Horror Hall of Fame II

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Survivor 5s #2 Bitch
DEEP RED



I had a copy of the unedited version lurking somewhere in my room which I managed to find and look over again, and my thoughts are pretty much the same as they were when I first watched this.

To me it's perfect. There's an actual plot that isn't tedious or loosely strung together to justify the string of murders, it was pretty much the opposite. The set up was interesting, I was immediately interested in the main character and the opening victim. The music was mesmerising as it always is from Goblin and the violence was brutal, swift and operatic. It's a crazy opening and it doesn't lose that energy or momentum. There's a wonderful dynamic between David Hemmings and Daria Nicolodi and their scenes together allow for decent subplots and comedic scenes which didn't feel gratuitous or heavy handed as I thought they would be. It tackles homophobia, feminism and gender again without ever feeling forced or preachy.

The scenery is gorgeous too, the camerawork unique but interesting. I also never realised how many films have static cameras until this made me stop and think about it it was refreshing to follow a moving camera like a flowing stream of consciousness. The dubbing really wasn't half bad either considering the quality of some giallos out there.

SPOILERS

As for the identity of the killer. I never saw it coming but liked the twist. I actually went back to the opening scene and they are indeed present in the scene if you look closely. A small detail but one I thought was amazingly implemented.

Overall it's a theatrical and busy film with unusually deep and what would have been current issues that are handled well and maturely. Stunning!




Ginger Snaps (2000) - John Fawcett

- I think that's my 3rd watch of this gothic emo teen werewolf flick. I've never been a fan of it and yet again I think it's decent at best. Two main actress are annoying as hell imo but I do like the looks of the werewolves. Plot is ok, direction also ok but the I find the characters way too annoying and stupid to give it enough attention. The ending was quite nice and bloody so it's not a total mess. I'm not a fan but I like the style of it.
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I'm starting deep red, I already saw it a couple years ago, I'm curious to see how I'll like it!
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28 days...6 hours...42 minutes...12 seconds
eXistenZ




This is my second viewing. I left just as confused as the first.

Cronenberg and Lynch. Lynch and Cronenberg. Whenever I think of one of their films, I think of the other's. Why? I don't know. Both are named David and live for weird and obtuse filmmaking? With eXistenZ, Cronenberg channels his Naked Lunch era with a dash of The Matrix.

I was upset at my first viewing as I knew what the ending would be, knowing it ahead of time now let me enjoy it a bit more. I was along for the weirdness, which there are many and I really appreciated the gooey, grotesqueness of it all. Eating away at fish like creatures to pull out their bones are craft a rudimentary gun that shoots teeth instead of bullets? I'm game. Some might argue that Cronenberg is being weird just for the sake of being weird and using the excuse of being in a game to exercise these oddities. So what? If he wants to create a weird psycho-sexual game machine, let him. It made me feel uncomfortable every time Jennifer Jason Leigh would massage her fleshy pod, I would cringe and laugh. When she orgasms from Law using her port, I would cringe and laugh. Cronenberg probably had a lot of fun creating this world.

Yes the film is weird. Yes, Law licks a port hole on the tramp stamp side of Leigh. Yes, they finger each other's holes. The film is easy to follow, despite the confusing ways it tries to get to the end goal. The end result? It's such a Canadian movie.

It's nice to see two Canadian films pop up in the HoF, coincidentally both star Kris Lemche. While I do like this film....I feel like it belongs in a Sci/Fi HoF and not necessarily a horror one. That, unfortunately for me, will play into how I rank this film for this HoF.
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Suspect's Reviews



The Descent (2005) - Neil Marshall

- My 4th rewatch of this amazing flick. I just love everything about it from the development to the arrival of the Crawlers which must be the best creatures in all horror. Movie is bloody as hell, violent and so godd*amn claustrophobic (I always feel dizzy while watching it and I'm not mad about it). All actress are terrific especially Shauna Macdonald and Natalie Mendoza. The ending is shocking and BADASS. I give it almost a perfect score once again. Great nom.



the samoan lawyer's Avatar
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Hour of The Wolf (1968)


Was planning on leaving this to the last one as it was my own nomination but decided against it. I still regard this as one of Bergman's best, certainly a top 10 anyway. I love the sparseness of the film and how depressing it is, in particular the psychological demons that Johan meets. Some of these scenes I thought were really powerful, especially the make-up creature, I thought he was really creepy in what ended up a truly haunting scene.


I loved how it showed how much of a tortured soul Johan was, expertly played by Max Von Sydow and his complicated relationship with wife Alma, again played brilliantly by Ulmann.





Ultimately despite still loving the film, I'm not sure, given the opportunity again, would I have picked it. Bergman is one of my favourite directors so I thought it was goive those who perhaps hadnt seen much of him, to get a taste of his film. But he has such a broad range that maybe that thinking didnt work. Anyway, I still enjoyed it.


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Survivor 5s #2 Bitch
THE AUTOPSY OF JANE DOE



I didn't know anything about this one going into it, although I knew of it through some friends who loved it so I was eager to check it out.

It was a mixed bag for me though. Really strong opening, was interested in the situation. Then it got drowned out a bit by characters that were a bit meh with several jump scares thrown in there. Granted it has a short run time but I feel like I shouldn't be able to spot filler and I wanted to just cut to the chase since it didn't add much of anything for me. The characters did nothing for me either and the acting was mediocre from actors who can do much better. I just didn't care about them at all and I was bored whenever the focus switched onto them. This part felt very half arsed to be blunt.

The film didn't need jump scares or embellishment. It was an original set up and a damn interesting one too. I didn't always like or expect the choices it decided to explore but I was compelled nonetheless. It was tense in a way that many films try but don't succeed in doing, which makes the jump scares all the more puzzling and frustrating. I couldn't anticipate what was coming and it kept me guessing the whole way through. The second half especially had some very tense moments.

Overall, a strong and original concept that is explored in an interesting way. It's held back by poor characters, unremarkable acting and what to me felt like not enough confidence in its own concept to deliver tension and frights which could explain the jarring jump scares in there.
It's too original to give it a middle of the road mark, so I'll give it






Anyone else feel like the film could have been a five star classic if it was just one monster and the claustrophobia was the star of the film?


Anyways I like this one a lot, a group of friends go splunking and get trapped in a mysterious cave. The group is fairly well defined(it could be better especially under the caves where it's hard to tell the ladies apart). So they end up fighting a group of monsters under this mountain until one survivor reigns supreme.


The star is the mid-budget production values which you don't really see much nowadays.



Survivor 5s #2 Bitch
DESCENT SPOILERS

Yeah I love The Descent as it is, but part of me wonders how it would play out if the monsters were never introduced. The dynamics between the women were getting seriously interesting just before the first encounter.
Then there's a whole theory that the monsters aren't real and Sarah is the one killing them all after losing her mind which I quite like. The sequel ruins that idea buuut I just overlook that film in general.






Existenz I would argue is not really a horror film, it feels almost like an actors exercise, something Any Wahol would have done if he survived into the later years. This is the story of a video game and people who go into the game and leave the game and kill in the game and have sex in the game and ponder if they are in a game and then ask you to question if you are in the game and.....ugh.


What was smart in 1999 doesn't really seem that great in 2018, I thought Jude Law was terrible and sunk the film for me. I just rolled my eyes everytime he spoke. I did enjoy the scope of the story and the practical effects I wish the film had a bit more body horror and scenes with suspense. Sadly rather than setting a scene up for horror we get scene after scene of exposition and if you are going to do that than the film really fails as a horror film(though a decent science fiction yarn).



the samoan lawyer's Avatar
Unregistered User

eXistenZ (1999)


Despite this being my 16th Cronenberg film watched, I still hadnt an idea what I was going into. Ive loved the majority of his body horror but of his more recent work, Cosmopolis and Spider never really did much for me.
Glad to see a return of body horror and equally glad to see Cronenberg blurring the lines of reality again here. Although its not a difficult plot to follow, it still can be defined as a head trip, meaning I never had an idea what to expect next. I'm not a fan of Jude Law although his character grew on me quite quickly but I thought the lovely JJL was great in her role. Seeing her massaging her pod was a strange experience, atypical of Cronenberg.


eXistenZ would probably rank somewhere halfway in my films seen from the director but it is better than I had expected. Not to hate too much on Law but with a different male lead I probably would have enjoyed it more. Noticing as well that the release date was the same year as The Matrix, which couldnt have helpd its figures, especially with the general plot comparisons.


Still, really glad I got the prompt I needed to watch this, really enjoyed it.





28 days...6 hours...42 minutes...12 seconds
DESCENT SPOILERS

Yeah I love The Descent as it is, but part of me wonders how it would play out if the monsters were never introduced. The dynamics between the women were getting seriously interesting just before the first encounter.
Then there's a whole theory that the monsters aren't real and Sarah is the one killing them all after losing her mind which I quite like. The sequel ruins that idea buuut I just overlook that film in general.
That's why I usually ignore direct to video sequels from no name directors with no name actors.



@Pussy Galore are you still planning to do this? It's been a month and you still haven't posted about a single film. Obviously five weeks is a plenty to watch all of these but just wanting to be sure.



eXistenZ (1999) - David Cronenberg

- Such a great flick. I do not consider this film horror at all but still it's so well done and well directed. The whole universe and the characters in it are so nice we really feel like we were stuck in a video game. Jennifer Jason Leigh is nothing short than awesome and Jude Law surprisingly (I'm not a fan usually) is really good. The flick give a nice reflection between reality and virtuality with everything that we got nowadays and that plot twist ending was spectacular I did not expect it. Are they still in the game or not? you can judge by yourself. New favorite.
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