Horror films

[Custard]

Son (2021)

When a young boy contracts a mysterious illness, his mother must decide how far she will go to protect him from terrifying forces in her past.

This is on Shudder, and I quite enjoyed it. A few jump scares, which I'm not a big fan of, but it was quite an effective and nasty little thriller/horror, with a haunting ending

[PlanktonSideburns]

History of the Occult

Low budget Argentinian film about the last episode of an investigative television show and how it could reveal the biggest conspiracy known to man - linking the government to an actual covern.

Really well told, intriguing. Been hearing about it for a while and it definitely lives up to its hype

Thanks for recommending this, it was bloody ace.

[Junglist]

Thanks for recommending this, it was bloody ace.

It really, really is, isn't it? One of those that I've thought about every day since viewing.

[zomgmouse]

Housebound. NZ comedy horror that actually manages to nail both the comedy and the horror. Delinquent gets put on house arrest at her mum's house (already horror enough) which may or may not be haunted. Loses a bit of strength trying to weave the various strands of plot together but it's nonetheless a really good time.

[PlanktonSideburns]

It really, really is, isn't it? One of those that I've thought about every day since viewing.

Wife who is not arsed about horror was even into it. A refreshing lack of cheap tricks. Some bits where there was a moments of realisation that something was just inherently WRONG with the world. Lovely

[Indomitable Spirit]

History of the Occult

Low budget Argentinian film about the last episode of an investigative television show and how it could reveal the biggest conspiracy known to man - linking the government to an actual covern.

Really well told, intriguing. Been hearing about it for a while and it definitely lives up to its hype

Just saw the trailer for this and very intrigued - is this available to stream/download anywhere?

[Junglist]

Just saw the trailer for this and very intrigued - is this available to stream/download anywhere?

No idea, but I can PM you if you wish?

[zomgmouse]

The Good Neighbor aka The Waiting. Listed as a thriller but I think this counts at least partially as a horror due to the premise: a couple of teens concoct a project to convince an old miserable neighbour (played by James Caan) that his house is haunted, which goes somewhat wrong. Lots of bad to middling reviews on this but I found it pretty interesting and effective for the most part (though not so much the

Spoiler alert

court scenes

[close]

, even though it does serve to build some extra tension, and I'm not too sure about the

Spoiler alert

ending reveals

[close]

). But overall pretty good!

Abattoir. A reporter investigates an old man who builds a house out of rooms where deaths have occurred. Which sounds like a decent enough premise but this is festering dog turd. Unfortunate. Avoid.

The Little Shop of Horrors (the original). Finally getting around to this. So wonderfully silly. Lovely hammy performances, cracking dialogue.

[Chedney Honks]

1920s silent double:

Tod Browning's The Unknown. Lon Chaney sensational as the lead, had no idea Joan Crawford was in this but pretty incredible to see her in something so young, wonderful setup and execution, the atmosphere is so overbearing. I think as it goes on the plot becomes a little far-fetched but it is so fantastically melodramatic.

Jean Epstein's The Fall of the House of Usher. Never seen a Jean Epstein before so this was a revelation. Exquisitely shot and put together. Really beautiful and haunting, so expressive. ATTENTION TO CHEDNEY HONKS if you liked Vampyr watch this please. You can see it here https://www.cinematheque.fr/henri/film/48361-la-chute-de-la-maison-usher-jean-epstein-1928/

Thanks, mouse. These both sound brilliant. Not seen any Browning either but been on my radar after falling down a silent rabbit hole.

Cheers for the rec and link!

[zomgmouse]

Thanks, mouse. These both sound brilliant. Not seen any Browning either but been on my radar after falling down a silent rabbit hole.

Cheers for the rec and link!

no worries! this is the only silent film of his i've seen - but his (sound) Dracula and Freaks are certified Classics

[Indomitable Spirit]

No idea, but I can PM you if you wish?

Please!

[holyzombiejesus]

Watched the start of another of those Blumhouse Amazon Prime things, this one called Bingo Hall. Switched it off after 15 minutes as it was shit. Then put on something called Two Heads Creek which was about two Polish/ English siblings who go to Australia to find their mother. Utter dogshit. So so bad.

[purlieu]

Housebound. NZ comedy horror that actually manages to nail both the comedy and the horror. Delinquent gets put on house arrest at her mum's house (already horror enough) which may or may not be haunted. Loses a bit of strength trying to weave the various strands of plot together but it's nonetheless a really good time.

Oh yes, lots of fun here. Very nice, often wry humour, but genuinely tense when it needs to be.

[JaDanketies]

Watched Coraline last night and it was legit scary a f. I was thinking it'd be a good movie for psychedelics, but it might actually be too terrifying. The start of it,

Spoiler alert

with the girl with a sad homelife potentially dreaming about a fantasy world she wanted to escape into, despite the viewer at home realising that the fantasy world wasn't all it seemed

[close]

, was just too fuckin real for me tbh. I know it's rated PG and is for children.

The Little Shop of Horrors (the original). Finally getting around to this. So wonderfully silly. Lovely hammy performances, cracking dialogue.

How did it end? The version we watched ended with

Spoiler alert

Audrey taking over the world

[close]

, which was not how it ended in cinematic releases or on VHS and was not what my fiancee recognised. Apparently test audiences hated it, but eventually, decades later, The Man decided it was the best ending.

[zomgmouse]

How did it end? The version we watched ended with

Spoiler alert

Audrey taking over the world

[close]

, which was not how it ended in cinematic releases or on VHS and was not what my fiancee recognised. Apparently test audiences hated it, but eventually, decades later, The Man decided it was the best ending.

Closer to one of the original short stories it was inspired by, "Green Thoughts" -

Spoiler alert

it's discovered that the plant has been eating people because the blooms it produces look suspiciously like their faces. Everyone chases after Seymour because they think he's created the plant. Seymour jumps in and is likewise devoured. The End.

[close]

[ImmaculateClump]

Not really much to say about it, but I really enjoyed "Nothing Bad Can Happen", I really liked some of the performances and characters and it was one of those films where you're enjoying it and forget and you're like "ah yeah, it's a horror film, bad stuff happen now".

[zomgmouse]

Necromancy. Written and directed by Bert I. Gordon, unsung independent B-movie creator. Starring Orson Welles as the magicky patrician of a small creepy old-timey town trying to bring his son back to life, and follows a young couple who moves there (one of whom is Michael Ontkean).

Outpost. Bunch of soldiers (including Michael Smiley) go out to an abandoned Nazi outpost in Eastern Europe for an unknown mission and end up finding some Nazi supersoldier zombies. It has some decent scares and gore and does pick up when the supersoldier zombies start to turn up but it's really not very good at all.

[Magnum Valentino]

. I know it's rated PG and is for children.

This is amusing. Earlier, my wife searched for 'good horror films' and Hocus Pocus was among the results, so I suggested 'good horror films for adults' and Coraline was the third result!

[Small Man Big Horse]

Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II (1987) - Someone on the AV Club said this was something of a lost slasher classic but for my money it's only quite good, partially because the first hour is a little slow

Spoiler alert

with only two kills, and while our heroine Vicky has a couple of hallucinations (with a strangely possessed wooden horse being a highlight),

[close]

twenty minutes could easily have been cut. The third act when

Spoiler alert

good old Mary Lou has possessed the poor gal and is killing left, right and centre is pretty great, but the ending with Vicky somehow surviving being shot and a zombie Mary Lou bursting out of her is a bit silly and though the final twist amused it isn't that satisfying

[close]

. With a shorter running time and a slightly different ending this could have been something I'd praise highly, but as it is I'd only recommend it to those who really love eighties horror. 6.3/10

[Head Gardener]

got a preview screening of Antlers tonight - https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/film/reviews/article-blue-collar-horror-film-antlers-is-one-of-the-grossest-movies-of-the/

[Gregory Torso]

got a preview screening of Antlers tonight - https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/film/reviews/article-blue-collar-horror-film-antlers-is-one-of-the-grossest-movies-of-the/

Please let us know if it's any good. Been waiting for this for ages since reading the short story it's based on.

[SteveDave]

Escape Room 2.

Apparently we saw a different version from the plot that's on the wikipedia page. That one had a much more satisfying ending than what we watched last night.

It was alright. Saw for kids with mild peril.

[neveragain]

WNUF Halloween Special

Made in 2013, this is like an American Ghostwatch but set in the 1980's and comprising of footage from a night of TV as if recorded on VHS with a ton of fake commercials. I'm not lying to say it's one of the best - if not the best - recreations of archive television that I've ever seen. It looks perfect, captures the tone and style masterfully and (though amusing) the commercials don't go for obvious gags, they're just perfect recreations. Acting is also of a high standard. The horror side of it is quite well done too with a nice story that drips out. Definitely worth a watch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGtEKHQKfVg&t=37s&ab_channel=Nekrocinema%5BLacinetecaputrefacta%5D

[Junglist]

Lamb

Another of my most wanted films. Icelandic farming couple, tend sheep. Sheep gives birth to a lamb/human hybrid one day. Couple accept it as their child.

Very, very odd film in that I felt it could go one of a thousand ways but plays it relatively straight. Wonderful scenes interspersed with absolute stone cold dull.

At a loss whether I think its brilliant or all just a bit shit.

Do not watch the trailer.

[Custard]

The Power (2021)

1974: a young nurse is forced to work the night shift in a crumbling hospital as striking miners switch off the power across Britain. But inside the walls lurks a terrifying presence that threatens to consume her and everyone around her.

Another Shudder watch, another decent 'orror film

Atmospheric, grim, disturbing, and has that dusty grimy 70s British feel

Well worth a watch

[ImmaculateClump]

I watched Save Yourselves tonight and that is my message to anyone reading.
The indian lass in it is cute, but even that gets old after an hour. I quite liked the ending, such as it was. Guy in it was so fucking annoying, I get that he was supposed to be, but I don't want to spend an hour and a half with someone like that unless they're gonna get strangled or mangled or whatever.
It's basically two arseholes go to some cabin and then

Spoiler alert

aliens that look like critters invade earth and then fuck all happens. The end.

[close]

[ImmaculateClump]

Has that thing you see in TV shows about real people where if someone's an adorably cookie "character", they'll play that annoying jaunty bassoon over the top of everything they do.
It's that sort of toothless, ineffectual, comfy "satire" where the cunts would go "Oh my god, Steve, that is soooo you! Oh look, always on her phone, that is sooooo like me. I do that aaaall the time. We. are. Hillaaaaarious! Let's never change!"

I did quite like the ending

Spoiler alert

because everyone was in their own little bubble and flying up to space and they were like "we've been saved!" and it was left open nicely.

[close]

Really good ending, but the rest was just fucking nothing.

That's annoying, a fucking shit film that lingers and makes you think it might be slightly better than you thought it was.
It wasn't. I'm sure.

[Custard]

Werewolves Within (2021)

A proposed gas pipeline has created divisions within the small town of Beaverfield. When a snowstorm traps its residents together inside the local inn, newly arrived forest ranger Finn (Sam Richardson) and postal worker Cecily (Milana Vayntrub) must try to keep the peace and uncover the truth behind a mysterious creature that has begun terrorizing the community.

This was far better than I thought it'd be, and at 90 minutes it's tight and fast paced

Based on a game, apparently. But don't let that put you off, as it's genuinely a fun little horror comedy

[zomgmouse]

Lamb

Another of my most wanted films. Icelandic farming couple, tend sheep. Sheep gives birth to a lamb/human hybrid one day. Couple accept it as their child.

Very, very odd film in that I felt it could go one of a thousand ways but plays it relatively straight. Wonderful scenes interspersed with absolute stone cold dull.

At a loss whether I think its brilliant or all just a bit shit.

Do not watch the trailer.

Watched this today. It's definitely more a heightened surreal drama than an outright horror but it's certainly pretty good. The human-lamb child is something to behold and it's all very pretty to look at and then

Spoiler alert

that older sheep-man at the end holy shit

[close]

. A nice quiet sparse character study (with moments of great intensity). Kind of funny reading all the negative reviews by all the A24 stans who are finally watching a European film and feel outraged that "nothing happens".

[Brundle-Fly]

This looked like a daft laugh.  Anyone seen it?