#130

This is on my must-see list for this year; have been seeing good reviews from critics so it’s nice to know that real people like it too. :slight_smile:

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#131

Read recently: The Low, Low Woods This is the third of the Hill House comic titles I’ve recently finished up and in many respects, its probably my favourite so far. The story focuses on 2 female teenage friends, El and Octavia. They live in the wonderfully (and aptly) named Pennsylvania mining town, Shudder-To-Think. From the outset, it’s clear that there’s something seriously messed up about the place; that something gradually gets revealed as El and Vee try to discover why they woke up in a cinema with no recollection of falling asleep or what might have happened to them while asleep. This is really powerful stuff. I’d say it’s less’ fun’ than Basketful of Heads and The Dollhouse Family, but that shouldn’t put you off. The chemistry between the 2 characters is tangible, there’s an image in the 3rd issue that is horribly grotesque and when the revelation comes in issue 5 of what the real horror in this book is, I genuinely had tears in my eyes. This is by Carmen Maria Machado - I already knew that I need to read her book, Her Body and Other Parties and this has simply confirmed that.
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#132

There was some proper nightmare fuel in In the Mouth of Madness with a real sense of paranoia and plenty of jump scares. Thought Sam Neill and Julie Carmen were really good in this too.

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February 2021 film thread (old and new film chat welcome)
#133

Love In the Mouth of Madness, recommend it on here enough times. Just seen that Naboer is on Netflix if you like your headchew paranoia scenarios. Really, really enjoyed The Dead Center the other week, scared the jiminy Joseph out of me. Kthxbye.

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#134

Ooo two to add to the film list for me there! Wasn’t really sure what to expect but it was a Carpenter film that I hadn’t seen before and it certainly didn’t disappoint. Definitely more psychological elements to it than any other of his films that I’d seen before. Properly had me gripped! Will certainly be checked out the two that you’ve mentioned if they’re in the similar vein. Cheers!

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#135

Watched Mouth Of Madness for the first time in a long time last year (with the TV - first time she’d seen it). Great film :+1:

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#136

Sam Neil is particularly great in this, starting off all suave bluster before descending into twitchy eye popping edginess.

Totally agree with what you’ve said here about Sam Neill’s performance - he was proper bug eyed and wild! Not sure if I’d seen a performance like this from him before.

Also at the very beginning of the film I was getting proper Twelve Monkeys vibes which I certainly enjoyed.

#137

Mouth of Madness has the dubious honour of being one of the last films I saw before Covid shut everything down last March, on that Friday before the Friday where all the pubs had to shut.

I had a ticket to see a band but it was cancelled last minute because of everything, and I was in two minds anyway. So instead I went to a double bill of Lovecraft adaptions, with MoM and Reanimator. In retrospect I don’t know why I thought sitting in a cinema for five hours would be any safer???

Anyway I was a bit skeptical cos I’d long been under the assumption that Carpenter hadn’t produced anything good past They Live, but I was pleasantly surprised. Really enjoyed it, and I’m kinda amazed I didn’t catch Covid. Great evening.

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#138

Yeah the only other post They Live Carpenter film I’d seen was Escape From LA which is kinda cartoon-y so wasn’t sure what to expect with Mouth of Madness. Are Village of the Dammed or Vampires meant to be any good?

#139

I couldn’t finish either of them

#140

Oh wow, that bad huh? What made you switch them off?

#141

Village of the Damned is a film I remember seeing as a kid with friends at like 7 and being absolutely terrified by it. Not seen it since but I did watch a trailer and it looks so cheaply done. Might give it another watch though as it proper scared me as a kid

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#142

Hi Rolling Horror Thread folk! I love this thread and have watched quite a few films based on your recommendations but haven’t had a chance to join in until now.

His House

I wanted to highlight how good His House is and @hesastopsiiiiign has just beaten me to it! It has all the best aspects of a good ghost story but is fully backed up by hard hitting subtext, fantastic acting and film making. It’s got properly tense jumpy bits.

I also just recently watched The Wolf of Snow Hollow (I keep thinking it’s sleepy hollow) and Scare Me.

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Both of which are OK but nowhere near as good as His House. The Wolf of Snow Hollow does attempt to say something about the difficulties of addiction and there is an unexpected werewolf plot twist but I couldn’t help thinking it could have been done better.

Scare Me (which is on Shudder) also seemed to have a lot of potential but was ultimately a bit of a lightweight in the horror stakes. It must have been made on a tiny budget and it has good ideas and acting but felt more like an amateur dramatic production than a proper horror film. Maybe that was the point.

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#143

Scare Me was essentially a play. The two leads were great but I wouldn’t call it horror. His House really built as it went along, I had trouble getting along with it for the first half hour but it certainly delivered.
Regarding the Carpenter posts upthread, I enjoy both Vampires and Ghosts of Mars. They have a bad rep from fanboys who worship his early films but I think that’s unfair, they aren’t trying to be The Thing.

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#144

I’m a big JC fan, but sadly there are no films worth recommending in his post MoM canon. His episodes of Masters Of Horror are decent though…

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#145

That’s fair, I think I had as much really but wanted to see if the DiS hive mind said any differently. Thankfully pre-MoM I’ve still got Dark Star and Prince of Darkness to look forward to.

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#146

Two absolute, and contrasting, gems there :+1:

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#147

Nice! Well hopefully I can seek them both out at some point soon. Had a real Carpenter itch since Lost Themes III came out…

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#148

Is the directors’ cut streaming / rental from anywhere? I’d be curious to see it!

His next project I’ve heard is Beau Is Afraid, with Joaquin Phoenix. Seems possible that it could be based on this short film:

Definitely curious to see how the absurd panic attack of this might be developed into a feature.

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#149

Prince of Darkness is so good. I love anything ‘anti-christy’ and this is such a different take on it.

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