Spooky Time Discussion and Recommendations!

[Beta Metroid]

Well that's a bit of a difficult question to answer without spoiling too much.

Spoiler

I will say that there is one non-malicious child death, which you don't really see, and a sort of child death.

Thanks. I realize that it's tough to answer. I just know both my wife and I really enjoyed Hill House and I'd like to watch Bly Manor, but the last two episodes of the former were really tough for her. Bly Manor will probably get saved for next October at any rate.

Have you seen Oculus? I have the same question about its content.

 

[chud_666]

I just watched Haunt on shudder. It's about a Haunted house attraction and stuff goes BAD. For a new, low budget horror movie, it's very good (usually they are terrible) but be warned! Quite gross!

 

[Vaeran]

Watched The Girl With All the Gifts on Netflix last night. It's as good as everyone says! Unusually thoughtful zombie movie with some new ideas, and stellar performances from everyone. Glenn Close is the big name here and she's great, but so is the main child actress whose name I don't know. (FAKE EDIT: it's Sennia Nanua.) Definitely worth your time.

 

[Kishi]

The mention of a child actor in the context of horror caused Let the Right One In to pop into my head. Everyone should watch Let the Right One In. It's about vampires and that breathtaking sort of childhood Romance.

 

[Adrenaline]

Let Me In is also an English-language remake that doesn't suck

 

[Adrenaline]

Watched The Girl With All the Gifts on Netflix last night. It's as good as everyone says! Unusually thoughtful zombie movie with some new ideas, and stellar performances from everyone. Glenn Close is the big name here and she's great, but so is the main child actress whose name I don't know. (FAKE EDIT: it's Sennia Nanua.) Definitely worth your time.

I'm not the only one who's noticed similarities with The Last of Us, right?

 

[Vaeran]

I haven't played it but I know the general outline, and it definitely crossed my mind as I was watching.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

BTW, here's another good choice: The Unknown, a Todd Browning film with Lon Chaney. Its only 49 minutes and its a whacked out delight. Its less a "spooky ghost" movie and more of a longer Tales from the Crypt episode but without sound. In it, Chaney plays a serial killer who strangles people. His perfect disguise? An "armless" circus performer. He is in love with the Ringmaster's (who he just murdered) daughter, who has a fear of being held and of arms in general. His big competition for her affections is the strong man with his big arms. So in this case, the killer has an advantage but obviously he can't sleep with her without revealing his secret. So he makes a drastic decision. This is a great, darkly comic film well worth watching and its on Criterion right now!

 

[ASandoval]

Thanks. I realize that it's tough to answer. I just know both my wife and I really enjoyed Hill House and I'd like to watch Bly Manor, but the last two episodes of the former were really tough for her. Bly Manor will probably get saved for next October at any rate.

Have you seen Oculus? I have the same question about its content.

No child death, but definitely child trauma.

 

[Beta Metroid]

It's that time of year again! Share your favorite spooky viewings, ask for recommendations, etc!

We were getting set to start up Bly Manor, but I've been hearing really good things about Midnight Mass, so it may jump the line. Just curious: Which is worse in terms of child death?

 

[Johnny Unusual]

I'm two episodes into Bly and I'm enjoying it quite a bit.

I'm also watching Creepshow: the Series. It's not uncommon for anthologies to be hit or miss but I feel like I'm getting this from within their own stories. House of the Head is the most promising and I was hoping it was going to be about how children project something meaningful onto dolls and toys and can empathize with non-living things and I was hoping it would involve her using her wits to win but it turns out to be a little less ambitious than that, which is a shame. Still, it has a neat premise. Meanwhile, in terms of structure "All Hallows Eve" is one of the most generic EC-like stories and yet I think it's the one I liked the most. It's cheesy but I felt like it had some genuine heart and I liked that as broad as it was, it twice made me change my feelings for the lead characters.

 

[chud_666]

If you're a renter, and want to be terrified: watch "13 Cameras"

Yuck!

 

[YangusKhan]

We were getting set to start up Bly Manor, but I've been hearing really good things about Midnight Mass, so it may jump the line. Just curious: Which is worse in terms of child death?

You mean like, child characters that get killed? Probably Bly Manor. Midnight Mass has teenaged characters as the youngest people, I'm pretty sure, but Bly has a couple children that are fairly involved in the plot (can't remember if they die, exactly, but).

 

[Johnny Unusual]

Rewatched the House on Haunted Hill. I like it OK but I always feel like I like William Castle's energy more than the film's themselves. Still, Vincent Price is always bringing his game.

 

[Voncaster]

I posted this in the general movie review thread but Vampires vs the Bronx is a great comedy horror movie on Netflix. Its PG-13 and pretty tame, so a wide audience can check it out.

Has anyone re-watched the Stand (1994 TV mini series) recently? I'm debating picking it up on blu-ray. I've not read the book, but I did watch the series as kid and remember liking it.

 

[Torzelbaum]

Still, Vincent Price is always bringing his game.

That's what he does - as long as you're willing to pay the Price.

 

[Paul le Fou]

I've never really done the horror marathon thing before, but this year I've assembled a list of movies I've been wanting to see at least a little anyway:

The Crow
Let the right one in
Girl walks home alone at night
28 Days Later
John dies at the end
Tucker and Dale vs Evil
Evil Dead series
The Lost Boys
Gremlins
Lighthouse
Little Joe
It Follows
Train to Busan
Oculus
Castlevania (series)
In the Mouth of Madness
Color Out of Space
Willy's Wonderland
Mandy

Halloween 2018
Halloween Kills

And I'm definitely collecting recommendations from this thread too!

 

[Torzelbaum]

So last year our very own Dracula hosted a Top 50 horror movies thread. Of course I participated with a list of my 25 favorites. In honor of the spooky season I am going to share the items from my list one per day until Halloween. This seems like the perfect thread to do that in. So let's begin.

#25
The Horribly Slow Murderer with the Extremely Inefficient Weapon
A short film that just absolutely leans all the way in on its ridiculous (but still scary) premise.

YouTube link

 

[Paul le Fou]

I started with Let the Right One In last night. It was pretty good, much more of a personal/small-town drama that also had a vampire than a "vampire movie" (or maybe that makes it very much a "vampire movie," come to think of it). It also helped punctuate the few acts of grotesque violence, that they were treated as relatively rare and each reacted to with fear and grief instead of just a parade of bodies hitting the floor in the name of gore. Plus really good cinematography, acting, and so on, and it had the queer love story theme too. All in all, good movie

 

[Seven]

Has anyone re-watched the Stand (1994 TV mini series) recently? I'm debating picking it up on blu-ray. I've not read the book, but I did watch the series as kid and remember liking it.

My aunt was a big Stephen King fan and when I was younger she caught me reading her copy of The Stand and decided to show me the mini series. I ended up having nightmares of a world-ending pandemic for weeks afterwards. I should see if it's on a streaming anywhere and do a rewatch.

 

[Torzelbaum]

#24
Blood: The Last Vampire
Or as I like to call it - Saint Saya. This anime film is short and sweet and to the brutal point. And the point is watching the titular "remaining original" vampire fight the shape-shifting, human blood-drinking monsters called Chiropterans.

 

[Torzelbaum]

#23
The Frighteners
A film by Peter Jackson which starts with an interesting twist - a man who became a spirit medium by accident becomes a con man working with ghosts. But then they all get wrapped up in something sinister and scary. Has a quite terrifying Grim Reaper-like apparition as the main monster but there's also more to it than meets the eye. The rather intense scares are tempered by the good bits of humor that are sprinkled throughout it.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

Somehow, eight days in an I managed a movie a day.

The Invisible Man

Not as impressive as the Frankenstein films, but it's good. There's pathos but it feels a bit prefunctory. Instead, this feels more akin to a Joe Dante movie, with the loopy title character causing all sorts of fun chaos. And Claude Rains is killing it in the title role, having a total blast.

The Wolf Man

For such an iconic monster, this is merely an OK movie. Completely watchable, if you can bare it being heavy on Romani stereotypes. The monster design is striking and Lon Chaney is charming in a sitcom lunkhead sort of way (though his meet-cute with the female co-lead has serious creep vibes) and I like the tragic ending but I just don't have overall strong feels on this one.

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

Still amazing looking.

City of the Dead AKA Horror Hotel

I've seen this one bopping around on archive.org so I assumed it was bad but this one is actually pretty decent. Early Christopher Lee and some good direction and editing for the scary scenes. Overall, a fun little 60s chiller, especially the climax.

 

[Octopus Prime]

I watched The Omen; which relies more on a sense of inevitable ominous dread than anything actually spooky happening. Point in fact, the few times the movie DOES lean into more traditional horror it falls kind of flat (a mannequin wearing David Warners costume getting its head sliced off being the most ridiculous example), but when the movie is playing to its strengths of foreboding meaningful stares and ominous chanting, it works really well.

Kind of hard to feel sympathetic to Gregory Peck; multi-millionaire and highly ranked political figure needing to juggle gaslighting his wife with trying to murder his devil-baby son. While it takes half the movie for him to realize his son is a Devil-Baby, he needs basically no evidence to confirm it.

 

[Octopus Prime]

The original Child’s Play is another inexplicable hole in my movie watching history, and now, like all holes, it has served its purpose by being filled.

It was very enjoyable, and also featured some of the most stunningly incompetent police work I have ever seen in the horror genre.
I can understand reluctance to accept “child’s doll is possessed by a murderer” as an explanation for a number of killings, but everyone is really eager to assume that a six year old is pulling off elaborate murders of everyone associated with the recent death of a serial killer.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

Child's Play is dumb but very watchable. I feel like I actually like 2 better in that regard (my hot take).

Last night I watched The Black Cat with Legosi and Karloff. Man, a lot of these Universals have been a little disappointing but the Black Cat is a rollicking good time. The two horror icons square off as a sinister millionaire with a disturbing collection and the man who's plotted revenge on him with two innocents stuck between their battle of wits. There are fun twists and turns and I'm surprised we haven't seen more movies like this. Strong recommend, it's a blast. Note: Boy is this not in anyway related to the source material.

 

[Torzelbaum]

#22
Army of Darkness
Ash's antics and the action scenes combined with the spooky scares make for a horror comedy film that is altogether groovy. It's easy to see why the creators of Duke Nukem chose to "borrow" so much from this film.

 

[Pheeel]

Something Wicked This Way Comes - It's a travesty how Disney butchered the original cut but this still has a lot going for it in terms of being one of the Halloweeniest films not to feature Michael Myers, full of autumnal atmosphere and surprisingly horrific despite the studio-mandated reshoots. Jonathan Pryce and Jason Robards are both excellent.

 

[Octopus Prime]

Instead of any of the horror movies I was excited to watch or revisit, I elected to watch something I found at random on Tubi; to that end Medusa: Queen of Serpents.

Ugh.

If not for the fact that Tubi is free, I’d have felt like I was sold a bill of goods; it’s an hour into a 90 minute movie before the premise of “Lady becomes a were-Medusa after getting a snake bite” is fulfilled. And even then, it’s the last fifteen minutes before she becomes a snake lady and decides to use her snake lady powers to avenge herself on those who victimized her.

Even that’s disappointing as she variably looks like a big avocado or a regular lady with bad cg snakes for hair.

 

[Torzelbaum]

#21
Night of the Comet
The truly most horrifying occurrence in this film is implied rather than shown but this film is still frightening enough just by showing the (relatively) smaller scale horrors that occur in the aftermath.