Racketboy Month of Horror 16: Weaponization

[Michi]

October 1st! Woo Hoo! And we're already on a roll!

Hide and Go Shriek <--- Link to more detailed thoughts



A group of new High School graduates sneak into a large furniture store owned by one of their fathers, with the intent to have a fun little celebratory party and then leave in the morning before anyone even knows they were there. Except someone else who has also snuck their way into the store has other, much more nefarious plans for the group.

Overall, I rather liked this one. It's your standard, mid-tier, low-budget slasher with some notable downsides, like not showing nearly enough in regards to the kills, a lot of the characters feeling "same-y", and having most of the film being shot in the dark, so things aren't 100% clear (probably intentional) and if you watch a bad print it's definitely going to be challenging to see some things. But, the characters were proactive, it's decently paced, it has a neat vibe with all the creepy mannequins, and there's one REALLY GOOD death scene at the end that was so well done that I was actually impressed. The biggest ding is that they went with a very questionable direction with the killer reveal. It feels very cheesy and cringy in a very 80's kind of way, if that makes sense. Certainly not something I can see anyone trying to pull off today. But other than that it's not too bad, and it has its fun moments, so it'll likely be worth at least one viewing to slasher fans.

Phenomena



A trio of middle-aged ghost hunters go to investigate an antique store, reportedly under siege by mysterious forces, when their cohort and mentor is sent to the hospital after attempting to investigate the store himself.

Clearly an attempt to cash in on the popularity of The Conjuring films, the little outing is based on the Hepta Group, which is an honest-to-god group of paranormal researchers who have been conducting investigations in Spain for several decades. Meant as more of a comedy than a horror outing, the movie focuses more on things like spooky atmosphere than it does jump scares, and the three main characters are sassy and have a nice dynamic with each other.

My only issue is that the ending doesn't feel fully earned. The whole thing centers around getting closure for two of the women's backstory (the other can go to Hell, I guess?), but we're given so little of said backstories that it just doesn't have the emotional impact the film was going for. Kinda feels like they needed a few more minutes to flesh out the backstories more, or even whole-ass movie to make everything come together better. But I did get to watch three 50+ year old women beat the crap out of each other in a flooded tunnel, so earned or not, I can't say I wasn't still entertained by it all.

Overall a fun, easy to watch, and amusing romp, especially if you're looking for something less scary and more spooky to watch.

[Ack]

2. Boys from County Hell

Yesterday was a Japanese ghost film. Today is an Irish vampire movie.

Eugene is a young man in Ireland without much direction, slowly trying to renovate his dead mother's house, occasionally doing odd jobs for his father's construction company, and often spending his evenings drinking heavily with his friends at the local bar, The Stoker, so named because Bram Stoker supposedly used a local legend as fodder to write Dracula. There's a cairn out on his friend William's land, one which supposedly covers the body of Abhartach, an ancient blood drinking monstrosity. Only one night while Eugene and William are walking home, William is suddenly hit by a rampaging bull and crushed against the cairn, where his blood seeps into the soil.

If you guess that this means Abhartach eventually rises, you'd be right. Only, he doesn't follow the traditional vampire rules; Stoker made all that up to sell books. So now Eugene and his friends and family have to take on an ancient vampire while figuring out how they're supposed to do it, and this sucker doesn't even have to bite his victims. He can actually make people bleed from afar, and the blood will seep to him directly to drink. Yeah, it's an original take on vampires and an entertaining and creepy one at that. Watching so many people just openly bleed from eyes, ears, noises, wounds, whatever, is just gross. One manner in particular made my skin crawl, but that's more of a personal thing.

Anyway, it also has some touching family drama, but the film is supposed to be a comedy, so there are a good number of laughs alongside the tears and dramatic moments. Boys from County Hell does a nice job of creating a vampire that feels different from the tradition. I had fun with this one.

2/31

1. Pulse
2. Boys from County Hell

[prfsnl_gmr]

First, great reviews @ack and @michi! They make this thread so much more fun.

@ack, Pulse (2001) is one of my favorite horror films, and I’m so glad you enjoyed it. I recently bought a physical copy, and I need to rewatch it soon. People are so much more connected to their devices now and lonelier too - and I strongly suspect it will hit a lot harder than the last time I watched it (unfortunately…).

If you haven’t checked out any of the Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s other work, I highly recommend Creepy (2016) and Cure (1997). Creepy is everything it’s title implies, and Cure is a masterpiece in effective horror filmmaking.

A few days ago, I watched The Devil’s Rejects (2005), which is supposedly Rob Zombie’s masterpiece. I’ve put it off for years because I didn’t think I would like it, and I was right. I didn’t like it! Still, I respect it, and I think Rob Zombie achieved his vision. That is, he set out to make a 1970s grind house movie, and he achieves that. First, it has no redeeming social value. It is just a parade of sun-soaked graphic violence and sadism. The writing is poor, and the acting is flat. The crude, ribald humor falls flat, and the pacing is uneven…just like a real grindhouse film! (I also love how Otis Firefly doesn’t have even a hint of a southern accent. He sounds like a guy from Connecticut, which is the actor’s birthplace, and I’m amazed he didn’t at least try to put on some sort of drawl or affectation.). The only things that really stood out for me are (1) the awesome southern rock soundtrack - no real grindhouse movie would have quite so many bangers, and Rob Zombie knows how to shoot a music video at least - and (2) the slow reversal of the hero and villains. That is, at the beginning of the film, the deranged, sadistic Firefly family is clearly the villain. As the movie progresses, however, it becomes apparent that the law man hunting them is just as cruel and dangerous, if not more so because he operates under cover of law and with the firm belief he’s doing God’s work punishing the wicked. By the end of the movie, you’re essentially rooting for a family of deranged, horrible sadists to escape…Like I said, while I didn’t like the movie that much. I respect it immensely, and I can see why it’s so revered.

After that, my wife and I watched The Perfection (2018) on Netflix. It is kind of a low budget Black Swan with cellists instead of ballerinas - people way into classical music are very horny, apparently! - and while it has a lot of body fluid, blood, violence, gore, and self-dismemberment, it was mostly dull. Despite claiming the title of Netflix’s most deranged horror film - and don’t get me wrong, it IS pretty deranged…I can’t describe some parts of the movie on such a family-friendly forum! - I was never scared or really all that grossed out. Mostly, my wife and I laughed at how much effort some of the villains put into their attire just to force someone to play cello late at night in pain of sexual violence. (I mean, really, it’s late at night, and you’re going to force someone to play cello on pain of death. Not only do you have to change into a tuxedo, but you have to get them into a ball gown, new jewelry, and perfectly coordinated make up. Couldn’t you have done all that in what you were wearing?) Not terrible, but not recommended either.

Finally, my kids and I watched Evil Dead 2 while eating nachos the other day. The Blu-Ray transfer really makes the colors and details pop, and the movie looked great (even if I kind of miss the graininess of my old VHS copy…). Also, my kids thought it was great, and they now have a much deeper understanding of modern pop culture.

PRFSNL_GMR’S SPOOKY HORROR MOVIES LIST: ORIGINS

The Beast Must Die -
The Wolf of Snow Hollow -
Wolf-Man -
In the Tall Grass -
Werewolf by Night -
Werewolf of London -
Horror in the High Desert -
The Cursed -
Presence -
The Blackening -
The Devil’s Rejects -
The Perfection -

[Michi]

Ooooh, Boys from County Hell sounds fun, Ack! Thanks for bringing it to my attention!

And I'm with you prfsnl_gmr, when it comes to Rejects. I understand what he was going for, and I respect that he accomplished it, but it's not something I ever want or need to see again. But I'm pretty 'meh' on a lot of his stuff in general.

Anyway, more movies!



Time Cut



An intelligent young woman, who is absolutley miserable with her life and on the cusp of graduating High School, accidentally goes back in time to 2003, mere days before her older sister and her friends are killed by a mysterious serial killer who was never identified or apprehended.

Hey, do you remember Totally Killer from last year? Well, this is almost the exact same thing, except the person the heroine has to save has changed from her mother to her sister, it's not as witty, and the mask the killer wears is way, WAY suckier. Honestly though? I kinda liked it. It's only rated PG-13, so it's not as scary or bloody as Killer, but it still has some fun moments, some decent character interactions, and some nice atmosphere. It also focuses a bit more on the family angle, which helps set it apart a bit more. Totally Killer is still better, but if you want something a little lighter to watch, that's still kinda spooky and a bit more appropriate for the kiddos, then this is a fair option.



Metamorphosis: The Alien Factor



A scientist doing illegal research on alien organisms accidentally gets infected and starts to mutate into....something other than human. His colleagues try to figure out a way to help reverse the process, but before they can he breaks free and kills the doctor watching him, as well as an innocent security guard. With few other options, and not wishing to get discovered and go to jail, the head of the lab hires some 'fixers' to track the mutated doc down and kill him. But their covert plans are interrupted when the daughters of the killed security guard start nosing around for answers.

This is a low-budget 90s flick that kinda feels like The Thing (including similar practical effects), just in a much more controlled and clinical setting. And for the most part I though it was a fairly fun little monster movie, except for the fact that the whole movie could have been avoided it the lab they were all working in was as high-tech as they thought it was and everyone wasn't ignoring basic safety protocols and cutting corners. Like, maybe you guys should have been wearing thicker gloves when dealing with alien organisms with teeth? And maybe pay attention to what you're doing before poking said organism? Or better yet, maybe when the damn thing gets out you, I don't know, catch it, instead of letting this strange, unknown thing freely roam around the facility for weeks?! Seriously, WTF? You morons are so bad at this covert stuff that you deserve to be caught.

But, whatever. I still thought the movie was pretty fun, even though I question why 90% of the first half was told through flashback. I'm sure that was a deliberate creative decision, but it seemed unnecessary. Movie was still pretty fun for what it was though. Except for that early CGI. That shit is always rough, even in moderation.


So that's 4 movies for me so far. Let's see how many I can get to through the end of the month!

[prfsnl_gmr]

Tonight’s film was The First Omen (2025). It is a prequel to the 1970s horror classic, The Omen, and way, way better than any other movie in the Omen series and way, way better than a prequel to The Omen has any right to be. In it, a young, devout American woman travels to Rome to support an orphanage and become a nun. Shortly after she moves there, she befriends a disturbed girl and people around her begin dying in strange, macabre ways…The movie is definitely big-budget religious horror, but it is incredibly well-made big, budget religious horror (unlike, say, The Pope’s Exorcist). It’s well-scripted, shot beautifully, and while it’s never scary, it’s just soaking with dread and foreboding. (Interestingly, it’s also directed by a woman and features and almost entirely female cast.). It feels a bit like the Suspiria remake, and I enjoyed it immensely. Highly recommended.

PRFSNL_GMR’S SPOOKY HORROR MOVIES LIST: ORIGINS

The Beast Must Die -
The Wolf of Snow Hollow -
Wolf-Man -
In the Tall Grass -
Werewolf by Night -
Werewolf of London -
Horror in the High Desert -
The Cursed -
Presence -
The Blackening -
The Devil’s Rejects -
The Perfection -
The First Omen -

[PretentiousHipster]

I'll do weekly lists (a bit too busy now cause of a film festival playing here), but I did make this a few days ago if anyone wants recommendations:

https://youtu.be/llhlRXw0KHE

If seeing a video is not your thing, which I completely understand, then you can see it in list form on my letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/pretentiouship/l ... nal-canon/

Not sure if it'll count as horror (will find out tomorrow), but I'm very hyped to see Radu Jude's Dracula in the film festival. The anti-AI film.

[REPO Man]

Recently scored the Nightmare on Elm Street 4K box set and I'm already five films in. All I've got left is Freddy's Dead and New Nightmare. And in my posts in the other movie post, I literally veered off-course and infodumped on my town's old video stores.

And used that as a clumsy segue to talk about the new film in the V/H/S/ series. TLDR is that it's better than Beyond but pales in comparison to the first three Shudder entries (94, 99 and 84).

[Michi]

They can stop making those V/H/S movies any time now. Those poor things just keep getting worse and worse.

Anyway, more movies!

Body Count <--- Link to more detailed thoughts



A group of college kids pick up a hitchhiker who invites them to the campground his parents own. The guy's parents are kinda crabby, but the area is beautiful and there's no one else there right now, giving them whole place to themselves so they can hike and ride their motorbikes in peace. But I guess the place was built upon an old Indian burial ground, and we all know what that means...

This right here is a movie directed by the same guy who made Cannibal Holocaust. It's... decidedly okay. As the title suggests, there is indeed a very decent body count, but beyond the one involving a mirror, most of them are pretty bland and uninspiring. Worst part though, is that some of the characters display some truly bizarre behavior at crucial points. Like, honey, your friend just fell to his death, you should be running for help, not stopping mid-way and checking yourself out in the first mirror you find. sigh It gets pretty strange sometimes. It does have some very pretty scenic shots though, so that's nice. But mostly it's pretty standard slasher stuff.



Re/Member



Six classmates with nothing in common find themselves trapped in a strange communal dream where they are forced to find the missing body parts of a local murder victim and piece them back together, while avoiding being killed by the victim's angry spirit. The good news? When the angry, red ghost brutally slaughters them all they don't die in the real world and have a chance to try again. The bad news? Until they find all the missing body parts and piece them back together they're all stuck in a time loop, forced to repeat the same day over and over again until they complete their grisly task. They try to outsmart the ghost by discovering what really happened to it. But it turns out that just royally pisses it off and it mutates into an even worse creature, one that can eat them and not only kill them, but erase their entire existence off the face of the Earth. Whoops. So now it's a race against time to find all the parts and break whatever curse they're under, before they all get nom-nomed out of existence.

Based on the manga Karada Sagashi, this one kind of feels like Happy Death Day, just set in Japan and a bit more brutal (though not nearly as brutal as some of the manga images I saw). And for all it's violence and kids running away from angry spirits and bloodthirsty monsters, it's actually more of a story centered around loneliness, friendship and personal growth. So it's not your typical horror filled with blood and guts. But there are a lot of blood and guts, and a pair of very creepy monsters, and shockingly it's all (or at least mostly) done with practical effects. So it looks really good. And both the red ghost and the resulting monster end up looking really creepy. Especially after it mutates and this thing opens its gaping maw right before it eats you. But you don't see the actual eating, because I suspect that was a bit beyond their budget.

The downside though is that the acting can be a little much, and some of the kids' actions were starting to annoy me. Seriously, you guys need to learn to shut up when you're supposed to be hiding. I kept wanting to throw my hands over their faces and smack them upside the head. And for the love of god, when someone hands you the last body part you need to end the curse and save everyone, you don't just sit there and watch them get eaten after their valiant sacrifice. You take that shit and RUN to the coffin that's 15 feet away from you so you can finish the job and go home. Like now. Right now....WHY AREN'T YOU RUNNING, ASUKA?! deep breath But other than THOSE annoyances, I kind of liked it.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, the post-credit scene of this movie continues to further my belief that Japanese ghost are the assholes of the spiritual realm. Because

it suggests that the ghost is so damn petty at having lost its own game, that it's going to go BACK IN TIME to kill the protagonist, thus turning her into the new "red" ghost and having her kill a bunch of new people in it's little 'body game'. Wow. What a dick.

My movie total so far is now 6.

[marurun]

This is a little adjacent, but what are the best Halloween and spooky movies (that aren't actually scary, or that scary) that top out around PG, maybe a very light PG-13? I mean, other than the Garfield Halloween special, which is the best piece of Halloween media ever made (and a little scary in a couple places).

[prfsnl_gmr]

This is a little adjacent, but what are the best Halloween and spooky movies (that aren't actually scary, or that scary) that top out around PG, maybe a very light PG-13? I mean, other than the Garfield Halloween special, which is the best piece of Halloween media ever made (and a little scary in a couple places).

The Corpse Bride is a great choice if you’ve already seen The Nightmare Before Christmas (which is really more of a November movie anyway). Frankenweenie and ParaNorman are also great choices. (So is Coraline, but that one is legit terrifying…)

A few more…

Wallace & Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit
It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown
The Secret of Nimh
The House with a Clock in Its Walls

Finally, the overwhelming majority of old horror films are OK for kids because they just aren’t that scary. So, I think you can watch Dracula, Frankenstein, Werewolf of London, King Kong, The Invisible Man, etc. without much worry. That said, they’re in black and white, and because they’re so old, kids tend to find them pretty boring and quickly lose interest…Worth considering if you want something spooky on in the background while you carve pumpkins or decorate, though.