Horror films

[SteveDave]

"Anything for Jackson"

I was sold by the synopsis-

"A bereaved Satanist couple kidnap a pregnant woman so they can use an ancient spellbook to put their dead grandson's spirit into her unborn child but end up summoning more than they bargained for."

It was quite good. The ginger satanist they hang around with really looks like Bruce Dern. It took me most of the film to realise this but they're not related.



This then lead me to telling my wife about the segment with the demon being borne of woman in "V/H/S". So we then watched V/H/S but it turns out that segment was in "V/H/S 2". So we watched that too. Then yesterday we watched "V/H/S Viral". They're all much of a muchness. "Parallel Monsters" in "V/H/S Viral" was the stand out though. Directed by the same fellow who made "Timecrimes"

Also, last week I finished the "Video Palace" podcast. It would've been great had it had an ending rather than just "Oh he's gone now"

EDIT- Papa

[frajer]

A Shudder subscription is currently 99p per month for 3 months on Prime Video so I renewed last night for some fiendish Christmas viewing.

Started on the newly added stuff I haven't seen before. First up, Body (2015).

Liked it. Short, sharp and sees its premise through to an inevitably bleak end. Doesn't do that much new with the genre (although that said I've never

Spoiler alert

seen a girl pop a presumed dead man's hand up herself before

[close]

) but it establishes the characters well, builds nicely and the three main actors playing the wayward girls are all very good. 3/5 bags of popcorn.

Edit - also I liked the poster image very much:

[Twonty Gostelow]

"Anything for Jackson"

I was sold by the synopsis-

"A bereaved Satanist couple kidnap a pregnant woman so they can use an ancient spellbook to put their dead grandson's spirit into her unborn child but end up summoning more than they bargained for."

It was quite good. The ginger satanist they hang around with really looks like Bruce Dern. It took me most of the film to realise this but they're not related.

I thought it was superb, real old-school Satanic spookiness. Will Self Julian Richings was great.

[SteveDave]

I've just discovered there's a "horror" film called "Paintball Massacre" starring Katy Brand and Lee from Steps. I'm watching on NYE for the perfect end to this shitty year.

[BlodwynPig]

"Anything for Jackson"

I was sold by the synopsis-

"A bereaved Satanist couple kidnap a pregnant woman so they can use an ancient spellbook to put their dead grandson's spirit into her unborn child but end up summoning more than they bargained for."

It was quite good. The ginger satanist they hang around with really looks like Bruce Dern. It took me most of the film to realise this but they're not related.



This then lead me to telling my wife about the segment with the demon being borne of woman in "V/H/S". So we then watched V/H/S but it turns out that segment was in "V/H/S 2". So we watched that too. Then yesterday we watched "V/H/S Viral". They're all much of a muchness. "Parallel Monsters" in "V/H/S Viral" was the stand out though. Directed by the same fellow who made "Timecrimes"

Also, last week I finished the "Video Palace" podcast. It would've been great had it had an ending rather than just "Oh he's gone now"

EDIT- Papa

There is a video palace book now and I've finished the audio book. It's decent. Hypnagogic.

[Brundle-Fly]

I watched this wonderful monster movie romp on Prime the other night. Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark (2019)

Set in 1968, it's based on urban legends and the short horror stories for children written by Alvin Schwartz. They were popular in the 1980s, apparently.

If you enjoy Stephen King's small town movies and Guillermo del Toro's visions of terror, you'll love this.
Directed by your Troll Hunter (2010) man, André Øvredal.

[TrenterPercenter]

Might have already had it on here but I watched What Keeps You Alive tuther night and it was pretty decent.  It's basically a story of a lesbian couple that go to celebrate their anniversary at secluded country house when one of them starts acting very weird.  That is all you need to know, but know it isn't the usual home invasion stuff.  I didn't watch any trailers and i'm glad as lots of people were saying they give too much away of the story (the twist occurs pretty early on).  It's alright worth a go if you are looking for something to watch.

It's on Netflix at the moment.

[Famous Mortimer]

Letters To Satan Claus

SyFy Channel original, a parody of those Hallmark Channel Christmas movies, with the Devil in it. It works really well! Lots of good acting, lots of fun, it might be a bit late for a Christmas movie now but give it a go, I say.

[Famous Mortimer]

Keeping on the Satan theme, I gave Satanic Panic a go the other night, and very good it is too. Pizza delivery girl gets caught up in some devil-worshipping shenanigans. Apparently, it was an original for the Shudder Channel, but for its humble-ish origins, it's great.

Both it and "Letters To Satan Claus" were directed by women, too. Not sure I'd have noticed if it wasn't pointed out, but yay for more diversity of horror, I say.

[Brundle-Fly]

A Shudder subscription is currently 99p per month for 3 months on Prime Video so I renewed last night for some fiendish Christmas viewing.

Started on the newly added stuff I haven't seen before. First up, Body (2015).

Liked it. Short, sharp and sees its premise through to an inevitably bleak end. Doesn't do that much new with the genre (although that said I've never

Spoiler alert

seen a girl pop a presumed dead man's hand up herself before

[close]

) but it establishes the characters well, builds nicely and the three main actors playing the wayward girls are all very good. 3/5 bags of popcorn.

Edit - also I liked the poster image very much:

Watched this tonight. Thanks for the tip. Well written with excellent chemistry between the three female leads.  Reminded me of

Spoiler alert

Shallow Grave

[close]

.

[frajer]

Watched this tonight. Thanks for the tip. Well written with excellent chemistry between the three female leads.  Reminded me of

Spoiler alert

Shallow Grave

[close]

.

Glad you liked! Yeah definite similarities to that film. I think the key with these sort of set-ups is how much you can stand the perpetrators once it all kicks off, and the characters and performances were all engaging.

[Brundle-Fly]

Glad you liked! Yeah definite similarities to that film. I think the key with these sort of set-ups is how much you can stand the perpetrators once it all kicks off, and the characters and performances were all engaging.

I know the trio were brattish but I almost didn't want this to be a horror film because I think all the characters in the film could've made for a bittersweet comedy-drama in the vein of Ghost World (2001) or something by Alexander Payne. Or a A Netflix series.

[Artie Fufkin]

There is a video palace book now and I've finished the audio book. It's decent. Hypnagogic.

Oooh. Is it the same as the podcast, storywise?

[Twonty Gostelow]

I think the key with these sort of set-ups is how much you can stand the perpetrators once it all kicks off, and the characters and performances were all engaging.

I thought it started well with the well-acted character development but then became silly and unconvincing. As good as the first part was, it took too long to get to the pivotal event, possibly because there wasn't much that could be done with the action afterwards. The establishment of the alpha character's hold on the other two was well done, but I simply didn't believe that either of them would have continued with the cover-up, given that they seemed to be reasonably intelligent.

Spoiler alert

Are we supposed to think at the end that they might get away with the killing(s), if not with the breaking and entering rap, but it's going to haunt them for the rest of their lives? Because there's absolutely no way they wouldn't be found out from the forensics alone, and that's before the police talk to the boyfriend. Also, the dying man could barely move, so how does that tassel that he pulled with his teeth suddenly appear over his face? (Been two weeks since I saw it, so maybe I missed something.)

[close]

[frajer]

Fair points there Twonty.

Nah I don't think you missed anything. There's definitely a suspension of disbelief that has to be achieved with these type of films in modern settings, with the forensics in play as you mention. For my money I enjoyed it because it was short and sharp enough with decent character/acting work that I didn't think about these real world implications too much. There's definitely been similar films with poor acting and overlong run times where I've ended up thinking the same as you though!

[Twonty Gostelow]

Suspension of disbelief is definitely easier for me if there's an occult element to the story. I think with this one I began to find the ringleader so irritating that I put myself in the other girls' place and then couldn't buy their behaviour. But people do weird things under pressure, so maybe I'm being too critical. (It didn't help that my wife had shouted 'OH GOD, NO WOMAN WOULD EVER DO THAT!' during the bit with the hand.)

[Artie Fufkin]

I watched the remake (re-imagining?) of Invisible Man yesterday. Was pleasantly surprised at how good it was. Tense! Really cleverly filmed.

[Brundle-Fly]

I watched the remake (re-imagining?) of Invisible Man yesterday. Was pleasantly surprised at how good it was. Tense! Really cleverly filmed.

I've wanted to see The Invisible Man (arf!) since lockdown started but it was so expensive to even rent. Where did you watch it, if you don't mind me asking?

[phantom_power]

I really liked it as well. I liked how it was reframed as a gaslighting boyfriend in an abusive relationship

[Brundle-Fly]

I watched Hunted (2020) on Shudder this week. 

Another girl in peril, survival horror grim-fest; not groundbreaking, but tense, very watchable, darkly humerous, well made, and some stylish visuals.  Good performances all around, but it felt like the actors were in different movies. The cartoon villain male characters were in an Eli Roth film and the female lead's performance seemed like she was in one of those bleak European slashers. If you enjoyed last year's Revenge, you'll enjoy this.

[Artie Fufkin]

I've wanted to see The Invisible Man (arf!) since lockdown started but it was so expensive to even rent. Where did you watch it, if you don't mind me asking?

Sky Movies via Now TV

[Artie Fufkin]

I really liked it as well. I liked how it was reframed as a gaslighting boyfriend in an abusive relationship

Yep. Really cleverly done. A couple of obligatory silly bits (

Spoiler alert

I'm now sure why he had to sound like the predator

[close]

), but really enjoyable.

[Moribunderast]

Just watched and really enjoyed HUNTER HUNTER. Definitely left an imprint in my psyche. I'm glad I didn't watch the trailer beforehand as it gives away far too much. Basic premise: A family of fur-trappers living in the woods must contend with a wolf at their doorstep. I thought it

Spoiler alert

took some interesting narrative turns and became a proper nasty little film. The last five minutes, in particular, were just brutal.

[close]

There were some slight pacing issues (though it's not a long movie) but it tickled a few of my horror sweet-spots.

I have OPEN 24 HOURS and THE CLEANSING HOUR ready to go, as well, as they seem to have good peer reviews on a site I trust.

[holyzombiejesus]

Just watched and really enjoyed HUNTER HUNTER. Definitely left an imprint in my psyche. I'm glad I didn't watch the trailer beforehand as it gives away far too much. Basic premise: A family of fur-trappers living in the woods must contend with a wolf at their doorstep. I thought it

Spoiler alert

took some interesting narrative turns and became a proper nasty little film. The last five minutes, in particular, were just brutal.

[close]

There were some slight pacing issues (though it's not a long movie) but it tickled a few of my horror sweet-spots.

I have OPEN 24 HOURS and THE CLEANSING HOUR ready to go, as well, as they seem to have good peer reviews on a site I trust.

The Cleansing Hour is atrocious.

[Moribunderast]

The Cleansing Hour is atrocious.

You weren't wrong! Don't know how it had such a good rating on the site I visited, it was terrible from the start to the end.

[holyzombiejesus]

Laughing just thinking about it. The hot priest and the sassy demon.

[Dave The Triffids]

Watched Hunter Hunter following the recommendation here and some other positive reviews.  Blimey. 

Spoiler alert

That ending.

[close]

Really enjoyed it although as has been said, the pace is slightly off and it's probably not as snappy as it could be give that it's not a particularly long film. 

Spoiler alert

One thing I didn't like was the horrifically bad CGI wolf - it almost pulled me out of the film.

[close]

Overall though, a great little horror film definitely worth a watch.

[TrenterPercenter]

Watched Hunter Hunter following the recommendation here and some other positive reviews.  Blimey. 

Spoiler alert

That ending.

[close]

Really enjoyed it although as has been said, the pace is slightly off and it's probably not as snappy as it could be give that it's not a particularly long film. 

Spoiler alert

One thing I didn't like was the horrifically bad CGI wolf - it almost pulled me out of the film.

[close]

Overall though, a great little horror film definitely worth a watch.

Yep would agree - enjoyed this and

Spoiler alert

that ending fucking hell

[close]

[Head Gardener]

Monster Hunter has just come out & am watching it tonight as most Paul W.S. Anderson films have something going for them (Event Horizon is a fave) even if it is just sexy women chasing down giant creatures, I'm in



trailer

[SteveDave]

We saw "A Dark Song" last night after seeing it compared to "Saint Maud" on that thread and I really enjoyed it.

I think it could've been a lot different had they had someone more traditionally "occult" looking to play the male lead but Steve Oram gave it a real grounding in reality.