I actually watch The Exorcist last night. It's one of those movies I knew so much about I felt like I'd effectively experienced it but I'm glad I actually sat down and watched it through. At first it was just interesting rather than gripping but as it went on the tension built and built. Of course I knew a lot about the last third of the film and had seen many clips so the impact was hugely lessened. I can imagine it would have been pretty mind-blowing to see it in the cinema when it first came out if you didn't know how far the possession was going to go. The slow build and sadness in the characters lives was very effective. I felt so much for Regan and her mother as they went through the procedures required to rule out physical or psychological causes.
It looks like this weeks movie night will be The Descent 2.
Yeah, I saw that movie at a fairly young age and I felt like I still knew most of everything that was going to happen. What you don't get from clip shows and spoofs is the atmosphere, the dread, and hiding Pazuzu images that you catch out of the corner of your eye. It is a masterclass even before we get to that final 30-minutes.
I first saw the Exorcist for either the 98 or 2000 rerelease in theaters. 25th anniversary or the directors cut. Think it was the latter in 2000 actually. It was something else.
Haven't watched it since. May not unless my kids want to see it someday.
Apparently it's still top grossing R film of all time adjusted for inflation.
The language is something else. It’d be strong for a movie today.
I can't recall how I saw first saw The Exorcist. Know it was on VHS and I was probably 14 or 15 at the time. May have just rented it. But yeah that was too intense for me at that time. Watched the entire thing but scared the crap out of me. It's the only horror movie I think might scare me.
I haven't watched it in at least twenty years so not sure how it will go over if I do watch it again. Kinda like the idea of just remembering it as scary.
This was a time I was just gobbling up horror movies as a kid. I think I even liked The Exorcist 2, know I rented it a lot, but that movie is supposed to be crap - may watch that one again at some point. But, according to the books author, it's not the true sequel to the first film. That distinction goes to The Ninth Configuration, which the author wrote/directed. I saw it somewhat recently and other than a line or two has nothing to do with The Exorcist - isn't even horror. Not sure I'd recommend seeing it other than a curiosity. It's kinda the original Shutter Island (DiCapro) without the murder mystery.
There's also The Exorcist tv series. Had two seasons. But watched the first one and it eventually has direct tie-ins to the first film. I seem to recall liking it. But then stopped watching season two after a few episodes for whatever reason.
Movie night last night was The Descent 2. We enjoyed the heck out of it but I’m pretty sure it was the company that made it. We spent most of the time being outraged at the sheriff’s idiotic behaviour and urgently telling people to keep quiet in order to avoid drawing the creatures to them. Something several characters took way to long to work out was a factor and then way too easily forgot in times of stress.
It was a fun, gory time.
Next weeks movie night might, as I have a cheap subscription to Disney+ at the moment, is likely to be Jungle Cruise which, in no way can be described as a horror movie. After that though I think we’ll watch Krampus as a seasonal treat.
Next weeks movie night might, as I have a cheap subscription to Disney+ at the moment, is likely to be Jungle Cruise which, in no way can be described as a horror movie. After that though I think we’ll watch Krampus as a seasonal treat.
My wife and I try to watch Krampus every year around this time. It is such a fun time, plus the creature design is fantastic!
Higgledy wrote:Next weeks movie night might, as I have a cheap subscription to Disney+ at the moment, is likely to be Jungle Cruise which, in no way can be described as a horror movie. After that though I think we’ll watch Krampus as a seasonal treat.
My wife and I try to watch Krampus every year around this time. It is such a fun time, plus the creature design is fantastic!
There is a 4K version being released in the states in a week or two. It is just such a fun movie, similar to Trick r Treat in that way.
While we are on the topic of scary Christmas movies, Christmas Horror Story is one that I was pleasantly surprised by. It is an anthology of christmas-horror with William Shatner as a drunk radio DJ. Recommended.
I didn't know they were releasing a 4K version! Apparently, it comes with added scenes and dialogue too. Very interesting... and tempting! 
And yes, it has a very similar feel to Trick r Treat, now that you mention it. I really like that kind of movie.
I started watching a Scandinavian film called Breaking Surface. It’s about two sisters contending with a diving accident. One sister is a diving professional and is super competent and calm whilst the other is extremely inexperienced. It starts extremely well but, unfortunately, as it goes on, the inexperienced sister keeps ignoring and disregarding the advice and guidance of the other. It annoyed me so much I had to stop watching. I can see an inexperienced person acting that way in a crisis but it was too frustrating. I may try returning to the film later.
I also watched Books of Blood on Disney+. It’s three interweaving tales. Elements of the stories are highly predictable but it’s still an enjoyable watch and ends up somewhere I really didn’t expect.
I didn't know they were releasing a 4K version! Apparently, it comes with added scenes and dialogue too. Very interesting... and tempting!
And yes, it has a very similar feel to Trick r Treat, now that you mention it. I really like that kind of movie.
It has the same director, so it makes sense. I would love him to do more horror.
This weeks movie night was Krampus. I’d never seen it other than watching the Dead Meat episode for it (see below.) I really wasn’t sure at first. It was a little heavy on the parody and I find watching dysfunctional family relationships like that to be too uncomfortable (my feelings were probably heightened because my mate was there and I’m being relied on to pick the horror movies.)
Once the film got going though it was incredible. Very nightmarish, like a Russian folktale come to life and no one was safe. The toys were so incredibly creepy.
Karen laughed a lot at the gingerbread men with the nail gun.
Watched VHS 2012 which was terrible. Only one of the stories was good the rest were dumb. The first story was the best but had one of worse scenes in the movie. There is a scene that I consider rape but maybe most people wont. Later on the guys that did the rape do the correct thing of not having sex with a girl passed out. What I couldn't come to terms with is the same guys that rape the girl in the beginning would find morals a few hours later. Other than that the story was pretty good and guys get what they deserve.
I think there are three movies in the series. The last one was really good. I don't remember if I have seen the second one or not.
Also the shaky cam almost made it unwatchable.
I think I watched that movie. I have vague memories of it. I remember there being some bizarre stuff in there. I think the creature in the first short is extremely good (if I’m remembering correctly.) pretty sure the third one is on Disney+ . I’ll have to get it watched.
For movie night this week I thought I’d let my mate pick from 3 potential horror movies, based on ones I have free access to at the moment. She really fancies getting the fourth Insidious movie seen so we’ll go for that. People seem to think it’s very week but we’ll likely have fun talking over it if that’s the case.
I haven't been able to make it through any of those VHS films. Just so bad that nothing in the first 15 minutes made me want to watch beyond that.
Would recommend Brotherhood of the Wolf that's on Shudder now. French film taking place in the 18th-century countryside where a beast is killing the local villagers. A hunter is called in to track it down and take it out. But it's not quite what it seems. And the reveal is pretty good.
There are some odd parts of the film. It takes place in the 18th-century but there's some martial arts scenes that play out and even some pulls from the Soulcalibur video game. It's part adventure film so I just went along with it and it was fine.
I did end up seeing this in theaters way back when and recall really enjoying the film. But what I recall most was the theaters sound system. They had some amazing sub woofers. Any time the beast was heard walking around there would be this enormous rumble that you could feel in your feet. Have just a TV speaker setup currently so don't get any of that at the moment.
Also watched another French horror film Advent Calendar. A paraplegic woman gets a very ornate advent calendar for a gift. The calendar has Jumanji like rules to it where if you start you have to complete it or will die. Throw it away and you die. And some other rule I forget. In any case the main thing with the calendar is the candies you get each day. Each one has a different effect and the interesting part is the woman finding out what they do and how to use them.
The movie has several elements that would make it a pretty good horror film but unfortunately its a bit all over the place and was just an ok to watch film - the spirit/monster is a complete dud however. This would be one film I would like them re-write and do a remake of focusing on how the person with the calendar really maximizes how they can use the calendar for them and against others.
Just watched Violation on shudder. I didn't know anything about this movie before watching it. This is a rape revenge movie with many many layers.
I was going to drop this movie after about 20 minutes just because I was finding it very dull and had no idea where it was going. Also the movie jumps around in time that makes it very confusing at first. However, when things started to fall in place I was locked in.
The reviews I seen on this are really basic. I'm not sure if most people picked up anything beyond rape revenge. For example no single person talked about how the husband refused to have sex with his wife while she is drunk but she can only have sex while drunk.
The rape is done in a way to make it unclear if she was raped or at least done in a way that one might see why the guy didn't think he raped her. The interesting thing here is her defense is she was drunk so couldn't give consent. So how would she feel if her husband actually did have sex with her while she was drunk. Also consider she attempts to rape her husband. She refuses to take no for answer. He has to physically throw her off of him. She seems like she isn't happy in the marriage. I think she was trying to get her husband to rape her so she would have a reason to leave the marriage.
Just didn't think it was cut and dry which is a good thing I think. There are some dexter like moments in this but I didn't find it scary. However, a lot of other people did find it disturbing. The wolf, spider, flies metaphors were way to heavy handed. They should have cut a few out to reduce the runtime.
Anyway I think it is worth a watch just don't expect much from the first 30 minutes.
I remember having some frustration with Violation that is similar to your thoughts. It is a movie that wasn't nearly as black and white as I was expecting. That created some turmoil and uncomfortableness for me. At the end of the day it is a fascinating watch, but yeah, as you mentioned...it is a real slow burn. The time-jumping was also pretty confusing for me. But I can be a dummy about such things.
Since my computer is being repaired been watching a lot of stuff so two more movies here to mention.
Meander (Hoopla) is another French film in the Cube vein. Woman wakes up in a small metal room. An exit opens up and she climbs through it in to a long tube. She basically spends her time moving through these tubes and having to avoid traps. It's missing the puzzle elements from Cube that made that interesting - e.g. figuring out which cube might have a trap and how to potentially escape. But it gets odd like Cube where they take their time revealing who set this up but the why is never really explained.
It's watchable but nothing more.
We Need to Do Something (Hulu) is about family who gets trapped in their bathroom after a storm passes and can't escape. Based on the comments on this movie you either hate it or like it. I'm in the like category and think it'll end up being a cult classic.
The reason they're trapped there is unexpected but dumb but it was unique so I just went with it. The movie also has a few situations where most movies would pull back and have happy outcomes where this one they dare to go in the other direction. So that was refreshing.
But there are plenty of bad things about it. None of the family members do logical things for the situation they are in. Or act towards each other like real people would. It's all a bit goofy. When odd things happen they just kinda accept that without questioning it like regular people would - their first food source is a big example of this. So if you get upset at movies where characters do dumb stuff or its not realistic enough then this will likely put you off. But if you just go with the silliness of it its a fun film.
We watched Insidious: The Last Key for movie night last night. At least it’s out of the way and we can mark that series off as seen. The best part was when my cat Flynn grabbed the big bag of Dreamies Karen spoils him with for an evening and tipped it’s contents all over the floor. Karen and I tried to scoop them all up again while Flynn desperately tried to make an end run around my arms. I could imagine him thinking, “Leave them, leave them! You guys watch your film. I’ll tidy all this up!”
I have three months subscription to Stars Play and am watching Castle Rock. Three episodes in and it’s mystery upon impenetrable mystery which is almost too much but, thankfully, in the last episode connections were starting to be made. It still has me intrigued.
In terms of horror there hasn’t been anything scary but there are a few threads that are heading in that direction.
The second season is much better.
The second season is much better.
Ooh thanks. I really wasn’t sure if it was going somewhere good or not. I’ll stick with it.
Yeah i didn't like the first season of Castle Rock - too...non supernatural for my tastes and kind of a waste for a 'Stephen King extended universe' kind of a setup.
(Particularly since that's something that already exists and it's hella fantasy based, in the Dark Tower series)
Hrm...what have i watched recently horror-wise...
VHS 94 (the most recent once) is pretty good. At least, for a low budget anthology movie. Certainly better than any of the middle films in the series (but probably not as good as the first one).
Rewatched Lake Mungo which remains one of the BEST 'mockumentary' style horror movies and is always recommended.
The Dark and the Wicked - GREAT supernatural curse/posession(?) style film but it's SUPER grim and one you probably need to be in the right frame of mind to enjoy.
Body Cam. Kinda feels gross to make a movie about police violence in this day and age, even if its the cops that are getting picked off one by one by supernatural vengence. Not particulary great even taking that into account - probably not worth the watch. If you want to see a GOOD horror movie involving police I would HIGHLY recommend Last Shift instead.
Await Further Instructions. It's a christmas movie! It's also a really gnarly cosmic horror/apocalypse/trapped in a house while horrible things are happening outside film. REALLY unique. Definitely recommend this one.
oh and I watched that The Grudge reboot that came out a couple of years back. It was... ok. I guess? It's more "The Grudge" but in America. So...pretty bland. And has some finger-chopping which is one of those things that sets my teeth on edge.
...and then i watched a half dozen or so random crappy horror movies on Amazon Prime which is where crappy horror movies go to die. Mostly i use them as background noise and rarely are any of them even worth remembering.
Baron Of Hell wrote:The second season is much better.
Ooh thanks. I really wasn’t sure if it was going somewhere good or not. I’ll stick with it.
I'm a huge Stephen King fan, but I could not bring myself to finish the first season of Castle Rock. I enjoyed the second one a lot more, but you don't really need to watch s.1 to enjoy s.2. Just saying...
Await Further Instructions. It's a christmas movie! It's also a really gnarly cosmic horror/apocalypse/trapped in a house while horrible things are happening outside film. REALLY unique. Definitely recommend this one.
I’ve seen that one about but never tried it. I’ll give it a go.
Higgledy wrote:Baron Of Hell wrote:The second season is much better.
Ooh thanks. I really wasn’t sure if it was going somewhere good or not. I’ll stick with it.
I'm a huge Stephen King fan, but I could not bring myself to finish the first season of Castle Rock. I enjoyed the second one a lot more, but you don't really need to watch s.1 to enjoy s.2. Just saying...
I’m into the slow build at the moment but it’s good to know I can jump to season 2 if it gets annoying.
By the way, Higgledy, did you ever finish Brand New Cherry Flavor?
No. It seemed to move away from the tone of the first episode I liked so much and it did seem to be getting very weird in a way I wasn’t onboard with.
Oh, ok. I was curious. I don't know that I would have continued with it had my wife not been really into it, so I get where you're coming from. I ended up liking it, but it was weeeeird.
I’ve jumped to season 2 in Castle Rock. It is a ton better. The good news is that the seasons appear not to follow on from each other so I can always go back to season one if I’m curious.
Good decision! I hope you enjoy it all the way through!
Watched Silent Hill which I had already seen but mostly forgotten. Pretty good video game movie. I'm not sure how much someone would like that didn't play the games. It doesn't really follow the games but it is loaded with callbacks to the game like viewing angles, monsters, and rules maybe. I say maybe because they did a thing but didn't do it again so game players would be like that is the thing from the game but why didn't they keep using it. And everyone else is going to be like was the thing just broken because they never explain what is happening and since it doesn't do it again it would come off as strange. However, the movie is strange.
In the game the monsters represent fears or trauma suffered by whoever you are playing as, they are random. Here we have monsters that have no connection to the protagonist so they are a cool callback to the games but make sense in the movie. However, the movie never said the monsters represent anything so they work as random monsters for the movie.
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