October Horror Movie Marathon

[trebor8273]

Barker double bill for tonight.

[BAKA]

Liking the artwork.

[bizarre_eye@Cult Labs]

Scarecrows (1988)



Poor pacing, ropey acting and wobbly plot issues aside, Scarecrows' main strength is in its creepy 'creature' (scarecrow) design and a sense of mystery surrounding these eerie bird scaring monstrosities who inhabit the land around an old dilapidated farmhouse. Said farmhouse is visited by a group of on-the-run crooks and their two captives after one of their own betrays them and makes off with the loot leading to them landing their getaway plane and searching the traitor out.

Scarecrows, when not pitching the scarecrow action is kind of a chore, with the non-scarecrow related scenes in question not so much being 'filler', but more to do with the lack of any further plot than "hey let's create some cool creepy scarecrows who attack some folks who come to this old farm", with not much thought about how to fill the scarecrow absenteeism bulk of the film's runtime with anything substantial or interesting.

It's difficult not to enjoy this one in some respects though, as the scarecrows themselves look and act the business and given a better more suspenseful script to work with and tighter pacing this one could have been something really special.

[bizarre_eye@Cult Labs]

Sinister (2012)



A film where Ethan Hawke looks perpetually bored, angry and/or pissed off in some fashion or another. And who could blame him when all is said and done, as unfortunately his co-cast members are a complete wash-out of neurotic nobodies and overly made up 'creepy' kids that look like they've escaped the local leper colony.

Sinister also subscribes to the 'jump scare' school of film-making, which needs to be told in no uncertain terms that RANDOM LOUD NOISES ARE NOT BIG OR CLEVER AND ARE NOT A GOOD REPLACEMENT FOR DECENT STORYTELLING AND SUSPENSEFUL ATMOSPHERE! Speaking of noises, I did enjoy the score somewhat; a shame that it's a little wasted here.

Sinister is unfortunately about as chilling as a malfunctioning refrigerator (perhaps even more disappointing when considering that the opening scene showed some promise) and is actually quite dull in places - a cardinal sin for a supposed tense horror film. I did kind of enjoy that ending though... albeit not enough to even entertain checking out the Hawke-less sequel.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

The Old Dark House (1932)

Following Frankenstein (1931) director James Whale turned to JB Priestley's novel Benighted for this er' old dark house terror satire which is as much a comedy of manners as it is horror film.

The plot is slight. During an atrocious storm a three people are forced to call at an old Welsh mansion inhabited by stranger than strange butler Boris Karloff, an 102 year old lunatic, a fire loving brother and a God-fearing sister who all suffer from at least one type of ...chosis and neurosis. Then when things can't get any odder Charles Laughton turns up with his hooker mistress.

The whole thing is bathed in an atmosphere of musky decay and somehow the less than pristine picture quality seems to add to the general all round weirdness of The Old Dark House.

[MacBlayne]

Originally Posted by bizarre_eye@Cult Labs

Sinister (2012)



A film where Ethan Hawke looks perpetually bored, angry and/or pissed off in some fashion or another. And who could blame him when all is said and done, as unfortunately his co-cast members are a complete wash-out of neurotic nobodies and overly made up 'creepy' kids that look like they've escaped the local leper colony.

Sinister also subscribes to the 'jump scare' school of film-making, which needs to be told in no uncertain terms that RANDOM LOUD NOISES ARE NOT BIG OR CLEVER AND ARE NOT A GOOD REPLACEMENT FOR DECENT STORYTELLING AND SUSPENSEFUL ATMOSPHERE! Speaking of noises, I did enjoy the score somewhat; a shame that it's a little wasted here.

Sinister is unfortunately about as chilling as a malfunctioning refrigerator (perhaps even more disappointing when considering that the opening scene showed some promise) and is actually quite dull in places - a cardinal sin for a supposed tense horror film. I did kind of enjoy that ending though... albeit not enough to even entertain checking out the Hawke-less sequel.

I thought the first half was pretty good - where Hawke finds a load of murder tapes. It had this really grubby feel thanks to the 8MM footage. And it was creepy when he finds a similar figure hidden in all the films.

Sadly, as you have stated, it all falls apart when it constantly explains itself and insists on jump scares. I think it would have been a better film had it had Hawke trying to track down the "killer" for his book and endangering his family in the process.

Stay away from the sequel - it is turgid.

[bizarre_eye@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by MacBlayne

I thought the first half was pretty good - where Hawke finds a load of murder tapes. It had this really grubby feel thanks to the 8MM footage. And it was creepy when he finds a similar figure hidden in all the films.

Sadly, as you have stated, it all falls apart when it constantly explains itself and insists on jump scares. I think it would have been a better film had it had Hawke trying to track down the "killer" for his book and endangering his family in the process.

Stay away from the sequel - it is turgid.

I consider myself amply warned!

Unfortunately Sinister feels like Citizen Kane compared to the next film I'm about to review!

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

I thought Hawke's Before series of films were scarier than Sinister. At least in those he wandered around various cities swearing at Julie Delpy. In Sinister he just watches home movies ala Chevy Chase in Christmas Vacation.

I would score it a generous 3/10 solely due to the avant garde soundtrack.

[bizarre_eye@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

I would score it a generous 3/10 solely due to the avant garde soundtrack.

I also scored it 3 - well 27/100

[trebor8273]

Originally Posted by bizarre_eye@Cult Labs

I consider myself amply warned!

Unfortunately Sinister feels like Citizen Kane compared to the next film I'm about to review!

You could of found a better film to compare it to than the most boring and overrated film of all time, hell give me sinister with its faults any day of the week over Kane