One of the newest films on Shudder is MadS. The name succeeded in put me off but, after Sinister Cinema started their video on it by saying, ‘Don’t watch any more of this review. It’s worth your time, give it a chance,” I did just that. So glad I did. It has a fresh feel and an excellent ‘what the f’ is going on?!’ build up. I can see it being annoying if you aren’t into it but I very much was.
Public service note: It’s French (in the best way) with subtitles and, unless I missed it, the title isn’t explained.
Finished watching the first season of The Terror and mostly enjoyed it. Felt a little mixed about the "supernatural" elements, but the characters were really well done, and I loved how it gave scenes enough time to really breathe. How it ended wasn't much of a shock, but it was still effective. Haven't heard much about what people thought of season 2, though I did hear a third one is on the way. A good spooky season show to watch.
I think the supernatural piece of Season 1 was the part that I wasn't able to connect with at all. Other than that I really enjoyed it. I completely checked out when they started putting their finger on the scale late in the season.
Last night I watched The First Power. Which is basically The Exorcist III if it was dumb as a sack of hammers. Lou Diamond Phillips is a very unconvincing cop who puts away a satanic serial killer. After getting the death penalty, the satanic serial killer comes back to possess people and do flip-kicks.
The First Power is a very silly movie, but it does have some some stunt sequences that go genuinely hard - like flipping a car 30 feet into the air hard. There's also some genuinely good location shots to go with the dumbness.
Tonight I watched When Evil Lurks. Which is a genuinely brutal and upsetting movie.
Watched Speak No Evil 2024. Close your eyes. Give me your hand, darling. Do you feel my heart beating. Do you understand? Do you feel the same? Am I only dreaming? Or is this an eternal flame?
And that is the entire movie. I really liked it but it deals with child abuse. So be warned if violence to children rubs you the wrong way. Its not graphic but you feel the kids pain. Do you understand? Do you feel the same?
I still haven’t finished watching the original Speak No Evil. I don’t know if I have the stomach to go back.
I watched Antlers, that just landed on Disney+ (or that I just noticed was on Disney+.) It left me completely cold. Friggin’ cool monster effects. One of those movies you can’t really fault but that just does not work for you.
I’m watching Azrael. Samara Weaving. Also, being eaten alive has never looked so painful.
Edit: Azrael done. Great ending. A lot better film than I’d suspected.
So be warned if violence to children rubs you the wrong way.
A big fat warning about this also applies to When Evil Lurks. Also if possessed children doing the violence bothers you.
Yesterday I watch The Killer Reserved Nine Seats. Nine awful people tricked into a gothic theatre, and start getting picked off one by one. Could've been fun if it was fifteen minutes shorter, and one of the kills wasn't so exceedingly nasty. As it is, it drags it feet to get to the bonkers ending
Today was Hellraiser (2022). Which was...ok. Top-notch cenobyte stuff, but the changes to the box over-complicated the premise, and the addiction metaphor was pretty labored.
Oh crap, I had forgotten they had ever done a Hellraiser remake.
I'm more curious about the movie prior to When Evil Lurks from the same director. Terrified, was it?
When Evil Lurks looks super dark, gory and depressing.
When Evil Lurks looks super dark, gory and depressing.
It is, but it's also lean and propulsive, so it's not punishing watch.
I watched Late Night With The Devil. I liked it, especially the commitment to the late 70's talk show aesthetic. It reminded me of The Witch with its slow burn build up before everything goes nuts.
I'm more curious about the movie prior to When Evil Lurks from the same director. Terrified, was it? When Evil Lurks looks super dark, gory and depressing.
The earlier film is good but it doesn’t have the focus or the deep and internally cohesive lore/back story of When Evil Lurks.
Edit: Honestly, when I started watching the film, I was fully ready to turn it off in the early goings if it proved too much for me but the awful things that happen are in the context of a very carefully crafted story. Nothing is there just for the sake of it.
Watching the film feels intimidating and dangerous which, for me, is a quality the vast majority of horror films lack.
When Evil Lurks, The Witch, and Late Night with The Devil are good cinema! At least they are to me. 
Checked out Oddity over the weekend based on the recs in this thread and holy hell that was a tense movie. It's rare when I get jump scared but this one really got me in one particular spot, more than any movie in quite a long time. It was very well-acted and directed. Super good.
I loved how the creepy wooden "doll" was just out of frame or just sort of distantly in the background blurred out when it is first introduced and for a very extended period of time. The characters weren't reacting in a scared way but you could tell it was horrific looking. It was such a great directing choice and it really added to the suspense.
I need to check out Oddity, after reading the notes here and seeing its 96% score on Rotten Tomatoes. It is the rare horror film that inspires positive reviews from so many reviewers.
Watched Cuckoo and didn't care for it. Most people will probably like it though. It was well acted and looked pretty. I didn't vibe with the plot. Also all of the story is explained in a info dump towards the end. So most of the movie I was like WTF is going on and then that is really stupid.
The small sample of reviews I watched about Cuckoo did convey quite clearly they thought it was largely style over substance. Cool trailer that's for sure.
I had not know about this Neon production company until this year, so it seems like they really burst onto the horror movie scene with this movie and Longlegs. Kinda reminds me how A24 started to make a splash several years ago with movies like The Witch and Hereditary.
Watched Smile last night. Very well done! Thanks all for the recommendation.
Today's exercise was One Cut of the Dead. Which is stupendous and one step away from collapsing under a layer of meta but never quite gets there.
Today's exercise was One Cut of the Dead. Which is stupendous and one step away from collapsing under a layer of meta but never quite gets there.
Isn’t it brilliant! I started lukewarm on it but it got better and better as it went along. Such a surprising delight.
Anyone looking for a last-minute spooky movie fix may want to check out Jim Jarmusch's The Dead Don't Die. Absolutely brilliant movie, with an amazing cast: Bill Murray, Adam Driver, Tilda Swinton, Chloë Sevigny, Danny Glover, Selena Gomez, Iggy Pop and TOM WAITS, among many others.
It's streaming on Max, or you can rent it for $4.
Since the latest Screen Drafts episode was about Hammer, I watched The Vampire Lovers, their adaptation of Carmilla. It's passably moody, but the main attraction is heaving bosoms in gowns, and the way Ingrid Pitt looks at all those heaving bosoms. Sadly, some boorish men take issue with that, and come in, thrusting their stakes, ruining the gay old time the girls were having.
I imagine it being so explicitly gay was quite risque back in the day - and to be fair, a fair chunk of people would probably want to burn it if they knew about it - but it feels kinda quaint today. Still, I wasn't bored.
Watched Galaxy of Terror which is filled with talent but not very good. This has My Favorite Martian actor, Happy Days actress, Freddy Kruger and others.
The movie is basically Event Horizon but the reason for the craziness is different.
Watched Killer Klowns From Outer Space. Great clown makeup, inventive clown-based kills - it delivered exactly what the title promised.
I'm looking for a tasteful horror movie to watch with the missus tomorrow night. Our only source of streaming is Netflix. Nothing super gruesome, maybe more on the suspense/thriller side of things.
In years past we came close to watching Gerald's Game, In the Tall Grass and Eli. Any raves for any of these films or others similar in style?
Watched Killer Klowns From Outer Space. Great clown makeup, inventive clown-based kills - it delivered exactly what the title promised.
One of my favorite movies.
I'm looking for a tasteful horror movie to watch with the missus tomorrow night. Our only source of streaming is Netflix. Nothing super gruesome, maybe more on the suspense/thriller side of things.
In years past we came close to watching Gerald's Game, In the Tall Grass and Eli. Any raves for any of these films or others similar in style?
It Follows and Sixth Sense are good and not gruesome but they have their disturbing moments. As far as I remember The Others has no violence and is a great story. It probably fits your brief the best.
Edit: Underwater lack gruesomeness as well I think. Tremors is a lot of fun.
Watched Killer Klowns From Outer Space. Great clown makeup, inventive clown-based kills - it delivered exactly what the title promised.
The guys that made it a special effects artists. They did the creatures for the Critters movies, the puppets for Team America, and the Large Marge scene in Pee-Wee's Big Adventure. They also reused some of the Klowns as trolls in Ernest Scared Stupid which blew my mind when I realized it on a rewatch a few years ago.
Considering that creature effects tends to be one of the most important things when it comes to whether or not I enjoy a horror movie, it's no surprise that I quite like Killer Klowns.
I'm looking for a tasteful horror movie to watch with the missus tomorrow night. Our only source of streaming is Netflix. Nothing super gruesome, maybe more on the suspense/thriller side of things.
In years past we came close to watching Gerald's Game, In the Tall Grass and Eli. Any raves for any of these films or others similar in style?
In the Tall Grass isn't particularly good. If I recall, it gets pretty violent at parts as well so it probably doesn't fit what you're looking for.
I'm looking for a tasteful horror movie
Maclintok wrote:I'm looking for a tasteful horror movie to watch with the missus tomorrow night. Our only source of streaming is Netflix. Nothing super gruesome, maybe more on the suspense/thriller side of things.
In years past we came close to watching Gerald's Game, In the Tall Grass and Eli. Any raves for any of these films or others similar in style?
In the Tall Grass isn't particularly good. If I recall, it gets pretty violent at parts as well so it probably doesn't fit what you're looking for.
Gerald's Game has one of the most wince-inducing scenes in recent memory. Its an excellent movie, but it touches on some pretty difficult topics and is not an easy watch. I hope that didn't come across as condescending, I just wanted to make sure you knew it wasn't a breezy viewing.
I'm looking for a tasteful horror movie to watch with the missus tomorrow night. Our only source of streaming is Netflix. Nothing super gruesome, maybe more on the suspense/thriller side of things.
In years past we came close to watching Gerald's Game, In the Tall Grass and Eli. Any raves for any of these films or others similar in style?
Ah, Gerald's Game might not be the thing you're looking for.
It does after all feature a prominent degloving. Also, child abuse.
Have you seen You're Next?
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