2020 Halloween Challenge

A young man is brainwashed by a violent cult and his family hires a former military man who now is a deprogrammer to kidnap their son and cure him of his brainwashed attitude. Things go awry when the cult comes shows up to steal him back.

Jackals becomes a typical home invasion film when the family refuses to let their son go. One by one these cult people break-in and one by one the family must defend themselves. Tension rises from inside the house when the brother wants to simply give the son back to the cult to save his own skin. This would make sense since these cult guys mean serious business. But the parents can't let their son go back, even if it means their own death.

Some genuine suspense comes from a pretty decent premise. The short run time and the abrupt ending undercuts the film and gives it an amateur-feel and the end result feels just like every other home invasion movie. The Strangers does a better job of build suspense and dread, go watch that.

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"A laugh can be a very powerful thing. Why, sometimes in life, it's the only weapon we have."

Suspect's Reviews

Genuinely one of the laziest movies I've ever seen. Nothing about the film screams "effort" and I think they had to throw in chaotic editing to make up for the fact that they had no real story. What the hell was this movie?

A car accident kills a girl's boyfriend and she feels guilty about it. She tries to move on and constantly sees people chasing her, trying to bring her into the after-life? I must admit, I'm totally guessing here because I have no idea what the story is. Things just...happen. She has a few jump scares, a few "did that really happen" scenes and then we're done.

Trying to appeal to the teenage audience, this film insults anyone who sits down to watch it. I'm literally sitting here scratching my head at the "film". It's a wannabe Jacob's Ladder, that's my best description. It's lazy, insulting and boring. Not a single "scare" moment, no sense of tension or despair and most importantly no sense of story-driven direction. The film feels aimless, going in circles with the same scenes playing out slightly different each time. Was the ending supposed to make us surprised at the fact that so and so isn't real? I don't know, maybe the filmmakers thought they had some clever on their hands.

There is an interesting story here, I'll admit that. The bone structure is ripe for a talented crew to tell it...but this film...my God....I just don't know.

Suspect's Horror List 2020

1. Suspiria
2. Silver Bullet
3. Wishmaster
4. Wishmaster 2: Evil Never Dies
5. Bats
6. Cellar Dweller
7. Hocus Pocus
8. I'm Thinking of Ending Things
9. Stepfather 2: Make Room For Daddy
10. Jackals
11. Soul Survivors

Since Cellar Dweller was not your cup of tea (and I don't blame you), may I recommend The Boogens for a "something in the cellar" movie?

I know a lot about that movie just because of this guy...

A "Something in the cellar" film?

Um, Deadly Spawn. A thousand times over, the Deadly Spawn.

I agree pretty much entirely with what he has to say. I think the movie works and I think the way they used the monster in the film makes it look much better than it may in stills, which one should never see before seeing the movie. The buildup to it is part of the fun.
I think I had read that King was a big fan and I understand why.

Pretty cheap blu-ray too if you ask me.

https://www.amazon.ca/Deadly-Spawn-M...=UTF8&qid=&sr=

Ah, The Boogens. Neat creatures.
Ok film.

A version with decent quality can be found for free on YouTube, btw. Having seen it, I can also vouch for the film. It's pretty solid.

Now I prefer to think of The Innkeepers the way you described it, this actually makes sense in hindsight but, there still are just too many unanswered questions for me to like it.

I found that my opinion of it improved on a rewatch, knowing how it was all going to go down.

Specifically Kelly McGillis' role and the way that she plays her scenes.

Horrible Dr. Hitchcock, 1962 (a Barbara Steele film)

Dr. Hitchcock is a renowned doctor who happens to be a necrophiliac. He satisfies this desire by drugging his wife, Margaret, until one night when he accidentally overdoses her on anesthetic. What's a guy to do except pack up, leave, and return 15 years later with a new (20+ years younger) wife and pick up right where he left off? Barbara Steele plays Hitchcock's new wife, Cynthia, who experiences strange sounds and events in her new home.

This film has some strong Rebecca vibes. The house is filled with portraits of Margaret. The housekeeper, Martha, never sharply says, "You'll never be good enough!" but the sentiment is there.

Part of why the film doesn't quite cohere into something great is down to the way that it feels like it exists in parts. One part is us watching Hitchcock struggle with his unethical desires (and in one gross, standout scene, he uncovers the body of a dead female patient). The other is watching Cynthia deal with the seemingly impossible events around her. The relationship between Hitchcock and Cynthia never really has strong footing--it doesn't feel real. The performances from both leads are strong, but their relationship isn't given enough background.

There's also something very frustrating about watching the obvious "hero" (a young, attractive doctor colleague of Hitchcock's) repeatedly shut down Cynthia's concerns. She is repeatedly told that she must be imagining things, and he takes his sweet time taking her seriously. It would have been nice to see Cynthia play more of a role in figuring things out, but the film has her in perpetual victim mode. I didn't mind her being fragile, but at a certain point her main job seems to be screaming, collapsing, or screaming and then collapsing.

I did really enjoy the color scheme and the sets, especially the way that some of the characters were framed in the house's long hallways.

Yeah, I think I give movies like this extra points, ya know, when they have no right to be OK but they are anyway. I respect their spunk and I find myself rooting for them.

Same actually. I give slashers and horror films a less critical approach then I would a serious film, normally. But even then, there’s only so much I can forgive haha.
Case in point: enjoyed the first Friday the 13th, but couldn’t stand any of the follow ups.

My favorite, by FAR, is Part II, over the original. After that the franchise takes a huge step down from which it never recovers.
However, in the spirit of what we're talking about, I went back and watched all the ones I had skipped during my life (V, VII, VIII, IX) and, with expectations as low as they could get, I found them amusing if nothing else.

I was coming back to correct myself. After making my post earlier, I discussed this with my wife who had watched the movie with me and she reminded me of a few sentences of dialogue at the end of the movie that strongly support your point of view.

I think that it sort of depends on the main element of why you found the movie unsatisfying. I remember when it came out that some people found the main characters annoying and unrealistic. I can't specifically remember my response to the main characters, but I do remember caring enough about them that it carried me through the film.

But if your main issue with it was the plot and overall arc of the film, then you might enjoy rewatching it at some point. I definitely noticed nuances and foreshadowing that I'd totally missed the first time around and it gave me a deeper appreciation of both the story and the performances.

That said, Ti West always seems pretty divisive, and his films often seem to value style/aesthetic over story. If it didn't gel with you, that's fair.

I finally watched the 3rd one earlier this month, and I think my opinion of both is roughly the same. I'm not sure how cutting each one is as horror satire (although this one feels a bit more fresh than the third), but it's just nice to see Craven deliver the slasher goods with a sure hand and spend time with the characters played by Campbell, Arquette and Cox. Given how daring the original arguably was when it came out, it's weird how comforting I find the series.

I prefer IV and VI over the original.