Horror Movies

[Bear 1817]

Day 17:

 

The Last Man on Earth - The first, most faithful and by far best adaption of Richard Matheson's novel I Am Legend. The Last Man on Earth stars Vincent Price who is as over the top and theatrical as ever, and he deliver a performance worthy a proper horror legend. The atmosphere is dark and grim, and captures a true feeling of solitude and loneliness and unlike later adaptions, is more about our main man battling feeling within himself than the vampires. Slow-burning and drenched in atmosphere, and like I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House this is more a mood piece than anything else, as it actually fails on a narrative level. But this is 60's cult horror, and it's cult for a reason. It's a tour the force Vincent Price who spends much of the film alone, narrating with his fantastic voice and just being awesome.

 

Really cool monsters too. While the monsters in this film are considered vampires, they are also considered the blueprint for Romero's traditional zombies in Night of the Living Dead, as they are much closer to those than e.g any other vampires made.

 

8/10

 

 

 

Like I said, the best adaption of I Am Legend. The next one, The Omega Man, is also fantastic. But it's a totally different film. It's technical superior to this, but is more a straight up sci-fi actioner with lots of cheese and amazing one-liners. Cult, but in a different way. 

 

I Am Legend with Will Smith starts of really cool. Dark, grim and atmospheric, before it turns into a sub-par zombie film for the second half. Could've been so good, but it simply isn't because of the second half of the film.

 

 

[Bear 1817]

Day 18:

 

Splatter University - Splatter University is the first film by Richard W. Haines, a man best known for the cult film Class of Nuke 'Em High. Splatter University is in many ways a very early slasher film. First directed in 81, but it was just over an hour long so they decided to add something like 10-15 minutes of scenes with different students and shit and not released before 84. 

 

Splatter University is a Troma Entertainment film, and if you like cult films you should know what Troma is all about. Low-budget horror films that's often drenched in campy concepts, splatter, blood and gore, parody and farce, even though they got things that got nothing to do with horror to their name as well. They got cult classics like The Toxic Avenger, Class of Nuke 'Em High, Surf Nazis Must Die, Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D. and Redneck Zombies to their name. Complete trash, even though The Toxic Avenger are one of my all-time favourite superhero films. 

 

And this film is no different. Poorly written, sloppily shot, awfully acted and very much over the top. But it's a real fun film for what it is. A trashy, sleazy slasher film that kows exactly what it is and doesn't try to hide it. If you are heavily into slashers and like both cheese, trash and sleaze, I totally recommend this. But I know something like 250 slashers I'd recommend before this.

 

7/10

 

[Bear 1817]

Day 19:

 

Frightmare - There's at least two films known by this title, but this is the Norman Thaddeus Vane flick. A goofy, supernatural slasher that's actually a bit original due to the supernatural elements. Ferdy Mayne stars as Conrad Radzoff, a horror movie icon of the past. He's like a mix of Vincent Price, Christopher Lee and Bela Lugosi, and the character is so much fun. Ferdy Mayne does a really good job, and among the cast you also get a young Jeffrey Combs in his debut. 

 

This isn't great film art or anything like that, but it's damn fine entertainment.

 

Take a look at all the horror props in the film. Masks, posters and such, and it features  some clips of a very young Christopher Lee. Awesome stuff!

 

8/10

 

[Tokage 5930]

Recent viewings:

 

Trick or Treat - The one about an evil satanic rockstar coming back from the grave and electrocuting people. Pretty entertaining, albeit in a VERY campy way. It ticked off just about every '80s high school cliche on the list, so if you're not one for clichés you'd do better just skipping this one. Still, there were some pretty amusing special effects here and there, the soundtrack is good, and there were quite a few funny moments (although I guess not all of them were intentional) Seeing Ozzy Osborne as a staunch anti-rock reverend was also p. fucking great

 

Sole Survivor - REALLY underrated 80s horror flick. Somehow still has less than 1000 ratings over on IMDB. Plot-wise it's kind of similar to Final Destination (except this one came first); woman was supposed to die in a plane crash, didn't, and now the grim reaper is sending the reanimated corpses of the recently deceased after her to claim her life. As far as gore and effects go, this one isn't gonna satiate any gore hound's hunger. It's more of a slow burn than anything. Still, for what's obviously a rather low budget film, I found it quite well done. There are a couple of very nice shots scattered throughout. I think the whole thing's on Youtube, so you should check it out if you have the time.

 

The Beyond - One part of Fulci's "gates of hell" trilogy thing. I feel like this is one of those movies that has already been talked about enough, so I'll just be short. Watch it if you enjoyed Fulci's other stuff, or if you like old school Italian horror. If Italian horror feels too janky and disjointed for you, stay away. I personally liked it, although I feel like the movie's mostly just a sequence of cool setpieces without much of a connecting thread otherwise. I mean, there's a plot in there somewhere, but it's rather basic. The effect work, as usual with Fulci, is both gruesome and awesome, so it's worth a watch just for that alone. Also, the soundtrack kicks ass.

Edited October 22, 2017 by Tokage

[KoreanGringo 11]

Whoa has already watched this movie "ENDLESS"? Fuckin 100% on tomatoes. Feel like Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead made a fresh masterpiece. Still loves their Spring and Resolution.

 

[

[Bear 1817]

I was gone for about a week and didn't get to update, but that doesn't mean I didn't watch any films. But because I only had Netflix available I didn't have a lot to pick between as the horror section is piss fucking weak in Norway.

 

Day 20:

 

Race with the Devil - Occult horror from 1975, much in the same vein as The Ninth Gate, John Carpenter's Cigarette Burns, In the Mouth of Madness, The Sentinel, Rosemary's Baby and so on. It's not quite as slow-burning as these and it's more action-oriented, but it's got a lot of the same occult vibe to it. I think this is a great and underrated film. Peter Fonda is superb!

 

8/10

 

 

Day 21:

 

Witch Hunt - The 1994 film with Dennis Hopper in the lead as H. P. Lovecraft. This one is often considered a sequel to Cast a Deadly Spell, but it's more a remake/reboot//reinterpretation/whatever. Almost the same film, just set to a different time period. The 50's instead of the 40's. It's a TV-film and it looks like one, but it's got plenty of charm, loads of camp and lots of nice atmosphere. I think this is the superior film of the two, and it is highly underrated. Totally recommended!

 

8/10

 

[Bear 1817]

Day 22:

 

I am stretching the term horror a bit here, but it's OK.

 

Death Note - A complete fucking shitfest of a film. Doesn't matter if you're familiar with the source material or not, this was cheap, boring and fucking shit. I've been a huge fan of Adam Wingard up until now, but he just seems to have lost it all with Blair Witch and now this. What a fucking shame.

 

There was however a few superb special effects moments. But that's about it.

 

3/10

 

 

Day 23:

 

1922 - A horror-drama that's really slow and isn't about scares, gore, atmosphere or nothing. It's about our main character Wilfred James and his suffering and slow rot from the inside and out. It's a Stephen King adaption and a good one. I wasn't too happy about it, but that's my own fault. I felt that it was a bit too long, but in the end I just don't think I was in the right mindset for the film. If I had watched it today I would've probably scored it a point or two higher, because this is not a bad film in any way. It's actually a real strong one. 

 

Thomas Jane is real good. Delivers a proper performance, and probably his best ever.

 

6/10

 

[Tokage 5930]

I watched Puppetmaster yesterday. Pretty fucking fun, but it's a shame the puppets only get like... what, 5 minutes of screentime? Especially the more interesting ones like the driller and the leech lady. Are any of the million sequels worth watching, or is this another case like the Hellraiser franchise where I'd do better to just keep far away from the later parts?

[Bear 1817]

Some of the sequels are even more enjoyable. I'd say the first 7 are all well worth a watch. As well as Axis of Evil and especially the crossover Puppet Master vs. Demonic Toys, which is no less than fantastic. Such a fun film.

 

The third film is by far the best in the franchise btw.

[Jigsaw9 6783]

Finally watched Cult of Chucky. All in all great fun! There were some serious literal LOL moments and of course lots of over-the-top ones. It was great to see some cameos and the ending makes me wanna see what they'll have in store for us next. The only thing I can kinda criticize is that most of the main location looked way too artificial (I mean I get it, it's in a mental hospital but why does everything have to look like a minimalistic futuristic photoshoot set?). But anyway, really cheesy fun stuff.

 

[violetchain 912]

Watched Among Friends (2012) yesterday because I was craving something bad, and it was definitely bad.

 

I sympathized a little too much with the one in the Jigsaw role, tbh. If my name was Bernadette I'd be so pissed if anyone called me "Bernie".

[Tokage 5930]

THIS IS HOW BERNIE CAN STILL WIN....

[Bear 1817]

Day 24:

 

The Outing - A fairly standard supernatural slasher with a very original killer, and it's got some fantastic death scenes and some even greater special effects. It's cheese, poorly acted and all that, but it's great fun and if you're a fan of slashers I don't see why you shouldn't see it.

 

Btw, the posters for this film are amazing! Daaamn!

 

7/10

 

 

 

Day 25:

 

Rakka - The short film from Neill Blomkamp's own studio, Oats Studio, a studio which will release a lot of sci-fi short films. He calls them experimental, but they're not really that experimental or special. But they are good.

 

The film stars Sigourney Weaver who is great, and both the story and effects are fairly good. But you can at times see that there's CGI and that is usually a problem, and it is here too. And it means that it'll look dated as fuck in just a few years when we've gotten used to better CGI. Such a shame. But it's a fun sci-fi horror short film.

 

7/10

 

Edited November 6, 2017 by Bear

[Bear 1817]

Day 26

 

Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! - The first film in the series are actually very enjoyable. It's sort of so-bad-it's-good, but not in the same way as The Room, Troll 2 and so on as this aim to be bad, while the others were made by serious film makers who genuinly thought they had made something amazing. But it was fun for what it was. But by the time of the second the series had already lost most of its charm and you were left with something that felt too artificial and lame. By the third it had lost all its charm. It's 90 minutes of self-reference gags that were already overdone in the second film, and here they're trippling that up. It's tiresome as fuck. And it doesn't even feel half as absurd as the first one, even though they try to make it a lot more absurd.

 

The only thing I really like about this film is Cassandra Scerbo as Nova. Holy shit, she is incredibly hot.

 

3/10

 

 

 

Day 27

 

Sharknado 4: The 4th Awakens - About as bad as the third film in the series. Poor gags, social commentary that feels stupid as fuck and no charm what-so-ever. It's a huge mess of a film and nothing else.

 

3/10

 

 

 

Worst thing about this isn't the films themself, but the fact that I'll watch the fifth film as soon as it comes. Why? No fucking idea. I hate myself and just loves to torture myself? Or maybe I am hoping for something similar to the first one? I don't know. Fuck it!

[Bear 1817]

Day 28:

 

Hostel - I hated this film when it was released over 10 years ago, but upon rewatching it now I actually found a lot of pleasure in it. Fairly dark and sadistic, and it kinda says a lot about humans in general. Not that we all would do something as extreme as this, but that we all have a few dark elements within us and that we are all capable of doing some shit now and then.

 

My biggest disappointment is actually finding the film far from brutal and gruesome enough. I wish it was bloodier, gorier and more extreme. But I liked it. Thumbs up for some nudity that felt natural too. Good special effects.

 

7/10

 

 

Day 29

 

Hostel: Part II - Almost identical with the first film, but the male leads are swapped for chicks and it all ends up feeling a bit forced. Even the nudity feels a bit forced. But it's decent enough, but does not hold up to the first one. Quite a big difference, even though it's almost the same film. Felt less sleazy and trashy too, which is a shame.

 

6/10

 

[Bear 1817]

Day 30

 

Raw Meat - Dark, bleak and ultragrim horror film from the early 70's with Donald Pleasence, Norman Rossington, David Ladd, Sharon Gurney and an exceptional Hugh Armstrong in the lead roles. Like I said, this is such a grim and bleak film, mostly thanks to a superb performance by Hugh Armstrong. The film is tragic and fairly deep for an early proto-slasher, and something most fans of the genre should check out.

 

Look out for a majestic cameo by Christopher Lee too. The role doesn't make much sense, but who gives a fuck? It's Christopher Lee. 

 

8/10

 

 

Day 31

 

Halloween - And like I do on every Halloween I ended the October horror marathon with Halloween, the best slasher ever made. Already here, on his third feature film, John Carpenter came off as something unique, fresh and original in the scene of horror. His camera angles looks sweet and original to this day, the soundtrack, both score and choice of songs, are exceptional, his ability to create suspense and keep it on screen for a long period of time without losing the edge of it and so on. And don't forget Michael Myers, one of the best villains of all-time. An antagonist unlike any other, and I still remember the feeling I got the first time I saw him on screen. You just didn't know what he was, and there was still aura of mysticism surrounding him. Brilliant!

 

A perfect film! Simple as that.

 

[Jigsaw9 6783]

Radius - Not sure if this qualifies as horror but it certainly has a good dose of the sinister and unexplainable. All in all, it's not much but the whole movie plays out so well that I couldn't help loving it. What begins as a mystery that you think you figured out after 5 mins keeps giving you twist after twist, all with very good even pacing. Lots of excitement and 'oh damnnn' moments. It would be a sin to tell anything about the actual plot, so I'll only leave you with: if you like mysterious thriller/horror flicks go give this a chance.

 

[Bear 1817]

The Limehouse Golem - A pleasant surprise as I did not expect much of it other than it being decent entertainment, but this was actually a really good horror-mystery. It's set around the late 1800's with beautiful gothic victorian era sets and some superb performances from the cast. There's clear inspiration from classic gothic Hammer Horror films as well as Jack the Ripper, and it works really well.

 

It's not entirely original and it's a tad predictable, but well worth a watch. I really enjoyed it. I'll go as far as to call it superb.

 

Bill Nighy is a really underrated and overlook actor btw. Such an excellent performer, just a shame he usually play a supporting role and not the lead.

 

[Bear 1817]

 

Mayhem - Action-horror that really does live up to its name. Total fucking chaos and mayhem from start to end. It was 90 incredibly fun minutes. Start-forward, action-packed, witty dialogue with loads of SNAP to it and violent as hell. What the hell more could you ask for? Nothing.

 

On top of that it's pretty metal. Samara Weaving's character (The Babysitter) is asked to mention three favourite bands and she mentioned Motorhead, D.R.I. and old Anthraxh (not just Anthrax, but OLD fucking Anthrax) and later she takes off her sweater and beneath she's wearing a The Black Dahlia Murder t-shirt.

 

The soundtrack is immense too. A synthscore by Steven Moore of Zombi, so you know it's gonna be good. It's the type of soundtrack I'll gladly buy on vinyl.

 

Magnificent!

[Bear 1817]

Cat Sick Blues - This is hands down one of the weirdest and oddest films I've ever seen. This shit was seriously out there. Macabre and fucked up. I liked it, but I will have to watch it again to decide on how much I liked it. Holy fuck!

 

Split Second - Nice, cheesy, dystopian b-film action-horror starring the one and only Rutger Hauer, Kim Cattrall and Alastair Duncan. Visually it looks like a low-budget, dirty Blade Runner, but plot-wise it's got a bit more in common with Alien and Predator. A hidden, underrated gem. Cheese? SUre, but it's the smelly, tasty kind. You know, the kind I fucking love.

 

It's got one of the coolest scenes ever too where our hero, played by Rutger Hauer, who survives on coffee, chocolate and anxiety, pick up a dirty, old cup of cold coffee with an old cigarette butt in it and drinks it. That's just. Badass!

[Bear 1817]

Swamp Thing - An early Wes Craven film based on one of the best and coolest superheroes of all time, DC's (and now Vertigo as far as I know) own Swap Thing. It's a superhero sci-fi/horror film, with lots of action thrown in of course. It's not perfect, but it is incredibly fun and the campy elements just takes it to a whole other level. Full of cheese, and I love it!

 

 

Like I said, among the best and coolest superhero films ever made. It's not quite The Toxic Avenger, but it's not too far behind. Swamp Thing probably had a massive influence on the creation of The Toxic Avenger. Gods, the both of them!

 

Street Trash - For some weird reason director James M. Muro only directed one film (before he 26 years later started directing TV-series), and what a film it is. It is one of a very small amount of films known as "melt movies", and it is a beautiful one. It is as outrageous, gross and disgusting as it is hilarious. Pitch black comedy and horror in the vein of The Stuff, Body Melt, The Blob, The Incredible Melting Man, Society and probably more.

 

This film is pure fucking entertainment and the special effects are as beautiful as they come. Top notch film! Cult as fuck and so on.

[Bear 1817]

Quote

I suddenly decided I had to dig even more into the catalogs of Charles Band's Empire International Pictures, Full Moon Features and it's sub companies. Lots of hidden gems made and released by these studios.

And I did not lie.

 

 

Subspecies - Haven't watched this in ages, but this was a lot better than I remembered. The first thing you'll notice is how this film is shot on location in Romania which gives it an awfully authentic vibe and it truly adds to the atmosphere. It's not very original, and while it is a low-budget film, it doesn't feel like one. One of Charles Brand's goals with Full Moon Entertainment was to make cheap films which felt expensive, and they've done it here. Superb gothic atmosphere, great special effects, and a good and intelligent storyline. The vampire, Radu, is really fucking awesome too. One of the better vampires to be caught on film if you ask me.

 

By the way, Marduk's "NIghtwing" is a cover of the main theme from this film, and the song itself is about our main antagonist Radu Vladislas. That's cool!

 

 

Bloodstone: Subspecies II - This sequel picks up where the first Subspieces film ended and ups the bar quite a bit. First thing you'll notice is how it's a bit heavier on the special effects, violence and blood & gore, but they all look fucking gorgeous. It's from 93, but it's total practical 80's effects that we all know and love. Again it's shot on location in Romania and we get that authentic feeling, and we get genuine, extravagant castles. It's really awesome.

 

Highlight of the film is whenever director Ted Nicolaou decides he wants to play around with shadows, because the shadow play is nothing short of outstanding and both the special effects and especially the shadow play let's us see that director Ted Nicolaou is quite a talented lad, and that he probably should've gone on to direct bigger films. A lot better than most other directors directing horror films in the 90's. Outstanding!

 

Anyway, this sequel is better than the first film. It's magnificent! Best Full Moon Entertainment film together with Castle Freak. Superb!

 

 

There's a lot of nods toward the original Nosferatu throughout the films. Both in Radu's appearance and a lot of scenes. It's awesome!

[Bear 1817]

Bloodlust: Subspecies III - This film was shot back-on-back with Bloodstone: Subspecies II with much of the same cast, crew and shit, and simply picks up where Bloodstone ended. But the end product is once again a film that is very different from its predecessor. This has more of a romantic vibe to it, and unlike the two previous films it shows a lonely Radu who showcases a lot of emotions. And we get to see him as more of a tragic monster in the classic sense. It's also a slower film than the two first and with less blood & gore. But the locations in Romania, Ted Nicolaou's beutiful direction and his glorious eye for details and Anders Hove as Radu makes this film what it is. It's very good, but the weakest of the three. We get some top notch shadow play again and it's amazing. It looks so good!

 

There's also a very out of place character named Bob who should've been left out. He adds nothing to the story and isn't funny at all. But it's just a small role, so it doesn't ruin the entire film or anything.

 

Anders Hove is once again beyond amazing as Radu and Pamela Gordon is to awesome as his Mummy. The looks of both these are top notch!

 

 

Vampire Journals - Vampire is the fourth entry to the Subspieces series, but it's a spin-off that has nothing to do with the main series. Although I believe some of the characters are a part of the last Subspieces film. Anyway, with Vampire Journals we see Ted Nicolaou move in a whole different direction. We still gets his beautiful direction and lots of lovely details, but the film is much, much slower and ends up more in the land of romantic vampire films, sharing a good deal with Interview With a Vampire. It's a good film, but by far the weakest in the series.

 

So where the Subspieces series are more on the black metal side of things, this is more on the goth rock side of things.

 

Edited December 10, 2017 by Bear

[Bear 1817]

Subspecies: The Awakening - With his fourth entry to the Subspieces series, and the fifth overall, Ted Nicolaou incorporates his spin-off, Vampire Journals, nicely into the world of Radu Vladislas, Michelle Morgan and the few others who remained throughout most of the series. It's not the best in the series, and at times it feels a bit messy, but it's a well-directed effort with lots of atmosphere, some stunning special effects and an Anders Hove who's nothing short of amazing as Radu once more. But this film doesn't have enough Radu and it's a real shame as he's the real start of the films.

 

But it's very, very enjoyable and once more take a slightly different approach to the genre than previous entry's to the series.

 

[Jigsaw9 6783]

Recently rewatched Shadow of the Vampire, such a great movie! I love the whole concept and vibe, not to mention the excellent cast. Willem Dafoe and John Malkovich are amazing in this. Also I totally didn't remember Eddie Izzard having such a big part in this film, haha. Great stuff.

 

I tried watching the 2017 space-horror Life too, but gave up about half an hour before its end. Shame cuz I usually eat up anything that's a mixture of sci-fi and horror, but I couldn't deal with this one anymore. The creature design and the sets were good tho.

Edited December 12, 2017 by Jigsaw9