October Horror Movie Marathon

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by J Harker

The final shot? As in the undead shambling across the Brooklyn Bridge Dem?

Yup.

Apparently the zombies are everywhere, roads are blocked and the army are on the streets, it's total chaos according to the radio report.

Someone should have mentioned this to the drivers just going about their daily business on Brooklyn bridge.

[J Harker]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Yup.

Apparently the zombies are everywhere, roads are blocked and the army are on the streets, it's total chaos according to the radio report.

Someone should have mentioned this to the drivers just going about their daily business on Brooklyn bridge.

I know what you mean but I do love that shot. In fact I love both New York set sequences that bookend the film.

[BAKA]

[19] Salem's Lot
Tobe Hooper’s Salem’s Lot succeeds in its world building; the small suburban town feels authentic, intricately weaving the complexities of many characters, their standings in the town, their relationships and desires. The sound design is immensely effective in creating atmosphere, conveying intrigue, ambiguity, and building suspense, but also in knowing when to be silent. Barlow’s shriek is genuinely chilling, and the character is such an imposing presence, taking design inspiration from early European vampire films, rather than US contemporaries. Rarely on screen, but when he is you can feel his monumental stature. The gothic cinematography is gorgeous, particularly during the scenes in the Marsten house in the latter half of the movie. The dilapidated manse decorated with mounted stuffed animal skins, floor covered in feathers, it almost bears a resemblance to the house in Hooper’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, a sort of higher class version, as if seen through a fun house mirror. There are so many haunting moments, the scene with Barlow in the jail, and those bedroom window scenes will forever be indelibly etched in my psyche. There are minor issues, but none of them really lessen the impact. Even with the longer made for TV format the adaptation looses some of the most poignant moments from the book, and some of the more terrifying. The epilogue feels hugely redundant. It’s not the best film based on a Stephen King novel, but it is my personal favourite.



[20] Psychomania
Don Sharp’s Psychomania is one of those films that is completely unique, even now decades after release there isn’t a single other film quite like it. Slotting into the wave of eerie folk horror that permeated Britain in the ‘70s, Psychomania is British exploitation at its most absurd. There are so many things to love about the film, the frog worshipping religion that hold the secret to reincarnation, the aptly named ‘The Living Dead’ biker gang who terrorise the local town, who have the best designed biker helmets I’ve ever seen, a series of suicide scenes that range from breathtaking to hilarious, and the most spectacular resurrection scene ever committed to the screen, featuring a motorbike bursting out from a grave. The progressive rock meets folk music vibe really sets the tone. Psychomania is one of those films every cult enthusiast needs to see; there are so many disparate pieces that combine together to form such an entertaining film. Perhaps the film offers some intriguing mediation on religion and the afterlife, but every time I watch it, I’m too busy having fun to care.



[21] Blood Rage
The music in John Grissmer’s Blood Rage is so overwhelming, it almost feels retroactively scored, like so many modern films it occasionally masks what’s actually being said, giving an emphasis on aesthetic over narrative. The mix of synth and organ is reminiscent of Goblin at times, but the soundtrack also features some typically ‘80s rock fare with the aptly named ‘Gonna Get You’ and its inventive chorus ‘I’m gonna get you, I’m gonna get you, I’m gonna get you’. Besides the music, the film’s other biggest asset is undoubtedly the practical special effects; aside from one inept twitching hand they all deliver the goods that slasher fans come to expect from a late-eighties slasher film. The film also sadly delivers many of the faults from slashers of the period, notably the abysmal acting. One can’t help but wonder if the music drowning some of the characters out is to purposefully mask their incompetent performances, of particular note is the mother, frequently toting a glass of red wine, and at one point regressing to a toddler sitting on the floor eating out of the fridge. But in all honesty the poor acting is part of the film’s charm. Blood Rage frequently crosses over into so-bad-it’s-good territory, but occasionally is actually very good, the opening at the drive-in a highlight, setting the mood so perfectly.



[22] Cat People
The first of Val Lewton’s productions at RKO, Jacques Tourneur’s Cat People, would be an important film, not just for the struggling studio, but also for the medium. One of the early examples of low budget horror, the film reused assets from more lavish productions, famously Orson Welles’ The Magnificent Ambersons, and would go on to earn substantially more. Cat People feels very much a precursor to Tourneur’s Night Of The Demon, the craftsmanship and techniques visibly trace back. It’s such an interesting film, the iconography and ominous tale of Irena’s ancestral curse are heavy handed, but the actual horror of the transformation and Irena’s true form are completely shrouded from the viewer. The use of shadows and sound to build suspense is breathtaking, particularly a series of scenes culminating in a swimming pool, the dread continually mounting. It feels like a grim folk-tale transported from its rural setting to the city, with blank stone walls and shadowy streets aiding to make it all the more sinister.



[23] Blue Sunshine
There’s an interesting article by Steven Morowitz, in the booklet accompanying the recent Blu-ray release from Film Centrix, comparing Jeff Lieberman’s Blue Sunshine to those educational scare films they forced you to watch in high school, for drink driving, or unprotected sex, suggesting Blue Sunshine is the ultimate drug scare film. I can honestly say if I saw this film as a teenager it’d certainly scare me off drugs for life. Blue Sunshine feels as if its been engineered to mirror the after effects of drug consumption, there’s an oppressive feeling that pervades, paranoia, conspiracy and an overwhelming feeling of dissonance. It feels at times as if set in an alternate reality, characters seem bizarrely obsessed with hair before the film fully discloses the connection. Those LSD abusing bald husks of humanity are genuinely terrifying, but Blue Sunshine’s effectiveness lies in conveying an experience, emoting beyond the physical. There are some glorious scenes in a mall too; horror in a mall is instant gratification.


On track to finish my schedule! I was intending to watch Rob Zombie's 31 at the weekend too, but weirdly it was not available to rent any more on Amazon. Which was bizarre, as it was listed in their top 10 and was still available earlier in the week. My first foray into digitally renting movies, can't say I'm impressed. Was tempted by Baskin and Fender Bender, but spent so long trying to figure out why 31 didn't have an option to buy, and deciding on a replacement I no longer had the time.

[Susan Foreman]

Originally Posted by Nosferatu@Cult Labs

Picking up on something I watched yesterday, something which I had intended to do for several days, and my thoughts on it:

Oliver the Eighth (1934)

As good as this film is, I think they ruined it with the cheat ending

[nosferatu42]

Good set of mini reviews there BAKA, concise yet informative with a personal touch.
Nicely done, some great films there too.

[BAKA]

Originally Posted by nosferatu42

Good set of mini reviews there BAKA, concise yet informative with a personal touch.
Nicely done, some great films there too.

Very kind of you to say! Thanks!

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

The Hazing aka Dead Scared (2004)

A wildly entertaining straight to video Halloween spectacular that riffs on Night of the Demons but in my opinion has better acting, characters and comes over in an even more fun way. An effortless watch with Tiffany Shepis in an skin tight silver catsuit. What more do i want? Brad Dourif as a satanic professor - yup got that as well.

One of my fave Halloween horrors.

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Dark Water (2002)

Once again working from a book by Kôji Suzuki, Hideo Nakata re-established his position as Japan’s finest horror director after shooting to prominence with Ringu (and its first sequel). Staying with supernatural horror and, like Ringu, featuring a single woman with a young child at the centre of the film, Dark Water (Honogurai Mizu no soko kara lit) begins with Yoshimi Matsubara battling for, and winning, custody of her six-year-old daughter, Ikuko. Without a job, Yoshimi must settle for meagre accommodation in a run-down apartment block, with a strange water stain on the ceiling that won’t go away.

The caretaker isn’t much help and refuses to investigate the source of the stain that begins to spread and leak into the main bedroom. Yoshimi is further troubled by the appearance of a child’s bag that Ikuko finds on the roof by a huge water tower. After a short stay in the lost and found, Yoshimi discovers that the caretaker has thrown the bag away despite Ikuko’s attachment and desire to have it and the toys inside.

The young girl is having a hard time in kindergarten, not fitting in very well and seeing things that aren’t there. Meanwhile the water in the apartment has a strange taste and some hair even comes out of the tap whilst the stain just continues to grow.

Unsurprisingly, Dark Water is thematically similar to Ringu, focusing on what a mother will do for her child and incorporating supernatural elements to tell a story with a simple explanation and moving ending. There are also several well-orchestrated jumps which are helped by the pervasive sense of unease throughout the film. Yoshimi is an extremely likable character with whom you empathise and her relationship with her daughter, strained through juggling work and childcare commitments, will be familiar to many single parents.

As the follow up to Ringu, this sees a reunion of its director, producer (Japanese horror guru Takashige Ichise) and writer and is of the same quality as that landmark film. Dark Water hinges on the performances of the mother and daughter, as a relationship that didn’t ring true would ruin the film, but Hitomi Kuroki and Rio Kanno are perfect, with the latter putting in a performance beyond her years.

As a big fan of Ringu, I approached Dark Water with extremely high expectations, hoping that Hideo Nakata would have made a suitably powerful and unnerving film which had Kôji Suzuki's all over it. I found this film to be better than Ringu with a much more involving central relationship and the ending was far more involving than that in Nakata's breakthrough picture. I suppose it helps that this doesn't rely on technology and isn't part of that trend in Asian horror films to take a piece of technology, whether it's a phone, camera or the Internet and turn it into something malevolent and dangerous. This is a much more grounded horror film that would quite easily have worked as a drama but that would have lacked the intensity and shocks that make Dark Water the great film that it is and why I consider it a masterpiece of modern horror.

[trebor8273]

The abominable Dr. Phibes. 8.8/10



Phibes rises again. 7.7/10



Theatre of blood. 9.3/10





Next up.

[bizarre_eye@Cult Labs]

Terror Eyes (1989)



This curious anthology ensemble concerns a script writer who has no experience of writing horror, but who is bizarrely asked to write a script for a horror film. She then starts having nightmares which she tries to convert into stories, however forgets them / is unable to transpose them to a script due to writers' block / is useless - a combination of the three is likely.

She eventually gets her friends to do all the work for her as stories are told by them via ye olde tried and tested method of 'friends around a campfire' shtick, and are generally passable if a little dull at times; but wait! It also has Satan, some stop-motion effects and a weird ending that kind of compliments the overall wonky aesthetic of this one. Despite Terror Eyes' haphazard approach and ropey set-up there is some schlocky fun to be had here.

[A little slice of irony too, but I've been trying to write something about this one for several days now but have endured my own writer' block in terms of what to say about this oddity.]