A scary thing happened on the way to the Movie Forums - Horrorcrammers
 

Hey all! If you don't know me I'm Deschain from the old Rotten Tomatoes forum and more recently the Correrieno, which just closed down.

This is a thread for everything horror and the people who love them. So welcome!

I'll post the rest of my horror reviews for this month in here.

Welcome to MoFo! I noticed we had an influx of new members and one of them also mentioned Correrieno. What was Correrieno? I did a quick internet search but couldn't find it.

Re: A scary thing happened on the way to the Movie Forums - Horrorcram
 

I cram horror all through October. Some stuff I watched in the last few days:

Dr. Sleep was really good and pretty close to the book. The movie ups the member berries which is mildly annoying but it doesn't impact the enjoyment too much.

Doom Annihilation was pretty subpar in all elements especially the acting, sets, and special effects. I heard this was bad but I'm a Doom fan so I checked it out anyway. It could have been fine if it was a little more competently made. The script is literally just Aliens with a Doom skin on it so I didn't think it'd be that hard to do. And how do you have a Doom movie without Doom Guy?

Revenge was damn good. Very simple and straightforward and more of a thriller than a horror but definitely effective. And I loved how much blood there was in this.

In Search of Darkness, a four and a half hour documentary on '80s horror, was definitely fluffy and nostalgic but not much else. And with it's desire to cram in as many movies as possible they don't dive too deep into any of them.

Downrange was surprisingly pretty good. Found this browsing on Shudder and it kept me engaged throughout. The acting is pretty bad but it's intense and gory and kept me guessing the whole way through.

The Furies was one I heard was real good but was kinda disappointed. It all felt so basic and done before. Also all the women were supposed to be like high school aged but felt way older which was a little confusing.

It's a relatively obscure movie forum several of us here posted at. I've posted at this place a bit in the past (you may or may not remember me), but never stuck around for some reason. Since Corrierino is closed down though, I plan to post here a lot more.

Thanks! it was a very small forum a bunch of us navigated to after the Rotten Tomatoes forums went down. It was run by a former RTer too who I think forgot it even existed for a while until he shut it down like 3 days ago.

Re: A scary thing happened on the way to the Movie Forums - Horrorcram
 

Hey, cool, welcome. I remember RT from way back in the day, I was a regular there maybe 15-16 years ago.

Yeah, harder and harder to find longform forum/movie discussion. Glad you found us. Looking forward to seeing good horror recs/thoughts in this thread.

Re: A scary thing happened on the way to the Movie Forums - Horrorcram
 

I gotta say, if we are to stay here, we need to know the situation here. How solid is this? I mean, we need assurances.

Thanks! And the thread is for everyone to discuss horror not just me. :)

I offer you no assurance and hazy threats in response to the question.

Welcome!

Seriously, though, thanks

Neat. I USED to love the RT forums. I don't remember much of it at all at this point, but I remember things took a turn for the worse (IMO), when forums on specific movies were consolidated into some generic catchall forum. I spent less and less time there as a result of the restructure as it became more difficult to find the threads I wanted, then one day I heard it was gone completely. I find it easy enough to learn an existing structure or logic but difficult to re-learn once that structure changes as dramatically as I remember it being at the time. Sad. I actually wrote a few reviews back then. Not so much anymore. I hate that I have not learned of Correrieno before now.

Anyhoo. Welcome to the forums, to all of you (and welcome back to one of you?), now that you're all popping in to this thread. Just a nice trick bank shot to get this out all at once :)

Also, horror stuff. @cat_sidhe

Thanks! And yeah, I've been here a bit in the past. Just never stuck around that long. Kind of wish I did, but now's the time to rectify that.

I'm digging that name btw. lol

Thanks. I used "Popcorn Reviews" at RT and Corrie, but might as well have a different name lol.

Right?? Talk about abandonment issues, jeez. I'm not unpacking any of these boxes just yet.

Hi, I too am a Rotten Tomatoes and Corrierino refugee. Nice forum you have here.

Here are some short assessments of the horror movies I've watched so far this month:

Razorback - Probably the best Russell Mulcahy (Highlander, Ricochet) work I've seen so far. You could describe it as Jaws with a pig, but it has its own unique style and visuals. There's a surreal sequence in the middle that will make you check what's in your drink. The humans are a bit more scarier than the pig, however.

Overlord - It's labeled as a horror movie, but it's not that scary. It's still a very entertaining World War II action flick. If you loathed Pilou Asbaek in Game of Thrones, you'll really do so in this.

The Monster (2016) - If darkness and claustrophobia are what get your heart racing, this movie will do just that. Zoe Kazan and young newcomer Ella Ballentine and give very good performances. There are a quite a few flashbacks, which I'm not always a fan of, but movie places them at just the right times and each one provides meaningful character development.

The Skull - If you're a Peter Cushing fan, you'll love it. It's very close to being a one-man Peter Cushing show. He is scarily convincing as someone who has lost touch with reality and who has let his obsession with dark and disturbing collectibles take over his life (let that be warning to you, just kidding).

Hardware - Even if you've seen all the killer robot movies from Screamers to all the Terminators, you should still check it out. It has an atmosphere that expertly captures the hopelessness of dystopian life and the claustrophobia and grimness of being in what might as well be the last intact apartment building on Earth. What's more, it has a hilariously creepy performance from William Hootkins (Red 6 from Star Wars).

The Void - Disappointing, but I still recommend it for its visuals and performances. My main problem with it is that it combines the one-location thriller like Assault on Precinct 13 with sci-fi horror like The Thing and the malformed connective tissue between the two left me with too many unanswered questions to become fully involved.

Wes Craven's New Nightmare - It's probably my third favorite Nightmare on Elm Street behind Dream Warriors and the first one. Not much else to say about it other than I loved to see people like John Saxon and Wes Craven himself play small roles in it. It's also surprisingly similar to David Lynch's Inland Empire.

Near Dark - I already discussed it in the other horror thread, but again, it's one of the best vampire movies I've ever seen. It plays a bit fast and loose with vampire rules, so if you're a vampire purist, it may not be your cup of blood...err...tea.

Also, what do you all eat or drink while Horrorcramming? I've been drinking Howling Gourds Pumpkin Ale, which I like, although the vanilla sometimes overwhelms the pumpkin spice flavor.

Just some plain old boring hot chocolate for me. Pumpkin Ale sounds good though.

Definitely G&T today (very long day at work) as I try to source something truly brutal for my nighttime viewing. Was going to try Saint Maude, but that could prove too mild.

Also, I might as well repost the first two horror summaries I wrote this month here since I wrote them before the great Corrie migration:

Cat People (1942) - 7/10



Deep Red (1975) - 7/10

Cool and Welcome to all of you refugees🙂

MoFo is an awesome place! We do lots of group activities here and you guys are more than welcomed to join in.

Pfff, blood, of course.

https://images6.fanpop.com/image/pho...32-400-190.gif

Great reviews! The Deep Red Goblin soundtrack has stayed with me forever.

Thanks! Regarding the soundtrack, though I found it intrusive to the atmosphere in the film, I've yet to listen to it by itself, so that may enhance my enjoyment of that aspect. Who knows. Regarding Argento, Suspiria took a few viewings for me to fall in love with it so the same may happen with this film.

So Brits still drink those, eh?

Re: A scary thing happened on the way to the Movie Forums - Horrorcram
 

Drat, you just missed the start of the MoFo Halloween Challenge. Can still jump in, but would have some catching up to do!

Welcome to MoFo!

https://media.giphy.com/media/tze1mGedykiuk/giphy.gif

I think we've been in the Horrorcram for, what 15 years? Glad you've resurrected it.

Just keep it away from any small children throwing flowers in the river.

Not that many Brits, but I do.

Oh **** Tak is here!


Also being on the last two dead forums it’s nice to meet some new blood so thanks for the welcomes from all you.

Just checked and Corrierino is officially gone. Sank beneath the waves.


Watched The Ghoul last night. It's a 1933 Karloff film that he made in England after a falling out with Universal over money. Pretty good actually. He plays an Egyptologist named Henry Morlant who is convinced that a jewel called The Eternal Light will grant him immortality if he is buried with it. That's when a plethora of thieves come out of the woodwork to try and steal it. The cast includes a couple of future "Sirs", Ralph Richardson and Cedric Hardwicke and Ernest Thesiger (Dr. Pretorious from The Bride of Frankenstein) The plot does a decent enough job of combining "the old dark house" genre of horror with elements of The Mummy and a bit of drawing room mystery. (80 out of 100)

Re: A scary thing happened on the way to the Movie Forums - Horrorcram
 

Another RT/Corrierino refugee here. Starting to work on my Hooptober 7 list, probably with either The Invisible Man Returns or Bride of Frankenstein tonight.

Odds are that I'll pop up from time to time here, especially during this month or when someone's discussing a film I've seen and can remember.

Re: A scary thing happened on the way to the Movie Forums - Horrorcram
 

Joining in as a RT and Correrieno Horrorcram refugee, glad to see familiar faces and get my horror movie recommendations and fun quotient filled.

Prelude (1927)
Guy falls asleep while reading Poe's The Premature Burial and listening to Rachmaninoff's Prelude. Nightmares ensue. :up:
https://youtu.be/Zru1Fi0yxq0

Saw this last year, but I wasn't a fan. Felt a bit draggy, but it's always nice to see Karloff.

I can see that. But I've seen plenty of other old timey horror flicks that moved slow. It had just enough humor to tip it into the favorable column. Besides, in honor of Halloween I've been watching horror movies and some of them have been real dogs. Started Creature from the Haunted Sea but bailed out after a few minutes. I'd already seen it so I figured why be a masochist about it.

Re: A scary thing happened on the way to the Movie Forums - Horrorcram
 

I'm a huge fan of Nordic horror.

Re: A scary thing happened on the way to the Movie Forums - Horrorcram
 

I watched Sam Was Here which had a very Twilight Zone/Black Mirror vibe except it wasn’t very good and kinda nonsensical.

I also watched Random Acts of Violence directed by Jay Baruchel which was a little too convoluted and far fetched for its own good. But man the violence was brutal.

Re: A scary thing happened on the way to the Movie Forums - Horrorcram
 

Also, what do you all eat or drink while Horrorcramming?

For tonight, it's a Troegenator Doublebock (strong and medium brown) and The Thing, a truly terrific movie, one of Carpenter's best.

While I still prefer to post on the 24 FPS board back over on Kateland for the time being, this place still seems pretty good, so I'll be keeping an eye on it.

20 years of assurance. :yup:

We are going to absorb them all!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GODDLgM1gKo
Like The Blob!

I rewatched Midsommer and just kind of imagined Epistemophobia in the Christian role.

Haven't seen much, but have you seen the Dead Snow films? They're far from great, but they're fun.

What serious Vincent Price horror movies do you recommend? I say serious because I've seen The Abominable Dr. Phibes, The Raven and Comedy of Terrors, each of which I liked, but I'm ready to see him in scary mode rather than funny mode. I have seen House on Haunted Hill.

I didn't post often in the old Horrorcram but it was a great place to find new things so watch, so I'll just tag along here if y'all don't mind.

Witchfinder General is Price at his most serious. If that's not available, Pit and the Pendulum is a good one.

Thanks, I'll check them out. I thought that's what I was getting with The Raven, but as soon as I heard the bird speak like a New York cab driver, I knew I should have done more research. It's still a lot of fun, especially since a young Jack Nicholson is in it.

Yes. I have seen many from Norway. I am a fan of Nordic cinema overall.

I have seen horror from smaller European countries too. Most are rare finds.

I enjoy other types of "horror" such as obscure German and Hungarian films.

I have a site that I use that has some pretty sick sh*t there.

Putting aside the "serious" label, if you're a Vincent Price fan, you must see Theatre of Blood. It has Price at his hammiest.

Have you seen "Dragonwyck"? Its considered a Goth horror. He's serious in that film.

Phantasm II -

The Tall Man is up to his usual tricks, but this time, Mike and Reggie do not approach his latest mortuary as Sherlock and Watson like they did in the first movie. This time, they go in Tango and Cash style. Along for the ride are Liz, to whom Mike is psychically linked, and the mysterious hitchhiker Alchemy. The things that made Phantasm a classic from the Tall Man to his undead minions to those terrifying spheres are back and the action features improvised weaponry on par with The Evil Dead's Ash Williams' handiwork. Speaking of usual tricks, except for a deadlier sphere and a bigger special effects budget, the movie doesn't reveal anything more about the Tall Man, his plans, his home dimension, etc. I'm all for a little mystery, but some more character and world building would have been nice. Still, it's a blast, a hoot and a satisfying continuation of the series.

I just watched the first "Evil Dead" on VHS, a great movie to watch in that format, it looks and feels the way it's supposed to!


Overall funny and scary. The greatest part being what their girlfriends turn into.

Re: A scary thing happened on the way to the Movie Forums - Horrorcram
 

Hello, Rock here. I too am seeking refuge with my former RT/Corrierino countrymen.


I am fresh off of a second viewing of White Zombie, which I quite liked the first time I saw it and enjoyed it even more the second time around. It reminded me of Vampyr in how it exists in an eerie dream state between silent and sound film. Bela Lugosi's performance has a way of getting under your skin. Has any other actor used his otherness to such unsettling effect?

Re: A scary thing happened on the way to the Movie Forums - Horrorcram
 

Welcome new people. I'm trying to work my way through a stack of public library rentals and still view streaming choices before October ends.

I am here.
The Horrorcram lives and my cold heart is warmed.
Wonderful to see you all again.

Re: A scary thing happened on the way to the Movie Forums - Horrorcram
 

Wooley made it here??

https://media.giphy.com/media/l46CbA...0s2A/giphy.gif

Sorry, man.

Re: A scary thing happened on the way to the Movie Forums - Horrorcram
 

Good to see so many of us migrating here.

Agreed. Let's just hope that Thief and Wooley can make amends.

It's always nice to see some fresh names. :D

And horror aficionados to boot. Yeah, you lot are alright in my book. Welcome!

@Yoda doesn't put up with sh*t here. They start trouble, he has no problem with that Ban hammer. Its just like Thor's!!

In fact, all of us despise each other's guts with a fiery passion. That we've stayed together for so long is a complete mystery.

Are you trying to be sarcastic?

Yes.

We've all been posting together for quite a while. Some of us have been forum buddies for almost 20 years.

The smack talk is all in jest.

Don't like sarcasm.

Re: A scary thing happened on the way to the Movie Forums - Horrorcram
 

I have been here far longer than any of you.

Re: A scary thing happened on the way to the Movie Forums - Horrorcram
 

Let’s not create conflict where none yet exists.

That said, I do try to cultivate respect through crippling fear whenever possible, so I still support the sentiment.

Just to point out, none of us actually have vendettas towards each other. All our jabs towards each other are in good fun.

Ow! My feelings!

Re: A scary thing happened on the way to the Movie Forums - Horrorcram
 

I just watched Horror Noire, a documentary about black people in horror. This was real good, I learned a lot while being entertained throughout. I liked that in addition to traditional talking heads they paired up some of the people and just let them have conversations with each other about the movies. For example Ken Foree and Keith David jawing was especially delightful. The doc kind of uses Get Out as sort of a framing device too and I’m all for as much Get Out as possible.

Re: A scary thing happened on the way to the Movie Forums - Horrorcram
 

There is a good reason that Don’t Look Now so rarely feels as if it is a horror film. It is much too concerned with going about its daily business as if nothing terrible actually happened. Opening with a traumatic turn of events that will lead to the image of Donald Sutherland rising from some primordial pool of water with the body of his drowned daughter in his arms, face dripping with an anguished howl, it will only be a brief acknowledgement of the terror that lives at the heart of this film. By the next scene he will be busy at work, seemingly unaffected as if we have skipped over the entirety of the grieving process. The child is simply gone, as if his memories of her have been loaded down with stones and allowed to sink out of view, back to where he found her.

It’s in this twilight of emotion that Don’t Look Now resides. It seems to deeply understand one of the great horrors that comes with living through a traumatic event: that no matter how devastating it is, it will never be enough to stop the next day from coming. The shops on your street will keep opening every morning, and the same faces will still be found at the bus stop waiting to begin their morning commute. If you turn on your television, the local weatherman will somehow still see a future to forecast. Maybe with rain, but also maybe not. And as the night comes, if you look up at any window, you may find the light of other lives still daring to be lived shining down at you. It’s almost as if your pain is entirely irrelevant. At least until you realize that you too have continued going on, and whatever has hurt you, has now gotten behind you. Even if you don’t think it has any right to be back there.

Life will never entirely return to normal though, a lesson Sutherland’s character will slowly learn while trying to distract himself restoring churches in Venice. These memories he has tried to bury are what haunt the film, constantly rising in his conscience like a body rising to the surface of the water that drowned it. His past, no matter how painful, is always nearby, rippling just beneath the life he is trying to busy himself with. And as both Sutherland’s present and future also become tangled into the mix of director Roeg’s elliptical editing style, the world that surrounds him seems to become an echo of that howl of anguish he let loose in the opening moments of the film: growing fainter but returning again and again and again.

Even during moments that release him and his wife from this trauma (particularly in one of the most intimate of any love scene ever filmed by two A list actors willing to maybe actually hump on screen), will be intruded upon by scenes from the near future where they are already dressing and moving on from this tenderness. It’s as if the hope of ever living in the moment has been erased for them. They will forever be lost contemplating the fragmented shards of their inescapable memories and recoiling from their equally inescapable future.

How startling it will be then, that in a film where the past has been treated as an undertow one cannot swim themselves free from, and the future seems irrevocably fated, that we will be hit with a moment that exists almost breathlessly in the Present. There will be little preparation for absorbing its impact. Or for the audience to fully grasp what they’ve seen. It will just happen to them, and then they will be ushered out into the cold hard light of the lobby, unable to reconcile when the film they were watching suddenly became so frightening. In this way, the horror of Don’t Look Now will be delivered to those who watch it like their own personal trauma. One they can take the time to decipher, or instead bury deep inside of them, only to come face to face with it again sometime in the future of their nightmares.

Great analysis.

I just recommended this to someone to watch and she LOVED it.

Exactly what you say here--the horrible space between normal and not-normal, where it almost makes sense to see visions or have other experiences. And the otherworldly setting is perfect.

Viy (1967) -

While this film didn't impress me as much as I hoped it would, I still appreciated a decent bit about it and I may revisit it in the future. While its story was fine, I found myself mostly taken in by its mood. Through a combination of dream-like lighting effects, colors, and camera angles, Yershov and Kropachyov crafted a handful of sensually pleasing sequences. The highlight of this was a magnificent monster sequence near the end which is so impressive, it makes you wonder whether you're still watching the same film. Certain bits of it could be argued as cheesy, but the high level of craft in that sequence made it stick out as one of the best things I've seen in a horror film in a while. With that being said, however, I couldn't help but feel unsatisfied after the credits rolled. A few reviews I've read argued that this film doesn't get going until the second half, but I couldn't help but feel as if everything was build-up towards the night three sequence, which was one of the only scenes I loved when I rewatched it. This film reminded me of my experience with Battleship Potemkin. I liked a decent bit of it well enough (though I found some parts to be a slog), but primarily loved just the Odessa Steps sequence. Like Battleship Potemkin, I somewhat enjoyed my time with a lot of this film, but the one sequence I loved had me wishing that more of the film could've been that great. When rewatching the film, I found myself less invested in what came before the night three sequence and somewhat impatient as I waited for it.

Never got the notification for this!


And to everyone wanting assurances, this site has been going for 20 years. Enough of a reassurance for you? :)

Re: A scary thing happened on the way to the Movie Forums - Horrorcram
 

I dunno I think that means we're due for a collapse. Rome fell et cetera.

Re: A scary thing happened on the way to the Movie Forums - Horrorcram
 

Just saw the finale of Lovecraft Country, not sure if anyone else has been watching. It was fine, but at least for me the series seemed at it's strongest when it was playing into the history and racial tensions rather than the supernatural. Most of those subplots got resolved in the penultimate episode so this was left wrapping up the supernatural parts so while not bad it felt a bit of a whimper compared to the previous couple episodes. I found the show to be a little inconsistent in quality but it's highs were good enough to make me glad I watched it.

Re: A scary thing happened on the way to the Movie Forums - Horrorcram
 

I just had two stinkers in a row with Revolt of the Zombies (Victor Halperin's vastly inferior follow-up to White Zombie) and Paganini Horror (which is nowhere near as cool as its title) but did watch the 1934 version of The Black Cat last night, which turned out to be the best thing I've seen so far this month, so I guess it kind of evened out.


For your reference, the poster for Paganini Horror:


https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...89_film%29.jpg

Oh yeah, Paganini Horror is quite bad. I watched it last year for the Halloween challenge and wrote this:

I just watched The Hunt. Tonedeaf attempt at political satire aside this actually made me laugh a few times. It’s incredibly stupid and I don’t think it even knows what it’s trying to say but it was entertaining.

It's exciting to see such an influx of fresh blood, especially with so many of you being horror fans. A shame none of you were here when we redid our MoFo Horror Countdown last year.

I never posted on the RT forums, but I used to lurk on occasion and I recognize some of the usernames. Hopefully you all enjoy your new home. The community here is strong and there's a wide range of ages, tastes and personalities. We also have a lot of group activities, like Hall of Fames, where participants nominate a film for other members to watch and review. (Check out the Ongoing Tournaments & Brackets sub-forum in the Games and Tabs section for relevant examples.) A lot of new members never seem to venture from the General Movie Discussion, but there's a lot more to the forum than that section. We'll soon be updating our All-Time Top 100, and I encourage all of you to participate. We average two countdowns a year (usually a genre specific countdown followed by a decade countdown), and they're a big event around here . . . second only to our wet and messy orgies.

Re: A scary thing happened on the way to the Movie Forums - Horrorcram
 

It's kinda hard to believe that MoFo existed 3 months before I turned 9. Oh yeah, welcome to all the people from the other places. We don't actually have orgies.

Nobody wants your herpes so we don't invite you.

Wait, why hasn't anyone told me about the orgies?

Seriously though, I'll try to check this thread regularly as I'm definitely a horror lover. Maybe new people will bring new films to my attention too.

:(

Never thought you'd be interested since we're all over 18. :p

:D

I was actually expecting a reply along these lines. Can't escape my hard-earned reputation.

Re: A scary thing happened on the way to the Movie Forums - Horrorcram
 

I should probably post here a lot more. Maybe I will.

Re: A scary thing happened on the way to the Movie Forums - Horrorcram
 

Welcome newcomers, especially horror fans :cool:

I was on my phone when I replied yesterday, so you got the short answer. Here are some of my Vincent Price favorites--

Comedy:
Tales of Terror
Comedy of Terrors
The Raven
Phibes 1 + 2
Theater of Blood

Technically not comedy, but not so serious either:
House on Haunted Hill
The Tingler (SO much fun)
House of Wax
House of Usher
Pit & Pendulum (these last 2 are mostly serious but there's still a bit of a wink involved)

Serious:
Invisible Man Returns
The Fly
Last Man On Earth
Masque of the Red Death
Tomb of Ligeia
Witchfinder General

Thanks! I was hoping you saw that post. :)
I see that The Tingler is on TCM this week. Will DVR.

Hmmm... I sorta see what you mean but I felt that once the "philosopher" gets to the church the first night, the movie takes off and doesn't look back, at like Evil Dead levels. I mean, the first scene with the old witch seemed right out of ED2 or even Army Of Darkness. And as short as it is, taking some time to get off the ground didn't really cost that much.

A curse upon 1980s poster artists for enticing me to watch so much garbage!

Some of my favorite quotes from The Black Cat:
"After all, it is much better to be frightened than crushed" - Lugosi
"The phones are dead....even the phones are dead..." - Karloff

I really think The Black Cat (1934) is an overlooked gem.

I think the first night probably comes the closest to getting the film off the ground. I think that night two and the intermittent scenes between his nights in the church, however, slowed the film down before it was able to build up enough tension in those sequences for them to hit hard enough. If it wasn't for how much I loved night three, I might've been okay or less bothered by this, but, upon rewatching the film, most of everything else felt like buildup to that sequence concerning the level of craft on display in it in comparison to the other horror sequences throughout the film. I often found myself impatient to get to that sequence when I rewatched it. That's why I feel the film doesn't get going until that sequence.

https://youtu.be/7FQm30eQn7I

Cool. Don't forget--
"You may obtain immediate relief by screaming. Don't be embarrassed about opening your mouth and letting rip with all you've got."

The end of Viy is obviously the triumph of the film. It only barely even seems connected to everything that came before, which is so incredibly sober by comparison. So it's fair to think of it as a bit of an underwhelming build up if all you are waiting for is a parade of monsters. But it also sets the foundation for the manic climax to leap off from. While I'm a big fan of Evil Dead 2, which really is like the final twenty minutes of Viy stretched to full length feature, in retrospect I find it an exhausting film to watch. It barely even has any kind of reality to tether it to the ground. It is a living and breathing cartoon. Viy, at the very least, presents its fable as occuring in a recognizable world by slowly leading us to its last act insanity. So while all the preamble may not be nearly as much fun, it does feel like it serves a worthwhile function. And it all looks great, regardless.