Horror Movie a Day: October 2011

[Compound]

Movie 7 - Cursed

Wes Craven's 2005 absolutely fascinating film about werewolves loose in LA. Starring Wednesday Adams, Mark Zuckerberg, Lex Luthor, Chachi and Peter Bishop. Oh, and a golden retriever.  Unfortunately, this one feels less like a werewolf movie and more like an episode of Dawson's Creek (albeit one with werewolves.) Not very scary. Not very gory, although in one or two shots it hits "Really? You know blood doesn't work like that, right?" territory.  Still, there's one scene that redeems a portion of the film and that's when the LAPD kills a werewolf by shooting it. A lot. Thanks acknowledgement of basic physics!

Oh, by the way- I'm pretty sure that this will be the only film on anyone's list that has a cameo by Bowling for Soup. Unless one counts "Lawn gnome Beach Party of Terror", which I believe was already disqualified.

[D.B. Barnes]

<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0464154/">#3 Pirahna 3D</a>

Okay, this was a completely stupid, way over-the-top, T&A gore fest. So, needless to say, I enjoyed it for the most part. The movie is well aware of itself and takes full advantage of that fact. You don't really give a shit what happens to any of these people, so you just try and have fun with it. The cast was pretty well put-together; Jerry O'Connell plays a great sleazebag. This was the second straight horror flick I watched with Rhames; he needs to be in all these types of flicks! The harbor attack scene was completely out-of-hand.

GRADE: B-

[JimJ]

Movie number 4 was Jason X, another body count padder with 20 deaths.  It's an undeniably stupid movie, but I still find it somewhat enjoyable.  I still can't figure out why the hell they even made this movie.  The ending of Jason Goes to Hell clearly indicated that they were planning Freddy vs. Jason, but they made Jason X before they made FvsJ and then FvsJ completely ignored this movie's existence (thankfully, since it ends with "uber-Jason" landing on "Earth 2"  ).  Guess they just needed to get the "Jason goes to space" movie out of their system first.  Anyway, I still kind of like it despite the absurdity of it.  3/5

Total death count after 4: 53

Halfway there already!  I think I'm going to stick with Jason.  I found a site that lists the body counts of each of the Friday the 13th movies and after the 4th one they all get pretty high, like 15+ for most of them.  Think I'll watch Part 6 next as it was always my favorite of the franchise.  Plus, that'll give me the 3 movies from the same franchise achievement.

[dignan]

If I remember correctly, the Freddy vs. Jason concept took a long time to finalize everything, so they made Jason X in the interim, as if Freddy vs. Jason already happened.  Kind of like how Abbey Road ended up released before Let It Be, even though it was made after the fact.

[shodan]

oct1. evil dead II
oct2. hellraiser hell on earth
oct3. rifftrax-the grudge
oct4. Fido
achievements:
it hurts to be dead
here's johnny
ill teach you to throw away my comic book
he watched the tape
this is where he hotcurls her to death
achievement progress:
seems like ive spent the beteer part of my lif amongst the dead: 80's 90's 00's
sayonara rick-san: kill count at 31
edit : forgot to factor in fido deaths

[Relaxing Dragon]

Movie #6- Dylan Dog: The Dead of Night

Well, this rather poorly received horror film from earlier this year (but still enjoyable) manages to cover 5 different achievements. Woot.

Still, not a bad film, if a little schitzo in it's presentation.  The comic relief character could have been dumped or made a bit more serious and it'd be a better film.

I give that film credit for having a bunch of cool ideas, but it really is just too poorly executed. Too bad, too.

<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0464154/">#3 Pirahna 3D</a>

Okay, this was a completely stupid, way over-the-top, T&A gore fest. So, needless to say, I enjoyed it for the most part. The movie is well aware of itself and takes full advantage of that fact. You don't really give a shit what happens to any of these people, so you just try and have fun with it. The cast was pretty well put-together; Jerry O'Connell plays a great sleazebag. This was the second straight horror flick I watched with Rhames; he needs to be in all these types of flicks! The harbor attack scene was completely out-of-hand.

GRADE: B-

The glourious excess of that film is nearly unmatched in today's horror market. I was as giddy as can be when I watched it (and I'm talking midnight show release here, which I'll be doing for the sequel as well). I keep referring to this film as live action Happy Tree Friends, mainly because of that beautiful harbor attack scene

Alright, here's my two latest:

High Tension. Super grim and super gory, which is all I really ask for when it comes to semi-slashers like this. Of course everyone just gets hung up on the twist on this one, and moderately-rightly so I suppose. I mean, I was paying super close attention from the get go, and for every bit I can justify in the end, there's another part that simply doesn't work. And watching it again, I had to wonder if the film actually would work at all even without it, since it really does seem to be built around it (or rather, wants to be). Hard to say. At any rate, I'm a horror fan, and we forgive a lot worse for a lot more (it is in our nature). As a result I still dig this movie, no matter how frustrating it gets.

The House of the Devil. Alright, I'm just going to come out and say this one didn't work for me. I understand the astetic it was trying to reproduce, and in that regard it was very successful. Wouldn't take much effort to convince someone who had never heard of this that it was actually released in 1983 (and maybe if it actually was, I'd go easier on it). Thing is, the film seemed to be copying too much of the old style, including the long stretches of nothing happening. Seriously, seems like an hour goes by before any sort of tension starts, when the camera pans into what's in that one room (notwithstanding the cemetery bit, which was a good shot in the arm). I'm all for build-up, but watching a girl wander around and sit and then wander and then sit for more than half the running time wears thin very fast. There is such a thing as too much padding, after all. And the ending is a bit too... well, melodramatic for me, but then I never was one for the Satanic cult subgenre. So, I recognize it as a decent enough film, but not nearly as good as folks have been saying it is (but hey, I'm one of those sorry sods who thinks Carpenter's Halloween is way to slow, so what do I know).

High Tension
Bets Kill: The concrete saw through the car windshield. That thing is a badass killing tool that would make any normal chainsaw wet itself, and definitely needs to be represented more in film.
Death Count: 5

The House of the Devil
Scariest Bit: When he aforementioned pan into the room reveals the family dead on the floor, and some tension finally starts to pick up. And is held nicely pretty much until the lights go out and she collapses from the drugged pizza. Things get too open and crazy after that, but that sequence right there... that was good. More of that would've been nice.
Death Count: 3

In regards to kill count, I'll readjust the 28 Days Later score down to the number of characters who didn't get back up. Cutting out the ones who return as Rageheads (which is a bit unclear at times, so I'm doing a more educated guess) does cut my number way down. I'm going to have to work at it to get to that 100. In the future I'll be counting this way as well.

[RoninFox]

If I remember correctly, the Freddy vs. Jason concept took a long time to finalize everything, so they made Jason X in the interim, as if Freddy vs. Jason already happened.  Kind of like how Abbey Road ended up released before Let It Be, even though it was made after the fact.

If you look at the bonus features on the Freddy vs Jason dvd they have a long article reprinted from a Fangoria issue that talks about all the different drafts and attempts at a Freddy vs. Jason movie, the vast majority of them being horrible.  It took them a long time to decide who should be "real" from the start, and should the other exist first in a movie within the universe of the one, and for a very long time Freddy was going to be resurrected by a cult called the Fred Heads led by the devious Dominic Necros.

A strange part of me wanted to see that version, but the rest of me is happy with what eventually happened.

[Compound]

Film #7 - Stake Land

Okay, this one's an odd bird. With the name, the producers are obviously trying to attract the attention of folks who liked Zombieland. But unlike Zombieland's playful nature, Stake Land is completely serious. I don't recall a single joke in the film.  Folks going in expecting Bill Murray to pop up are going to be a bit disappointed. It'll be a bit like going into see Happy Madison and getting Reign Over Me instead.

Yeah, I can't believe I just made an analogy with Adam Sandler films either.

Anyway, aside from that the basic setup is pretty simple. A plague of vampires has spread across the world and only scattered pockets of humanity remain. The main cast consists of a vampire hunter and the teen boy he saves from a vampire attack and they're joined by assorted survivors along the way. all trying to find the vamp free "New Eden." Like I said above, it's not a cheery film.  It's not quite to the same level as say, The Road, and there are many, many more survivors than in a zombie film. But it's not a laugh a minute fun ride.

For vamp fans, these vampires aren't Lestat, they're a lot closer to zombies in that they basically live to feed and don't think much. Oh, but they have fangs and blow up in sunlight.

Unfortunately, the film is marred in its focus. In a vampire apocalypse who is the real enemy? If you guessed "man", you've seen a movie before! In this case, there's a group of evvvvvvillllll Christian fundamentalists who believe that the vampires are God's vengeance on the world. And so they rape and pillage and every once in a while unleash vampires. Sigh.  Hollywood? There are other groups out there to pick on you know. Seriously. The "Christian who goes nuts" thing in horror films is as over done as killing anyone who says "I'll be right back." Do an evil heavy metal band again or evil doll shop owner or shriners or something. Other than that eye rolling bit, it's a fairly well done little horror film.

And now, I take a break to watch Laser Mission and (cough) Fast Five. Yeah, yeah. Derp. The cars go fast! Yay! Car movies amuse me, okay?

[Relaxing Dragon]

Stake Land was originally going to be a web series, which shows in the slightly disconnected nature of the film. I still quite liked it, it was like a road apocalypse movie that happened to have zombie vampires in it. Plus the town attack scene was pretty damn awesome.

Check out the director's first film, Mulberry Street. I like this particular director a lot, he really seems to care about getting characters into his horror movies. Goes a long way, especially when he has next to no budget to work with.

[Relaxing Dragon]

And now, some words of advice from someone who's been watching a horror movie a day for the past four years: http://www.badassdigest.com/2011/10/04/terror-tuesday-how-to-watch-a-horror-movie-a-day

[Compound]

Movie #9 - Vampires Suck

Sigh.

It's a parody of Twilight. It hasn't gotten any better since the last time I saw it though. Yes, I have subjected myself to this multiple times. Unlike the Noun movies though, I actually do chuckle from time though, so it's not quite as bad as those films. And the film makers do a handful of subtle jokes as well. So it's just disappointing, not mind numbingly awful. It's still much better than last year's Taintlight though. (Shudder)

And I just realized that by subjecting myself to this I've pretty much obligated myself to watching those damn twilight films this year, especially since I didn't watch them last year. Yay.

[SJP]

Movie #9 - Vampires Suck

Sigh.

It's a parody of Twilight. It hasn't gotten any better since the last time I saw it though. Yes, I have subjected myself to this multiple times. Unlike the Noun movies though, I actually do chuckle from time though, so it's not quite as bad as those films. And the film makers do a handful of subtle jokes as well. So it's just disappointing, not mind numbingly awful.

That's sort of how I view it.  It's the only Seltzer/Friedberg film I can watch and not feel entirely dirty afterwards...not CLEAN, but not entirely dirty.  I don't know why, but the scene with the baseball bat makes me chuckle.  It shouldn't, but it does.

I'm viewing mine in-between Tiger-Yankee innings...Dead Alive came out on Blu today, and I didn't get back from the store until a little while ago, and if the game goes on as long as the one last night, I'll be shaving my time really close.

EDIT: I would also like to point out that I did NOT steal the idea for this from the blog up above...I just started trying to do it two years ago (and failed miserably that first time), and didn't even know there was an official "Horror Movie A Day"(TM) blog out there until just now.  I will admit that, like the blog guy, Kevin's "A Year at the Movies" book MAY have played a bit of a role, but I think a month of horror movies is a LOT more doable.

[Relaxing Dragon]

Movie #9 - Vampires Suck

Sigh.

It's a parody of Twilight. It hasn't gotten any better since the last time I saw it though. Yes, I have subjected myself to this multiple times. Unlike the Noun movies though, I actually do chuckle from time though, so it's not quite as bad as those films. And the film makers do a handful of subtle jokes as well. So it's just disappointing, not mind numbingly awful.

That's sort of how I view it.  It's the only Seltzer/Friedberg film I can watch and not feel entirely dirty afterwards...not CLEAN, but not entirely dirty.  I don't know why, but the scene with the baseball bat makes me chuckle.  It shouldn't, but it does.

I'm viewing mine in-between Tiger-Yankee innings...Dead Alive came out on Blu today, and I didn't get back from the store until a little while ago, and if the game goes on as long as the one last night, I'll be shaving my time really close.

EDIT: I would also like to point out that I did NOT steal the idea for this from the blog up above...I just started trying to do it two years ago (and failed miserably that first time), and didn't even know there was an official "Horror Movie A Day"(TM) blog out there until just now.  I will admit that, like the blog guy, Kevin's "A Year at the Movies" book MAY have played a bit of a role, but I think a month of horror movies is a LOT more doable.

I don't think that guy is accusing anyone, except those folks who copied his work outright. It's not like it's a hard idea to come up with, so relax dude

[dignan]

Day 4:  Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter.

When I was younger, I saw all these movies out of order.  I think the first one that I saw may have been Part 7, edited for tv.  I think Part 3 was actually the first one I saw in its entirety, and then maybe Part 6?  No idea.  Anyway, I'm pretty sure I saw Part 4 prior to Part 1, and remember being kind of impressed at how ugly this movie is.  I absolutely loathed it.  But, time has toned down my hatred somewhat, although I still think it's pretty awful.  Fun fact: this is the second Friday the 13th movie to have an irritating character named Ted in it. 

[Compound]

Ooooh. You're going to hate Jason Takes Manhattan then. Six characters are named Ted, including two of the girls.