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All Things Horror Thread


TheSurgeon

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Anyone seen Terrifier 2 yet? I've got the Blu-ray on order from Amazon, so I'll wait until it arrives before checking it out, even though it's available via stream. It seems to have really blown up at the box office in the US, which is great to see.

Damien Leone and David Howard Thornton really deserve the success and recognition they're getting at the moment.

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Went to a mystery 80s horror all-nighter at the Prince Charles Cinema over the weekend - they've run a classic one a bunch of times (as have other places), so this was unexpectedly packed. Great hit-rate for me, as I've had the first four on my 'to watch at some point' list forever, and the last was my favouritest movie ever as a kid. Much more campy and comedic movies than may have expected, but that's no bad thing - was perfect for the audience.

The Howling

I'd seen the opening of this before, but not finished it. It's as incongruously nasty and intense an opening as the rest of the film is campy and weird - it's certainly not the type of opening that leads you to think 'I bet Patrick MacNee will be a major character while being very Patrick MacNeeish'. Only knowing Robert Picardo from Voyager, I would never have guessed him as being the villain until I saw the credits. I'd kind of prefer the rest of the film to be more like the opening, but I enjoyed what it actually was.

My Bloody Valentine

Dumb but serviceable enough. It's pretty much on rails from the start, but it does it with enough of a smirk that I enjoyed it. I want to know where the killer gets all his chocolate boxes from though. It had unexpected touches in places too - they swerve on one of the chocolate boxes in an obvious way, but then the real one is outside with angry dogs fighting off the guy trying to get it... and it's full of oddities like that. 

Critters

I'd always assumed this was much more low-budget than it actually was - I'd have loved this as a kid, but chances are that everyone saw it as less appropriate than Gremlins (despite that one not kayfabing Santa). The subtitle gag when one of them gets shot got the biggest laugh of the night. I'm kind of surprised this one isn't talked about more as a favourite of kids from the time - I'm guessing the age rating was the issue. As it is, it's very silly but very fun.

Return of the Living Dead

Consistently silly and enjoyable. The running gag with the emergency services just kept working. Leanna Quigley stripping off was so unsubtly done that it got a cheer from an audience that was mostly eye-rolling the more exploitative stuff if reacting to it at all. It's very far from a good movie, but it is a fun time.

The Monster Squad

If it was almost any other film I'd seen before on last, I probably would have skipped out on it and got some sleep. But it's The Monster Squad, baby! It still barely puts a foot wrong in terms of charm, despite being very much a product of its time (bullying, fatphobia, homophobia and the heroes blackmailing a woman with nudes and slut-shaming). But even then, the bullying victim gets the biggest cheer of the night ('My name... is Horace'), the jokes mostly land, and it even gets in a Holocaust reference that should feel incredibly out of place, but still somehow works. It's a smart, constantly-moving script, and the moment where Dracula storms through the cops, and threatens a little girl with 'Give me the amulet, you bitch!' still gets a gasp from the audience. 

All in all, a fun night.

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On 10/25/2022 at 1:05 PM, David said:

Anyone seen Terrifier 2 yet?

Yeah. It's far too long, some of the acting's a bit "stage school", and it all goes a bit too wacky at the end (if there can be such a thing as "too wacky" when dealing with an ultraviolent supernatural clown), but Art is fucking fantastic, the main lass is superb and there's a fair few decent laughs amongst the excellently-done carnage. It's absolutely tremendous fun, as long as you're able to overlook a few flaws. Delighted that it's doing so well in the US. Hopefully the sold out Blu-ray will convince the higher ups that a UK cinema release is needed. I'd love to see the reactions of a room full of people, especially if it's at a big multiplex or something where there's a higher chance of being in there with a load of unsuspecting "normal" people who might not quite know what they're letting themselves in for.

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2 hours ago, wordsfromlee said:

I quite enjoyed Barbarian. The first half was better than the second half but then again, the second half did have the tape measure scene which was really funny.

I didn’t dislike it, but I doubt I’ll ever watch it again. Agreed about the first being better than the second though

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I enjoyed it a lot. The first half was masterful tension building, reminded me of the feeling I got watching Jeepers Creepers for the first time which turned out to be quite a funny comparison. Unlike that film though it doesn’t drop off a cliff. Maybe I liked it more because it had some pretty clear references to some of my favourite horror films.

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10 hours ago, Keith Houchen said:

Used a Paramount + trial to watch the Scream films. They’re shite. Got the latest one left to watch but don’t know if I’ll bother. 

I bothered. It was better than the fourth but still shite. 

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