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Post by Captain Spencer on Feb 10, 2024 14:22:33 GMT
Inferno (1980)In Dario Argento's semi-sequel to Suspiria, an American studying music in Rome returns to New York to investigate the disappearance of his sister who has been living in an old building inhabited by the witch Mater Tenebrarum. One of my least favorite Argento movies. I thought I'd watch it again to see if I might like it better, but sadly I didn't. Inspite of the great camera work, striking imagery, amazing set pieces and impressive set designs, I can't get over the fact that there's actually very little story here. It just rambles on and on, and turned out to be a big build-up to nothing. Cool music score by Keith Emerson that sometimes tries to be like Jerry Goldsmith's Omen score. 4.5/10
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Post by theravenking on Feb 12, 2024 9:36:37 GMT
Inferno (1980)In Dario Argento's semi-sequel to Suspiria, an American studying music in Rome returns to New York to investigate the disappearance of his sister who has been living in an old building inhabited by the witch Mater Tenebrarum. One of my least favorite Argento movies. I thought I'd watch it again to see if I might like it better, but sadly I didn't. Inspite of the great camera work, striking imagery, amazing set pieces and impressive set designs, I can't get over the fact that there's actually very little story here. It just rambles on and on, and turned out to be a big build-up to nothing. Cool music score by Keith Emerson that sometimes tries to be like Jerry Goldsmith's Omen score. 4.5/10 Coincidentally I watched this too last weekend and would rate it a bit higher than you did. I thought it started out well and had some good atmosphere, but I didn't like how it shifted from one character to the next. It should've focused on one person having her investigate the secrets of the creepy witch house. I was actually expecting the girl to enter that door which we see at the beginning when she dives down into the submerged room and then she could've been caught inside the house or something having to find and fight her way out. It could've been bit like an adult Alice in Wonderland.
Instead it kept going from one dull, underwritten character to the next, the male lead was particularly boring. I didn't find the death scenes scary either. Unlike other Argento films like Tenebrae or Phenomena the whole thing seemed a bit dated. Overall I still kind of enjoyed it though.
6.5/10
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Post by Captain Spencer on Feb 12, 2024 15:22:49 GMT
Inferno (1980)In Dario Argento's semi-sequel to Suspiria, an American studying music in Rome returns to New York to investigate the disappearance of his sister who has been living in an old building inhabited by the witch Mater Tenebrarum. One of my least favorite Argento movies. I thought I'd watch it again to see if I might like it better, but sadly I didn't. Inspite of the great camera work, striking imagery, amazing set pieces and impressive set designs, I can't get over the fact that there's actually very little story here. It just rambles on and on, and turned out to be a big build-up to nothing. Cool music score by Keith Emerson that sometimes tries to be like Jerry Goldsmith's Omen score. 4.5/10 Coincidentally I watched this too last weekend and would rate it a bit higher than you did. I thought it started out well and had some good atmosphere, but I didn't like how it shifted from one character to the next. It should've focused on one person having her investigate the secrets of the creepy witch house. I was actually expecting the girl to enter that door which we see at the beginning when she dives down into the submerged room and then she could've been caught inside the house or something having to find and fight her way out. It could've been bit like an adult Alice in Wonderland.
Instead it kept going from one dull, underwritten character to the next, the male lead was particularly boring. I didn't find the death scenes scary either. Unlike other Argento films like Tenebrae or Phenomena the whole thing seemed a bit dated. Overall I still kind of enjoyed it though.
6.5/10
Exactly. I felt it was this element that made it have an overall lack of a coherent story. In my opinion all the good traits aren't enough to salvage it.
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Post by Captain Spencer on Feb 15, 2024 3:31:39 GMT
The Brood (1979)A mentally ill woman undergoing an unconventional therapy technique known as psychoplasmics breeds deformed children that will kill at her beckon call. After the low-budget schlockiness of Shivers and Rabid, David Cronenberg blossomed into a more mature and serious filmmaker to be reckoned with. Using his own personal, ugly divorce as the basis for the story, Cronenberg turned out one of his most dark, graphic, bleak and disturbing movies. Intelligently written and imaginatively conceived with some very gruesome and nasty scenes, so definitely not for the squeamish. At times has a post-modern feel to it. The very definition of body horror. 7.5/10
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Post by Teleadm on Feb 15, 2024 6:32:50 GMT
The Brood (1979)A mentally ill woman undergoing an unconventional therapy technique known as psychoplasmics breeds deformed children that will kill at her beckon call. After the low-budget schlockiness of Shivers and Rabid, David Cronenberg blossomed into a more mature and serious filmmaker to be reckoned with. Using his own personal, ugly divorce as the basis for the story, Cronenberg turned out one of his most dark, graphic, bleak and disturbing movies. Intelligently written and imaginatively conceived with some very gruesome and nasty scenes, so definitely not for the squeamish. At times has a post-modern feel to it. The very definition of body horror. 7.5/10 I liked this scene, since it looks so innocent from afar...
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Post by Captain Spencer on Feb 18, 2024 5:07:51 GMT
Friend Request (2016)An introverted, homely girl stalks a popular college student named Laura. After the introvert commits suicide, her demonic spirit causes the deaths of Laura's friends as revenge for being rejected. Yet another case of a good idea wasted. Borrowing from the much better Unfriended and keeping up with the theme of social media pitfalls, Friend Request does have a degree of creepiness to make it watchable. Unfortunately, it ends up taking the easy route by being standard and generic, with predictable jump scares. Also, CGI wasps are not scary in the least. 5/10
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Post by Captain Spencer on Feb 19, 2024 5:49:45 GMT
The Boogens (1981)An abandoned Colorado mine that was closed for many years due to a cave-in is re-opened, but unleashes some small, reptilian monsters. An underappreciated creature feature that benefits from likeable characters played very well by a cast of appealing actors. Plus the storyline is engrossing; I like the idea of the creatures coming from a mine and then being able to tunnel their way to a house and terrorize the young folks. The wintery atmosphere and scenery contributes a chilling feel. And there's also a Crazy Ralph-type character thrown in for good measure. It follows the standard Roger Corman rule of not showing the monsters too soon, just having a lot of subjective camera shots for a while. In fact, we don't get a really good look at the monsters until about the last twenty minutes. And when they are revealed, well...they look more cute and cuddly than terrifying inspite of the razor sharp teeth. Even so, there are a few nasty kill scenes and overall this a pretty good horror outing that is worth checking out. 7/10
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Post by politicidal1 on Feb 21, 2024 5:11:45 GMT
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Post by Carl LaFong on Feb 21, 2024 18:15:59 GMT
Blood and Black Lace
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Post by politicidal1 on Feb 27, 2024 22:24:02 GMT
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Post by Captain Spencer on Feb 28, 2024 3:29:06 GMT
Cobweb (2023)A young boy hears scratching noises and voices coming from behind his bedroom wall at night. He also wonders about his parents' increasingly erratic behavior. This scores a major bullseye for its atmospheric horror. With a story that is shrouded in mystery and with much edge-of-your-seat suspense, Cobweb is thoroughly engrossing and terrifying right to the very end. Following the standard Roger Corman rule of "Don't show the monster until much later", the creature here is subtly glimpsed at as a shadowy, spider-crawling figure until it is completely revealed near the end. This makes it all the more creepy, and the revelation did not disappoint. If you decide to watch this, try to avoid watching the trailer first because it spoils a couple of great scares. 8/10
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Post by politicidal1 on Mar 2, 2024 1:43:21 GMT
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Post by Captain Spencer on Mar 9, 2024 15:05:11 GMT
Victor Crowley (2017)A private charter plane crash lands in Honey Island Swamp where the passengers (including previous Hatchet survivor Andrew Yong) are stalked by the famous deformed serial killer. Well I was in the mood for old school American horror so I decided to give this a try, even though I haven't seen Hatchet III yet. The emphasis here is on comedy and as a comedy it's quite lame, only delivering the slightest of chuckles. But as gory slasher it does deliver the goods with some creative kills. Kane Hodder is great as Victor. But still, not nearly as good as Hatchet I and II. 5/10
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Post by Captain Spencer on Mar 10, 2024 4:35:57 GMT
Beyond The Door (1974)A Satanist makes a deal with the Devil that will allow him to live longer if he makes sure a demon child is born from the wife of a music producer. This Italian production has the audicity to blatantly rip off The Exorcist. This includes the head-spinning, green vomit, levitation and profane demon voice. Warner Bros. took legal action against the production company, resulting in a settlement. All-in-all, the movie isn't totally bad, it certainly has some inspired moments. The sound effects are quite good, and that doll scene was really freaky. But the derivativeness and confusing script (by seven, count 'em, seven credited writers!) really weight it down. Then there's the absurdity of those two children; the girl swears a lot in front of her parents and talks like a hippie ("that's a real bad trip, man"), and the boy is addicted to Campbell's pea soup (pea soup, get it?). 6/10
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Post by Captain Spencer on Mar 15, 2024 4:05:26 GMT
Phase IV (1974)Scientists studying the aggressive behavior of ants in the Arizona desert theorize that all species of the insect may end up taking over mankind. This science fiction-horror outing has some interesting ideas and uses stunning wild life photography with close-ups of the ants to provide a documentary-like feel. Plus the set designs were creative, so on a technical level the movie was quite good given the limited budget. But the problem is the dull presentation; the acting and writing are bland, and the pacing is that of a snail as opposed to the quick movements of an ant. 5.5/10
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