#194

Watched Sweeney Todd again tonight. Bloody love it don’t @ me

#195

It’s good. Maybe the last Tim Burton film that I’ve genuinely loved :+1:

1 Like
#196

We Summon The Darkness is good fun though

#197

Gave Thelma a go on Friday night. Kind of a strange one for me, it felt like it wasn’t pushing the horror elements enough to get the best use out of them but I also struggled a bit to fully understand whatever metaphors it was trying to explore about religion and sexuality… but that’s probably just because I’m a bit dim. It definitely had its moments though!

#198

Watched last night: Jean Rollin’s Requiem for a Vampire This is my 4th Rollin film of the year and according to the BFI, one of his best: https://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/news-bfi/features/where-begin-jean-rollin I’d be mostly inclined to agree. If one of the main reasons that folk watch Rollin films is for his dreamlike imagery and narratives, then this is the one that most embodies that so far. The whole thing has that kind of ‘and then this weird thing happened’ structure that can make listening to friends recounting their dreams so tedious and yet add so much to a film when guided by the hands of a director like Rollin. I still think my personal favorite so far is La Vampire Nue, but this is right up there too. In many respects it might be at the top spot if not for the film’s two infamous ‘dungeon’ scenes featuring some really unpleasant sadism. I don’t think of myself as a prude and it seems kind of hypocritical to call out a Rollin movie for its sex scenes, but seriously, these were just no fun to watch. Shame, as they spoil what is otherwise a genuinely enjoyable film with some of the best individual moments I’ve seen in a Rollin movie yet.

image

2 Likes
#199

Watched this last night for the first time in ages. It is really good - has a number of trademark Carpenter touches but also its own unique style (and not just the mid 90s styling which somehow these days manages to look even more dated than the 80s). Sam Neil is particularly great in this, starting off all suave bluster before descending into twitchy eye popping edginess. In my mind I remembered this as more of a Cthulhu homage, but really it builds it’s own world. This was something of a critical and commercial flop on release, but if it came out now I could see it being much much more appreciated in the alternative/indie market. 9/10

unnamed
unnamed341×512 65 KB

1 Like
The Everyday Hell Of It All - The Rolling Horror Thread 2021
The Everyday Hell Of It All - The Rolling Horror Thread 2021
#200

Not familiar with Rollin, but just read his Wikipedia page and my word is it comprehensive…

1 Like
#201

Just checked it out and yep, it certainly is. :grinning: I’d been meaning to check out his films for ages and then I recently got this book image
which is written by an all female cast of contributors including the always reliable Samm Deighan and Kat Ellinger, so I figured there must be something to his stuff. He’s definitely an acquired taste and of the ones I’ve seen so far, I’d say that he’s better at moments than fully realized movies, but when he’s at his best, he’s really good…

1 Like
#202

ffo: Reply All

:smile:




#203

Watched last night: Roger Corman’s A Bucket of Blood Well, this was tons of fun. The plot of this black comedy sees the magnificent Dick Miller (in one of his few starring roles), playing Walter Paisley, a busboy at a beatnik café populated by some of the hippest cats you’ve ever seen, man. Paisley longs to be accepted by the artists and poets that frequent the café and one night, an accident involving his landlady’s cat gives him exactly the opportunity he needs. Pretty much everything works here: Miller is wonderful as the anguished Paisley and the rest of the cast of beatnik types are equally entertaining to watch. The café setting makes for a hugely enjoyable location for the film, the soundtrack is very groovy and the whole thing is genuinely funny. Fun trivia: apparently Dick Miller plays a character called Walter Paisley in Joe Dante’s The Howling. Not sure if it’s intended to be the same character, but it’s still a pretty awesome tribute. Highly recommended!
image

3 Likes
#204

I love this film, one of Corman’s best

also might check out the Rollin book, haven’t heard of it before, think he’s an interesting director

1 Like
#205

A lodge themed double bill last night…

Tales From The Lodge - this was aiming for that story telling anthology thing that Brit horror did well in the 70s. A group of old friends visit a secluded lodge while their interpersonal tensions reveal themselves. The cast of this is pretty impressive, which makes it even more disappointing that the main storyline and the anthology stories are so weak - this is neither funny enough or scary enough to hit the spot. There’s a fairly off the wall final act, but overall this is so so. 5/10

download (2)

The Lodge - fortunately the second part of the lodge bill was pretty good. This has a similarly doomy tone to Hereditary. Minimal cast, minimal setting, good characters and clever cinematography. I think I’ve only seen Riley Keough in Lars Von Trier’s craporama The House That Jack Built previously, but she is brilliant in this. There were several moments that genuinely shocked me, and the ending is suitably downbeat. Maybe the internal logic of the film reaches somewhat, but the ride more than makes up for it. 8/10

download (3)

2 Likes
#206

I loved The House That Jack Built :frowning:

#207

Had really been hoping that this would come to our local cinema, but alas, twas not to be. Might save this for a Christmas viewing in December. Glad to hear it’s as good as I’d heard…

#208

Forgive me if I’m preaching to the converted but I just discovered this BBC podcast of The Case of Charles Dexter Ward:https: //www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06w5zwg
I’m currently 3 episodes in and am loving it. It’s an updating of the classic Lovecraft story and works really well. Looks like the same people have also done a version of The Whisperer in Darkness…

#209

Watched last night, Body Bags…

A couple of years ago, the TV and I decided to do John Carpenter run through, starting with Dark Star and running all the way through to Escape From LA (I refuse to get into the really disappointing era stuff). We stalled on Body Bags as I couldn’t find it anywhere, but after watching Mouth Of Madness last week I found it on YouTube (legal disclaimer - I don’t know).

It’s a TV special rather than a standalone movie, and boy does it tell. The 90s TV production values are…sort of charming I guess. This is anthology format with John Carpenter playing a mortuary assistant linking the stories, with JC directing two segments and Tobe Hooper one. John Carpenter is entertainingly over the top as the host, and his first story is pretty good - a siege/slasher piece that features so many nods to his other films that it’s almost a sampler. It’s downhill from here unfortunately - the second Carpenter directed piece is a classic morality piece (featuring both Sheena Easton and Debbie Harry in supporting roles!) about vanity and is…ok. The third instalment is easily the weakest - Luke Skywalker and Twiggy (who hilariously manages an American accent on pretty much literally 50% of her lines) play out a super derivative story that is also annoyingly the longest segment. Overall, this is light enough entertainment that does in fairness feature a ton of entertaining horror cameos. 5/10

Body Bags
Body Bags1280×720 166 KB

2 Likes
#210

Watched Videodrome last night and thought it was brilliant. Never watched anything else by Cronenberg so I’m looking forward to digging deeper.

5 Likes
#211

Hello!

So I was having a rummage through IMDB to see what horror films there are coming up i.e. being delayed until next year and I came across Spiral.

image
image562×684 13.1 KB

What’s this?! I thought to myself. From the poster it looks like some kind of highishbrow thriller BUT NO, its a Saw film. Whaaat. With Chris Rock and Samuel Jackson in it.

My word.

I didn’t have much else to add, I just thought the poster was a bit misleading.

#212

Check out Scanners, The Brood and Shivers but especially Scanners.

2 Likes
#213

Chris Rock also wrote the story…

1 Like