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Comments
This is a Spanish movie. They spoke Spanish and I read subtitles in Spanish. And I watched the whole thing in that format. And I understood.
3. Christine
7. The Fog
9. Secret Window
10. Storm of the Century
13. What You Wish For*
A cursed pond in a remote village is inhabited by supernatural beings that can bring lifegiving water, or disaster.
This Japanese film was made in 1979 and is more of a dark myth/fairytale than outright horror. The first half is more atmospheric and spooky, the second half is more of an ensemble kabuki theater production, with strange costumed creatures and effects. I wanted to like this more, but something about it kept me at a distance, and the kabuki style of acting (particularly by the lead, a man playing a woman) was distracting and occasionally cringeworthy.
I did really enjoy the 70's synth soundtrack, which lent to the off-kilter feel, and some of the costumes seemed like something out of a Japanese Sid & Marty Krofft production. I applaud them for trying something different, and I suspect there's a cultural gap preventing me from connecting with this film. But I won't make excuses for the filmmaker; the language of cinema should be sufficient to at least move the viewer, but in this case it doesn't quite get there.
Weird, unique, fanciful, but not great.
2.5 out of 5 stars.
Bob's October 2024 Horror Movie List
*FTV denotes first-time viewings
1. The Last Voyage of the Demeter 3/5 (FTV)
2. Kwaidan 4.5 (FTV)
3. The Sect 3.5 (FTV)
4. Longlegs 4/5 (FTV)
5. Asylum Blackout 3.5/5 (FTV)
6. The Creeping Flesh 3/5 (FTV)
7. Creature with the Blue Hand 3.5/5 (FTV)
8. November 4/5 (FTV)
9. Eight Eyes 3/5 (FTV)
10. I Walked With A Zombie 4/5
11. The Seventh Victim 4/5
12. Black Death 3.5/5 (FTV)
13. Maniac (1934) 2/5 (FTV)
14. House of Mystery (1934) 2/5 (FTV)
15. My World Dies Screaming 2.5/5 (FTV)
16. The Nightmare Before Christmas 4DX 4/5
17. The She Beast 2.5/5 (FTV)
18. Silent Hill 4/5 (FTV)
19. Demon Pond 2.5/5 (FTV)
Art the Clown is back, along with all his bloody mayhem.
If you’re a fan of the first two movies, you’ll enjoy this one. If you didn’t like the first two, there’s nothing here that’s going to convert you. This series of films has been remarkably consistent, something rare in horror franchises that are usually feeling their way through as it goes along. There’s a cohesive vision that has been executed on (no pun intended).
The acting of the cast here is better than part 2, which I found to be wanting (especially in some of the supporting roles). The lore of the story continues to evolve, but it’s not given an oppressive amount of screen time. The film works best during the sequences with little or no dialogue, and we get more Art but they’re not ruining him with overexposure or one-liners—that’s the advantage of him being silent.
The kills are absolutely top notch, spectacularly gory, and mean-spirited, building on the effects of the first two movies, but with more close-ups and less cutaways. And there’s a cameo from gore effects maestro Tom Savini that appeared to be filmed in Monroeville Mall, site of Dawn of the Dead 1979, and where I was watching this movie!
Gorehounds will smile and laugh, others may shrug and wonder what the fuss is all about, but hey, sometimes Art be like that (see what I did?)
4 out of 5 stars.
Bob's October 2024 Horror Movie List
*FTV denotes first-time viewings
1. The Last Voyage of the Demeter 3/5 (FTV)
2. Kwaidan 4.5 (FTV)
3. The Sect 3.5 (FTV)
4. Longlegs 4/5 (FTV)
5. Asylum Blackout 3.5/5 (FTV)
6. The Creeping Flesh 3/5 (FTV)
7. Creature with the Blue Hand 3.5/5 (FTV)
8. November 4/5 (FTV)
9. Eight Eyes 3/5 (FTV)
10. I Walked With A Zombie 4/5
11. The Seventh Victim 4/5
12. Black Death 3.5/5 (FTV)
13. Maniac (1934) 2/5 (FTV)
14. House of Mystery (1934) 2/5 (FTV)
15. My World Dies Screaming 2.5/5 (FTV)
16. The Nightmare Before Christmas 4DX 4/5
17. The She Beast 2.5/5 (FTV)
18. Silent Hill 4/5 (FTV)
19. Demon Pond 2.5/5 (FTV)
20. Terrifier 3 4/5 (FTV)
this is about as dumb as it comes, but I really enjoyed it. It was like a group of friends got together, got high, and decided to make a movie. It looked like great fun in that way and I applaud them all for just committing to the dumb
3. Christine
7. The Fog
9. Secret Window
10. Storm of the Century
13. What You Wish For*
I’m not a slasher girl. I like smart scares, locked-room scares, twisty things that keep me trying to figure it out. But, reading Bob’s review of 3, I figured I should know that horror world for future trivia questions (that I’ll never remember).
It was gruesomely brutal. When that girl got bone tomahawked, eegads and ouch kabibble.
3. Christine
7. The Fog
9. Secret Window
10. Storm of the Century
13. What You Wish For*
Tourist couple gets stranded on Spanish island populated solely by murderous children.
Predating the Stephen King short story Children of the Corn by at least a year, WCKAC continues the to explore territory already covered in The Bad Seed and Village of the Damned. The film looks great and the setup has potential, but the pacing is s….l…..o……w….It takes a good 50 minutes for the first real scene of action to happen, and by then I was mostly tuned out. Almost everything that should have happened right away happens in the last 15 minutes of the movie.
More troublingly, the film opens with actual footage of dead children from various wars and atrocities throughout history, presented in a dire newsreel fashion but reminiscent of the 70’s exploitative “mondo” film style. Completely tasteless, disrespectful of the victims, and patently offensive. How would you like your dead child to turn up in a horror movie someday? I didn’t think so.
On top of this, the couple (the husband is played by a Donald Sutherland lookalike) makes stupid decision after stupid decision at every turn. So many times they are given the chance to just leave but they keep getting in their own way or talking themselves out of it. And frankly, the children in this movie aren’t menacing or scary, they just are children who look like their day is being interrupted.
A great setup and beautiful cinematography, but a botched execution in the story, character and pacing departments.
2 out of 5 stars.
Bob's October 2024 Horror Movie List
*FTV denotes first-time viewings
1. The Last Voyage of the Demeter 3/5 (FTV)
2. Kwaidan 4.5 (FTV)
3. The Sect 3.5 (FTV)
4. Longlegs 4/5 (FTV)
5. Asylum Blackout 3.5/5 (FTV)
6. The Creeping Flesh 3/5 (FTV)
7. Creature with the Blue Hand 3.5/5 (FTV)
8. November 4/5 (FTV)
9. Eight Eyes 3/5 (FTV)
10. I Walked With A Zombie 4/5
11. The Seventh Victim 4/5
12. Black Death 3.5/5 (FTV)
13. Maniac (1934) 2/5 (FTV)
14. House of Mystery (1934) 2/5 (FTV)
15. My World Dies Screaming 2.5/5 (FTV)
16. The Nightmare Before Christmas 4DX 4/5
17. The She Beast 2.5/5 (FTV)
18. Silent Hill 4/5 (FTV)
19. Demon Pond 2.5/5 (FTV)
20. Terrifier 3 4/5 (FTV)
21. Who Can Kill A Child? (FTV)
nothing wildly exciting here. But entertaining enough to keep my interest.
3. Christine
7. The Fog
9. Secret Window
10. Storm of the Century
13. What You Wish For*
Horror anthology written by Stephen King, directed by George Romero, with special makeup effects by Tom Savini.
I can’t objectively review this movie because it’s one of those films that isn’t just a favorite, it was formative. It came at the right time and kicked off my lifetime obsession with the horror genre. Before this movie I had liked watching the occasional scary film, but this showed me a different way to experience horror in a way no previous film had done to me. It was okay to have fun.
Compulsory viewing for every budding horror fan.
5 out of 5 stars.
Bob's October 2024 Horror Movie List
*FTV denotes first-time viewings
1. The Last Voyage of the Demeter 3/5 (FTV)
2. Kwaidan 4.5 (FTV)
3. The Sect 3.5 (FTV)
4. Longlegs 4/5 (FTV)
5. Asylum Blackout 3.5/5 (FTV)
6. The Creeping Flesh 3/5 (FTV)
7. Creature with the Blue Hand 3.5/5 (FTV)
8. November 4/5 (FTV)
9. Eight Eyes 3/5 (FTV)
10. I Walked With A Zombie 4/5
11. The Seventh Victim 4/5
12. Black Death 3.5/5 (FTV)
13. Maniac (1934) 2/5 (FTV)
14. House of Mystery (1934) 2/5 (FTV)
15. My World Dies Screaming 2.5/5 (FTV)
16. The Nightmare Before Christmas 4DX 4/5
17. The She Beast 2.5/5 (FTV)
18. Silent Hill 4/5 (FTV)
19. Demon Pond 2.5/5 (FTV)
20. Terrifier 3 4/5 (FTV)
21. Who Can Kill A Child? 2/5 (FTV)
22. Creepshow 5/5
Third installment of franchise involving aliens with super-hearing capabilities, this time set on their initial invasion NYC.
Third movies in a franchise don’t have a great record of being any good, and while Day One isn’t completely terrible, no one is going to mistake this for essential viewing. We’ve seen all this done before in the first two installments. No new material or mythology is really explored, aside from one inexplicable scene with how the aliens act when they’re not attacking or hunting. The epic possibilities of a New York City invasion are not really fleshed out completely, and the movie feels claustrophobic when it should be expansive in the city that never sleeps.
Also, while the acting is uniformly excellent, the decision to make the main character a person with a terminal illness (not a spoiler, this is covered in the first scene) is a head-scratching one. Talk about a way to immediately lower the stakes, if we know that regardless of what happens, the person is doomed, then why should we really care about whether they survive the attack? Instead of making this a "here's what happens when someone has nothing left to lose” kind of story, we basically get the same story that was told in the first and second movies, just a different setting. It feels like they’ve already run out of ideas and are just running on fumes.
For a movie called Day One, this feels more like the end of a franchise.
3 out of 5 stars.
Bob's October 2024 Horror Movie List
*FTV denotes first-time viewings
1. The Last Voyage of the Demeter 3/5 (FTV)
2. Kwaidan 4.5 (FTV)
3. The Sect 3.5 (FTV)
4. Longlegs 4/5 (FTV)
5. Asylum Blackout 3.5/5 (FTV)
6. The Creeping Flesh 3/5 (FTV)
7. Creature with the Blue Hand 3.5/5 (FTV)
8. November 4/5 (FTV)
9. Eight Eyes 3/5 (FTV)
10. I Walked With A Zombie 4/5
11. The Seventh Victim 4/5
12. Black Death 3.5/5 (FTV)
13. Maniac (1934) 2/5 (FTV)
14. House of Mystery (1934) 2/5 (FTV)
15. My World Dies Screaming 2.5/5 (FTV)
16. The Nightmare Before Christmas 4DX 4/5
17. The She Beast 2.5/5 (FTV)
18. Silent Hill 4/5 (FTV)
19. Demon Pond 2.5/5 (FTV)
20. Terrifier 3 4/5 (FTV)
21. Who Can Kill A Child? 2/5 (FTV)
22. Creepshow 5/5
23, A Quiet Place: Day One 3/5 (FTV)
3. Christine
7. The Fog
9. Secret Window
10. Storm of the Century
13. What You Wish For*
3. Christine
7. The Fog
9. Secret Window
10. Storm of the Century
13. What You Wish For*
20. Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors
After inheriting an old house in a small town, a television horror movie hostess runs into local friction and a villainous relative with dark plans of his own.
This 1988 movie hits a tone somewhere between Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure and Footloose, with a dash of Doc Hollywood and The Addams Family thrown in. It’s all very much intended to be campy and a bit dopey, but it’s pretty fun and Elvira has the charisma of a modern Mae West with more energy and a dark edge. Sure, there’s lots of double-entendres and puns that will make your eyes roll, but the movie moves quickly and entertainingly, if a bit predictably.
Horror fan comfort food.
3.5 out of 5 stars.
Bob's October 2024 Horror Movie List
*FTV denotes first-time viewings
1. The Last Voyage of the Demeter 3/5 (FTV)
2. Kwaidan 4.5 (FTV)
3. The Sect 3.5 (FTV)
4. Longlegs 4/5 (FTV)
5. Asylum Blackout 3.5/5 (FTV)
6. The Creeping Flesh 3/5 (FTV)
7. Creature with the Blue Hand 3.5/5 (FTV)
8. November 4/5 (FTV)
9. Eight Eyes 3/5 (FTV)
10. I Walked With A Zombie 4/5
11. The Seventh Victim 4/5
12. Black Death 3.5/5 (FTV)
13. Maniac (1934) 2/5 (FTV)
14. House of Mystery (1934) 2/5 (FTV)
15. My World Dies Screaming 2.5/5 (FTV)
16. The Nightmare Before Christmas 4DX 4/5
17. The She Beast 2.5/5 (FTV)
18. Silent Hill 4/5 (FTV)
19. Demon Pond 2.5/5 (FTV)
20. Terrifier 3 4/5 (FTV)
21. Who Can Kill A Child? 2/5 (FTV)
22. Creepshow 5/5
23. A Quiet Place: Day One 3/5 (FTV)
24. Elvira: Mistress of the Dark 3.5/5 (FTV)
Watched two more.
Snowbeast, a made for tv movie, and Blood Tide starring James Earl Jones.
01. The Amityville Horror (1979)
11. Snowbeast (1977)
12. Blood Tide (1982)
3. Christine
7. The Fog
9. Secret Window
10. Storm of the Century
13. What You Wish For*
20. Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors
Woman lost in woods finds herself captive like a pet by a strange group of shadowy beings.
Written and directed by the daughter of The Sixth Sense’s M. Night Shyamalan, The Watchers is a good-looking, polished production and a new take on an old mythology. Much of your enjoyment of this film will come from not knowing certain things, so I’ll do my best not to spoil much, although as you’re watching the film you should be able to figure it out.
And unfortunately that is the film’s greatest weakness, it simply over-explains and re-states things we have already figured out on our own, to the point where you feel like you’re being talked down to. Its as if the filmmaker is terrified that we won’t understand so everything ends up getting spelled out in several ways, often the exact line is repeated. It’s a shame because the setup is good and the atmosphere is beautifully rendered, but apparently the director/writer shares her father’s trait of hamfisted, clumsy over-exposition.
Lower your expectations as the film progresses and you’ll get a good first half at least.
3 out of 5 stars.
Bob's October 2024 Horror Movie List
*FTV denotes first-time viewings
1. The Last Voyage of the Demeter 3/5 (FTV)
2. Kwaidan 4.5 (FTV)
3. The Sect 3.5 (FTV)
4. Longlegs 4/5 (FTV)
5. Asylum Blackout 3.5/5 (FTV)
6. The Creeping Flesh 3/5 (FTV)
7. Creature with the Blue Hand 3.5/5 (FTV)
8. November 4/5 (FTV)
9. Eight Eyes 3/5 (FTV)
10. I Walked With A Zombie 4/5
11. The Seventh Victim 4/5
12. Black Death 3.5/5 (FTV)
13. Maniac (1934) 2/5 (FTV)
14. House of Mystery (1934) 2/5 (FTV)
15. My World Dies Screaming 2.5/5 (FTV)
16. The Nightmare Before Christmas 4DX 4/5
17. The She Beast 2.5/5 (FTV)
18. Silent Hill 4/5 (FTV)
19. Demon Pond 2.5/5 (FTV)
20. Terrifier 3 4/5 (FTV)
21. Who Can Kill A Child? 2/5 (FTV)
22. Creepshow 5/5
23. A Quiet Place: Day One 3/5 (FTV)
24. Elvira: Mistress of the Dark 3.5/5 (FTV)
25. The Watchers 3/5 (FTV)/SIZE]
It was your own little Only Fans. Gratis.
3. Christine
7. The Fog
9. Secret Window
10. Storm of the Century
13. What You Wish For*
20. Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors
22. Someone’s Watching Me*
Foodies invited to an exclusive restaurant on an island get more than they bargained for.
This is a very dark comedy that has an axe to grind with just about everyone, but at its heart it reflects a longing for authenticity that’s in short supply these days. It’s more satire than “ha-ha” funny (although I did laugh out loud a few times) and it’s socially tense, showing the ways we get trapped by our own manners and how we cave to social pressures. It’s the old frog in slowly heated water analogy, by the time it realizes what’s going on, it’s cooked.
At first I thought it was going to be an annoying view because so many of the diners are loathsome people, but then I realized that’s not an accident. Anya Taylor-Joy is the non-foodie audience surrogate, wondering what the heck is wrong with these people. Ralph Fiennes, to no one’s surprise, has incredible presence and depth with his characterization of a chef that is going to extremes. For a movie mostly set in one location, the pacing and tension are excellent and I never felt things dragging. We all have a pretty good sense of what's going to happen, the fun is in seeing how it's going to play out.
Bon appetit!
4 out of 5 stars.
Bob's October 2024 Horror Movie List
*FTV denotes first-time viewings
1. The Last Voyage of the Demeter 3/5 (FTV)
2. Kwaidan 4.5 (FTV)
3. The Sect 3.5 (FTV)
4. Longlegs 4/5 (FTV)
5. Asylum Blackout 3.5/5 (FTV)
6. The Creeping Flesh 3/5 (FTV)
7. Creature with the Blue Hand 3.5/5 (FTV)
8. November 4/5 (FTV)
9. Eight Eyes 3/5 (FTV)
10. I Walked With A Zombie 4/5
11. The Seventh Victim 4/5
12. Black Death 3.5/5 (FTV)
13. Maniac (1934) 2/5 (FTV)
14. House of Mystery (1934) 2/5 (FTV)
15. My World Dies Screaming 2.5/5 (FTV)
16. The Nightmare Before Christmas 4DX 4/5
17. The She Beast 2.5/5 (FTV)
18. Silent Hill 4/5 (FTV)
19. Demon Pond 2.5/5 (FTV)
20. Terrifier 3 4/5 (FTV)
21. Who Can Kill A Child? 2/5 (FTV)
22. Creepshow 5/5
23. A Quiet Place: Day One 3/5 (FTV)
24. Elvira: Mistress of the Dark 3.5/5 (FTV)
25. The Watchers 3/5 (FTV)
26. The Menu 4/5 (FTV)
3. Christine
7. The Fog
9. Secret Window
10. Storm of the Century
13. What You Wish For*
20. Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors
22. Someone’s Watching Me*
3. Christine
7. The Fog
9. Secret Window
10. Storm of the Century
13. What You Wish For*
20. Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors
22. Someone’s Watching Me*
Wealthy anthropologist becomes a vampire and teams up with the wife of his first victim.
This is an early 1970’s film starring Duane Jones of Night of the Living Dead fame. It is sometimes referred to as a “blaxpoloitation” film but it not only stars black actors, it was written and directed by black playright Bill Gunn. The movie has more the feel of an art film than an exploitation piece—one gets the feeling that Mr. Gunn was resisting all notions of simply giving the audience what they expected of a “black vampire” film.
The film was originally released to some critical acclaim but initially had poor box office returns, so a greatly shortened cut was released that took the 113 minute film down to a mere 78. However, in my opinion the 113 minute film has several scenes that go on far too long that don’t really contribute to the overall plot, particularly the extended church scene in the final act. I haven’t seen the 78 minute cut but I suspect it removes some of the more artsy but meandering scenes. The film as it stands is a notable take on the genre, it just has some pacing issues and unfortunately the audio is poor.
Duane Jones is one cool vampire, though.
3 out of 5 stars.
Bob's October 2024 Horror Movie List
*FTV denotes first-time viewings
1. The Last Voyage of the Demeter 3/5 (FTV)
2. Kwaidan 4.5 (FTV)
3. The Sect 3.5 (FTV)
4. Longlegs 4/5 (FTV)
5. Asylum Blackout 3.5/5 (FTV)
6. The Creeping Flesh 3/5 (FTV)
7. Creature with the Blue Hand 3.5/5 (FTV)
8. November 4/5 (FTV)
9. Eight Eyes 3/5 (FTV)
10. I Walked With A Zombie 4/5
11. The Seventh Victim 4/5
12. Black Death 3.5/5 (FTV)
13. Maniac (1934) 2/5 (FTV)
14. House of Mystery (1934) 2/5 (FTV)
15. My World Dies Screaming 2.5/5 (FTV)
16. The Nightmare Before Christmas 4DX 4/5
17. The She Beast 2.5/5 (FTV)
18. Silent Hill 4/5 (FTV)
19. Demon Pond 2.5/5 (FTV)
20. Terrifier 3 4/5 (FTV)
21. Who Can Kill A Child? 2/5 (FTV)
22. Creepshow 5/5
23. A Quiet Place: Day One 3/5 (FTV)
24. Elvira: Mistress of the Dark 3.5/5 (FTV)
25. The Watchers 3/5 (FTV)
26. The Menu 4/5 (FTV)
27. Ganja and Hess 3/5 (FTV)
Newlywed couple discover the husband’s cousin is a voodoo priestess who commands a zombie to get fresh victims for her rituals.
The film opens with a newlywed couple going to a strip club and bringing home a strange woman on their honeymoon night(!) Don’t worry, nothing happens. I mean literally nothing. The zombie itself (there’s just one) looks a bit like Tommy Wisseau or Alice Cooper wearing yellowish makeup and a tuxedo. He moves so slowly I found myself shouting at the screen to hurry up, as if he could hear me. One scene consisted of the zombie walking into an empty room, looking side to side, and walking up a staircase one step at a time. This scene took about 2 full minutes. And the whole movie is only 68 minutes long! It felt like 68 hours.
This 1961 release is hyped as being “the first zombie film in color”, as if it is of some historical importance, but that’s literally all it has to offer. The film isn’t just bad, it isn’t even just laughably bad, it’s absolutely terrible. Every scene is shot in a flat, overlit static shot at the same distance. The acting is ranges from monotone wooden to grating, the plot is unnecessarily overwritten and dialog heavy, and there are many long scenes that consist of just voodoo drumming or bad jazz music where nothing else is happening. Actors stand still and wait as the zombie approaches them when they could simply run away or fight. Lines are repeated over and over. The result is an endurance test that will either enrage you, or put you to sleep.
They must think we’ll watch anything. Oh wait, I just did.
1 out of 5 stars.
Bob's October 2024 Horror Movie List
*FTV denotes first-time viewings
1. The Last Voyage of the Demeter 3/5 (FTV)
2. Kwaidan 4.5 (FTV)
3. The Sect 3.5 (FTV)
4. Longlegs 4/5 (FTV)
5. Asylum Blackout 3.5/5 (FTV)
6. The Creeping Flesh 3/5 (FTV)
7. Creature with the Blue Hand 3.5/5 (FTV)
8. November 4/5 (FTV)
9. Eight Eyes 3/5 (FTV)
10. I Walked With A Zombie 4/5
11. The Seventh Victim 4/5
12. Black Death 3.5/5 (FTV)
13. Maniac (1934) 2/5 (FTV)
14. House of Mystery (1934) 2/5 (FTV)
15. My World Dies Screaming 2.5/5 (FTV)
16. The Nightmare Before Christmas 4DX 4/5
17. The She Beast 2.5/5 (FTV)
18. Silent Hill 4/5 (FTV)
19. Demon Pond 2.5/5 (FTV)
20. Terrifier 3 4/5 (FTV)
21. Who Can Kill A Child? 2/5 (FTV)
22. Creepshow 5/5
23. A Quiet Place: Day One 3/5 (FTV)
24. Elvira: Mistress of the Dark 3.5/5 (FTV)
25. The Watchers 3/5 (FTV)
26. The Menu 4/5 (FTV)
27. Ganja and Hess 3/5 (FTV)
28. The Dead One 1/5 (FTV)