Games: Other Games : OT: The Horror Thread

Re: OT: The Horror Thread

Fender Bender (2016) - In a small New Mexico town, a 17-year-old high school girl who just got her driver's license gets into her first fender bender, innocently exchanging her personal information with a serial killer...

At the beginning, we meet a girl who looks to be our spunky protagonist, and it looks to be a possible "When a Stranger Calls" on our hands. However, we soon find out that she's merely there to act as our opening kill. I was INTO the movie after this point. Then we meet our true protagonist who is a goody-two-shoes cheerleader type who catches her doucher boyfriend kissing on another girl and then subsequently dumps his sorry ass. On her way home, she gets rear-ended by a creepy guy who is a little bit too chill for comfort about everything. After exchanging personal information for insurance purposes, the two part and the girl (who has the WORST parents EVER) gets punished by being forced to stay home all alone while her parents go out of town to party it up. Turns out, the fender-bender guy is a serial killer and he's out to torment and kill our protagonist... and the fact that she is a ingénue seems to make him more hard in pushing her to the brink.

The good:
- Very good opening kill. It's similar to Drew Barrymore's in Scream, except not as drawn out or well done. One can't top the best of course, but one sure can try and this one did a pretty good job at it.
- I don't care much for jump scares, but several of the ones in this one got me... particularly when the killer showed up.
- I really liked the killer's M.O. in this one. It at least was a bit creative and, surprisingly, believable. It sort of reminded me how Ted Bundy would feign injuries and the like to trick future victims into trusting him. This one would selectively rear-end naïve victims to gain their personal information.
- I liked the characters, for what little I saw of them anyway. The Not-So-Final-Girl (usually the best friend character) had a pretty good chase and death scene, as well.
- Amazing squareoff between the Final Girl and the Killer. Both were kicking each other's asses, and it really was a wonder which character would come out on top.

The bad:
- No one apparently calls 9-1-1 anymore, even with perfectly working phones? They distract the protagonist enough for her not to call the police (though I probably would've called after someone snuck in to take pictures of me showering, but I digress...), but that insurance provider who called her back to let her know that she was potentially the target of a serial killer has NO excuse. Yeah, but no... not buying this AT ALL. lol
- Not enough time is spent with the bodycount. We get maybe 15 minutes (if that) with the protagonist's ex-boyfriend and friends, but the stalk and slashing starts too soon after they become players in the story.
- Again, WORST PARENTS EVER. I'd maybe halfway believe them leaving the girl home alone out of punishment if the girl was at fault for the fender-bender, but I would hope most reasonable parents would just be happy their baby girl was alive and well, but these two spared no mercy.
- The tone sort of goes through mild whiplash. The movie believes itself to be a throwback of sorts which explains a bit of the quirkiness, but it's really much better than it gives itself credit for being since some parts are legitimately good.

7/10 - Could be a polarizing selection, but give it a go.

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Re: OT: The Horror Thread

I'll have to add Fender Bender to my watch list! And yes Dan give the Hollow a watch. Its been a long time since I've seen it so my opinion of it could be different today, but I remember really liking it, and I'm not even a huge fan of films revolving around the headless horsemen. I've seen Sleepy Hollow a million times and like it, but there's some real bad ones out there. The Hollow is a modern take on the legend. I like Kevin Zegers too, and I feel like he doesn't get enough credit for being a scream king when he has been in quite a few great ones over the years (Frozen, Fear of the Dark, Wrong Turn, The Hollow, Dawn of the Dead). Transamerica wasn't horror, but that of course was great too.

Re: OT: The Horror Thread

I always sort of forget about him. He's such a 90s staple being in the Air Bud movies and I also remember him from that Lisa Rinna/Harry Hamlin Lifetime Movie "Sex Lies & Obsession". You're right that he's done a lot of horror though. Most are smaller parts, but he was pretty good in The Colony as well.

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Re: OT: The Horror Thread

Eden (2015) - When a US soccer team gets stranded on a deserted island after a plane crash they must face difficult choices to survive. Modern day Lord of the Flies.

A Netflix selection. I kept thinking that this would be similar in premise to The Eliminator (2004) and A Perfect Vacation (2015) (aka Awaken), neither of which did much for me. In actuality though, this is more a human study akin to The Divide (2011), except not as icky or depraved. Beautiful people running amock on a deserted island running low on resources... what transpires probably is what would happen to Survivor castaways if they were allowed to operate with no rules and reduce themselves to savagery to survive. There were some problems with the plot and some elements that require some suspension of disbelief. For instance, I found it very hard to believe that so many people can survive a plane crash, many without a scratch. Still, I was glued to the screen the whole time and it didn't end the way that I expected. I think people on here who love Survivor might like to see it, though. Recommended. 7/10

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Re: OT: The Horror Thread

I just got done watching the new Cabin Fever and it's well worth watching. I haven't seen the original Cabin Fever in probably like 11 years, but I never loved it. Eli Roth is the type of director who either hits or misses widely (The Green Inferno for example was great, Knock Knock not so much) and I always thought Cabin Fever crept more to the miss side? I mean it's pretty good, but it isn't a classic or anything. However the new one really worked for me. The last 30 minutes were particularly effective. I know they used the same script and a lot of it was the same or similar, but it felt more like a horror film to me, and idk it's much better than the rating it has on here.

Re: OT: The Horror Thread

Hopefully everyone had an amazing Halloween <3.
I watched the Tales of Halloween and it was great! So much better than the ugly low budget effort All Hallows Eve. The stories of course varied in quality, but all of them were at least fun, and a few of them would have even been better if the filmmakers had an extra ten minutes to flesh out the stories a bit more. Not quite as good overall as Trick R Treat, but it's still a damn good anthology, and it would be a perfect companion piece with that film to watch every Halloween.

Re: OT: The Horror Thread

Me and my roommate marathoned Halloweens 1-6 on Sunday. It's been a while since I've watched any of them.

Halloween III is such an underappreciated gem <3

Melissa: Is there an F5?
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Re: OT: The Horror Thread

I didn't mind the Cabin Fever remake that much. The original was a pretty fun flick in and of itself, but it wasn't a classic so it made the remake less offensive (even if pointless) when compared to some of the other ones that have come out. That doesn't mean that I preferred it to the original, though. I liked the setting of the 2002 version to this one, which didn't feel very isolated or as backwoods. Making Winston a girl totally didn't work at all. Finally, and this could just be how I perceived it, but it seemed like the "Jeff" character went from being an upstanding hero type to being the polar opposite (an insensitive asshat) once the virus started spreading...? The character types and the roles they played within the story just gelled better in the original than they did here, sadly. I probably would have credited this one a lot more if they had taken some of the quirks out of the first one to make it more of a "straight-up" horror, but then the story would have been a lot darker and more depressing in tone than it already was. So, it's hard to say how that would have worked. The remake is still leagues above the first sequel though, and at about the same level as 'Patient Zero'.

I probably would have done a Halloween ('78) - Halloween II ('81) - Halloween H20 ('98) Marathon this year had I been home, but maybe I'll do that in the next coming weeks or something. I can't foresee myself watching the others, though Halloween III was okay in its own sort of way.

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Re: OT: The Horror Thread

It did take out some of the quirks though. The karate sequence was taken out as was some of the juvenile dialogue that Eli Roth is obsessed with. I mean it still had the hicks, and the whole thing was shot using the original script (so it's obviously going to be a pretty faithful remake), but it felt different to me at least. I haven't seen the original film in over a decade though so my memory of it may be a bit foggy (I have seen like three times though), but the tone just felt a bit different in this one. It wasn't directed by Eli Roth, so it didn't have that Eli Roth way of movie making (you know a film is by Eli Roth a mile away) even if it was shot for shot at times. Idk maybe I just need to watch the original again, and maybe what didn't work for me then works for me now.
Dan, how would you rank Eli Roth's films? For me Hostel is number one, followed by The Green Inferno, and then Cabin Fever. Hostel part 2 was good, but I love that the original Hostel is like a Porky's film gone horribly wrong. The second film is just another woman in danger film. Still a good movie though, and it's leagues above Knock Knock.

I didn't watch any of the Halloween movies in October :(. I had them on briefly in the background on AMC yesterday (Halloween II was on <3) but that was it.

Re: OT: The Horror Thread

I only had background horror movies on yesterday too. :( Harem we are failing our Queen Grace Sullivan.

omg Mark I might have known you would like Poltergeist II. I used to hate it the most until I watched it as an adult and realized how genuinely creepy it actually is. The killer braces and the tequila worm, and then Kane, and then the creepy pink toy telephone and the lady in the restaurant that Mrs. Freeling thinks is Grandma. Grandma herself was pretty spooky! So many underappreciated iconic moments.

I have been watching the Scream tv series on Netflix recently. omfg it is a goddess! I hope you guys watch it! And if you haven't I suggest that you do. I just finished the Happy Birthday to Me episode and I was shocked af by so many things in it. The Carrie homage was fabulous.

Re: OT: The Horror Thread

5. Hostel: Part II - I really didn't care much for this sequel, tbh. I hated it, in fact. It went too far out of its way to gross viewers out. The organization went from being the asscrack of the earth to being a classy mob society... funny how sequels rewrite history. It was nice to see Heather Matarazzo again, and Lauren German carries the film pretty well, but the ending was just massively disappointing to me when Eli Roth opted to gross out rather than thrill. Cutting testicles off and feeding them to dogs? No thanks.

4. Knock Knock - I actually felt that this one started out well enough, at least with the introduction of Keanu and his family. The two stray girls' antics were only sinister enough to carry the movie so far before they just started getting annoying. This movie really exposes Keanu's weaknesses as a serious actor... but, who knows, it could've been the direction or the script as the well. There just wasn't really enough substance to this one to keep me interested... seeing Keanu being held captive got so annoying. I just wanted it to end after a certain point.

3. The Green Inferno - It was really nice to see a movie of this gruesome nature being played straight, for once. Justine made for a really likeable protagonist, and for once, she was surrounded by some pretty likeable characters as well. Aside from that one *beep* dick of a protest leader and that other miserable biatch who was partnered with him, most of the characters were pretty down to earth and relatable. I don't credit Eli Roth for making very great characters to begin with, but this marked a big improvement for him in that area.

2. Cabin Fever - I loved this one ever since I caught it on HBO many moons ago. It's pretty goofy in some aspects, but a lot of the other sequences were extreme and well-done. Pretty gross stuff, honestly. I never realized how goofy it was until years later when I watched it, but with it being one of my earlier horrors, I found it pretty disturbing the first time I ever saw it and it's had a place in my heart ever since.

1. Hostel - A lot of people hate it, but I honestly think this is one of the best revenge thrillers out there. Sure, it's gross, nasty, and depraved enough to place it solidly in horror boundaries, but once Paxton escapes with the girl in tow, it's a pretty remarkable (and controversial) thriller.

He was also the producer to 2001 Maniacs, The Stranger, The Sacrament, Clown, and Aftershock, all of which I liked. I haven't seen his other ones. I find that I tend to like a lot of movies that he's involved with. Hostel II is pretty much the only one that I really didn't like, and Knock Knock was just annoying. Everything else is alright by me.

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Re: OT: The Horror Thread

I forgot he was a producer on 2001 Maniacs! Dan, my rank is a bit different than yours, but I could be convinced to rank them exactly the order you have them in. I think I'm gonna give the original Cabin Fever another watch sometime soon to see if it holds up better today than it did all those years ago. I mean I DO have fairly fond memories of watching it, and I'll never forget how everyone in school was talking about the leg shaving scene after it came out. It just never became one of my favorites for some reason (I think it's the goofiness that you mentioned that sinks it a bit for me.) I agree with you on Hostel though! Magnificent horror movie. I mean I wasn't the biggest fan of all the torture films that were coming out around the time (Saw started off well, but just kinda became ridiculous, and The Girl Next Door is well done, but excruciating to watch at times. Turistas and Captivity are fine, but forgettable), but Hostel is A+ great.
Dan, Keanu is actually fairly decent when he gets material that suits his ability as an actor. One of his best performances ever was in My Own Private Idaho. He's just terrific in that (completely changed my opinion of him as an actor after I watched that). However some of his performances have been just atrocious, and Knock Knock might be his very worst. I didn't like the girls in it either though, and I just don't understand what about that film interested Eli Roth into actually making it.

Re: OT: The Horror Thread

ugh Turistas makes me ill just thinking about it. Movies like that and Anarchy Parlor are just nasty and have nothing else going for them. I can't say that I've seen Captivity - is it the 2007 one with Elisha Cuthbert? I see that it's playing for free on Amazon now, so I might check it out though I probably won't like it if it's anything like the two I've mentioned.

My Netflix DVD watches from last night:

Seventh Moon - I actually feel that this was a pretty chilling and effective horror movie. I haven't really been too disappointed with any of the movies by Ghost House Pictures... for instance, I loved The Children (the 2009 one), The Thaw, and Stag Night was alright as well. This one was actually pretty terrifying and is really only hindered by its camera work. Unfortunately, they opted for a more gritty style which works to its disadvantage, but once you get past that, it's a pretty scary movie about a newlywed couple finding themselves hunted by Moon demons in rural China. 7/10

Carriers - This movie, ugh. It's actually pretty good... it's just one of those brooding, moody pictures that shows how cold-blooded humans have to be for the sake of survival after a lethal infection sweeps through civilization, wiping it out save for a few survivors. This is NOT a zombie movie. It did seem to have something of a "fresh" take when it came to the characters... none of them were truly badass. Rather, these were just young characters trying to avoid infection in a "germaphobic" world. They wear face masks and carry bleach... they just felt more realistic to me than the gun-toting badass anti-heroes I've come to expect from post-apocalyptic efforts. I just could have done without that "Fox and the House" effect on me last night when I watched it... while it's emotionally moving, it left me feeling sad by the end of it and I can't say I wanna *beep* with my mood this terribly again. It was made for someone, but not for me. 6/10

On a lighter note, I saw the Ghostbusters remake over the weekend and actually liked it so I'm convinced most haters are just digging deep to hate on it. I didn't think it at all crapped on the original, but rather honored it the way most remakes don't... they wouldn't make references to the original movie and bring some of the original's actors back if their heart wasn't in the right place. If it's unnecessary, then don't watch it... but hating it for existing isn't very fair given that it's just harmless fun. 7/10

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Re: OT: The Horror Thread

Halloween is over Dan!

Re: OT: The Horror Thread

I have a few reviews to post yet. I have a lot of upcoming titles that I am excited to watch and review.

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Re: OT: The Horror Thread

If you guys haven't yet you should try to play the game Until Dawn on the PS4. It was basically getting to be in a horror movie and I was ashamed and embarrassed that I fell for tricks like "investigate the noise" and "HIDE". You will literally get your head ripped off if you make the wrong choice or if you MOVE when the DON'T MOVE command is on the screen.

I only had Sam left at the end of my first playthrough. But the game genuinely terrified the f9ck out of me. It brings some plot twists out of left field too. Excellent stuff in this game and it feels like the beginning of a trend that is going to be amazing.

Re: OT: The Horror Thread

Garrett was really into that game for a while, Tyler, and it did sound really fun. Unfortunately, it's not available for PS3. Is it like COD where you can play with a group of friends or online with strangers and you guys can all end up as a stranded group of people getting picked off by a killer in the midst? I'd be really into the idea if there was that multiplayer component to it.

The Friday the 13th game sounds like a lot of fun, as well. It doesn't look to be released yet though.

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Re: OT: The Horror Thread

Omg Tyler I love Until Dawn! It's such a fun game! I also love the Scream TV series as well <3

Re: OT: The Horror Thread

I haven't really seen anything that has rocked my world recently, but I'll review a few of the titles I've seen in the last few weeks.

Finally watched After (2012)... a very good and almost heart-warming movie. It was actually kind of creepy and claustrophobic, given that our two main characters were trapped in an abandoned town while getting boxed in by a dark ominous cloud from all around them... being stalked by a hellish monster never helps the situation either. I highly recommend this movie to anybody and I see that it's due to be released on DVD in a few weeks, so I might just pick this one up if it shows up in the store. 7/10 (NETFLIX)

Carnage Park (2016) was a mild disappointment to me and I was forced to give it a 5/10. Sure, seeing a demure young woman completely outside of her element being forced to outsmart a serial killer in the desert would sound great on paper, but its awkward structure just really put me off and I can't really back the movie 100%. Fans of grisly faux-Westerns may like it, though... (NETFLIX)

Trespass (2011) was a decent home invasion with a few big names attached. I feel like it would've done a lot better in different hands, but it's an okay popcorn flick for what it was. It's got nothing on You're Next or Intruders, at least when it comes to home-invasion thrillers, but it's alright enough so long as you don't expect to see anything new brought to the table. 7/10 (NETFLIX)

Night of the Living Deb (2015) was a cute survival horror-comedy about Miss Unusual (imagine a discount Zooey Deschanel) being forced to survive a zombie invasion with the man of her dreams. I watched this one with Kevin and we both enjoyed it. It belongs with other good horror comedies that have been coming out in the past year, like The Final Girls, Ava's Possessions, Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse, and Freaks of Nature. 7/10 (NETFLIX)

Horsehead (2014) was a letdown. It was an artsy horror about a girl who keeps dreaming up dark family secrets to the dismay of her strict mother, and the titular Horsehead (who is a creepy figure but vastly underused) rears his head every so often to put you at unease. Beautiful movie that's not bad on the eyes, but too confusing and boring to try to rewatch to figure out. 5/10 (AMAZON)

Cam2Cam (2014) had a very, very good opening kill. The tension and dread was built up so well and promised a great movie to come after the victim bites it. It didn't deliver unfortunately, but I compare it to the first half hour of When a Stranger Calls in that the opening alone probably would've made for an amazing standalone short film than to be mixed in with the abysmal stuff that followed. Highly recommend the first 20 minutes, anyway... not so much the stuff after that. 6/10 (NETFLIX)

Invoked (2015) was found footage garbage. I really hated the characters and the storytelling left quite a bit to be desired, but I'd be lying if a few of the sequences didn't give me goosebumps and I even jumped a few times. But these characters were so grating, even more so than usual. Playing Ouija board on an island with a graveyard filled with outcasts of society is NOT advisable... haven't these people ever watched a horror movie before or do they just not exist in their universe? 5/10 - begrudgingly so, considering only the fact that some of the sequences made me jump. (NETFLIX)

The Basement (2011) - Surprisingly, this one was actually pretty good despite a rocky start. Sure, what comes with this are some annoying-as-hell characters and an ugly setting to boot, but I expected it with such a generic title as 'The Basement'. Five young adults are trapped in a basement by an unknown attacker... doesn't exactly scream stellar cinematography to me. Plotwise, this is more of a character study than a by-the-numbers slasher. Stupidity is what causes each character's death as immature drama unfolds between the characters and I was almost over the movie when my favorite character gets killed off, but the ending while a copout sort of saves it overall for me. It's good for an unknown (and free-to-watch) title on Amazon, but it's by no means a hidden gem and people may not enjoy it as much as I did. (6/10) (AMAZON)

Darkroom (2013) - I was expecting to see a beautiful young heroine get terrorized by three evil children, based on the synopsis. To my surprise, I saw relatively big names Elisabeth Röhm and Christian Campbell (well, for a horror movie anyway... granted I haven't seen them in anything worthy as of late) torture and kill bad girls who think they're about to make it big as models. It was weird, to be honest, and mean-spirited. There was a good catfight to see here, but this one left me feeling empty inside. 4/10 (AMAZON)

Some titles that I plan to binge watch one of these days...
- Happy Birthday (2016)
- Into the Forest (2015)
- Feed the Devil (2015)
- Scare Campaign (2016)
- The Windmill Massacre (2016)
- Sorgenfri (2015) (aka What We Become)
- Meet the Blacks (2016)

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Re: OT: The Horror Thread

I have to highly recommend Scare Campaign (2016), Australia's offering to the modern slasher scene. A struggling reality show (think Punk'd, but with a horror spin) on the brink of cancellation plays a prank on a mental case at an isolated asylum, causing him to snap and start killing them off one-by-one. It sounds rather simple in premise, but don't be fooled for this movie has a few tricks up its sleeve. Likeable characters, decent camera work, and a good pace. It was just released not even a month ago to Amazon/iTunes, but hopefully it'll be released on Prime Instant or Netflix to watch for free soon. No word on a DVD release, if that will ever see the light of day. But I'm sure it can be found somewhere online if you're into that kind of thing. It's definitely worth seeking out, though. 8/10

I actually really liked The Neon Demon (2016), as well. I can totally understand and relate to the criticisms of it being a slow, boring, style-over-substance affair (especially after such a droopy watch as the aforementioned Horsehead), but I was totally caught up in this story. I won't get into how beautiful the movie looked since that point's been made enough even by its detractors, but the movie really does show the ruthless side to surviving as a model in sunny L.A. What really intrigued me was how our protagonist grew more unlikeable as the story progressed - Elle Fanning plays the nice ingénue with ease, yet easily turns it around to play that smug character whose grin you just wanna wipe off the beautiful little face of her's. It reminded me a great deal of Black Swan and Starry Eyes in respects, though I've seen some interesting comparisons to Snow White being thrown around so it really depends on how you look at the movie. The real bright spot of this for me was Jena Malone, whose character really unsettled me from the start. After the movie ended, I really honestly couldn't get what I had watched out of my head either. It takes a really good movie to stick with me after seeing it, so I have to give it an 8/10 at the least. It's free to steam on Amazon right now (surely you haven't missed the IMDb advertisements, have you?) and available on DVD.

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Re: OT: The Horror Thread

Snowtown (2011) (aka The Snowtown Murders) - A biopic on Netflix about a group of serial killers in Australia who target pedophiles, rapists, and low-lives. It was a slow-moving drama that was pretty confusing given that I didn't know a thing about the real-life case when I started watching it, but some of the scenes were tense and very disturbing in a moody, despairing sort of way. I think this is one of those movies that everyone should watch at least once to be reminded that the true horror lies very much so in real-life crimes, not in the movies meant to entertain us. Not enjoyable in the slightest or easy to sit thru, but it will stick with you. 6/10

Non-horror front since I needed a break from scary sh!t after the previous movie. I watched Deadpool last night. While it was amusing, it was not as outright hysterical as I was hoping. It was, however, shamelessly inappropriate and gory for an action hero movie so it delivered on those fronts at least. 7/10

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Re: OT: The Horror Thread

Dan I'm so glad that you enjoyed After. What an unexpectedly great and sweet movie. I haven't seen many of the other ones you've seen recently, but I saw Cam2Cam as well, and liked it a little less than you. I think I gave it a generous 5? It was watchable, but idk. It felt a bit like the filmmakers were really trying to stretch out its thin premise. Like the opening was 20 minutes if I remember right. I like movies where the lead is in a foreign land (it makes it so much scarier), but meh at this one.

Re: OT: The Horror Thread

You're absolutely right about Cam2Cam - the 6/10 is probably a bit too generous too but I found that opening unsettling to me. I think I have to stand by the suspicion that they mapped out the unusually-long opening as a short film and decided to make it into a full-length movie instead, which explains as you said their attempt to stretch out the thin premise. I found it very similar to When a Stranger Calls in that regard, where it was originally sketched to be a much-smaller movie but it was expanded and everything that followed the start was nowhere near as good as what was originally planned.

That scenario is the only thing that really makes sense, because if not that, then it would've been good as a well-crafted slasher opener (ala Casey Becker in Scream), but they didn't even go that route considering that the (known) killer was shot dead by the police like 30-35 minutes in with half the movie yet left to go. That was when the film sort of lost me though I did stick around to see where they would go from there. Odd storytelling, for sure.

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Re: OT: The Horror Thread

They still had a lot of movies on sale from Black Friday after I got off work last night and I got The Conjuring 2, Sinister 2, The Shallows, Child's Play 2 & 3 really cheap <333 Having a Chucky marathon

Re: OT: The Horror Thread

I watched The Visit a couple months ago. Probably the best horror film I've seen in a while.


Also what is this I hear about Human Centipede? - movie about a crazy man who sews people together ass to mouth?!?!?!

You can get a look at a good T-Bone Steak by sticking your head up a bull's ass.

Re: OT: The Horror Thread

Taylor WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN that you just heard about The Human Centipede?

<3

Re: OT: The Horror Thread

I found a lot of nice titles at Wal-Mart on that Promo rack. I'm glad I didn't buy a lot of the newer releases until Black Friday because the savings are huge and the newer releases are never really worth the price of buying right away. The Purge: Election Year, The Conjuring 2, Pride+Prejudice+Zombies, and Stung were amongst my finds. There were a few titles I was hoping to find, but I still felt like I hit the jackpot. I even bought the Poltergeist remake at that crazy low price so I'll be watching that one soon enough.

The Windmill Massacre (2016) - A supernatural slasher that has a bit of bite to it. The setting is so ominous in this one. While there was one character I really wanted to die a horrendous, awful death, the others were actually likeable even though they're supposed to be a mish-mash of terrible travelers who are led to the slaughter, out near a windmill in a foreign forest. I think this could've been something a bit more than it aspired to be, but it will still quench a slasher thirst well enough. No clue on a wide release; I had to rent it for a few bucks on Amazon because I had heard good things about it and wanted to see it. Recommended. 7/10

The Night Crew (2015) - Danny Trejo's mistress is on the run and he wants her back. She goes postal on a strip joint but manages to be captured by a group of bounty hunters with more drama amongst themselves than Days of Our Lives (!). Unfortunately, the mistress is quite a handful and she starts causing problems for them, psychologically speaking. Then the group comes to blows with Trejo's men, who have come to collect the mistress and kill the bounty hunters. There is a lot of gun action and I realized midway thru that I should've watched this on a night where I could get drunk off my ass, but that's how it goes sometimes. While it did deliver in a way (yeah, sorry for being vague), I think this will go down more as a possible guilty pleasure than anything legit. I was still left feeling a bit indifferent about it despite what it was going for, which was a kickass chick movie which are usually awesome. Proceed, with caution. 5/10

Don't Go in the House (1979) - I've taken a bit of time off from older movies to catch up on my modern stuff, but I decided to give this one a go last night and I wasn't disappointed. It's really nothing new in terms of watching one man's descent into madness upon finding his mother's lifeless body after coming home from work one night, but the characters were actually really engaging for some reason. They seemed more real, maybe?, compared to some I've seen in these grindhouse movies... and actually the movie doesn't really feel as trashy either. I really enjoyed the telling of the story and this one just has that time-period charm to it. Picture what Norman Bates went through when his evil mother bit the dust in the time before the events of Psycho, and you've got this perhaps. Available to watch for free on Amazon - and in really decent quality, as well. 7/10

I have a few things I want to see for this month, some being repeat views and some being new watches. They're all Christmas movies though!

'Tis the season.

Santa Claus (1959)
You Better Watch Out (1980)
Don't Open Till Christmas (1984)
Silent Night, Deadly Night 5: The Toy Maker (1991)
Turbulence (1997)
Santa's Slay (2005)
Black Christmas (2006) - You set the date, Garrett, and I'm SO THERE.
Sint (2010)
A Christmas Horror Story (2015)
All Through the House (2015)

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Black Christmas (2006) - You set the date, Garrett, and I'm SO THERE.


Yasssss. I'm off this Sunday and Monday

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Me too! I love the Black Christmas remake! Very underappreciated.

And yay Garrett! The Scream TV series is legit. Brooke <3

I was very sad that the huge blonde beast from the season 2 opening wasn't the star of the season. :(

I was also sad to learn MTV only bought 6 episodes for season 3. I guess they had ratings trouble during season 2. Oh well at least we're probably getting closure.

And Daniel, I haven't played Call of Duty so I'm not sure if Until Dawn is similar. Basically Until Dawn plays like a horror movie with quick time events, and as the game switches narratives you control that particular character. So like you'll be walking around controlling Chris, but then the narrative switches to Ashley. And if you get them killed while you're controlling them, then they obviously die. Hayden Panettiere aka Sam has final girl vibes, and you control Mike a lot, but you can really make whatever story/movie out of it that you want. I thought the scary sequences were terrifying.

Here's a video!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vup9BI-s_-8&t=248s

I always DIE cause of my tremors.

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Brooke <3 Yeah season 2 had bad ratings lol and I don't think the Halloween special got very good ratings either so unless rating for Season 3 are insanely good then it'll be the last one. They better not kill Brooke </3

Ugh it's so hard for me not to kill Sam at the end when you have to hold still to keep her alive. Now, I almost always just make her run out and kill Mike #oops

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I will actually be livid if they kill Brooke off. They should be edgy and kill Emma since she's painfully MORN anyway. lol @ all of her boyfrands.

I am sad the ratings weren't good for season 2. And that Halloween episode was...odd? :/

Let's cross our fingers, sista G. Even if we only get 6 eps that's good enough for me.

I am really loving Until Dawn. It has such amazing replay value.

Emily

Daniel and G I'm sorry I missed the Black Christmas remake. I didn't even see the text til like 11pm. We're all screwed up here post-Apocalyptic-hailstorm and staying in a hotel while they redo the roof and the floor at my house. Always let me know though. I miss our live horror movie commentaries!

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We're all screwed up here post-Apocalyptic-hailstorm and staying in a hotel while they redo the roof and the floor at my house.


Wait, did the hail destroy your house, or is the hailstorm and the roof/flooring issues unrelated? I'm gonna take a guess and say unrelated, right? I know that's a total Kelly Bundy question , but you lumped it all together and post-Apocalyptic made it sound so bad. Stay strong.

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Kelly Bundy <3

omg I just saw her in Bad Moms.
"I literally don't know WHY we even hang out with you."

The hail caused my roof to leak. Then when the insurance adjustors took samples I guess the 70's popcorn ceiling has asbestos? So they had to quarantine the area and since they can't replace only part of the floor and roof, they are doing it all. So it's nice but it's a huge perpetually chaotic disaster. And when they sealed the area off, they ripped the paint when they took the tape off the doors so now we get our house painted. I'm like, oops looks like you got paint on the couch we need new furniture now. ;)

The storm was a blessing in disguise from Haysus Cristo.

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Santa's Slay <3. Douglas Smith is in that one (Ouija, Stage fright and the upcoming Bye Bye Man), and it stuns me he is STILL playing a teenager in horror movies. I know he looks young, but still. Santa Slay was the first movie I saw him in years ago (then he was in a film called Hangman's Curse) and I was like wtf when I saw Ouija and Stage Fright. Santa's Slay was 2005!

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Zinzana (2015) (AKA Rattle the Cage) - A very enjoyable, yet brutal, Netflix thriller. I guess it has a bit of notoriety for being the first of its kind from the United Arab Emirates (UAE)? I didn't know that though when I decided to watch it, but that's kind of a cool. Storywise, a man (picture Michael Vartan, but Arab) gets imprisoned for disorderly conduct and is subsequently terrorized by a criminal who takes over the police station and impersonates a sheriff. They easily could have made this a dark and gritty movie, but our antagonist actually has a certain evil charm to him and several scenes play out with a well-applied touch of comedy to them. The dark humor is similar to another Netflix gem called The Perfect Host, if any of you have ever seen that to understand my comparison. I really had a good time watching this one, so it comes highly recommended. 8/10

Sint (2010) - A Yuletide horror (comedy?) out of the Netherlands, I guess. Saint Nick returns every 23 years to go on killing spree on December 5th. It's got a cozy charm to it, I suppose... lots of snow and cute Dutch scenery to be seen here. However, it was just an strange movie in tone. I'm sure they were going for comedy/humor on a lot of it, but I think a lot of it simply went over my head. I just didn't find it funny, though it was inoffensive enough. The death scenes were zany and outrageous and some of the snowy stalk-and-slash sequences were well done. I liked the scene best where Saint Nick attacked the three guys on their way to a holiday party. Unfortunately, my favorite character dies too early and I never found another one to really pull for, alas. No doubt would some enjoy this more than me, but I'm forced to give it an average score. 6/10.

Don't Open Till Christmas (1984) - My rating boosting this one from 3.9 to 4.0 Well, maybe it wasn't just my rating but that did switch very recently. The movie really is an uninteresting slasher to start out with, but it does a few interesting things to separate itself from the rest of its ilk. It's shameless about being a display for gory carnage, without any character development whatsoever given to eventual victims. Afterall, this is about a serial killer dispatching a bunch of random guys dressed as Santa. There's one virtuous girl who so obviously screams "FINAL GIRL" until she takes a knife to the stomach, and instead a charming stripper (who has an odd resemblance to Meryl Streep) becomes the mouse in the final stalk sequence and she actually holds her own fairly well against the killer. There was a lead detective who seemed like he was going to be the hero in it all until he too dies rather unceremoniously, and then the sleazy boyfriend character (a red-herring of sorts) just disappears altogether unless I missed his death somewhere along the line? Who knows, really. I was prepared to give this a 5/10 for being a simple piece of holiday trash, but I gave it a 6/10 for its surprise (and likeable) Final Girl and the final confrontation that was better than I expected it to be. Crazy ending, as well.

Town Creek (2009) (aka Blood Creek) - This was a pretty solid flick for the most part. What I liked about it was how it sort of changed gears so much and it seemed effortless. Period-piece, drama about loss, revenge thriller, and then outright gory horror... it all feels pretty well-handled for the most part as the narrative changes tone. The mystery was really well done in this, as well... layers to the mystery are pulled off little by little. Henry Cavill does well as the main character and Dominic Purcell (who caught my eye in Primeval) was pretty nice to look at throughout the whole thing as well... at least once he gets all cleaned up. I really don't want to spill too much about the plot because it really is sort of a rollercoaster of sorts and its best to go in completely blind, but this was a good one. 7/10!

The Black Christmas (2006) remake was a lot fun watching with Garrett last Monday. I tried texting Tyler to see if he wanted to watch with us, but maybe I don't have his current number or something. I can only imagine some stranger getting a random text saying "Wanna watch Black Christmas with Garrett and me?" and thinking WTF! The movie does delve a bit too much into the backstory of Billy, but what a beautiful slasher cast. Kelli, Leigh, Ms. Mac, Mel, Lauren... so many likeable ones in this one. One of the better remakes. If you wanted something more serious, then turn to the original, but there's no denying this one is more fun! I'm keeping this one at rated at 6/10. Thanks for spending your afternoon with me, Garrett!

I'm still plucking away at a few of those Christmas movies that I listed earlier, but I am looking into possibly a few home-invasion movies that I haven't seen to see if I can develop a taste for the subgenre again after a repulsive few I saw last summer. The Netflix original Mercy looks promising enough... maybe I'll watch that one tonight if our friend Kevin isn't available to watch A Christmas Horror Story with me tonight. #hinthint

Movin' to FUNKYTOWN!

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Only we would be be filled with joy that our rating bumped up a drunken movie like Don't Open Till Christmas to a 4.0 . Dan <3.

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Rofl right?? You gotta cherish the little things. I think this happened another time where I rated a low-budget/obscure Amazon flick highly and it ended up bumping the rating up a point and I was like whoa. I know that Humongous had a 4.3 earlier this year but has a 4.4 now and Halloween II (1981) was sitting at 6.5 for the longest time and now has a 6.6. So, it looks like slashers are suddenly ~in~ again, or at least the older ones are scoring well with new viewers.

Still not entirely sure how that whole process works, but I'm assuming a lot of high/low ratings are required to bump a movie even a point. I also half wonder if IMDb changes a lot of the ratings at the same time weekly/monthly, rather than change each title with each individual rating...?

Anywho, I didn't get to watch a movie last night, sadly. I went out with some coworkers from work for dinner and I came back to a freezing house so I had bed on my mind. Santa's Slay from Netflix DVD is on the agenda for the tonight. Not sure what my second movie will be, assuming a second movie will truly be considering I might just end up napping instead.

Bobby, I decided to stalk your IMDb ratings and saw that you had rated All Through the House, a recently released one, at 5/10. Another friend said that aside from bad acting, it was pretty good. Is that a fair assessment and, if so, is it worth a rental. Or nah? I'm kind of mad because later in October or early in November (either way it was too early for Christmas movies) I could've sworn this one was available to stream for free on Amazon but now it has a 3.99 rental fee.

Movin' to FUNKYTOWN!

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Bobby, I decided to stalk your IMDb ratings and saw that you had rated All Through the House, a recently released one, at 5/10. Another friend said that aside from bad acting, it was pretty good. Is that a fair assessment and, if so, is it worth a rental. Or nah? I'm kind of mad because later in October or early in November (either way it was too early for Christmas movies) I could've sworn this one was available to stream for free on Amazon but now it has a 3.99 rental fee.


If I remember correctly, the film suffered from its budget restraints (it looked nice actually, but it had limited locations, bad acting, and characters just popped up to get bumped off). However I remember the killer reveal actually being pretty *beep* up (they were definitely trying to pay homage to a couple 80's slasher movies), and there's a lot worse out there (I think you and I have probably seen it all at this point, and have a high tolerance for bad movies). I'm not sure if it's worth a rental, and some of the other Christmas horror movies you mentioned are a lot better (even Don't Open Till Christmas has the 80's thing going for it), but you might like it more than me.

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Thank you, Bobby. I'm going to wait on it for a bit. My slasher thirst is quenched for now anyway, but give it time before I'll need another fix. If I want to watch one before Christmas, I'll probably settle on that one.

Hell House LLC (2015) - I really hate found footage. So, for me to be recommending anything from that subgenre is something of a big deal. While I can credit the gimmick for its ability to create jump scares and place the viewer in a dangerous situation via camera, there's usually some really atrocious characters attached along with a high suspension of disbelief required for me to truly enjoy. That wasn't really the case with this one, which wasn't just found footage, but it also was found footage shown through a "mockumentary" framework. So, the movie wasn't just limited to the typical trappings that ruin most of its kind. Basically, a group of young adults working for company create a Halloween attraction in an abandoned hotel in rural God-Knows-Where, USA, and they are documenting the weeks of preparation for their website. As our group of workers prepare the building for business, very spooky things occur until all hell breaks loose on opening night, causing all of their deaths save for one member (the only female in the group... who else?) who is getting interviewed by a reporter about the massacre that fateful Halloween night. I truly got chills at a few parts as supernatural things start occurring... and that ending didn't fail to disappoint either. 7/10 - Recommended for those looking for something a bit more creepy and unsettling, though it's definitely more of an autumn-festive picture. I just didn't hear about it until after Halloween, so excuse my recommending it out of season.

Dead of Winter (2014) - This was a random find on Amazon Prime. We had a snowstorm a few days ago (first legit snowfall of the year), so I decided to put this on because I was in the mood for a winter horror. I think there's another movie of the same title about a girlfriend who gets stalked by her psycho boyfriend after they get stranded in the winter woods one cold evening, but this one I watched was about a competitive treasure hunt in a wintry setting turning into a nightmare when the group is forced to fight for survival. That's all I knew about this going in, so I wasn't sure why they were fighting for survival. Were they being hunted by a madman? Did they get stranded and a "Lord of the Flies" dynamic causes the group to collapse in on itself? Did they piss off a pack of wolves or a bear and become food? I really wasn't sure, though this one is probably more akin to a backwoods slasher, but with a sniper instead of a slasher. The closest comparison would probably have to be to 2006's Wilderness, but with less wilderness and more wintry landscape. I'd probably rank them both to be about the same, though one could make a case that this was a clear ripoff of that movie. Not entirely good for a viewer with more discriminating tastes, but for someone who's seen a fair share of garbage on Amazon and elsewhere, I have no problems backing this movie just because of how obscure it truly is so I kind of feel that it deserves at least some acknowledgement. 6/10

Santa's Slay (2005) - I found this one to be mostly middleroad. I didn't dislike it, but I didn't love it either. It was neither funny nor scary, just inoffensively there for my viewing pleasure. On the plus side, I enjoyed Bill Goldberg's turn as the murderous Santa, who was a threatening presence compared to most and I can't say that I would want to cross the guy in real life. The pervy priest using tithes and offerings for stripper tip money was a nice sleazy touch. It's also amusing that the movie was so daring to kill off three of its big(ger)-name stars in the very first scene. Aside from those few positives though, I can't say I will remember much about this down the road. 5/10

🎄 A Christmas Horror Story (2015) was an interesting movie to watch with Kevin tonight. Yes, I am shamelessly bragging about my movie date with Kevin, who shares my humor and the live chat we share as we watch is always a blast. The movie is a jumbled mess of a horror anthology when compared to most, but the strangeness in spirit for an anthology was everpresent and there's no denying that this was a valiant effort at a Christmas version of Trick 'r' Treat. Like most anthologies, some storylines are done better than others and you have to just accept the bad with the good, but I guarantee you will find at least something you will like about it. So, catch it on NETFLIX before it goes bye-bye for the season. 6/10

Movin' to FUNKYTOWN!

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you really are the best movie date :). That movie was such a mess though lol. worth the watch.

White lightening+Black Hammer

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Kevin 💞

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Dan, there are so many horror films called Dead of Winter. There's one from 1987 that's really great and suspenseful, and there's one from 2006 that I liked that nobody else seems to. I'm not even sure what other one you're talking about with the psycho boyfriend , and there's another coming out in 2017 I think? There's an IMDB page for it.

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I wish I liked these movies just so I could talk about them with some of my favorite people. But scary movies don't work for me by myself lol. But reading some of your wonderful reviews gives me insight just in case I change my mind.

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Thanks for the compliment, Bria. I know I talk about horror/thriller movies a lot in here, but I like a lot of different things. I just don't review them, though anybody is welcome to post any comments about a movie from any genre. It doesn't have to be limited to one type of movie, of course. It doesn't even have to be movies either, as some of the guys have shown when they talk about TV shows and video games.

And I had to look up that movie about the psycho boyfriend, Bobby... I do think we're talking about the same movie. I knew that it had Al Santos (from Killer Movie and Jeepers Creepers 2) in it, but it's not listed with this title on IMDb. While it's alternate title is Dead of Winter, it actually goes by "Lost Signal" on here. That other "Dead of Winter" that you mentioned from the 80s has been on my watch list for quite some time but I just haven't had a strong desire to seek it out and watch it yet. In fact, I believe I added the one I recently reviewed thinking it was the the 80s one until I read the sypnosis and found out that it was a whole different movie. Those pesky generic "horror titles" that get used over and over again. It was similar to a Hallow/Hollow moment, except not as bad since at least I realized it before I started the movie this time.

Some promising things have been released to Netflix so I'll be busy reviewing things... The Good Neighbor, Let's Be Evil, I Am Not A Serial Killer, Spectral, and Ghost Team. I've been watching a few titles that have been lingering on my watch list for much too long, but some of them are so bad that they don't even deserve a review.

As for Amazon, I see that Imprint and Day of the Animals has been added relatively recently. Fulci's movies are still on there to watch for free as well... still been meaning to watch Don't Torture a Duckling before it goes away.

Movin' to FUNKYTOWN!

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Blood Rage and The Mutilator have both been added to Amazon Prime. Retread back to my 05/24/2016 post for reviews on both. The House on Sorority Row is still on there, as well. If you're a horror fan in the slightest, I recommend you watching these for free before they go bye bye.

Still trying to dig around on there to see what else has been put up recently.

Movin' to FUNKYTOWN!

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I really want to see The Good Neighbor. Dan if you watch it before I do, make sure you let me know how it is (I'll mention it on this thread when I do watch it).
Don't Torture a Duckling is one of Lucio Fulci's best films. Don't go in it expecting a ton of action though (it is a bit slow, but not in a bad way).

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Btw random, but We Are Still Here is vastly overrated.

Though I enjoyed it and it was my Halloween Day 2015 watch last year, I am surprised to hear that it has fared so well on RT. It's okay, but not really original which I thought RT was supposed to be a measure of...? I guess I liken it to The Babadook, which I believe got stellar RT scores as well and I was like ummm...? whenever people would praise it to the skies. I saw it very early on in its release before people starting hyping it up and found it only passable but nothing really more. Then came the overwhelming praise.

It seems like RT has been overly generous to quite a few horrors this year as well, from Lights Out to Don't Breath. Both are passable flicks don't get me wrong, but hardly original or worthy of any special praise above the rest of the movies they're following. And I still don't get what is so incredibly special about The Green Room either to warrant its 90+ RT score... clearly someone over at that site hasn't seen enough horror/thriller movies.

Even though the characters annoyed me and it could've been executed better, I will stand behind It Follows though because that one succeeded in some capacity at being creepy and atmospheric unlike the rest mentioned in this post. However, with that one, I do wish people would stop shoehorning it into the "slasher" category and trying to make it something that it was not. IT WAS NOT A *beep* SLASHER MOVIE SO QUIT TRYING TO MAKE IT ONE. THX #petpeeve

Movin' to FUNKYTOWN!

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I absolutely loved The Green Room. The Babadook and It Follows are really great as well. Dan, I noticed critics are starting to slowly coming around to the horror genre as well. Even films like Unfriended has a 62 percent, and The Shallows was liked too. If it came out even ten years ago it would have been written off as a film that didn't compare to Jaws, or didn't go for what you don't see is scarier like Open Water did. For the longest time the genre was treated with absolutely no respect st all, and horror films they did like were sold as psychological thrillers. Maybe it's because the critics nowadays grew up on gory horror movies, so they can look past that stuff a lot more and judge them fairly? Critics like Siskel and Ebert were used to horror movies like Frankenstein and The Innocents when the genre started to form into what it would become during the 70's. I do agree with you that a majority of the critics on rotten tomatoes wouldn't ace a horror quiz though. They see all the stuff that hits theaters, but you have to watch indie horror and all the DTV stuff to really experience what the genre has to offer.

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The Witch is another movie that I find ridiculously overrated. The family in that film had more than a few screws loose from the very start, so there wasn't any surprises (or did I care) when everything terrible went down, and I also didn't find anything about it at all scary. It was exquisitely shot and acted, but empty. The ending was also pure found footage without it being found footage, and I was just so disappointed with it.

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I've never watched much horror, but I generally enjoy what I see (according to my ratings on this site, it is my highest rated genre). But as I said, I don't watch many of them...

Which explains how I finally got around to watching Halloween today.

And honestly? I thought it was just okay. It's fun. Sets the story up well, actually bothering to make all of the main characters fun and entertaining to watch without ever stereotyping them. The sense of humor is always slyly winking at the audience without ever coming out and forcing a laugh where it isn't necessary. And it has Donald Pleasence, which is always a plus (although I found him sadly underused).

But it stumbles when it attempts to create suspense. The biggest problem is Carpenter's music. It sounds pretty enough, but it TELLS us when to be frightened, instead of letting us notice something that is wrong ourselves. And the Boogeyman shows up so often that it's impossible to ever be really frightened of him. He practically has as much screentime as any of the stars, what with spending half of the movie playing "Where's Wally."

And the actual murders themselves lack any of the humor that makes the movie good, while also failing to create anything exciting or tense in the climax. It felt like some studio movie out of the 50's that is perfectly capable of being mildly scary and entertaining without reaching for great heights of actually frightening the audience.

I'd wonder if maybe my lack of enthusiasm for the actual horror aspects of Halloween come from popcultural osmosis. It all seemed pat and predictable, even though I've never seen any of the many knock-offs of this film. To be clear, I liked Halloween. But I don't find it to be good horror.

Paint chips and power lines! My childhood rocks!
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