Halfway To Halloween

Tools    





Since this is apparently the "Let's Ruin Wooley's Life" thread, I submit Funny Man. A good palette cleanser after watching bad Elm Street movies, when you are in a forgiving enough mood to excuse part 5. This is by most accounts a really dopey movie, which teeters on annoying more than you would want. But it has a bunch of surprisingly imaginative moments, and a deeply stupid/weird sense of humor.






In better movie news, A Quiet Place in the Country now has a fairly decent copy up on YouTube as well. I started to watch it when I was too tired to finish, but the first 15 minutes hold lots of promise for a forgotten giallo. I'm looking forward to starting it again from scratch tonight.






Also, the best Key and Peele sketch is obviously the one with the comedian and the burn victim. I imagine most people might die from shame over laughing at that though, so it might not be a particularly popular one.





In better movie news, A Quiet Place in the Country now has a fairly decent copy up on YouTube as well. I started to watch it when I was too tired to finish, but the first 15 minutes hold lots of promise for a forgotten giallo. I'm looking forward to starting it again from scratch tonight.



This is a great movie, but I think it's more general psychological horror than giallo.*


Dug up my review from my blog that I did back in the RT days.


Probably my favourite thing I’ve seen for the first time this month. I could describe this film as “Nicolas Roeg directs The Shining” and I wouldn’t be far off, but that would understate its unique power. The hero, as played by Franco Nero, is an artist struggling for inspiration and facing some form of mental breakdown. The film begins with a vivid dream sequence both erotic and oppressive, with the hero bound and trapped by consumer goods bought by his lover, who controls and proceeds to kill him.

The hero is trapped by commerce – his art is dictated by his lover’s financial decisions, and even their lovemaking is channeled vicariously through porno magazines. (Director Elio Petri’s leftist politics are on full display.) The editing in this scenes is very striking. It is both disorienting and yet locked into clear patterns, emphasizing the extent to which the hero is trapped, even as he attempts to create a painting, and giving a sense of his fractured mental state.

He is commissioned by one of his patrons to create more paintings, and in an attempt to break free from his trappings, he buys a decrepit mansion that formerly belonged to a particularly promiscuous countess. However, strange things start happening in the house, and the hero becomes obsessed with uncovering the truth about the countess while the strain on his mind intensifies. It all culminates in an energetic and ambiguous climax and aftermath that are shocking yet poignant and earned.

A large part of the film’s power stems from Franco Nero’s performance in the lead. He gives his character an animalistic energy trapped by societal norms and waiting to break down or break out. He gives a very human face to the film’s ideas. The hero’s slowly deteriorating mental state feels more immediate because of this, and we can really feel what he’s going through.

Petri’s direction is also very impressive. I mentioned that his political stance his clear from the film, but despite its unsubtle handling, it never feels ham handed and works as a natural extension of the film’s themes. His keen visual sense helps, especially in the subversion of consumerist imagery in the earlier sections. The tone the film strikes is very sensual, making the hero’s sexual frustration almost tactile and giving the proceedings a haunting quality. Ennio Morricone’s dissonant soundtrack pairs with eerie natural sounds to create a very unnerving feeling. With the fractured editing style, Petri creates a convincing sense of ambiguity as to whether the house really is haunted or it’s all in the hero’s head, and the film is much more unsettling as a result.

It is arguable whether or not the film counts as horror or if it’s a psychological thriller (if you’re one to make such distinctions), but the film is never less than captivating and disturbing in its portrait of madness. Highly recommended.



This is a great movie, but I think it's more general psychological horror than giallo.*


Dug up my review from my blog that I did back in the RT days.
I know I read this back on RT, which was the reason I've been trying to find a copy for like 8 years. I can't read it now though due to fear of spoilers. Will do tomorrow though



This is a great movie, but I think it's more general psychological horror than giallo.*


Dug up my review from my blog that I did back in the RT days.

Yeah, it's not a giallo, even though I've seen it branded as such a few times. I guess you could claim that fans of giallo would appreciate the style of the film, and its probably a close cousin to the genre, but it isn't quite there. Even though this is a better film, it reminded me of Schivazappa's The Frightened Woman, in it seems to have all of the stylized mannerisms of giallo, while never quite committing to any of the things we expect of such films.



Yeah, it's not a giallo, even though I've seen it branded as such a few times. I guess you could claim that fans of giallo would appreciate the style of the film, and its probably a close cousin to the genre, but it isn't quite there. Even though this is a better film, it reminded me of Schivazappa's The Frightened Woman, in it seems to have all of the stylized mannerisms of giallo, while never quite committing to any of the things we expect of such films.
Been meaning to watch that one for a while.*I think BSV had a copy, but I never got around to it pre-pandemic.*Now I'll actually have to put in work to see it.*



Victim of The Night
Since this is apparently the "Let's Ruin Wooley's Life" thread, I submit Funny Man. A good palette cleanser after watching bad Elm Street movies, when you are in a forgiving enough mood to excuse part 5. This is by most accounts a really dopey movie, which teeters on annoying more than you would want. But it has a bunch of surprisingly imaginative moments, and a deeply stupid/weird sense of humor.





I'm actually familiar with Funnyman. I didn't watch the whole thing but I watched some of it.



Victim of The Night

Ahh, the Blind Dead. Gotta love 'em.
This is only my second full film (I've seen parts of Night Of The Seagulls as well) in the Blind Dead series and I know I've gone and skipped over Return Of The Blind Dead but, honestly, having seen Tombs, I didn't think it would make much difference. And I was right.
If you've seen any Blind Dead movies you know what they are. 30-40 minutes of people talking and traveling to put themselves in the exact place where the Blind Dead are. Then the Blind Dead wake up and stalk the people really, really slowly - and totally ****ing blind - and ultimately pretty much just overwhelm their victims with sheer numbers. While it may not seem to viewers like it would be that hard to escape these extremely slow-moving, totally ****ing blind, shrouded skeletons, apparently, there is no escape from the Blind Dead.
In this case it all starts when two models, who have been "set adrift" in a boat as a publicity stunt by a "sports magnate", encounter the titular Ghost Galleon, which is literally a hundreds year-old galleon with rotting wood and tattered sails lumbering out of the fog. Instead of getting the **** out of there or staying on their little boat, they decide, one at a time mind you, that they need to board this floating nightmare and explore.
I just want y'all to think about this for a minute. Would any of you, if suddenly overtaken by rotting ancient ship looming out of a mysterious fog, board it? Not even crumbsroom would.
But they do.
This led to both this model and this Wooley making this face:


However, the movie rides, somehow, on the same thing other Blind Dead movies ride on. The Blind Dead are pretty awesome. There's just something so wonderfully macabre about these blind shrouded skeletons busting out of their coffins and then just relentlessly pursuing people who are too stupid to just stay quiet (since the Blind Dead are, ya know, blind) or run full-out in another direction. I just enjoy watching The Blind Dead. I do.
I think what I should do is just get some kind of editing software and take all four Blind Dead movies and just edit together the parts where the Blind Dead shamble around and just watch that once a year or have it on in the background all through October.

Anyway, that's another one down, I gotta say, yes, I am probably going to watch the rest of them, including 2020's Curse Of The Blind Dead, because why not?



^ this is the proper mindset with which to approach the Blind Dead films. Having once binged all four in one weekend it was pretty clear that a lot of the rising-from-the-dead scenes were recycled from film to film, and I didn't even care. I was just happy for the chance to watch them do it again.
__________________
Captain's Log
My Collection



I've seen two of the Blind Dead movies and while I agree the the Blind Dead themselves are great, I found the movies a challenge to get through. I'm normally down fort slow burns, but these movies did not give me enough to chew on.



^ this is the proper mindset with which to approach the Blind Dead films. Having once binged all four in one weekend it was pretty clear that a lot of the rising-from-the-dead scenes were recycled from film to film, and I didn't even care. I was just happy for the chance to watch them do it again.
"We doing this again?"
"Yeah, 'fraid so. I know you were comfortable under the dirt and all, but we kill campers. It's just what we do."
"Fair enough."



^ This is the wrong mindset with which to approach the Blind Dead films.
*handwaves Captain Terror*



Victim of The Night
Also, I didn't know about the 2020 film. It's probably terrible, and I'll probably watch it.
My sentiments exactly.