31 days of horror part 5: the Final Frontier.

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

TITLE-Dracula Dead and Loving It
SOURCE-DVD

As of this writing this is the last film directed by Mel Brooks. And sadly this film was a bomb and seems to be fairly hated.

Like how Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein was a homage and parody of the Universal Frankenstein films this film is a homage and parody of Universal's Dracula with Bela Lugosi.

Sure the film is a bit silly. But then it fits in perfectly with all the other screwball parodies of that era. Stuff like Hot Shots or the Naked Gun films. Speaking of Naked Gun,Dracula Dead and Loving It has Leslie Nelson as the lead. And the rest of the cast is a good mixture of known actors/actresses. People like Steven Webber,Amy Yasbeck and Harvey Korman.

What surprised me the first time I saw this movie was how bloody it is. Sure the blood letting is played for laughes. But wow the amount of blood in this film is a bit surprising.

I love how Mel Brooks was smart and targeted the over-rated Bram Stroker's Dracula film. I have never understood why Coppla's Dracula film is considered a good film. Honestly I rather watch Dracula Dead and Loving It than Bram Stroker's Dracula.

If you enjoyed movies like Airplane or Naked Gun and like horror movies this is a film that you gotta see. So far there is no Blu Ray release. But the DVD ,while out of print,isn't hard to find for cheap.

Dracula Dead and Loving It gets a B-.

Cody covered Birds II

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

I love how Mel Brooks was smart and targeted the over-rated Bram Stroker's Dracula film. I have never understood why Coppla's Dracula film is considered a good film. Honestly I rather watch Dracula Dead and Loving It than Bram Stroker's Dracula.

Is Bram Stokers Dracula generally rated as a good film?! I put it on every so often to enjoy Winnona and Keanu's "British" accents but I assumed everyone just enjoyed this for the stunning visuals and constant unintentional hilarity.

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

I think Winona's British accent is okay but I think it's regarded overall as a fascinating failure. Sandwiched between high camp and AAA Blockbuster prestige.

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

Back not long after it came out I knew piles of people that were huge fans of that Dracula film. I had found it to a be a nice looking mess since seeng it in a theater.

[Jason C Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Jason C]

Despite Winona and Keanu, I find Bram Stoker's Dracula to be wildly entertaining and a visual treat. I adore that film.

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

Thanatomorphose (2012). Allow me to plug my friend Anita's blog where she discusses this film: https://www.oddthingsconsidered.com/thanatomorphose/

An interesting meditation on body horror. At first you think it's going in the direction of Rabid but it takes a turn and ends up as more or less a study on dying alone and the horror of rot. Similar to that POS film I, Zombie from back in the day. I like it but it's very slow. Slow to a point where it felt like padding. A good 15-20 minutes could have been cut to get to the point but overall I recommend it especially to those that enjoy a meditative kind of horror film such as a Jean Rollin or Jorge Buttgereit picture.

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

Thanatomorphose (2012). Allow me to plug my friend Anita's blog where she discusses this film: https://www.oddthingsconsidered.com/thanatomorphose/

An interesting meditation on body horror. At first you think it's going in the direction of Rabid but it takes a turn and ends up as more or less a study on dying alone and the horror of rot. Similar to that POS film I, Zombie from back in the day. I like it but it's very slow. Slow to a point where it felt like padding. A good 15-20 minutes could have been cut to get to the point but overall I recommend it especially to those that enjoy a meditative kind of horror film such as a Jean Rollin or Jorge Buttgereit picture.

Bookmarked your friends blog. Always looking for blogs with reviews to read.

Between cleaning house and laundry got a film watched today. Would have rather watched it on the TV but I was rarely in one room for more than 15 minutes at a time most of the day. So the tablet had to do. Gotta Love Shudder.

TITLE-Amsterdamned
SOURCE-Shudder streaming service

I read about this film in Fangoria. It sounded pretty good so I hoped that it might play a theater near me. That didn't happen. A year later I see it is getting a VHS release. So went to the 8 video rental stores I had memberships at. None of them had it or could/would get it. Since 1990 have searched for it on cable...nope never caught it. Figured I just wouldn't see this film and kinda forgot about it.

Then earlier this year I got the Shudder streaming service. Was adding stuff to my list and started with the letter A. Saw they had Amsterdamned and was pretty happy. Added it to my list thinking I would watch it in a few days.

Well a few days became 5 months later. I needed something to watch today. Was going through my various lists on the streaming services I use. Saw Amsterdamned and started it up.

In the city of Amsterdam there is a serial killer on the loose. And he is wearing a full frogman suit and has a harpoon and a sharp as fuck knife to kill with. Using the canals to get around,this killer leads the lead detective on a wild chase.

This plays out like a mystery. With the audience and the detective trying to figure out who the killer is. Plus there is a beautiful woman that our lead ends up hooking up with. Yep this is pretty much a Dutch Giallo.

THe kills and their aftermaths are so well filmed and staged. With the very first one and it's aftermath being my favorite. The killer grabs a hooker on her way home from the brothel she works at. After killing her,she is hung from a bridge over one of the canals. Then the next morning as a boat,with a glass roof,full of tourists goes by the body slides down the glass roof leaving a bloody mess.

I looked and saw that Blue Underground has released a Blu Ray/DVD combo of the film. And I enjoy it enough I am going to buy it sometime soon.

Now like most giallos you have to deal with some things that might bother some viewers. Like bad dubbing. And there is some bad dubbing in this movie. Almost as bad as the little blonde boy in House by the Cementary. Thankfully the script is fairly coherent. And the FX work is really good.

Amsterdamned gets a B.

CodyLL continues Shlocktober with The Wes Craven misfire Vampire in Brooklyn

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

I would have liked Amsterdamned if it had some gore.

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

Last night I watched HAUNT, a fun, fairly tense and gory take on the "extreme haunted house" phenomenon. This is what THE HOUSES OCTOBER BUILT should have been. It takes a while to get going but once it does it's a blast. Absolutely nothing new here but it's executed with panache and obvious love for the slasher genre. As far as I can tell there's no BD available but Amazon shows a dvd in stock early next month (way to time this to catch the Halloween crowd...cough cough). I rented it on Amazon Prime.

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

Re-watxh if Cronenberg's Naked Lunch. Not really horror but weird enough.

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

TITLE-Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse
SOURCE-DVD

Saw the trailers for this when it was hitting theaters and thought "If there was still $3 matinees at the theater I would go see this." Then earlier this month got a good deal on some used dvds/blu rays and found a copy of Scouts Guide.

We get a fairly well done horror/comedy/Gore movie. 3 long time friends are in high school and in the scouts. A zombie outbreak causes wacky stuff to happen. And the three late teen scouts and a stripper team up to survive.

The four leads are pretty damn good. Never seen any of them in anything before this. Really don't think I have seen any of them in anything after this either.

Now the comedy is fairly rude stuff. So if that isn't your thing might want to avoid the film. I found a few of the parts really funny. With only a few of the jokes bombing.

It would be kinda neat to see a sequel to this film. The ending of this one leaves everything open for a sequel. But it has been a few years since this came out so if that was gonna happen it should have happened by now.

Anyways this is worth renting/streaming/buying for cheap. It isn't often we get a zombie horror/comedy film that works. And Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse works.

Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse gets a B+.

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

Got on Joe Bob;s Halloween Hootenanny.First film is Halloween.... Was hoping for Halloween 3. But this will do. Love Joe Bob's Jack-o-lantern jacket.

[Quot Bark! Go away Find all posts View Profile Close Quot]

Since these are kinda rare and not readily available on media, thought I'd post these Halloween delights. Enjoy!

The second Halloween Special aired only in the UK:

[Lorne Marshall Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Lorne Marshall]

TITLE-Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse
SOURCE-DVD

Saw the trailers for this when it was hitting theaters and thought "If there was still $3 matinees at the theater I would go see this." Then earlier this month got a good deal on some used dvds/blu rays and found a copy of Scouts Guide.

We get a fairly well done horror/comedy/Gore movie. 3 long time friends are in high school and in the scouts. A zombie outbreak causes wacky stuff to happen. And the three late teen scouts and a stripper team up to survive.

The four leads are pretty damn good. Never seen any of them in anything before this. Really don't think I have seen any of them in anything after this either.

Now the comedy is fairly rude stuff. So if that isn't your thing might want to avoid the film. I found a few of the parts really funny. With only a few of the jokes bombing.

It would be kinda neat to see a sequel to this film. The ending of this one leaves everything open for a sequel. But it has been a few years since this came out so if that was gonna happen it should have happened by now.

Anyways this is worth renting/streaming/buying for cheap. It isn't often we get a zombie horror/comedy film that works. And Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse works.

Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse gets a B+.

This is available on Tubi TV for free (with occasional ads, of course), if anyone is interested.

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

Day 23: GIALLO A VENEZIA - Fucking hell. This may not be a horror film exactly, but it's pretty fucking horrifying. Everything critics misguidedly accused Fulci's NEW YORK RIPPER of being. Seemingly endless softcore groping punctuated by some of the most repugnant violence I've ever seen in a giallo. One of those films that makes you feel a bit sorry for all the actors involved. My delight in this kind of trash has waned quite a bit over the years, but anyone who enjoys the extreme end of '70s exploitation will have a ball with this one.

Day 24: SHOCK WAVES - As far as nautical Nazi zombie films go this is certainly better made than ZOMBIE LAKE, though not nearly as entertaining.

Day 25: DON'T OPEN THE DOOR - The first half is a bit slow, with a somewhat am-dram quality to it, but Brownrigg can certainly ratchet up the tension when he wants to. There's a queasy, uncomfortable vibe throughout the entire third act, along with more confident and playful camerawork than DON'T LOOK IN THE BASEMENT. The big drawback is the script, which feels almost unfinished; the storyline that kicks the film off is almost forgotten by the climax, and the ending feels oddly truncated. There are some sloppy edits here and there, and I wouldn't be surprised to find out that the distributor tinkered with it before it was reissued under the DON'T OPEN THE DOOR title. Still creepy and effective though. I'm looking forward to whenever Stephen Thrower finishes the second volume of Nightmare USA so I can read his chapter on Brownrigg.