Black Christmas

I gave this one a chance. And you know what? The opening was not half bad. Kind of makes you think that the film would not be bad. Maybe it just got panned because it has such big shoes to fill. Then, it went downhill very fast. A remake with no original ideas. Hot girls, exposition,... Not very original.

That brings me to another thing: If you have no original ideas, you can always save it by at least remembering what made the original stand out. The scary thing about the original was how little we knew about the killer. Bob Clark left it to our imagination. This one went so much on the nose that it became annoying. With a few shots clearly put in there, just to make the jocks and their date to go "Dude! Gross!".

The second star is for the icepick kill/accident and the plastic bag nod to the original. And Mary Elizabeth Winstead deserves better than this.

Pontypool had an interesting concept, to say the least. A local radio station in the middle of what looks to be a zombie outbreak (or something akin to that). And in all fairness, it had some good moments. A good build up during the bit when they realise that there's something serious going and the final scene with Ken Loney is touching.

That said, I could not help but think they did not fully reach the potential this concept has to offer. With a few on location shots (think of reporters like Trevor Hannah in the Dawn of the Dead remake), good voice actors who earned their chops in animation, good use of facial expressions,...

All in all, I liked it (and I respect what the crew did with this budget), but I can also not help but wonder what someone like David Fincher could have done with this.

We just saw this over the weekend and have to agree with You all the way. Interesting premise, and not bad for the budget, but really could have been much better. Steven McHattie was good, though. **1/2

Good point on Steven McHattie. Shame I forgot to give him a separate mention.

You been a smoker, Frye?


LOL[/QUOTE]
Hi Sculpt, sorry to take this long getting back-work been hectic, but on Vacation now::smile:: and also have able to read posts from other members about smoking and all well thought out responses.

After that episode with Mom's B&H Menthol, steered well clear of it. Tried a puff here and there, but nothing to stick. Just find it a nasty smelly thing...Mrs FD doesn't like it either. In single days, only dated two girls who indulged; one who did Marlboro 100's, but her kisses were akin to being mugged, so could deal with that::wink:: and last one (shortly before Mrs FD) smoked Clover cigs, which at least didn't stink too much. Besides, I was more intrigued by the pint of Sloe Gin she kept in her big purse, for "Emergencies"::confused::::cool::

As gotten older. still find it a revolting practice, hate second hand smoke and loathe how most smokers think They can just toss the butt wherever. With what We know about it and the effects not to mention the cost, why start?

Malignant, 2021. 5/10

Director: James Wan




Dumb as fuck. ::roll eyes::

And obviously, why remake Black Christmas? The only answer is for the producers to make money (off the name) and for crew/actors to work.

And damnitall, if you're going to be lame enough to "remake" Black Christmas, then take advantage of the opportunity to re-imagine it into something different.

Well said! Yes, what could David Fincher do with this?

What was the budget?

I also really liked the concept of the sound causing the zombies (as I recall) -- symbolic, I think, of an idea causing a threat. Liked the setup, but definitely went off the rails for me. Lot's of folks on here liked it, so I didn't pan it as much as I would have liked. It was ok, but leaves you wishing it was done better. I never think of it as a budget issue. It's not a space odyssey film. Thinking of Oliver Stone's Talk Radio was great cause of the writing, acting and direction. It's not primarily a money issue.

According to imdb, it was around 1.5 million.

Interesting. Talk Radio's budget was only 4 million. And plenty of that went to pay Oliver Stone, Alec Baldwin, John C. McGinley and professional industry workers. I know Talk Radio doesn't have zombie makeup, but that doesn't need be expensive any more than some practical zombie violence/action. There's some inexpensive CG set/background special effects if needed. ::big grin::

MAY (2002). Angela Bettis is very good as the extremely lonely girl. who decides to follow her Mom's advice when little; "If You can't find a Friend, Make one." Decent support from Anna Faris and Jeremy Sisto and pretty gruesome in parts. ***

When it comes to cinematic quality, there is no reason to remake Black Christmas because the original still holds up.

That said, one of the (unintentional) qualities of the original is that it talked about a then groundbreaking subject, not in the least because it was right after Roe v Wade. So in that light, you can perfectly see where the 2019 remake comes from and, as you said, you can add something.

But the first thing to do is make an entertaining piece of cinema. I remember one review calling it "a script written by Lisa Simpson". Not to diss Lisa, but I can how that does not keep you on the edge of your seat.

What are your thoughts on the idea that the characters had to avoid terms of endearment?

Malignant

C.O.R.N., 2021 7/10

Director: Robin Christian



I liked this. The characters where natural and the gore pretty good.


The Curse of Humpty Dumpty, 2021. 7/10

Director: Scott Jeffrey



Yessssssssssssssssss! I love this kinda stuff!

Clubhouse detectives

Sorry, it's been a long time since I've seen it. I hadn't heard anything about that. How'd that scenario go?

Just like dad

I guess it's a case of growing insight and that can take it's time. For the young, it does not grow fast enough and for the old, it grows too fast. I grew up with slogans like "Smoking? As long as it's civil". A generation that grows up with anti smoking adds will look at that differently.



This add is a good example. From my generation, knowing the drugs these two have done, my first thought is: And you're going to tell me not to smoke? Really? Whereas someone from a later generation might be more likely to say; Does not matter, they're right.

And I can only speak for my own experience, but in the meantime, there seemed to be a time (about a decade) where people were somewhere in between. Yeah, we know it's bad, but it's bad in a too much booze is bad kind of way. For a lot of people, it might have still felt more like a vice than as something genuinely dangerous.

Plus from the way I quit, I realise it's easy for me to say, because I was never really addicted or felt that way.

What'd ya think, Bama? I like Wan's work for sure.


For sure. I'm thankful I didn't get hooked. No credit to me. I have lot's of friends who are hooked and wished they weren't.

THE CURSE OF HUMPTY DUMPTY
2021

A woman and her two daughters return to the family home when she starts to suffer from dementia.

Very pretty to look at and i enjoyed it.

::love::

The cast of the remake is really good but the movie not so much. Strangely I thought I reviewed all of them recently over here. I know I did on HorrorDVDs. It was because the third remake came out and got a lot of the MeToo thing going.

I actually watched the original for the first time. I know it was in the last year. Let me search around.

In relation to my review of Pontypool: A DVD extra from Dawn of the Dead.

Found them. One during the October posting month last year.

Third Black Christmas:

http://horrordvds.com/community/thre...24#post-872859

Original Black Christmas and the first Remake:

http://horrordvds.com/community/thre...-5#post-874338

Thanks. I'll check them out.

Hush

Yeah, how did that scenario go? If you used a term of endearment to someone they would turn into a zombie?

I really liked Hush! Thought it was Hitchcockian... where pretty much everything shot, everything thing you see in the beginning comes into to play in the film. Good thriller. Well thought out. These are the types of films I'd like to see more of.

Well, the story plays out in Canada and according to the message from the Quebecois, terms of endearment apparently were one of the things that set these things off.

Slumber party massacre III

That's really weird. I don't remember that from the film, but I don't doubt it, it's been a long time. I wonder the writer is intending to say -- you know as an allegory? Is the writer suggesting affectionate words cause people to be bad some how? Like this causes jealous violence in society? ::confused::

I think it was mostly to just create this plotpoint where one of the characters would get a phonecall from one of her children and she would be all like "hey sweetie", while the other characters give her looks and signs to just, you know, cut it off.

The Collection

This sequel loses a bt of it's steam, compared to part 1. Because in part 1, the idea was still new. Makes you wonder wether a direct sequel would be better. Picking up immediately afterwards, like Halloween 2 did.

Granted, it has it's moments and some of the traps still are creepy. But the concept of the badasses going in to save the girlfriend/wife/daughter has been overdone. Also, there seemed to be more than a bit of nodding going on. Maybe it's just me, but the opening credits seemed to nod to/pay hommage to the opening credits of Seven. And some bits of the score seriously across as diet Nine Inch Nails.

And, of course, there is a bit of sequel bait. Except, this is more the wuuuh? kind of sequel bait.

Devour (2005)

https://alchetron.com/cdn/Devour-fil...c9c6d3f501.jpg

5/10

The satanic character is good, but that's all. ::devil:: No tension; cliché dialogues and boring plot; and too much sex and beauty, as you can see. ::stick out tongue::

I could swear I reviewed this around here because of the main actor. I remember it was a surprisingly bad movie. So bad that I can't remember the plot. Maybe it had another title.

1917 (2017).>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>SPOILERS>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>


Technically, 1917 is fantastic, such amazing camera work and really only one cut that is more like a fade. The story was good, but Schofield should have been seriously hurt when the Trench cave-in occurs. It's quite convenient that after he falls into the water, He floats right where his mission is supposed to be and not even getting nicked when He goes "Over The Top" to deliver the message. Minor quibbles, but the film's power is somewhat diluted. Still very much worth seeing.
****1/2

DONT SPEAK 2020

A small village is wiped out by a creature that hunts by sound.
Not original, not good.

Was it a bit like this?

::devil::

Profile is one of those occasions when the found footage concept mostly seems to be used to keep production cheap rather than anything else.

It may work for films like Unfriended, but I cannot see the added value of the found footage idea here. The report was published and the reporter survives, so why do it this way? Why not make a faux documentary mixed with found footage? This may also just be me, but I was not very invested in the main character and her life. Maybe also because part of me expects these reporters doing such profiles to be more levelheaded and well prepared, rather than seemingly everything last minute or almost/accidentally revealing your true identity, your name, your home,...

The ending seemed a bit underwhelming as well. Sure, the idea of ISIS sending out a wanted poster with your name is quite scary, but for storytelling purposes, it's also worthwile to deliver on the scares in some way, shape or form. An action beat, a haunting tesimony from the main character or one of her friends,... Now none of that.

It was not terrible, but all in all disappointing.