The Month of Horror PART IV: dsheinem vs. noiseredux

[noiseredux]

@Ack:

See, I enjoyed H20 quite a bit. I mean, in my mind the only awful Halloween is Resurrection. But I don't know, I liked the exposition.

Fright Night remake... should I assume you hate the original? Cuz that one's really good. And the remake changes pretty much every good thing about it.

[Ack]

Not my fault you have bad taste!

All joking aside, it's not that I hate the original Fright Night. I just view them as two very different films that keep similar plot points but take a radically different approach at the same story. The recently released Fright Night 2 actually remakes the story again, making it a remake of a remake if you will, or a new and different take on the same story with the same general plot points. I think it points to the strength of the base plot that various directors in various times and locales have been able to pull this off.

As for Halloween H20, well, there's not much I can say about it. I felt it kind of lost itself in its attempt to retcon the previous three films and establish 20 years of backstory. I appreciate that it references a couple other films in the genre, particularly Scream, but then I also felt that Scream was a much more interesting slasher film.

As for myself, I watched this tonight:



For those who cannot read Brazilian Portuguese, that is At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul, a 1964 horror film that was the first from Brazil and the first to feature the character Coffin Joe. Joe is a unique oddity for his time period: he is an extreme sociopath, to the point of psychopathy. He has a single obsession: to bear a son to continue his bloodline. That is all that matters to him. He will murder those he loves for his goal, he will rape for it, he will butcher and beat others senseless to ensure his dominance and his freedom to continue to pursue his goal. And after each death and murder he causes, he inserts himself into the funeral(after all, he runs the funeral home). He's also devoutly atheist and intentionally does whatever he can to offend the beliefs of others and mock the potential existence of God. It's not that he is a psychopath because he is an atheist, but rather that he is an atheist because he cannot stand the thought of something being greater than he.

The interesting part is that this is still a religious film from a heavily Catholic country. By the end, Coffin Joe will have been proven horribly wrong after encountering the forces of Satan and the living dead. This is in some ways an indictment of atheism and sociopathic behavior. But for a film to have the level of violence and sadism that Coffin Joe exhibits, especially in a first horror film, now that is a treat. I highly suggest fellow horror fans check it out. I don't think you'll be disappointed, though if you want even more exploitation, the second and third films may be more up your alley.

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

Alternates:

Halloween H20
Fright Night

[prfsnl_gmr]

DSH...Killer Clowns is on my queue. I haven't seen it in over twenty years, but I am glad to hear it is as cheesy/enjoyable as I remember.

Tonight, my wife and I watched:



The Bay (2012) is a found footage "eco-horror" film directed by Barry Levinson, a distinguished director and Maryland native who is clearly upset about the amount of pollution in the Chesapeake Bay. The film documents the horrific effects of a water-borne parasite on a small coastal Maryland community, and it features gruesome special effects, some AMAZING jump scares, and an excellent setting. (I just returned from the beach, and the film captures a small coastal town perfectly.) The film's message regarding the absence of effective coastal water pollution regulations (and the absence of public support for them) is a bit heavy handed, but it nonetheless hit home for me as a resident of North Carolina... My wife commented that it was the first "truly scary" film we have watched this season, and I am inclined to agree with her. Despite one small qualm:

The film mostly depicts the federal government as an ineffective bureaucracy that is incapable of identifying the source of or responding to an environmental disaster. Nonetheless, the film's "found footage" presentation is premised on the fact that the federal government was incredibly effective at "covering up" the disaster and confiscating all footage of it. Covering up a disaster the size of the disaster depicted in the film would be nearly impossible, however, so like many films, The Bay inconsistently overestimates and underestimates the federal government's effectiveness for narrative convenience. It is - unfortunately - pretty much spot-on with regard to the effectiveness and motivation of most local governments, however...

I thoroughly enjoyed the film. It is currently available for streaming on Netflix, and I highly recommend it to anyone who is a fan of body, disaster, insect, water, or zombie horror.

EDIT: I see that Ack and I are writing reviews at the same time! He watched a movie I have been seeking for quite some time, and now I want to see it even more. Thanks, Ack!

.....

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)
8. Corridors of Blood (1958)
9. The Craft (1996)
10. The Bay (2012)

[J T]

The sound from the Carrie trailer, but the visuals of Disney's Cinderella... it's pretty fantastic:

[dsheinem]

Nice pick on Coffin Joe. I love the early films in that series - and have been meaning to hunt down the recent entries.

[noiseredux]

Ack, I was just being a jerk on Fright Night. I love the original though. All the changes to the remake just seemed... dumb to me. But I agree, they're very diff films and should be judged as such. I just didn't care for the remake enough to sit through the whole thing personally. I didn't even know there was another new one.

prfsnl, I'll be sure to add The Bay to my queue.

I started up Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia last night. Aside from the intro being way too long for my taste, it seems like a really awesome entry so far.

[Luke]

Ack, I was just being a jerk on Fright Night. I love the original though. All the changes to the remake just seemed... dumb to me.

The original FRIGHT NIGHT is my favorite teenage vampire horror/thriller movie of all time, even surpassing THE LOST BOYS.

Even after all these years I still no have no clue what kind of relationship the Vampire had with his man servant. Obviously the Vampire was into chicks....but something fishy was going on.

[Ack]

Ack, I was just being a jerk on Fright Night. I love the original though. All the changes to the remake just seemed... dumb to me. But I agree, they're very diff films and should be judged as such. I just didn't care for the remake enough to sit through the whole thing personally. I didn't even know there was another new one.

Hey man, no big deal. I can understand not liking a remake if you enjoy the original.

The sequel resets the story again, and this time Charley, Evil Ed, and Amy are foreign exchange students in Romania, Peter Vincent hosts a paranormal TV show, and Jerry has been replaced by Elizabeth Bathory. The same general format occurs, with Ed getting killed, Amy turning, and ultimately Peter and Charley coming together to defeat the vampire, though this time Charley gets turned into one as opposed to Peter.

prfsnl_gmr, I've been seeing a The Bay in my rental place but hadn't checked it out. As far as pro-environmentalist horror films are concerned, would you compare it favorably to stuff like Prophecy?

[prfsnl_gmr]

prfsnl_gmr, I've been seeing a The Bay in my rental place but hadn't checked it out. As far as pro-environmentalist horror films are concerned, would you compare it favorably to stuff like Prophecy?

Sadly, I have not seen Prophecy...

To me, however, The Bay (2012) was similar to Godzilla (1954)...but with much smaller (and grosser) monsters:

cymothua exigua...yuck...

[Ack]

prfsnl_gmr, I've been seeing a The Bay in my rental place but hadn't checked it out. As far as pro-environmentalist horror films are concerned, would you compare it favorably to stuff like Prophecy?

Sadly, I have not seen Prophecy...

To me, however, The Bay (2012) was similar to Godzilla (1954)...but with much smaller (and grosser) monsters:

cymothua exigua...yuck...

You're really not missing much with Prophecy. It's about the horrors of industrial pollution in our water systems leading to mutant bears. It's worth watching for the kid in the sleeping bag kill though. I rewatched that scene about 10 times in succession.

In fact, here you go!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zLb9UtQhy8

Just go to the 0:22 mark and enjoy!