šŸ’€ Just When You Thought It Was Safe - The Rolling Horror Thread 2022 šŸ’€

Cutterhead

I like how good disaster movies are now found far away from mainstream Hollywood and the 90s heyday of the disaster movie. There was The Quake and The Wave from Norway (both really gripping) and now thereā€™s this Danish film.

The ā€˜cutterheadā€™ of the title is some kind of underground chamber our main character (a journalist or PR worker of some kind) is visiting as the workers (a mix of nationalities) are working on a Metro tunnel. Stuff goes wrong. Itā€™s all filmed in a very realistic, documentary-like style, and admirably sticks to this realistic approach when shit hits the fan. Itā€™s less about action set pieces and more about harrowing survival. It really nails the claustrophobia as well, with some distressingly visceral sound design and a cool score from techno producer Sos Gunver Ryberg.

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I enjoyed Bones And All. Iā€™m surprised itā€™s an 18 because the cannibalism aspect isnā€™t shown TOO much on screen and the filmā€™s as much about the romance between the characters as it is the cannibal aspect. About 3/4 in I started to wish there was a bit more on the horror side but it has an ending which seems to have got a bit of scorn but I thought really worked. First time Iā€™ve seen Mark Rylance and heā€™s properly good in it, and the lead couple were convincing, if a bit actory at times. I would like Guadagnino to make an all out horror film - I seemed to be in the minority of really liking his Suspiria and this shows he is adept in it. Thereā€™s a great scene with David Gordon Green in a cameo which reminded me a bit of the opening to Barbarian - really cleverley done.

Sweetie, You Wonā€™t Believe this - hated this. I thought it was going to be a ā€˜wacky and frenticā€™ horror, which I find a synonym to be ā€˜annoyingā€™ and it was. Just a film that was in love with itself and I completely switched off during it. It wasnā€™t funny or scary

Overlord - always got this mixed with Upgrade which I didnā€™t like so was a bit unsure going in but I had a blast. Thought the setting worked well and it was a nice throwback to the sci-fi exploitation horrors of the day. Wyatt Russell is a properly underrated actor

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The new American Horror Story has started on Disney+, being released weekly so only the first two episodes are up so far.

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Finished yesterday: The Rutting Season by Brian Keene. I got this because earlier in the year I got another of Keeneā€™s novels, Ghost Walk. It was only when I got that one home that I realised that it serves as a sequel of sorts to The Rutting Season, aka Dark Hollow. This is a fucked-up novel. Itā€™s not really a spoiler to say that the main plot of this sees an unreasonably well-endowed satyr hypnotising the women of a small Pennsylvania town into servicing him. A lot. The menfolk of the town are understandably not super OK with this development and set out to learn why this is happening and how they can stop it. In many respects, I liked this. Itā€™s full on horror (although it does take quite a while to get horrific in its descriptions) and it makes for a short, engaging read. Because Iā€™m a nerd, I loved the connections made to the writings of a certain late 19th century Welsh writer of weird fiction. Definitely donā€™t go into this expecting a subtle read. This is mass-market early 2000s American horror - subtlety is not a concern. But if a story about a horny satyr getting its comeuppance for having committed all kinds of sexual travesties sounds like your thing, I say give this a go!

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Really canā€™t decide if I want to see Bones and All. I loved Suspiria but thereā€™s something about this that looks like it might not be super satisfyingā€¦

Iā€™d say give it a go, but donā€™t expect an out and out horror film. I was undecided too so had a quick look online and there was a lot of talk about the gore which is really quite minimal. Think if you liked Suspiria you might like it too

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Cool. Iā€™d been hoping to talk my wife into checking it out as she liked Call Me By Your Name. But as soon as she found the word ā€˜horrorā€™ associated with it, she bailed. :frowning:

You can tell when something grimā€™s going to happen so tell her to look away as approaching and sheā€™ll enjoy a lovely little road tip romance

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That might just work! :slight_smile:

I rewatched Dog Soldiers last night which was the first horror I sat in a cinema for. Like Aliens I think they did a great job not just treating the soldiers as fodder, I really liked these guys, thought they were believable, that they cared for each other, everything very natural between them. I always like seeing Sean Pertwee pop up, his sergeant and his flying cow interrupted spooky story might be my favourite scene. Great use of the house set which gets wrecked every way you can imagine, the practical effects are decent too, low budget but it still looks good. A hoot.

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This is excellent news.

Going to finish watching Wednesday then will move onto that.

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Watched the first one yesterday, Zachary Quinto is particularly slimy.

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This was atrocious

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Canā€™t say Iā€™m too surprised.

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Watched last night: His House. Had been meaning to watch this 100% on Rotten Tomatoes-rated refugee horror for a while and finally sat down with it last night. For the most part, this was really solid and deserves most, if not all, of the acclaim itā€™s received. For those that havenā€™t seen it, the story unfolds in two halves. The first part sees a refugee couple arrive in the UK from Sudan. They are told that under no circumstances are they to leave the house that they are given. So instantly, weā€™ve got a solid answer to the question of why folk donā€™t just leave haunted houses when the shit hits the fan ā€“ in this case if they leave, they risk jeopardising everything thatā€™s got them this far. Once the scares arrive, theyā€™re nothing we havenā€™t seen before: lots of jump scares and shadowy figures moving across the camera while the soundtrack does eerie things. Still the scares land effectively and the fact that the cultural underpinning to whatā€™s going on is massively under-represented in western horror kept me intrigued. Then just after halfway through, the plot switches focus and we learn the truth of what brought the couple to the UK and arguably, this is far more horrifying than any supernatural threat. We get a glimpse of their lives fleeing Sudan and itā€™s exceptionally grim. Thereā€™s one scene in which a character wanders slowly onscreen, with his entire back engulfed in flames. He drops to the floor and thatā€™s that. Itā€™s undoubtedly one of the most horrifying images Iā€™ve seen in any film for a long time. My only real problem with all this is that Iā€™m not sure that the ending does a great job of bringing the two halves together. Yes, itā€™s all wrapped up in a way that stays true to the spirit of the film, but the ending just felt a little too easy. Then again, itā€™s really not that easy when I think about it and fuck knows, these characters deserve a break after everything theyā€™ve been through. So, if like me, youā€™ve slept on this, Iā€™d definitely give it a go. Thereā€™s a lot here to enjoy and any issues I have with it are probably me just being a wanker.

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A local DIY space is screening some of the Ghost Story for Christmas films!

https://starandshadow.org.uk/programme/event/a-ghost-story-for-christmas-short-films-and-qa-session,6547/

@SloameOcean have you seen any of these ones?

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Iā€™ve seen the first two but not the last one. This looks like an amazing night, Iā€™d go in a heartbeat if I lived anywhere in the vicinity. Perfect festive viewing.

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Loved this, a lot of the imagery has stayed with me

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Oh good Pearl has got a UK release date - of mid-March 2023?! No wonder everyoneā€™s just found a way to watch it already

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I loved the bit where the wife is navigating her way round the labyrinthine council estate. Talk about urban wyrd.

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