@BrunoMattei is spot on with his suggestions, but just to piggyback on that, more recent examples are The Void, Annihilation, Sea Fever, The Endless, all of which have Lovecraftian overtones, or in the case of The Void it is much more direct.
@BrunoMattei is spot on with his suggestions, but just to piggyback on that, more recent examples are The Void, Annihilation, Sea Fever, The Endless, all of which have Lovecraftian overtones, or in the case of The Void it is much more direct.
The Void is okay. It's desperately trying to be a mashup of The Thing + The Beyond but it falls short. Still pretty good 7/10 movie IMHO. I didn't even realize Begos made an Xmas slasher and I really liked Bliss.
Much better than the movie that spawned it. Had a certain.... charm to it. Almost like the Disney version of a serial killer movie. The movie is a bit slow but once she starts killing it picks up the pace. The actress also gets to do a lot more than she did in X.
Horror Express (1972) 10/10
The cast and setting alone go a long way to giving this movie a perfect score.
Much better than the movie that spawned it. Had a certain.... charm to it. Almost like the Disney version of a serial killer movie. The movie is a bit slow but once she starts killing it picks up the pace. The actress also gets to do a lot more than she did in X.
Horror Express (1972) 10/10
The cast and setting alone go a long way to giving this movie a perfect score.
My full '31 horror movies in October' list thingy.
This was the first time I've ever finished it. Usually I burn out around 15 or so:
1. Tucker & Dale vs. Evil
Super fun(ny) splattery slapstick horror that parodies and plays with a lot of tropes (the main characters are two hicks just trying to enjoy their new summer home as a group of cliché teens think they're trying to murder them).
2. Wolf Creek 2
Pleasantly surprised by how good this was. I have a tendency to avoid horror sequels and this was another time I was wrong. If you're not locked-in by the opening scene, you're dead inside.
3. Uzumaki (Spiral)
In some ways it's more unhinged than the manga due to the bipolar tone. The way it jumps from zany to creepy made me feel like I had brain damage.
4. Spree
2015 independent low budget black & white psychological thriller about a 19 year old guy with issues, who goes on a crime spree. Surprisingly good stuff! Almost has a The Driller Killer vibe. Always a shame when films like this go unnoticed.
5. Big Legend
Kinda sucked, but had some promise. I appreciated that the director wanted to do full practical effects, and was inspired by Predator and Jaws, but the execution was just so bland and surprisingly conventional. It needed a good injection of Larry Fessenden or something.
6. Slaughterhouse
80's hixploitation slasher about a pig farmer's deranged murderous brother. Obviously big on the humour and inspired by Texas Chainsaw Massacre, but ultimately kinda just by-the-numbers with nothing to really help it stand out. Not even very memorable kills or cool gore effects. Bargain bin horror for people who have seen everything worth seeing already.
7. I Drink Your Blood
Enjoyable grindhouse hippie exploitation. Not much else to say.
8. Werewolf by Night
The new MCU Halloween special, about an hour long, black & white. Surprisingly awesome, felt very fresh compared to the typical recent MCU stuff.
9. 31
Pretty fuckin' entertaining but at times Rob Zombie filmed the action like he's having a seizure. Shaky cam is legit the most annoying technique used in movies in the last two decades or so.
10. Significant Other
A relationship dramedy masquerading as Invasion of the Body Snatchers masquerading as an allegory for mental health issues. Not bad, but not really for me I guess. Nails the atmosphere pretty well.
11. The Devil's Candy
Dark, atmospheric slow-burning psychological horror with a metalhead aesthetic. Would make a fantastic double feature with Bliss. Sean Byrne rules, one of the few original Aussie genre directors out there, hopefully he directs again soon. Also would've been perfect for the current Movie Club theme.
12. Outpost
Pretty bonkers concept! Insane cast too. I love these hidden war/action/horror gems when I find them. Vibe-wise it's like Deathwatch meets Dog Soldiers or something. Gritty, simplistic, violent, creepy, all the good stuff.
13. Feast
Hilarious splatter/gross-out/action/horror flick with a lot of fun, creative practical effects. Definitely a beer & popcorn horror.
14. Halloween Ends
There's an interesting film in here somewhere (the Christine influence is cool), but it's just so disappointing as a Halloween movie.
15. Idle Hands
Slacker horror stoner comedy classic. Like a lost Kevin Smith movie. Love it, lots of nostalgia for me. I watch it most Octobers.
16. Bodies Bodies Bodies
Absolutely loved it. Satire out the ass. Has the vibe of if Janicza Bravo and Sofia Coppola collaborated on a murder mystery horror/thriller. Fuck TikTok.
17. Hellblock 13
Total cheesefest Troma anthology movie, but I love it. Well, the first short movie kinda sucks, but the one about the white trash couple and the one about the drug trafficking occult bikers both rule.
18. Abominable
Some truly abysmal acting and dialogue, but the old school SFX feel like pure 1980's, making it pretty enjoyable. Needed more cool kills though, doesn't really get brutal until the woman having a shower gets folded in half and pulled through a small window. Matt McCoy is particularly crap in this lol.
19. Pearl
Yeah a nice little homage to Wizard of Oz, Mary Poppins etc mixed with deranged psychological horror. Mia Goth rules. Pretty keen to see what Ti West does with the third film, which will supposedly be set in 1985.
20. 28 Weeks Later
Last time I saw this was so long ago that it was before I knew who Jeremy Renner, Idris Alba and Imogen Poots were. Now it feels like a star-studded cast! Enjoyed it much more than I used to.
21. Ghosts of Mars
Fun cheesy action horror with a cool cast and gnarly antagonists. The movie that made John Carpenter ragequit Hollywood.
22. Terrifier
Kept seeing these movies around so I decided to finally check it out and it ruled. Loved the commitment to practical effects. Can't wait to watch the first movie and the recent sequel. Good shit, fuck CGI.
23. Wer
Had potential but eventually vanishes into cheap shitty CGI territory pretty hard.
24. Terrifier 2
Utterly unhinged sequel that mixes coming-of-age drama, ultra-splatter, sadistic horror, supernatural horror, and a fuckin' fantasy style hero's journey! Amazing soundtrack, a non-cringe strong female lead, the clown cafe scene definitely tested me but thankfully it was the only real weak moment. The way the film is structured reminded me of Scanners for some reason.
25. Barbarian
This was okay. Pretty creative, good cinematography and lighting. Way the fuck overhyped though. Richard Brake was underused.
26. Hellraiser (2022)
Generic soundtrack, shitty cast, poor sound mixing (loud af soundtrack, mumbled dialogue). I suppose the costume effects were cool though.
27. Charlie's Farm
Nathan Jones rules as Charlie (he's Rictus Erectus from Fury Road), the practical effects splatter is awesome, but everything else about this flick is quite bad. The soundtrack is especially awful at times. Most terrifying thing is that Charlie is humongous but moves fast as fuck. No lumbering Jason bullshit. He sprints at people like the fucking NFL.
28. The Lair
Neil Marshall's continued return to form. Some small crappy CGI moments aside, this was some pretty apeshit full on action splatter with practical effects monsters that tear people's faces off and limbs apart. Basically Dog Soldiers meets The Descent but set in an abandoned middle eastern ex-USSR bunker laboratory. Recommended for action horror fans.
29. Hiruko the Goblin
This was a rewatch, it had been ages. Didn't like it quite as much as I used to (sobering up has had an effect on how much I enjoy schlocky stuff and comedies unfortunately) but still a lot of fun, with some great visuals, awesome stop motion, and some gore. If I were to hazard a guess, Shinya Tsukamoto was very influenced by Evil Dead and Ghostbusters for this flick.
30. Planet Terror
Dumb fun. I'd forgotten how insanely over the top the splatter was, and how gross it all looks. Main thing that holds it back are all the shitty 70's grindhouse aesthetics slapped over the film. Stupid ass gimmick, fun movie.
31. Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich
Pretty unhinged and god damn entertaining. The story and acting was a bit shoddy but the VFX creativity and violence was amazing.
I can't help but feel like a better director would've done Zahler's script more justice.
Coincidentally I watched Slaughterhouse a couple days ago. I'm 60% sure I've seen it before. It's hard to be sure.
Every random slasher movie seems to be somebody's favorite. Usually there are at least one or two interesting bits no matter how cliched it is. I have to say the finale of Slaughterhouse is very nicely shot. There's also a really wince-inducing scene where a character suffers a minor cut. The joke there is that it's so much more uncomfortable to watch than all the graphic violence where people's heads blow up and stuff.
I own a physical copy of Slaughterhouse and I am going to watch all gazillion hours of special features.
Coincidentally I watched Slaughterhouse a couple days ago. I'm 60% sure I've seen it before. It's hard to be sure.
Every random slasher movie seems to be somebody's favorite. Usually there are at least one or two interesting bits no matter how cliched it is. I have to say the finale of Slaughterhouse is very nicely shot. There's also a really wince-inducing scene where a character suffers a minor cut. The joke there is that it's so much more uncomfortable to watch than all the graphic violence where people's heads blow up and stuff.
I own a physical copy of Slaughterhouse and I am going to watch all gazillion hours of special features.
All of these would get me to sneak downstairs and stay up late on a school night if they showed up in the cable guide; imo they’re all classics, but I didn’t know that at the time: My Bloody Valentine, Black Christmas, Curtains, (possibly my favorite of all for sheer weirdness factor, John Vernon, and being a big fat fucking mess) Sleepaway Camp, and Pieces, unless you count Pieces as a giallo. If so, then sub in Maniac. Or The Funhouse. Or Don’t Go in the House. Terror Train is also kind of fun for being a complete and total ripoff of every single idea that came before it, and I have a soft spot for all of them and a hard time critiquing any slasher, they’re the movies I loved as a kid.
As for the big two, I prefer F13 to Halloween movies and if you give me a choice I’ll watch Jason every time. I have a definite time period in mind when I think slasher, basically starting in the early seventies, and ending some time in the mid- to late-eighties, it strikes me that this list might look fucking autistic because of this arbitrary line in the sand.
Some were more boring than others, like, say, Humongous, but I’ll happily watch them all. Leafs know how to make a slasher, I’ll give them that.
I saw people mentioning Last House on Dead End Street and agree that it’s a great movie. The director, Roger Watkins, was an interesting dude who shot it at SUNY Binghamton while he did speed with Nicholas Ray who was teaching there at the time. Sadly (or not, I don’t know how he felt about it) he ended up in the porn business under the name Richard Mahler—he did a film called Midnight Heat with Jamie Gillis that‘s strangely depressing and great, as is another XXX he made—Her Name Was Lisa. If you took out all of the sex scenes, both of them are horror films at heart.
Barbarian would have worked better as a Tales from the Crypt episode imo, once the monster/twist is revealed it can just end. Like when it's revealed that the Hamlet play Jon Lovitz is auditioning for is in a mental asylum and then he gets killed (if anyone remembers that episode).
A couple thoughts; first, do they ever explain who was listing the house on airbnb? The number they tried to call?
Secondly, I don't think inbreeding can explain why the creature lady would be 9-feet tall and nearly indestructable, where did that genetic material come from? At least with things like Wrong Turn you can assume the weird inbreeding has been going on for a few hundred years. The flashback we see in Barbarian was in the 80s right? So in just a few decades that guy created a superhuman monster? Even with all the inbreeding in Pakistan it's never made a superhuman from what I've read, just a lot of birth defects. For the British Royal Family all it seemed to cause was severe male-pattern baldness.
Overall I did like it, I just liked the setup a lot more than everything from Justin Long being introduced onward.
Smile was pretty fantastic, I thought it was going to be shit, think I was confusing it with another movie about some kind of smile demon that came out a few years ago so I went in with very low expecations and really liked it.
This has been a great year for creative and well-made horror films.
I have a definite time period in mind when I think slasher, basically starting in the early seventies, and ending some time in the mid- to late-eighties, it strikes me that this list might look fucking autistic because of this arbitrary line in the sand.
I feel the same way. To me it even feels a little weird to count Texas Chainsaw Massacre as a slasher. It's like calling King Kong a kaiju movie and throwing it in with the likes of Godzilla vs Megalon. People say Terminator is really a slasher, Psycho is really a slasher, etc... there are enough cheesy flicks built straight off the Halloween/Friday the 13th formula with zero deviation to make up their own genre.
Past the big names it's hard to pick favorites. It's like picking a favorite episode of Scooby-Doo: sure they're all entertaining if you're 13 or drunk or both, but which ones stand out? Usually I'm doing good to remember one distinctive thing and associate it with a title. Initiation is "the one with Princess Vespa". Demon is "the one where the final girl is topless the whole finale". Final Exam is "the one where frat boys fake a mass shooting as a prank". Possession: Until Death Do You Part is "the one with the male strippers".
(I think Possession is still VHS-only and virtually forgotten. It doesn't even have a note on the wikipedia "Possession" disambiguation page, let alone an article. How do you make a slasher that nobody will want to watch despite having lots boobs and blood? Just add a nice, long, LONG scene at a male strip club, with gratuitous footage of muscley dudes dancing in their jock straps. AWKWARD.)
Slaughter High is the one with: the cool jester mask, the creepy abandoned school, the goofy twist ending, and the actor who killed himself irl shortly after making it. It's one of my favorite C-tier 80s movies but I can't really give it an unqualified recommendation to anybody with actual standards. I guess you had to be there.
Smile was pretty fantastic, I thought it was going to be shit, think I was confusing it with another movie about some kind of smile demon that came out a few years ago so I went in with very low expecations and really liked it.
I used to like Adam a lot, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't have fond memories of watching his 13 Reasons Why and Oscar videos, but it's true that while he's very technically knowledgeable of film his skills regarding history, story, etc. are very lacking. He almost comes off like an alien trying to fit in and engage with a human artform.
he deliberately doesn't watch older shit because he thinks there's no need to since most films post 1970 are technically superior and old films don't have much value except for their historical significance.
Which is the biggest load of shit I've ever heard in my life. I watch something like Passion of Joan of Arc because of Maria Falconetti's fantastic performance, a performance I have never seen topped ever and I don't think will ever be topped, and that film is nearly 100 years old.
I watch German Expressionist films from the 1920s because they have such a unique set design and way of acting that very few films after that movement have ever utilized.
he deliberately doesn't watch older shit because he thinks there's no need to since most films post 1970 are technically superior and old films don't have much value except for their historical significance.
Which is the biggest load of shit I've ever heard in my life. I watch something like Passion of Joan of Arc because of Maria Falconetti's fantastic performance, a performance I have never seen topped ever and I don't think will ever be topped, and that film is nearly 100 years old.
I watch German Expressionist films from the 1920s because they have such a unique set design and way of acting that very few films after that movement have ever utilized.
Just more evidence you can't take this man seriously. He never should be referred to as a "critic." He's about as legitimate a movie critic as MovieBob but with more degeneracy and less diabetes.
