31 days of Horror part 4: Citizens on Patrol

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

I never felt the run time and I didn't feel like it needed to be explained. Some things are better without an explanation.

Why did Michael Myers kill? I dunno? He's evil?

What lead to Frank Booth being a drug addict and small time crime figure? I dunno? He's fucked up.

Where did Sardu find Ralphus in Blood Sucking Freaks? I dunno? Circus?

[Matt H. Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Matt H.]

Some things are better without an explanation.

True. Not in this case, though.

[Matt H. Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Matt H.]

Where did Sardu find Ralphus in Blood Sucking Freaks? I dunno? Circus?

Gay bar.

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

Gay bar.

Trick question! Sardu mentions how Ralphus is a member of the William Morris Agency, meaning that Sardu went through Ralphus' agent. You just lost your membership to the Blood Sucking Freaks fan club. SMDH.

[agent999 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close agent999]

Day 19: Halloween II TV Cut

Would have been better as a collection of deleted/alternative scenes as the censorship, overdubbing and panning/scanning renders it useless as a film presentation. If this is anything like tye original cut was, then Carpenter was right to change it. A reminder of just how grim it was watching scope films on tv not so long ago.

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

Day 20: The Witchmaker

I wasn't in the right mood for this one, so I found it fairly forgettable. But it has some interesting bizarre touches and fans of slow paced regional horror oddities will probably get a kick out of it.

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

Took me a while to get into the Halliween spirit but I'm tearing through the horror movies now.

The House On Haunted Hill. I started watching this and got a bit of a shock when I realized I've never seen this film before. Seems an odd omission for me.

Anyway it's a good bit of fun. Disappointed there were no ghosts and the murder plot is the single most unlikely murder plot in the history of cinema. Lot of moving parts for that to come off... seems far fetched. Still it's well carried, ultimately, by Prices' amazing voice.

Idle Hands. I maintain this is underrated. A decidedly minor horror comedy, sure, but a good bit of fun. Realised, sadly, last night that I've hit the age where it's a bit creepy to ogle Jessica Alba in this. Which is a damned shame...

Dark Age. I thought this was an incredibly dodgy, super low budget Aussie horror. Surprised to watch it and see someone was making an effort to do a decent Jaws tipoff set in the NT with a big croc standing in for the shark. Only let down by the leading man. Dreyfus he is not. If they had got someone along the lines of a David Wenham in the role I reckon they would have had something.

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

01. The Night Stalker (1972)
02. The Devil's Wedding Night (1973)
03. Zombie (1979)
04. The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958)
05. Scream and Scream Again (1970)
06. The Black Sleep (1956)
07. Nightmare City (1980)
08. Animal (2014)
09. The Incubus (1982)
10. The Incredible 2-Headed Transplant (1971)
11. Twins of Evil (1971)
12. Night of the Demons (1988)

[agent999 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close agent999]

Day 20: Return of the Living Dead 3

Melinda Clarke in her full zombie make up looks like Gene Simmons with boobies.

[agent999 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close agent999]

Day 20.5 Casting the Runes (1979)

Fair TV adaption with a highly amusing attitude to collateral damage. Could've done without the annoying music and flying head effect.

[Matt H. Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Matt H.]

CARNIVAL OF SOULS - Hadn't watched this in over 20 years. It's still a spooky little flick. The organ music really helps make it atmospheric. My favourite aspect of this latest viewing was all of the stuff concerning the creepy neighbour; when Mary finally goes on a date with him, his wild mood swings and rape-y vibe makes the sequence effectively unnerving.

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

Hereditary (2018)

Good but way, way, way too overlong. A good 20-30 minutes could have been cut out.

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

01. The Night Stalker (1972)
02. The Devil's Wedding Night (1973)
03. Zombie (1979)
04. The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958)
05. Scream and Scream Again (1970)
06. The Black Sleep (1956)
07. Nightmare City (1980)
08. Animal (2014)
09. The Incubus (1982)
10. The Incredible 2-Headed Transplant (1971)
11. Twins of Evil (1971)
12. Night of the Demons (1988)
13. Count Dracula's Great Love (1973)
14. Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972)

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

Day 21: Grim Prairie Tales

One of those titles I always saw on the VHS shelves at the rental store back in the day but never got around to renting. For some reason the Aus/NZ release was titled Hellbent, and if it wasn't for the presence of James Earl Jones and Brad Dourif I might have had a hard time tracking it down. It's a fairly standard anthology film, though the individual segments are so short that none of them have time to build to anything interesting. The wrap-around bits with Jones and Dourif are embarrassingly theatrical in the way they're written, and neither actor seems interested in making them work.

Sadly the laserdisc rip I watched appears to be the best version available and all the dark shots are mushy as hell. Which is an issue, as that's 60% of the film. Interestingly enough, this was one of Janusz Kaminski's first credits as a cinematographer - three years later he would be shooting Schindler's List. I spotted Wally Pfister credited as a grip as well, though that doesn't pop up on IMDb. Even though it's not a very good film I'd totally watch a nice Blu-Ray release to see the photography in its full glory. But according to the director there are rights issues and there's no chance it'll ever get a proper release.

Hereditary (2018)

Good but way, way, way too overlong. A good 20-30 minutes could have been cut out.

I saw it in the theatre a few months ago and the first half was the most tense, upsetting viewing experience I've had in a long time. Felt like I was going to have to rush outside to catch my breath the moment it was over. As soon as the film started explaining what was happening it lost all its power. By the end I was rolling my eyes.

[agent999 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close agent999]

Day 21: The Marsupials: Howling III

i wanted to see for myself how bad it was. I would sooner drink a gallon of pus than watch this again.