The Horror Thread

[spireite]

Saw 'The Visit' tonight. It's really pretty bad, although one bit made me jump a bit. I wouldn't bother unless you're really struggling for something to watch.

 

[Gilly?]

Watched Lucio Fulci's City of the Living Dead the other night.

I didn't think too much of it, it's not a patch on The Beyond which was superb. It's one of the few Fulci films that should probably be avoided. 4/10.

Got a fair few Dario Argento films to get through before my Amazon Prime trial expires.

 

[Craig]

Area 51 (2015)
Latest found footager from the folk behind the Paranormal Activity franchise. Actually started off really well and kept me interested right up until the last 15-20 minutes when it really let itself down and indeed at points ventured into the realm of nonsensical. Damn shame, coz it could have been a genre classic (at least in the found footage field). 6/10.

7500 (2014)
Takashi Shimizu does aeroplane horror. Another one that started off well then let itself down in the final third. Heavily influenced by J-Horror obviously, which didn't help its case with me considering I'm not particularly a fan. 6/10.

 

[Craig]

Tales of Halloween (2015).
Decent seasonal anthology involving 11 short stories set around one Halloween night in a fictional town. As with most anthologies it was hit and miss, a welcome addition to the sub-genre overall though. 7/10

Currently watching Howl (2015) which has got me wondering what everyone's fave werewolf film is. One of my personal favourite sub-genres.

For me it's still An American Werewolf in London but certainly got a few faves that run it close.

 

[Gilly?]

Dog Soldiers.

 

[spireite]

Dog Soldiers.

'I hope I give you the fackin' shits'

 

[Gilly?]

'I hope I give you the fackin' shits'

So if Little Red Riding Hood should show up with a bazooka and a bad attitude, I expect you to chin the bitch.

 

[Gilly?]

Housebound
Thought it was ace, fairly bloody, quite tense in parts and mostly hilarious. Eugene is brilliant. 7.5/10.

 

[Gilly?]

Unfriended
Not sure, I really liked it but at the same time thought it was pretty rubbish. I liked the idea of it and there were some nice touches where things happen when you're using a laptop, whether it's writing something, deleting it, re-writing, deleting it again and then settling for a different message. Or a few typos here and there. It gave it a more realistic feel but then you realise a pissed off demon is in your Skype and it's being a bellend to your mates so all sense of realism goes away.

A think a 7/10 is probably fair. Maybe a 6. Fuck it, 6.5/10.

 

[Gilly?]

Goodnight Mommy
Austrian horror about two twins who thinks their mothers is an imposter after having facial reconstruction surgery.

Not a lot really happens, yet I found myself compelled by the whole ordeal. Quite an original concept and the twins are excellent as Lukas and Elias. I'd recommend this quitem highly. 8/10.

The Green Inferno
Eli Roth is back with a rather gory average-fest. Some activists get stuck in the middle of a big forest and get caught by some crap natives.

I'm probably doing the wrong thing in comparing it to the likes of Cannibal Holocaust but at least that gave you the feeling that the natives in that were pretty legit and not just a bunch of painted bellends. The Green Inferno is much more light hearted and no way near as controversial but also no way near as good. Deodato > Roth. 5/10.

 

[Craig]

Bone Tomahawk (2015)
Absolutely loved it, one of the most enjoyable horrors I've seen for years. Great mixture of western and horror. Basically about a gang of cannibalistic cave dwelling natives (think Sawney Bean in the south west US) who abduct the wife of a cowboy who's recently broken his leg (excellently played by Patrick Wilson) along with the local deputy. The sheriff and other deputy (Kurt Russell and Richard Jenkins) along with aforementioned cowboy and a vain former Indian fighter (played by a scene stealing Matthew Fox) set out to rescue them. It's quite slow paced and most of the action takes part in the last 30 minutes of a 2 hour 15 minute film, but it's a very enjoyable watch throughout with a good balance of character building, extreme gore and plenty of humour without going over the top. Fantastic. 10/10

 

[Martino Knockavelli]

This is good:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p0351g0z/fear-itself

 

[Craig]

This is good:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p0351g0z/fear-itself

Fantastic, and more than a little bit unsettling.

 

[Martino Knockavelli]

Admirable scope too - films from all sorts of places and all sorts of eras. I ended up with loads noted down.

 

[Craig]

Definitely, some I've seen and wouldn't consider horror, in a traditional sense, but thinking on it they're solidly fixed in there.

 

[Craig]

Cooties (2014)
You know when someone thinks they're having a bit of friendly banter but really they're just being downright insulting?. 2/10

 

[Cheese & Biscuits]

This is good:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p0351g0z/fear-itself

I have that downloaded on the iPlayer to watch. I'd forgotten all about it though so glad for the reminder. Will watch it on my train journey home tomorrow.

 

[Craig]

Digging Up the Marrow (2014).
Strange film. Found footage/self deprecating labour of love from Adam Green (creator of the Hatchet franchise). Was fun but not great. 5/10

 

[Cheese & Biscuits]

This is good:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p0351g0z/fear-itself

Fantastic, and more than a little bit unsettling.

Admirable scope too - films from all sorts of places and all sorts of eras. I ended up with loads noted down.

Definitely, some I've seen and wouldn't consider horror, in a traditional sense, but thinking on it they're solidly fixed in there.

Just watched it, thought it was excellent. I wouldn't call myself a horror fan at all really so a lot of the films featured were new to me but the way they had linked the films to the narration was very good. A very eerie (not sure that's the right word though) 90 minutes. My only gripe was it sounded like 'whore' every time she said 'horror'.

 

[Craig]

It Follows (2014).
One of the creepiest films I've seen for a bit. Very well made and while a lot of films of this type seem to wane as they progress it stayed consistently interesting throughout I thought. The ending was great. 9/10

 

[Cas]

Thought It Follows was decent myself. Might give it another watch.

 

[Craig]

I thinks it's worthy of a mention that the two best horrors I've seen this year cost less than $4million combined. When you consider the budgets of some of the crap released in recent years it's quite depressing.

 

[Leewilson]

I liked It Follows but felt it could have been better. There was a sense of dread and helplessness throughout but I thought it could have been scarier. Some scenes where you can see people/it walking in the distance built up tension superbly and then didn't quite have the pay off. I'm not saying it should be a film of jump scares but a few more moments where it gets far too close for comfort would have really kept everyone a bit more on edge. I wasn't a fan of the whole swimming pool part either although I did like the ending. I thought it was clever, especially with the way there was someone in the background with the clear message of, "you'll never know who's following you".

For me it was a 7.5 or 8/10 rather than a 9.

Watched The Babadook again the other night and that for me is more of a 9/10 film.

 

[Craig]

Just watched the first two episodes of Ash vs The Evil Dead. It was alright, nothing special but it should pass 30 mins a week nicely enough for a bit.

 

[Gilly?]

I liked It Follows, had something special about it.

 

[Craig]

Planet of the Vampires (1965).
Two spaceships are investigating a signal from a far off planet, when they approach it they are dragged in by an unknown force and separated. Once on the planet the crew of one of the ships discovers the crew of the other are all dead, they also discover another older ship from years ago that was also lured to the planet by the inhabitants, who are nothing but the spirits of the natives of the planet, which have begun to take over the dead bodies of the killed crew members and reanimated them. We discover that their planet is dying, and they have lured the ships there to hijack them and return to Earth to take over.

Ultra low budget but bloody enjoyable, though I will admit it took me about 30 minutes to get into it, and the influence over a few great sci-fi/horrors that came after is obvious. I watched the first hour and 15 minutes in Italian with English subtitles until it suddenly cut off, then spent a while trying to locate the last 10 minutes or so because I needed to finish it, which I luckily did. Loved the ending.

 

[Martino Knockavelli]

YES

Not Bava's best film, but praps the best example of his ability to wangle style and atmosphere out of a 10p budget. All the planet surface scenes are constructed out of like two gel lights, a smoke machine, a mirror, and a polystyrene rock shot from 5 different angles. So good.

 

[Craig]

I loved how all the actors spoke in their own language too. It's dubbed, oh it's not, but it is....

 

[Craig]

Night of Fear (1972)
A demented backwoodsman terrorizes a woman who takes a wrong turn in the Australian wilderness. Less than an hour long with no dialogue. Flesh eating rats and cats. What's not to like?. 8/10

Knock Knock (2015)
Eli Roth tries to do Funny Games with Keanu Reeves and a couple of hot Latinas. 5/10

 

[Craig]

Deathgasm (2015)
New Zealand horror comedy about a bunch of young metalheads who unwittingly unleash the forces of hell. Extremely gory and pretty funny in parts it's worth 90 minutes of any horror fans time I reckon. 7/10

We Are Still Here (2015)
Decent haunted/possessed house fare, not on a par with Amityville or The Entity, worth a watch though. 7/10

The Hallow (2015)
So disappointed with this. Young couple and their baby move to rural Ireland where the father is tasked with clearing the local forest and they fall foul of the ghouls in the woods, so much potential but it falls flat. Maybe it's just a case of me looking forward to it too much, I mean it's not terrible, but it was a massive let down for me. 6/10