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2020 HORROR MOVIES


Dolfan in NYC

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31 Days of Horror

1. The Blackcoat's Daughter

I quite liked the vibe of this, though it's becoming humorous to me when movies do the slow push in on mundane shit with a creepy score. This one has a slow push on a snow bank on the side of the road. Then later a slow push on some trees as people cross behind it. That's the new horror movie establishing shot trend, but the image still should mean something or be more interesting to look at. I read some thoughts who said the "twist" was well played, but I don't feel like it was a twist. I thought it was pretty clear what was happening. I also LOVE how this movie contextualizes a character trying to rekindle something they've lost but can't. It's my kinda big idea.

2. REDACTED

This is my Halloween Havoc pick for someone. It was awesome.

3. Rattlesnake

My first clunker of the season. It's a 60 minute movie(maybe shorter?) they stretched out to 80 something. Story of a woman whose child gets bitten by a rattlesnake and someone takes care of it out of nowhere. She gets to the hospital and someone else tells her that she needs to kill someone soul for a soul or else the child dies. I thought this premise was interesting but was disappointing that there was never a deal. Like they just fixed the kid and later were like "Oh yeah you gotta do this shit now." It felt like they had the movie they wanted in mind, and circle peg scenes that could have led somewhere interesting were hammered into squares to fit the predetermined plot. Lots of screen writing 101 formula stuff. Introduce a ticking clock, raise the stakes, end where you started. The lead actress looked stymied, like her impulses wanted to do something that the blocking of the scene wouldn't let her do. Pass on this one.

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  • jaedmc unfeatured this topic

I'm too lazy to keep a daily count but I've already seen most of Demons, Halloween, Halloween 4, and all of Bram Stoker's Dracula. Hopkins may have been better in that than as Hannibal Lecter even.

EDIT: And my Havoc pick for whoever gets it. You're in for a treat

Edited by Curt McGirt
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Another rough night.

#4 Spiral(2019) on Shudder

Shameless patchwork of shit from other recent films, but worse than that it exploits the story of gay characters and their trauma with seemingly bare minimum understanding or context. It takes place in a 1995 in technology only, and really only so it can do the laughably bad stinger at the end.

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I watched all five Final Destination movies, but I haven't watched a horror in a couple days now. Got sucked in to something else.

But I'll probably watch at least a couple F13 flicks once my shiny new box gets here.

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Got in about a quarter-to-half of Blood and Black Lace last night. If I weren't listening to Van Halen albums all night it would've been different. 

Oh and my DVR recorded a 15 minute History of Horror segment which had people talking about "first horror experiences", like going in cold to see Alien. Ken Foree jumped up to run out of the theater only to see everyone else was sitting down.

Edited by Curt McGirt
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Creeps without a doubt. Those three came out within a four year period in the mid-to-late 1980's. 1984, 1986, 1988. That's probably what Control was going for.  I remember the infected in Night of the Comet looking pretty freaky when I was a kid. Now it seems like Night of the Comet belongs more in a triple feature with stuff like Just One of The Guys and The Karate Kid than Night of the Creeps or Night of the Demons. That being the case, Night of the Comet serves as the ideal prototype for the type of throwback 80's pastiche movies and TV shows that have become all the rage recently. 

As far movies with The Living Dead in the title go, I can think of quite a few that I personally prefer over NOTLDReturn of The Living Dead is a no-brainer for me. The closest comparison (in terms of place and time in the actual zombie film cycle) is probably The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue (even though that's the alternate title with Let Sleeping Corpses Lie being the original title) and I actually like that one more than NOTLD. Even though it isn't any more of a zombie movie than the other films in the Gates Of Hell Trilogy, City of the Living Dead is also something I've seen the hell out of.  After that, there's probably a bunch of 80's Italian knockoff zombie movie turds like Hell of the Living Dead trying to capitalize on the success of Dawn of the Dead. Obviously none of those knockoffs are as good or entertaining as NOTLD. I chalk it up to not having seen NOTLD over and over when I was a kid.  NOTLD is one of those movies that's so ingrained into the collective consciousness that you can feel like you've seen it a couple hundred times even if you've only seen it a half dozen times. It might be heresy but there are quite a few other Living Dead movies I'd rather watch than the granddaddy of them all. 

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Looking at the artwork in the still image......I have no idea what the hell the cat is from in that logo but I definitely recognize some old friends on the left. I'm not completely sure but if the rodent is who (or what) I think it is, you'd have to have seen the batshit ending of a certain movie to recognize it.  I'm also kind of confused why the killer from Insidious seems to be on the right. Never mind that shit though, this one is going to heavily focus on Italian horror. Hopefully they'll cut back on Dead Meat dork's contributions to this one. 

Edited by FluffSnackwell
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NOTLD is still my favorite movie period. Ever since Dad brought it home on video as a kid, and I finally watched it all the way through. Shit, since I watched the first ten minutes probably. 

I always preferred Night of the Demons 2 to the first, probably because of more/better effects, sexier, and had Morbid Angel on the soundtrack. 

2 hours ago, FluffSnackwell said:

 

INJECT THIS DIRECTLY INTO MY VEINS

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#5: Devil's Gate

What an incredible mess with dialogue that can't stifles any tension or acting. It's got a fascinating premise that derails about halfway through, where every ten minutes there's another bizarre non-sense REVELATION that....jesus I don't know what to do with. Jonathan Frakes has two scenes as a sheriff. He does the best he can. Milo Ventimiglia isn't totally buyable as a redneck religious guy BUT he at least tries. What's crazy is there is clearly some money in this. There are two creatures that look awesome. But it doesn't really get the job done.

#6 Goodnight Mommy

Weirdly devoid of any tension for me. The whole time it seemed fairly obvious what was going on, so I thought maybe it had a nother trick up its sleeve. It did not. But it looks great and has some weird shit in it that has nothing to do with the story. Like the weird fucking town that was empty. Or the building full of fucking bones. Disappointing.

#7 The Brood

After a rough string we scheduled in a classic to lift my spirits. This is one of my all time favorites films. Has one of the best opening seasons of any movie, that I think is as good or better than the Phillip Seymor Hoffman/Joaquin Phoenix therapy scene from The Master. Samantha Eggar crushes every damn scene. Art Hindle is such a great leading man for movies like this. Unsung hero of cinema. Just the best movie.

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7 minutes ago, jaedmc said:

No Popcorn? STAGE FRIGHT from 2014 is kinda like Popcorn but at a musical theatre camp. It's a blast.

Hmmm it has a 5.2 on IMDb but also Meatloaf and Minnie Driver so I’ll take your advice.

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Eli Roth's History of Horror is up and running again in full now. First episode was about Houses, and they slotted in Misery and Sinister, which fit but would not have been first choices. They even bring up The Haunting but, no. I also seriously question the inclusion of The Last House on the Left because come on. Couldn't talk about it anyplace else? 

AMC is also showing the Cursed Films series from Shudder so all you nonsubscribers get to watch it. 

EDIT: They covered The Haunting in the Ghost Stories episode of the first season so we're cool on that

Edited by Curt McGirt
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