October 2015 Horror Movie a Day

[JimJ]

Horror themes are perfectly acceptable, even if the movie itself isn't particularly 'scary.'  Heck, between Crimson Peak, Goosebumps, and Hotel Transylvania 2, the horror pickings at the theater are really slim this year, and nobody is going to see Crimson Peak despite decent enough reviews.

And the new Paranormal Activity is going to be a much more limited release this year thanks to theater chains boycotting it because they're releasing on VOD a lot sooner than usual (but still like a month or two after the theatrical release).  Same goes for Scout's Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse. 

[ScottotD]

Guillermo is too wonderful for this world

[Johnny Unusual]

The VR Crystal Lake scene is amaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazing

The premarital sex joke didn't make me laugh too much but beating a teen in a sleeping bag with another teen with a sleeping bag was great.  I love that it actually DOESN'T feel visceral/loud and that it just looks kind of pathetic.

[SJP]

Day 21: Frankenstein's Army

1 and a quarter stars, Netflix?  I don't think so.  It may not be award-winning cinema, but this is not one star moviemaking.  This movie takes a crap on X Moor and Demons 2014 without even noticing they were there.

A Russian propagandist is embedded with his fellow Soviets in World War II, when they receive a distress signal from other soldiers, even though none are supposed to be in the area.  The group stumbles upon a building where they find strange experiments have taken place...and the experiments are out for blood.

OK, there's not much plot to this.  It's a found footage movie (with far less shaky cam than normal) that essentially exists to set up the next moment of monster chasing.  I'm not a found footage fan, but this is one instance where, even putting aside the usual "Why are they still filming?" question, it actually looked like it was a freeing experience for filming.  Sure, the movie didn't need it, and may have benefited from not using the format, possibly, but the feel is less like the typical found footage movie and more like a trip through a really good haunted house.  It's brightly lit, but it doesn't make things less tense.  It's bloody, but the CG is barely noticeable.  And the way the camera travels and operates does allow for some cool shots and angles that you wouldn't normally get from a traditionally filmed movie.

But the real joy is the costumes.  Apparently this was originally supposed to be a movie made in the mid 2000s called "Worst Case Scenario," where Nazi-cyborg monsters come ashore to England and wreak havoc on its beaches.  This project fell through, but all the monster designs ended up here.  Although each is a mix of mechanical parts and some sort of pointy weapon, they are all unique.  I particularly liked the one where a metal helmet on it opens and closes like a bear trap, but sideways, "Stilt Monster" with the Drill nose, and the little pot-bellied stove guy.  He reminds me of the Monster episode of MXC where a guy dressed up like a lime or olive or something and couldn't see out of the costume.

If you're looking for deep, emotional resonance, the movie doesn't have it.  What it does have is one of the best mixes of ecletic monster design in recent memory, and worth seeing for that alone.

[ScottotD]

The VR Crystal Lake scene is amaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazing

The premarital sex joke didn't make me laugh too much but beating a teen in a sleeping bag with another teen with a sleeping bag was great.  I love that it actually DOESN'T feel visceral/loud and that it just looks kind of pathetic.

Yeah the sleeping bag part is probably my favourite death of the series because he's not even really trying so it's like he's been doing it for ages, it's so casual. 

[Edward J Grug III]

The Fly (Remake) - So great! So gross! I didn't know before that Mel Brooks financed this movie when the studio was scared off by the original script! Weird trivia!

Had to watch it over two nights because our itunes was acting weird, causing us to fall further behind, but I knew we were doomed from the beginning.

[Johnny Unusual]

He also produced My Favourite Year, the Elephant Man, Frances (a Frances Farmer biopic) and the Doctor and the Devils (a gothic thriller about a Burke and Hare style duo).  He had a secret double life of producing some interesting projects.

[Edward J Grug III]

He also produced My Favourite Year, the Elephant Man, Frances (a Frances Farmer biopic) and the Doctor and the Devils (a gothic thriller about a Burke and Hare style duo).  He had a secret double life of producing some interesting projects.

Yeah, I saw this about him when I was reading about it last night.

The Fly is the only one from above I care about though ;P

(Never seen My Favourite Year, I might like that)

[JimJ]

Well, I missed today because of the Back to the Future marathon (can't think of a way to twist those into being horror films).  I'm going to the Thursday night premiere of the new Paranormal Activity movie tomorrow night, will try to watch another movie before that to make up for today.

[Compound]

Halloween Hell (2015)
Reality  TV host Eric Roberts, who's dressed like Dracula for some reason, locks 6 contestants in a warehouse with a cursed idol for Halloween. The CGI demon in the idols isn't happy.

Sigh. Not very good. Six reality contestants. They get 100k if they win to fund their dream projects. FYI- the IRS takes about half of that and 50 grand isn't going to fund most of what these folks are looking for. There's a cursed idol. It's got a demon in it. The demon slaughters a bunch of folks in the first few minutes and then years pass and Robert's reality show arrives. They act like the normal reality show cast, except for a nerdy guy who got some information and equipment from a Voodoo priestess before the show. Why? Dunno. Roberts is mile away in his studio and allowing folks on the internet to bet on the show, like who'll be the first to die, etc. Now at first the film shows promise as the folks dying are the people watching the broadcast. That'd actually be a nice twist. TV viewers dying and desperately trying to get through to the reality show people who are cut off from the outside world to get them to do something with the physical idol. But no, soon the reality show folks also start dropping like flies. Now the demon looks fairly decent, or at least it would with a quick glance at it. Unfortunately, the movie likes to do a close up on the demon for a good chunk of time and does so every few minutes. And it gets goofier the more you look at it.



I can almost hear Bill doing riffs over the guy. Anyway, it turns out that the Voodoo priestess let Nerd Boy know that magnets could shrink and then trap a demon. Huh. I guess ICP was onto something. Eventually they trap the demon, head over to Eric's place and release the demon and kill him. Then they take all the money that was raised during the show. It's a complete yawner. A few decent special effects along the way, and Roberts, while collecting a paycheck, is at least entertaining to watch, but it's a yawner.

Alien Valley (2015)
While investigating cattle mutilations, a TV crew looking into paranormal mysteries stumbles across more than they can handle.

...okay, it's 2010. There's six folks from LA and only one person has a cell phone? I find that less believable than the actual plot. Anyway, this is a very by the book "unbelievers stumble into something that they shouldn't have" with found footage plot. That being said, it's a well done example of that book. The ending is silly, but up until that last bit, it's a rather well done film. Locally done too. I thought I knew about the local films, but I must have missed this one.

Unearthed (2007)
An ancient alien returns and wrecks havoc on an isolated town.

Sooooo, the Anasazi were destroyed by an alien sent to harvest samples of Earth's DNA? Well, that's a new one. Anyway, fairly well done little horror film, even if it does take the unique path of killing off the likable characters first. But it's decent enough, even if I can't work up a lot to say on it. The alien looks a tad too Giger-ish though,but that's just me.

[Johnny Unusual]

It's the Rifftrax of Frankenstein Island.  I really have NO idea what they were going for here.

[JimJ]

Day 22: Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension (2015) 3.5/5

So, if you hate the other Paranormal Activity movies, you'll hate this too.  If you like the others movies, like I do, you'll probably like this one.  The 3D effects were really fun, especially at the end.  None of the characters were horribly annoying, not even the kid, who was actually quite good for a child actor.  I'd probably rank it ahead of 4 and The Marked Ones, but behind the first 3 movies.

[Edward J Grug III]

I fell asleep watching Eyes Without a Face last night. (Not a knock on the movie, but my poor sleep lately)

[JimJ]

Oh, and I'm totally, irrationally excited to see a locally made movie, called Night of the Wererooster, sometime next week.  Local theater is showing it for a week.  It looks terrible. I got the trailer before Paranormal Activity tonight.  Here it is:

[TeamRAD]

I can imagine enjoying Nightmare maybe, but doubt Friday the 13th is for me. And I don't really have any interest in either.

Nightmare movies vary wildly in quality. The best ones to me are the original, New Nightmare, and 3. The rest of them have fun moments, largely just seeing the creative kill effects.

2 is horrible, though it has a following of its own that confuses me to no end. It gained cult status for being an underground gay horror movie, and is embraced by a lot of gay fans, and yet it seems to me like an incredibly anti-gay premise.

I haven't given it any thought from an anti-gay perspective but think it's great that Chaskin's subtext flew over everyone else on the production crew. The story behind the production of it is so great.

I've heard decent things about the musical one, was thinking of checking it out soon.  Anyway, I still need to make up for missing the 11th, will try to do that today.  After the movie I just watched, getting in the mood to watch another will be hard.

Day 13: Knock Knock (2015)  /5

WOW.  Easily the worst movie I've seen this month.  No, wait, I mean year.  Holy shit!  I knew this got pretty bad reviews, but I tend to like Eli Roth's stuff more than the average person, and I usually like Keanu, so I was looking forward to checking it out.  It's so goddamn bad, guys.  The only tiny sliver of enjoyment I got out of it was the hilariously bad performance of Keanu Reeves.  Look, I know he's not the greatest actor but I usually enjoy his work.  This performance is unreal, I don't even know how it could've happened.  He makes Marky Mark in The Happening seem Oscar worthy.  Granted, the material he's working with here is hot fucking garbage, but still, this is one of the worst performances I've ever seen from an established actor.  I'm not going to get into the plot too much.  Basically, some girls show up on Keanu's doorstep on a rainy night and he helps them, but everything is not as it seems etc. etc. yada yada...

Fuck this movie, it's bad, don't watch it.

Like

Hey, didn't I warn you about this one?

But Kete...FREE PIZZA!!!

The VR Crystal Lake scene is amaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazing

The premarital sex joke didn't make me laugh too much but beating a teen in a sleeping bag with another teen with a sleeping bag was great.

I haven't seen this since the theater, but that bit was hilarious. And that Cronenberg cameo, how did that happen?!!