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

I just wish it was more honestly labeled as drama and not horror. I'm not super big into genre policing, but this is a political drama that happens to have witches.

I am looking forward to watching it at some point with my expectations adjusted.

There are certain subgenres of horror that I often find myself thinking, "I guess this is horror adjacent, but it doesn't trigger what I think of as horror." I would put the folk-horror stuff like The Witchfinder General, The Devils, and Witchhammer in there. Though, The Devils is probably the closest to feeling like horror to me just because it does get weird, surreal-feeling situations.

So, I understand the complaint. I think I just kind of bake it in that some of the horror films I watch for October will end up feeling more horror adjacent and accept them as such (and in the case of Witchhammer, there's two movies that have been established that people classify them as horror that I just kind of accept it).

Scream Blacula Scream was absolutely fantastic. Super stylish, great performances, and a fabulous character arc for the main character, retooling the vampire as a tragic hero. Plus bonus Pam Grier!

Damn, Maniac Cop is a stone-cold masterpiece. Starring scream queens Bruce Campbell and Tom Atkins. Featuring an absolute banger of a classic car chase scene. Honestly think this needs to be up there with Nightmare and Friday the 13th as a slasher classic.

Revamping (heh) it to tell an entirely new story based in voodoo rather than doing a cheap regurgitation of Stoker's novel made it such an improvement over the original.

Plus, Pam Grier!

It's a really excellent example of humanizing a monster character while still keeping them a threat. As with the last film, the sequences where he connects with his African roots and mourns his lost family are very powerful.

Where are we cramming all this horror anyway?

Mainly our eyes and ears.

So far, Silent Night, Bloody Night seems to boldly ask, "What if we had a knockout first 30 seconds, then tempered the audience's adrenaline with 28 of the most boring minutes ever contained in a horror film?"

Was pleasantly surprised by this years ago. Much better than I expected

I expected Masking Threshold to be an interesting experimental film in the same vein as The Strange Color of your Body's Tears, but it really isn't. It's a very long, even at 90 minutes, set of closeups of stuff set to the monologue of a raging redditor. I'm sure the director thought there was a point, but this is a bunch of ideas quickly taped together into a movie that can't justify its own existence. Would not recommend.

Movie night last night started with A Haunting in Venice, it's another solid Poirot movie from Branagh, I just enjoy solid little whodunits and they are generally well shot and acted, not setting the world on fire but very watchable. This one obviously tried for some horrorish elements and is it supernatural moments, which it being a Poirot movie are mostly just going to be eventually explained away though I did enjoy the explanation.

We followed that up with V/H/S 85 which I didn't realize was the 6th film in the series, I have only previously seen the first one. The best moment in it is the nasty nihilistic beginning to the first short that unfortunately loses most of it's interest when it actually tries to expand beyond that. Honestly none of the shorts really felt terribly interesting, they each had an idea or moment that worked but felt more like excuses for some gore effects with little to actually say and not enough fun to be had in the violent ride. Also like so many found footage films I couldn't help but constantly think how much better most of them would be if they weren't having to constantly justify why someone is filming something and just made conventional films with interspersed home recorded footage when it made logical sense. I guess if I had to choose the bets segment front to back it would be TKNOGD.

My October horror movie watch:

https://boxd.it/psv6w

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Suspect's Reviews

Did you enjoy Dolls? I find it infinitely rewatchable and I think it's a great spooky season film.

Big thumbs up for Freaks and also for A Dark Song.

Recommendations for the 1960s?

Looking at Venus in Furs for 1969.

Kwaidan
Black Sunday
Carnival of Souls
Kill, Baby...Kill!
Planet of the Vampires

I like Bava, obviously. Enjoy.

Spider Baby
Onibaba
The Haunting
Viy

1968
Kuroneko
Yokai Monsters: 100 Monsters
Even the Wind Is Afraid
Witchfinder General

1967
Viy
Spider Baby
The Sorcerers
Torture Chamber of Dr Sadism

1966
The Psychopath