ok lets all shit our pants to something new: post 2005 horror film thread

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoJc2tH3WBw

Brad otm about Ready Or Not and the mansion. For a film that is almost entirely about playing hide and seek, it has basically zero tension as well. Samara Weaving is always good value though.

I’ve seen to much trash recently on planes. Annabelle Comes Home and La Llorona suggest that the people making the Conjuring universe stuff, while never high art, have basically stopped trying. Just a dull slog with a cobbled together script and a handful of jump scares. McKenna Grace, despite being about ten, is vastly better than the former deserves.

Fantasy Island, which has a very strong vibe of a film Paris Hilton would have starred in circa 2004, is at least watchable.

Oz Perkins’ Gretel & Hansel looks like it might be legit good, from the trailer.

Samara Weaving is always good value though.

I thought she was a big reason why the movie didn't work tbh.

Green Knight looks cool but fuck that cgi fox.

I thought "Doctor Sleep" was pretty silly, and sometimes strange, and not at all scary, and I'm surprised it got a theatrical release rather than live on Netflix with most of Mike Flanagan's stuff. But I like him, and he did about as well as he could with the material, I suppose. I saw the director's cut, fwiw, so can only imagine the theatrical version was even more confusing.

It's a weird thing, though, this movie. "Doctor Sleep," the book, was (I guess? I didn't read it) a sequel to "The Shining" (the book, which I've also never read), but of course "The Shining" (the movie) is apparently pretty different from the book. So I suppose this this movie is trying to be both adaptation of "Doctor Sleep" (the book) and sequel to "The Shining" (the movie).

It retreads a lot of familiar territory for King; the redemptive alcoholic etc. And it kept some of his worst traits - his anti-zigianism, the predictable buddy death. And it just felt too fantastic. Sucking a soul from a flask? It just didn’t work.

I'm no King stan, but while there did seem to be tons of familiar stuff ... it's a sequel. Regardless, a more interesting story could have been told without those "Near Dark" leftovers, since it has all those themes of abuse (alcohol and child) to explore. But like I said, probably did about as well as it could with the material.

(Had to google antiziganism)

Also: de-gloving and tendon cuts, King seems to like those.

I watched Splice (2009), and it’s been a while since I disliked a film so strongly. I don’t think a single thing anyone did in this film is believable, the characters are wildly inconsistent, clumsy dialogue. Stupid and ugly.

$4 Comcast stream of "Haunt" was worth the money. Kids out driving in country see "Haunted House" neon sign, decide to visit house run by masked people. Final girl was a decent character. Not original, but done well, with a few things I didn't expect, and a satisfying ending.

The Invisible Man:

Good - opening scene, restaurant scene, Elizabeth Moss, some style, jump scares.
Bad - wild improbabilities (not in general, you just go with the premise, but specific scenes and points of logic), too long, zero attempt to ruminate on invisibility (like Cronenberg's The Fly ruminates on decay--too much to ask, I know), too-cute ending, jump scares. Also didn't like the way there isn't even a hint of sexuality in Moss's relationship with her cop friend.

I've never read the book or seen the original, and suspect this has little or no connection to either. I do love Elliot Gould's Invisible Man joke in The Long Goodbye.

I don’t check this thread too often so forgive me if it’s been discussed ad nauseum, but I finally caught the Suspiria redo and was enthusiastic about it. I really thought it paid tribute well and stood its own ground. I was nuts about the dancing and the color/photography.

I can understand negative reactions but I really liked it a lot

Not sure if it's cos i went to the cinema in a bad mood but i found color out of space quite disappointing. seemed to mush together tropes and ideas from a ream of existing films (The Shining, Society, The Thing, Slither) without really offering anything new, nor anything to really think about. It ended up being a sequence of loosely-linked events that seemed designed to show off some quite nice but OTT special effects, but it all felt a bit empty and inconsequential.

I enjoyed how it messed with everyone in different ways, but it seemed a little less than well thought out. Some of the things that it seemed to suggest simply went nowhere. It seemed like the kind of movie they ran out of money making. Still, I'm glad to see that Stanley got work again.

Also caught the Suspiria remake this weekend, too, and agree with your comments, particularly the dance scene with the audience. Wonderful. Was thinking the final dance scene could have ended with more than dancers somewhat whirling in place, but guessing choreography driven by safety concerns given the slippery floor. Leaps and slides probably not a good idea.

Also watched Girl on the Third Floor. Don't feel the time was wasted, despite many, many medium close-ups, plus a seriously 'meh' ending and epilogue. Was rooting for the evil house.

color out of space quite disappointing. seemed to mush together tropes and ideas from a ream of existing films ... a sequence of loosely-linked events ... inconsequential.

this is not an unfair reaction to the film or to Lovecraft in general, but the movies you cite were all made 55-80 years after The Colour Out Of Space

Story is a tad too long but my favorite thing is the bit they'll never get onscreen: the farm and "blasted heath".

Hey y’all, I’m quietly sneaking back into a few beloved threads after an...extended absence. Looks like I have some catching up to do here.

:D

welcome back, friend

the new black christmas was so riotously good i was freaking out the whole time

the script is simultaneously a lot on the nose and a lot hopped up on goofballs but respectively 1) it's on the nose in ways that are... correct, so i was never mad about it 2) some of the more ridiculous moments make the movie seem like it's operating according to a weird private sense of humor shared among a group of friends, which is great in a film explicitly about sisterhood. looked great (again everyone should watch always shine), enormously cathartic and cool and fun and wildly different from the original and the 2006 remake, i couldn't have been happier

any Shudder recommendations? been burning through stuff so I can bounce before I get charged lol

highlights so far:

Luz: probably would have annoyed me if it was any longer but at 65 mins before credits, this was just the right length. almost more of a demo reel than a movie, but a very good demo reel.

Daniel Isn't Real: son-of-Schwarzenegger makes an excellent imaginary Patrick Bateman. this was way more solid than I expected.

Black Coal, Thin Ice: not horror - Chinese neo-noir - but really good, sort of a deeply fucked new take on Sea of Love. made me eager to check out Wild Goose Lake.

Dogs Don't Wear Pants: also not really horror, just an exceptionally violent BDSM romantic tragicomedy. Had some really great moments and fine performances, but would have really benefitted from fleshing out the other characters besides the protag. Leans into some cliches the BDSM community would frown upon, I kinda suspect, though I'd be lying if I said I was an expert of any kind.

Slumber Party Massacre: somehow had never seen this. A riot, though would have been a first-tier slasher classic with a less lame killer.

what! the driller killer in slumber party massacre is terrifying!

I found him pretty effective till he started talking

These both sound interesting but I don't think I'll bite yet. There's a few spoilers.
https://thebedlamfiles.com/film/the-platform/
https://thebedlamfiles.com/film/swallow/

Heard v good things about the latter.

is that a horror movie about Bush's meteoric rise in the 90s

Essay from Mike Flanagan about watching horror ... well, now:

https://bloody-disgusting.com/editorials/3611821/facing-fear-times-uncertainty-guest-essay-filmmaker-mike-flanagan/

as I mentioned on the Streaming thread, Shudder just added the first eight Friday the 13ths, so that's my weekend sorted

Re: Flanagan piece, I also hated horror when I was a kid but loved monsters, it was intensely uncomfortable.

There was a lot of horror writers on twitter promoting their virus stories, some people saying that is screwed up and some people saying it's completely appropriate to the function of horror.

I've seen a lot more trends about comfort reads/viewing though.

I don't think I've really responded at all to the situation in my entertainment habits.

I'm sure it's been mentioned before, but I'd never considered the tacit appeal of horror and other challenging stuff is that it has an *end*. It's not just make believe, it's finite.

earnestly cannot tell at this time if I am genetically predisposed to defending Damon Lindelof or if The Hunt is legitimately really good, but I am at least comfortable asserting that Betty Gilpin is stellar in it.

The Head Hunter - Surprised to find there is no Bluray version of this, only DVD. I wanted this to be much better than it was. It's very short and the story is very simple, not much dialogue. Special effects are really weak and the music unwisely tries to wring emotion out of what little story there is. The only things it really has going for it is the scenery and costume.

And those are worth every penny of the paltry budget.

They were definitely impressive and enabled a trailer that promised a much better film.

Tried to watch the director's cut of Doctor Sleep to see if it would result in a more satisfying overall movie, but instead mainly seems to add the last thing you'd ever want or need: more lengthy, detailed explanations of the lore and the powers. I bailed half an hour in.

mainly seems to add the last thing you'd ever want or need: more lengthy, detailed explanations

Steven King's job description, innit?

yeah I'm gonna continue to blame Flanagan's blind fealty to King for sinking that movie

I'm sure it's been mentioned before, but I'd never considered the tacit appeal of horror and other challenging stuff is that it has an *end*. It's not just make believe, it's finite.

Besides making the cash grab nature of horror films overt, that's the main reason I hate the "it's not over" ending. I'm all for sequels, but there's no pleasure in watching 90 minutes of say, Wishmaster, Freddy, or Leprechaun, kill a bunch of folk and be defeated/killed/banished, only to have a "wink wink, they're back" coda. I already assume that a new film is coming. The coda kills that vicarious satisfaction.

The only coda I remember liking was Friday the 13th Part II's last shot.

If you're craving new monster makeup, this is the place. Some stunning work here, if only they had more films to work on.
https://www.instagram.com/monsterpaloozaofficial/

Plus Danny Devito and Brad Pitt masks
https://www.instagram.com/p/B2hgQeXBzva/
https://www.instagram.com/p/B27QDaPhxZt/

Crazy motherfucks
https://www.instagram.com/spiderzero/
https://www.instagram.com/sazenlee/

Has anyone (don't know if Frederik B is still around) seen Amat Escalante's The Untamed? I seen some monster sex people saying it's the best thing ever; oddly it's in Arrow's arthouse line rather than their cult line but it goes full-on tentacle porn in one scene. I had seen the cover lots of times but never really knew what it was. Seen somebody say it's very obviously riffing on (or ripping off) Possession but I'm curious.

Brandon Cronenberg's Possessor is a nasty, NASTY piece of work. And a big step up from Antiviral.

meanwhile I pretty much hated The Lodge, which I assume is the movie Hereditary haters see in Hereditary.

can't wait to love that movie

I had that thought lol

I liked it, but like Hereditary, feel like it's not a movie you "love" in the conventional sense. it was ugly

Hereditary at least had some pitch-black humor and distinctive style, and some great performances. This had little to none of any of that, and despite being considerably shorter felt empty and draggy as hell throughout. (Not to knock Keough who I've seen be totally great in stuff like The Girlfriend Experience series, though I'm beginning to wonder if she has a nudity-required clause in her contracts.)