Horror movies and TV series

Really enjoyed Hellbender (Shudder). How these witches worked was pretty great. Stylish as hell. And that mother rocked, both literally and figuratively. The quick ending had me wanting more so hoping they make a sequel that's a continuation of the story.

Also saw Halloween Kills (HBO) awhile ago. Not a huge Halloween fan. My favorite of the bunch is Halloween 3, the one with the masks that kill you. That of course has nothing to do with the other Halloween movies. Hadn't even seen Halloween 4 & 5 until Joe Bob played them on his show. Never saw H20, Resurrection, or the Rob Zombie reboots.

But had watched this recent reboot and thought that first Halloween movie in this series was pretty decent. In any case for Halloween Kills the first half of the film I actually enjoyed. Particularly the starting of the film that takes place back in the 70s. Wish most of the film took place there. The movie got progressively worse though and the ending was so stupid. Jamie Lee Curtis was completely under utilized. Probably best to watch this one with a drink or two, and then several additional drinks at the halfway point to make the second half tolerable.

Watching The Night House (HBO) now. Started it late a few days ago so wasn't able to finish it. But haven't picked it up since stopping. I am interested and want to see where its going.. Really like the Rebecca Hall character as she doesn't spook easily. And the scene where she destroys an entitled parent. Delicious.

Hoping the buildup pays off.

Watched X which is a A24 film. The movie is a slow burn but I liked it. A group goes to a farm to shoot a elevated porn movie. Then after some sex positive situations especially for a horror movie the killing starts. I was surprised about how it didn't get gratuitous with the sex and nudity. They have sex and nudity but it all has purpose. I was also surprised at how straight forward the movie was. I thought there would be more twist and turns.

They have a few callbacks to other movies but they don't hit you over the head with them. All in all this is a A24 movie and I like A24 movies. Also X going to give it you. F waiting to get it on your own. X going to give it to you. Knock, knock, open up the door its real. With a non stop pop pop I'll open up with stainless steel. X going give it to you roar roar.

I was wondering about X. Good to hear you liked it.

I watched World War Z with my mate Karen and it stressed her out. She enjoyed it though. A rewatch, possibly my third, also cemented it as one of my favourite zombie movies. It felt more stitched together this time but the action is fantastic.

This week we watched Malignant. Like a few people who’ve seen it, I worked out what was going on before the reveal but it’s a nice creepy idea and I liked how the creature moved. If felt very James Wan for better or for worse.

Malignant is a film I hadn’t seen prior because it felt like we knew roughly what we were in for. I tend to like to have seen a horror movie before hand just incase it A) sucks or B) Feels like it’d be too much. Next week we’re watching Mandy which I haven’t seen. Feels like a risk but I’m also getting the distinct impression that my horror movie buddie’s appetite for very violent and disturbing horror movies is stronger than I could ever have imagined.

Watched a pretty good mix of stuff recently.

(Netflix:)
Choose or Die - surprisingly good. Usually these "killer video game" movies are TERRIBLE, but this one works pretty well and almost seems to turn into a bit of a superhero/villain origin story by the end.

(On shudder:)
Dave Made a Maze - *technically "horror" i guess, since it does have a bit of a body-count. It's extremely funny and charming and full of fantastic low budget cardboard special effects. A very fun film!

The Seed - Kinda run of the mill alien invasion in a lot of ways, but has some pretty great body-horror stuff going on.

The Cellar - It was ok. A woman looking for her daughter who goes missing in their cellar with a lot of alchemical symbols and devilry afoot. Not too shabby, though i was getting a bit bored by the end.

OH and also since i'm running the ALIEN RPG now in a couple of different groups I revisited Prometheus and Alien: Covenant on D+ to get into the spirit of things, which - i mean they're kinda flawed, but also with the context provided by the RPG content (which is all canon) i found a lot more enjoyable.

(I also had several aborted attempts to watch random Amazon prime horror movies and maaaaaan is 90% of the stuff on there utter drek. I usually like to stick something on in the background while i'm drawing but even most of these were so bad they were too distracting for even that purpose...)

Watched the Chucky series and liked it. The acting was terrible. The callbacks were many. The kills were plentiful. The show is super dumb but fun. If you like Cult of Chucky or Seed of Chucky you will love this show. I think if you liked Chucky 2 you will at least think the show is okay. If you seen all the movies you have to watch this show. If you only watched the first one and checked out after that you probably going to hate this show. Basically the more you like Chucky after the first movie the more likely you will enjoy the the show.

Also season 2 has been confirmed.

Baron Of Hell wrote:

Watched the Chucky series and liked it. The acting was terrible. The callbacks were many. The kills were plentiful. The show is super dumb but fun. If you like Cult of Chucky or Seed of Chucky you will love this show. I think if you liked Chucky 2 you will at least think the show is okay. If you seen all the movies you have to watch this show. If you only watched the first one and checked out after that you probably going to hate this show. Basically the more you like Chucky after the first movie the more likely you will enjoy the the show.

Also season 2 has been confirmed.

I watched Chucky when it first aired. I thought I posted about it here, but apparently not. I'm a big fan of the Child's Play series, so bear that in mind. I think it did a great job of bridging the gap between the silliness of the Bride/Seed of Chucky movies, and the horror of the first three and last two Chucky movies (excluding the recent reboot that didn't involve Don Mancini - I still haven't seen that yet).

The callbacks were so many that I'm not sure how it'd feel to watch as a newcomer or even as a casual fan. Like, some where throwaway gags, while some were pretty important to the plot. But if you are a fan, holy sh*t this is the show for you.

One of the scenes was a recreation from the reboot also. I'm pretty sure they hit every movie.

One more Chucky thing. The actor that voices Chucky daughter plays him in the flashbacks.

For the past month or two, I've been in a horror movie kick. I don't know if I'll remember everything, but:

Host (the zoom one) - Not quite as clever with the format as Unfriended, but definitely nails the "friends on zoom" thing.
Color Out of Space - Rewatch for me, still really good, Cage is in full crazy mode, less body horror than I remembered.
V/H/S - I don't think their framing device to tie these all together worked, but the segments were all solid.
Under the Shadow - Super cool to get a look into a culture and time period I'm not super familiar with, especially when it's also showing ghosties from those cultures.
We Summon the Darkness - Heavy metal and the satanic panic period!
1BR - I have questions about the logistics of the premise, but suspending disbelief is worth it.
He Never Died - Only horror-adjacent, but this one's real good. I want a sequel.
Cam - I was expecting something more exploitative, but it really wasn't, and I dug it.
The Ritual - Rewatch, still very good.
Troll Hunter - Also rewatch, really good use of found footage.
The Night House - I loved the hell out of this.
It, both movies - First one was a rewatch, and still pretty good. Second one was pretty blah.
Freaky - Gory Freaky Friday is funny as hell.
Forever Purge - Good for centering non-white folks and making them the most competent people on screen, bad for hitting too close to home.
Doctor Sleep - Don't think I'd call this horror, but it was alright.
Psycho Goreman - Hilarious, and the main girl is awesome.
V/H/S/94 - The framing device worked a little better for me here, but still pretty meh, actual segments good.
Train to Busan - Late to the party on this, but I dug the hell out of the ways they used waves/masses of zombies.
Coherence - Very freaky, I loved it, don't read anything about it before you watch it.
Hellbender - Echoing the earlier posts, very good, know as little going in as you can.
My Heart Can't Beat Unless You Tell It To - What a weird little family drama this is.
Meander - Reminds me a bit of Saw/Cube but you're stuck in an air vent. Kinda weird, but decent.
The Wailing - I love a good slow burn, and I liked how...ordinary a lot of the sequences are shot.
Creep, Creep 2 - Tour de force by Mark Duplass.

Chaz wrote:

He Never Died - Only horror-adjacent, but this one's real good. I want a sequel.

You’re in luck! It came out in 2019 and is called She Never Died. It follows a different, but similar, character (obviously). I haven’t had the opportunity to watch it yet so I don’t know how it compares but it’s on my list.

Movie night’s two most recent films were Mandy and, last night, Lights Out.

Mandy is a straightforward, well trodden tale but the style with which it is shot was completely mesmerising. There are also some hilarious moments that may have been funnier because I saw them with a friend.

Spoiler:

Cage, with a blood smeared face, casually snorting a huge pile of cocaine off a shard of broken glass made me laugh.

I started Lights Out a few times and for some reason didn’t stick with it. I’m running low on 100% sure things for my friend to watch so, having heard it recommended again recently, I though I’d give it another go. It was very effective with a very scary ‘being.’ One of those antagonists you aren’t sure is survivable let alone beatable. The origin story felt like they couldn’t make up their minds which one to go for so they combined them all but it was a extremely effective and enjoyable watch.

Higgledy wrote:

I started Lights Out a few times and for some reason didn’t stick with it. I’m running low on 100% sure things for my friend to watch so, having heard it recommended again recently, I though I’d give it another go. It was very effective with a very scary ‘being.’ One of those antagonists you aren’t sure is survivable let alone beatable. The origin story felt like they couldn’t make up their minds which one to go for so they combined them all but it was a extremely effective and enjoyable watch.

I saw Lights Out in theaters and have watched it a few times since. Very enjoyable.

Rewatched Underwater again now that it's on Disney +

REALLY love that film. My next favourite type of horror to 'space horror' is 'undersea horror' and it is entirely MY JAM. Especially since first time i watched it i had not seen any interviews with the director or previews or anything so i had no idea the creatures were literally

Spoiler:

Deep Ones, and the big bad was actual Cthulhu. (!)

pyxistyx wrote:

Rewatched Underwater again now that it's on Disney +

REALLY love that film. My next favourite type of horror to 'space horror' is 'undersea horror' and it is entirely MY JAM. Especially since first time i watched it i had not seen any interviews with the director or previews or anything so i had no idea the creatures were literally

Spoiler:

Deep Ones, and the big bad was actual Cthulhu. (!)

I watched it a few months ago and really enjoyed it!

Finally saw Evil Dead (2013,) great movie. It's one of the few movies that made me pause it while watching, asking myself "They're not really going to show that, are they?" .. and the did. The scene with the electric knife. I don't know why this didn't win an Oscar for imagery.

I'm watching the new Candyman and the death of the art critic in her apartment just might be my favourite shot from a horror movie I've seen recently.

I haven’t seen the new Candyman yet.

Horror night the week before last featured Winchester. It didn’t work for me. I liked some of the concepts but it all felt a bit over elaborate. It really worked for my friend. It was an interesting experience watching a movie with someone who was on the edge of their seat and quite scared when it wasn’t having anything like the same effect on me. I’ve not experienced that before.

Last weeks movie was Nightmare Alley It’s what you might call a slow burn. It feels like watching a novel but we were into it. Around the hour twenty minute mark we checked the run time and realised it was a two and a half hour movie. It was getting late so we’re saving the other half for next week.

So far it’s extremely well done but more unsettling and creepy than horrifying. I can well imagine things could take a sharp turn in that direction in ‘part two.’

pyxistyx wrote:

Rewatched Underwater again now that it's on Disney +

REALLY love that film. My next favourite type of horror to 'space horror' is 'undersea horror' and it is entirely MY JAM. Especially since first time i watched it i had not seen any interviews with the director or previews or anything so i had no idea the creatures were literally

Spoiler:

Deep Ones, and the big bad was actual Cthulhu. (!)

Is that the Kristen Stewart one? I never saw it because the reviews were so bad. Doesn't appear on my Disney+, sadly.

I rewatched The Abyss a few months ago, and I think I holds up well.

Higgledy wrote:

Last weeks movie was Nightmare Alley It’s what you might call a slow burn. It feels like watching a novel but we were into it. Around the hour twenty minute mark we checked the run time and realised it was a two and a half hour movie. It was getting late so we’re saving the other half for next week.

So far it’s extremely well done but more unsettling and creepy than horrifying. I can well imagine things could take a sharp turn in that direction in ‘part two.’

Yeah, it's much more of a stylish period psychological thriller than a horror flick.

Spoiler:

You're right about the sharp turn, but it sadly telegraphs the ending and makes it entirely predictable instead of being shocking. Or maybe the movie is so long that people forget the diner conversation between Cooper and Defoe.

Mixolyde wrote:
pyxistyx wrote:

Rewatched Underwater again now that it's on Disney +

REALLY love that film. My next favourite type of horror to 'space horror' is 'undersea horror' and it is entirely MY JAM. Especially since first time i watched it i had not seen any interviews with the director or previews or anything so i had no idea the creatures were literally

Spoiler:

Deep Ones, and the big bad was actual Cthulhu. (!)

Is that the Kristen Stewart one? I never saw it because the reviews were so bad. Doesn't appear on my Disney+, sadly.

I rewatched The Abyss a few months ago, and I think I holds up well.

It's really worth a look. It is a short, awesome monster movie. I liked it a lot--outside of TJ Miller being involved.

We watched the original Spanish [REC] for horror movie night. I’d seen it before and thought it was great but I was a lot more impressed this time round. It’s incredibly naturalistic and the main character is fantastic. A likeable main character or character always makes horror movies more effective for me. The possession effects were also brilliant. We watched it on IMDB’s free with ads service. There were no ads through the movie except for the very end where they inserted a very cheery one between the iconic ending and the end titles. That blows my mind. They only had one ad but, to piss off the viewer to the fullest extent, they put it there?! If they care that little about the viewer experience then I’m not using their service.

I also watched Peircing. It’s a film I’d seen rated highly but I thought it might be very similar to the ending of Audition i.e. too much for me, so I added to my ‘to watch’ list but didn’t go out of my way to catch it. It appeared on one of my streaming services and I was feeling brave, so I gave it a go reasoning that I could bail if it got too graphic.

The film involves a man planning to kill a prostitute and it dwells on his plans for a long time but, if you’ve seen the poster or trailers, you can probably guess that things don’t go entirely his way. I expected I’d accurately predicted the type of film Piercing was but it turned out to be a lot more psychological and interesting than I had thought. There is violence and injury but nothing on the scale I had feared and I actually thought the ending was brilliant; although I have an uncommon taste in endings.

The type of endings I enjoy:

Spoiler:

Ambiguous, open ended.

Watched Final Destination for horror movie night. I had forgotten a lot since last time I saw it. As usual it was really fun to watch it with my friend who had somehow missed the entire franchise. She’s up for more, which is good. There are quite a few, well at least two movies the the franchise, that are a great watch.

In retrospect you can see how unrefined the concept is. Understandably so. There is too much going on. The portents and signs were out of control, especially at the start, where everything from book titles to music lyrics were a reference to the impending disaster.

The main character’s spikey fringe fluctuates wildly in it’s spikiness throughout. I’m sure the makeup artist had nightmares about it.

Spoilers for the instigating incident:

Spoiler:

Of all things I was very impressed with the use of Maltesers during the plane crash. Someone spills them in the isle early on and, as the plane shakes violently, you see a brief clip of them rolling from side to side then, as the plane goes into a dive, they all race forward and out of shot. A very effective way to communicate the plane’s violent movements.

f*cking terrifying. Gave me really bad dreams for two nights.

there's some good stuff in SCP. Backrooms seems to be a popular one of late. Liminal spaces are creepy AF sometimes.

The Backrooms isn’t originally SCP, though I’m sure the community has incorporated them and claimed them.
I generally like the idea of SCP but I’ve found it too often leans into pedantically over-explaining every little detail and that generally doesn’t make for good horror or engaging fiction.
I did really enjoy There is No Antimemetics Division though.

orly? I don't actually read any of the actual SCP i tend to just absorb the ancillary stuff that offshoots from it (your short form video games and whatnot), so i kind of just assumed this was one of those. it's certainly presented like that in some cases i've seen.

also : backed this on kickstarter recently, which seems relevant.

In LIMINAL_, several players have found themselves trapped in a twisting maze beyond the fringes of reality, consisting of elegiac auras, long winding corridors, strange unused rooms, and in-between spaces; they are vignettes of horror, absurdity and the surreal.

The players must map out their journey onto a large piece of graph paper and attempt to find an escape or succumb to Fatigue as Entities of the Liminal Space pursue them.

Inhabiting the Liminal Space are the Entities, beings designed to keep the DISORIENTATED/DISORIENTED players from ever finding an exit as they slink and stalk the rooms between places.

It doesn’t matter how they got there; all that matters is that they find a way to escape.

See, I'm weird and kind of like when SCP entries get ridiculously detailed. But at that point I'm more interested in the mechanics than reading it as horror fiction.

Chaz wrote:

See, I'm weird and kind of like when SCP entries get ridiculously detailed. But at that point I'm more interested in the mechanics than reading it as horror fiction.

Yeah, SCP is full of interesting ideas, even the ones that are blatantly stolen from somewhere else. Very few of them are terrifying however. There were only a couple that made my skin crawl, and that probably has more to do with my personal sense of what is horrifying than them being good horror stories.