The Horror Film Watch

[The_Warrior]

The Hills have Eyes Remake


ick

 

[Addy]

Dawn of the dead

Not the original, the remake...
Great film this, with FAST zombies as opposed to the old slow motion lot.
Can't really be compared to Romero's classic but is certainly worth watching...

Land of the dead

Romero's latest (and worst) effort.
A complete waste of time, money and effort. Don't bother...

I actually liked Land of the Dead. Better than any recent remakes, in my view.

I suggest you guys also watch Shawn of the Dead. A hilarious zombie movie spoof.

 

[Sabina]

This is juxtaposed with the authorities’ clampdown on disbursing information, skillfully depicting Kolchak’s frustration at not being allowed to break out his big story.

 

[aquamarine]

Horrorible,Horrorible..........T_T

 

[Who's Wee Dug]

Just watched 30 Days of Night a very atmospheric and forboding dark,dark film.

 

[Lemmy]

It's been a while since this thread was updated, so allow me to continue where it left off with a few reviews. Some good, some bad, some old, some new. We'll have something for everyone over here.

Let's start with a little movie called [rec]. It's a spanish movie with a rather simple premise. A reporter for a spanish tv-channel visits a firestation at night to make a report on their lives and work. Naturally she brings her cameraman with her, and we see the entire movie through his camera. Very much like in movies like Blair Witch Project and Cloverfield. It's an effective way to get right down there with them, so you won't feel as distant from the action as you usually do in other movies.

The reporter and her cameraman visits the firestation, as I said, and as it's night, not much is going on. But then all of a sudden an alarm goes off, and they think it's a great chance to get some action. They go with the firemen to an apartment building where someone have heard strange noises coming from the room above. It's occupied by an old woman, and they fear she might have had an accident or something and that her life might be in danger. Only it turns out they were part right. Lives are in danger, alright. Everyone's lives...

When I first saw [rec], I wasn't sure waht to expect. I don't usually watch spanish movies as I hate to read subtitles, but [rec] is really well done and made me forget everything outside the screen. In fact, after fifteen minutes, I had forgotten they were speaking spanish. When the horror part kicks in, it's relentless and brutal, and far better than anything Hollywood has come up with the last decade. Some of the special effects are bad, but not so much it matters. But there are so many other, small things going on that you get sucked into the story right away, and it keeps you there until the end credits roll. I have seen a lot of horror movies the last twenty five years, but [rec] is by far one of the best ones.
Verdict: 9/10


Lost Boys
Oldie, but goodie. If you haven't seen this one yet, do yourself a favor and see it. Yes it's vampires, but the scary kind. Forget Twilight, these are the real vampires. Or as real as they get. Twilight was a mess with sparkling vampires, Anne Rice created realistic, yet boring vampires, and Hollywood has misunderstood the whole concept. But Lost Boys is something in between. These vampires are realistic and acts like vampires should, yet they are pretty darn scary at times. A true masterpiece.
Verdict: 9.5/10

Lost Boys 2: The Tribe
Many people don't even know this one exist, and trust me, that's for the better. If Lost Boys 1 is a classic in a good way, this one is a classic in the worst way possible. It's horrible. The vampires are boring and stupid. The main character are one of the most unlikeable characters I've ever seen. The story doesn't make sense. In fact, I dare say the name is a disgrace. Avoid at all cost.
Verdict: (I couldn't even finish watching this abomination)

Lost Boys 3: The Thirst
That's right, folks. They made a third one. The second was horrible beyond human understanding, so naturally the third one is... um... actually it's pretty good? Don't get me wrong, it's nowhere near the first one. But still, it's miles ahead of the second. The second movie was mostly about new characters fighting new vampires in a new location, but Lost Boys 3 are in many ways centered around Edgar Frog (Corey Feldman) and focuses on his retirement as a vampire hunter. But naturally there are more vampire sightings, so what to do? Bring in the expert and let the mayhem kick off.

It's not a great movie by any means, and it's no surprise it (like the second) was released direclty to DVD. But still, it's an entertaining movie with a lot of gret moments, funny one-liners and lots of action. I really enjoyed it, and I know many of you will to. Just don't expect anything near the quality of Lost Boys 1.

As a micro spoiler, I'm very tempted to add a bonus point for the brilliant ending. It not only opens up for a Lost Boys 4, but it changes a few things as well and makes the potential for the next one very interesting. 'nough said.
Verdict: 7/10

As a bonus trivia, Corey Feldman has not only confirmed Lost Boys 4 recently, but he also confirmed a tv-series focusing on the Frog Brothers. Yay or nay? Hell, yeah!

 

[Caledfwlch]

It's been a while since this thread was updated, so allow me to continue where it left off with a few reviews. Some good, some bad, some old, some new. We'll have something for everyone over here.

Let's start with a little movie called [rec]. It's a spanish movie with a rather simple premise. A reporter for a spanish tv-channel visits a firestation at night to make a report on their lives and work. Naturally she brings her cameraman with her, and we see the entire movie through his camera. Very much like in movies like Blair Witch Project and Cloverfield. It's an effective way to get right down there with them, so you won't feel as distant from the action as you usually do in other movies.

Much love for Rec here, a brilliant and fairly original new take on the Zombie movie, with its combined Supernatural/Science take on the Deadheads.

I love the idea of demonic posession being passed via a rabies type virus.

Rec 2 is equally awesome, and 3 and 4 have been greenlit by the spanish studio. I suspect 3 or 4 is going to be "dawn of the dead in Barcelona" with the action moving out into the streets.

 

[Lemmy]

And thanks for ruining my clever spoilers. Nah, just kidding. I haven't seen [rec 2] yet, but I certainly will. Not so sure about nr 3 and 4, though. The first one is brilliant because it had a great story to tell, and I'm confident they can drag it out in a sequel. But two sequels after that? How much more than they possibly do with the story?

 

[Lemmy]

More movies:

The Wolf Man (1941)
This is a pretty old movie by now, but trust me, it's still awesome. I'm not so sure I would call it a horror, but more a tragedy with horror elements. It's a tragic story about a man who returns home after several years, only to be attacked by a werewolf. He manages to kill it, but only after the wolf bites him and gives him a curse. From now on, he will turn into a werewolf every full moon and go on a killing spree, and he can't do anything to stop it.

It's an old movie in black and white, and the special effects are pretty dull by modern standards. But the acting is superb, and the story very well written. I have a hard time finding any flaws with this movie at all.
Verdict: 9/10

The Wolf Man (2010)
Del Toro's take on the story about the Wolf Man isn't bad, but it's a completely different movie. Right from the start it's clear it aims to be scary, and in some ways it succeeds. The special effects are pretty good, the acting decent, and at times it's a very entertaining movie with a rather predictable story. There is a few twists here and there, but nothing you didn't see coming from miles away. While the guy in the first movie was cursed with lycantrophy, this movie seems to be cursed by modern age. People want blood and gore, and that's what they get.

The problem is it wants to be a remake of the first original movie, yet it casually adds a twist to the story that ruins the whole point. It's hard to care about the characters, and the twist doesn't make sense. In the end I just didn't care much about it and was glad it was over. And how come modern movies have to be so damn long? The first one is just over an hour, but that's more than enough. This one is well over two hours, and I felt the last thirty minutes was a pain to sit through. Not because it was bad, by all means, but mostly because enough was enough. If it had been thirty minutes to an hour shorter, I would give it two points more.
Verdict: 6/10

Nightmare on Elm Street (2010)
Another remake, another failure. To get it out of the way: Freddy Krueger was scary in the first few movies, but he turned more and more into an 'audience hero'. He was always the badguy in the movie, but he was the reason people kept watching that crap no matter how horrible the sequels got. New Nightmare was great, but Elm Street 4, 5 and 6 was junk. The remake goes back to the roots and tries to make Freddy scary again, and in some scenes it sort of works. Sort of.

I know a lot of people hate the new Freddy, but I'm ok with him. I don't like him much, and he certainly won't be remembered the way Robert Englund is. But still, Jackie Earle Haley wasn't a bad choice either. He was pretty darn good as Rorshack in Watchmen (the only movie I've seen him in), and he's not a bad Freddy. The makeup they used on Freddy this time looks ridiculous compared to the old one, but they wanted to make him look more realistic as a burn victim. He looks very different than the original, but he was supposed to look different. If that was a bad choice is up to anyone to decide.

Anyway, the story is so and so. The 'Freddy's background' part is pretty cool, and there are some interesting bits with Freddy killing people. The problem is there are too many bits without Freddy at all, which would be fine if the characters were interesting. But they are not. The main heroine is one of the most boring people in movie history, and the others are not much better. In a way I don't blame Freddy for killing them. If they had tried to put me in a movie like that against my will, I would probablybe pretty angry too.

That said, if they were to make a sequel with a better Freddy-makeup, a better story and better actors, I'm all for it.
Verdict: 5/10

 

[Starbeast]

KOLCHAK – THE NIGHT STALKER (John Moxey)

A modern-day re-telling of the vampire legend, Night Stalker was adapted for American television (ABC-TV) in ’71 by Richard Matheson from a novel by Jeff Rice.The acting is quite serviceable, with special mentions to Darren McGavin for Kolchak and Barry Atwater for Skorzeny. Skorzeny is splendidly depicted as a formidable loathsome beast.

Night Of The Living Dead,
Dawn Of The Dead
& Day Of The Dead - George Romero

CREEPSHOW - George Romero

Creepshow arose from a collaboration between Romero and Stephen King, based on their mutual love for horror comics under the E.C. label.
The movie consists of 5 main episodes.

1. 'Father's day'
2. 'Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill'
3.'Something to Tide You Over'
4. 'The Crate'
5.'They're Creeping Up On You'

These are some of my favorite horror films of all time!

 

[Lemmy]

So why not review Creepshow 2 and 3? I haven't seen the third one (and from what I've heard that's just as well), but the second is pretty good.

 

[Caledfwlch]

Has anyone on here ever read the original script for Day of the Dead?

It is brilliant. The film we did get, brilliant as it also is, was only a little part of Sir George of Romero's vision, I believe it was budget issues, because it required a far larger cast, etc tha meant it was stripped of a lot.

There are a lot of rumours that the guys who remade Dawn, want to do a sequel, but "not Day" but I think they should have a read of the original script, because frankly, how the Dawn remake ends, those last camcorder shots on some island is how the original Day began

 

[Kiercoria99]

One of the actors in Creepshow 2, Dan Beer, went to my little bitty high school in upstate NY. I think he was in The Raft story.

 

[zray13fu]

Thank you

 

[zray13fu]

This is very useful

 

[zray13fu]

Which highschool

 

[Starbeast]

Zombie 2 (1979)

Lucio Fulci's unauthorized sequel to Romeros's Dawn of the Dead. In this zombie cult film, actors Tisa Farrow & Ian McCulloch battle against the rising dead which were resurrected by voodoo. The movie has some very shocking and disturbing zombie violence which may put you off your popcorn, that combined with an effective haunting soundtrack and continuous ritual drums gives this island horror movie a chilling atmosphere.

a.k.a. - Zombie

 

[j d worthington]

Question: Which version of this did you see? The original American theatrical release, or the restored version? There is a surprising amount of difference, including the fact that the damned film actually makes some sense in the latter version... and manages to be a genuinely eerie (as well as unsettling) experience a fair amount of the time.... (I still think his The Beyond and House of Clocks are better films, though....)

 

[dask]

I like Fulci but Zombie 2 was so bad I never finished it. The guy who could do so much with so little tripped on his shoe string this time.

 

[j d worthington]

Again, I have to ask: which version did you see? From the title, most likely the original (American) theatrical release, which is (in my view) simply bad. (Though there were about four or five films in that series, including a couple which used tiny bits of footage from Fulci and were completed by others.)