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

I'm sure King was giddy over the whole thing. I would be.




And do we know for sure that King ISN'T Alhazred? It's all fun and games until your copy of Different Seasons starts spewing tentacles and flying demon fish.

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Malignant, 2021 (A)

Absolutely bonkers movie. It's clever, interesting, intense and whips out an absolutely nuts third act in a way you would almost never expect based on what came before. As others have said, it's a big budget B-movie. Incredibly entertaining throughout, even in the slower parts, and cheesy in a way you don't expect from a film this slick.

I agree. I like what you say about it being intentionally cheesy despite how slick the film is.

I enjoy Studio Binder's videos and this one seemed appropriate to drop here:

In Fabric, 2018 (A)

British horror-comedy film from Peter Strickland.

Good, dry humor in a film that has all the charms of a supernatural giallo. The movie centers on a red dress sold in a curious secondhand clothing store, staffed chiefly by an oddly loquacious lady, very intense lady. It's hard to say more without going into spoilers, as the film is slow to reveal itself, but it is absolutely charming, and has all the surrealism of his previous films. Between the odd store, the inappropriately curious duo of bankers, the hypnotic washing machine talk and all, there's so much to enjoy here. The comedy is more on the side of dry, understated British wit and buildup of oddities. If you didn't like movies like Berberian Sound Studio, you might not love this one, but I did, so I did.

Anyone here?

Well, just because the front page is down, we can still post.

Just found out that Laura Hasn't Slept is on youtube now. The short film that preceded Smile:

Like right here, right now, in this moment?! Yes.

I also really enjoyed In Fabric. We had almost watched it with a group of my BIL's friends. Later my sister and I watched it together, and as my sister turned to me and said, "Wow, thank god we didn't watch this with them!"

I've seen In Fabric described as a giallo homage, but I guess I'm not seeing the source or reference (as opposed to Berberian, and, well, Duke of Burgundy wasn't a giallo homage either, I think, but it was influenced by people like Jess Franco). I guess I'm wondering what do you see it drawing from or being comparable to?

Same boat, sort of. I know my mom would have loved the movie were she still there, but there were one or two awkward scenes to watch here and there.

It's the general atmosphere of it. The aesthetic sensibilities, the music playing over a scene where nobody speak, like THAT scene with the mannequin, the very Italian brand of nonsense and lack of explanation, the way everyone is either oddly muted or oddly intense. All that.

Speaking of Italian brand of nonsense:

Horror Express, 1972 (B+)

Good, engaging horror film about Christopher Lee bringing a totally-not-haunted mummy on board the trans-Siberian. ADR'd in its entirety, just like an Italian film, weird zooms on people, weird motivations, all that. Loved it.

Prey, 2022 (A-)

The Predator lands in North America and starts hunting animals, Natives and Settlers.
Reminiscent of the first Predator film, this is just straight up people wandering and fighting. The ol' predator isn't as much of a tecchie, but is still packing plenty of gear. The humans are good, strong hunters, but not completely ridiculously so. The predator has no issue cheating, and his cockiness is his undoing. As well as a bit of a cheat by the human, but hey, whatever. Lead actress is strong as well. Just like Arnie, wins through wits, not brawn.

City of the Living Dead, 1980, 2nd watch (A+)

So much more enjoyable after watching a bunch of Giallo, including this one, and knowing what to expect, and what not to expect.

One Cut of the Dead (2017) is a movie I adore and have been recommending to everyone. Microbudget comedy/horror from Japan in which a small-time film crew tries to make a zombie movie in the face of all kinds of on-set mishaps. Do not read anything about this before watching and keep watching after the credits roll 35 minutes in, I assure you this movie is a full hour and a half long.

It just occured to me that, for once, a scary thing did happen on the way to the movie forums

Horror Express and In The Mouth of Madness are two of my all time favorite horror movies. Both rock.

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So, City of the Living Dead isn't a giallo.


Unless someone is using "giallo" to mean 70s Italian euro-horror, which I think people have started to intuit that to be the meaning (which AFAIK, it doesn't).


Giallos (gialli?) are a specific subgenre of horror that pertain to the crime/mystery/killer movies (primarily Italian, but not limited to it). The motivations are often either political/money/general greed (see Bay of Blood, Blood and Black Lace, Torso) or whackadoodle someone is crazy and it's not explained until the very end in a non-sensical surprise/reveal (Deep Red, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll) Often the killer is wearing black leather gloves. The name comes from it being the type of genre that were sold in pulpy paperback novels, that would as a rule have a yellow cover in the section they were sold in (at least that was the description given to me a long time ago).


There are, as with any genre classification, examples that stretch the definition. Such as, A Sunday in the Country (I think I'm getting the correct title), where the mystery is a lot more psychological and possibly supernatural and it's unclear if there's even been a murder. Generally giallos aren't usually supernatural (but there can be exceptions). All the Colors of the Dark plays around with a supernatural storyline.


I often feel like you can see similarities and influences in early American slashers. I'm not familiar with the preceding German subgenre of krimi films that preceded it, but I think others here are.


In terms of the weird dialogue of In Fabric, this came up when discussing Flux Gourmet here with slentert (apologies, if I've forgotten the username or its spelling), but Strickland is Greek and he wanted to do a comedy in the style of current Greek comedies (The Lobster and Killing of a Sacred Deer would be the reference point there). Which does make it click in terms of where the dialogue in In Fabric is also in the realm of.

And I guess the music and lighting, IDK, at some point it just feels like that's Strickland style.


I've heard the term "psychotronic" thrown around a bit recently, but I honestly don't know what that's specifically referring to, but that might be the umbrella you're looking for with these 70s euro-horrors.

I kind of low-key love City of the Living Dead and it's almost certainly my favorite Fulci.

Candyman (2021) -

This is a decent remake/sequel featuring a new explorer of the cursed Chicago housing project: Anthony (Yaya Abdul-Mateen II), an artist who is looking for inspiration. His guide is William (Colman Domingo), a laundromat manager who knows a thing or two about a certain confectioner. Like Helen Lyle before him, Anthony becomes more of a danger to his friends, family, art world contemporaries and of course himself the more the legend captivates him. What follows is a scary and stylish exploration of that brick-lined and essential oil-scented scourge of the last few decades: gentrification.

Making Anthony an artist is an inspired choice for how I also felt new to the unknown world he explores. Moreover, I like how it's a way to take a jab at the worst aspects of art world and examines how art can contribute to gentrification. Jordan Peele's touch is especially noticeable in how condescending curators and critics are to Anthony. I've only seen Abdul-Mateen II in action roles, which he's very good in, so it's nice to see him in a role requiring a wider range of emotions, and he pulls it off very well. Like in this franchise's predecessors, mirrors are an essential component to the story, and the clever ways this movie employs them give it an edge over how the 1992 movie does it. Also, when I said the movie is stylish, it's very stylish, whether it's all the cool shots, the artwork or Lichens' amazing score. I also appreciate that it saves the best of the good stuff, not to mention a nice surprise, for last. Despite the fresh coat of paint and how it successfully brings the legend to this decade, the movie doesn't bring enough new things to the table for me to consider it as more than pretty good. Think the 2011 remake of Fright Night, for instance. It's still worth checking out if you're a fan of this franchise, if Nope made you hungry for more Jordan Peele and will give you another writer/director to keep an eye on in Nia DaCosta.

City of the Living Dead is pretty good, I liked it more on a repeat viewing back in 2021 via Shudder. I thought the new Candyman movie was great.

Underwater is pretty solid and the final act salvaged a lot of the movie. It works best when it's making you scared of the ocean in general, but man is that final act insane in a good way.

I just love it and it is my favorite Fulci.