2019 - A Theme for Every Month

Tools    





Viewed On Thin Ice aka Breaking Through (David Attwood, 2003) this afternoon, another made-for-tv movie with a basis in reality that ought to carry a level of potency with it's subject matter but unfortunately much of what's on display is either poorly written or unconvincing imo.
+



Just finished watching Nelyubov [Loveless] (Andrey Zvyagintsev, 2017) which is both nicely made and acted - with a good sense of realism throughout - and certainly quite emotionally powerful at one point. Personally I could have done without the extra political posturing at the end though.
+



Kicked off the final month with Black Christmas (Bob Clark, 1974) which may be somewhat tame by today's generally more graphic standards but builds and maintains decent levels of atmosphere and intrigue as well as generating a little tension in the latter stages before reaching what is imo a beautifully understated conclusion.
+



Gave A Nightmare On Elm Street (Wes Craven, 1984) an outing, still love the blurring of reality/fantasy which I think is nicely inventive in places and works well in keeping its audience on their toes. It may be more than a little hokey in places and some of the effects could be better but it remains a fun and effective enough watch in my eyes.



Might work my way through the entire NOES series this month so popped A Nightmare On Elm Street Part 2 - Freddy's Revenge (Jack Sholder, 1985) in the player this afternoon, whilst the film does pick up somewhat in the later stages and contains a few nice effects sequences it also suffers from a poor lead, is oddly toned at times and is generally a rather frustrating affair that strangely eschews the main strength of the original by trying to merge the dream world and reality, losing much of the blurring between the two which for me was what made its predecessor so appealing.
+



This morning it was the turn of A Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (Chuck Russell, 1987) which sees Wes Craven and The Thompsons return to the series as well as reverting Freddie's domain to the world of dreams, all of which help it stand up as a more deserving sequel. The tale is generally more focused, fairly entertaining and some of the sequences are nicely staged and quite inventive (even if few generate any real scares) though with the dream/reality lines mostly quite clearly drawn and the less adult tone overall it never approaches the highs of the original.



Onwards and downwards to A Nightmare On Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (Renny Harlin, 1988), a film that drops the series to a new low with it's wooden acting, stilted dialogue and pantomime feel. A few of the effects are worthwhile but as a whole they are decidedly mixed and the narrative feels like it was somewhat cobbled together at short notice.
+



In a surprise move I decided to watch A Nighmare On Elm Street: The Dream Child (Stephen Hopkins, 1989) this morning, it's more inventive and better toned that a couple of its predecessors and for the most part acted well enough, but whilst some of the special effects sequences are quite worthwhile it's still far more cartoonish than scary (albeit appropriate in places) and the narrative certainly could have profited from more work.



Today was the turn of Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (Rachel Talalay, 1991), easily the nadir of the series with little to no redeeming features (even what kills there are generally aren't very worthwhile) and most of it doesn't even manage to qualify for 'so bad it's good' status.
+



Finished off the series this morning with Wes Craven's New Nightmare (Wes Craven, 1994) and as a closer to the franchise even with some of the acting and mixed effects it's mostly a welcome step away from the pantomime the series had become with a generally more serious, darker tone and an interesting enough spin on proceedings.
+



Gave Terrifier (Damien Leone, 2016) a spin this morning, has a very watchable antagonist (easily the best thing about Leone's 2013 anthology All Hallows' Eve imo), some decent gore effects and does manage a small amount of tension in one or two places but the acting and script are generally quite poor, the screenplay rather predictable/rote and the whole just has too little sense of realism.



Watched Nude per l'assassino [Strip Nude For Your Killer] (Andrea Bianchi, 1975) this afternoon, does manage a little intrigue and contains plenty enough of the 3 Bs (boobs, bums and beaver) but that's to the detriment of any real atmosphere (only coming alive in the closing stages really) and whilst some of the kill scenes aren't badly staged they generally aren't particularly satisfying either.
+



Finally got round to watching Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers (Michael A. Simpson, 1988), unfortunately whilst easier to tolerate it's not that much of an improvement on its predecessor with much of the acting being quite poor whilst the kills are once again generally rather cheap and unrewarding.
+



That's most likely me done talking to myself (as is the norm on here) in this thread.

Managed a few films that fit the themes each and every month (admittedly some perhaps more fitting than others) which was nice:
  • Japuary: 11
  • Debruary: 8
  • March: 10
  • Aaarrrggghhhpril: 15
  • May (happen): 12
  • Choon: 18
  • D'youlie?: 5
  • Aughost: 10 (+3 Méliès shorts)
  • Steptember: 7
  • Frocktober: 7
  • Mopevember: 7
  • Dismember: 11

Total: 109 (+3 Méliès shorts)