CiCi's horror reviews!

→ in
Tools    





"""" Hulk Smashhhh."""
Hey CiCi this thread deserverd to make it at number 12, i voted for it. Anyway, the Human Centipede is pretty meh in turms of horror. Its pretty disturbing stuff but it doesn't come close to its sequel. Part 2 is jaw dropping shocking. You should really check it out.
__________________
Optimus Reviews
LATEST REVIEW Zack Snyder’s Justice League // Godzilla vs Kong
My Top 50 Favourites

"Banshee is the greatest thing ever. "



Survivor 5s #2 Bitch
Hey CiCi this thread deserverd to make it at number 12, i voted for it. Anyway, the Human Centipede is pretty meh in turms of horror. Its pretty disturbing stuff but it doesn't come close to its sequel. Part 2 is jaw dropping shocking. You should really check it out.
Thank you! That's kind of you to say!

And I have seen number 2... kind of, I had to switch it off though about three quarters of the way through, it made me feel physically sick



"""" Hulk Smashhhh."""
Thank you! That's kind of you to say!

And I have seen number 2... kind of, I had to switch it off though about three quarters of the way through, it made me feel physically sick
Haha, it only gets sicker. I haven't seen part 3 yet, but to be honest i don't think i want to. It looks more of the same but even sicker.



Survivor 5s #2 Bitch
Haha, it only gets sicker. I haven't seen part 3 yet, but to be honest i don't think i want to. It looks more of the same but even sicker.
I don't have much of 2 left to watch, so I might get round to finishing it one day. But I feel the same way about 3, it just seems more of the same, and I have no intention of ever seeing it



Wanna Date? Got Any Money?
If you want something pleasantly fvcked up, I would try and see if you can find/sit through Nacho Cerda's Aftermath(1994).



There's another cover which is much more graphic, but this one gives you the jist.

Naked Blood would be a good choice too.

__________________
Buy a bag, go home in a box.



Survivor 5s #2 Bitch
If you want something pleasantly fvcked up, I would try and see if you can find/sit through Nacho Cerda's Aftermath(1994).



There's another cover which is much more graphic, but this one gives you the jist.

Naked Blood would be a good choice too.

Wow, they look like a test to sit through, but I'll add them to watchlist thank you!



Survivor 5s #2 Bitch
It's here!! My review of The Shining, this one took a very long time, and I'll explain why!

I'm sure it needs very little introduction, but the plot follows a failing writer named Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) who takes up a job as a caretaker for a hotel during its off season, accompanied by his wife, Winnifred 'Wendy' (Shelley Duvall) and their only child, Danny (Danny Lloyd). But supernatural forces assume control of Jack, who initiates a murderous rampage.

Positives
This film is chilling, and I don't really know why, and I still can't fully explain why it had such effects on me, which was the main reason as to how delayed this response has been. But it is unsettling from the start with imagery of blood pouring out of elevators and an archaic pair of sinister sisters overlooking Danny make it tense from about 5 minutes into its runtime. I think this is a little unorthodox, usually in supernatural films, a cup will move an inch without anyone touching it, or there'll be a loud knocking sound in the distance *gasps* and that's mainly why I don't like supernatural films, because so often they make the unknown look so harmless, effectively failing to create tension and therefore failing to establish an effective prelude to when the boring action in those films tends to kick in. Yet Kubrick took a totally different approach by just launching straight into explicitly unnerving scenarios. I also like how these are sustained throughout the film, even when the action is hyped up and in full force. That scene with the man in a bear suit, um, getting involved in adult situations with the owner whilst they both gleefully look at Duvall when she finds them was probably the singular most chilling moment in the entire thing for me, even though I swing that way too

The sisters scene. My God, I knew it was coming in one of the corridor scenes, and the haunting score playing at full blast whilst Danny cycled around the place for minutes at a time had me so tense and at unease in anticipation for that inevitable moment that it made me feel quite sick. So in some regards, its legacy has only heightened its effectiveness, because even though the quick cut aways to their blood drenched corpses with their monotonous, grotesque voices urging Danny to play with them forever was disturbing enough on its own, waiting for the actual moment to arrive was probably even worse for me. Time has done it favours, because some films now included in the horror "canon" as it were, haven't survived the test of time i.e. Friday the 13th, that was interestingly released two weeks before this. And that's mainly because it doesn't rely on violence or gore, but on the psychological horror and torment that is relentless throughout. I mean, that beheading scene in Friday is just laughable by today's standards!

Speaking of the score, I adored it. I think soundtracks do heavily contribute to the overall ambience of a film, particularly in the horror genre, and this not only drastically enhanced the events it accompanied on screen, but it also indicated when something dreadful was going to happen. It was operatic (I think that's the right word ) and Gothic without a doubt, it just perfectly matched the film. It's not quite up there with Suspiria though.

In my review for The Thing, I complained a lot about its ambiguity on pretty much every single detail, and that's something I still maintain! Here, I think Kubrick employed this device perfectly. This is a Gothic tale, and the genre is always full of it, its what fuels it and this incorporated and applied with just the correct quantity. For instance, is Jack the victim of cabin fever or the paranormal, was Grady the killer of those girls even though the man Ullman attributed the crime too had a different name and the events took place 50 years after the events of 1921. Why do all of these anachronisms exist at the hotel etc, it leaves enough to be open for interpretation whilst still delivering a powerful ending with enough substance in there to allow us to determine what happens in the vast majority of cases... unlike The Thing


In regards to the acting, I found it largely good! Not Oscar worthy in any individual case, but it still just about matched the professionalism of largely every other element of the film! That being said, Jack's crazy act got a bit tiresome towards the end, and Danny Lloyds expressions got worse as the film progressed, but they did a good job overall, especially considering Kubrick's infamous mistreatment of them. The supporting cast were largely forgettable, but still provided shocks on their own ("It's a good party, "a n***er cook is coming") are the two most striking instances that spring to mind.

Negatives
Shelley Duvall. I don't quite know how to describe her performance in this, but the word inconsistent springs to mind. At times, she's just fine in being a timid little housewife, and she occasionally does quite well at times when she's called to be distressed. But I noticed, for example, during the scene in which she discovers Jack's manuscript and consequently has an explosive argument with him over it, she's perfect in portraying fear, insecurity, and hopelessness through her voice, but this isn't matched by her physical mannerisms. I mean, she swings that bat with no conviction whatsoever, and I know that's probably because she's faced by her husband, but Wendy Torrance was initially created as an headstrong woman who wasn't afraid to stand up for herself, and I'll get onto that eventually. But her facial expressions during this segment was peculiar too, she looked constipated, and couldn't quite pull it off. This does look critical, but I do give her some sympathy, her treatment on the set is nothing short of legendary at this stage, and good on her for not walking off the set, and I also think her Razzie nomination was uncalled for too. I wouldn't give her an Oscar nom though, or a Saturn one... or a MTV movie award one either!

It's no surprise to anyone at this point that Stephen King hates this film as an adaptation of his book, and I do sympathise with him here. Jack and Wendy are paper thin characters, and are the antithesis to their novelised counterparts. Nicholson looks like a man on the brink from the get go, whereas his counterpart was an ordinary, average man who struggles with alcoholism and is pushed into insanity by the overlook on a much slower and gradual scale. Wendy, as I've already sort of mentioned, was an independent, intelligent and an all American woman who is torn between staying with the fluctuating Jack to keep her family together, or to escape an increasingly toxic relationship, which is reflected by her actions throughout the duration of the book. Notably, she takes very little crap in the book, and even stabs Jack in the back. Here, she's reduced to an archetype, a screaming, hysterical woman who never knows where to put herself and probably isn't capable of holding a job as a cashier for more than 3 weeks due to her idiocy.
Yes, this looks pedantic, but even if the comparisons to the novel weren't involved in this, it doesn't remove the fact that the two characters who need to be complex and compelling, simply aren't.

Conclusion
If you weren't gay before this film, chances are you will be by the end, an aged vagina is something you never want to see!
But in all seriousness, this film is haunting, and what makes it stand out (for me anyway) is that it's consistently chilling for over 2 hours, something that very, very few film makers could ever hope to replicate to the standard that Kubrick did here.
With this being said, the characterisation suffers terribly, but it is just about passable, for the plot, the tension, the music, cinematography, mise-en-scene and even the acting compensate enough to draw you in.
There are a few overly dramatic scenes, and a couple more that were slightly boring. Such scenes were very few and far between here, though.
However, I wouldn't call this the scariest film ever, or the best horror film ever made either. It simply isn't although it has a damn good attempt!




How could you be chilled for 2 hours when it's so boring? Unless you left the window open, of course.
__________________
5-time MoFo Award winner.



Survivor 5s #2 Bitch
How could you be chilled for 2 hours when it's so boring? Unless you left the window open, of course.
I genuinely thought it was quite unnerving!
It was a little boring at parts though, and I think I prefer the book overall, but I'm quite the fan!



Great review of my number one horror film, The Shining! Well, at least in my attempt to find such film and unwillingly rank movies I love (which is always hard. I hate lists )

Uh, anyways, I think this is some of your best work yet, CiCi. The wait really did pay off; your language is flowing nicely with well picked wording and a nice structure and length to it. Really great work, man, seriously.

I haven't read the book but your criticisms comes clear enough for me to understand them. But as you rightfully mention, this movie is heavy on heavy atmosphere and creating a mood, a feel and a sense of something... dread, death, insanity...

Personally I love Nicholson in this, but indeed Duvall is pretty bad and the kid playing Danny is stiff and a typical child actor. But there is so much to love and adore about this film that those things doesn't even matter.

So glad you liked it so much, Callum, and once again GREAT WORK!



Survivor 5s #2 Bitch
Thank you, MM!! I'm flattered considering your status as best reviewer!

Yeah, it's slightly annoying how much they damaged the characters here when they're masterfully developed by King, I'd be pretty pissed too if I were him (especially considering his mini series was apparently really forgettable )

But I do understand why he did it, a film is very different from a book, and sometimes I forget that But as a result, you do have to make sacrifices, and he made all of the correct ones here, because the end result was superb! I can't understand why no one liked it when it was released.

But I'll try and up the pace from now on, I'll get round to watching Cronenburg's The Fly pretty soon as well, and maybe even Rabid since the Soskas are remaking that one.



You didn't like TCM either, did you?

What horror films do you like?
TCM is not good. Repeat, not good.

I really like horror films, though. Depending on your definition, the following are all on my 100:

Interview With The Vampire, Near Dark, The Hitcher (1986), Scream, Dawn Of The Dead (1978), A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984), Psycho (1960), An American Werewolf In London, Ginger Snaps, Blood Feast. The Haunting (1963), Halloween (1978) and The Thing (1981)



Survivor 5s #2 Bitch
Oooh, you have such good taste, Honey!

I haven't seen a few of them though, immediately, Near Dark leaps out at me though. I like that title a lot, I'll have to see it!



But I'll try and up the pace from now on, I'll get round to watching Cronenburg's The Fly pretty soon as well, and maybe even Rabid since the Soskas are remaking that one.
Either of those would be a good next viewing. Personally I much prefer Rabid, but I think most would point you towards The Fly, which is good.



Personally I prefer Shivers to either of them.

And thank you, CiCi. You're right, I do have good taste. It's one of the main reasons why disagreeing with me is so wrong.



Survivor 5s #2 Bitch
I'll review those two next!

Weirdly, someone was talking to me about Rabid the other day, totally out of the blue! Because they were going on about Bree Olson and how she says she can't live a normal life after porn and can't do anything mainstream, and then Marilyn Chambers and Rabid came up as an example of a porn star who did a mainstream film I didn't quite know where to put myself!