A scary thing happened on the way to the Movie Forums - Horrorcrammers

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The IMDb quotes page is pretty sparse right now but Big Jon and Little Jon>Busta Rhymes

Hey, I'm using just one character and you're using an entire movie. Not a fair fight.



Man, Torgo, you and I are so on the same page.
I gently pan this film every few years (I keep watching it because people keep insisting that I must like it) and then people tell me I'm crazy and I start wondering if I am because, despite some great Carpenter atmosphere and moments, it's generally kinda bull****. I keep going in with a good attitude, "Ok, this time I'm gonna like it!", and every turn I say, "Nah, you were right."
Not terrible, mind, but like you say, "better for a rainy afternoon or the tail end of an exploration of Carpenter's filmography". Damn, straight, man.
Pretty much. It's especially disappointing because I was sort of saving it for a special occasion since it's the only peak Carpenter era horror movie I hadn't seen.

That leaves me with the following: are any of these lesser - according to Rotten Tomatoes anyway - worth it?

Village of the Damned
Ghosts of Mars
Vampires
The Ward



Feast -


This is a fun little horror comedy featuring a cast of colorful barflies and bar staff who try to outwit and escape a family of monsters who are intent on eating them. They are truly colorful as each one's hilarious and not entirely accurate freeze-framed description indicates. I particularly like the always funny Judah Friedlander as the hapless Beer Guy and Coach, a sleazy motivational speaker played by Henry Rollins. I also appreciate how the movie parodies its one-location subgenre. Besides the descriptions, there are also none-too-subtle jabs like Coach's purposely clichéd speeches. The movie is not just content to copy others like it, though. It makes a real effort to surprise and to defy your expectations. As for the monsters, they are as disgusting as they are outrageous. They're shown sparingly, which may be due to budget constraints, but it's to be an inspired choice for how you see as much of the monsters as our heroes do. Despite its unique treatment of its subgenre's tropes, the movie still comes across like one I've seen many times before. It also relies a bit too much on a filmmaking style I'm glad is mostly a relic of the 2000's: shaky cam. I still think it's an ideal choice for a movie to have on during a Halloween party or if your horror marathon needs doses of lightness and silliness. Just don't be surprised if you find yourself rubbing one of your eyes for a while afterwards (you'll know what I mean when you see it).



Probably not a good movie, but it was James Woods doing his thing and a Baldwin brother cauterizing a wound with a machine gun, so I had a good time. Also has some novelty for starring Sheryl Lee (who I keep forgetting is alive and well) in a non-Twin Peaks role.



Hey, I'm using just one character and you're using an entire movie. Not a fair fight.
You chose to champion a movie with one character that was allowed any modicum of personality.

You chose poorly.



You chose to champion a movie with one character that was allowed any modicum of personality.

You chose poorly.
In my defense, that one character rules.


WARNING: "Busta Rhymes" spoilers below
And he beat Michael Myers singlehandedly.



#NoRegrets


#LetTheDangertainmentBegin



Probably not a good movie, but it was James Woods doing his thing and a Baldwin brother cauterizing a wound with a machine gun, so I had a good time. Also has some novelty for starring Sheryl Lee (who I keep forgetting is alive and well) in a non-Twin Peaks role.
I've been leaning towards that one, but discovering how evil and fascistic a person James Woods is has made me resist it. It sounds like Lee and Baldwin make up for it.

You can do that with a machine gun? And I thought this was the most ridiculous use of a gun I'd heard of:




I've been leaning towards that one, but discovering how evil and fascistic a person James Woods is has made me resist it. It sounds like Lee and Baldwin make up for it.

You can do that with a machine gun? And I thought this was the most ridiculous use of a gun I'd heard of:

James Woods is one of those guys who seems like an absolute ******* (even putting aside his political views, which are...yikes), but that bad man energy has always played into his performances nicely. This was before he went off the deep end, if that helps.


Been a while since I've seen the movie, but if you don't gel to Woods, I'm not sure how much Baldwin and Lee there is to really compensate.



James Woods is one of those guys who seems like an absolute ******* (even putting aside his political views, which are...yikes), but that bad man energy has always played into his performances nicely. This was before he went off the deep end, if that helps.
I agree. I generally don't abide by this notion of avoiding films made by less than stellar human beings (good luck finding the saints!), but it seems especially true when someone like Woods' talent comes from the electricity of his being a spastic bastard. I happen to love these apparently authentic spastic greasy performances.



Been a while since I've seen the movie, but if you don't gel to Woods, I'm not sure how much Baldwin and Lee there is to really compensate.
A little Lee goes a long way if you ask me. Plus, I should remember that Carpenter could out-badass Woods any day.






"Jimmy Woods? He canz holdz mein stein."



A little Lee goes a long way if you ask me. Plus, I should remember that Carpenter could out-badass Woods any day.
Yeah, I'm not gonna pretend vampire Sheryl Lee didn't have an effect on me, even if I saw the movie before I even knew what Twin Peaks was.





WARNING: "Spooky" spoilers below



Victim of The Night
That leaves me with the following: are any of these lesser - according to Rotten Tomatoes anyway - worth it?

Village of the Damned
Ghosts of Mars
Vampires
The Ward
Oh, you're hosed.


(Honestly, I thought GoM was downright terrible and I didn't think that much better of Vampires despite, at the time at least, being a huge fan of both Carpenter and Woods, who is just asked to be as James Woods as he can be in this one. The other two I never bothered to see.)



Victim of The Night
Feast -


This is a fun little horror comedy featuring a cast of colorful barflies and bar staff who try to outwit and escape a family of monsters who are intent on eating them. They are truly colorful as each one's hilarious and not entirely accurate freeze-framed description indicates. I particularly like the always funny Judah Friedlander as the hapless Beer Guy and Coach, a sleazy motivational speaker played by Henry Rollins. I also appreciate how the movie parodies its one-location subgenre. Besides the descriptions, there are also none-too-subtle jabs like Coach's purposely clichéd speeches. The movie is not just content to copy others like it, though. It makes a real effort to surprise and to defy your expectations. As for the monsters, they are as disgusting as they are outrageous. They're shown sparingly, which may be due to budget constraints, but it's to be an inspired choice for how you see as much of the monsters as our heroes do. Despite its unique treatment of its subgenre's tropes, the movie still comes across like one I've seen many times before. It also relies a bit too much on a filmmaking style I'm glad is mostly a relic of the 2000's: shaky cam. I still think it's an ideal choice for a movie to have on during a Halloween party or if your horror marathon needs doses of lightness and silliness. Just don't be surprised if you find yourself rubbing one of your eyes for a while afterwards (you'll know what I mean when you see it).
I agree with you completely (again). I watched this about 13 years ago when I was first experimenting with low-budget Horror (my teenage years don't count because I didn't know what was and wasn't low-budget back then) and I was really, really pleased. Setting my expectations lower than usual but not so low as I needed to for some other films, I was thoroughly entertained and thought they showed some real creativity. I agree with you about the monsters and how they used them but for me the movie somehow made it feel like you were getting plenty of monster action, without necessarily showing them all the time.
All in all, I thought it was good fun and would never say no to watching it.



In my defense, that one character rules.


WARNING: "Busta Rhymes" spoilers below
And he beat Michael Myers singlehandedly.



#NoRegrets


#LetTheDangertainmentBegin
#youshouldregretit

I'll forgive you for recognizing how Woods' real life sliminess makes him so authentically slimy in film that he's all too watchable.

I just recently watched the Onion Field and that may be his finest and sleaziest hour.



Village of the Damned - I saw this shortly after it came out on video and it barely registered with me. I don't recall hating it or anything, it just exists and paying any attention to it seems optional.


Vampires - I hated what I saw of this, which was about half. It didn't even feel like a John Carpenter movie. It felt like some terrible 90's television show about vampire hunters. I'm almost surprised the cast of Dawson's Creek didn't make an appearance in it. As for Woods, I agree wholeheartedly both with the fact that he is a disgusting pig of a person, but one of the most magnetic screen presences of the 80's. I love him as an actor as much as I hate him as a human being.


Ghosts of Mars - I didn't think this is quite as bad as most people say. It's just really bad, not the end of the world. While I was watching it, I felt John Carpenter almost didn't want people to like it. It feels intentionally boring. It is also incredibly ugly to look at. But I did sort of like some of the ideas in it. I think if he had made this concept into a movie during the early to mid 80's, it would probably have been a mid tier Carpenter. As it is, having made it when his soul had already turned to dust, it is one of his worst.


The Ward - Haven't seen it.



Victim of The Night
#youshouldregretit

I'll forgive you for recognizing how Woods' real life sliminess makes him so authentically slimy in film that he's all too watchable.

I just recently watched the Onion Field and that may be his finest and sleaziest hour.
I'm a Salvador fan.