What was the last movie you've seen?

[Ack]

Between that and the upcoming Don't Breathe, I have some stuff to look forward to.

[Ack]

Les Yeux Sans Visage, AKA Eyes Without a Face

Man, 1960 was quite the year for horror cinema. In England, you had Peeping Tom and Village of the Damned. In America, Psycho(as well as a personal favorite, House of Usher). In Italy, Black Sunday. In Japan, Jigoku. In France, Eyes Without a Face.

Yes, Eyes Without a Face deserves to be here with the rest of these. While it does feature your tried and true mad scientist story, it portrays fully formed characters far beyond the schlock stereotypes so often found in the genre. It's also an interesting step forward in gore films, with a scene in which our mad scientist surgically degloves a woman's face. While skinning and the like had been done in horror film before this(the earliest example I know of is 1934's The Black Cat), it generally was not shown on camera. Eyes Without a Face does not hold back in this regard, forcing you to watch as the mad scientist character Dr. Génessier first slices away and then peels back the skin of a woman with practiced precision. It almost becomes a medical drama in how clinically he performs the task.

Why? Because he is attempting a skingrafting operation for his daughter, whose face was disfigured in a car accident that he caused due to his hubris. To save her face, the doc and his assistant begin abducting women and removing their skin. Unfortunately for them, daughter Christiane Génessier has been through the emotional wringer and not come out the other side unphased from her grief, isolation, and despair. While she is forced to wear a mask for the majority of the film, her eyes successfully convey her torment. When she does receive a new face transplant, it then necrotizes over a series of slides and must come off, trapping her in her disfigurement once again.

Eyes Without a Face is a movie about pride, about isolation and despair in the wake of tragedy, and about the horrors we'll commit for the ones we love. It's unfortunate that the victim is the one forced to wear the mask and literally put on a brave face, but there is an element of reality there too. We hurt the ones we love. I highly recommend it to any horror fans who have not seen it.

[prfsnl_gmr]

Awesome movie. I'm glad that you enjoyed it.

[noiseredux]

me and Jordy usually have pretty overlapping taste in horror movies. Not so much here. I agree that the first 2/3rds felt like by-the-numbers cliche haunted house material - though it at least was sort of entertaining. But the final reel goes off the rails in a way I didn't care for. The best way I could put it is if you sat through two hours of a haunted house movie that tried to build up a certain spooky vibe and then at the end someone switched the DVD to silly Tales From The Crypt episode. Don't know. Didn't do it for me. Shrug.

You watch it yet, Ack?

[samsonlonghair]

I watched Secret Life of Pets the other day. Fairly stupid. If you're a dog lover, you'll get a kick out of a few cute scenes. I'd wait for this one on Netflix or redbox. Not worth running to the theaters to see.

[Ack]

You watch it yet, Ack?

Not yet. I may track it down for October though.

[Exhuminator]

Over the past weekend...

The Revenant | 7/10
This film would have benefited greatly from being 45 minutes shorter, with tighter pacing a sense of urgency would have been more palpable. I still enjoyed the more exciting parts, such as dat grizzly. DiCaprio deserved more than just an Oscar for this insanity, more like a purple heart. Loved the atmosphere, loved the action, enjoyed the core plot... but proper pacing is something many directors these days simply do not understand.

Sicario | 5/10
Hey look it's another crime thriller drama about Mexican cartels, wake me up when its over. Benicio del Toro saved this one from being a total wash. I really could not buy the other lead (Emily Blunt's character); but to explain why would invite people here to accuse me of being sexist, so nah. Again, another movie that was far longer than it needed to be. 90 minutes would have been just fine, over 2 hours was just stupid. The nihilistic end was pretty rad though.

[prfsnl_gmr]

me and Jordy usually have pretty overlapping taste in horror movies. Not so much here . . . and then at the end someone switched the DVD to silly Tales From The Crypt episode. Don't know. Didn't do it for me. Shrug.

It's OK. We don't all have to like the same thing. (I, for one, have never understood Trick 'r Treat's appeal.)

.....

Last night, my wife and I watched Spy (2015). It is legitimately hilarious; Melissa McCarthy, Jason Statham, and Rose Byrne give great performances; and it deserves all of its accolades. I highly recommend it.

[noiseredux]

(I, for one, have never understood Trick 'r Treat's appeal.)

weird, bruh.

[MrPopo]

I watched Secret Life of Pets the other day. Fairly stupid. If you're a dog lover, you'll get a kick out of a few cute scenes. I'd wait for this one on Netflix or redbox. Not worth running to the theaters to see.

That was basically my thoughts. It's a very dog centric movie and I'm a cat person. I was hoping for something more balanced across the scale. I must say, though, that Kevin Hart as Snowball the Bunny was amazing.