Horror RECOMMENDATION or WARNING Thread: It's Alive!

Let's get spooky.

Finally got my wife to watch Midsommar last night, and she actually liked it. Success! Just told her to take a deep breath through the first 10mins stuff (no spoilers…but I knew that would be a tough section for her), and then she’d probably like the weird/crazy of the rest of it. She liked it so much, that not only does she randomly keep talking about it, but she also wants to see some more A24 movies. Should be a good next few weeks of movie watching around here.

I think I prefer Midsommar to Hereditary, but I go back-and-forth on those two.

Yup, I think I like Midsommar just a hair more myself, now that I’ve seen both twice.

Reposting these thoughts from the TC thread:

You Won't Be Alone is a fairly-bloody slice of existentialism and transcendentalism that Terrence Malik would enjoy. Some people in my theater didn't seem to enjoy it, but I thought it was a pretty nice change of pace from what most horror films offer. The film reminded me of Under the Skin since both find affirmations of life through bad acts, even if the presentations are completely different.

We're All Going to the World's Fair is another arthouse venture. This one has been staying with me, and I get the feeling we'll be talking about it for a long time. On the surface, the film talks about how the Internet has changed us and how being too online can be dangerous on multiple levels. Dig deeper, though, and there's an argument that the film is less a horror film and more an examination on gender and claiming agency to the point that desperate people who tried to label one's story will just have to finish up in even more pathetic fashions. I can't get into my thoughts too drastically without spoilers, but this film really has its own vibe and says a lot about isolation and zoomers.

I caught We're All Going to the World's Fair at a festival back in the fall. I wasn't as enamored with it as a lot of others were, but it's a solid flick and I'm glad it's finally seen release.

I would definitely recommend a second viewing of We're All Going to the World's Fair. I saw the film with a friend who had already seen it and barely liked it initially. But, he couldn't get the film out of his head, and he got a lot more out of it on that second viewing. A lounge conversation with him helped me from my opinions on it.

I think there's a lot to take away from it, both as a horror film and as a zoomer examination.

Watched Snatchers last night and it's... ok. Girl pops her cherry, wakes up next morning 9 months pregnant with an alien kiddo.

Seems like it's trying too hard sometimes, and according to IMDB it's a short, a TV series and a film?!

Does have the feel of a short stretched out, but some nice gore and I did chuckle a couple times.

I liked, but did not love, Snatchers. The script was subpar, but I recall the actors being pretty game for its ridiculous premise and the creature FX work was solid.

I caught a triple feature of horror flicks at my favorite theater a few days ago, including two presented through 35mm prints.

First up was Hatching, a new Finnish flick with some pretty impressive creature effects.  I think mileage will vary on this one, but I think it's fine.  Repressed trauma, fake social media presences and a rocky relationship between a mother and daughter coalesce well enough.  Knowing a thing or two about how birds imprint on parents (including humans sometimes) certainly helps.

Then, the theater did an interesting double feature (patrons only had to purchase one ticket) of zombie films that aren't actually zombie films.

I missed 28 Days Later... in theaters during its initial run, so this screening was pretty cool.  My opinion on this one has definitely risen.  I remember having problems initially with the militarized ending, but it worked much better for me this time around.  Danny Boyle finds real beauty throughout the film, and juxtaposes that with the ugliness of the air-borne virus and what remains of humanity.  How ironic is it that this non-zombie film inspired so many zombie-fied films/television series/video games in the ensuing years?

The other half was Pontypool, which has rarely screened in theaters.  The curator explained how the film was an early example of VOD, and when he wanted to screen it at an earlier theater he worked at, IFC was a little surprised by the request.  I'd seen this one before, but I relished a chance to see this small film on the biggest screen.  I prefer 28 Days Later..., but Pontypool is more original.  This one commentates on language, pointing out that conversation and literacy are already dumbed down without some virus taking effect - and a shock jock having to consider his job in real time is pretty damn clever.  The crowd sort of dissipated after the first film, but those who remained definitely got into this one.  Too bad more people haven't seen it.

Here are some interviews with the creature team behind Hatching:

https://www.inverse.com/entertainment/gustav-hoegen-conor-osullivan-interview-hatching-alien-star-wars

I'm looking forward to that one, although I'm guessing I'll have to catch it on VOD. I'll be surprised if it hits my area theaters.

Knowing Joe Bob, the "separated by 30 years" clue is probably misleading. I'm hoping for Mistress of the Dark with Elvira as a special guest.

Oh baby, my first post in the NEW horror recommendation thread is about... a rewatch of the THIRTEEN GHOSTS remake.

I was not into the Dark Castle stuff when they first came out, but I kinda feel like that initial batch of movies - HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL, THIRTEEN GHOSTS, GHOST SHIP, HOUSE OF WAX - has aged really well. It feels like there's a really distinct house style in play; lots of weird editing and dutch angles, almost reminds me of Raimi-lite.

THIRTEEN GHOSTS itself is pretty fun. All the designs of the individual ghosts look really cool, and I love these weird intricate sets. Its gorier than I remember too; PG13 in my memory, but the movie goes pretty hard.

HP Pufncraft wrote:

Knowing Joe Bob, the "separated by 30 years" clue is probably misleading. I'm hoping for Mistress of the Dark with Elvira as a special guest.

He's never exact with those things either. I know last week people were combing through loads of 1982 horror titles trying to figure out with the "40th anniversary" movie would be and then it ended up being a 1980 film.

So that "30 years" could really be anything from 26-34 years apart.

I was able to catch a special online screening today of George A. Romero's lost 1994 short film Jacaranda Joe today, along with a panel of guest speakers that including a Romero historian and three people who worked on the project (which Romero did with a college film program in Florida).

It's 17 minutes long and basically would have been the opening to a feature, had he'd even been able to secure funding to finish it. It's a combination of a TV program and found footage about a Bigfoot sighting in central Florida. Sort of like a cross between WNUF Halloween Special and The Blair Witch Project, if you're wanting a glimpse at the tone. It's honestly pretty good and I really wish he'd been able to finish it. Hell, I wish someone would figure out a way to finish it now.

Hopefully it will get some sort of public release in the near future, just like The Amusement Park did. Anyway, it was nice to see yet another unknown slice of Romero cinema.

Apologies if this was discussed on TC, but watched The Wolf of Snow Hollow last night. Expectations were pretty level/low, given that it was an indie feature ostensibly about werewolves (I feel like the track record for good werewolf movies, especially indies, is not great.)

I was on board for most of the 85 minute run time. Good production value - it felt like every dime was onscreen, in terms of locations, visuals, camera work - and a game cast. Jim Cummings is something of a double threat: directed and starred, and the guy has real presence and some fantastic comedic chops. I won't say triple threat as the writing was somewhat all over the place (like the tone); despite being under 90 minutes, the movie never felt all that cohesive or unified. Cummings' character John Marshall was too often unlikeable to keep us on his side (the movie's coda wisely seems to imply he's no longer a cop) but the story, as executed, doesn't really work as a metaphor or analogy for addiction or anger issues.

The ending was, IMNSHO, terrible. I was quite disappointed to learn the werewolf was literally just a guy in suit. I think if the film had done a better job giving Marshall a more satisfying arc and had done a better job drawing parallels it wouldn't have bothered me (as much). As it is, it just felt like a cop out and a deflation of everything that had come before.

Wondering if Werewolves Within and/or The Cursed are better than this.

Can't speak for Cursed, Werewolves Within was fun but VERY slight.

Depth is great but at this point I'd settle for something cohesive with actual werewolves (and good creature effects).

THE CURSED does some pretty weird stuff with the transformations and the lore. If you're looking for creature effects, you might want to give it a shot. Still don't think its great, but its definitely an interesting approach.

I enjoyed WEREWOLVES WITHIN, but I gotta agree with Max - 'slight' is the perfect way to describe it. But its pleasant enough.

Dock Fight wrote:

Depth is great but at this point I'd settle for something cohesive with actual werewolves (and good creature effects).

Eh, this edges around spoiler territory so I'll just say it's definitely cohesive but as far as werewolf action goes, it's not exactly Dog Soldiers.

The first movie on The Last Drive-In tonight is Black Sunday. Classic Bava.

Second movie is....Def by Temptation? That's a witch movie? Okay Joe Bob.

Doing a chronological John Carpenter watch through with my wife, and next up is Prince Of Darkness. Everything we’ve watched so far she has already seen, but it’ll be interesting to see how she feels about a few of these upcoming movies of his.

ArcadeJimmy wrote:

Doing a chronological John Carpenter watch through with my wife, and next up is Prince Of Darkness.  Everything we’ve watched so far she has already seen, but it’ll be interesting to see how she feels about a few of these upcoming movies of his.

If MEMOIRS OF AN INVISIBLE MAN - a movie I do enjoy - wasn't stuck in the middle, I'd say this might be the best stretch of his filmography, quality-wise. PRINCE OF DARKNESS, THEY LIVE, and MOUTH OF MADNESS are all stone cold masterpieces.

I’ve never actually been a huge Carpenter fan, although I do enjoy most of his movies. I’m looking forward to revisiting those three that you mentioned specifically, because they are probably the three or so that I’ve watched maybe only once in my life.