The Month of Horror PART IV: dsheinem vs. noiseredux

[Ack]

Anyone else love these kind of horror anthologies? They're an integral part of the genre, and I know at least a couple of folks have already watched others this year like V/H/S. These kinds of films range the gamut in quality, but Creepshow is a classic of the style. Written by(and starring) Stephen King, directed by George Romero, with special effects by Tom Savini, and starring such greats as Tom Atkins, Leslie Nielsen, Ted Danson, Ed Harris, and Adrienne Barbeau, this film features creative humor, a distinctive style, and a love for the days of horror comics by EC and DC such as Tales from the Crypt. There's lots of love here for both horror and the comic form. The quality of the stories themselves vary, but each one has its own lasting impact.

The story that impresses me most in this film is The Crate, as it combined a higher level of gore along with a great monster movie idea set in a university basement. It is by far the bloodiest of the stories, though not as unnerving as either The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verill or They're Creeping Up on You, two stories about mold and cockroaches(and my favorite ideas, though both are more humorous for the over-the-top acting portrayed by Stephen King and E. G. Marshall). Father's Day is competent and features excellent undead costuming, but it felt a little bland to me, while Something to Tide You Over felt by far the weakest of the bunch for the overly long intro about Nielsen's character murdering Danson's. It is disturbing watching Nielsen enjoy himself, but the story changes completely afterward into one that fits the rest of the film far more.

Anyway, I love Creepshow, and you all should see it if you haven't.

Anguish
Demons
Creepshow
The Beyond
Zombi 2
From Beyond
The Beast with Five Fingers
The Screaming Skull
The Killer Shrews
The Tingler
Viy
At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul
Black Sunday
Children of the Corn
The Burning
The Descent
Trick r' Treat
The Innkeepers
Stake Land
The Evil Dead (remake)
The Lords of Salem
The Gate
Kuroneko

[noiseredux]

I dabbled briefly with a few games last night...

Castlevania II - This is the one of the original trilogy I've played the least. The guys over at the RFGen forums are doing a play-along of it this month, so I figured I'd fire it up (I swear, I'm gonna start SH2 soon!). I spent a few nights-of-horrible-curses in the game just grinding for hearts so I could afford some items in that first town. Made my way to the first uh dungeon/castle/mansion? At first I felt like "man, this isn't as hard as most Castlevanias." Then I realized there's invisible holes in floors. Wow. WTF? Anyway, good game. Good frustrating game. I'm just glad that it had a password system... though I'm playing the PC re-release so I can save anywhere anyway.

Cry of Fear - This is a Half-Life mod suggested earlier in the thread. Free from Steam. It's pretty creepy and unique. Although I was using Pinnacle Game Profiler (set to Half-Life profile) to play, which works fine for movement but then other buttons don't seem to coincide with that setting. And my allergies have been bothering me, so I was way too tired to tweak the controls myself.

Aliens: Infestation - I assume most of you have checked this one out? Basically it's a new Metroid game made by WayForward. I mean really, seeing how much Metroid was influenced by Alien, it's kind of insane that now there's an Alien-licensed game that is so influenced by Metroid. How... meta. Anyway, I played through much of this a year ago when a buddy of mine had let me borrow it. So right now it's kind of in that thing where you're replaying parts you remember and that's kind of boring cuz you just wanna get on to new stuff. But, if any of you overlooked Infestation you should really look into it.

[dunpeal2064]

Started my first Survival-Horror game last night.

Fatal Frame 2 (Wii) - So far I am very impressed. This game didn't take more than a few minutes to get me completely wrapped up in its atmosphere. Having dabbled just a bit in the older Resident Evil and Parasite Eve games, I wasn't really expecting this game to actually scare me, but it has "got" me more than once already. The game is just chalk-full of those moments where something walks by out of nowhere, or a voice starts yelling when you least expect it. I had to laugh at myself when I turned around and practically crapped myself... because I forgot I had a sister following me around The game does a great job of building that anticipation, so that even the little stuff can make you jump.

[AppleQueso]

Started my first Survival-Horror game last night.

Fatal Frame 2 (Wii) - So far I am very impressed. This game didn't take more than a few minutes to get me completely wrapped up in its atmosphere. Having dabbled just a bit in the older Resident Evil and Parasite Eve games, I wasn't really expecting this game to actually scare me, but it has "got" me more than once already. The game is just chalk-full of those moments where something walks by out of nowhere, or a voice starts yelling when you least expect it. I had to laugh at myself when I turned around and practically crapped myself... because I forgot I had a sister following me around The game does a great job of building that anticipation, so that even the little stuff can make you jump.

I really like that one. The first one is even crazier, if you'd believe it. It's unfortunately marred by some seriously awful voice acting though.

[dunpeal2064]

I'm glad to hear that! I usually like to play a series in order, but I am still working on getting another ps2, so I figured I'd just start with one I can play now. I am glad to hear the first one is even crazier, I was worried I might have ruined my experience with the first one by starting with the 2nd.

I'll definitely pick it up once I start rebuilding my collection.

[Luke]

Anyway, I love Creepshow, and you all should see it if you haven't.

It's a shame the sequel blew.

What I really love about CREEPSHOW is how it caters to fans of horror comics, and is actually quite kid friendly. It's just spooky enough, and has a great dark sense of humor.


I played Painkiller again last night. It looks great, plays smoothly, but it's a snore fest. Way too easy.

[prfsnl_gmr]

Last night, my wife and I watched:



Full Circle (a/k/a The Haunting of Julia) (1977). I knew absolutely nothing about this film when I started it, but I ended up really enjoying it. Based on the novel Jessica by Peter Straub, this film tells the story of a young woman who, after losing her daughter, seperates from her husband and relocates to a new home that - based on the room full of creepy antique toys - would appear to be haunted to anyone who has ever seen a horror film. The performances are great; the film is shot beautifully; and the somber atmosphere reminded me very much of The Changeling and The Innkeepers, two of my very favorite haunted house films. With no "flash cuts" and almost no gore, the film earns each and every one of its scares, and although it starts a bit slow and falters a bit at the one hour mark, it wraps up in spectacular fashion. (The film also concludes with an absolutely breathtaking final shot reminiscent of a Johannes Vermeer still life.) My primary complaint with the film is its Colin Towns "prog rock synthesizer" soundtrack, which probably sounded great in 1977 but does not really fit with the film's atmosphere in my opinion. Likewise, the English accents and muted dialogue made it difficult for me to understand the characters at times, and I ended up missing some minor plot points. Otherwise, however, I was very, very impressed with this film, and I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys a slow, tension-building, haunted house film. Finally, the film is available for streaming on Netflix; so, if you have the service, there really is no excuse for missing it.

EDIT: Apparently the film was never released on DVD...so Netflix or VHS are the only ways to see this one. (Given the film's beauty, I very much doubt VHS would do it justice, and I would probably go with Netflix if you are considering this one.)

.....

prfsnl_gmr's 2013 List of TERROR!
1. The Frighteners (1996)
2. Kill, Baby...Kill! (1966)
3. Salem's Lot (1979)
4. Blood Thirst (1965)
5. The Hunger (1983)
6. Jigoku (1960)
7. Full Circle (a/k/a The Haunting of Julia) (1977)

[Menegrothx]

I played Painkiller again last night. It looks great, plays smoothly, but it's a snore fest. Way too easy.

Reached the second boss yet?

[Luke]

I played Painkiller again last night. It looks great, plays smoothly, but it's a snore fest. Way too easy.

Reached the second boss yet?

Way beyond that. The second boss was HUGE correct?


Besides TREEHOUSE OF TERROR episodes, what Halloween themed sitcoms will you guys be revisiting?

So far for me:

Take my wife please - Married With Children
Mystery weekend - SBTB
Halloween - NewsRadio (so overlooked)
Halloween candy - everybody loves Raymond
Sexy Pumpkin - HIMYM
Every Halloween episode from THE OFFICE...
and South Park...
and The Munsters...
and the Addams Family...
and the Cosby show
Voodoorother - My name is Earl

[noiseredux]

Besides TREEHOUSE OF TERROR episodes, what Halloween themed sitcoms will you guys be revisiting?

Roseanne.