Shock Corridor was my first Fuller film, and there was a such a sharp contrast between my preconceptions and the actual film that I don't think I fully appreciated what I was watching. The nymphos scene is pretty much all I remember from it now. Despite being his most popular film, it's probably my least favorite of the six I've seen, so I need to revisit it now that I have more familiarity with his distinct approach to cinematic form and storytelling. I love
White Dog. At first glance it's just a provocative exploitation flick, but there's a ton of substance to be gleaned from it. You should seek out Fuller's
I Shot Jesse James and
The Baron of Arizona for the upcoming Westerns countdown. To no surprise, Fuller's voice is just as strong in those films, resulting in two films quite atypical of the genre and era.
I'm surprised that you hadn't already seen
Halloween. I re-watched it earlier this year, then proceeded to run through the entire series. I respect the enormous influence Carpenter's original had on the genre, paving the way for countless slashers to follow, but the film itself doesn't really do it for me. I guess partly because I find Myers such a bland antagonist. To his fans, he's "The Shape," "The Bogeyman," the "Manifestation of Evil," but even in the original, before the sequels turn him into Laurie's brother and a murderous tool of the occult and a victim of white-trash upbringing, I still find him too humanized to be as mysteriously terrifying as he's made out to be. Mostly that's due to little nit-picky stuff on my end. I hate seeing him drive a car, for instance. I prefer to think of my slasher villains as continuously stalking in a slow, lumbering, never-ceasing walk toward their eventual victims. And if they need to close a large distance, let me just imagine that they teleported offscreen.
I'm glad to see that you loved
Once Upon a Time . . . in Hollywood. It's easily my favorite film that I've watched this year (not just counting 2019 releases, but films in general). I wanted to step through the screen and live inside its world. I think it's QT's funniest film since
Pulp Fiction. I'll have to see it again to know where I rank it among his films, but it's likely top-five for me, and that's already enough for me to consider it a new all-time favorite. Also happy to see that
Ran and
Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer made strong impressions on you. The former is a masterpiece, and the latter is the most compelling, disturbing examination of a serial killer that I've seen.
There's a lot of other movies in here that I'm keen to watch:
Climax,
Vox Lux,
Cold War,
The Forbidden Room, among others. Never even heard of
John and Mary or
The Silent Partner, but both sound more than worthwhile. I thought
Hereditary started strongly but got weaker as it went along, so hearing that you much preferred
Midsommar makes me hopeful that I'll feel the same.
Spring Breakers is one of my favorite films of this decade, but I haven't heard much about
The Beach Bum. Your great write-up for it has ignited my interest.