VHS and Betamax You Have Recently Rented

[FLips]

Oddly enough my mate had a VHS copy of House 3 when we were teenagers and we watched it quite a few times for how bonkers and so-bad-it’s-good it was. Lance Henriksen and Brion James are in it but for some reason all I remember is there was focus on a cat.

[Lorne Malvo]

20 hours ago, Dr. Alan Grant said:

 

The Invisible Man (2020)

.

Were you shocked to learn this film has an invisible man in it? That revelation baffles some members of the UKFF. 

[BomberPat]

Did a movie night for Halloween...

 

Ghost Shark

This was shit, obviously. Sci-Fi Channel original that does what it says on the tin. Magic ghost shark can manifest in any body of water, so you get moments where a shark eats someone from a bucket, or manifests inside a glass of water and then bursts out of the person drinking it. It's stupid. It's a shark movie, so there's a mayor more concerned with election than ghost sharks, and a Quint that nobody takes seriously until it's too late, only the Quint is obsessed with ghosts rather than sharks. There's a point where the ghost shark chases the protagonists, but it can't fit through a tight gap and is snapping at them just out of reach, despite the entire space they're in being soaked, covered in rain and puddles, and they're wet through, and we've already learned that the shark can appear in any water it chooses. It also does the thing of all bad shark movies, where a shark is treated like some kind of giant aquatic knife, just cutting people in half by swimming through them. To its credit, this is just pre-Sharknado, so it's before the Sci-Fi Channel stuff started getting a bit too cute and self-aware, so it's just a stupid bad film without trying to wink at the audience about it.

Longlegs

Missed this when it came out. Thought it was bang average, and the third act really loses its way. I remember a lot of the hype and chatter around this being that it was really interesting and creative and uniquely weird, and I didn't get any of that from it. Nicolas Cage is doing probably his worst kind of wacky acting in this, and it's rare that I say this, but I felt he detracted from the film more than he added to it. It tried to be too many things at once; modern horror, supernatural, Satanic Panic, FBI procedural, and just didn't really pull off any of them as a result. It was fine, but I didn't get the hype at all, and I'm glad I didn't watch it when everyone was banging on about it, because I would have been more disappointed.

The Backrooms

I went in with pretty minimal expectations, as "film based on internet creepypasta stuff" isn't ticking any of my boxes, though I do like a good bit of liminal space creepiness. I thought it was visually interesting, but fell apart the longer it went on. The found footage-style stuff earlier on was the best part, and I'd have liked to have seen a version of this film pulled together from nothing but handheld camcorder and CCTV footage. The longer it went, the more clear it became that they couldn't figure out how to escalate a narrative about a creepy space without it becoming more generic horror, and at times that meant it felt like watching someone play a horror video game - it stopped being about the space itself being the source of the horror, and became "protagonist is chased by scary monster".

[gmoney]

The Fantastic Four: First Steps

Shite.

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen

Fun, super imaginative and cool set pieces as you'd expect with a Terry Gilliam film. Really liked the lead, non irritating child actor (Sarah Polley, who by all accounts had a really shit time making this) but something about it fell short of it being a smash for me. The entire sequence on the moon I found pretty grating, and as it finished I didn't get the satisfied feeling you get after watching something great.

Logan

This was a something couldn't be arsed with at the time, but someone recently told me it'd been influenced by Unforgiven, and curiosity got the better of me, and I was looking for something with Patrick Stewart in. Maybe the wrong choice in that regard, as he's a dying Charles Xavier suffering from dementia, so wasn't exactly a comfort, but typically he is absolutely compelling. I enjoyed this a lot, again child actor is really good. If you're used to the spaceless, CGI trash Marvel is pumping out right now, this is a tonic. The special effects are used pretty sparingly and nothing took me out of the world. A entertaining, self contained tale. Not a patch on Unforgiven though.  

Psycho II

Norman Bates is declared sane and released from a mental institution and immediately begins to hear the voice of his mother and hallucinating. Really makes you question the robustness of the evaluation he had. Lot's of batshit things happen, backed up with batshit explanations. Of course it's nothing like as good original, but I thought it was a good laugh. 

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World

I struggle with films set on the sea, I just can't muster the enthusiasm to watch them, even though often I do actually enjoy them. I don't know why. I like the sea. Anyway, typically after taking 23 years to get around to watching this, I liked it. I was a little concerned there might be too much of a jingoistic tone, but I think the movie does enough saying "look, this death is fucking pointless" to counteract it. Some real gnarly shit in there too. 

Edited Monday at 11:02 AM by gmoney

[BomberPat]

I love Psycho II. It's preposterous, and the ending is unintentionally hilarious, but Anthony Perkins is incredible. He manages to make Norman Bates a genuinely sympathetic character, someone you're actively rooting for, without betraying the character.

[Merzbow]

36 minutes ago, BomberPat said:

Longlegs

Pretty much spot on with my assessment at the time, although I enjoyed the slow, moody first half quite a bit.

Cage got all the praise yet was easily the worst part of the film, a load of daft bollocks made even worse when they did the worst thing a horror can do.. huge lore dump, over explaining for the idiots in the back.

[gmoney]

2 minutes ago, BomberPat said:

I love Psycho II. It's preposterous, and the ending is unintentionally hilarious, but Anthony Perkins is incredible. He manages to make Norman Bates a genuinely sympathetic character, someone you're actively rooting for, without betraying the character.

I'm intrigued to watch III as Perkins directed it, and interested to see what else they can do with the character without re-treading stuff. 

[Lorne Malvo]

38 minutes ago, BomberPat said:

Longlegs

Missed this when it came out. Thought it was bang average, and the third act really loses its way. I remember a lot of the hype and chatter around this being that it was really interesting and creative and uniquely weird, and I didn't get any of that from it. Nicolas Cage is doing probably his worst kind of wacky acting in this, and it's rare that I say this, but I felt he detracted from the film more than he added to it. It tried to be too many things at once; modern horror, supernatural, Satanic Panic, FBI procedural, and just didn't really pull off any of them as a result. It was fine, but I didn't get the hype at all, and I'm glad I didn't watch it when everyone was banging on about it, because I would have been more disappointed.

I liked it more than you, but think it would have been better without Nic Cage as his wacky act always takes me out of films. Between this, Mom & Dad, Colour Out Of Space, Mandy, Willys Wonderland and Renfield, Nic Cage has had quite a bad run of horror and horror-adjacent films. Just stay away from the genre, Nic!

[WyattSheepMask]

1 hour ago, gmoney said:

I'm intrigued to watch III as Perkins directed it, and interested to see what else they can do with the character without re-treading stuff. 

Wait till you get to Psycho IV: The Beginning, where you head into prequel territory via Norman being part of a radio phone-in hosted by CCH Pounder (who holds the whole movie together because she’s awesome)

[Chris B]

3 hours ago, BomberPat said:

I love Psycho II. It's preposterous, and the ending is unintentionally hilarious, but Anthony Perkins is incredible. He manages to make Norman Bates a genuinely sympathetic character, someone you're actively rooting for, without betraying the character.

I love it as well - yes, it's not the original, but it definitely has its moments. There are some smart reversals too - I love the sequence where Jennifer Tilly has just showered, and finds the peephole into Mother's room. And while I get the ending being unintentionally funny, I also love how tragic it is. Perkins is incredible in the entire film.

 

3 hours ago, gmoney said:

I'm intrigued to watch III as Perkins directed it, and interested to see what else they can do with the character without re-treading stuff. 

I'll be interested in your thoughts. I didn't think much of it when I first watched it, but saw it again as part of a queer horror night double-bill with II, and the host gave it some decent context - pointing out that Perkins was working through some stuff with it. He was also clearly looking at european horror at the time as a bit of an influence, all of which makes it more interesting. It still doesn't fully work for me, but I like it a lot more than I did.

 

1 hour ago, WyattSheepMask said:

Wait till you get to Psycho IV: The Beginning, where you head into prequel territory via Norman being part of a radio phone-in hosted by CCH Pounder (who holds the whole movie together because she’s awesome)

Fucking Mick Garris, man. The king of movies and TV shows that I kind of like that are kind of competently made, but I'd like a lot more if anyone else did them. Him spending a decade as Stephen King's nominated movie-guy is such a waste.

Edited Monday at 02:16 PM by Chris B

[Mr_Danger]

8 hours ago, Lorne Malvo said:

I liked it more than you, but think it would have been better without Nic Cage as his wacky act always takes me out of films. Between this, Mom & Dad, Colour Out Of Space, Mandy, Willys Wonderland and Renfield, Nic Cage has had quite a bad run of horror and horror-adjacent films. Just stay away from the genre, Nic!

I enjoyed that A Quiet Place rip off he did for as much as a 2 star Nic Cage film can be enjoyed. 

I liked The Backrooms for the feelings it evoked but as a film with plot and motivation etc it wasn’t that great. It did make me kind of nostalgic for the abandoned bowling alley side of the old cinema ran by the local serial killer we used to go to as kids.

[SuperBacon]

Get Shorty 

Absolutely no idea how I've never seen this, what a fun film!

Stacked cast, great performances, it looks great and I can't believe I'm saying this, but it was too short, I could've watched another half an hour of it.

 

[Devon Malcolm]

The Cycle

One of the biggest surprises of the year. A serial killer thriller turned werewolf horror. Creepy and violent, manages to be about trauma and sensible about it, superb Deborah Ann Woll performance (nice to see her in something good and in general <3) - thought this was ace.

The Cabin in the Woods

It's alright but doesn't really stand up strongly to a rewatch, for me. Joss Whedon's dialogue just gets worse with each passing year. Whatever happened to that Chris Hemsworth anyway?

Invaders from Mars (1986)

Tobe Hooper tries making a horror film for the family because as we all know he definitely didn't make Poltergeist. It's a good time - the effects are appalling but it's daft and occasionally creepy and I love Karen Black in anything.

The Granny

Mental, a fucking excellent time. Dying granny drinks an infected life potion and proceeds to kill off her horrible family. Stella Stevens is so funny in this. The effects are amazingly disgusting at times. Shannon Whirry in the lead, lads! Loved it.

New Year's Evil

Boring slasher but at least the title is really good.

Uncle Sam

An Iraq war veteran returns from the dead to murder people in his home town, including his estranged wife. William Lustig / Larry Cohen strike again. Enjoyed this a lot, even though it's not quite as good as the first two Maniac Cop films. Pleasingly anti-military, too.

Amityville 2: The Possession

I didn't like the original but everyone on Letterboxd insisted this was far better and they were right. Great stuff. Helps a lot that the family are terrible people (you'd never guess with Burt Young as the patriarch) and there are a couple of wild subplots. Turns into something else near the end and stays enjoyable. Had a blast with this.

Amityville 1992: It's About Time

The other Amityville film (out of the 8 million of them) that seems well regarded. It's alright. Tries a time-travelling gimmick that makes no sense and it's not set in the house but it's weird and occasionally funny and also quite disgusting. Looks a bit too much like a TV movie but it's a laugh.

We're All Going to the World's Fair

Currently streaming on Channel 4. Can't wait to see what Jane Schoenbrun does next but what a debut this was. Captures the loneliness of being perpetually online brilliantly.

Seeding of a Ghost

Typically potty (and rapey) Hong Kong horror film about a taxi driver who gets a sorcerer to put a hex on the men who murdered his wife. Takes some time to get going but the second half is pure chaos in the best way possible.

Green Room

Watched for Patrick Stewart. God he's terrifying in this. But no more than Imogen Poots with a box-cutter. Jesus christ that scene is still hard to watch even on the fourth go. Brilliant film.

Weapons

Still wild to me that Cregger decides to finish this with its funniest scene. The best of his stuff so far, for me.

The Fog

Maybe the undead leper sailors just really hated Adrienne Barbeau's taste in music.

Alien

Imagine how much easier it would have been for Ripley if she'd just left the cat behind.

October's finished now so I'm allowed to watch some non-horror films:-

Fatherland (cinema)

Drama about post-war Germany. It's too short and doesn't really get into its story, characters or setting but the performances are good and what's there is decent enough. It's half a film, though.

People We Meet on Vacation

Nice enough romcom but 20 minutes too long. Didn't need the double ending. Emily Bader is really charming, I'd like to see her in more. Not enough of her daft parents though.

Finding Emily

The Manchester romcom with Holly from The Nice Guys is really good! Spike Fearn nails the accent, the dialogue is spot on, the locations are nicely scouted and most importantly of all - NO OASIS. Thought this was really sweet even despite my natural bias. End credits scene is very funny as well.

I Want Your Sex

What a body of work Cooper Hoffman is already building up, man. This was very funny indeed and a reminder I need to watch more Gregg Araki. Chase Sui Wonders MVP. Olivia Wilde amazingly hot. Mason Gooding too, I'd say. Really good.

Verity

The Dakota Johnson / Anne Hathaway / Josh Hartnett erotic thriller is neither erotic nor a thriller. Nor even slightly good. Really shit, this. I don't know why Hathaway is almost never in anything good. Terrible ending, really boring, absolute waste of time.

[mim731]

Hellraiser 3: Hell on Earth

A gloriously stupid mess of a film. It lacks the world building of 2, or the straightforward horror of the original but for some reason it's endlessly entertaining. A proper final highlight before the endless parade of middling sequels that dilutes those first three films. Still Doug Bradley is excellent, as always. 

[WyattSheepMask]

5 hours ago, mim731 said:

Hellraiser 3: Hell on Earth

A gloriously stupid mess of a film. It lacks the world building of 2, or the straightforward horror of the original but for some reason it's endlessly entertaining. A proper final highlight before the endless parade of middling sequels that dilutes those first three films. Still Doug Bradley is excellent, as always. 

Having recently bought the Hellraiser: Revival game (which I’m really enjoying), I started going through the series again.
I’ve seen 1-3 a bunch of times, but everything after that other than 5 I’ve only ever seen once. I’ve skipped over 5 (Inferno) because it’s one of the worst films I’ve ever seen. I gave it a second chance after hearing someone praise it on a podcast and figured maybe I’d misjudged it. I hadn’t, it’s shite. 6 (Hellseeker) is up next and I don’t have particularly fond memories of that either. Dean Winters is the lead in it, which gives you an idea of how low the bar is and I think Pinhead only turns up in the last 15 minutes just so that the producers can just go “see! It is a Hellraiser film!”