Dellamorte Dellamore (lit. "of the death of love," English title Cemetery Man) was amazing!! Creative plot, very funny dark humor, smart dialogue, great practical effects, and plenty of sex appeal (starring hotties Rupert Everett and Anna Falchi) -- the whole package.
Also, I was struck while watching this film by the similarities to my boy Dario Argento... come to find out, Michele Soavi was his protégé! Definitely worth a watch.
Kim Jee-woon's directorial debut, The Quiet Family (1998), was awesome! Sarah and I recently watched his film A Tale of Two Sisters (2006), and I liked this much more. What can I say, I'm a sucker for dark comedy! It has a great cast, starring heartthrob Song Kang-ho (of Snowpiercer and Parasite), before he became famous, Na Moon-hee (of My Lovely Sam-Soon), and Choi Min-sik (of Oldboy, etc.), among others. Almost like a National Lampoon film, except if the hijinks always ended in dead bodies. 🤣
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! 🙌🙌
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! 🇯🇵👺👹👻
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. 👍👍
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.)
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)
Don't love being laid up in bed on the heating pad, but did finally get to watch Get Out - WOW that movie is amazing! Trenchant, funny, and grippingly suspenseful. 10/10 for sure!
Countess Dracula (1971) was soo good!! A cruel countess, longing for her lost beauty, discovers the fountain of eternal youth... is virgin's blood!
Loved Diabolique - snappy dialogue, a nice chance to practice my French comprehension, and a surprising denouement...
It Follows (2014): this slow-starting, spooky chiller with occasional gore was extremely, lie-awake-at-night, scary. Not recommended for the faint of heart!
First horror movie of the season: Black Sunday, aka The Mask of Satan. Awesome! 200 years after she is burned at the stake, local witch comes back to wreak her vengeance! Hold tight to your crucifixes!
