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Post by the knife on Oct 4, 2023 2:05:29 GMT
8. Two Orphan Vampires (Jean Rollin, 1997) 10/10 Much like Suspiria is celebrating the colour red, Two Orphan Vampires features the most beautiful blues in all of film. The use of a blue overlay was so intriguing as well as it adds an extra layer of melancholy to the story. Thereβs just something so visually satisfying about seeing vampires, more regularly associated with the colour red, bathed in these icy tones. It's an anti-coming of age story about two blind teenage girls who are adopted by a kindly old doctor, but unbeknownst to him, they are vampires - blind and innocent by day, with sight and lust for blood by night. The girls are delightfully mischevious in their nighttime excursions, playing their monstrous desires as the games of wandering girls, co-dependent and infantilised by their guardians, unable and unwilling to grow up. In between killings, they remember their past lives and the cyclical nature of their existence, in a place far away from the natural, inevitable world of death. As the girls say towards the end of the film, "It's the dead who dream of the living, not the other way around."It also is an ode to the outcast women: the lone she-wolves, graveyard ghouls, and midnight ladies. The ones who struggle most trying to fit into this brightly lit world, depicted with an utterly dream-like and moody, trance-inducing vibe. I can relate and think I'm obsessed.
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Post by the knife on Oct 4, 2023 7:14:20 GMT
9. Fascination (Jean Rollin, 1979) 7/10 Went with another Jean Rollin film because Two Orphan Vampires was my first of his films and it hit right home with me. I'm not familiar with Rollin's style but the hazy atmosphere and slow pacing must be constants in his films. I liked this a lot less than Two Orphan Vampires but I still liked it. A thief on the run from another group of thieves takes refuge in a castle. Unfortunately for the thieves there's a blood loving cult of vampresses that will be congregating at this very castle come nightfall. The ladies are all lovely. Led by the often nude Brigitte Lahaie. The costumes, the dreamy castle setting, and the calm before the storm tone of the film meshed together perfectly. This film is far from flawless, but when it hits, it really hits. There are more beautiful, striking shots here than many films can muster when given far more resources and sticking to purportedly higher "respectability" than this silly softcore horror. Sex and death so closely intertwine that the movie can scarcely tell which is which anymore. Thereβs a sex scene in this where a guy takes off his shirt and reveals the tiniest nipples iβve ever seen in my life. France is depraved.
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merv
Nick Nack
Posts: 170
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Post by merv on Oct 4, 2023 12:05:28 GMT
Iβve watched several alreadyβ¦Spiral, Warm Bodies, Return to Salems Lot, Graveyard Shiftβ¦
I like to make time for one a day at least.
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Post by theravenking on Oct 4, 2023 12:28:01 GMT
Tenebrae (1982; Dario Argento) I wasn't too impressed with Tenebrae the first time I saw it, but this might have to do with my first viewing coming right after Deep Red which with its operatic style, great atmosphere and supernaturally tinged mystery was very different. Compared to the earlier film Tenebrae felt a bit flat and cold, not helped by the fact, that the German release cut out the most violent scenes, making especially the ending severely lacking in impact. I also disliked the final twist, finding it too derivative. However watching Tenebrae again, now in its uncut version, I find, that the movie has improved significantly. Knowing the plot has enabled me to focus more on the visual presentation amd immerse myself in the world of the film. There's a lot of illuminating information available whether on the blu-ray extras or online, which also contribute to the film's better understanding. Among the most fascinating insights I find to be the following: It would've been interesting to watch an entire trilogy of films set in this futuristic world, but the somewhat lukewarm reception of Tenebrae might explain why Argento quickly abandoned the pared-down modern style he had adopted for the movie returning to a more phantastical setting for his next films Phenomena and Opera. 8/10
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Post by the knife on Oct 5, 2023 14:44:59 GMT
10. Howl (Paul Hyett, 2015) 4/10 Meh. 11. Just Before Dawn (Jeff Lieberman, 1981) 6/10 Deeply strange horror movie. Jeff Liebermanβs slightly idiosyncratic vision makes for a special little slasher with its wonky and shady atmosphere and that end scene is just phenomenally WILD. Connie is now one of my all time favourite final girls. 12. The Legacy (Richard Marquand, 1978) 7/10 Another hidden gem and my second feline horror movie I've seen this season. It has Agatha Christie vibes with a side of Satan, Sam Elliott and Katharine Ross playing a couple and you can feel their chemistry and why they fell in love in real life, a cute evil cat and a truly unhinged score. The kills are great too. This movie rules.
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Post by theravenking on Oct 5, 2023 15:00:59 GMT
The House That Jack Built (2018; Lars Von Trier) They say some audience members walked out during the Cannes showing of this. Lars Von Trier must've been really happy, since he seems to have set out to disturb the shit out off his viewers with this one. Did he succeed? I'm not so sure. There's a lot of graphic content with innocent victims being maimed and killed, apparently there's even a scene where the protagonist in a flashback tortures a duckling, but I must've dozed off for some minutes, I'm not kidding, because I missed that scene, which I'm grateful for. However I did not miss the infamous scene involving genital mutilation, but since I knew it was coming, it did not shock me that much. In the end I actually found the entire thing a bit monotonous and dull. I think I understand what Von trier is trying to say here. The job of an artist should be to make us care, and in order to accomplish this, the artist may have to resort to savage methods. It's just, that in this case the shocks seems all too calculated and predictable. Perhaps to truly appreciate THTJB one would have to watch the entirety of the Danish auteur's ouevre prior to this to be able to pick up on all the cross-references to his other work and better understand the deeper underlying themes. 5/10
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Post by theravenking on Oct 5, 2023 15:20:23 GMT
Backcountry (2014; Adam Macdonald)Based on a true story a couple get lost in the Canadian wilderness and end up encountering a not so friendly native. Backcountry takes its time, setting up its premise, introducing the characters. Thankfully the acting is up to the task with especially the female lead Missy Peregrym delivering an impressive physical performance. However this more deliberate pacing may not be for everyone, especially since the furry fellow from the poster does not feature too prominently. But, once the violence comes its visceral and shocking, making good use of practical effects. A bear is not a toy, - goes an old Transsylvanian saying. You won't question this after watching this scene. If there's an issue I have with the movie it's that it peaks after two thirds and afterwards sort of fizzles out in the last act. The ending would've needed an extra something to make it even more memorable. 6.5/10
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Post by the knife on Oct 5, 2023 23:12:27 GMT
13. Anthropophagus aka The Grim Reaper (Joe D'Amato, 1980) 8/10 A deeply haunted film. Donβt go into Anthropophagous expecting an all out bloodbath because youβll be disappointed. This is a slow paced affair, although not necessarily in a bad way as it is building a decent sense of doom. I enjoyed the ominous, foreboding tarot reading sequence, and the slow progression from then on works well. I was questioning why this ever attained video nasty status until that scene during the last 15 minutes. The climax of this film is great, and although you have to sit through a lot to get there, itβs worth it. The best of the Italian horror movies find dread in the banal, and become surreal through a recognition of death. This one is overwhelmed by it. Corpses everywhere, hangings, nothing here to suggest civilization ever existed. When the home invasion horror happened I was like fuck, such filth! Just look at these posters OwO
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sog
Elliot Carver
Posts: 487
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Post by sog on Oct 6, 2023 0:55:39 GMT
Mine so far:
All films first time views unless otherwise noted.
October 1:
1. Saw VI (Kevin Greutert, 2009) - 7/10 2. Dagon (Stuart Gordon, 2001) - 6/10
October 2: 3. House of Terrors (Hajime SatΓ΄, 1965) - 7/10 4. Ouija (Stiles White, 2014) - 1/10
October 3: 5. REC (Jaume BalaguerΓ³ and Paco Plaza, 2007) - 8/10
October 4: 6. Saw 3D: The Final Chapter (Kevin Greutert, 2010) - 2/10 7. Rec 2 (Jaume BalaguerΓ³ and Paco Plaza, 2009) - 7/10 8. The Chill Factor (Christopher Webster, 1993) - 5/10
October 5: 9. Talk to Me (Danny and Michael Philippou, 2022) - 8/10
October 6: 10. Tomie: Beginning (Ataru Oikawa, 2005) - 2/10
October 7: 11. Shock Waves (Ken Wiederhorn, 1977) - 4/10
October 8: 12. The Burning (Tony Maylam, 1981) - 7/10
October 9: 13: Night of the Creeps (Fred Dekker, 1986) - 6/10
October 10: 14. One Missed Call 2 (Renpei Tsukamoto, 2005) - 3/10 15. One Missed Call 3: Final (Manabu AsΓ΄, 2006) - 6/10
October 11: 16. The Revenge of the Living Dead Girls (Pierre B. Reinhard, 1987) - 4/10 17. Lady Morgan's Vengeance (Massimo Pupillo, 1965) - 6/10
October 12: 18. August Underground (Fred Vogel, 2001) - 1/10 19. Tales from the Hood (Rusty Cundieff, 1995) - 7/10 20. Spellcaster (Rafal Zielinski, 1988) - 6/10
October 13: 21. Swamp Thing (Wes Craven, 1982) - 3/10
October 14: 22. Prey for the Devil (Daniel Stamm, 2022) - 4/10
October 15: 23. Pharaoh's Curse (Lee Sholem, 1957) - 4/10 24. The Wailing (Na Hong-jin, 2016) - 6/10
October 16: 25. All Hallows' Eve (Damien Leone, 2013) - 6/10
October 17: Nothing. :(
October 18: 26. Don't Breathe (Fede Alvarez, 2016) - 5/10 27. Monstrum (Huh Jong-ho, 2018) - 6/10
October 19: 28. Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things (Bob Clark, 1972) - 6/10 29. The Devil Rides Out (Terence Fisher, 1968) - 7/10
October 20: 30. Haunted Mansion (Justin Simien, 2023) - 7/10
October 21: 31. The Deadly Camp (Bowie Lau, 1999) - 1/10 32. Supernatural (Victor Halperin, 1933) - 8/10 33. Erotic Nightmare (Wai-Man Cheng, 1999) - 6/10
Fun statistics! FTV - 33 Total - 33
Decade breakdown:
1930s - 1 1950s - 1 1960s - 3 1970s - 2 1980s - 5 1990s - 4 2000s - 8 2010s - 6 2020s - 3
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sog
Elliot Carver
Posts: 487
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Post by sog on Oct 6, 2023 0:56:48 GMT
8. Two Orphan Vampires (Jean Rollin, 1997) 10/10 Much like Suspiria is celebrating the colour red, Two Orphan Vampires features the most beautiful blues in all of film. The use of a blue overlay was so intriguing as well as it adds an extra layer of melancholy to the story. Thereβs just something so visually satisfying about seeing vampires, more regularly associated with the colour red, bathed in these icy tones. It's an anti-coming of age story about two blind teenage girls who are adopted by a kindly old doctor, but unbeknownst to him, they are vampires - blind and innocent by day, with sight and lust for blood by night. The girls are delightfully mischevious in their nighttime excursions, playing their monstrous desires as the games of wandering girls, co-dependent and infantilised by their guardians, unable and unwilling to grow up. In between killings, they remember their past lives and the cyclical nature of their existence, in a place far away from the natural, inevitable world of death. As the girls say towards the end of the film, "It's the dead who dream of the living, not the other way around."It also is an ode to the outcast women: the lone she-wolves, graveyard ghouls, and midnight ladies. The ones who struggle most trying to fit into this brightly lit world, depicted with an utterly dream-like and moody, trance-inducing vibe. I can relate and think I'm obsessed. I would love to check this out at some point. I love Rollin's Shivers of the Vampire and am planning on watching both Lips of Blood and Rape of the Vampire this October at some point. Thanks for posting your thoughts.
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Post by the knife on Oct 6, 2023 3:54:59 GMT
14. Absurd aka Anthropophagus II aka Rosso sangue (Joe D'Amato, 1981) 8/10 After seeing the type of gore in Anthropophagus, I knew I would like this, too. Much like its predecessor, Absurd is a neatly crafted slowburn home invasion slasher which takes place on one day. A little slow at first but much better in its second half, with genuinely good effects, a hypnotic score and a pulse-heightening finale. Itβs nothing i havenβt seen before but George Eastman is a phenomenally scary bad guy. The last 10 minutes are similar to the climax of Halloween 2 and that last frame is haunting. A true 90 minute nightmare devoid of any comfort. The highly tense atmosphere is this filmβs best aspect. I guess Joe DβAmato just loves seeing George Eastman holding his own innards.
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Post by the knife on Oct 6, 2023 4:01:33 GMT
8. Two Orphan Vampires (Jean Rollin, 1997) 10/10 I would love to check this out at some point. I love Rollin's Shivers of the Vampire and am planning on watching both Lips of Blood and Rape of the Vampire this October at some point. Thanks for posting your thoughts. thank you! and thanks for contributing here. Rollin is completely new to me, but after Two Orphan Vampires impressed me so much, i post hoc put a bunch of his most known and lauded films on my watchlist for this month, Lips of Blood is among them, as well as The Grapes of Death, The Nude Vampire & The Iron Rose. and thanks to you, Rape of the Vampire now as well. sadly, i couldnt find Shiver of the Vampires as of yet, but i'll keep looking out for it. thank you again, and happy spooky viewings haha!!
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Post by theravenking on Oct 6, 2023 14:37:28 GMT
The Sorcerers (1967; Michael Reeves)I'm afraid I found this to be a rather sordid and unpleasant affair. Surprisingly Karloff's character turned out to be the good guy, having moral qualms about exploiting people and wanting to end the experiment, while his wife turned into a wicked witch, a nasty and embittered woman willing to use her new power for personal gains. But this attempts at moral complexity did not really make the movie any more fun. 4/10
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Post by theravenking on Oct 6, 2023 14:42:44 GMT
Static (2012; Todd Levin) If you always wondered what a cross between The Strangers (2008) and The Others (2001) would look like, then this is your film. It's just that it lacks the intensity and scares of the former and the atmosphere and class of the latter, and so ends up being a bit of a waste of a fun concept.
4/10
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Post by the knife on Oct 6, 2023 18:06:20 GMT
15. A Bay of Blood (Mario Bava, 1971) 7.5/10 This is the granddaddy of all slasher films. It is the one that started it all and kicked off the slasher genre craze. Everyone directing a horror film owes a debt of gratitude to Mario Bava. Very beautiful and unbelievably haunting and haunted violence in this with some of the gnarliest acts of death and decay I've ever seen. 16. The Happening (M. Night Shyamalan, 2008) 6/10 Yes, I have never seen this before and it's better than its reputation imo. But then, I have a soft spot for most of Shyamalan's movies, so it's probably just me. Despite all the silly parts, this movie does build a great sense of doom tho. Glad I finally caught up with it.
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