31 days of Horror (2015)

[Alex K. Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Alex K.]

Thanks for the sticky. Now to kick off my marathon, I started out with a complete piece of shit.

Fatal Frame (1996) directed, edited, scored, co-written by the guy who did this:

What a piece of shit. The nicest thing I can say about it is that it seemed like it's heart was in the right place and the cameos were nice. David Warbeck is 2nd billed but he doesn't really do anything. There is literally nothing of note. A lot of film school-style cinematography and ideas. Semi-decent gore and nudity I guess? That's the nicest thing I can say about it. It fails on just about every level. It even fails at being so bad it's good.

[Barry M Super Fiend Find all posts View Profile Close Barry M]

BARON BLOOD ("Gli orrori del castello di Norimberga") (Mario Bava, 1972)

I want a castle with a coke machine, miniskirts & gothic mise-en-scene. There's blood under the door, the oil lamp casts its own shadow, and the witch has an orrery (and that rhymes with orrori). Because it's Nuremberg, there's an iron maiden, but also includes wheelchair (fakeass), hanging, stabbing, impalement, etc. and Gretchen skins her knee; for the price, the dungeon's included. Elke Sommer rarely appears hatless (headscarves, cloche, ushanka). Fritz is a bit of an asshole, in my opinion.

[sukebanboy Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close sukebanboy]

First one down..
HELLRAISER : REVELATIONS.

Anything past part 4 I have avoided like the plague. But this one got SO MUCH shit I had to check it out.

Plays like a HELLRAISER pilot episode where they reintroduce the puzzle box and Cenobites..but on a budget and with one eye on tv audience. Acting is tv level..the new Pinhead over emotes...and has a laughable voice....the gore is fleeting..thankfully no cgi..but obviously done as cheap as possible (Franks regeneration is redone here by MAKING THE ACTOR LIE UNDER THE BED AND STICK HIS HEAD THROUGH A HOLE!!!.)..Also..the cenobites are shown to be a bit bored walking around waiting for someone to open the box...makes it look like they are actually INSIDE THE BOX??...And why the new guy looks like Pinhead..thought the cenobites all had their own style?? The found footage beginning was ok..but slipped into that annoying "couldnt possibly have been filmed on a camcorder" routine..

Overall it is what it is...a cheap rehash of the orginal...and mercifuly short at 70 mins plus credits..another way it feels like a tv pilot episode to a Hellraiser series..

[Alex K. Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Alex K.]

BARON BLOOD ("Gli orrori del castello di Norimberga") (Mario Bava, 1972)

I want a castle with a coke machine, miniskirts & gothic mise-en-scene. There's blood under the door, the oil lamp casts its own shadow, and the witch has an orrery (and that rhymes with orrori). Because it's Nuremberg, there's an iron maiden, but also includes wheelchair (fakeass), hanging, stabbing, impalement, etc. and Gretchen skins her knee; for the price, the dungeon's included. Elke Sommer rarely appears hatless (headscarves, cloche, ushanka). Fritz is a bit of an asshole, in my opinion.

This reads like bad William S. Burroughs beat poetry.

[Barry M Super Fiend Find all posts View Profile Close Barry M]

This reads like bad William S. Burroughs beat poetry.

A CASTLE AND A COKE, by Bad Bill Burroughs. There should be more hangings and impalements.

[Alex K. Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Alex K.]

Cameron's Closet: while doing a bit of research on the Scanners franchise I came across this fairly unknown telekinetic horror flick. Follows the usual cliche's for the Telekinetic Horror genre; crazy/religious parents, shadowy government agency and/or corporation, with the main character slowly mastering telekinetic powers for the big finish. Has some good gore. Pacing is a little 'eh' if you know the cliche's and you're left waiting for the carnage to happen. The main gimmick is that the boy's violent telekinetic abilities are triggered by a split personality ala the the invisible friend cliche. It was okay.

[Dom D Spoon! Find all posts View Profile Close Dom D]

Demon Knight:

The surprise with this is is that it's as good as it is. Not that it's that good but it's not bad and for a Tales From The Crypt that's pretty good indeed. Essentially from dusk til dawn with a Supernatural tv episode feel. Nothing particularly interesting to report in the film (though it holds it own) but it does sport an an interesting ragbag cast. Dick Miller is here and has more than 3 lines. Jada Pinkett Smith. Haden Church too. A bunch of people that you go, 'who the hell are they and what do I know them from?' like CCH Pounder. And picking the whole thing up and lugging it to the finish line on his back we've got Billy Zane. Watching this you really do wonder why this guy only half a career... Man's got charisma to spare and is the difference here between this being dreck and something well worth you time. Assuming, of course, your time is not worth that much.

[Mark Tolch Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Mark Tolch]

Sawit in theatre and hated it...a revisitproved that it's not great, but it was certainly enjoyable.

[Tom Clark Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Tom Clark]

Demon Knight is fantastic. "Ya fuckin' ho-dunk, po-dunk, well then there motherfuckers!"

I've never attempted to do one of these 31 movies things for October simply for the fact that I know damn well I'd never make it to 31. I do however try to watch films that I feel are somewhat seasonally appropriate. These threads are always fun so I'll contribute what I watched earlier..

Edge of the Axe (José Ramí³n Larraz, 1988) - Clearly Larraz's intentions were never to reinvent the slasher wheel with this one but its main selling point is the mystery of who is responsible for all the axe hackings. What may seem fairly aimless for its first 10 minutes, it quickly reveals itself to be a very well composed and engrossing murder mysteries with a fantastic twist at the end. The relationship that develops between the two central characters is actually pretty sweet which might take some aback given Larraz's previous takes on romance.

Even though it doesn't take the subgenre into any new directions, the film is still unique in that it features one of the earliest examples of characters communicating via instant messaging so it makes for an interesting time capsule. Its also notable for the being the final screen credit for the amazing Patty Sheppard who was still incredibly beautiful. Jack Taylor also has a small role.

Its Larraz so obviously you're in good hands with this one. Its certainty his most "American" film from an asthenic standpoint but there are select traces of his unique artistry on display. I see this films stock has risen a bit over the last few years which is a good thing of course. Naturally its not out on DVD yet, what else is new? Anyway, good movie from a genre master.

[Alex K. Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Alex K.]

Infini: Somewhat low budget (I'm guessing in the 10-20 million range) Sci Fi/Horror flick with shades of Galaxy of Terror/Event Horizon crossed with the modern zombie flick. The lead reminds me a lot of Joe Rogan. I wish they went a little more nuts with the zombie makeup. Loses steam about an hour in. Still has some interesting ideas. Worth a look.

[Barry M Super Fiend Find all posts View Profile Close Barry M]

Is Courtland Mead in that?

[Andrew Monroe Pallid Hands Find all posts View Profile Close Andrew Monroe]

HORSEHEAD (2014) - HORSEHEAD my ass...I brand thee HORSESHIT. Fuck, I hated this pretentious, tedious nonsense. Sure the lead actress is hot and the visuals are stirring on occasion - you could make a fine 3 minute music video from them - if this thing even had a decent soundtrack, which it doesn't - but this was so empty. You know how "Niagara Falls" is a trigger phrase for the Stooges? Well from now on, anytime I hear "Argento Bava homage" it's fucking go time. Argento Bava homage?!?! Slowly I turned...step by step...inch by inch... Just like its cousin AMER this is soulless imagery that has fuck all to do with the great films that unfortunately inspired it.

[Gary Banks Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Gary Banks]

1-Frogs 6.5
2-Castle Of Blood 10
3-Beyond The Door 3

4-Planet of The Vampires 8-Bava outer space goodness on a budget. He did amazing things with the set on the price of a fast food lunch.

5-Daughters Of Darkness 10-This is a slow burner but I always find it worth the view. Everything is wonderfully shot and the vampire leads are fun to stare at.

6-Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things 8-Shot on the cheap, the clothes are hideous and some of the acting is over ripe. But this has great atmosphere, a scary soundtrack with noises that add to the tension (especially when the graveyard erupts) and some pretty good makeup for the ghouls. Hopefully the blu ray will look good so I can retire the dvd-r of my old VCI vhs!

[Alex K. Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Alex K.]

The Hive (2015): This is pretty good. It starts out in a Memento-ish way but the way it was handled was well done. This and Maggie are two of the standouts for the past few years.

[Newt Cox Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Newt Cox]

Blood Feast
Source-The Bloody Trilogy Blu Ray from Something Weird Video/Image Entertainment

It was the mid 80s when I first heard about Hershell Gordon Lewis's gore films. And almost 10 years later before I got the chance to see the first of his gore films. There was a drive in theater about 2 hours away from where I lived. One Saturday night they had a triple feature of Night of the Living Dead/The Undertaker and his Pals and Blood Feast. By the time Blood Feast had started everyone else in the car had fallen asleep. And I was fairly drunk and the next day could only remember a few scenes from the film.

It wasn't until after Turner Classic Movies started their great TCM Underground series that I got to see Blood Feast again. And I really enjoyed it. But for some reason I never bothered getting the well done DVD release.Then back in early August I got the Blu Ray release that had Blood Feast plus the next two films in HG Lewis's gore series.

The film is about an insane caterer. He worships an ancient Egyptian God. He gets hired out to provide the refreshments for a rich girl's birthday party. So he goes around town killing young women and cutting off various body parts. What I found funny is lots of these kills he does in daylight in heavy populated areas.

Now sure the gore FX look like crap now. The acting is worse than a 3rd grade play. But some how this film rises above those flaws. And as far as anyone knows this is the first gore film made in North America. And one of the first ones made in the world.

The Blu Ray is loaded with extras. You get the original trailer. Plus piles of outtakes,which sadly have no sound. But the best extra is a feature length commentary with David Friedman RIP,Hershell Gordon Lewis and Mike Varney RIP. Since getting this disc I have listened to that commentary 3 times. It is loaded with not only info on the film. But also lots of great stories from Friedman and Lewis.

Blood Feast gets a B-.