I'll never forget Jackie Earle Haley role as Moocher in Breaking Away, steller performance, good actor. Some folks didn't like the gravel voice for Rorschach. Anyway, I never saw the 2010 nightmare remake, but I would have assumed he'd be a bit old 50 and short 5'5" for the part.

I think he’s a great actor, he just need better roles.

Planet Terror as part 1 of 3hr+ Grindhouse

It was kind of weird. I appreciated the subtle and totally unsubtle homage to 'grindhouse' films, and films approaching that, especially from the 70s and early 80s. I especially liked the intro and the fake trailers of other films (though the ones at the end of the film were line crossers), and the scratching audio sounds, and the dust and scratches on the film, goofy gross-outs, over-the-top characters, stupid logic, misogyny, exploitive shot framing, bad edits, missing film sections, and the tongue-in-cheek poking fun at these films and ourselves for wanting to see these films... when it's homage sometimes tips into parody these things come to mind. I thought it was funny. The film itself is intended to be a bit 'rough' as a parody, so I don't want to miss the point, but no, I didn't think it was great, but it was funny and introspective.

Pledge 5/10

This movie had potential, especially for being a college fraternity horror movie. It actually had me interested for a while until the last 30 minutes or so when it started falling apart. I mean I get the gist of what was happening but it just seemed way too bizarre to actually be considered remotely believable. I give it the score I do because leading up until those last 20 or 30 minutes was awesome! But just like many other movies, the ending completely killed it.

Slender Man, 2018. 5/10

Director: Sylvain White





Out For Justice, 1991, 9/10

Director: John Flynn




Polar. 2019. 8/10

Director: Jonas Åkerlund


https://66.media.tumblr.com/6fd98b63...kqsoo1_500.gif


Harvest of the Dead, 2015. 6/10


Directors: Peter Goddard, Sam Mason-Bell

Family Possessions, 2016. 7/10


Director: Tommy Faircloth





Red Eye, 2017. 7/10

Director: Tristan Clay

Ok. I was just curious about the source of the other reviews. I've searched here before.

I think it's difficult to do day scenes well in horror movies. A movie like the original Nightmare on Elm Street is good with the day scenes because the night / dream world is still present and you know the characters fear the coming of the night and dreams. It's like that town that dreaded sundown line in Scream. And of course the actual movie. Also of course the saying the freaks come out at night. I think there is a line in X-Files about how humans have always feared the night. Or how you don't realize how dark the night is without lights.

What are the line crossers?

Need some reviews. But that first image looks good enough for me to check out IMDB to see what it's all about.

Halloween (1978).
We watched this in preparation of seeing the 2018 follow up.
It's been a while.
In fact, not since I've been with Spal had either of us seen it, and so yeah that's going back 'fore the turn of the century.

I think I touched on this before, but when I was quite young I never paid Halloween or it's sequels too much mind.
They were slower, and less visually ?unusual? than the kind of horror I'd been exposed to as a child, things like Hellraiser, NOES, The Thing, and the evil dead (thank you, parents.)
For these reasons I was never really into it, as a kid, for me different things drove my lower attention span.
Things like atmosphere, well done pacing, set up, dialogue, musical score all sadly took a back seat - and these factors are exactly what this movie had going for it.

When I watched it a little later down the line in my mid teens, I kind of started to "get it" to a point. Maybe appreciate it a little more. I consider 1&2 pretty much a double feature, and they do stand quite seperate in style from what was to follow.

Now that I have had years more exposure to films of past and present, watching this after that awesome period of time has passed that erases most of what you know about a movie? More than ever before it shows why people say it's so iconic.
All in all, it's a simple story - and "not much happens".
But a lot going for it that set it apart from the films of around that time...some interesting camera work and spanning like "follow" kind of shots. Not to mention the villain perspective stuff (did they do that in the others? I feel like they didn't). One nice early example of "jump scare", and not many more...you know...sparingly, like it should be.
The minimal explanation of Michael via the medium of Loomis.
Only showing the over-the-shoulder view of the shape for a large portion of the movie. The cut-away to the class speaking of "fate", where little more than that influenced him to go after her it seems.
"Dead/Not Dead", inhumanly strong silent villain, simply choosing and stalking prey. The excellent musical score and the pacing of it in so many scenes really just, it still manages to build atmosphere for all the time that's past and how far movies have come...this still puts you in an almost vulnerable state.
This movie, impressed adult me.

It will be interesting to see how they follow up in the new one...glad I've largely forgotten most of the sequels...because yeah, Laurie, for all her efforts, essentially lost that fight. Psychologically that would weigh. I'm interested in seeing where that goes.



Side notes:

It was interesting having watched all the scream films seeing how many of Randy's "rules" the cast breaks.

One thing I never noticed was how fucking pleased with himself Loomis looks when he tricks the young children "Hey Lonnie, get your ass away from there" Yes. Genious...this made me grin.

Split

I have tried watching this twice now and I just can't get into it. I don't know what it is but this movie just completely rubs me the wrong way and how this thing is the most popular horror movie on popcorn time right now I have no clue.

Not too many films stay in the dark or nighttime all film... probably Decent stays dark, but like Alien on a ship, it's just a set. Nightmare on Elm naturally is cool because, like you say, we get to feel safe during the day, it's a good breather, but the night still looms.

In one fake movie preview after Planet Terror they show a dinning room with some kids around the table, and the last scene shows the deranged killer working the backend of a turkey with the kids in the shot. The parents of the actors can choose to be ok with that, but I don't think it should be in films.

I can see how you got used to that quicker pace with the 80s. I grew up with the decidedly slow pace of 70's horror and drama. But there's a lot to work with in there, of course, and Halloween uses it.

I'll always love how H2 takes off the second after H1. The new director captured some of the aspects of what Carpenter was doing, but regarding the slower 70's drama aspects it certainly does not.

With the brilliant subtlety of Jamie Lee Curtis, we get to respect, like, and most importantly know Laurie and her setting. And then Carp sets all the aspects of the atmosphere: pace, shots, lighting, music and sound -- some of the most notable were well placed silences, like with Michael looking at his new wall hanging, and the heavy breathing coming from all sides with close proximity when Laurie is sitting in the living room, it's disorientating.

Split is no doubt popular now because of the sequel coming out (Glass), there's no other reason. Split is a weird film, it feels disjointed in the way it combines different film pastiches, and jumps the mood and atmosphere of the preceding scene. Maybe since it's 'Split' that's intentional. ::big grin::

I'm just not a big fan of M Night Shyamalan. This is a unpopular opinion, but I found the sixth sense to be vastly overrated.

I really loved 6th Sense. Horror with heart and character development. How can it be? ::big grin:: I think it's a masterpiece. Not super impressed with anything else though. He really hasn't hit on anything else. I liked Signs, and was entertained by Unbreakable, The Village and The Last Airbender. That's about it.

Did you ever watch the avatar animated series? That movie infuriated me. Like I couldn't even finish it just because of how insulting the writing, acting and casting was. I am so glad they only made that one and they didn't make the other two.

Ghost Ship, 2002. 7/10

Director: Steve Beck

Nope, never seen it. Actually I don't remember the film that well, but that's probably why I was ok with it. It got panned for sure, but it doubled its budget. Probably one of the few money makers that won't get a sequel because of being panned. They could get a different director, but I don't know if the film left any of the story left. I read many even complained it was too short at 90mins, but in the context that too much of the original story was left out completely, or left to narration instead. Did you watch the animated series? What did you think that?

i just watched Ghost Ship on Netflix

What'd think of it?

Halloween 2018
Well...Didn't hate it.

Preferred it to most other of the numbered sequels, though I probably still have a spot in my heart for H20 (just not what came after).

I get what people say when they talk about it being a bit heavy on the comedy...most of that felt pretty pointless, and didn't add much to the film, though I have to say it didn't hugely take away from it either - the atmosphere and sense of urgency was there when it needed to be.

I feel like proper respect was given here.
There was homage throughout but it never really felt "on the nose".

Quite similar to the first one actually, and I feel like maybe that was intentional. They kept it largely in the same tone, and "not much happened", it was just the story of an(other) escape by a single minded enigmatic inhuman predator that was just drawn to kill...almost like he was just on "pause" until the events of this installment, and he did show that he was capable of forethought and planning, and of course...human but not.
I prefer this version of "invincible", in which he just doesn't really acknowledge pain and damage.

I felt quite sympathetic to this version of Laurie...who'd become both stronger and weaker at the same time...lost basically everything, her family, much of a "real life" due to the damage done by the events of the first film.

The showdown it all lead to, like the first one was wrapped up fairly quickly but made for an interesting watch.
How it ended was unexpected...not sure if or how they could follow that.

It was a competent follow up, and I feel like anyone who enjoyed the style of the original film, may like this one better than the original sequels too.

FARGO (1996). Very strange, very funny Coen Bros flick with most of the laughs coming from Steve Buscemi's abrasive whiny character...the look on his face at the airport parking lot after all the aggravation he's had recently is priceless.

Have wondered about this next scene and any thoughts would be appreciated. When Wiliam H Macy goes to "...talk to My boss" to appease the angry buyer. he stops by the breakroom and sees someone watching a Hockey game and asks if the guy has a spare ticket. Is he just killing time or do You think, as I do, he was going to offer the ticket as a bribe so Customer will take the car with the "True Coat"? ****

Probably both. I think he was killing time, but since his co-worker was there, he shot for an extra ticket.

Pieces of Talent, 2014. 10/10

Director: Joe Stauffer

Thanks Sculpt..it appears Great Minds think alike::big grin::!

The Human Centipede 7/10

This movie never gets old. " I have a horny film of you back home" ::big grin::

Climax, 2018. 7/10

Director: Gaspar Noé

Venom.

Well...I figured I owed it to the character to see this, after all I've read since borrowing issue #3 of "Lethal Protector" from a kid in my home-room in the 90's, then diving both backwards and forwards into the character, following the journey both host/s and symbiote have taken over the years.

I, surprisingly did not hate it.

Ok so the origin is pissed into the wind to give this some independence. Kind of grating just a little bit because SO much of the character was built on the anger at Parker/rejection from Spider-Man...ah well.
So he'll never be outright murderously creepy and sinister. Ok.

They made the Venom incarnation look right...and truth be told the big white spider emblem would have looked stupid.
He was the RIGHT SIZE, they went sparingly on the tongue.

The "conversations" between the creature and the host were great too, not entirely a copy of how it went in the comic, but well done nonetheless.

How the symbiote fought, I liked a lot. The chase scene. The apartment scene. Great. It moved like Venom should.

The only real issue I had was that I thought the villain was pretty bland, and while I know we've had endless carbon copies of Venom throughout the years...I found "just another Venom" to be a bit boring.
For this reason, while he was hinted at I kind of hope they don't do Carnage as the very next thing in line.

Yeah though, I mean...it was watchable. I liked it.

Enemy, 2013. 7,5/10

Director: Denis Villeneuve

An Inspector Calls, 2015. 7/10

Director: Aisling Walsh

Ghost Stories

6/10



Enjoyed the First two stories a lot, then it went to shit for me with the twist. Could had been really, really good.

Night Fare

6.5 - 7/10



Kept me on my chair until the end of it. The atmosphere was solid, but the story was done a few time already. Interesting twist at the end.

I think some of the best horror movies are either always dark or start off in the day and stay at night. It might be difficult to pull off when you think about the passage of time. You are right about Alien, how they are on a ship. But still Alien and for the most part Aliens are at night or in dark environments. The Thing is at night for the most part. Night of the Living Dead starts off in the day but then is at night for almost the rest of the movie.

Thanksgiving is one of the best fake trailers in Grindhouse. I had to watch it again because I didn't know what scene you were talking about. I haven't seen the trailer since watching the movie on a CRT TV. And yeah, I kind of remember thinking what is that guy doing? But now, I see it and the parents should be ashamed. But I guess that's Hollywood. I remember in one of the Hellraiser sequels, an actress who was very young was playing a hooker. I remember thinking that I wouldn't let my daughter do a scene like that.

I'm not anxious to see Venom, though I surely would if it hits netflix. I didn't read his comic entry, just saw Venom in a Spiderman cartoon ep and Spiderman 3. Venom was introduced 1984 and Carnage 1992. Those two are basically the only 2 Spiderman comicbook characters to become famous after the 1960s, correct me if I'm wrong.

It's too bad Rami didn't leave Sandman out of Spiderman 3 and instead devote it to the Venom story, would have been right up his alley considering his brilliant rending of the Spiderman 2 story.

I wish Rami would have changed gears and did Mysterio. He was always my favorite villain. He's a fascinating character with cool powers. Maryjane was in theatre, so that would have been a natural entry point, maybe a love triangle. The Mysterio head is pretty wacky for live action, but maybe making it a little smaller would work.

What a coincidence, I was just taking a peek at Mysterio, to see if he was original to the 1960s TV series, made it to the comics, or vise versa (in the comic 1964, TV series 67)... And I see Mysterio is going to be in the new 2019 Spider-Man: Far from Home. Gyllenhaal will play Mysterio. How about that? I didn't figure this new Tom Holland series would do Mysterio because he's an older man that Parker wouldn't run into, whereas McGuire and MJ were old enough to be involved with him.

In Memory Of, 2018. 7,5/10


Director: Eric Stanze

Escape Room (2019) 7/10

Entertaining and very fast paced, but ruined by the ending. Is a sequel in the makings or was this a pilot to a series? (Not a bad concept for a series).

I think I preferred the Skeet Ulrich “Escape Room” from 2017 slightly better due to a better ending.

Braid, 2018. 7/10

Director: Mitzi Peirone

https://66.media.tumblr.com/78b7d960...cu3po1_500.jpg

Velvet Buzzsaw, 2019. 6/10

Director: Dan Gilroy

WITHER 2012

A swedish take on the "Evil Dead". Certain things didnt add up. Maybe lost in translation. Wasnt horrible.

Polar (2019) 7/10

Like two very different movies smashed together. And the outcome? Well, quite ridiculous but pretty badass. Maybe a little too wannabe badass. But it was certainly entertaining.

Big Man Japan (2007)
7/10

A documentary group follows Daisato, a man who is following in his family's tradition of protecting Tokyo from wacky giant monsters via being jolted with electricity and becoming a giant man with a beating stick. As times of have changed, he's not at all as appreciated as his forebears, and is estranged from family and his agent.

Written, directed and starring Japanese comedian Hitoshi Matsumoto, the film is sometimes incomprehensible, often quirky, sometimes funny, winking at Japanese sci-fi and kaiju TV shows, and splitting between lighthearted and languish.


The Signal (2014)
6/10

Three MIT college students road trip through the Southwest. Nic, and his buddy, Jonah, are moving his girlfriend Hailey (Olivia Cooke) to California. The trio detour to confront an ominous hacker.

The film is in the dark heady emotional sci-fi horror vein of Soderbergh's Solaris and Duncan Jones' Moon, just not nearly as successful. I didn't so much mind the lack of narrative information, in the space between when our heroes go underground and the ending reveal, rather that span's discomfort and disorientation didn't seem to aid or setup a comprehensible catharsis. Still, the film direction is effectively stylish, accompanied by an evocative soundtrack.

This I haven't seen.

Have you seen the Signal (2007)?
Completely different movie, just the same name. Worth it.

Looking at the trailer, looks pretty intense.

Did you ever see the Solaris movie with George Clooney? What'd ya think? If you're into sci-fi, good flick to watch with the wife.