2019 SKMB October Horror Movie Marathon!

[Notaro]

The list so far.....

1. The Exorcism Of Emily Rose
2. Annabelle Comes Home
3. Mrs. Amworth
4. Friday The 13th
5. Friday The 13th Part 3
6. Under The Shadow ( really good Iranian set supernatural flick)
7. Doom Annihilation (dumb but kinda fun)
8. Horde (French zombie flick)
9. Legend Of The Werewolf (Underrated film starring Peter Cushing, Ron Moody and David Rintoul)
10. Dracula's Daughter
11. Son Of Dracula
12. Visiting Hours (1982, cool slasher/thriller with Michael Ironside)
13. Crawl (re-watched it with my daughter, she got freaked out by it and couldn't watch it all)
14. Psycho II (fine sequel to the original classic, Perkins gives a touching and innocent performance)
15. When Animals Dream (a Danish werewolf flick, pretty good, has a sexual awakening subtext to the whole proceedings)
16. Harbinger Down (Disappointing movie comes across as a mix of Alien and The Thing it's a practical effects movie no CGI at all.)
17. The Woman In Black ( Daniel Radcliffe stars in this really good remake of the 1989 made for tv movie, plenty of jump scares and a nice creepy vibe throughout)
18. Life (cool alien ripoff)
19. Lights Out (full length ghost story based on an original 2.40 short film)
20. Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark (Produced by Guillermo del Toro)
21. Fractured (After his wife and injured daughter disappear from the emergency room, a man becomes convinced the hospital is hiding something)
22. Maggie ( Arnold Schwarzenegger zombie flick, no big explosions, no huge special effects, it's very low key, just Arnie....acting, and he's really good)
23. The Ruling Class (Peter O'Toole, a man who believes himself to be the reincarnation of Christ inherits his father's estate but after shock therapy comes out believing he's Jack The Ripper, a wonderful bonkers black comedy complete with a song and dance number)
24. The Last Broadcast (A found footage movie made before and far superior to The Blair Witch Project)
25. Prophecy ( Mutant bear carnage, a favourite of mine, surprised it hasn't been remade yet!)
26. Dog Soldiers (Excellent werewolf flick from the director of The Descent and the Hellboy remake)
27. Dead Meat (Irish zombie flick)
28. The Company Of Wolves (Arty farty werewolf movie from Neil Jordan)
29. Little Monsters (a Zomcom, quite enjoyable, light on gore but it has a few laughs.)

 

[king family fan]

1. The Shining-Stephen King
2. The Shining Stanley Kubrick
3. Misery
4. Thinner
5. Christine
6. It Original
7. It 2017
8.Carrie original
9. Apt Pupil
10. Maximum Overdrive
11. Shawshank
12. Green Mile
13.Dead Zone
14. Dark Tower
15.Creepshow
16.Creepshow 2
17. Children of the Corn
18. Big Driver
19. A good marriage
20. Stand by me
21.Lawnmower Man
22.SilverBullet
23. Riding the Bullet
24. Sleepwalkers
25. Graveyard Shift
26. 1408
27. Cujo

 

[Dana Jean]

The list so far.....

1. The Exorcism Of Emily Rose
2. Annabelle Comes Home
3. Mrs. Amworth
4. Friday The 13th
5. Friday The 13th Part 3
6. Under The Shadow ( really good Iranian set supernatural flick)
7. Doom Annihilation (dumb but kinda fun)
8. Horde (French zombie flick)
9. Legend Of The Werewolf (Underrated film starring Peter Cushing, Ron Moody and David Rintoul)
10. Dracula's Daughter
11. Son Of Dracula
12. Visiting Hours (1982, cool slasher/thriller with Michael Ironside)
13. Crawl (re-watched it with my daughter, she got freaked out by it and couldn't watch it all)
14. Psycho II (fine sequel to the original classic, Perkins gives a touching and innocent performance)
15. When Animals Dream (a Danish werewolf flick, pretty good, has a sexual awakening subtext to the whole proceedings)
16. Harbinger Down (Disappointing movie comes across as a mix of Alien and The Thing it's a practical effects movie no CGI at all.)
17. The Woman In Black ( Daniel Radcliffe stars in this really good remake of the 1989 made for tv movie, plenty of jump scares and a nice creepy vibe throughout)
18. Life (cool alien ripoff)
19. Lights Out (full length ghost story based on an original 2.40 short film)
20. Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark (Produced by Guillermo del Toro)
21. Fractured (After his wife and injured daughter disappear from the emergency room, a man becomes convinced the hospital is hiding something)
22. Maggie ( Arnold Schwarzenegger zombie flick, no big explosions, no huge special effects, it's very low key, just Arnie....acting, and he's really good)
23. The Ruling Class (Peter O'Toole, a man who believes himself to be the reincarnation of Christ inherits his father's estate but after shock therapy comes out believing he's Jack The Ripper, a wonderful bonkers black comedy complete with a song and dance number)
24. The Last Broadcast (A found footage movie made before and far superior to The Blair Witch Project)
25. Prophecy ( Mutant bear carnage, a favourite of mine, surprised it hasn't been remade yet!)
26. Dog Soldiers (Excellent werewolf flick from the director of The Descent and the Hellboy remake)
27. Dead Meat (Irish zombie flick)
28. The Company Of Wolves (Arty farty werewolf movie from Neil Jordan)
29. Little Monsters (a Zomcom, quite enjoyable, light on gore but it has a few laughs.)

The Ruling Class sounds intriguing. I have this thing about Jack the Ripper. I have a cat named Jackson because of two Jacks.

He has this little black mustache under his nose on one side, a half Kitler, it sort of looks like paint just dripped and swiped across. Jackson Pollock was an artist whose technique involved dripping paint onto the canvas. AND, he was known as Jack the Dripper. So, in a roundabout way, 6 degrees of separation to Jack the ripper.

I'm babbling, Ignore me.

 

[Notaro]

The Ruling Class sounds intriguing. I have this thing about Jack the Ripper. I have a cat named Jackson because of two Jacks.

He has this little black mustache under his nose on one side, a half Kitler, it sort of looks like paint just dripped and swiped across. Jackson Pollock was an artist whose technique involved dripping paint onto the canvas. AND, he was known as Jack the Dripper. So, in a roundabout way, 6 degrees of separation to Jack the ripper.

I'm babbling, Ignore me.

I have a fascination with Jack The Ripper as well, I have a shelf full of books solely about the Whitechapel murders committed by the ripper. It's intriguing, I guess everyone who has an interest in it has their favourite suspect, it's a mystery that will never be solved.

 

[Dana Jean]

I have a fascination with Jack The Ripper as well, I have a shelf full of books solely about the Whitechapel murders committed by the ripper. It's intriguing, I guess everyone who has an interest in it has their favourite suspect, it's a mystery that will never be solved.

And, who is your favorite suspect?

 

[osnafrank]

17.) Hell (The German word for Bright)

Hell (2011 film) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

18.) TWD 10/4

 

[Notaro]

And, who is your favorite suspect?

A guy called Lechmere, he was at the body of Polly Nichols when he was joined by another man called Robert Paul and they informed the police. I saw a really good programme where Lechmere (also called Cross) was examined and his life and movements at the time of the murders investigated and the results are very interesting indeed. I think he's a credible suspect.

 

[Dana Jean]

A guy called Lechmere, he was at the body of Polly Nichols when he was joined by another man called Robert Paul and they informed the police. I saw a really good programme where Lechmere (also called Cross) was examined and his life and movements at the time of the murders investigated and the results are very interesting indeed. I think he's a credible suspect.

Interesting. I'm not sure I've watched anything that has seriously brought that name forth other than in passing.

 

[Notaro]

Interesting. I'm not sure I've watched anything that has seriously brought that name forth other than in passing.

Here's the documentary D.J. I think it's fascinating and quite credible.

 

[Dana Jean]

Here's the documentary D.J. I think it's fascinating and quite credible.

thanks! I'll watch that!

 

[Dana Jean]

34. VVitch*

morgan, okay. This was a creepy little thing, huh? Totally a pride go before a fall sort of logic. Along with, be careful what you wish for, or insist upon -- it may just come true. I knew Black Phillip from a video game, but I had no clue it was from a movie, was the movie first? I need to picket now. UNFAIR TO GOATS!


2019 Halloween Movie Marathon list. *Indicates new for me.

1. The Disappointments Room*
2. Gentleman - Two Sentence Horror Stories*
3. Squirm - Two Sentence Horror Stories*
4. Legacy - Two Sentence Horror Stories*
5. The Autopsy of Jane Doe *
6. Dracula
7. Hide -- Two Sentence Horror Stories*
8. In The Tall Grass*
9. The Innocents
10. Race With the Devil
11. Eye of the Devil*
12. The Mummy
13. JOKER*
14. Scion -- Two Sentence Horror Stories*
15. Tutorial -- Two Sentence Horror Stories*
16. Only Child -- Two Sentence Horror Stories*
17. Burnt Offerings
18. Witchboard*
19. The Fog
20. The Haunted Palace
21. Sugar Hill*
22. Madhouse
23. Creepshow
24. Little Monsters -- Two Sentence Horror Stories*
25. American Horror Story 1984
26. Hammer House of Horror BBC television series
27. The Innocents- Second viewing with commentary
28. Black Sabbath
29. The Others
30. The Shining
31. Cabin in the Woods
32. The Abominable Dr. Phibes
33. Marianne
34. VVitch*

 

[recitador]

13. Hocus Pocus - haven't seen this in years, it's way more entertaining as a kid than an adult lol

14. Supernatural Season 15, Episode 2 - Raising Hell

15. Daybreak, Episode 1 - Josh vs. the Apocalypse
16. Daybreak, Episode 2 - Schmuck Bait
17. Daybreak, Episode 3 - The Slime Queenpin of Glendale, CA . . . this is a netflix series, a little weird, trying to be humorous, and i can't decide if it's succeeding. not entirely sure i'm gonna finish it. nuclear war leads to only people under the age of 18 surviving (for whatever reason), while the adults turn into some weird half assed zombies.

18. Dawn of the Dead (remake) - decided to switch it up and take in a zombie film. pretty solid cast, and pretty solid film for the genre

19 . Supernatural Season 15, Episode 3 - The Rupture

20. Slither - if you haven't seen this, it's a pretty fun movie, with a good cast, directed by James Gunn of Guardians of the Galaxy fame. alien parasite plans to turn Earth into a buffet and begins its invasion in the very redneck looking town of Wheelsy. a lot of characters here - nathan fillion as the sheriff, michael rooker, and gregg henry as the very memorable and quotable mayor. a little gross in the special effects at times, if you can handle that sort of thing, you should check it out

21. Zombieland and 22.Zombieland: Double Tap. sequel wasn't too bad, but not knowing exactly how much time had passed made it a little hard to take some of their actions. if it was the full ten years like in real time, a bunch of what they did made zero sense, and was just more annoying than anything, but the fact that it has such a talented cast makes up for it somewhat.

23. Dawn of the Dead (original) - George Romero is considered pretty important to the zombie genre, but man i didn't find a lot to like here. maybe it's a product of the times or something. only one character was really likable to me, and even he did something so boneheaded at the end i just wanted to smack him around. the main characters weren't very likable to me or did a lot of dumb things, the side characters from the newscasts were incredibly annoying - just screaming at each other randomly, and the third act non zombie bad guys were so bad they were like actual cartoons, but not the likeable kind. like some action flick villains are cartoonish in a sort of entertaining way, these guys were not.

1. Tucker and Dale vs Evil
2. The Babysitter
3. Horns
4. Scream
5. Scream 2
6. Scream 3
7. Scream 4
8. Truth or Dare (SyFy not Blumhouse)
9. Cabin in the Woods
10. Ghostbusters
11. Ghostbusters II
12. Supernatural Season 15, Episode 1 - Back and to the Future
13 . Hocus Pocus
14. Supernatural Season 15, Episode 2 - Raising Hell
15. Daybreak, Episode 1 - Josh vs. the Apocalypse
16. Daybreak, Episode 2 - Schmuck Bait
17. Daybreak, Episode 3 - The Slime Queenpin of Glendale, CA
18. Dawn of the Dead (remake)
19 . Supernatural Season 15, Episode 3 - The Rupture
20. Slither
21. Zombieland
22. Zombieland: Double Tap
23. Dawn of the Dead (original)

 

[fushingfeef]

25. Dead of Night (1945) (FTV)

British anthology of weird tales linked together by a group of strangers gathered at a country manor. I'm not sure if this is the earliest horror anthology, but it's certainly one of the best. It's set up in an engaging way, with a mystery of deja vu, the promise of lurking doom, and a debate over whether things can be explained by science. There are 5 tales in all: one that seems to have inspired "Final Destination", a conventional (yet effective) ghost story, a haunted mirror tale, a comedic rivalry, a deranged ventriloquist, and the wraparound story. The comedic installment is the only one that falls flat and doesn't fit the tone of the others, but the remaining tales are quite good and worthy of re-watch. The ventriloquist story, my favorite, is an instant horror classic worth the price of admission. Nicely restored by Kino Lorber on Blu-Ray.

4 out of 5 stars.

Bob's October 2019 Horror Movie List
*FTV denotes first-time viewings
1. Next of Kin (1982) 4/5 (FTV)
2. I'll Take Your Dead 2/5 (FTV)
3. Nightmare Cinema 4/5 (FTV)
4. Murders in the Zoo 3/5 (FTV)
5. Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween 3/5 (FTV)
6. Joker 4/5 (FTV)
7. Annabelle Comes Home 3/5 (FTV)
8. Midsommar 5/5 (FTV)
9. The Banana Splits Movie 3/5 (FTV)
10. Brightburn 4/5 (FTV)
11. The Spiral Staircase 5/5 (FTV)
12. The Shining 5/5
13. Madhouse (1981)3/5 (FTV)
14. Child's Play (2019) 3/5 (FTV)
15. LEGO Scooby Doo 3/5 (FTV)
16. In The Tall Grass 2/5 (FTV)
17. As Above, So Below 3/5 (FTV)
18. The Ritual (2017) 4/5 (FTV)
19. Crawl 4/5 (FTV)
20. Halloween (1978) 5/5
21. The Dead Don't Die 3/5 (FTV)
22. The Child 3/5 (FTV)
23. 4D Man 3/5 (FTV)
24. Friday the 13th 4/5 (FTV)
25. Dead of Night (1945) 4/5 (FTV)

 

[fushingfeef]

26. Attack of the Crab Monsters (FTV)

Scientists stranded on an island in the path of radioactive fallout are menaced by giant crabs. I usually enjoy these cheesy atomic-age mutant monster films, especially the cheesy monster effects, and while this one has its moments, it's mostly just dull. Directed by Roger Corman as part of a drive-in double feature, "Crab Monsters" isn't particularly long but it still manages to drag.

Aggravatingly, most of the major action (earthquakes, landslides, crab attacks) happen off camera so we just see people reacting and saying what they are looking at, without seeing it ourselves. Other scenes are supplemented with stock war footage of planes crashing, storms raging, etc. There's an unintentionally hilarious "underseas" sequence where you can clearly see it was filmed in an aquarium.

I'd like to be able to say they were saving their budget for the crab monster itself, but it ends up looking like a papier-mâché piñata. The crab's eyelids are apparently sandwich baggies and at times you can clearly see the wires holding the whole mess together. For some reason, the crab has eyes on its body rather than on stalks, and oh, did I mention that the crabs can speak English? I'm probably making this sound like one of those "so bad, it's good" films, but mostly this one's just bad, although you gotta like that title. At least we get to see the actor who later played The Professor in Gilligan's Island, in a more "serious" role.

2 out of 5 stars.

Bob's October 2019 Horror Movie List
*FTV denotes first-time viewings
1. Next of Kin (1982) 4/5 (FTV)
2. I'll Take Your Dead 2/5 (FTV)
3. Nightmare Cinema 4/5 (FTV)
4. Murders in the Zoo 3/5 (FTV)
5. Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween 3/5 (FTV)
6. Joker 4/5 (FTV)
7. Annabelle Comes Home 3/5 (FTV)
8. Midsommar 5/5 (FTV)
9. The Banana Splits Movie 3/5 (FTV)
10. Brightburn 4/5 (FTV)
11. The Spiral Staircase 5/5 (FTV)
12. The Shining 5/5
13. Madhouse (1981)3/5 (FTV)
14. Child's Play (2019) 3/5 (FTV)
15. LEGO Scooby Doo 3/5 (FTV)
16. In The Tall Grass 2/5 (FTV)
17. As Above, So Below 3/5 (FTV)
18. The Ritual (2017) 4/5 (FTV)
19. Crawl 4/5 (FTV)
20. Halloween (1978) 5/5
21. The Dead Don't Die 3/5 (FTV)
22. The Child 3/5 (FTV)
23. 4D Man 3/5 (FTV)
24. Friday the 13th 4/5 (FTV)
25. Dead of Night (1945) 4/5 (FTV)
26. Attack of the Crab Monsters 2/5 (FTV)

 

[fushingfeef]

27. Zombieland: Double Tap (FTV)

Sequel to the successful zom-com released a decade ago further fleshes out the characters while adding a few new ones and lots of laughs. I set my expectations pretty low for sequels and was pleased with this movie; although not as fresh and original as the first, it's a pretty fun way to spend 95 minutes. Double Tap knows what it is and we already know the characters, so it gets to have fun with putting them in new situations, as well as having fun with the apocalypse itself. The film plays up the comedic possibilities of dancing on the graveyard of the world, such as utiliziing a White House portrait of Howard Taft as wrapping paper, or using the Hope Diamond for an engagement ring. We also get to see how the zombies are classified, and a new type of hyper-zombie threatens the new world order, such as it is.

Some of the jokes fall a little flat, or go on a few lines too long, such as when Columbus is comparing his rules list to a new characters' "commandments", but for the most part things move along briskly from one gag to the next. The new adorably dimwitted character, Madison (Zoey Deutch), really livens things up and got almost as many laughs as Woody Harrelson's iconic character, Tallahassee. Fans of the original won't be disappointed, and even if you haven't seen the first, there's plenty to enjoy here.

4 out of 5 stars.

Bob's October 2019 Horror Movie List
*FTV denotes first-time viewings
1. Next of Kin (1982) 4/5 (FTV)
2. I'll Take Your Dead 2/5 (FTV)
3. Nightmare Cinema 4/5 (FTV)
4. Murders in the Zoo 3/5 (FTV)
5. Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween 3/5 (FTV)
6. Joker 4/5 (FTV)
7. Annabelle Comes Home 3/5 (FTV)
8. Midsommar 5/5 (FTV)
9. The Banana Splits Movie 3/5 (FTV)
10. Brightburn 4/5 (FTV)
11. The Spiral Staircase 5/5 (FTV)
12. The Shining 5/5
13. Madhouse (1981)3/5 (FTV)
14. Child's Play (2019) 3/5 (FTV)
15. LEGO Scooby Doo 3/5 (FTV)
16. In The Tall Grass 2/5 (FTV)
17. As Above, So Below 3/5 (FTV)
18. The Ritual (2017) 4/5 (FTV)
19. Crawl 4/5 (FTV)
20. Halloween (1978) 5/5
21. The Dead Don't Die 3/5 (FTV)
22. The Child 3/5 (FTV)
23. 4D Man 3/5 (FTV)
24. Friday the 13th 4/5 (FTV)
25. Dead of Night (1945) 4/5 (FTV)
26. Attack of the Crab Monsters 2/5 (FTV)
27. Zombieland: Double Tap 4/5 (FTV)

 

[fushingfeef]

28. The Mask (1961) (FTV)

Psychiatrist investigates an ancient vision-inducing tribal mask that caused the death of one of his patients, only to get drawn in by its mysterious powers himself. This is one of the earliest Canadian horror features (Canuxploitation?), with the main gimmick being that the theatrical audience was given masks to wear during the mask sequences, which rendered them in 3D.

These hallucinatory mask visions are the main draw of the film, and are quite surreal, nightmarish and seem to predict the psychedelic era. They are experimental and wild, even shocking, especially for the early 60's. In fact, the director hired a number of silent montage filmmakers (as well as consulting with LSD proponent Timothy Leary) before he found just the right match in Serbian film artist Slavko Vorkapic. These are really the only reason to watch the movie, in my opinion.

I only wish they had put as much effort into the "straight" part of the film, which is dreadfully dull, with overwrought melodramatic acting sandwiched between awkward silences. Turns out the director himself said as much about this film in later years. Non-3D parts get 2/5 stars, 3D hallucination parts get 4/5 stars. Average them out.

3 out of 5 stars.

Bob's October 2019 Horror Movie List
*FTV denotes first-time viewings
1. Next of Kin (1982) 4/5 (FTV)
2. I'll Take Your Dead 2/5 (FTV)
3. Nightmare Cinema 4/5 (FTV)
4. Murders in the Zoo 3/5 (FTV)
5. Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween 3/5 (FTV)
6. Joker 4/5 (FTV)
7. Annabelle Comes Home 3/5 (FTV)
8. Midsommar 5/5 (FTV)
9. The Banana Splits Movie 3/5 (FTV)
10. Brightburn 4/5 (FTV)
11. The Spiral Staircase 5/5 (FTV)
12. The Shining 5/5
13. Madhouse (1981)3/5 (FTV)
14. Child's Play (2019) 3/5 (FTV)
15. LEGO Scooby Doo 3/5 (FTV)
16. In The Tall Grass 2/5 (FTV)
17. As Above, So Below 3/5 (FTV)
18. The Ritual (2017) 4/5 (FTV)
19. Crawl 4/5 (FTV)
20. Halloween (1978) 5/5
21. The Dead Don't Die 3/5 (FTV)
22. The Child 3/5 (FTV)
23. 4D Man 3/5 (FTV)
24. Friday the 13th 4/5 (FTV)
25. Dead of Night (1945) 4/5 (FTV)
26. Attack of the Crab Monsters 2/5 (FTV)
27. Zombieland: Double Tap 4/5 (FTV)

 

[Dana Jean]

26. Attack of the Crab Monsters (FTV)

Scientists stranded on an island in the path of radioactive fallout are menaced by giant crabs. I usually enjoy these cheesy atomic-age mutant monster films, especially the cheesy monster effects, and while this one has its moments, it's mostly just dull. Directed by Roger Corman as part of a drive-in double feature, "Crab Monsters" isn't particularly long but it still manages to drag.

Aggravatingly, most of the major action (earthquakes, landslides, crab attacks) happen off camera so we just see people reacting and saying what they are looking at, without seeing it ourselves. Other scenes are supplemented with stock war footage of planes crashing, storms raging, etc. There's an unintentionally hilarious "underseas" sequence where you can clearly see it was filmed in an aquarium.

I'd like to be able to say they were saving their budget for the crab monster itself, but it ends up looking like a papier-mâché piñata. The crab's eyelids are apparently sandwich baggies and at times you can clearly see the wires holding the whole mess together. For some reason, the crab has eyes on its body rather than on stalks, and oh, did I mention that the crabs can speak English? I'm probably making this sound like one of those "so bad, it's good" films, but mostly this one's just bad, although you gotta like that title. At least we get to see the actor who later played The Professor in Gilligan's Island, in a more "serious" role.

2 out of 5 stars.

Bob's October 2019 Horror Movie List
*FTV denotes first-time viewings
1. Next of Kin (1982) 4/5 (FTV)
2. I'll Take Your Dead 2/5 (FTV)
3. Nightmare Cinema 4/5 (FTV)
4. Murders in the Zoo 3/5 (FTV)
5. Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween 3/5 (FTV)
6. Joker 4/5 (FTV)
7. Annabelle Comes Home 3/5 (FTV)
8. Midsommar 5/5 (FTV)
9. The Banana Splits Movie 3/5 (FTV)
10. Brightburn 4/5 (FTV)
11. The Spiral Staircase 5/5 (FTV)
12. The Shining 5/5
13. Madhouse (1981)3/5 (FTV)
14. Child's Play (2019) 3/5 (FTV)
15. LEGO Scooby Doo 3/5 (FTV)
16. In The Tall Grass 2/5 (FTV)
17. As Above, So Below 3/5 (FTV)
18. The Ritual (2017) 4/5 (FTV)
19. Crawl 4/5 (FTV)
20. Halloween (1978) 5/5
21. The Dead Don't Die 3/5 (FTV)
22. The Child 3/5 (FTV)
23. 4D Man 3/5 (FTV)
24. Friday the 13th 4/5 (FTV)
25. Dead of Night (1945) 4/5 (FTV)
26. Attack of the Crab Monsters 2/5 (FTV)

the crab looks like it has allergies.

 

[fushingfeef]

29. The Witch Who Came From the Sea (FTV)

A woman's violent sexual fantasies about the men she hooks up with are somehow spilling into real life. This is another obscure film resurrected by Arrow Video in their American Horror Project, Volume 1, and it's easy to see how this film slipped under the radar. It tackles the difficult subject matter of what happens when a sexually abused girl grows up, and it doesn't pull many punches, and the story is told in a non-conventional and artistic way that was destined to confound the general public.

The film must have had distributors scratching their heads as to how to sell it, as it was filmed in 1971 but didn't see release until 1976, and it quickly disappeared from the few theaters that picked it up. It had a chance at revival in the VHS era but it was quickly branded as a "video nasty" by British authorities and became hard to find.

It's not an art film, although it's at times experimental and strange, it's not a softcore film, although the subject matter is certainly sexual. It's a horror movie more along the lines of Herschel Gordon Lewis' "Blood Feast" films, but more adult and less exploitative. The dialogue seems unnatural although the performances are good, and the film strains under its low budget, giving it the quiet, claustrophobic feel of an early Polanski movie. It's an awkward little film that I wouldn't call an easy watch, but on the other hand I couldn't stop watching.

3 out of 5 stars.

Bob's October 2019 Horror Movie List
*FTV denotes first-time viewings
1. Next of Kin (1982) 4/5 (FTV)
2. I'll Take Your Dead 2/5 (FTV)
3. Nightmare Cinema 4/5 (FTV)
4. Murders in the Zoo 3/5 (FTV)
5. Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween 3/5 (FTV)
6. Joker 4/5 (FTV)
7. Annabelle Comes Home 3/5 (FTV)
8. Midsommar 5/5 (FTV)
9. The Banana Splits Movie 3/5 (FTV)
10. Brightburn 4/5 (FTV)
11. The Spiral Staircase 5/5 (FTV)
12. The Shining 5/5
13. Madhouse (1981)3/5 (FTV)
14. Child's Play (2019) 3/5 (FTV)
15. LEGO Scooby Doo 3/5 (FTV)
16. In The Tall Grass 2/5 (FTV)
17. As Above, So Below 3/5 (FTV)
18. The Ritual (2017) 4/5 (FTV)
19. Crawl 4/5 (FTV)
20. Halloween (1978) 5/5
21. The Dead Don't Die 3/5 (FTV)
22. The Child 3/5 (FTV)
23. 4D Man 3/5 (FTV)
24. Friday the 13th 4/5 (FTV)
25. Dead of Night (1945) 4/5 (FTV)
26. Attack of the Crab Monsters 2/5 (FTV)
27. Zombieland: Double Tap 4/5 (FTV)
28. The Witch Who Came From the Sea 3/5 (FTV)

 

[fushingfeef]

30. The Lighthouse (FTV)

A grizzled overbearing sea captain and his contemplative but able-bodied assistant, stranded in a 19th century New England lighthouse, fight cabin fever, personal demons, and the supernatural. Shot in starkly beautiful black and white in the boxy 1.19 to 1 Movietone aspect ratio not seen since the 1920's, and directed by Robert Eggers ("The VVitch"), "The Lighthouse" is a test of endurance for both the characters and the audience.

There's a scene where assistant Winslow carries an extremely heavy metal barrel of oil up the spiral lighthouse stairs, one sweaty step at a time, a modern day Sisyphus, only to be told at the top he must take it back where he found it. I can't help but think that this is an analogy to the film itself: difficult, with no certain reward at the end to look forward to.

But there are rewards to be found along the way: Willem Dafoe's performance is one for the ages, spilling with crackling (and at times incomprehensible) period dialogue, as he disappears completely into the role. It's as if he time-traveled from the past to perform this role, and it's something to behold. Robert Pattinson's character is engaging and more sympathetic, closer to the experience of the audience, but he has mysteries of his own. They are perfect foils for each other, and it's great to see the two men clashing and unraveling in their own ways. There's quite a bit of dark humor as their plight continues to escalate (or should I say descend?) from worse to worst, although most of the laughter I was hearing in the theater was the nervous sort.

The horror aspects are kept mysterious and underexplained, and perhaps this movie could have been done as a straight drama, but it added another hallucinogenic layer to a dark mood that felt almost Lovecraftian. True horror, after all, isn't just realizing that there might be an enemy even worse than your fellow man--it's that there might be nothing else at all. Either way, we're not given the solace of any solid answers. The Lighthouse isn't a perfect film, but if you stick with it, it's going to make an impression on you.

4 out of 5 stars.

Bob's October 2019 Horror Movie List
*FTV denotes first-time viewings
1. Next of Kin (1982) 4/5 (FTV)
2. I'll Take Your Dead 2/5 (FTV)
3. Nightmare Cinema 4/5 (FTV)
4. Murders in the Zoo 3/5 (FTV)
5. Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween 3/5 (FTV)
6. Joker 4/5 (FTV)
7. Annabelle Comes Home 3/5 (FTV)
8. Midsommar 5/5 (FTV)
9. The Banana Splits Movie 3/5 (FTV)
10. Brightburn 4/5 (FTV)
11. The Spiral Staircase 5/5 (FTV)
12. The Shining 5/5
13. Madhouse (1981)3/5 (FTV)
14. Child's Play (2019) 3/5 (FTV)
15. LEGO Scooby Doo 3/5 (FTV)
16. In The Tall Grass 2/5 (FTV)
17. As Above, So Below 3/5 (FTV)
18. The Ritual (2017) 4/5 (FTV)
19. Crawl 4/5 (FTV)
20. Halloween (1978) 5/5
21. The Dead Don't Die 3/5 (FTV)
22. The Child 3/5 (FTV)
23. 4D Man 3/5 (FTV)
24. Friday the 13th 4/5 (FTV)
25. Dead of Night (1945) 4/5 (FTV)
26. Attack of the Crab Monsters 2/5 (FTV)
27. Zombieland: Double Tap 4/5 (FTV)
28. The Witch Who Came From the Sea 3/5 (FTV)
30. The Lighthouse 4/5 (FTV)

 

[morgan]

39.) Hearts in Atlantis (2001)
40.) Secret Window (2004)
41.) Blade: Trinity (2004)
42.) The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
43.) I Spit on Your Grave (2010) *
44.) Disturbing Behavior (1998) *
45.) Jigsaw (2017) *
46.) Boo 2! A Madea Halloween (2017) *
47.) Curious George: A Halloween Boo Fest *
48.) The Resident (2011) *
49.) Case 39 (2009) *
50.) Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet Frankenstein (1999) *
51.) Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet the Wolfman (2000) *
52.) The Little Ghost (German movie with English subtitles) *