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So what you're saying is that the killer is a normal, right thinking person. Interesting twist. 
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I watched Stage Fright when it first came out and I wrote a review -- maybe you saw it.
My favorite part is the very last moment right before the credits. That very obviously gay voice that shouts "PLACES!" after a suspenseful scene. It's a so-so movie, but that moment cracked me up and made me like it more. It's a horror movie for gay theater nerds.
My favorite part is the very last moment right before the credits. That very obviously gay voice that shouts "PLACES!" after a suspenseful scene. It's a so-so movie, but that moment cracked me up and made me like it more. It's a horror movie for gay theater nerds.
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October 7th
Psycho
Directed By: Alfred Hitchcock
Psycho
Directed By: Alfred Hitchcock
I made the mistake of seeing the remake of this film first. I was young, stupid and thought the remake would be a bloodier adaptation of an old black and white film. Boy was I wrong. I hate the remake and when I found out that it was a shot for shot remake, it put me off the original for years.
Well, I finally decided to watch it, beginning to end and I loved it.
I'm not saying that Gus Van Sant is a bad director, I'm saying Hitchcock is a master craftsman. This film is working on so many levels that I'm ashamed I never sat down to watch it all the way through. A lot of it has to do with the casting. I like Vince Vaughn and he has just the right amount of weird to work, but I'll be damned if Anthony Perkins isn't magnificent in this flick. He has the perfect boy next door look to him. He plays it off perfectly and you sense something off behind his eyes.
The black and white photography is beautiful. Hitchcock can work a camera. I watched this film with my wife, she had no idea what the twist in the film would be and fell for it hook line and sinker.
I wouldn't hesitate to revisit this film again, catch up on all the years I've missed out on it. A true classic.
With that being said, it is indeed, not perfect. I still find the private investigator death to be comical and the expository dialogue explaining to the audience the split personality beats us over the head. I understand it was new back then, but it is hard to watch.
Well, I finally decided to watch it, beginning to end and I loved it.
I'm not saying that Gus Van Sant is a bad director, I'm saying Hitchcock is a master craftsman. This film is working on so many levels that I'm ashamed I never sat down to watch it all the way through. A lot of it has to do with the casting. I like Vince Vaughn and he has just the right amount of weird to work, but I'll be damned if Anthony Perkins isn't magnificent in this flick. He has the perfect boy next door look to him. He plays it off perfectly and you sense something off behind his eyes.
The black and white photography is beautiful. Hitchcock can work a camera. I watched this film with my wife, she had no idea what the twist in the film would be and fell for it hook line and sinker.
I wouldn't hesitate to revisit this film again, catch up on all the years I've missed out on it. A true classic.
With that being said, it is indeed, not perfect. I still find the private investigator death to be comical and the expository dialogue explaining to the audience the split personality beats us over the head. I understand it was new back then, but it is hard to watch.
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October 8th
Deliver Us From Evil
Directed By: Scott Derrickson
Deliver Us From Evil
Directed By: Scott Derrickson
Sinister seemed to scare a lot of people, yet I found myself bored by a lot of the attempts. Then when I heard about Deliver Us From Evil, I had an End of Days sense of things, judging from the trailer. Derrickson is no stranger to exorcist/possession style films. An earlier hit of his was The Exorcism of Emily Rose. This time, he goes a bit more grittier and a bit more bloodier.
Eric Bana is a detective, his partner is miscast Joel McHale, together they try to solve a series of mysterious crimes. He reluctantly includes a priest who seems to know a few answers regarding the odd quirks of some of these criminals.
When reflecting on this film, the one thing that comes to my mind is - great make-up effects. The possessed people, especially during the interrogation scene, is spectacular. The shortcomings of the film seem to be everything else. Bana tries his hardest to be a tough cop from the Bronx, but it doesn't work. His accent is too distracting. Even more distracting is comedian Joel McHale who seems to be a specialist with knives.
The film gives Oliva Munn, the thankless role of being Bana's wife. All she does the entire film is complain how he isn't there for his family. This film is predominately a male populated flick. The females here have nothing to contribute, which is a shame because I feel that Munn is actually quite talented. She just needs to right vehicle for her career. Sean Harris, you might recognize him as the bad guy from the recent Mission Impossible film, Rogue Nation, is one of the possessed 'bad guys'. I feel like his career should be taking off soon enough, if this film does anything for him it makes his resume look diverse.
The marketing team will have you believe this is based off true events. This is a lie.While there is indeed a man, played by Bana, who actually exists. A man who reportedly did deal with paranormal investigations and even wrote a book about it, the story given to us in this film is not one of those he wrote about. Instead, it is entirely fabricated and uses his name to promote that "inspired by" tag. Misleading? Sure. Then again, every tag that gives us that is a bit misleading, but I just feel that this takes it to a whole other level.
Yes, we all know Derrickson can create a creepy atmosphere. He's done it before, but Deliver Us From Evil cannot capitalize on it. At certain parts of the film, it felt like a totally different picture. Everything that deals with his daughter feels right out of Poltergeist. What's it doing in an exorcism film? To say this film fails to deliver, is an understatement.
Eric Bana is a detective, his partner is miscast Joel McHale, together they try to solve a series of mysterious crimes. He reluctantly includes a priest who seems to know a few answers regarding the odd quirks of some of these criminals.
When reflecting on this film, the one thing that comes to my mind is - great make-up effects. The possessed people, especially during the interrogation scene, is spectacular. The shortcomings of the film seem to be everything else. Bana tries his hardest to be a tough cop from the Bronx, but it doesn't work. His accent is too distracting. Even more distracting is comedian Joel McHale who seems to be a specialist with knives.
The film gives Oliva Munn, the thankless role of being Bana's wife. All she does the entire film is complain how he isn't there for his family. This film is predominately a male populated flick. The females here have nothing to contribute, which is a shame because I feel that Munn is actually quite talented. She just needs to right vehicle for her career. Sean Harris, you might recognize him as the bad guy from the recent Mission Impossible film, Rogue Nation, is one of the possessed 'bad guys'. I feel like his career should be taking off soon enough, if this film does anything for him it makes his resume look diverse.
The marketing team will have you believe this is based off true events. This is a lie.While there is indeed a man, played by Bana, who actually exists. A man who reportedly did deal with paranormal investigations and even wrote a book about it, the story given to us in this film is not one of those he wrote about. Instead, it is entirely fabricated and uses his name to promote that "inspired by" tag. Misleading? Sure. Then again, every tag that gives us that is a bit misleading, but I just feel that this takes it to a whole other level.
Yes, we all know Derrickson can create a creepy atmosphere. He's done it before, but Deliver Us From Evil cannot capitalize on it. At certain parts of the film, it felt like a totally different picture. Everything that deals with his daughter feels right out of Poltergeist. What's it doing in an exorcism film? To say this film fails to deliver, is an understatement.
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Good review on Psycho! I don't really agree with the score though... To me it'll always be a and is probably the best horror movie ever. Haven't seen Deliver Us From Evil and don't really have much desire to see it.
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I was just reading about Psycho -- apparently Quentin Tarantino has some Sexy Celebrity genes in him -- he thinks all of the Psycho movies that came after Psycho (Psycho 2, Psycho 3, Psycho 4, the remake) were better than the original Psycho movie.
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I agree about Psycho. It's a great film but I personally don't love it. I really want to see Pontypool but can't seem to get a hold of it.
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Psycho is on my 100 so I'm very pleased to see that you've finally watched it. Even moreso that you liked it so much.
I've not seen the remake (the casting of Vince Vaughn being more than enough to stop me) but even if I'd liked Vaughn, he's all wrong to play that part. He's far too physical for the role. Were it not a shot for shot remake, maybe he'd be able to do it because the character could be played differently. The shot selection makes use of Perkins frailty and his face.
I've not seen the remake (the casting of Vince Vaughn being more than enough to stop me) but even if I'd liked Vaughn, he's all wrong to play that part. He's far too physical for the role. Were it not a shot for shot remake, maybe he'd be able to do it because the character could be played differently. The shot selection makes use of Perkins frailty and his face.
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Psycho is amazing, but I still can't give it a perfect rating. It's a for me, but that doesn't change of great it is and how many things I like about it.
I really didn't like Deliver Us from Evil, so I'm glad to see you didn't either (whatever that means). I think I gave it half a popcorn less though, but all in all it's just not very good. That's the point. 
Looks good so far in here, Suspect!
I really didn't like Deliver Us from Evil, so I'm glad to see you didn't either (whatever that means
). I think I gave it half a popcorn less though, but all in all it's just not very good. That's the point. Looks good so far in here, Suspect!
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Good reviews and fun thread, TUS.
It's been awhile since I've seen Frailty. I liked it, but I kinda agree with cricket's comment about it going from underrated to overrated. The movie was a nice surprise back when it came out, but I think people overpraise it nowadays. A long overdue re-watch might alter my opinion, though.
You had my attention when you compared The Babadook to Eraserhead and Rosemary's Baby. Then you called it this year's The Conjuring (although I guess, technically, it'd be last year's The Conjuring) and pretty much lost all my interest. It seems like every year some horror film comes out that gets pretty good reviews and people rave about it and call it one of the scariest movies they've ever seen, then I watch it and it's something like The Conjuring or Insidious. If you're Derek Vinyard or MovieMeditation, that's a good thing, but not for me.
Dead Alive is a lot of fun. Have you ever seen The Frighteners from Peter Jackson? That used to be one of my favorite films as a kid, but I haven't seen it in forever so I don't know how well it holds up.
My fondness for the original Poltergeist will probably cause me to hate the remake with extra vitriol. That is, if I ever watch it, which I don't plan to.
When I watch a zombie film, I want to see zombies, so I wasn't really on-board with Pontypool's unique perspective. I agree that it's a well-made film, though, even if I didn't particularly enjoy it.
I was going to say that I have Stage Fright on my watchlist, but I had it confused with the 1987 version.
I'm surprised that you're just now seeing Psycho. I assumed that was required viewing before you're allowed to become a member of this forum. I'm glad to see you enjoyed it, even if your rating is still too low for my liking.
I thought Deliver Us From Evil was okay. Combining a police procedural with an exorcism film made it watchable, in my opinion.
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on whatever other horror films you watch this month.
It's been awhile since I've seen Frailty. I liked it, but I kinda agree with cricket's comment about it going from underrated to overrated. The movie was a nice surprise back when it came out, but I think people overpraise it nowadays. A long overdue re-watch might alter my opinion, though.
You had my attention when you compared The Babadook to Eraserhead and Rosemary's Baby. Then you called it this year's The Conjuring (although I guess, technically, it'd be last year's The Conjuring) and pretty much lost all my interest. It seems like every year some horror film comes out that gets pretty good reviews and people rave about it and call it one of the scariest movies they've ever seen, then I watch it and it's something like The Conjuring or Insidious. If you're Derek Vinyard or MovieMeditation, that's a good thing, but not for me.
Dead Alive is a lot of fun. Have you ever seen The Frighteners from Peter Jackson? That used to be one of my favorite films as a kid, but I haven't seen it in forever so I don't know how well it holds up.
My fondness for the original Poltergeist will probably cause me to hate the remake with extra vitriol. That is, if I ever watch it, which I don't plan to.
When I watch a zombie film, I want to see zombies, so I wasn't really on-board with Pontypool's unique perspective. I agree that it's a well-made film, though, even if I didn't particularly enjoy it.
I was going to say that I have Stage Fright on my watchlist, but I had it confused with the 1987 version.
I'm surprised that you're just now seeing Psycho. I assumed that was required viewing before you're allowed to become a member of this forum. I'm glad to see you enjoyed it, even if your rating is still too low for my liking.
I thought Deliver Us From Evil was okay. Combining a police procedural with an exorcism film made it watchable, in my opinion.
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on whatever other horror films you watch this month.
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The Babadook is a lot different than The Conjuring, Cap.
I mean honestly, I can't even see one little thing that is similar right now. The Conjuring is, more or less, a straight up ghost/haunted house story, while The Babadook is all about the psychological aspect, the characters and the deeper layers.
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I only mention The Conjuring in terms of it being this year's "go to horror flick". The two films are very different.
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The Babadook is a lot different than The Conjuring, Cap.
The fact that you like it makes me more hopeful that I'll like it, too, but I remember seeing the trailer and thinking it looked no different than every other modern supernatural horror film that's come out in the last few years, be it Sinister or Mama or Insidious or whatever. And it looked like the kid was going to play a major part in the film, too, and that's rarely a good thing.
I'm judging the film without having seen it, though, and I hate when people do that. If the horror is more of the psychological variety and not just shadows and things going bump in the night, chances are I'll like it at least somewhat. Or if the Babadook starts violently raping and killing people and dismembering giant turtles and stuff, I'm very sure I'll like it.
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Or if the Babadook starts violently raping and killing people and dismembering giant turtles and stuff, I'm very sure I'll like it.
That's a visual.
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October 9th
Absentia
Directed By: Mike Flanagan
Absentia
Directed By: Mike Flanagan
Absentia was a crowd funded horror flick written and directed by Mike Flanagan that garnered a lot of praise in the film festival markets. I heard decent things, so I figured, why the hell not. Let's watch this low budget shot on digital horror movie and see what they can do different, if they can do anything different that is.
A drug addicted woman moves in with her pregnant sister looking for help. Her sister, whose husband has been missing for 7 years, finally decides to declare him dead. That's when he mysteriously appears again, having not aged a day, severely malnourished and with no recollection of where he had been other than simply..."underneath". Now the thing that took her husband is back to claim him and anyone else.
Decent premise that can work extremely well with the right atmosphere and tension. Absentia had the right ingredients, but it makes for one boring film. Being shot on digital doesn't help it. The amateur mistakes seem to be more present here and it can make for a more difficult watch.
It also doesn't help that the actors, for the most part, haven't done much and most likely won't do much again. Their inexperience in front of the camera is painfully obvious, especially the man playing the detective. Flanagan does show signs of potential. There are one or two shots that are a bit creative. Specifically when the images in the background move and you didn't even realize there was someone there. it's a nice creepy image that might be the only memorable thing here. Flanagan has gone on to direct Oculus , which I do hear is good. For now, this film can be skipped.
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