Horror films

[SteveDave]

The Black Phone. Surprisingly not that shit. Decent kid acting. Stupid plot holes and nonsense details and a couple of bits of laughable CGI but a refreshing lack of constant jump scares and women walking around upside down like spiders made this much better than a lot of Blumhouse bollocks.

Was one of the plotholes

Spoiler alert

how far apart the houses were yet the basements were next to each other with a window that had daylight coming through it?

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I did enjoy it though for the lack of "DUNN!" scares

[ImmaculateClump]

I really enjoyed The Black phone!
People weren't too kind earlier in the thread but I figured I'd give it a go since it was gonna be the next half in the bag. Maybe my expectations were low and that helped, but it was lots of fun.

[Brundle-Fly]

Watched this on Netflix. A bleak and brutal psychological thriller rather than horror. Sort of like a more mature 'The Hills Have Eyes' set in NZ. Reading some amateur reviews, a lot of people we're pissed off that it wasn't a re-run of Wolf Creek going through all the predictable motions.

[Head Gardener]

good cast of under 10's and creepy indeed, but be warned it has strong cat in peril scenes

[zomgmouse]

Watched this on Netflix. A bleak and brutal psychological thriller rather than horror. Sort of like a more mature 'The Hills Have Eyes' set in NZ. Reading some amateur reviews, a lot of people we're pissed off that it wasn't a re-run of Wolf Creek going through all the predictable motions.

this was one of my favourites from last year

[ImmaculateClump]

Oh yeah, I remember that one. It's canny.

[fatguyrantingredux]

The Sadness

Insane and ultra-violent Taiwan based zombie film that channels 28 Days Later and James Herbert's The Fog. Despite the flimsy plot I found myself looking away at points as the gore is next level and there's also a fair bit of jarring sexual violence to boot. 

[SteveDave]

The Appointment

A girl goes missing in some woods so the authorities erect a fence around it. Ewar Woowar has to tell his daughter (who's been hanging around the fence talking to someone/thing) that he won't be able to make her music recital as he's got to go somewhere for work. She doesn't react well.

This was a strange one. The opening with the police report voice-over is really well done but seems to have nothing to do with the rest of the film. Some of the acting is sub-soap opera, but there's real sense of oddness that appealed to me, especially in the dream sequences and the grand finale.

[phantom_power]

The Transfiguration (2016) - This was recommended on the excellent Arrow Video podcast. It is a really interesting film about a black 14-year-old kid who thinks he is a vampire. There are echoes of Martin, obviously, and Let The Right One In but it is its own thing. It is quite slow and ponderous at times but that just pulls you into the atmosphere of despair the character feels. It has an amazing ending as well that goes from heartbreak to something else with a voiceover that reframes certain parts of the film in a different light

[phantom_power]

Prince of Darkness (1987) - Fuck me what a great film. Riddled with atmospheric dread. With this and In The Mouth of Madness Carpenter is really good at capturing that Lovecraftian cosmic dread. Yes a lot of it makes no sense and it is in essence a jumped-up zombie film but then so is Assault on Precinct 13 and that is fucking great as well. That video from the future is pure nightmare fuel. I am amazed this was a flop at the time and isn't more critically lauded

[Glebe]

Did a double bill of Ready or Not and A Cure for Wellness last night.

Ready was entertaining enough, though the

Spoiler alert

staggering ineptness of the killer family

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got a bit annoying. Yeah I know it was played for laughs and all, but fuck's sake, Samara Weaving could have almost

Spoiler alert

let them all kill themselves

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. Only found out she's Hugo Weaving's niece, seems blinding obvious now!

Been meaning to give Wellness a look for a while now. It's remarkably similar to Scorsese's Shutter Island in some ways - Dane Dehaan is a dead ringer for DiCaprio and all - but it has it's own creepy, dream-like, mysteriousness and I enjoyed up until the ludicrous ending which shits all over the previous couple of hours' slow-build atmos. Ah well. Great cast in any case.

[ImmaculateClump]

I didn't last long with ready or not, I had to turn it off.
Cure for Wellness I watched not so long ago and I really hated it. One bagger for me. Yeah the ending is just ridiculous.

[Attila]

Prince of Darkness (1987) - Fuck me what a great film. Riddled with atmospheric dread. With this and In The Mouth of Madness Carpenter is really good at capturing that Lovecraftian cosmic dread. Yes a lot of it makes no sense and it is in essence a jumped-up zombie film but then so is Assault on Precinct 13 and that is fucking great as well. That video from the future is pure nightmare fuel. I am amazed this was a flop at the time and isn't more critically lauded

I love The Thing and Escape from New York, but Prince of Darkness has a special place in my heart. Weirdness, humour, crazy Latin. I saw this in the cinema on release, and that dream-transmission was really scary, one of those things you think about later. I've seen the film who knows how many times at this point -- it takes about 3 or 4 viewings to figure out, but so much fun.

I was a grad student at the time of release, and my programme sure as heck wasn't as interesting/crazy/mad as this.

[phantom_power]

I was mistaken in my previous post. It was quite a big commercial hit given the budget but it is still seen as one of Carpenter's misfires but I loved it. The idea of marrying religion with quantum physics to create a new version of the anti-Christ is inspired and it has so many odd, eerie or funny bits. The music is banging as well

[zomgmouse]

ALICE COOPER

[Attila]

Hello... Hello... I've got a message for you... and you're not going to like it.

[Dave The Triffids]

Resurrection

Not a horror film as such (other than the last 20 minutes), more a psychological thriller regarding a horrific subject.
Not too bad - the first 40 minutes or so are excellent but it kind of falls apart at the end. 

Absolutely fantastic performances from Rebecca Hall and Tim Roth though.

[holyzombiejesus]

Anyone seen She Will yet? Might go on Wednesday but it's a bit of a trek so unsure.

[Bad Ambassador]

Prince of Darkness (1987) - Fuck me what a great film. Riddled with atmospheric dread. With this and In The Mouth of Madness Carpenter is really good at capturing that Lovecraftian cosmic dread. Yes a lot of it makes no sense and it is in essence a jumped-up zombie film but then so is Assault on Precinct 13 and that is fucking great as well. That video from the future is pure nightmare fuel. I am amazed this was a flop at the time and isn't more critically lauded

Done a podcast on this a couple of years ago. That and In the Mouth of Madness are Carpenter's most neglected films.

[Junglist]

Anyone seen She Will yet? Might go on Wednesday but it's a bit of a trek so unsure.

Yes  it is simultaneously shit and brilliant. Mixture of top notch sequences and daily soap tier acting.

[ImmaculateClump]

Anyone seen She Will yet? Might go on Wednesday but it's a bit of a trek so unsure.

Two bagger for me. Not worth leaving the house for.

[ImmaculateClump]

Someone on another forum convinced me that Orphan: First Kill wasn't utterly terrible.
It was.
Stick to your gut instinct on that one.

[Custard]

Someone on another forum convinced me that Orphan: First Kill wasn't utterly terrible.
It was.
Stick to your gut instinct on that one.

Heh, that is such a weird film to try to make a sequel/prequel of. It's completely pointless, isn't it

I read an article about the making of it, and it did tickle me that they tried to make her look younger and smaller by filming above her head and using big props. Great stuff

[iamcoop]

Anyone seen She Will yet? Might go on Wednesday but it's a bit of a trek so unsure.

I left the cinema with about 20 minutes left of the film, that's how bad I thought it was.

(For full transparency I have a 9 week old child so these days if I feel like my time is being wasted I just dip to do something more entertaining with whatever time I have left of an evening).

Couldn't be bothered seeing it out, I thought it was shite.

[ImmaculateClump]

they tried to make her look younger and smaller by filming above her head and using big props. Great stuff

I kept pressing escape looking to turn off bloom in the options.
The whole film looks like this just in case a wrinkle sneaks through - https://i.imgur.com/fAXw268.jpg
Such a weird decision to have the same actress back to play a younger version of herself 13 years later. Mind boggling.

[Famous Mortimer]

I watched the complete filmed output of one Phil Smoot last night.

The Dark Power
All to do with Toltec zombies, or something. I like how the people who made the movie had clearly never heard of Toltecs until very recently before making it, so they assumed the viewers would be equally stupid. Really boring.

Alien Outlaw
Very slightly more tolerable, about an alien who lands on Earth and his first kill is a carnival gunslinger, so he steals the guy's gun and does all sorts of fancy spins with his new weapon while offing the rednecks he's surrounded by. Assumes that carnie is the highest occupation a person can aspire to.

Both these movies star Lash LaRue, "better" known as a star of crappy westerns in the 40s and 50s (oh, and "Please Don't Touch Me!" from future religious nut Ron Ormond). Larue hadn't been in a movie in over a decade by this point, so...did he and Smoot drink in the same bar, Smoot made a few $ and decided to cash in on the "fame" of his friend? Sadly, we shall never know.

[Brundle-Fly]

Anyone watch the many, many short horror films on the ALTER channel on YouTube? They range from a minute long to 15 mins to an hour. There are a few 'will this jump scare do?' efforts and a few too many 'I'm alone, it's night time and WTF is hiding in my apartment' plots too, but they can make for some nice little starters before the main attraction. Or perhaps a short vile vignette before going to bed?  Warning: Unfortunately, the thumbnails they choose to display the films often spoiler the monstrous reveals.

I rather liked this daft outing , but

Spoiler alert

IMO they muck up the ending by making the family speak (especially in what sounds like Japanese)

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SMILES
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyUvbxZIVYg

[paddy72]

Watched this on Netflix. A bleak and brutal psychological thriller rather than horror. Sort of like a more mature 'The Hills Have Eyes' set in NZ. Reading some amateur reviews, a lot of people we're pissed off that it wasn't a re-run of Wolf Creek going through all the predictable motions.

This was great, wasn't it? Watched it today. Seems to have been quite divisive, but it definitely worked for me.

[TrenterPercenter]

Really enjoyed Coming Home in the Dark, bleak as fuck but superbly acted and directed.

If you enjoyed this you might also want to check of The Devil to Pay on Netflix gritty revenge movie, simple but effective.

I'm just rewatching Kill List such a good film, still holds up well 10 years on.

[paddy72]

Really enjoyed Coming Home in the Dark, bleak as fuck but superbly acted and directed.

Great direction/cinematography, and Daniel Gillies' performance was genuinely chilling.

If you enjoyed this you might also want to check of The Devil to Pay on Netflix gritty revenge movie, simple but effective.

Are you outside of UK? Not showing on Netflix here. Will definitely check that out, though – thanks.

I'm just rewatching Kill List such a good film, still holds up well 10 years on.

Kill List is another favourite, I'm probably due a revisit myself. I assume you saw Bull? Neil Maskell is one of our finest.