pearl is totally sympathetic
― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Tuesday, 1 November 2022 17:32 (one year ago) link
i think the movie plays it both ways
― na (NA), Tuesday, 1 November 2022 17:34 (one year ago) link
cynically
― na (NA), Tuesday, 1 November 2022 17:35 (one year ago) link
i agree the movie plays on the characters' and audience's revulsion toward aging bodies but i don't think it shares said revulsion. fair to read it the other way i guess
― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Tuesday, 1 November 2022 17:38 (one year ago) link
but as a character she's totally as tragic a figure as the crone in barbarian. of course i'm a little informed by the prequel but i thought of x this way before i saw pearl
― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Tuesday, 1 November 2022 17:40 (one year ago) link
i'm not super upset about any of this, i've seen enough horror movies to know how stuff like this works, i'm just surprised i didn't see any discourse around it
― na (NA), Tuesday, 1 November 2022 17:41 (one year ago) link
i've seen it mentioned in a few letterboxd reviews, especially of barbarian, which tend to note it as an inadvertent 2022 horror trend lol
― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Tuesday, 1 November 2022 17:46 (one year ago) link
I think the stunt casting in "X" at least partially explained why a lot of people elided right over the "yuck, old people" angle. I haven't seen "Pearl," but there was this weird ambiguity to "X" that felt more ambitious than what the movie delivered, though not necessarily to its detriment.
Watching "Barbarian," I thought they totally leaned into the "ew" angle, but I thought it was mostly lazy, like much of the by the numbers end stuff.
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 1 November 2022 17:59 (one year ago) link
man can't believe a horror movie featured a character with grotesque facial features
― stank viola (Neanderthal), Tuesday, 1 November 2022 19:57 (one year ago) link
also Brad super otm re: Terrifier 2.
― stank viola (Neanderthal), Tuesday, 1 November 2022 19:58 (one year ago) link
using a balding old naked woman to horrify people is one of the oldest dullest tricks in the book imo. honestly because it's so common i didn't think twice about it in Barbarian. i wouldn't have expected her to look any different tbh.
― Piggy Lepton (La Lechera), Tuesday, 1 November 2022 23:47 (one year ago) link
am I the only one here who thought Hatching was great? I am not a hardcore horror fan so it was just the right level of scary for me, also I love the sound of Finnish when spoken
I love Cabin In The Woods in all its meta glory
― sleeve, Wednesday, 2 November 2022 00:25 (one year ago) link
Boy, "X" was OK but "Pearl" was utterly inspired. Martin Scorsese otm.
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 2 November 2022 19:19 (one year ago) link
prey for the devil: incredibly average possession/exorcism movie with more than a few anti-choice vibes? solid lead performance tho
― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Saturday, 5 November 2022 23:24 (one year ago) link
lead was jacqueline byers who has barely been in anything but i look forward to seeing her in a good horror movie maybe someday
― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Saturday, 5 November 2022 23:33 (one year ago) link
i saw two horror-adjacent-but-not-really-horror-movies recently and i don’t know where to post about them!:
1. the menu: maybe a little basic in some of its storyline choices but deliriously entertaining anyway
2. bones and all: this movie worked its way inside of me and did something to me and i’m different now
― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Wednesday, 23 November 2022 23:37 (one year ago) link
Agree with the "Barbarian" reviews itt. The Justin Long "boop!" made me laugh.
― the body of a spider... (scampering alpaca), Thursday, 24 November 2022 01:58 (one year ago) link
The Menu felt like a foodie Theatre of Blood
This is a good thing
― Fash Gordon (Neanderthal), Thursday, 24 November 2022 02:43 (one year ago) link
I thought "The Menu" was great, like "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" by way of Peter Greenaway, with a dash of "Ratatouille."
― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 26 November 2022 22:57 (one year ago) link
skinamarink: remember when you were a kid and you'd turn out the light to go to bed and the shadows in your room would collect into the shape of a face on the ceiling and if you were tired enough you could hear sounds like gnarled speech coming from its bottomless mouth
― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Thursday, 1 December 2022 06:27 (one year ago) link
^^^ I just came here to post about this, my son the horror buff sent me the trailer last night. Intrigued.
― Three Rings for the Elven Bishop (Dan Peterson), Thursday, 1 December 2022 20:42 (one year ago) link
Getting some serious "Near Dark" vibes from "Bones and All."
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 23 December 2022 02:43 (one year ago) link
This was fine and there was more I liked about it than didn't, but at the same time it felt frustratingly half-baked, like a low-budget pandemic rush job, with limited time with the actors and locations (maybe it was?). Also count me among those that did not really like Mark Rylance's Clare Quilty as written (and directed) by Stephen King.
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 23 December 2022 16:59 (one year ago) link
horror and horror-adjacent 2022:
crimes of the future dark glassesbones and allmad godpearlnopethe munstersorphan: first killyou won’t be aloneskinamarinksmilexterrifier 2halloween endsbodies bodies bodies
bitter disappointment:scream ‘22
best first 30 minutes of a horror movie:barbarian
not good at all:the invitationprey for the devil
still need to see:resurrectionwatcher
best horror movie from the past i saw for the first time this year:the shout (1978)
horror/horror-adjacent director i grew increasingly obsessed with over the year:shinya tsukamoto (tetsuo the iron man, kotoko)
― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Saturday, 24 December 2022 18:40 (one year ago) link
Tsukamoto and The Shout is my all-time stuff, have you seen Tokyo Fist, Haze, Vital and Gemini yet?
Rebecca Hall has been in at least 3 horror films and I haven't seen any of them yet.
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Sunday, 25 December 2022 02:20 (one year ago) link
Best Horrors from 2022/2021 that I saw this year
Top Tier:SkinamarinkFlux GourmetHatchingYou Won't Be AloneThe NorthmanLambThe FeastMemoriaWe’re All Going to the World’s FairHellraiserCensorStrawberry Mansion
Middle Tier:HellraiserDeadwareIncantionBlack PhoneShe WillBarbarianGaiaBroadcast Signal IntrusionThings Heard & SeenIn the EarthResurrectionPreyVHS 94NopeShepherd
Disappointing:XDeadstreamThe 8th NightMediumWatcherMidnight Mass
― glumdalclitch, Sunday, 25 December 2022 21:40 (one year ago) link
Lol I see I've put Hellraiser in 2 tiers, and that def reflects my indecisiveness over how good it is...
― glumdalclitch, Sunday, 25 December 2022 21:44 (one year ago) link
Did you see Pearl? I thought it was a lot better/more interesting than X.
― Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 25 December 2022 21:55 (one year ago) link
still working my way through the filmography so no not yet! literally just saw tetsuo ii body hammer a few weeks ago (it’s insanely great and i should’ve bought the manga entertainment release back when it was constantly advertised to me on anime dvds when i was 12… wonder how i would’ve reacted to it, suspect i would’ve instantly been on its wavelength bc people transcending their bodies to become big guns is awesome)
― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Sunday, 25 December 2022 22:03 (one year ago) link
Your putting Hellraiser in both the top and middle tiers also reflects my feelings about it.
Things I saw this year (not all from this year) that I liked a lot:
BarbarianHellraiserCensorIn the EarthPreyBarbarian
― but also fuck you (unperson), Sunday, 25 December 2022 22:10 (one year ago) link
i have tetsuo ii on vhs... (and didn't like it as much as the first)
― koogs, Monday, 26 December 2022 00:29 (one year ago) link
it isn’t quite as singular or homosexual as the first but it still… rules
― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Monday, 26 December 2022 00:37 (one year ago) link
nice to see another Hatching fan!
― sleeve, Monday, 26 December 2022 00:43 (one year ago) link
Watched Hellraiser at the weekend and still working out my final opinion, at the moment I feel it was very well done compared to all other horror remakes (Suspiria the exception), but compared to early Hellraiser it felt surprisingly smooth and didn't have the grime and suburban ennui that I associate with the first film and the franchise ethos.
Cant say there was anything wrong or lacking, just expected more ambition in the delivery.
― my opinionation (Hamildan), Monday, 26 December 2022 18:29 (one year ago) link
to clarify, well done compared to every remake in the last 20 years but I feel the Suspiria remake is a great example of well done and ambitious remake.
― my opinionation (Hamildan), Monday, 26 December 2022 18:31 (one year ago) link
I don't think anyone has posted this yet?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCt7Iq6wSUw
― Andy the Grasshopper, Saturday, 7 January 2023 00:17 (one year ago) link
Evil Dead Rise, a sequel, I guess? Directed by Lee Cronin:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smTK_AeAPHs
― but also fuck you (unperson), Saturday, 7 January 2023 00:36 (one year ago) link
well i have tickets for skinamarink, hope it's not boring
― “Cheeky cheeky!” she trills, nearly demolishing a roadside post (forksclovetofu), Saturday, 7 January 2023 07:18 (one year ago) link
Feeling super suspicious it's gonna be "cursed images the movie" and as online as I am i don't think i'm that online
that evil dead preview looks pretty good but i'm a sucker for injury to the eye motif
― “Cheeky cheeky!” she trills, nearly demolishing a roadside post (forksclovetofu), Saturday, 7 January 2023 07:22 (one year ago) link
sorry to say that it is kinda “boring”
― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Saturday, 7 January 2023 14:32 (one year ago) link
Going to see Enys Men a week on Monday, will try to remember to report back.
― emil.y, Saturday, 7 January 2023 16:33 (one year ago) link
Have to admit that looks right up my alley, but I do love impressionistic horror much more than others around here, it seems
― Goose Bigelow, Fowl Gigolo (the table is the table), Saturday, 7 January 2023 18:58 (one year ago) link
from the camcordery thread:
Saw Skinamarink in theaters last night and, while I come equipped with considerable moviegoing patience and appreciate the commitment to the bit, this mostly missed me. As a Gen Xer, i think the vintage on this madeleine is a bit late for my taste. We like our mindfucks more explicit. That said there are certainly a few interesting moments, particularly the ending shot. The (rare) jumpscares felt pretty cheap and elicited giggles from my audience. In general, the star is the film grain so I can't imagine getting too much out of this on an ipad screen... if you're gonna see it, try it on a big screen but keep your expectations extremely small. Props to Ball for getting mainstream distribution for what is explicitly an experimental film tho! Sneaking this into the discourse is no small feat.
That said there are certainly a few interesting moments, particularly the ending shot. The (rare) jumpscares felt pretty cheap and elicited giggles from my audience. In general, the star is the film grain so I can't imagine getting too much out of this on an ipad screen... if you're gonna see it, try it on a big screen but keep your expectations extremely small. Props to Ball for getting mainstream distribution for what is explicitly an experimental film tho! Sneaking this into the discourse is no small feat.
― “Cheeky cheeky!” she trills, nearly demolishing a roadside post (forksclovetofu), Friday, 13 January 2023 17:28 (one year ago) link
M3gan was fun, but it did feel an awful lot like Child's Play reboot. like the style is a bit darker (though it has plenty of jokes), but I seriously get annoyed when two movies this similar come out within a few years of each other.
― fentanyl young (Neanderthal), Saturday, 14 January 2023 02:34 (one year ago) link
i thought M3GAN was pretty CH3AP. there was nothing redeeming about it; the technology scenes were very b-movie, there was almost no atmosphere, no cool shots, no interesting sound design, no memorable lines, no 'whoa' moments... it's good for a silly laugh, but even the laughs are like 'heh'. such an empty, empty film... but maybe i'm just getting old...
― maelin, Saturday, 14 January 2023 12:02 (one year ago) link
Saw "The Menu" again, and it's even better the second time. And even funnier, too, so much so that I'd barely count it as horror. (Made me want to reassess "Midsommar" and its own debatably innate comedic angle.) Lots of little one-off mumbled lines and other details I caught in the background the second time.
― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 14 January 2023 15:03 (one year ago) link
Think I said up thread but it's very much Theatre of Blood for foodies. Many guffaws.
The first suicide made me gasp out loud though (trigger warning - there's two of them in the movie)
― fentanyl young (Neanderthal), Saturday, 14 January 2023 16:15 (one year ago) link
Is M3gan supposed to look like that Olsen actress who is in the Marvel stuff?
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Saturday, 14 January 2023 18:01 (one year ago) link
LOL that was exactly who I thought she looked like
― fentanyl young (Neanderthal), Saturday, 14 January 2023 18:14 (one year ago) link
She's supposed to look like the lead actress — Allison Williams, from Girls and Get Out and other stuff I've never seen.
― but also fuck you (unperson), Saturday, 14 January 2023 22:26 (one year ago) link