I watched Resolution last night and really enjoyed it. For those unfamiliar, it's a low-budget, indie suspense/horror/sci-fi flick. It was pretty well written and acted IMO and had a fairly original plot which is rare these days. I look forward to watching The Endless which was made by the same guys.

Venom was pretty bad. Just super generic, which made the goofy Venom-voice-in-his-head stuff seem really jarring and out of place and dated seeming compared to the tone of the rest of the movie. It also would have seriously benefited from an R rating. I mean, how you gonna have Venom killing tons of dudes and eating people with not a drop of blood anywhere? Dumb. Total waste of the both the character and Tom Hardy.

Wasting Tom Hardy seems to be a specialty of directors as of late. See also: Dunkirk.

Dunkirk was fantastic though, and I thought there was just the right amount of Tom Hardy in that movie.

If anything, Tom Hardy is used much better these days. After initially seeing him in Bronson and Dark Knight Rises I was just like 'why does this guy keep making bad choices?' But then came Mad Max Fury Road and The Revenant. He was great in those.

Hell House, LLC - Schlocky, slightly dumb, but fun tale of a bunch of young people making a new haunted house attraction in an actual haunted hotel in the country. This had just about every cliche of a horror movie possible, but they really knew how to sell it. It was entertaining all the way through and had some gleeful moments of horrific fun. I don't know if I can call it great, but it did what it set out to do. I liked the cognitive dissonance of a fake haunted house filled with real haunted shit - made for some wryly funny imagery.

Hell House, LLC II: The Abaddon Hotel - Even sillier than the first. Some absolutely goofy moments. But it stuck to what worked and had some fun stuff like the first one did. I wouldn't argue that it was a very good movie, but I also didn't want to turn it off. I liked it better than any other low-rent sequel to a horror movie if only because it seemed to be building on the world rather than just cashing in. It might've been a world with annoying characters and loopy writing, but I am a sucker for some good horror imagery and this did have that.

Satan's Slaves - Like an Indonesian Hereditary. This was a tale you've seen before, with familial demons and ghosts haunting the descendants of a recently deceased matriarch. But it was done with a lot of very likable characters and thus the scares had extra impact. I could see a lot of the twists coming in this, but there's something to be said for consistency and execution, and this was a very well-made movie and packed some killer scares.

I was thinking about '80s fantasy movies last night, and I realized that I don't really care much for Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal. To qualify my tastes a bit, I think Legend is pretty good, Willow is quite good, Krull is great (I know it's corny as hell, but I love it), and The Neverending Story is one of the best movies of all time (easily in my top 3, possibly sitting at number 1). But those other two... I don't know. Of the two, I prefer Labyrinth, which I would call a fairly decent movie, but The Dark Crystal is just kind of... there. Maybe I simply don't care for Jim Henson stuff any more. (I loved Fraggle Rock as a kid, but I didn't see Labyrinth until I was a teenager, and The Dark Crystal until I was in my 20s.)

Do I have a point in posting this? Not particularly - this isn't a 'hot take' or anything - but I guess I'm wondering if anyone has similar opinions to this. Or I'm just bored and felt like wiggling my fingers at the keyboard.

My cousin is one of the two directors/producers for Prospect, an indie sci-fi flick. It's making its rounds through the film festival circuits now and is garnering pretty positive responses. I look forward to seeing it.

Pretty decent trailer I have to say, I saw it a week or two ago.


And unlike in Dunkirk, at least Hardy had a personality in Dark Knight Rises. I don't know why you would cast someone with his talents and then direct him to be a wooden stick.

Chocolate (2008) - "From the people who brought you Ong Bak comes a special-needs girl with a special need to kick some ass." That sold me! She's autistic, she loves martial arts, her mother's medical bills are piling up, so she fights a bunch of people to get money. This was very entertaining with good action scenes and effective use of locations. 7 / 10

The Strangers: Prey at Night - The first half was heading for 4 / 10 territory as it rehashed a decade old movie that wasn't that great to begin with, complete with more Oh my god there's a bang at the door scares. It seems they're still looking for the elusive Tamara. The second half got slightly better. It had enough satisfying moments to pull my rating up to 5 / 10. Bonus points for the best use of Total Eclipse of the Heart in a recent movie.

Chocolate was a fucking blast. Jeeja's follow-ups weren't as fun except for the drunken fight in Phoenix Rising. Wish she did more badass starring roles.

Finally saw The Witch last night on the big screen. It was very good, very well-made in general, but didn't quiiiiiiite connect with me on the level that, say, Hereditary did. I think it could've benefited from going a bit further with the scares toward the end. At the same time, they nailed that "everything is gray and shabby" aesthetic, and the mood was good. I think it ended up suffering just because I saw it not long after seeing Mandy, which is fucking overload on every level.

Watched a couple of movies yesterday:

The Wicker Man (1973): This was alright. Man, I'm pretty sure wimpy hippy folk music was the loud, obnoxious dubstep/rap of the 1970's. Just toss some in there whenever, no need to pay attention to context (though admittedly there were a few scenes where the music was actually part of what was going on where it made sense - but I would've liked it much more with a more menacing soundtrack for other situations). There were a few scenes I really liked, sometimes it went into zany comedy mode, and the main character being a prick cop kind of didn't help though it was of course kind of great when he got what was coming to him. Christopher Lee was fantastic though. Honestly...I watched this about 30% because of the historical value/supposed quality and 70% because I wanted to see it as context for watching the Nic Cage remake today, hah.

Dragonslayer (1981): Watched this because I'm taking over the DM's chair for my D&D campaign again and wanted to get some inspiration. It was also...alright. The main character wasn't too captivating for me, outside of a few scenes where he's plucky enough to be likable. The dragon was also just a big scary monster with zero personality, which was super disappointing to me because I'd read how loved this dragon was and he does have a super awesome name (Vermithrax Pejorative). This would be a weird movie in 2018 since there was some blood/gore and even nudity but at the same time it has a decidedly family-friendly feel that makes it a bit more, well, Disney than something like Conan or Krull.

i feel like the witch is one of those movies that'll be important for ushering in a new wave of atmospheric, "intelligent" (for lack of a better term) horror films, but yeah it's really been outdone since it came out. after seeing hereditary, there's basically no reason to revisit the witch imo. hereditary does that whole tense family panic thing way better and has actual, you know, scary, disturbing parts. and the witch is almost insufferably pretentious.

Stay kvlt and watch Apostle as well.

More movies today:

The Descent: Man, why isn't this more talked about? I wasn't super excited at first, as the setup and acting leaned toward mild SyFy Original Movie territory in feel, but once they got to the proper cave wilderness and things started getting really beautiful environment and cinematography-wise, it started really picking up. Things got extremely brutal and violent, got some sort of Bone Tomahawk and ending of Predator vibes going on. I somehow doubt the sequel is worth my time. Honestly quite shocking that this was filmed on sets instead of in proper caves.

The Wicker Man (2006): I...kind of don't get it. This is like a somewhat dumber remake of the original. For some reason they got rid of all of the sexuality stuff and rampant nudity and replaced it with a dumb "evil matriarchy" thing. There's also an added backstory that almost sorta worked for having a stronger hook over the original. Yeah, there are some really gif-able scenes of Nic Cage running from bees and Nic Cage in a bear suit and Nic Cage punching women (the last of these was funniest to me), but they're not THAT silly in the context of the movie, and having just watched the original yesterday this just wasn't that goofy to me, just kind of a dumber remake. I dunno, I guess if you weren't familiar with the original movie at all and jumped right into this it'd be funnier or something.

Excalibur (1981): Just like Dragonslayer, this was a really weird movie. It looks pretty gorgeous, has great use of music, pretty great art and setpieces and stuff like that. However, some combination of cheesy lines, hammy acting, and the fact that every single line in the movie was ADR dubbed even during close-up dialogue scenes made basically every part where people are talking kinda goofy cringe. It also made me pull up Wikipedia to double check release dates because I could have sworn that Monty Python and the Holy Grail is a straight up parody of this, but since it came earlier I'm guessing that elements of that movie were plugged into this one in some sort of reverse-parody phenomenon? I mean obviously they're based on the same Arthur literature, but I mean really specific things like super zoom in shots when people's arms get sliced off with hilarious arterial spray, or a scene where a bunch of peasants are just bashing some shit-filled trench with sticks for no reason, and a few other things. Honestly despite the length, this is actually a very fast-paced movie with absolutely tons of stuff happening very quickly. It honestly could've been easily twice as long, with more involved battle scenes and better fleshed-out and more dramatic dialogue scenes and it'd be a stone-cold classic. Very much worth a watch though.

Never see the sequel...

I watched The Descent so many times on FearNet On Demand before the channel got shut down a few years ago. It has to be one of the better horror movies from the early 2000s.

I also think it's the best Neil Marshall movie and won't lose that distinction any time soon. Who knows though, maybe his Hellboy reboot will surprise me.

Dog Soldiers is better than you think.

It's one of the better werewolf movies out there, and there's some surprisingly good character development for being an action/horror flick.

The fact that you can count the number of good werewolf movies on one hand is a fucking atrocity. The werewolf as a film concept needs a renaissance, and it needs one badly.

I had an LSD night trip on Saturday with Mandy followed by Beyond the Black Rainbow and I'm still in a state of "shock." It was an amazing experience, and honestly I don't think I would have appreciated them as much (if at all) without the acid. It basically went like this: "What the fuck am I watching? Holy shit this is amazing! What the fuck is going on? Holy fuck this looks great! Am I imagining things? Is this really happening or is it the acid? Does that... dude really have a metal-claw penis, or is it a weapon he's holding or something?" I gave up on trying to understand what was going on at the start. I quickly realized, for both films, that's it's not about following the story or understanding the plot, but simply to live it, go through it, without asking too many questions.

I'm not a fan of Nicolas Cage. I think he's a horrible actor, so horrible he's ridiculous beyond belief and thus he makes me laugh, besically by just looking at him make any facial expression. He was good in Mandy, despite the few "Nicolas Cagey" overacting moments, which were fitting with the grossly homorous passages anyway. But those passages somehow took me off the trip for a few moments each time, which is basically my main complaint with the movie.

Beyond the Black Rainbow was more consistent with keeping everything "serious." Overall it was less chaotic and more dreamlike (although it's an extremely challenging and unpleasant dream), while Mandy was more nightmarish. It made less sense to me than Mandy (then I watched this video and it actually became much clearer) but still managed to grab my attention more. It was just beautiful to get lost in all of those bright colors, omnipresent reflections and engulfing lights.

I hope it won't take the director another 8 years for his next movie.

I also recently watched both. I think Mandy was the better one - seems like the director is really coming into his own with the style. It's a weird style though. He seems to really like giving us an hour or more of trippy weird shit followed by an extremely compressed, fast-paced explosion of thrills and violence. It's an interesting formula.

Beyond the Black Rainbow was very Kubrick. Didn't have much of a story to it, but it was visually gorgeous and taken as a whole it was very good, though the beginning was a bit slow. It definitely seemed the more raw and amateurish of the two. By the time Mandy rolled around he seems to have tightened up the story, added more badass visuals and focused on what he really wanted to accomplish.

I'll look forward to more.

We had inklings of one around the millennium turn. Ginger Snaps, Dog Soldiers, and even Cursed (in terms of mainstream release) were solid to great, but then the Underworld series came and then Twilight and...yeah.

I watched The Descent in theaters and was completely blown away. I bought it on DVD as soon as it came out and watched it again... and was totally bored by it haha. Also, why the heck did all the women have ice axes when they were in caves (made of stone)???

I watched Mister Designer yesterday and it's quite possibly one of the best 80s horror movies I've seen. The colour palette rivals that of Dario Argento and it's one of the few movies not by David Lynch I'd call genuinely surreal. It's a crime it's unheard of outside of Russia. Plus it's got a wonderful soundtrack, one song in particular reminds me of The Sisters of Mercy but with a soprano. The plot figures itself out in the most wonderful of ways, too; by the end all the previous bizarre scenes end up making sense and the result is overwhelming to the viewer. Another recommended film for October, but it really stands alone as a work of art of its own outside the horror genre.

Mario Bava's Kill, Baby... Kill! is one of the best horror movies I've ever seen. Just a master craftsman. Every shot is haunting and beautiful and the story is delightfully macabre. Hugely ahead of its time - definitely a new Halloween must-watch movie for me.

I remember seeing this movie when i was a teen and i was dying of laughter at the outdated special effects (same happened with Suspiria), only recently i've come to appreciate the creepyness and atmosphere. Stupid past me!

Pupi avati's The House with Laughing Windows is another masterwok, if anyone is interested in a movie with a haunting, creeping atmosphere i suggest this a million times

Saw the new Halloween last night. Easily the best sequel, though I didnt care for the ending.

Haha. You get to appreciate how much care and work was put into it now, I imagine. It's so great.

I'll check out House with the Laughing Windows if I can - know where I could see it?

emp, watch bava's black sunday and blood & black lace if you haven't yet.

I saw both a few weeks back, actually. Both pretty interesting, but didn't have the same effect as KBK for me. Black Sunday had the same gorgeous scenery but I thought the story got a lot less interesting in the final act. Blood & Black Lace was a pretty cool giallo though.

Yeah, movies like it require a bit of sensibility and imagination to get fully immersed, two elements that my younger self lacked

Unfortunately i don't know where to find it online...
but if you happen to find it it's well worth your time, if you like a really haunting story centered around sleepy village and it's secrets

House with the Laughing Windows is on YouTube. I haven't seen it yet but I intend to sometime this weekend, the name intrigues me .

Kingdom of Heaven (Director's Cut):
https://www.filmaffinity.com/en/film204716.html


It was GREAT to see Loarre castle and Santa María la Mayor collegiate church in Alquézar having recently been there:
https://viviendoapesardelacrisis.blogspot.com/2018/10/vias-ferratas-y-descenso-de-barrancos.html

The new Halloween starts off kind of lame, but it gets better as it goes on. Great directing, Jamie Lee Curtis kills it, Michael is surprisingly still pretty imposing, and you get some pretty solid kills and scares. Nothing terribly surprising but I had fun. Best one since the original, though admittedly, that isn't at all difficult to do.

Couple of Netflix horror movies today:

The Ritual was better than I expected. I think I had glanced at the reception section of the Wikipedia page for it previously, which is mostly people saying that it was really generic, or I think some quote about it being "too smart to be this dumb" or something like that. Anyway, it's basically a bunch of dudes wandering around through the Scandinavian wilderness getting stalked almost Predator-style by...something...but there's some kind of Blair Witch (minus the found footage) vibes in there, some psychological elements that I liked, a wise decision to keep the monster almost entirely off the screen for most of the duration, and then the final reveal to a really unique and cool/scary creature design. I think it's pretty hard to have a truly satisfying ending to a movie but just thinking about it is having me check over my shoulder just now as I type this, so I'd consider it a success.

Apostle was....something. It's kind of a mess really. Sort of Wicker Man, but maybe with sort of an attempt at a The Witch thing with the heavy handed religious elements in a period movie, but then there are also lots of things about it that make it feel almost like a TV show rather than a movie, and some of the horror elements felt more in line with Silent Hill or Resident Evil than a really atmospheric horror movie. Lots going on, too much probably, and it felt really long. Editing, or, even better, a trimmed-down script could've made this great, but for some reason I went into this one much more hyped (maybe because of how much I liked The Ritual?) but couldn't help but be a little disappointed by how all over the place it was. Definitely worth a watch and far from bad, though.

New Halloween was amazing in every single way, I loved every minute of it. By far one of the best modern horror films and one of the better slasher films in general. I am definitely going to see it more than once in theaters!

I also saw the new Halloween recently, and it felt like an old-school slasher. A good old-school slasher, where we actually gave a fuck if the characters got slashed or not. Good, basic kills and scares kept the whole thing grounded in reality, like the original, and the many call-backs were fun to spot. Rock-solid slasher, for sure.

more or less my sentiments. my only complaint that isn't basically just nitpicking is that I really wish they'd used more of the score. because hot fuck that score slaps.

michael myers just has this presence in the film. you really just feel the evil, and they didn't even have a loomis to hype man him up.