Games: Other Games : OT: The Horror Thread

Re: OT: The Horror Thread


Cam Gigandet just sort of does what he does and doesn't seem to give a sh!t which is kinda cool. Have you ever seen Bad Johnson (2014)? The sypnosis is as follows: A charismatic womanizer receives his comeuppance after his penis mysteriously leaves his body and takes human form. You kind of have to respect an actor who sort of just does oddball movies like this, which was actually pretty funny movie despite such a stupid plot. It was on Netflix for the longest time but I haven't seen it on there lately so maybe it's been removed now.


I have not. It sounds like a gem though <3. I'll have to keep an eye out for it on Netflix if it ends up back on there. He for sure slums it for a few bucks, but nothing but respect for him! I mean look how many ladies of 80's horror did terrible film after terrible film (thinking of you Linnea), and they're beloved for it.

Dan, I as well liked The Devil Inside :). No Blair Witch Project, but a fair good time. Btw, I saw a couple found footage films over the last couple days myself! One of them was called The Mirror. Really underrated (the poor film has a really low score on here), and I'd go as far as saying this may have had the strongest acting I've ever seen in a found footage film? The acting was just ridiculously natural, and one actor in particular (Joshua Dickinson) had a film stealing moment when he lost his sight (it was just so real and sad). I know people sometimes have a hard time with found footage films, but they follow a simple formula (build slowly and lead into the credits with a bang), and I seriously don't think many are worse than one another. This for me wasn't that much worse than Paranormal Activity. I mean that's a great cinema found footage horror film, but films like this and REC and so on don't do things much differently. Btw, The Mirror was a slow builder, but I thought the last half an hour was tense, and I liked the characters. I gave it an 8. The other found footage film I watched was called The Break In, and it was free on Amazon. I liked it as well. Not as much as The Mirror, but it was fairly short (71 minutes), and the film deals with real fears (not ghosts or witches, but a possible break in), and that was kinda refreshing to see in a found footage film. However the film had one crippling flaw, and that was the last ten minutes. Found footage films kinda rely more on their endings more than a regular film, so when this film tried to be clever and take a left turn, you can't help but feel cheated.

One more (non found footage) that I saw.

Come Back To Me - Well I'll give it a few points for at least trying to be original, but I can't help but feel this one would have been a lot more effective in the hands of another more talented filmmaker. Here we get a whole lot of bright and sunny tv cinematography, and some truly lousy acting (seriously I was so fed up with the leads obnoxious over the top theatrical acting that she threatened to sink the film herself), so the film just fell completely flat for me. Like I said the plot twist is absurdly weird, disturbing and original though, and it did have an ending that took me by surprise. It just could've been so much more.

Re: OT: The Horror Thread

I really enjoyed Come Back to Me, even if for a rather obscure reason. Maura West, the actress who played the mother of the killer, is one of daytime's biggest stars and has never really ventured outside daytime soaps so this movie was her first and (to date) only movie role. And, though I am admittedly biased, I think she did a stellar job in the movie. The killer and his attachment to his mother was one of the most disturbing aspects of that movie, which had an interesting and unique concept that I hadn't seen before. I believe I gave it an 8/10 overall.

I just saw Clownhouse (1989) for the first time on YouTube, and luckily I had no idea when I watched the movie of the behind-the-scenes crimes being committed on the set of that movie regarding the director and the child star of the movie. I knew that this director had a history of pedophilia, but I didn't know that it was during the production of this particular movie that it had occurred. As for the movie itself, I really thought it was well done and Sam Rockwell's character was really hilarious as the jerk older brother. If I had known the behind-the-scenes stuff, this movie probably wouldn't have been as enjoyable so this will probably only ever be a one-time watch for me.

Hit List:
* Eaten Alive (1976) - Yes, I will be watching it soon, Neil. lol
* Nightmares (1980) (aka Nightmares)
* Home Sweet Home (1981) - I hear it's terrible, but I couldn't find it for the longest time and it's finally on YouTube so I have to watch it before it's pulled down.
* Monkey Shines (1988)
* Ghost Story (1981)
* Buried (2010) - On Amazon Prime for free viewing!
* Landmine Goes Click (2015) - ^ditto^
* The Neighbor (2016)

Sadly, the horror selection seems to be more appealing on Amazon than Netflix atm. Nothing much on Netflix is very appealing at the moment, except maybe Backtrack (2015) and Baskin (2015).

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Re: OT: The Horror Thread

Ugh Clownhouse. It's so disturbing and creepy when you realize that Victor Salva wrote it and probably imagined himself as the clowns. Some scenes are also downright unsettling when you know it's history. You're right that Sam Rockwell was great, but it's so awful that those three kids had to be involved in that film, and what happened to the lead has to be one of the saddest and awful things to ever happen during the filming of a movie.


After - I was actually going to continue to pass this one up on Netflix (I've seen it on there for a while now, and it just didn't grab me while I browsed), but I'm so glad I didn't because I really loved it a lot! Sure the premise of the film is familiar (I think most people will compare it to either Reeker or Christopher Pike's Whisper of Death), but it's much more sweet and gentle than either that film or that book, and I was really swept away by the whole thing. Steven Strait plays one of the leads (in a different type of role than he usually plays), and both he and Karolina Wydra had me from the opening scene. I know this probably wouldn't appeal to everyone, but I liked it how I liked the forgotten 2007 film The Invisible, and it would just be a great film to watch on a chilly fall night.

Re: OT: The Horror Thread

After has been on my watchlist FOREVER, but it's one of many that just don't appeal to me for some reason. Idk, Netflix has kind of gone downhill in the past year. When I first got it, there was so much to see in the way of mainsteam movies along with direct-to-video stuff, but now there's barely anything of interest on it... or perhaps I've seen all the good ones by now. I just hope some better ones pop up soon because it's a sad day when I'm watching more stuff on YouTube than Netflix and I don't really care to see any of their original content. When I first got Netflix and Amazon Prime, I honestly thought Netflix content was superior but now it's exactly the opposite just because Amazon hasn't narrowed its focus to original content to the extent that Netflix has. It sucks.

Btw, I saw your comment about The Break-In and agree with your assessment. I was actually expecting a really crappy movie like Hate Crime (not recommended), but this one actually held my interest until it completely fell apart at the end there. I honestly think the "handheld camcorder" thing is so played out by now and it really puts a limit on what they can do with a story. It's one thing if it makes sense for the movie to be shot thru handheld (like Skew, which is kind of unique and a decent mind-twister imho) but this one was obviously was holding onto the gimmick because it was clearly shot on a shoestring budget. But the couple was fairly likeable and you're right, it dealt with more realistic fears and had a few effective, creepy moments. What a massive letdown at the end, though.

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Re: OT: The Horror Thread

omg Whisper of Death! Such a gem. So was Fall Into Darkness, Bury Me Deep, and that one about the chick that pretends to die by jumping off the boat? I think her diary about her first sexual experience was read on the intercom at school so she was embarassed and faked her death and then killed the girls that humiliated her? Sooo good. Christy Pike <3

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I've never heard of any of these, Tyler. wtf lol

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Sorryyyy:) they're Christopher Pike books.

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omg Whisper of Death! Such a gem. So was Fall Into Darkness, Bury Me Deep, and that one about the chick that pretends to die by jumping off the boat? I think her diary about her first sexual experience was read on the intercom at school so she was embarassed and faked her death and then killed the girls that humiliated her? Sooo good. Christy Pike <3


That one was called Gimme a Kiss <3 . Christopher Pike was my favorite author when I was younger. There was nothing like going down to your old local library and renting them out for a dark and gloomy night. Just their covers alone brought the right atmosphere to them. The Last Vampire series and Die Softly are other favorites of mine by him.



The Tortured - I kinda liked this one. I mean I have my reservations (and I would never watch it again), but it was a bit better than expected at least (I ended up giving it a 6). It started off and nothing about it all that great (it seemed like a very thin Lifetime movie), but once it gets going it's enjoyable (albeit hard to watch) to the very end. With that being said the directing was only serviceable (it was shot, it started, it moved along, and then it ended), and I hate to say it, but I think Jesse Metcalf was really miscast here. He's not a bad actor or anything (he's always been cute and gives it his all here), but the guy should have been still taking John Tucker roles in 2010 because I never once believed him as a grieving father. However the biggest sin the movie makes is the ending (and boy is this a bad one). Like the Break In, the director goes through his bag of twists and takes you on a detour (that we didn't ask for), and not only do you feel cheated, but also completely irate. Sure it's unexpected, but once that feeling fades you start to think it all over and it just leaves you pissed.


Wrecker - Duel remake. Nothing to see here sadly (unless you haven't seen Duel). The much more interesting Dennis Weaver is replaced this time with a couple of horror movie cut outs (nothing against them, but they could be any two horror movie actresses ever), and the director really missteps big time by actually lifting scenes from the original film. I don't understand it. All it does it show that he's no Steven Spielberg (I'm being generous), and has nothing to bring to table (I mean at least try to do something new. This isn't a big studio film). I love movies like this too! It doesn't take much for these to be a ton of fun, but this works on a real cheap jack level at best (I will admit that were a couple jumps), and plays as a really bad rip off at worst. Those who are new to the genre would probably like this a lot though, and it isn't the worst movie ever or anything (it's actually fairly easy to get through). I guess I just wasn't expecting a complete (almost scene by scene at times) remake.

Re: OT: The Horror Thread

I didn't mind The Tortured much. It was a springcleaned item that I passed one too many times on my watch list, but I found it neither great nor awful... just sort of there. To be honest, I can't remember the ending so that shows that the movie didn't leave much of an impression on me. I know I didn't mind Jesse Metcalf in it, though... I think it was nice to see him trying to do a more mature role for once because I had known him from his John Tucker role as well as his stint on Passions where he basically ran around shirtless the whole time.

My SUNDAY AFTERNOON recommendations for the AUTUMN season... shut them brains off and enjoy!

1) Satan's Little Helper (2004) - This one is a bit well-known amongst horror fans, but to those who don't know it. It's a fun little flick about a boy who makes friends with a serial killer and they cause all sorts of mischief across town on Halloween. There's a lot of humor in it (assuming you're the type who doesn't mind when animals get killed in horror movies for the sake of comedy ), a terrific use of an island location, lots of seasonal flair, and one of the strangest families ever to be seen in a horror. The mom loves Halloween but has not one piece of Halloween candy in the house when trick-o-treaters start showing up at the door, the kid plays creepy video games about Satan, and the blonde sister has got the biggest boobs on the planet. I watched it on Netflix a year or two back, but even I plan to rewatch it again this Halloween season because it sticks out so well in my mind as an example of "Cute Horror".

2) Spirit Camp (2009) - It's described as a cross between Friday the 13th and Bring It On... which may sound awful on first glance, but luckily for horror fans, it's definitely got more of that mean-spirited F13th spirit. A team of cheerleaders get sent to camp to, well, learn new cheers (duh) but a killer isn't far behind. It starts off rather silly with comedic acting and quirks that are not even remotely believable (our outsider protagonist is left behind as the nice yet airheaded mom of the prissy cheerleader bitches drives off leaving her in their dust), but once they all reach the camp and the killing starts, it's a great comedy-horror with an actionized finale. Oh, and the final girl is one of my favorites ever.

3) Boo (2005) - This one is a mixed bag, to be honest. It starts out very seasonal on Halloween night with our ingénue star, played by the ever-cute Trish Cohen, who is talked into joining her friends at the spooky abandoned insane asylum across town. Needless to say, things start to get weird as the group start dying horrendously, confusingly, and really disgustingly. The backstory is a muddled mess and we do meet one of the oddest horror cops ever (this one is an ex-action movie star!), but by the end of it all, I did walk away from it loving it in spite of the confusion. The apparitions were used surprisingly well and there were actually a couple of creepy moments, along with some wildly wacky gore. It also seemed like some of the characters changed throughout the movie, for better or for worse. It's now on Amazon Prime for free streaming. Watch it and see what you can make of it.

4) Mimesis (2011) - It's probably better to go into this one blind, to be honest. If you want to take my word for it and give it a go, stop reading this right now. But if you need more convincing, here goes... This one starts off feeling like a bunch of the same bullsh!t, where we meet the cardboard-cutout characters of our soon-to-be doomed party, but they all happen to attend a party and wake up the next morning to find themselves stuck in a situation straight out of The Night of the Living Dead, with zombies there to bite their necks. So, another zombie flick. Okay, whatever, I'm game. Then an hour goes by and you find yourself in the third act, and then suddenly this seeming zombie flick turns into a survival slasher flick with great action and brisk pace that doesn't really disappoint. It can be downright satisfying to see victims who aren't afraid to use sharp objects against their assailants.

5) Left for Dead (2007) - Also known as Devil's Night, which isn't exactly the most original title, but this recommendation pertains to the 2007 film. This is like a mix between I Know What You Did Last Summer and Scream, with a masked assailant stalking a group of frat boys and killing them off one-by-one for a crime they committed exactly one year prior on Halloween, no less.. All the guys are really cute (of course lol) and none of them are really all that hateable. This is an effectively shot movie that was made by classic horror fans for horror fans who love seeing a bit more of the same. There's a lot of different homages to the classics in the movie, some fitting perfectly and others seeming a bit more ill-placed (one naked chick was only killed off so that we could get a Psycho shower homage, for example), but overall you can do much worse than this one and Danielle Harris does her cute thing here. FYI - To watch it, you're going to have to shell out $3.99 to rent it via iTunes because it's not available anywhere else.

Honorable Mention - Bigfoot at Holler Creek Canyon (2006) - You'd probably see the name 'Ron Jeremy' and run 180 degrees in the other direction, but it really isn't all that bad. It's probably a bit more of a late summer picture than the above ones which are a bit more autumn/Halloween festive, but the fun is still there nonetheless. There's a few good characters (though not nearly as well developed as the ones from Boggy Creek) and the kills are rather good. If you need your fill of Bigfoot horror and don't mind a little bit of stupid along the way, you might wanna check this one out.

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Re: OT: The Horror Thread

Dan, Left for Dead popped up very briefly on Youtube a couple years ago and I was lucky enough to catch on there before it was taken down (which didn't take too long). Idk why the film was swept under the rug here in the US, but I remember there was a ton of hype for it back in 2007 on various horror movie websites, and then it was like it never existed for a while. It's a fun movie.
Satan's Little Helper is a real Halloween gem (fantastic recommendation), and I saw Boo years ago, but only remember the asylum setting. I have got to see this Spirit Camp though. I remember you told me a few months that it was really good, and I believe it's free on Amazon, so I'll push it up on my watch list.

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Spirit Camp - Dan this didn't disappoint! You have great taste in movies, so I knew it would probably be fun, but I wasn't expecting a film with such fighting energy and pep, and writing that was so quick, sharp and witty. Sure it could have shaved off ten minutes since the last part of the film feels a bit long, but this was a pretty low budget presentation (it reminded me of goodies like Camp Slaughter, Bloody Murder, Scream Bloody Murder, Adam and Evil etc etc etc), and the cast and crew behind this one did a real bang up job. Could easily turn someone's bad day right around.

Re: OT: The Horror Thread

Is there a PROBLEM here?

jp I actually like The Blair Witch Project. If the original had the finale that Willow Creek had, I might have actually found it scary. I just didn't see/hear/sense anything in the first Blair Witch at all, but I liked the setting/performances and all that. Just not the story. I wasn't aware you had to watch it with the volume at 99 to hear little kids laughing and Heather's fervent mouth breathing to up the scare factors.

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Heather's fervent mouth breathing <3 I watched it the other day and thought of you when the camera hit the marshmallow bag and when they reached ~Mary's gate~ #ifkinghatescotch

I saw the new Blair Witch last night! Overall I think I give it a B. I have to say with this one you definitely feel like you're watching a movie rather than actual found footage. It relied more on jump scares than atmosphere.

Tbh the premise is pretty dumb. The main guy is going into the woods to find his sister. If something supernatural was suspected of having killed or taken her, why is it a smart idea to trace her exact path? And what is he expecting to find after 20 years? Heather alive and well chilling in the woods? o_O

Also (I think this is probably considered a spoiler? -->) You get a few brief glimpses of the witch. Personally I'm not on board with that as I've always imagined the Blair Witch as more of an omnipresent being rather than having an actual physical form. What they showed us looked like the aliens from Signs

Those are my complaints. Overall I did enjoy the film. I liked that they incorporated all the mythology into it by mentioning things like Coffin Rock and Eileen Treacle. I found the cast to be pretty likable. They recreated the house from the first remarkably well since I don't think it was actually the same building (I think it was torn down recently, probably before they filmed this?)

Definitely worth checking out if you liked the first one.

Melissa: Is there an F5?
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I'm debating between seeing it in theaters or waiting for the DVD to come out. Do you think it'll be out by Halloween? I kind of feel like this one would be an amazing one to watch in the week or so of Halloween.

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On DVD by Halloween? I really doubt it...it might even still be in theaters at that time lol.

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so true. I remember the days in like the 90s when movies would play for like a month or two in cinema and it would take like 6 month for them to get released on VHS. We'd always see a movie in theater and then we would rent the same movie when it got released on home video. Now, I saw The Conjuring 2 is already on bluray and that was a July release. The process is so quick these days compared to how it used to be.

The plus to seeing Blair Witch so late in theater is that hopefully there won't be any annoying kids in it making fun of the movie and wrecking the mood. I prefer it when I'm the only one in the theater. lol

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I watched The Green Room recently and I was impressed. The acting was solid and it was definitely an original concept. It looses its footing somewhere in the middle but redeems itself quickly. Honestly I would recommend you guys to watch it if you haven't already.

8.5/10

Last night I finally got round to watching The Shallows I wasn't disappointed. It had strong moments but the CGI of the shark really took you out of the movie. Sometimes it was strong but for the most part was incredibly weak - especially towards the finale. Blake delivered a strong performance considering she had no one to work with - she carried he film well. Great birds eye shots!

7/10

"Everyone is doing emails these days" - Britney Spears, 1999

Re: OT: The Horror Thread

Harley, you should check out Blue Ruin (2013) if you liked Green Room. The man responsible for that one also did the other, and they both are kind of similar in style so you might just dig it. I gave both similar ratings, 6/10... not necessarily my cup of tea, but definitely someone else's considering how well-rated both movies are on here.

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if you havent watch it follows, then you have to

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Holy *beep* it's frando! Hey

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Sometimes movies would stay in theaters for longer. Titanic remained in theaters for like 6 months!

Then movies would come out like 6-8 months later lol. If it was a Christmas movie that came out in theaters it would take almost a year for it to be released on VHS. They never would release a Christmas movie after Christmas passed like they do now lol.

"Live Fast, Die Young"

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Exactly, I remember as a kid one of those movies was Jack Frost (the kid-friendly one lol), which I remember was in theaters in my 5th Grade year around Christmastime and the VHS was released the next year around Christmas.

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I had the time-travelling/time-manipulation (?) twist or whatever spoiled for me. Sounds like a goddess of a movie.

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OMG I hated the new Blair Witch. It tried to do what the original did but failed with their ridiculous jump scares and they didnt build a horrific atmosphere. Everything just happened.

"Live Fast, Die Young"

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Blair Witch was horrible.

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They should have just done a prequel about the life and trial of Elly Kedward.

Melissa: Is there an F5?
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Ladykillers (1988) - Okay made for TV movie that I really only watched since I'm an 80's slasher movie completist (it doesn't hurt either that this has become somewhat rare over the years giving it a certain allure as well). This one changes it up from the norm by having a group of male strippers being bumped off by a killer in a wig and sunglasses (who must want the place shut down since he or she only knocks off the attractive guys lol). However since it was made for TV, we have to sit through a whole lot of scenes of standard police procedural stuff that really slows the picture down, and a rather boring romance between the two leads Marilu Henner and Thomas Calabro. I must say it's fairly trashy for an 80's ABC movie of the week (and it's always a blast to look at all the late 80's fashion disasters. Some of the guys look like they're straight out of Dokken!), but you're really left wanting more when it all wraps up.

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Starting typing up a few reviews on some obscure titles, but I'm not quite done yet.

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Kristy - Oh what a gem this one is! It was everything I wish Hush had been and ended up not being. Kristy is a nerve shredding and exciting home invasion slasher hybrid that makes astounding use of it's campus setting, and has a real terrific lead performance by Haley Bennett (The Haunting of Molly Hartley. I can't be the only one who remembers that movie, right?) who is not only smart, but also extremely likable and easy to get behind. She kicks some serious butt. Ashley Green also does a good job in an almost unrecognizable role, and Lucas Till (Laid To Rest, Dance of the Dead etc) plays her boyfriend. Director Oliver Blackburn (who also directed the very good Donkey Punch) does a real great job with the entire thing all around, and I thought it was a real winner from start to finish.

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Kristy is probably the closest thing to a You're Next as you're going to get, at least in terms of a really, really strong powerhouse 'final girl' performance though this is more of a stalking picture than a slasher. Still, I compare the two in their clever way of inverting the slasher formula. Usually it's a masked killer stalking a group of innocent people one by one until the final girl is forced to fight back. In these two movies, the final girl BECOMES the killer well early on and ends up picking off a group of evil people until the main baddy remains. Action horror at its finest.

I always recommend Storm Warning (2007) to fans of You're Next, since the main lead in that is downright brutal in dispatching a group of backwoods rapists. Tough, mean-spirited film to sit thru compared to its younger sisters, but still pretty good if you want to see a very smart capable woman put in a horrifying situation.

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Re: OT: The Horror Thread

Oh Storm Warning is a good one! Jamie Blanks is always remembered for Urban Legend and Valentine, but most people sadly didn't notice his horror comeback when he made Storm Warning and the fairly decent Crush.

Dan, you said a page back that Amazon Prime right now is a bit better than Netflix, and you are so right. Like there's still a ton of great stuff on there, but Amazon has a much better balance of major studio horror, indie horror, and indie indie horror at the moment. There's an interesting mix of everything. I mean there's some real underrated and probably overlooked everyday films on Prime. Films like Loverboy which I think barely anyone has even seen lol (it has only 30 votes on here and I am one of them). That one is a bit like 1996's Fear and director Erica Summers does so much of the heavy lifting (just look at the end credits) and she did a great job with such a minimum budget (she also cast her film well with a standout performance from the villain Jesse Laborn). Films like Clinger and Prom Ride too. Clinger is a funny horror comedy that was a hit at the Slamdance film festival, and Prom Ride has its fair share of problems, but I like how it starts off like a Disney channel production (well sorta) and then just gets a real mean streak once the horror kicks in. There's others too, but Amazon just has a nice variety right now. Like you I also don't care about Netflix's original stuff btw. I didn't even finish Stranger Things.

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I've seen a lot of decent stuff on Amazon Prime. Unfortunately, there's a lot of crapola as well on there but that's a large reason why I kinda wanted to do a horror thread because I like to share my hidden gems with people I like. I think I have Clinger on my watch list already - I'll make it a priority to watch it sooner. Prom Ride, too. I felt like Clinger had promise but I just hadn't gotten around to seeing it, but Prom Ride sort of has a "Die Die Delta Pi"/"Lake Fear" vibe to it which trust me is NOT a good thing. Avoid those two movies like the plague.

Stomping Ground was a fairly good one. I always sort of like seeing those "homecoming" movies where a lead character comes back to their hometown and reconnects with friends from the past. It's a bigfoot movie that's silly AF really, but the time didn't seem to drag while watching it because I was pretty invested in the characters. All of them were pretty likeable for the most part, and the one who was unlikeable was definitely scripted to be that way.

Black Water Wilderness is a backwoods slasher that wasn't a complete waste of time. It wasn't a terrible film per se, but like a lot of slashers I've seen lately, it makes it oh-so-terribly obvious who will survive which sort of takes away from the fun of a slasher. That wouldn't have been a huge deal if I would've liked either of the survivors, but I didn't so I was forced to give it a lower grade than it probably deserved for being ridiculously cliché and not providing any likeable leads. Still, a well-made modern-day slasher that takes itself seriously without resorting to being a shameless throwback/homage/dark comedy rarely happens anymore so I appreciated it for existing.

I'm not sure if the original is on there, but I always sort of liked Dogman because the characters are really down home and real-feeling. A lot of them are back for the second one called Dogman 2: The Wrath of the Litter. Both of them are terrible movies in terms of storytelling and effects, but the characters are so likeable IMHO. I saw the original on a "10 Horror Movies for $5" DVD I purchased a while back and it always stuck out in my mind as one of the good ones and I always kept my eyes open for the sequel, which popped up on Amazon prime last summer so I watched that quickly.

The Butterfly Room is a must-watch. It has so many horror alums in it... Adrienne King, Heather Langerkamp, Ray Wise, and Barbara Steele. Very interesting storyline as well and competently made. I gave it a 8/10.

A lot of people seem to emphasize good storytelling when rating movies, but for me good characters will almost always make a movie worthwhile to watch. I think I'll do another ranking thread similar to my "Autumn Horrors" list I did a week or so ago, omitting the recommendations I gave in this post of course.

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I'm not sure if you're gonna like Prom Ride :p. I mean like I said it does have a lot of problems (some of the characters a bit irritating and the ending could have been a lot better). I was just expecting another Prom Night remake in a limo, but it wasn't. You'll probably come back here furious you watched it .

Dan, I keep noticing Die Die Delta Pi when I browse Amazon, but I always end up going right on by after I pause and consider it. I haven't even watched a trailer for it. You kinda have me curious now though. I'll bump The Butterfly Room way up on my watch list btw!

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Super disappointed with Baskin (2015). The movie was definitely a journey to hell, following our (sometimes jerkass) police officer protagonists as they get sent out of town as backup to a situation that's taking place at a condemned building out in the boonies. Little do they know they have walked into literal hell once they get there and the unit that called them is nowhere to be found. The plot sort of made it sound like a possible [REC] knockoff (sans found footage), but unfortunately nothing in this movie really made a whole lot of sense for the duration of the runtime. I kind of understood where they were going with it when a last-minute plot twist finally crops up to shed some light, but for the most part I felt like they spent far too much on energy on disturbing imagery and gore and not enough on story and characters... and their plot twist isn't even remotely original or creative to be given any praise.

I just can't really recommend this one at all, guys. Sorry 3/10

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Re: OT: The Horror Thread

Dan thanks for the heads up about Baskin! I've been somewhat close to watching it recently since I've heard some decent things about it, but it doesn't really grab me for some reason. I'll probably just put it on the back burner for a while. Btw, have you ever seen Hellions? Idk about you, but I absolutely hated it. Hated it. You mentioned Baskin made no sense, and this one didn't either. I know it had some deep message in it about pregnancy and abortion blah blah blah, but what a waste of potential. Like scary trick r treaters work so incredibly well (Trick 'r Treat, the episode from Tales From the Darkside etc), but this was just so hard to sit through. I was hoping for a Trick 'r Treat/Eden Lake hybrid going in, but oh man was it so not that, and this could make you hate Halloween :p. No, but really I hated it. I don't like to give out 1's, but I did with this one.

Re: OT: The Horror Thread

I really hated Hellions, as well. The only real saving grace to it (which was minor, so shouldn't be considered one at all) is that it starts out seasonal enough and the costumes were kind of neat. Otherwise, yes... insipid, lazy storytelling at its finest.

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Re: OT: The Horror Thread

I finished Evil Things (2009) and find myself fairly mixed about it. For as many good things about the movie, there are just as much bad. But, at least it wasn't a complete lost cause since the movie did alright at piling on the sustenance to its dread sandwich. The premise couldn't have been more generic... five people go on vacation and disappear without a trace, all that remains is their video camera. Overall, the group is pretty realistic and likeable (especially Laurel Casillo's Cassy, who is very charming and has fun with her role) so the runtime doesn't drag. Warning though, you're going to see some typical "Why are you filming this?" abuse to the filming character since there's no real reason he's filming their vacation weekend other than the fact that he wants to remember this particular vacation and he just got the camera (the classic FF cliché, it seems). Aside from that though, the most unlikeable of this bunch is the fifth-wheel Tanya, who really grated my nerves from the beginning. Acting was serviceable. The movie is very similar to Black Cadillac (2003) in terms of being stalked by a strange vehicle in a wintry setting, but with a found-footage angle and some Blair Witch Project (1999) and Hangman (2015) thrown in for good measure. All of those movies are pretty good, so if they invoked any bit of creepiness for you, then this one may do just the same. The ending was very lazy, but I guess the messiness of it does seem realistic though by no means satisfying or good.

I think it's worth checking out, however. I'm still unsure if it merits a 6/10 - that almost seems almost too generous, but given that most of its counterparts get much lower, at least this one can be given credit for being passable. I watched it on Amazon Prime for free.

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Re: OT: The Horror Thread

Just popping in to show some Poltergeist II appreciation <3 Honestly I think I like it better than the first one. Reverend Kane is one of the creepiest horror villains ever and the whole backstory with the cult dying in the cavern under where the house was built is pretty interesting (even though it technically retcons some details from the first film.) I love when they go in the cavern and Kane's rotten body is still perched up.

Melissa: Is there an F5?
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Re: OT: The Horror Thread

I like all three Poltergiests in their own way, even the third one which makes like zero sense at all. Good movies.

I've been terrible about sharing my obscure finds, but I watched a rather good one last night so I'll share my thoughts in a moment.

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Re: OT: The Horror Thread

House Hunting (2013) - I was skimming the selection at Amazon and came across this title, and when I saw that I was sitting at a 5.0+ rating with 1,000+ reviews, my curiosity was spiked enough for me to watch it last night. A lot of Prime garbage doesn't even come close to 5.0, and the excess in ratings made me think it wasn't just the ratings of the production involved though I have been surprised before (*cough* Lake Fear *cough*).

Right off the bat, I knew this was a rather well-crafted movie that was in capable hands. It didn't look cheap, the primary location was foreboding enough, and the entire premise while done before was still handled rather effectively. The basic plot involves two house-hunting families turning up at the same creepy isolated home, only to come across a girl whose tongue has been cut out in the surrounding woods. As they try to take her to safety, they realize they're completely stuck on the property they were sent to view by an ghostly realtor. It's very reminiscent of Dead End and Grave Encounters, in that these families are trapped in almost their own dimension apart from the world they came from, and you are forced to watch them destroy themselves and each other before the end of it. The addition of horrifying visions and ghosts from the past don't really help matters, either.

I will have to say that biggest weakness to this movie are that the characters are just all downright a$$holes, even from the getgo. The movie sort of justifies it especially as the plot thickens, but you will have to dig hard to find anything likeable about any of them. But, for what it's worth, the plot and the story never seemed to drag for me and I was interested in the story for much of its 1hr 45min running time... and this movie actually succeeded at being semi-creepy.

I rated it a 7 out of 10. Definitely worthy of a watch for anybody interested.

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Re: OT: The Horror Thread

Then There Was (2014) (aka The Blackout) - Another Prime movie that was made in capable hands, this is a thriller about what happens to a rural community when the power goes out and humans start treating each other terribly for the sake of survival. One could easily criticize this movie as being a Purge-knockoff, but I counter that by saying that The Purge (the first one, in particular) was not anything to write home about, so really how could the concept be handled any worse in another movie? It probably couldn't be, and that's my opinion and I'm sticking to it.

The movie juggles three different groups of protagonists. The first is a husband and his pregnant wife, the second is a group of backpacking young adults (both girls and both boys looking too identical for the movie's own good), and the third is Costas Mandylor in a (albeit cliché) role that doesn't make you want to punch his character for once. This sort of sounds like too much to be handled well, but I think the style sort of fits since this was a community film... we only ever know as much as the community knows regarding why the power is cut, but it was important for us to get to know various characters since the blackout affects people differently, some looking rather unaffected while others have a tougher time dealing with it. When a gang of thieves and murderers rolls into town to add some antagonists to the plot, the movie takes a darker turn (no pun intended) and a survival thriller ensues when they attempt to invade the wrong house.

The story is not without its weaknesses, though. It seems like the community loses its head all-too-quickly after losing power, but then again, it's never happened to my community before so maybe it is believable. It was just a bit amusing seeing two locals altercate over the last two bags of purchased ice the way they did. Also, as I sort of touched on before, some of the characterization and problems faced is a bit cliché. Of course the loner character (played by Mandylor) would call attention to the depravity that was to come, and of course the pregnant wife would spontaneously bleed the first day of the blackout to add that dramatic element of a possible miscarriage as well as fuel the urgency for them to leave town, only to realize that their car is wrecked so therefore they can't leave. And of course one girl is pissed off at her boyfriend (read: not husband, or even fiancé) for even daring looking into his own future as a politician as opposed to holding himself back for her sake. How dare he. There's just too much forced, or rather convenient, dramatization added to this simple story of a small-town going dark.

I will give the movie credit for avoiding the cliché of the town going dark during the night so that more sinister things can occur... much of the movie occurs during the day, where we get to know the characters. They didn't amp up the horror aspect much at all. Even during the home invasion where it would've been easy to make things bloody and violent, they avoided a lot of that. I contend that the movie had its heart in the right place, it just needed to cut out some of the fat to really pack the punch that it could have.

6 out of 10. Interesting to see once for people who may appreciate movies about Small-Town, USA, but may not be the best choice for those looking to stay on the beaten horror path.

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Re: OT: The Horror Thread

The killer braces and the tequila worm!

Kane <3 I will acknowledge that Poltergeist II is definitely the creepiest of the three movies. It creeps me out when Mama Freeling thinks that lady in the diner is her mom and then the grandma and the toy telephone. I still give the original the edge. It's almost too weird/creepy.

Did anyone see the vapid remake of the original? omg it was such a generic borefest.

Re: OT: The Horror Thread

I kinda liked the remake . Some of the best parts of the original were so poorly done though. Like they didn't even include the face peeling (wtf?), the creepy clown scene (that was so creepy in the original) in this one wouldn't scare a flea (even the flea would hair flip), and the "they're here" line in the remake was just embarrassing (it was like she overdosed on klonopin 5 minutes before the scene was shot). The last 15 minutes were also very, very, trainwrecky with the car flipping and forcing them back in the house, and all the 1993 apple computer CGI skeletons. Other than that it was watchable .

Re: OT: The Horror Thread

I'm not one of those who refuse to see it or claim that the original is some cinematic masterpiece (because it's not), but I just haven't been motivated to seek that one out. I don't want to waste a Netflix rental on it. If the price lowers to $3-5 at Walmart, maybe I'll pick it up, but otherwise I'll just wait until it hits Netflix streaming like The Fog & Carrie remakes eventually did.

My favorite scenes in the original both involved the mom: The chair scene and then the pool scene. It still eeks me out that they used real skeletons, apparently...? (!)

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Re: OT: The Horror Thread

Dan, they don't do the pool scene! You do see some CGI skeletons, but that's it. Like a said the best parts of the original were so poorly done. Otherwise it's a watchable remake. Probably on par with the Carrie remake. Neither are going to replace the original, or have any scene that lives up to the earlier films, but they are what they are.

Btw random, but We Are Still Here is vastly overrated. I mean throw buckets of blood around the set and horror critics act like it's the best thing they've ever seen. It kinda does the Lucio Fulci thing, but some of the acting is really, really bad (even Barbara Crampton), and there's nothing special about it at all. I know I just complimented the Poltergeist remake which is nothing special and a remake, but that one is hated, and this isn't original either. IMDB has it a 5.7 which is reasonable, but it's 95 percent on rotten tomatoes is so ridiculous.

Re: OT: The Horror Thread


The Hollow (2015) - It's Halloween eve on Shelter Island, and the small town is preparing for a killer storm. But the dark clouds gathering over the island are bringing with them a curse one-hundred years in waiting. As the woods give birth to an ungodly and insatiable creature of fire, bones, and earth, three sisters must scramble to stay alive through the long dark night of the Hollow. For it's not something you can kill. It's only something you can try and survive.

I probably am going to be a bit too hard on this flick. When I started it, I was expecting a different movie called The Woods (2015) (alternatively titled The Hallow) which got decent reviews on The Horror Club. Instead, I watched this horrendous TV movie with terrible characters played by terrible actresses doing dumbass stuff. The only good quality of this film is that the monster was actually pretty well designed, but otherwise terrible film. 3/10


Dan I know you reviewed this in your first post, but I was looking back at this thread and didn't notice this one! Dan I watched this one expecting The Hallow too ! Even their covers are similar! I was absolutely perplexed watching it and couldn't understand why people liked it, and knew it was a Syfy channel original movie ten minutes into it which made it even more confusing. I didn't really know anything about The Hallow, but I noticed it got good reviews and went into it blind, but got this instead.

Re: OT: The Horror Thread

The sad part is, I didn't even care much for The Hallow and yet I remember The Hollow (the icky one I reviewed on here) more than the one that's supposedly "good". I didn't even bother to review it, either. Maybe it was technically better than 'The Hollow', but it was more forgettable in the same breath. And don't even get me started on that overrated found footage garbage known simply as "Hollow" (w/o "The" in the title). I wish horror movies had more original titles. lol

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Re: OT: The Horror Thread

There's a headless horseman horror movie from 2004 called The Hollow too <3. It stars Kevin Zegers, Kaley Cuoco, and Nick Carter. It's actually a fun movie.

Re: OT: The Horror Thread


There's a headless horseman horror movie from 2004 called The Hollow too <3. It stars Kevin Zegers, Kaley Cuoco, and Nick Carter. It's actually a fun movie.

lol I might actually have to look this one up. It sounds all sorts of yummy gooey cheesy, but in a good way. And I love Kaley Cuoco. She was my favorite in Killer Movie (2007), which is one of my favorite "later" slashers.

The Witch <3 You not stylizing it like The VVitch <3333 I loved the potent creepy atmosphere and that ending was so bleak even by today's standards but it was done well. The goat-talking bit was a bit weird, but wouldn't everything about this sort of fit in with the rest of the cult-following obscure horror flicks of the 70s? It sort of has that bizarre 'Messiah of Evil'-nightmarelike quality to it, but maybe I'm reaching a bit too much there. I guess I went into it expecting a period piece with mild-but-familiar horror elements like The Wolfman (2010) or Crimson Peak (2015), but instead got this and I was impressed though calling it the "greatest horror movie of the year" like some have is overrating it too much.

A couple of reviews soon.

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Re: OT: The Horror Thread

ClownTown (2016) - A group of friends get stranded in a seemingly deserted small town and find themselves stalked by a violent gang of psychopaths dressed as clowns.

And so it appears that not many share in my love for 'Most Likely to Die', but there's always next time I suppose? Luckily, there's a few that have been released in time for the Halloween season. First up, ClownTown. The poster right off the bat does not do the movie much justice, but I know 'Absentia' and 'Elevator' both have generic movie covers of girls crawling away from whatever threat and I loved those so they are right to not try to judge movies too harshly on the cover. But we all do it as we shuffle through the countless titles that get released each year. Whether a fan likes to admit it or not, movie covers are important to draw our attention, at the very least.

Anyway, ClownTown. Oy. lol. The problems stem from the very beginning. The formula is beloved by horror fans, but we want to see some inspiration when using it and this one was so uninspired even by slasher standards. A group of friends on their way to a concert. Unfortunately, a girl member of the group leaves her phone at a creepy roadside diner and throws a bitchy and whiny conniption about it, so they call it and get a guy promising to return it to them at abandoned town at a certain time. So, the group goes and waits FOREVER for him, but soon they start getting terrorized by clowns! I did like the setting of the abandoned town. It's almost like 'Children of the Corn', except replace murderous children with killer clowns and you have your movie. And these killer clowns aren't like the silly ones from outer space... they're downright terrifying and they're ready to attack.

Unfortunately, I just hated the characters in this one and it plays out how exactly how a later-day slasher plays out. Final girl is completely annoying and useless, her boyfriend is there to do her fighting for her, and ultimately, both end up in a vehicle at the end all bloodied but still very much in love. Gag me with a *beep* spoon. I have always hated this type of ending for my slashers. A lot. Switch it up however you want, but romantic happy endings to slashers will never do it for me. The acting is also very shoddy in spots as well, especially from the one victim who was kidnapped to be terrorized by a less-combative female clown until they kill her off unceremoniously as the movie neared the end with no explanation given for why they bothered to do this. In fact, the clowns seemed to kidnap their victims a lot in this one but wouldn't outright kill them until they *had* to. Why?

A lot of things regarding the big WHY?! just didn't really add up or make sense to me, but I had given up on the movie to really give it any more thought than it deserved. I will say I'm getting awfully tired of movies employing the "Because you were home" approach to excuse themselves from giving a reason for the violence and carnage. Hell, even a one-noted killing machine like F13th's Jason had motive for his killing. Not explaining sh!t is starting to get very old.

Ultimately, I just didn't care much for the stupidity and over-familiarity involved with this. Stick with 'The Funhouse Massacre' and give this one a pass, unless creepy clowns gets you hard and you can appreciate a good setting to a horror movie. 4/10

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