Lifeforce (1985) was terrible. It seems like it should have been right up my alley -- 80s vampire horror with a sci-fi twist -- but god it was just sooo boring!! I almost never do this but I had to turn it off at a certain point, it was just going on and on, it felt neverending. 😅 Some awesome sets, but the practical effects don't hold up, either. Not impressed. If you want a decent movie about vampires in space, may I recommend Planet of Blood (1966).
La Piel Que Habito / The Skin I Live In (2011) was crazy good! Revenge, obsession, reincarnation. And Antonio Banderas, muy pero que muy guapo.
The Lodge (2019) was extremely dark. Tense and moody psychological thriller. Not my favorite film.
***SPOILERS AHEAD***
This film was sad -- what happens when you push an emotionally fragile person too hard, past their breaking point. Not really a horror movie though - just a depressing case of abusing a person who has already been traumatized, and watching as they crack under pressure.
I forgot I'd already seen Ingmar Bergman's The Hour of the Wolf (1968). It's Bergman so it ain't crap, but I don't care for this one. Unrequited love this pathetic doesn't sit well with me. Like his other works, this straddles genres, but I think it is better termed drama than horror
Photo: me whenever anything happens during the pandemic
Uzumaki / Spiral (2000) was pretty bad. Some of the scenes were neat, and it's a cool premise - a town driven mad by spirals - but weak acting, bad effects, and really bad editing doom this film. The way it's cut now, it ends up just feeling silly, but I think a clever editor could actually take this existing film and re-cut it to be more effective and actually frightening... or maybe it just needs a remake.
Terra and I watched The Lure (2015) tonight, which was great! Not what I would term horror though -- a musical drama with some horror elements. Beautiful, great soundtrack, and very sad. 😭 Too much stomping on my heart, not enough vicious man-eating! 😝
La Cabina (1972) was... boring. Maybe more interesting if viewed as an allegory, but purely in terms of action... there was none. 😅
Nicole and I watched Bug (2006), and it was f'ing crazy!! It was not what I was expecting, that's for sure, which was a relief for me anyway, tho this was surely gnarly in its own way. Themes of paranoia, madness, conspiracy, loneliness, loss of self. A good movie but rough!
Wow, The Wicker Man (1973) was incredible! This is one of the great horror classics I had not seen, and it did not disappoint. I saw the much-hyped Midsommar last year and was sorely disappointed in it -- even more so now that it seems a tawdry rip-off of this film. I was however delighted to recognize strong echoes of this film in my fav American Werewolf in London. Clearly this is an influential film, and for good reason! 🙌🙌
Thanks to Nicole for kicking off the top 100 countdown with me! First of the season was Hush (2016), a slasher with a strong female lead who is deaf and mute. This was interesting from a plot perspective (cf The Quiet Place), and I always enjoy seeing sign language represented in films (learned the sign for "bitch" haha), but unfortunately this was pretty much the only interesting part. As Nicole said, pretty standard cat-and-mouse stuff. And the gross violence/gore was frankly pretty gratuitous.
Must say, I'm not impressed with Mike Flanagan, who also did Gerald's Game, which sucked.
Jesse and I watched The Endless (2018). It was good! Sci-fi horror about two brothers who are drawn back to the UFO death cult they left 10 years ago. Atmospheric, innovative, some good creepy scares, and punchy dialogue. Good fun.
Damn. Suicide Circle aka Jisatsu sâkuru (2001) was a brilliant but brutal watch.
** ❗Content warning, there was a scene at ~1:05:00 that was too horrible/disturbing for me, I had to stop watching and turn it off last night. The movie up to that point was really awesome and creative, so I came back to it today, just fast-forwarded through that scene. Truly awful subject matter and felt so real that it really disturbed me. On the balance, I still liked/respected the movie. But if you choose to watch, please be ready (I was not).❗**
Anyway, there were some super iconic moments, I'm really shocked I had never heard of or seen this movie before. (Mark said he saw it like 15 years ago.) I have seen a great deal of American horror by now, but one of my goals for this year is to expand my knowledge of international horror. HMU if you want in on that! 🇯🇵👺👹👻
Out of the Dark / Wui Wan Yeh (1995) -- very silly. 😝 Stephen Chow, so we had high hopes, but this ended up being VERY goofy, and long.
In Candyman (1992), a lynched Black man turned hook-handed-murderer is pursued by a very pushy and problematic white grad student. Does this uncomfortable film say something meaningful about the horrors of racism? Or does it just exploit those same racist stereotypes, by using a Black man and grimy shots of the "ghetto" (their word) to inspire fear? If it were a less mediocre film, I'd spend more time musing on this...
The Innocents (1961) was fantastic! Beautiful costumes too, and a gorgeous spooky mansion. Very tense! And intriguing, ambiguous action. Excellent.
"What shall I sing to my lord from my window?
What shall I sing, for my lord will not stay?
What shall I sing, for my lord will not listen?
Where shall I go when my lord is away?
Whom shall I love when the moon is arisen?
Gone is my lord, and the grave is his prison.
What shall I say when my lord comes a-calling?
What shall I say when he knocks on my door?
What shall I say when his feet enter softly?
Leaving the marks of his grave on my floor.
Enter my lord!
Come from your prison!
Come from your grave, for the moon is arisen.
Welcome, my lord...”
Possession (1981) was incredible! And Lovecraftian, which came as a pleasant surprise. With Sam Neill, 12 years before Jurassic Park. Themes of madness, death, perversion, doubles, radical love. Incredible story, cool effects, dope music, and fascinating shots. I've said it before but I'll say it again, nothing beats 80s horror. Recommended if you liked Dead Ringers (1988).
The Company of Wolves (1984) was a romp! I'm a sucker for practical effects and transformation horror (and Angela Lansbury!), so even though the story was not super inspired, this one was right up my alley. ❤🐺❤
Mark and I watched Kamera o Tomeru na! (lit., don't stop the camera!), English title "One Cut of the Dead." It was great! 😁 And fun meta take on zombie movie production. Altho solidly on the side of comedy, rather than horror.
Thanks Megan for braving I Am Legend (2007) with me! I'd heard mixed reviews about this film and after watching I guess that makes sense. It's an interesting concept, but with really inconsistent attention to detail, terrible CGI zombies, and a ludicrous ending. Mark says the book is way better and [[insert book plot spoilers]] which sounds way more interesting and was apparently just totally omitted from this movie?? So that's lame. I guess there's an alternate ending to this movie which hews a little more closely to the book, anyone seen it? Thoughts? Also, Megan discovered this cool website: http://paintingsinmovies.com/m/view/id/127 gotta bookmark that for future reference! :)
Tonight Mark and I watched Body Bags (1993), which was amazing!! Cool creepy stories, great effects, classic Carpenter soundtrack (and direction), and chock full of cameos, a veritable "who's who" of horror. (More appreciated by Mark than me, I'm not very good with recognizing celebrities or knowing actors, idk, that part of my brain is missing, I guess -- tho I did love seeing my boy David Noughton, from my all-time fav American Werewolf in London!) I really loved all 3 stories, tho content warning, the third had upsetting sexual violence. I do think the transplanted-body-part trope is a cool one, Heart of a Dog vibes. 👍👍
Jesse and I watched Cam (2018), a glitzy, sensual, cyberpunk thriller. Really smart and interesting, tho it left some key questions unexplored. (Also, it did not devolve into a morality play about the evils of sex work, which was a welcome surprise.) Themes of identity, reality, paranoia, guilt, suicide.
Recommended for fans of Satoshi Kon's masterpiece Perfect Blue, or William Gibson enthusiasts. Recommended!! 🍑🍆
May (2002) was f'ing brutal. I almost never do this in movies (tho I also did for Suicide Club, tough countdown this year!), but I had to make Mark fast forward a few times. I don't want to give spoilers but just trust, there is some messed up content in this one. This was Julkita (2017) level gnarly, but sadder. 🤢😢 Trying to maintain critical distance, but honestly have no idea if this was a good movie or not, gunna have to sit with it a bit once I settle down. 😅 Though my first impression is that it was more creative than your usual mutilation fest (cf the idiotic Saw movies), more like Tim Burton's Sally ft Buffalo Bill. Viewer be warned...
Annihilation (2018) was awesome!! Absolutely gorgeous, and very interesting. And while I normally find CGI offensive, the effects were very tasteful. Not horror tho, straight up sci-fi thriller. Good stuff.
Nicole and Michael joined us for Prom Night II (1987), a campy supernatural slasher. The 80s is easily my favorite decade for horror, and although this movie was pretty goofy at times, there were some very neat effects, including a totally awesome classroom scene (who knew chalkboards could be so frightening?).
Once Bitten (1985) was cute. I love Countess Dracula (1971), and this comedic take on the story was a gas. I'm surprised I'd never seen this one, honestly. 80s forever.
Eric came over for a backyard showing of Ready or Not (2019), which was awesome! A lively comedic horror film starring hottie Samara Weaving (from The Babysitter). Great satire with some hilarious characters, including an Otho-like brother-in-law. Some annoying horror no-nos*, but no dealbreakers. All in all, a fun, playful movie.
* I just can't stand it in modern films when people do any of these stupid horror no-nos:
- assume the killer is dead. SHOOT HIM AGAIN DAMNIT!!! like 6 more times!
- leave the weapon on the ground. So you knocked the gun out of his hand... NOW PICK IT UP, YOU NINNY!
- stop to comfort each other, inspect wounds, cry, or provide exposition. THERE WILL BE PLENTY OF TIME FOR THAT LATER, IF YOU SURVIVE!
- or any of the classics (split up, go toward the scary sound, etc.)
Haven't any of these people seen a horror movie?? 🤣
Knowing we'd be watching Ready or Not (2019) tonight, I made sure to watch the original The Most Dangerous Game (1932) today in preparation. A pre-code classic horror film about a wealthy madman who hunts, you guessed it, people for sport. It was delightful actually. (Although in keeping with historical perspectives of women, the doe-eyed damsel of this film seemed to utterly lack interiority, but that's par for the course.)
Megan and I plunged into the abyss with Dario Argento's insane giallo Phenomena (1985). My all-time favorite horror film, Suspiria (1977), is by Argento, and this film stars the exquisite Jennifer Connelly one year before her appearance in Labyrinth, so I was pretty psyched for this movie. The narrative has been called "muddled," but that's a dramatic understatement. It starts out as a rational and linear (if fantastic) story, but abruptly devolves into visual and narrative chaos and depravity. The aesthetics of the film are great and characteristic of the genre, with intense colors, crazy zooms, and wild music (Iron Maiden, anyone?). I LOVED the movie until its utterly strange denouement... now need to sit with it a bit. Still, I'd recommend! // Oh also, there was some weirdness with the release of this film (they cut out 20 min and re-released in English as the widely-panned Creepers). We watched the so-called "hybrid" version, with ~6 min of footage where no English audio exists, so there were random Italian scenes. 🙄 These were supposed to appear with subtitles, but did not on Amazon prime, so brush up on your Italian!
Frenzy (1972) was terrific. I love Hitchcock. It's been years and years since I've seen most of his work (though I don't think I'd ever seen this one), it's incredible how shocking it still feels, nearly 50 years later.
Busy busy week and I'm behind on the horror countdown, but glad to be getting back on track with Sarah Jablonski tonight, watching A Tale of Two Sisters (2003)! This Korean horror film had great use of color and some very powerful shots. The story was interesting but confusing, maybe something was lost in translation -- had to read the wikipedia plot synopsis haha.
Recommended for fans of spooky, atmospheric, psychological thrillers (though some scenes are kinda gory). Vibes of The Others (2001). If you liked this, recommend Ich Seh Ich Seh (2014).
Penda's Fen is provocative, radical even, in its treatment of religion, sexuality, capitalism, and society. The production value was atrocious, however, and the copy I saw was probably even worse, looked like a VHS recording. (Ripe for a remake!!) I wouldn't really call this a horror film, although there were some creepy and shocking scenes.
"What is it that is hidden beneath this shell of lovely earth? Some hideous angel of technocratic death?"
Nicole and I watched Climax (2018), a French film about a group of young dancers whose celebration turns nightmarish. The choreography was beautiful and there were some very vivid scenes, but the pacing needed work. Very much a "the horror within all of us" kind of film, but no immediate parallels that I can think of, so I appreciated the novelty. I also liked the horror callbacks in the VHS tapes framing the dancer interviews, which open the film.
An evening with friends gets freaky when a comet crosses overhead, in 2013's Coherence, watched with Jesse tonight. I would term this a sci-fi thriller, rather than a horror film. Interesting, though not earth shattering. The characters also made a bunch of rash/ill-advised decisions, which always bugs me.* 😅 Noticing how many dinner-party-gone-wrong films there are, cf It's a Disaster (2012) and The Invitation (2019). Oh also, I've been watching Buffy on Monday nights with Megan, and it was super weird seeing grown-up Xander (Nicholas Brendan) in this film! 🤣
* Sometimes people say "that's just horror," but I think that's actually a hallmark of bad storytelling. People should not have to act irrationally or stupidly to advance the plot. In the best horror, the plot advances inexorably, like in a classical tragedy, due to what I think of as "the winnowing of possibilities." Every safe option becomes closed to you through the machinations of fate, and you are forced to make dangerous decisions, you don't just stumble into them through your own incompetence.
Mark and I watched the 2011 remake of Fright Night, starring Colin Farrell as the vampire next door. I love the 1985 original (it's on my top 100 list!), so I was both excited and skeptical about watching the remake. This one was really a mixed bag. The pacing, action, dialogue, and atmosphere were great. But the CGI was frightful (not in a good way), and the portrayal of women was just maddening. As a human woman, I'm used to women being given the short end of the stick in cinema, and objectification of women is a real issue in horror as a genre, so I'm honestly pretty inured to it -- but this was just pathetic. Truly hard to watch 2 hours of damsels and bimbos. 🤮 Someone oughta remake the remake haha.
Enjoyed The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970), Dario Argento's directorial debut, which I had never seen before. Gorgeous gallery scenes with fascinating sculptures, wish I knew who'd made them.
A Chinese Ghost Story (1987) was very silly, but it did have a few awesome scenes. They really let the fog machine guy go hogwild with this one. 😂 Lovely, flowing costuming for knockout Joey Wong.
Terra and I watched Jennifer's Body (2009), which was great!! I admit I did not have super high expectations for this film (never was a huge Megan Fox fan), but we both really enjoyed it. Great thrills and chills, funny dialogue, compelling female friendship angle, realistic-ish high school feel, and CGI that didn't suck. Plus, my boy Chris Pratt, just before his Parks and Rec fame. Definite The Craft (1996) vibes, which is a win in my book.
If you like this, then watch: The Craft (1996)
