet, killer robot teachers, gang wars and more cheese than the entire Netherlands combined. Awesome practical effects, awesome atmosphere... This embodies just about everything I enjoy about b-movies 

 

Creepshow 2: I quite enjoyed the first Creepshow, but I wasn't feeling the second part as much. At points it feels like the movie doesn't quite know WHAT audience it's going for exactly. The frame story (w/ it's frankly horrible animation) feels like it was made for 8 year olds, but then later you have women getting molested in their sleep, people smoking weed, sleeping w/ prostitutes etc.. The transitions are kind of off-putting, and every time it went back to the frame story I was hoping it would just be over soon. The raft segment and the hitchhiker segment were actually pretty good, but I thought the frame story and the one w/ the wooden native american sculpture were kind of lame. Supposedly, more segments were planned but they didn't have the budget. Unfortunate, cuz I feel like one or two more segments on the level of the latter 2 could have raised the movie to the level of the first part.

 

I Am Not A Serial Killer: While watching this one, I constantly felt like this movie could have been a Stephen King story or something. Afterwards found out that this is apparently based on a five-part series of YA novels. Despite that, I was actually surprised at the fact that the movie DIDN'T seem to follow the generic young adult template all that much; there are the obligatory high school segments with bullies, potential love interests, etc., but the movie subverts the traditional 'unpopular guy & his nerdy friend totally own their bullies & the main guy gets the girl'-narrative. I was very positively surprised by this one, as I went in with no expectations whatsoever. I also have to add that Christopher Lloyd does a very good job at portraying the villain both as a sympathetic character & an actual threatening villain.

 

Night of the Demons: Based on the ratings, it seems that a bunch of people seem to consider this a classic of some sort. I'm disappointed to say that I'm not one of them. I doon't know what it is, but I somehow wasn't really feeling it at all. I love myself some shitty meme acting, but somehow it felt a bit TOO obnoxious here at times. Felt like watching a shitty high school comedy mixed with an Evil Dead ripoff.  ... At least there's plenty of cute chicks.

 

House: Once again, the practical effects in this one are just plain AMAZING. In contrast to the previous film, this one actually does strike a nice balance between horror and comedy in my opinion. Will be looking into the sequel as well, most likely. 

[Bear 1817]

I am one of those who consider both Night of the Demons I & II cult classics. Amazing films IMO! The atmosphere and overall cheese just does it for me. Love 'em!

[plastic_rainbow 2162]

I finally watched the classic masterpieces Rosemary's Baby and Suspiria, and I have to say that I enjoyed the later more. I just LOVE the pink hue lighting that can be perceived in almost every scene. Amazing art direction. It also had a good soundtrack, and the overall atmosphere reminded me a lot of Clock Tower (snes). I'm now interested in the director's other films, and I just found out that Phenomena actually influenced the Clock Tower (snes) game, having the same character names and all, so I can't wait to watch that one next~

 

Rosemary's Baby was kind of just a decent watch. It didn't give me a pleasing horror film experience like Suspiria did, but I can see how it's good for what it is.

[violetchain 912]

Just watched Havenhurst, and it was terrible. Not even bad in a so bad it's good kind of way, just horribly unsatisfying and pointless. I mean, they had the budget, concept and the cast to make a predictable, yet still kinda cool movie, but they totally blew it with the plot.

[Bear 1817]

On 6.7.2017 at 2:02 AM, plastic_rainbow said:

I finally watched the classic masterpieces Rosemary's Baby and Suspiria, and I have to say that I enjoyed the later more. I just LOVE the pink hue lighting that can be perceived in almost every scene. Amazing art direction. It also had a good soundtrack, and the overall atmosphere reminded me a lot of Clock Tower (snes). I'm now interested in the director's other films, and I just found out that Phenomena actually influenced the Clock Tower (snes) game, having the same character names and all, so I can't wait to watch that one next~

 

Rosemary's Baby was kind of just a decent watch. It didn't give me a pleasing horror film experience like Suspiria did, but I can see how it's good for what it is.

 

 

I'm a huge fan of both films, but I consider Dario Argento one of the best directors of all time and Goblin is by far my all time favourite prog band. Suspiria is kinda unique, but Dario Arengot's "Inferno" has some of the same feeling and visual style, if not even more fantastique, but it's the most similar films I've seen. And I've seen quite a lot.

 

Phenomena is also a fantastic film, but I wouldn't say it's similar at all. But it's great. Check it out!

 

But as far as Dario go, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, The Cat o' Nine Tails, Four Flies on Grey Velvet, Deep Red, Inferno, Tenebre, Phenomena, Opera, Two Evil Eyes, Trauma and The Stendhal Syndrome are all worth a look. But the majority of these are way different, tho. But quality!