Horror films

[purlieu]

Finally watched La Cabina. Fucking hell that was really unsettling. Even when it was intended to be comic at the start, I still felt really uncomfortable. I love the utter unknowable pointlessness of the really, really bleak ending. What a gloriously horrible little film.

[purlieu]

Enter Nowhere. The first two thirds are definitely in horror territory, three people in an abandoned cabin they can't seem to escape from. It's very weird and disorienting, and although the dialogue and performances are patchy, the atmosphere holds up. The final third heads into less spooky, more SF/fantasy territory, with at least a certain amount of explanation of what's going on, which doesn't quite match the feeling of the bulk of the film, but manages to tie the narrative up quite well. No masterpiece but certainly worth a watch.

[Artie Fufkin]

I watched Red Dot on Netflix last night - a Swedish film about a couple who go hiking up in the north, it's pretty good, not hugely original but some nice scenery and pretty well shot too

Btw Netflix defaults to a terrible English dub so do switch your settings back to Swedish with subs

I got halfway through this on Saturday, before Mrs Fufkin came home and wanted to 'talk to me about her day at work'. Jeez. I was enjoying it up until then, anyhow. In an anxious kinda way. Will have to watch 2nd half on Saturday.

[TrenterPercenter]

Watched The Wolf of Snow Hollow tuther night it isn't very good; there is a film there bit it is very incoherent and at times badly acted; Jim Cummings after his excellent Thunder Road appears to be trying to shoe horn his character from that into this film which has the weird impact of making you dislike both this film and retrospectively Thunder Road.

Not a horror film but I'm working my way through Eli Roths History of Horror on Shudder that I just presumed was going to be complete dog eggs but it's actually really good; you are not really going to learn anything new (though perhaps I'll fuck my hat about

Spoiler alert

Janet Lee being Jamie Lee Curtis's mum and her casting in Halloween being a direct result of Carpenters love of Psycho

[close]

).

[turnstyle]

Watched Sputnik on Netflix.

Nice little movie. Loads of atmosphere, and the lead actor (whom IMDB tells me is Oksana Akinshina) was excellent I thought. No real surprises or twists - a lot of the plot points you could see coming down the road, but it was entertaining and kept a good pace.

[willbo]

Watched Sputnik on Netflix.

Nice little movie. Loads of atmosphere, and the lead actor (whom IMDB tells me is Oksana Akinshina) was excellent I thought. No real surprises or twists - a lot of the plot points you could see coming down the road, but it was entertaining and kept a good pace.

I watched it last night. I loved the 80s Soviet atmosphere. Probably of the best small scale sci fi stories I've seen for a few years. It reminded me a little of a Tales From the Loop episode.

[turnstyle]

It reminded me a little of a Tales From the Loop episode.

Wow, I didn't even know this was a thing, and I love Stålenhag's art. Will check it out!

[Artie Fufkin]

I got halfway through this on Saturday, before Mrs Fufkin came home and wanted to 'talk to me about her day at work'. Jeez. I was enjoying it up until then, anyhow. In an anxious kinda way. Will have to watch 2nd half on Saturday.

Yep. Watched the second half. I found it really hard to watch, but not due to it being bad. I just had a feeling of dread all through it. I thought the male lead wasn't the best of actors, but on the whole the film was well worth watching, so thanks for that.

Spoiler alert

A nice twist which I didn't see coming. I thought the barwoman was really rude when she first appeared, but now I know why.

[close]

And yes, the scenery was beautiful.

[ImmaculateClump]

Thanks for the recommendation. I enjoyed the first half hour, but then it became unintentionally comical, too much was going wrong, then it started to get boring.

I feel like the film gave me information at totally the wrong moments so I never felt invested until it was too late.

I think they could have fixed this into a standard 3 bagger genre flick in the editing room, but the maddening thing is that I think they decided to muck around with the timeline after the fact to be clever and hold info back from the viewer so that it would be a surprise fun twist.
I feel like in doing that they broke what didn't need fixing.

[SteveDave]

Slaxx

Killer jeans. Not as in "Those jeans look killer" but as in "Those jeans are murdering people"

It's 75 minutes long and has a message of sorts but it killed an evening before I could legitimately go to bed.

[Moribunderast]

Not my recommendations - but horror author Adam Nevile from his latest mail out. He has impeccable taste, so these may entice a few on here. I've only heard of Saint Maud (as its discussed here).

Thanks for this list. I started with the Netflix series, To The Lake and am really enjoying it. It does a few stylish flourishes that feel a bit unnecessary but maybe they're just around to lighten the tone of what is otherwise a very grim experience. It's not perfect and thus far some of the characters are a bit one-note (antagonistic to the point of near-ridiculous) but it looks great and I'm really compelled to see where the story goes.

I also enjoyed Red Dot which was also very grim.

[SteveDave]

"Host"

At last a horror film based around computers where people don't look directly into the camera but instead stare at the screen showing what's happening. It was also 56 minutes so I was asleep by 9:30.

[SteveDave]

The Empty Man

I can't decide whether this is clever or really dumb.

An ex-cop investigates the disappearance of a neighbours teenage daughter. When all of her friends are found dead, he follows the trail of The Empty Man to a cult run by Milton from "Office Space".

This film also features Karen Colman (heiress of Colman Mustard) in a role right near the end of the film that made me laugh out loud when I should've been shivering with fear.

Apparently this film is good now https://www.thrillist.com/entertainment/nation/the-empty-man-david-prior-interview

[zomgmouse]

Stuart Gordon's From Beyond. Squelchy madness. Loved it.

[ImmaculateClump]

I only saw that for the first time last year. It's fab, innit?
I know most people love it, but I thought Re-animator was really overrated when I saw it.
This was great fun though! Really nice effects that either held up really well or had an otherworldly charm.
Some really nice overly dramatic acting from the main players and fun Argento style lighting.
Brilliant!

[Dave The Triffids]

I watched The Empty Man last night and I have to say, I really enjoyed it.  I found the opening 20-minute sequence genuinely creepy. 

Spoiler alert

The whole film had an A24/Hereditary/Kill List/Angel Heart feel about it.

[close]

Spoiler alert

Although I wasn't a fan of seeing the CGI demon at the end and it was possibly a little over-long,

[close]

I thought it was a very effective and entertaining horror.
As a couple of side notes, I also spotted Karen Colman, Colman's Mustard Coleman and I thought the young girl bore a striking resemblance to Scarlett Johansson.

[zomgmouse]

I only saw that for the first time last year. It's fab, innit?
I know most people love it, but I thought Re-animator was really overrated when I saw it.
This was great fun though! Really nice effects that either held up really well or had an otherworldly charm.
Some really nice overly dramatic acting from the main players and fun Argento style lighting.
Brilliant!

I'm still a big fan of Re-Animator but this was a different kind of fun, somehow much more Serious but also ridiculous.

[Artie Fufkin]

I watched The Empty Man last night and I have to say, I really enjoyed it.

Oooh. Saw the trailer for this the other day. Looks really cool. Lovecraftian?

[ImmaculateClump]

I'm still a big fan of Re-Animator but this was a different kind of fun, somehow much more Serious but also ridiculous.

I found the slapstick forced and unfunny in re-animator and thought that it only served to cancel out the horror.
Yeah, from beyond had a twinkle in it's eye and it was over the top and campy at times, but it was played straight pretty much all the way through and that worked much better for me. I think he really found his feet as a director with this one as well.

It was like 20 years ago or something when I saw re-animator and I think I went into expecting a straight horror, so maybe it's time for a rewatch!

[Goldentony]

lasted half an hour of Empty Man, fucking turd, total total shit

[Dave The Triffids]

Oooh. Saw the trailer for this the other day. Looks really cool. Lovecraftian?

I never got to watch the trailer prior to watching the film - by all accounts the trailer is slightly misleading as to the subject matter but yeah, the film is somewhat Lovecraftian.  Definitely worth a watch.

[Artie Fufkin]

I never got to watch the trailer prior to watching the film - by all accounts the trailer is slightly misleading as to the subject matter but yeah, the film is somewhat Lovecraftian.  Definitely worth a watch.

Goldentony would disagree!
LOLZy LOLZy

[Goldentony]

sorry but its dogshit and ill be happy to discuss the first half hour, the magic Scarlett Johansson fairy, the opening, all that good awful shit

[zomgmouse]

Faust: Love of the Damned. Watched this to record an episode of a friend's podcast which is all about Jeffrey Combs and he's in this in a minor role. Fucking atrocious - albeit with pretty impressive special effects (by Screaming Mad George, who also worked on Yuzna's excellent Society).

The main villain was played by Andrew Divoff who also plays the villain in a horror I have been meaning to see for ages: Wishmaster. So I chucked that on next. Goes hard from the very beginning. And then goes hard 90s. The djinn is ace, Divoff clearly is relishing every moment. The action work in this is brilliant too (particularly in the big group scenes at the start and end), and the kills are amazingly inventive with fantastic effects. Not sure if it's all quite enough to make up for the wafer-thin plotline and general 90sness of it/the corniness of the non-horror sections but I would say very very nearly - and I certainly had a heck of fun.

[Moribunderast]

Honeydew - New American horror film that I actually found quite compelling for much of it's run-time. Fairly typical set-up: a couple go on holiday, car breaks down and they go to a local farmhouse for help - horror movie ensues. I just thought it hit quite an unsettling tone - occasionally comically so. I also spent the majority of the film really unsure as to where it was going which is fairly rare in modern horror.

Spoiler alert

Of course, it's final destination is fairly standard "small-town god-bothering folk want to sacrifice the city-slickers..." but at least it took it's time in getting there.

[close]

It was the director's first feature film and I'll definitely be keeping an eye on what he does next. Even if it feels like the majority of people who make good horror movies over the past decade or so swiftly move on to making total shit or directing big budget fare.

[Brundle-Fly]

Faust: Love of the Damned. Watched this to record an episode of a friend's podcast which is all about Jeffrey Combs and he's in this in a minor role. Fucking atrocious - albeit with pretty impressive special effects (by Screaming Mad George, who also worked on Yuzna's excellent Society).

The main villain was played by Andrew Divoff who also plays the villain in a horror I have been meaning to see for ages: Wishmaster. So I chucked that on next. Goes hard from the very beginning. And then goes hard 90s. The djinn is ace, Divoff clearly is relishing every moment. The action work in this is brilliant too (particularly in the big group scenes at the start and end), and the kills are amazingly inventive with fantastic effects. Not sure if it's all quite enough to make up for the wafer-thin plotline and general 90sness of it/the corniness of the non-horror sections but I would say very very nearly - and I certainly had a heck of fun.

I've only seen the first Wishmaster and really enjoyed it. Imaginative kills as you say. I've yet to see the three sequels.

Faust is worth it for one of the most disturbing weirdest body horror effects ever screened. The phrase 'tits 'n' ass' takes on a completely different meaning there.

[madhair60]

Faust is worth it for one of the most disturbing weirdest body horror effects ever screened. The phrase 'tits 'n' ass' takes on a completely different meaning there.

Well now I have to know

[zomgmouse]

I've only seen the first Wishmaster and really enjoyed it. Imaginative kills as you say. I've yet to see the three sequels.

Faust is worth it for one of the most disturbing weirdest body horror effects ever screened. The phrase 'tits 'n' ass' takes on a completely different meaning there.

Don't think I'll bother with the Wishmaster sequels but you are 100% correct about Faust.

[ImmaculateClump]

Is there a bit in "how to get ahead in advertising" where he sees someone in the shower and they've got nipples on their arse cheeks.
Is it something like that?
Hoping that isn't just something I dreamt, it's a very vague memory.

[zomgmouse]

It's nothing like that.