The House of the Devil *is* worth a watch! Just don't set your expectations too high.
I'm still curious to check out another Ti West movie and see what else he's gotten up to.
Month of Horror 8: The Hellworld Gospel Resurrection Legacy
-
prfsnl_gmr
- Next-Gen
- Posts: 12410
- Joined: Mon Jun 01, 2009 10:26 pm
- Location: Charlotte, North Carolina
Re: Month of Horror 8: The Hellworld Gospel Resurrection Leg
The House of the Devil is great. I loved it. If you are interested another movie by the same director, I highly recommend The Innkeepers. Is another slow burn horror film, and it is currently available for streaming on Amazon, if I recall correctly.Nemoide wrote:The House of the Devil *is* worth a watch! Just don't set your expectations too high.
I'm still curious to check out another Ti West movie and see what else he's gotten up to.
Re: Month of Horror 8: The Hellworld Gospel Resurrection Leg
Well, since it's October, I decided I'd go back and polish off Dead Pixels, an indie title from 2012 where you play a survivor making it across city streets with randomized hordes of zombies to stop you. The game pulls a lot from zombie films and video games, and there are a lot of entertaining pop culture references in the background, such as the computer store with a floppy disc called ZOMCOM, meaning it's actually ROM ZOM COM, a reference to Shaun of the Dead.
Well, after setting it aside for...4 years, I finally went back and knocked out all the achievements. It's not a bad experience, though once you get the hang of it and understand the various boss zombies and how to kill them, it's a fairly easy game. I still liked it.
And then I watched horror movies.
Ring
Ring 2
Rasen
Yes, I'm going to talk about all three of these together, because the Ring series is a bit of a weird mess. And yes, I'm talking about the Japanese series. My only experience with the series before this is via the terrible The Ring Two in the US and The Ring for Dreamcast, which I do not recommend, even if it did beat Extermination and RE4 to the laserpointer gun punch. Anyway, Ring is an important series in horror film and had an incredible influence in bringing the J-Horror boom (and with it K-Horror and other East and Southeast Asian horror titles) to America in the 2000s. But even if you spend time watching the remakes and spinoffs, there are some strange quirks to the Japanese originals that make them worth pursuing.
First off, upon viewing the original Ring, I am struck that it doesn't feel like a horror film. Instead it feels like a supernatural thriller and mystery, where the focus is on suspense and investigation than growing dread and fear. Yes, there are some shocking moments with creepy imagery, but even the blatant horror finale didn't deter me from feeling that this film was much more about the ride and less about "Oh look a scary ghost." Yes, there is a requirement to accept some plot elements as simply being without deep explanation, such as psychics and the like. But when I finished the film, I realized I had a deep respect for what I had just witnessed. Plus the final scene feels like the ending of Terminator.
And then things get messy. Ring has two direct sequels: Rasen and Ring 2. Rasen came first and continues the story based on the books of Koji Suzuki. However, it brought a new director and screenwriter, and the film is slow, incomprehensible at times with its leaps in logic, and frankly a little dull. At times it feels like it has more in common with the novel Parasite Eve than the first film, due to the heavy focus on DNA and evil killer spirit Sadako wanting to pass along her genetic structure and be reborn via smallpox and STDs. Also, this movie completely forgot about certain elements of the first film, such as Sadako's victims' faces.
Not surprisingly, Rasen didn't do well, so the producers decided to go Highland 2 on its ass and make The Ring 2, which does not pull from Koji Suzuki's books in any way. Ring 2 brought back Ring's director and screenwriter, but it goes much more along the horror bent and asks more of the audience in accepting the paranormal and psychic powers. It's a more interesting movie than Rasen and feels more like Ring in terms of visual style, but at times it prefers to rely on blatant jump scares. It also has logic leaps that left me baffled, but that's ok; Ring 2 is a one-off.
Yep, that's why I watched Ring 2 before Rasen, because while Rasen originally got the Highlander 2 treatment to make Ring 2, Ring 2 then got the Highlander 2 treatment as Rasen was used as the jumping off point for the Sadako 3D movies later on. Hence why I said things get weird.
Out of all of them, Ring is the best. I like Ring 2 more than Rasen, but neither of the sequels compare to the original.
And don't think I'm done with this series yet. Ideally someday I'll see all of them as well as all of the Ju-On films, because they eventually have a Freddy vs Jason-style horror crossover fight film. And that is something I need in my life.
Well, after setting it aside for...4 years, I finally went back and knocked out all the achievements. It's not a bad experience, though once you get the hang of it and understand the various boss zombies and how to kill them, it's a fairly easy game. I still liked it.
And then I watched horror movies.
Ring
Ring 2
Rasen
Yes, I'm going to talk about all three of these together, because the Ring series is a bit of a weird mess. And yes, I'm talking about the Japanese series. My only experience with the series before this is via the terrible The Ring Two in the US and The Ring for Dreamcast, which I do not recommend, even if it did beat Extermination and RE4 to the laserpointer gun punch. Anyway, Ring is an important series in horror film and had an incredible influence in bringing the J-Horror boom (and with it K-Horror and other East and Southeast Asian horror titles) to America in the 2000s. But even if you spend time watching the remakes and spinoffs, there are some strange quirks to the Japanese originals that make them worth pursuing.
First off, upon viewing the original Ring, I am struck that it doesn't feel like a horror film. Instead it feels like a supernatural thriller and mystery, where the focus is on suspense and investigation than growing dread and fear. Yes, there are some shocking moments with creepy imagery, but even the blatant horror finale didn't deter me from feeling that this film was much more about the ride and less about "Oh look a scary ghost." Yes, there is a requirement to accept some plot elements as simply being without deep explanation, such as psychics and the like. But when I finished the film, I realized I had a deep respect for what I had just witnessed. Plus the final scene feels like the ending of Terminator.
And then things get messy. Ring has two direct sequels: Rasen and Ring 2. Rasen came first and continues the story based on the books of Koji Suzuki. However, it brought a new director and screenwriter, and the film is slow, incomprehensible at times with its leaps in logic, and frankly a little dull. At times it feels like it has more in common with the novel Parasite Eve than the first film, due to the heavy focus on DNA and evil killer spirit Sadako wanting to pass along her genetic structure and be reborn via smallpox and STDs. Also, this movie completely forgot about certain elements of the first film, such as Sadako's victims' faces.
Not surprisingly, Rasen didn't do well, so the producers decided to go Highland 2 on its ass and make The Ring 2, which does not pull from Koji Suzuki's books in any way. Ring 2 brought back Ring's director and screenwriter, but it goes much more along the horror bent and asks more of the audience in accepting the paranormal and psychic powers. It's a more interesting movie than Rasen and feels more like Ring in terms of visual style, but at times it prefers to rely on blatant jump scares. It also has logic leaps that left me baffled, but that's ok; Ring 2 is a one-off.
Yep, that's why I watched Ring 2 before Rasen, because while Rasen originally got the Highlander 2 treatment to make Ring 2, Ring 2 then got the Highlander 2 treatment as Rasen was used as the jumping off point for the Sadako 3D movies later on. Hence why I said things get weird.
Out of all of them, Ring is the best. I like Ring 2 more than Rasen, but neither of the sequels compare to the original.
And don't think I'm done with this series yet. Ideally someday I'll see all of them as well as all of the Ju-On films, because they eventually have a Freddy vs Jason-style horror crossover fight film. And that is something I need in my life.
Re: Month of Horror 8: The Hellworld Gospel Resurrection Leg
Prom Night
It’s prom night at Kennedy High and all the kids are excited for the big night. But a small group of them have a deep, dark secret they’ve been hiding for the past six years, and tonight that secret is about to come back and bite them in the ass.
And sadly, I’m not referring to their hidden love of disco. They let that travesty out in the open for anyone to see.
At this point, Prom Night is a pretty familiar halloween film for most. It’d be hard for horror fans to at least not heard of the simple slasher, since it’s stars early scream queen Jamie Lee Curtis (long may she reign). Curtis finds herself in a familiar situation in Prom Night, once again being the last gal that has to go toe-to-toe with a crazy masked killer. The only difference here, is that she’s not actually the target this time around.
Well, at least she’s not the target of the killer. She does manage to catch the ire of the annoying popular girl in school, when the boyfriend of said annoyance dumps her in favor of Curtis’s character. Of course, she then uses this cue to ‘hire’ the greasiest boy she can find at school to go and make fools out of the new pair on prom night, not only giving the audience a visual manifestation of her sleazy soul, but also turning our simple slasher film into a slasher/Carrie mash up.
Ugh. If he says in the car any longer he’s going to leave a grease stain on her headrest.
Unfortunately, the film doesn’t do either angle particularly well. Oh, it’s serviceable, don’t get me wrong. But the movie just seems to do everything so by-the-numbers, that nothing really ends up being exciting or surprising.
For an R-rated movie, there’s not a lot of blood and the nudity is mostly from one walk-by mooning. There are a couple of tense moments, but they end up overshadowed by predictable outcomes. Even the killer ends up being predictable, despite the movie’s feeble attempts to throw in a couple of decoys. There are a couple things that don’t end up being explained (what’s with the lipstick?), but by that point you kinda don’t care.
To top it off, the film also tends to linger on certain scenes too long. For instance, there’s a good 5+ minutes dedicated to Curtis and her date disco dancing. Every time I watch it, I can’t help but think that some of that time could have been better suited to explaining some of greasy-boy and bitchy-girls scheme, or following the killer as he stalks his victims or,... well, anything else, really. Yes, movie, I like watching Jamie dance. No, movie, I don’t need to watch her go through the entire routine just so you can feel you got your money’s worth for the choreography lessons. Move along, please.
I think that the fault of Prom Night is that it was trying to elements from a script about how slashers are supposed to work and in doing so ended up not doing anything particularly well. It’s still an okay slasher, and it does have it’s moments, but there’s nothing really new or specific to differentiate it from anything else (unless you count the disco scenes, and really, I wouldn’t.) The killer is kind of lame, most of the characters are dull, scenes are unnecessarily drawn out and the plot is predictable. I don’t hate it though. It’s like horror movie comfort food and I’m alright with that.
Of course, re-watching this was just a build-up to watching a new film…
It’s prom night at Kennedy High and all the kids are excited for the big night. But a small group of them have a deep, dark secret they’ve been hiding for the past six years, and tonight that secret is about to come back and bite them in the ass.
And sadly, I’m not referring to their hidden love of disco. They let that travesty out in the open for anyone to see.
At this point, Prom Night is a pretty familiar halloween film for most. It’d be hard for horror fans to at least not heard of the simple slasher, since it’s stars early scream queen Jamie Lee Curtis (long may she reign). Curtis finds herself in a familiar situation in Prom Night, once again being the last gal that has to go toe-to-toe with a crazy masked killer. The only difference here, is that she’s not actually the target this time around.
Ugh. If he says in the car any longer he’s going to leave a grease stain on her headrest.
Unfortunately, the film doesn’t do either angle particularly well. Oh, it’s serviceable, don’t get me wrong. But the movie just seems to do everything so by-the-numbers, that nothing really ends up being exciting or surprising.
For an R-rated movie, there’s not a lot of blood and the nudity is mostly from one walk-by mooning. There are a couple of tense moments, but they end up overshadowed by predictable outcomes. Even the killer ends up being predictable, despite the movie’s feeble attempts to throw in a couple of decoys. There are a couple things that don’t end up being explained (what’s with the lipstick?), but by that point you kinda don’t care.
To top it off, the film also tends to linger on certain scenes too long. For instance, there’s a good 5+ minutes dedicated to Curtis and her date disco dancing. Every time I watch it, I can’t help but think that some of that time could have been better suited to explaining some of greasy-boy and bitchy-girls scheme, or following the killer as he stalks his victims or,... well, anything else, really. Yes, movie, I like watching Jamie dance. No, movie, I don’t need to watch her go through the entire routine just so you can feel you got your money’s worth for the choreography lessons. Move along, please.
Of course, re-watching this was just a build-up to watching a new film…
Last edited by Michi on Mon Oct 09, 2017 10:23 am, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Month of Horror 8: The Hellworld Gospel Resurrection Leg
Prom Night 2: Hello Mary Lou
In 1957, Mary Lou Maloney is on the verge of becoming Homecoming Queen. She’s got the flowers, she’s got the sash, the only thing that’s missing is the crown. Unfortunately for Mary Lou, her boyfriend just caught her cheating on him a few minutes earlier. He decides to use what he thinks will be a harmless prank to get revenge, but the stunt ends up horrifically backfiring and Mary Lou ends up dead before the crown can even be placed on her head.
Thirty years later, Hamilton High is getting ready for another senior prom. Homecoming hopeful, Vicki, can’t convince her mother to let her buy a new dress. So she heads down into the school’s prop room in search of an outfit. While looking around, she stumbles upon an old trunk from 1957, and, wouldn’t you know it, opening it ends up unwittingly releasing Mary Lou’s vengeful soul upon the school. And let me tell you, the prom queen of yesteryear is PISSED.
To be fair, I would be too if someone had set me on FIRE.
Prom Night 2 continues the president laid out by the first film, namely that of mashing other well-known films together to make its own thing. If the first Prom Night was a mix of Halloween and Carrie, than the second is a mix of Carrie, The Exorcist and Nightmare on Elm Street all rolled into one.
In fact, it so heavily resembles that last one, that it comes across more like a spiritual successor to Elm Street and really only feels like a sequel to the original Prom Night in name only. After knocking off a couple of easy targets, Mary Lou sets her sights on taking over Vicki’s body, and ends up tormenting the poor girl with hallucinations of decrepit, ghostly school hallways,
snot soup with (what I assume to be) Mary Lou’s head in it,
My school cafeteria had worse. But nice try, movie.
demonic rocking horses,
and sadistic chalkboards.
So basically Mary Lou is channeling Freddy and doing a damn fine job of it. But unfortunately, the Freddy she’s channeling is the one that crawled out of the much maligned second entry of the franchise. So while the practical effects of the movie greatly benefit from the films souped-up budget, all that extra dough does little to benefit the story or acting. The characters are all still very cliche, the narration jumps around too fast, the story has a lot of gaps (why was Mary Lou’s soul trapped in that trunk?) and, much like the film it seems to be emulating, it’s filled with unintentionally hilarious reaction shots, presumably because even the actors had no idea what to make of this thing.
On the plus side, the cinematography has improved greatly from its predecessor, so there’s that.
It’s a small blessing.
Prom Night 2 was originally intended to be a stand-alone horror film meant to pay tribute to other popular horror classics that came before it. There are even several references to other film in the script and even characters names are references to horror icons (Carpenter, Craven, Romero, etc.) But at some point someone had the bright idea to re-brand it into a Prom Night sequel. Viewed as a horror movie homage, it kinda works. In that light, all the cliches make a lot more sense. But as a Prom Night sequel, it sucks. Other than repeating one line from the first movie, and having the film’s setting revolve around the prom, the two films are nothing alike. The tone is different, the villain is different, the motivation is different…. There’s just not enough to justify linking it to the original film. I still liked it though, thanks to it bad-shit insanity and a lot of campy goodness.
If you liked Nightmare on Elm Street, or are a fan of practical special effects, it probably couldn’t hurt to give this one a shot. Just don’t go in expecting anything too serious, or Mary Lou will laugh at you.
No, seriously. She will. She’s an evil, bitchy demon. It’s what they do.
Prom Night 2 is currently streaming on Amazon.
In 1957, Mary Lou Maloney is on the verge of becoming Homecoming Queen. She’s got the flowers, she’s got the sash, the only thing that’s missing is the crown. Unfortunately for Mary Lou, her boyfriend just caught her cheating on him a few minutes earlier. He decides to use what he thinks will be a harmless prank to get revenge, but the stunt ends up horrifically backfiring and Mary Lou ends up dead before the crown can even be placed on her head.
Thirty years later, Hamilton High is getting ready for another senior prom. Homecoming hopeful, Vicki, can’t convince her mother to let her buy a new dress. So she heads down into the school’s prop room in search of an outfit. While looking around, she stumbles upon an old trunk from 1957, and, wouldn’t you know it, opening it ends up unwittingly releasing Mary Lou’s vengeful soul upon the school. And let me tell you, the prom queen of yesteryear is PISSED.
To be fair, I would be too if someone had set me on FIRE.
Prom Night 2 continues the president laid out by the first film, namely that of mashing other well-known films together to make its own thing. If the first Prom Night was a mix of Halloween and Carrie, than the second is a mix of Carrie, The Exorcist and Nightmare on Elm Street all rolled into one.
In fact, it so heavily resembles that last one, that it comes across more like a spiritual successor to Elm Street and really only feels like a sequel to the original Prom Night in name only. After knocking off a couple of easy targets, Mary Lou sets her sights on taking over Vicki’s body, and ends up tormenting the poor girl with hallucinations of decrepit, ghostly school hallways,
snot soup with (what I assume to be) Mary Lou’s head in it,
My school cafeteria had worse. But nice try, movie.
demonic rocking horses,
and sadistic chalkboards.
So basically Mary Lou is channeling Freddy and doing a damn fine job of it. But unfortunately, the Freddy she’s channeling is the one that crawled out of the much maligned second entry of the franchise. So while the practical effects of the movie greatly benefit from the films souped-up budget, all that extra dough does little to benefit the story or acting. The characters are all still very cliche, the narration jumps around too fast, the story has a lot of gaps (why was Mary Lou’s soul trapped in that trunk?) and, much like the film it seems to be emulating, it’s filled with unintentionally hilarious reaction shots, presumably because even the actors had no idea what to make of this thing.
It’s a small blessing.
Prom Night 2 was originally intended to be a stand-alone horror film meant to pay tribute to other popular horror classics that came before it. There are even several references to other film in the script and even characters names are references to horror icons (Carpenter, Craven, Romero, etc.) But at some point someone had the bright idea to re-brand it into a Prom Night sequel. Viewed as a horror movie homage, it kinda works. In that light, all the cliches make a lot more sense. But as a Prom Night sequel, it sucks. Other than repeating one line from the first movie, and having the film’s setting revolve around the prom, the two films are nothing alike. The tone is different, the villain is different, the motivation is different…. There’s just not enough to justify linking it to the original film. I still liked it though, thanks to it bad-shit insanity and a lot of campy goodness.
If you liked Nightmare on Elm Street, or are a fan of practical special effects, it probably couldn’t hurt to give this one a shot. Just don’t go in expecting anything too serious, or Mary Lou will laugh at you.
No, seriously. She will. She’s an evil, bitchy demon. It’s what they do.
Prom Night 2 is currently streaming on Amazon.
Last edited by Michi on Mon Oct 09, 2017 10:24 am, edited 1 time in total.
-
noiseredux
- Next-Gen
- Posts: 38148
- Joined: Fri Nov 14, 2008 1:09 pm
- Contact:
Re: Month of Horror 8: The Hellworld Gospel Resurrection Leg
the first Prom Night is pretty blah. But I think 2 and 3 are a lot of fun. 3 especially.
Re: Month of Horror 8: The Hellworld Gospel Resurrection Leg
Yeah, I enjoy Prom Night 2 and 3. I have yet to see 4...or whatever it is. I'm not even sure there is a prom in it.
Re: Month of Horror 8: The Hellworld Gospel Resurrection Leg
Is everybody still watching horror movies? I sure am.
We Are Still Here
I wasn't sure what to expect with this. I'd heard it was extremely slow up until the final 20 minutes, where it suddenly twists into a ridiculous bloodbath. You know what? It does turn into a ridiculous bloodbath, and it's awesome. However, I disagree with assertions that the film moves slowly up until the violent crescendo. We Are Still Here features the occasional jump scare, but there's a lot more going on in this small, sleepy, rural New England town that helps build the growing suspicion and dread in the audience. The ghosts often appear as silhouettes in the background, but it comes down to the locals' behavior that really amps up the tension. We Are Still Here has secrets far worse than ghosts, and there is no safety, either in or out of the house. It's also somewhat ambiguous in its ending, and the pacing didn't feel lacking in the way that The Innkeepers did for me.
Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth
I was warned about the Hellraiser series. "Watch the first one, maybe the second. The rest of the series goes downhill fast." That's what I'd been told. You know what? The naysayers were right, Hellraiser III begins a downhill slide into mediocrity. Well, technically II did since it wasn't as good as the first, but that's a personal call on my end. I highly doubt anyone would consider the third of these the pinnacle of the series though. It just feels like a retread, with even less interesting aspects. Take the new cenobites that Pinhead creates. "Oh, this one throws CDs! This one has a camera built into his head!" Yeah, no thanks, I'm good. There's a massacre scene in this movie where Pinhead goes nuts with his hooks and chains, and you know what? I'm bored. Is all he can do throw hooks at people and rip off their flesh in one go? It gets a little old. Come on, man, you've been doing this for centuries. Don't you get bored?
Hellraiser: Bloodline
Apparently not. Look, ma! More people get hit with hooks and their flesh ripped off! Also, it only took 4 entries for the Hellraiser series to go to space, which firmly puts it in the same trenches as the Leprechaun and Critters series. Jeez, guys, it took Jason 10 entries to get up there. Worse yet, I'm then forced to listen to the guy who designed the Lament Configuration which summons demons explain his family's history. The problem is that the historical pieces are actually far more interesting than the space scenes, which look more like something I saw in Carnosaur 2. I knew I was in trouble when I saw Alan Smithee was the director.
To be fair, this movie was originally meant to be a portmanteau film of three stories of one bloodline and their attempts to destroy the gate to Hell they built. Studio meddling is what mucked it up, as well as on set problems, some of which were simply beyond the control of anyone. This was the last of these movies to have Clive Barker's involvement, and I feel kind of bad that he stepped out on such a low point. I really didn't like this movie.
Also, when did Pinhead get a dog?
And yet I keep doing this to myself...
Hellraiser: Inferno
...and then this happened. And I was surprised. Hellraiser: Inferno is what happens when someone decides to fuse Hellraiser with Jacob's Ladder. It's not nearly as ambiguous with what's going on, but there are some incredibly sinister visuals which make for some excellent nightmare fuel as we finally get to see what happens when someone goes to Hell. And not the Hell of Hellraiser II, but their own, private horrorscape. It looks like the real world, but things are definitely off. Inferno is at times goofy and ridiculous, at other times surreal, and every now and again actually quite horrifying. Yes, it has crappy direct-to-dvd CG, but at least nobody was killed by a magic CG ice cube (thank you, Hellraiser III). There's also a touch of Groundhog Day to it, as the protagonist Joseph Thorne discovers he really is in for an eternity of torment. Events happen which make no sense in reality, further working to drive Joseph to insanity, an attempt at suicide near the end of the film, and the sudden realization of doom for the finale. And that's not even getting into the bizarre demons he sees, the cruelty of the case he's working, and the surreal scenario where he ends up forced to murder friends and family with a shotgun...friends who are all already dead in his mind. Cool. And Pinhead does still use hooks, but he also rips a face apart with his bare hands, so you know what? I'll allow it.
I'll even go so far as to say Hellraiser: Inferno is one of the best in the series, at least of the five I've watched so far. Yes, the original is still king, but Inferno has a lot going for it that make it interesting. It's not just the gore, it's the psychological aspects that make it frightening. Where did this come from? Definitely left field.
We Are Still Here
I wasn't sure what to expect with this. I'd heard it was extremely slow up until the final 20 minutes, where it suddenly twists into a ridiculous bloodbath. You know what? It does turn into a ridiculous bloodbath, and it's awesome. However, I disagree with assertions that the film moves slowly up until the violent crescendo. We Are Still Here features the occasional jump scare, but there's a lot more going on in this small, sleepy, rural New England town that helps build the growing suspicion and dread in the audience. The ghosts often appear as silhouettes in the background, but it comes down to the locals' behavior that really amps up the tension. We Are Still Here has secrets far worse than ghosts, and there is no safety, either in or out of the house. It's also somewhat ambiguous in its ending, and the pacing didn't feel lacking in the way that The Innkeepers did for me.
Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth
I was warned about the Hellraiser series. "Watch the first one, maybe the second. The rest of the series goes downhill fast." That's what I'd been told. You know what? The naysayers were right, Hellraiser III begins a downhill slide into mediocrity. Well, technically II did since it wasn't as good as the first, but that's a personal call on my end. I highly doubt anyone would consider the third of these the pinnacle of the series though. It just feels like a retread, with even less interesting aspects. Take the new cenobites that Pinhead creates. "Oh, this one throws CDs! This one has a camera built into his head!" Yeah, no thanks, I'm good. There's a massacre scene in this movie where Pinhead goes nuts with his hooks and chains, and you know what? I'm bored. Is all he can do throw hooks at people and rip off their flesh in one go? It gets a little old. Come on, man, you've been doing this for centuries. Don't you get bored?
Hellraiser: Bloodline
Apparently not. Look, ma! More people get hit with hooks and their flesh ripped off! Also, it only took 4 entries for the Hellraiser series to go to space, which firmly puts it in the same trenches as the Leprechaun and Critters series. Jeez, guys, it took Jason 10 entries to get up there. Worse yet, I'm then forced to listen to the guy who designed the Lament Configuration which summons demons explain his family's history. The problem is that the historical pieces are actually far more interesting than the space scenes, which look more like something I saw in Carnosaur 2. I knew I was in trouble when I saw Alan Smithee was the director.
To be fair, this movie was originally meant to be a portmanteau film of three stories of one bloodline and their attempts to destroy the gate to Hell they built. Studio meddling is what mucked it up, as well as on set problems, some of which were simply beyond the control of anyone. This was the last of these movies to have Clive Barker's involvement, and I feel kind of bad that he stepped out on such a low point. I really didn't like this movie.
Also, when did Pinhead get a dog?
And yet I keep doing this to myself...
Hellraiser: Inferno
...and then this happened. And I was surprised. Hellraiser: Inferno is what happens when someone decides to fuse Hellraiser with Jacob's Ladder. It's not nearly as ambiguous with what's going on, but there are some incredibly sinister visuals which make for some excellent nightmare fuel as we finally get to see what happens when someone goes to Hell. And not the Hell of Hellraiser II, but their own, private horrorscape. It looks like the real world, but things are definitely off. Inferno is at times goofy and ridiculous, at other times surreal, and every now and again actually quite horrifying. Yes, it has crappy direct-to-dvd CG, but at least nobody was killed by a magic CG ice cube (thank you, Hellraiser III). There's also a touch of Groundhog Day to it, as the protagonist Joseph Thorne discovers he really is in for an eternity of torment. Events happen which make no sense in reality, further working to drive Joseph to insanity, an attempt at suicide near the end of the film, and the sudden realization of doom for the finale. And that's not even getting into the bizarre demons he sees, the cruelty of the case he's working, and the surreal scenario where he ends up forced to murder friends and family with a shotgun...friends who are all already dead in his mind. Cool. And Pinhead does still use hooks, but he also rips a face apart with his bare hands, so you know what? I'll allow it.
I'll even go so far as to say Hellraiser: Inferno is one of the best in the series, at least of the five I've watched so far. Yes, the original is still king, but Inferno has a lot going for it that make it interesting. It's not just the gore, it's the psychological aspects that make it frightening. Where did this come from? Definitely left field.
-
prfsnl_gmr
- Next-Gen
- Posts: 12410
- Joined: Mon Jun 01, 2009 10:26 pm
- Location: Charlotte, North Carolina
Re: Month of Horror 8: The Hellworld Gospel Resurrection Leg
You are not alone! The horror express keeps rolling down the tracks at prfsnl_gmr's house. This weekend, my wife and I watched:
Hush (2016) - In this taut thriller, a deaf woman is stalked in her home by a masked killer. It plays out a bit like Wait Until Dark (1967) - and ends up more of a visceral thriller than a horror film - and it is very exciting and tremendously creepy and fun. It is directed by Mike Flanagan, who also directed the outstanding Oculus (2013), and is becoming one of my favorite horror movie directors.
Under the Shadow (2016) - This is a pretty standard "haunted house" film with a particularly interesting, and horrifying, setting (i.e., a Tehran apartment building during the worst of the Iran-Iraq War). While the djinn that terrifies a woman and her child is certainly scary, it was not, in my opinion, as terrifying as the intermittent air raids or, worse, the threat of the mother being beaten by the ayatollah's thugs for fleeing her apartment insufficiently covered. I highly recommend this movie, both as horror and social commentary. (Also, the lead is gorgeous.)
Children of the Damned (1964) - This is a thematic successor to The Village of the Damned (1960), and it is really more of a science-fiction film than a horror film. Still, silver-eyed children with psychic powers and a hive mind are pretty creepy, and the movie is well-made, well-acted, and dripping with Cold War paranoia. Unfortunately, it is also pretty dull, and I respected it much, much more than I actually enjoyed it. Accordingly, it is not bad, but it is difficult to recommend.
Hush (2016) - In this taut thriller, a deaf woman is stalked in her home by a masked killer. It plays out a bit like Wait Until Dark (1967) - and ends up more of a visceral thriller than a horror film - and it is very exciting and tremendously creepy and fun. It is directed by Mike Flanagan, who also directed the outstanding Oculus (2013), and is becoming one of my favorite horror movie directors.
Under the Shadow (2016) - This is a pretty standard "haunted house" film with a particularly interesting, and horrifying, setting (i.e., a Tehran apartment building during the worst of the Iran-Iraq War). While the djinn that terrifies a woman and her child is certainly scary, it was not, in my opinion, as terrifying as the intermittent air raids or, worse, the threat of the mother being beaten by the ayatollah's thugs for fleeing her apartment insufficiently covered. I highly recommend this movie, both as horror and social commentary. (Also, the lead is gorgeous.)
Children of the Damned (1964) - This is a thematic successor to The Village of the Damned (1960), and it is really more of a science-fiction film than a horror film. Still, silver-eyed children with psychic powers and a hive mind are pretty creepy, and the movie is well-made, well-acted, and dripping with Cold War paranoia. Unfortunately, it is also pretty dull, and I respected it much, much more than I actually enjoyed it. Accordingly, it is not bad, but it is difficult to recommend.
-
noiseredux
- Next-Gen
- Posts: 38148
- Joined: Fri Nov 14, 2008 1:09 pm
- Contact:
Re: Month of Horror 8: The Hellworld Gospel Resurrection Leg
been watching stuff but too busy/lazy to post. There's a bunch I'll have to try to remember and post about, but last night:
Um... The Void... I don't know why this movie is so praised. It had some neat ideas and practical effects (and obvious admiration for Lovecraft, Carpenter, Barker...) but was a total fucking mess that felt more like a music video with a bunch of cool scenes rather than an actual movie. It didn't help that the characters were all pretty unlikable and the acting was meh.
Oh, and Idle Hands which I'd never seen surprisingly. Pretty silly and all but fun. It's a 90's comedy horror thing. Nothing mind-blowing but fun.
Um... The Void... I don't know why this movie is so praised. It had some neat ideas and practical effects (and obvious admiration for Lovecraft, Carpenter, Barker...) but was a total fucking mess that felt more like a music video with a bunch of cool scenes rather than an actual movie. It didn't help that the characters were all pretty unlikable and the acting was meh.
Oh, and Idle Hands which I'd never seen surprisingly. Pretty silly and all but fun. It's a 90's comedy horror thing. Nothing mind-blowing but fun.