50 Cent and Megan Fox with half the original cast being gone.

I just watched Dario Argento's Opera for the first time, and it was pretty enjoyable. There were some clunky parts to it, but I see that as something to expect when watching a giallo film. There were a lot of impressive tracking shots throughout it, almost like Argento was trying to challenge himself to shoot as many scenes as possible in a more complicated way than necessary, but I found it amusing. I was also pleasantly surprised to hear some metal songs in the film's soundtrack, and not hair metal or anything, but legit underground metal (the bands are Norden Light and Gow).

I've seen a few movies from his 1970s - 80s prime years and Opera was probably my favorite. Yes, even beating the mighty Suspiria, an example where I like the remake more.

Natty Knocks - For a horror movie that randomly showed up on Tubi this has a solid cast (Bill Moseley, Danielle Harris, Robert Englund to dump the exposition). I think the script, written by someone with no other IMDB credits, was the problem. The supernatural elements weren't handled well and it couldn't decide if the main character was the babysitter or the older kid. 4 / 10

Avatar 2: The Way of Water - Part of me still wishes Avatar 1 hadn't been the biggest movie of all time and convinced Cameron to spend the rest of his career making sequels. But darn it, this kept me entertained. 7 / 10 ...... although that's based on knowing ahead of time I'd watch it in 2 installments. Might have only been 6 or 6.5 if I had to do all 3:12 at once.

But please, James, take a red pen to those Avatar 3 - 5 scripts and delete 90% of "bro"s.

I need to check this out then. I love Suspiria and Inferno!

Mr. Vampire & Encounters of the Spooky Kind - These two movies have a lot in common. They have the hopping vampires (jiangshi), martial arts, and goofy, fun humor. I bet John Carpenter liked these. Criterion Channel has a collection the Hopping Vampires of Hong Kong right now. Very cool.

Dark City - I haven't seen this in over 2o years but it held up well.

Saw The Exorcist: Believer last night.
Average at best it's not a bad film but it just seems like another missed opportunity. They played it too safe, nothing shocking or truly horrific like the original. It's a R16 sanitized version of "Satan" when really he's a R18+ kinda guy y'know. I wanna see that guy possessing these sweet innocent victims. When you think about it, the imagination can run wild about how awesome and horrifying it coulda been!

Light's Out ~ A somewhat creepy tale but nothing special. The film relies so heavily on jumpscares that they start just 44 seconds into the first scene. Acting was adequate, especially Teresa Palmer and the 'solution' to the problem was daring for a generic film but those lazy jumpscares and shallow paranormal plot line sink most of this ~ 2.5/5

Up In the Air ~ Relatively comedic drama starring George Clooney's impeccable suave and charm. There are some moments that feel like they are headed towards Rom-Com territory but it then reels it in with some unexpected outcomes ~ 3/5

Saw X ~ I have now seen every Saw film in theaters opening weekend except for the first, which remains in my small list of least favorite horror films ever. As with every other film in the saga I tried to go in completely blind, even avoiding trailers, and was glad I did since the trailer gives away quite a bit of the main plot. The night I saw this I had been up, uninterrupted, for 31 hours and I actually dozed off for a few moments, missing the final scene of the most interesting 'protagonist' character. It was definitely not boring and the entire first act being a proper setup made the situation much more impactful. Director Kevin Greutert not only edited 1 - 5 & 8 but directed 6, 7 and now 10. It is clear he sees the franchise as more than what its critics say and why his entries include commentaries on social health care, scenes loaded with symbolic moments too awesome for what is claimed to be just torture porn, and the only singular protagonist in the franchise easy to root for. Saw 6, despite these aspects, was forced to be too much like the sequels and prevented it from having the patience needed to drive the story home. Saw 10 is not bound by that kinetic editing so it takes what Saw 6 was doing and magnifies it with a maturity that proves the franchise was always more than just people getting tortured. It was also amusing that one of the traps in the movie was presented so strangely that it left me confused but right after it ends you realize that it was just a fantasy Jigsaw was having. I will not say which trap it was but when it happens it makes what is admittedly a subpar trap actually stand out ~ 4/5

Now my ranking of the franchise ( from best to worst ) would be:

1. Saw 2
2. Saw 3
3. Saw 4
4. Saw 10: X
5. Saw 6
6. Saw 5
7. Saw 8: Jigsaw
8. Saw 7: 3D
9. Saw 9: Spiral
10. Saw

Havent paid much attention to it, but when I saw who wrote/directed it, being the guys that did new new Halloween trilogy, I'll definitely pass.


I watched Haunted Mansion last night. I havent been to WDW in a long time and its probably my favorite ride. Didnt care much for the movie. Good for a rental, but thats about it.

Cobweb - I don't object to another take on (mild spoiler given away by IMDB plot summary and trailer)


horror when the performances are good and the director seems like he's not just there for a paycheck. This was a fun 85 minutes. 7 / 10

Malum - On the other hand, this higher budget remake of Last Shift (2014) seemed unnecessary. I might give it a second chance at some point but right now I think Last Shift is better. 5.5 / 10

John Wick Chapter 4 - A bit too long, but understandable that they felt the need to go all-out on this one. 7 / 10

I was already leaning this way but each franchise's 4th movie reinforced my opinion that JW is better as a whole than The Matrix, even though the first Matrix beats any JW movie.

The Andromeda Strain - a slower pace but tons of tension, a great story and an excellent movie.

In the Mouth of Madness - awesome HP Lovecraft inspired story. A brilliant movie.

Damn, I just watched The Andromeda Strain yesterday. It was available on Finnish Broadcast Company's streaming service. I have seen this a loooong time ago, and didn't remember shit about it. I am glad I re-watched it! I love that old school sci-fi look.

In the Mouth of Madness also has great soundtrack by the director John Carpenter. Not "the best movie ever", but damn cool and eerie.

Since Terence Davies died the other day, I rewatched one of his best films Distant Voices, Still Lives, which is such a powerfully emotional film. The film is very autobiographical mostly focusing on his family dealing with the death of their abusive father, and the film feels like crying over a relationship you never had. There's some horrific moments like the father (played brilliantly by Pete Postlethwaite) hitting his daughter with a broom, but then there are tender moments where he walks into his children's bedroom while they're sleeping and looks at them so lovingly while saying "God bless, kids" and it makes the film incredibly nuanced and in the end a lot more emotionally effective. Truly one of the greatest films ever made, in my opinion.

Saw Reptile yesterday. It was okay, a 7/10 movie. Del Toro was great as usual.

Been going global with horror movies and checking some new international ones for the season...

"NightMare" (Norway)... premise you've seen before about mysterious evil dreams after moving into a new place, but it's more serious than most US movies like this. Some genuinely disturbing stuff in the nightmare-visions in this and a really startling ending that just punches you in the gut. Interesting gender commentary - it doesn't hold back. Check it out on Shudder.

TUMBBAD (India)... grandiose maximalist folk horror that unfolds like a morality play. Colorful and weird and some great cinematography. Story about the ills of wealth. A weird movie but it worked and I thought it had some pretty grisly stuff in it, though the horror is mostly in the drama of a familial downfall. It's on Prime for free.

Both pretty fucking cool.

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me

I just couldn't help myself I watched this again. I love this and I am thinking about rewatching seasons 1-3.

Currently watching some Halloween movies...

Halloween - H20
Halloween Kills

Even though I hate when there is 20 sequels to a classic movie, I can't help but watch them all. Halloween kills's plot (see spoiler) was very nice and although I would have preferred a different ending, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Laurie Strode not being the protagonist for once and a grown-up Tommy Doyle were nice additions.

The Pope's Exorcist was pretty good, and they set themselves up for more than one sequel in the end.

The Nun II was better than I thought it would be. You know that VALAK will be back.

The VHS movies. My favorite installment was 94, but 85 was great too. I'm glad they made a new one. It has sick gore, looks really awesome. 5/5

Five Nights at Freddy's - This is a massive hit which suggests the built-in audience is larger than I realized, because the movie was nothing special. Too slow and the explanation for the supernatural stuff was unsatisfying. Almost gave it a 4 / 10, but that's the rating I gave Willy's Wonderland and FNAF at least put in more effort than that. So whatever, 4.5 or 5 out of 10.

It makes me want to rewatch the recent Dungeons and Dragons movie since that's another case where I know next to nothing about the game(s). But D&D succeeded as a standalone piece of entertainment in all the ways FNAF failed: better pacing, more interesting characters, more memorable action, and a climax where I actually cared about what was happening.

They fumbled the release date of the D&D movie big time. I imagine it would have been a better succes had it released after BG3, which is incredibly popular, even among people who don't play the table top, and farther from the OGL debacle and, especially, Mario's release date.

Otherwise, I'm sad that October is over. Having multiple channels play horror movies at all times is fun. Even if a lot is "so bad it's good", like most movies past the third or fourth in the series...

Yeah I was glad to see the original Exorcist on HBO (Max) to refresh my memory for Exorcist: Believer if / when it shows up somewhere I can watch it for free.

I mentioned Cobweb earlier which was worth a rental. That's on Hulu now.

Totally Killer is a fun time travel slasher on Amazon Prime.


It's a shame because so many things become franchises these days, and Honor Among Thieves is one of the few recent movies that made me say Wow, that was cool, I wouldn't mind spending more time in this world. Probably won't get a sequel though. Instead I get to look forward to It Follows Part 2: It Keeps Following.

It Follows probably should not have a sequel, but at least that was one of the best new horror movies and was actually interesting. With the same director it ought to at least be worth a watch. Hope it doesn't suck.

Some stuff I watched recently...

The Wailing - I don't know about this one. Really well-made and some nice directing, a few good moments. But ultimately it felt overstuffed and overly focused on weaving this big complicated story, and it didn't really come together. Horror often works on vibes and the mood it sets, and this one took me out of it a few times because I was trying to remember all the pieces of the plot like a jigsaw puzzle or some shit. There's some strange tonal stuff where it's trying to be funny in the beginning, but at least that's interesting - later it lapses into a somewhat tired exorcism type of plot that seems determined to contort itself into pretzels trying to be clever. I don't know.

Prince of Darkness - Brilliant, flawless surreal horror. John Carpenter taking what he did with THE THING and making a denser, weirder movie. I love it. Trippy. Full of bizarre scenes of terror. I felt like I was wading through a thick dream.

The People Under the Stairs - Just one insane thing after another. Horror comedies aren't always my thing but this one was fast and crazy enough that it made the sillier stuff tolerable... plus it was pretty based and leftist actually. A fucking crazy, in your face ride with a working class message and literally it ended with wealth being redistributed. Love it.

That's probably my favorite John Carpenter film. It's so enveloping and weird. Plus, it having Alice Cooper in it is a plus for me.

For October, I did a little project and rewatched the Mario Bava film Black Sabbath, but I also decided to watch the English dubbed version out of curiosity and I was surprised how much worse it was compared to the Italian language version. Going in, I just assumed that the English version would be the same cut except dubbed in English and I wasn't surprised that they erased most of the sapphic undertones of "The Telephone", but for some reason they decided to rearrange the fucking stories around and it just ruins the pacing. "The Drop of Water" starts off the English dub, and it doesn't work as well as an opening segment. It's too much of a slow-burn and doesn't set the tone for the following stories at all. This kind of ambivalent "is it supernatural or is the main character just insane and seeing things" story works better as a closing segment, since it's following two explicit scary segments and is a satisfying way to avoid predictability. The order of the stories worked well in the Italian dub, but apparently the people responsible for the English dub didn't believe the "if it's not broken don't fix it" mantra.

Considering that it's still Mario Bava's images, you'd think that I'd still be able to enjoy looking at it even with all the stupid changes to the order and the dialogue, but the English dub version is so poorly restored that the luscious imagery is painful to look at. Overly grainy, the colors are too hot and garish, and too many noticeable scratches. Thankfully, I rented both versions so I was able to wash the painful taste out of my mouth by following it up with the Italian version, but unfortunately, both versions are sold separately in America rather than being sold together as a 2-disc blu-ray. I find it really sleazy to package together a poorly restored inferior cut of a film and selling it as if it could stand on its own terms, since at best it's a historical curiosity. The only reason I'd watch the English version again would be to hear Boris Karloff's voice and see the extra footage of him introducing the segments that aren't in the Italian version, but that alone isn't the price of a whole blu-ray disc for me.

This was one of the last Carpenters I hadn't seen. Was floored by it... I'm going to take some time this weekend and give it another watch; it's that good and just one of those movies that merits it.

Bava's Black Sabbath is great. I didn't get around to it this year, but that one was so fun and cool. A real pulp feeling.

Also seen Killers of the Flower Moon a few times now and planning to go at least once more in theaters. A really stunning, searing epic that washes over you like a wave. It's sobering and powerful and really eye opening. Full of arresting performances and even this wicked sense of humor at times. Scorsese just always gets it right when it comes to these tales of American evil.

Yeah it's definitely not a movie for anyone besides dedicated fans of the games. I was a fan of the original game series years back, I went into the movie expecting a total shitshow but instead it was just a kinda alright movie and soulless adaptation of the games. It doesn't have any of the appeal of the original series. It doesn't have any of the mystery, the "lore" is explained immediately and the plot twists were completely predictable. More importantly though, it's not scary at all. It suffers from this weird identity crisis, the tone of the whole movie is inconsistent, which is apparently intentional because the game creator wanted a movie that's "both scary and cute". Because of that though, it's completely ineffective even when it does try to be scary, which kinda sucks when it's based on a horror series. I'm not surprised though, the games haven't really tried to be scary since the 4 original games and first spinoff. After that they lost that really sick claustrophobic atmosphere and indie game charm.

I don't post in this thread often because I feel like my taste is mostly out of line with a fair portion of the discussion - however - I watched Past Lives tonight and holy fucking shit. What a tremendous, devastatingly beautiful film. Can't remember the last time one fucked me up like that. Yikes. 15 out of 10.

Ehhhhhhhhhh, it has its moments. I enjoy the creepy atmosphere of the recurring dream, and the gag with Alice Cooper was fun, but other than that, nothing really stuck with me.

The Thing and In the Mouth of Madness are the superior entries in the Apocalypse Trilogy, imo.

I think it was about as good as The Thing. Mouth of Madness I always liked, but at the same time it never really had a lot of meat to it... felt more like a funhouse attraction where you were more just swept up in one wacky thing happening after another, while some of Carpenter's older movies had this more serious feel, more of an atmosphere. Both The Thing and now Prince of Darkness just had a more evocative feel for me. But Mouth is a fun watch anyway.



Definitely a good watch! Lots of nice moments and some good characters set up. Try "Showing Up" if you haven't, too - another really nice, subtle drama.

Re-watched Hellraiser. I love this movie. It's no masterpiece, but it's weird and fucked up. Some of the special effects have aged badly; others are still impressive, especially the reconstruction scene. The Cenobites designs are great and they are perfect in this movie: you see them enough that they are a presence and they're intimidating, but they're left unknowable and mysterious. No need to explain more: demons to some, angels to others. To whom they'd be angels, though, I wonder.

Just watched Scorsese's SILENCE - what a fucking movie that is. One of those things where you can't even think of anything else when you're done. Just sitting there like you were gut punched. Beautiful cinematography, and Scorsese and his team just excel at making these sweeping pictures that are so full of depth and questions. This one maybe more complex than anything I've seen from him. The usual themes of evil and the meaty, cruel hand of power but also all these questions of faith and of what it really means to have those beliefs. Morally knotty, thorny questions, no easy answers. Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver - great actors, arresting work.

I've just watched Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, and my God, that was awful! I've endured and struggled for about an hour, and then I simply needed to stop it. Gosh, It's complete CGI overkill, like some in-game cut scene. Brrrr..gross...

No reason not to post, you never know.

Infernal Affairs - This is the script for The Departed which I also loved but this takes place in Hong Kong. Some slight differences but very enjoyable. Most of the events in The Departed occur in this film but it ends at the funeral for the equivalent DiCaprio's character. Their is Infernal Affairs part 2 and 3 which I look forward to seeing.

I know we all watch a shit-ton of horror films for the month of October, but does anyone else here do "Noirvember" and watch noir films all month? I haven't done too much of that before, but I've been on a noir kick recently and can't get enough of good old black-and-white films.

I watched Brighton Rock for the first time and it has a baby-faced Richard Attenborough playing a sociopathic gangster who kills someone in cold blood but carefully plans it to make it look like an accident. He almost gets away with it, but there was an issue that a fellow gangster had in planting the false alibi, and Attenborough's character goes to great lengths trying to destroy any evidence of a planned murder, even killing his own kin. The film doesn't put in any efforts to make his character likable, but it doesn't matter much in the end since it's just fascinating watching how much of a bastard he reveals himself to be.

I rewatched a French noir film called Touchez Pas au Grisbi which is a lot like Carlito's Way if anyone here has seen that. Basically an old gangster is trying to put an end to his criminal life and planning to retire, but a young hotshot shows up and fucks up his plans. There's very little music and its pacing is pretty loose, but it also has a tense atmosphere that's easy to get engrossed into, plus lead star Jean Gabin is entertaining as always.

I watched the Barbara Stanwyck film Sorry, Wrong Number for the first time, and that one was entertaining. Stanwyck plays a bedridden woman who tries calling her husband, but overhears what sounds like people planning a murder but gets too little information to report it to the police. She tries calling around to try and get more information, and finds out that her husband is pretty involved in this planned crime. Most of the film is told with flashbacks and through phone-calls and it can get a little convoluted, but it has a whopper of an ending. Very stylish and ballsy for a 40's film to end the way it did.

the killer (2023). fincher does a netflix movie, who would have thunk it? the movie is ok, i liked the "unintentional" comedic moments.
6/10

Priscilla - Exquisitely made, one of the best-looking movies of the year with these colors and lighting turning things coldly impersonal and then kinda nightmareish and other times like a fantasy. Cailee Spaeny is spellbinding and the camera keeps focusing on her - can't turn away. Jacob Elordi makes Elvis into this sort of stunted-growth man child. Fame turns everybody into a fucking insane person, seems impossible to get as big as he did and not be a monster on some level. Though I look at that previous sentence and then again, I feel like there are all kinds of men like this no matter what. Society made itself unequal and women always had to put up with a lot.

I like these new biopics that aren't just fawning over their subjects. This is gut-wrenching and just sort of shows it to you stark and honest. I thought the ending was too abrupt though - sort of just stopped. But go see it.

Certain Women - Sometimes a movie this low-key and subtle and just full of regular, normal people trying to get through life, just fucking hits the spot. Literary stuff. Snapshots of lives... a real feel for establishing character and just weaving these captivating stories. Humble and raw and real. The stories touching on these really deftly-articulated truths, hazy things, just stories about humanity and desire and the things you can't fucking say.

A bunch of our best actors in this. Laura Dern, fuck, man, great. Lily Gladstone was in KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON this year too but she's equally arresting in this. Kristen Stewart has to be one of our best.

Free on Tubi. Go try it.

The Killer - Always been a big Fincher fan. He's still got the old flashy style I always liked. Great feel for how to compose these things. That said I didn't really like this one that much. Enjoyable way to kill two hours I guess, but it's an empty thing. Whole thing is supposed to show the ennui and boredom of being a hitman and Michael Fassbender sells it well. But there's not enough real weirdness, subversion or humor to really do this deconstruction of crime movies thing Fincher seemed to be going for. So it comes off dry, without the drama and straightforward dialogue and intrigue from his better movies.

Like most of his best stuff, SE7EN, ZODIAC etc, seems to be concerned with characters who want things and are moving it forward. This was trying to be this really arty thing with a lot of space. I don't think it really hit like it wanted. Kept waiting for a punchline or something and it never came.

Ennui and boredom of being a hitman? That's not what I got from it. The voiceovers gave the impression of exactly what you say - someone who wants things and (is) moving forward by being 'one of the few'. Except for all his professionalism and hard work and discipline it never seems to get him what he wants (which he doesn't seem to even know) - all leading to the personal revelation in the final scene, which everyone should be able to relate to bar none. I'm not a Fincher fan but this one was more relevant than the other thrillers he's made, didn't find it arty at all.

Well I guess a lot of the stuff you're saying is what I got from it too, the dissatisfaction of his job, those things. But I didn't think the script ever really dug into anything beyond the surface level and Fincher seemed to veer between playing it straight during some parts and then the more satirical opening. For me it just felt frustratingly between two opposites of being either a legit thriller and some sort of metatextual thing. The final scene was good, but I didn't know if it really sold me on the meat of it all or the meaning of what that was about.

I can see that. It did feel repetitive and I'm sure it was better in the book version in terms of fleshing the character out.Fincher seems overly obsessed with the act of killing in most of his films and not a lot else.

Speaking of fleshing out, I watched Anatomy Of A Fall last night and was at some points transfixed, especially in the courtroom scenes. A commendable job at character development that made me feel by the end that I knew the central characters and each of their pains.

The Killer was... ok I guess? It's a bit of a parody of killer films.

I liked The Killer quite a bit. Maybe I had low expectations after I've seen or read some reviews but I definitely enjoyed it in the end. The first part where he's just waiting in the empty apartment was nice, though the narration started to get a bit tiring, but it just got better when that delivery guy opened the door and threw the magazines while the protagonist, in all his profesionnalism and seriousness and all, got taken offguard by that. That set the tone for the rest of the movie and I was quite happy with how it went from there.

Didn't anyone here see When Evil Lurks?
That had some nasty, nasty parts. It's been a really long time since I've seen a horror movie that made me feel something (not terror, rather discomfort) and actually kept surprising me without getting into cringe territory. It starts strong and keeps punching harder and harder the more it goes on and it basically never lets down or lets you have enough time to get your hopes up.
I liked the director's previous effort Terrified, even though it had some flaws that you can find in any standard American horror movie, but this one is just on another level.