crumbsroom wrote:

I realized a couple of years ago what a big blind spot these things were for me, having mostly only seen the major ones. So I guess this October I'll rectify that as much as I can.
 

Oh, you're in for a fun time. It's such a treasure trove. Please share your thoughts about Robot Monster if/when possible.

I have seen Robot Monster before. I'm a fan.

I'm mainly just looking up movies that have monsters I remember from sci-fi books from my childhood. Not even worrying about the quality of the accompanying films.

Last edited by crumbsroom (10/08/2024 8:15 am)

Rock wrote:

Robot Monster is one of those classic “bad” movies that I think is genuinely interesting. Same with Manos.

Beast of Yucca Flats though… Yeesh.

I'm adding Manos to my watchlist. 
 

crumbsroom wrote:

....something died in me today.

Then we will help you bury it. Ain't that right, boys! You are a man, now, son. Just remember, Neosporin, plenty of ice, and maybe some Bob Ross reruns, just until you get your sea legs back. 
Incidentally, I remember that "tree monster" from It Came From Hollywood. It is better this way. It is better this way. Drive that dagger home with conviction, and let the quicksand perform its cleansing duty. 
Ahh, I remember when my turn came on that chopping block. After a childhood prohibited from seeing R–rated movies, anticipating the day I'd be old enough to see that monster on the cover of XTRO... 😭
There must be some fresh schlock suitable for drowning these sorrows. What's next on the marquee? 

The rare film that is both a moody, unsettled mystery made with a well-mannered, sober filmmaking style, and dopey, trash monster movie that is impossible to take seriously and corrupts all of the good faith the rest of the film may have garnered during its first half.

You know, perfection.


 

A cross-current with the 1974 thread, I see where the AV Club has put out their list of best horror films of 1974.

But since the AV Club is also feeble-spined, they don't actually rank the 15 films, instead listing them alphabetically, with the base assumtion that, obviously, Texas Chain Saw Massacre is clearly the best.  The list follows:

The Beast Must Die
Black Christmas
Blood For Dracula
The Cars That Ate Paris
Deranged
From Beyond the Grave
It's Alive
Lisa and the Devil
Madhouse
Messiah of Evil*
People Toys
Phantom of the Paradise
Phase IV
Sugar Hill
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre

(* Messiah of Evil is officially listed as "1973", which is why I did not mention it in my 1974 thread.  It did have a brief theatrical debut on Dec. 11, 1974 - in Paris Texas no less - but generally has a wild and varied release history.  To add to the confusion, the film was produced in 1971.)

All in all, it's not a bad, if preliminary, list, and certainly for most horror fans, these are bases which should be covered.  The only film here I haven't seen is People Toys, which, although it sounds kinda stupid, maybe I should take the opportunity to check it off.  Plus, apparently Tarantino likes it a lot, so whatever.

Quibbles:

I guess Young Frankenstein doesn't count?  Oh, I'm sorry, does anyone actually think that Phantom of the Paradise was scary in order to qualify?

Deathdream should replace Deranged.

Terminal Man is officially "sci-fi/horror", and is clearly better than a couple of these.

The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue and Frightmare are conspicuous omissions.

Sugar Hill is OK.  It's fine.  Doesn't need to be here.  Also the Amicus films, Beyond the Grave and Madhouse are pretty mid-grade.

There's nothing in the AVC intro that specifies that this list should be entirely English-language, but for some reason only the Italian Lisa and the Devil is included.  Some others worthy of inclusion are Perfume of the Lady in Black and Rollin's Les Demoniaques. (Not even getting into my faves like Ghost Galleon and Demon Witch Child.)
 

I might as well write-up some rewatches as well, especially for films that I don't believe I've spent much time writing about.




I don't know if this is the only film that features both of the frequently confused Bill Pullman and Bill Paxton or not, but it is the go-to answer to the question (a helpful hub for 7 degrees/Kevin Bacon games).  The fact of the actors' unlikely doppleganger adds some extra psychedelic whimsy to this film, which is an excellent low-budget thriller about a brain surgeon (Pullman) who may have figured out the key to unlocking the human subconscious, recruited by his corporate buddy (Paxton) to help retrive essential research information from the mind of a company scientist (Bud Cort) who has suffered a psychotic breakdown.  But soon, all hell breaks loose and Pullman begins to lose track of reality and dream, and suspects that the corporation has set him up in order to steal his surgical breakthrough.

This film has no formal relation to the Stuart Gordan's Lovecraft films, even though this film does name check the "Miskatonic Universty".  It makes a complimentary comparison, as Brain Dead sits very well alongside Gordan's similar low-budget but highly imaginative sci-fi/horror and should prove pleasing to those fans.  Pullman is goofily naive, and Paxton is unctuously ruthless.  And Bud Cort is just enjoying being a freak.  In other words, this is one of the very best cult classics of its era.

8.5/10
 

I thought People Toys was horribly dull.
Didn't help that I watched an absolutely horrendous transfer though.
 

Rampop II wrote:

Which movie was it where the alien invaders were invisible?

Ah. Invisible Invaders, of course. 1959. Also features a pre–NOTLD zombie apocalypse.
By the way, somebody uploaded a pristine print of The Horror of Party Beach to YouTube.
What an era. I can even finally see The Creeping Terror if I want. And even if I don't, just the knowledge that I can is supremely gratifying.

A couple of 1974 films to mark off my list.




There's nothing really novel about "evil children", even in 1974, a good decade after Village of the Damned.  Sure, they're underestimated by more mature fools.  The contrivances of the kids' schemes aren't particularly clever, and I'm sure some folks can cook up some sociological soph to show how the adults variously deserved their fates.  But, honestly, this is exploitation, not commentary.  Enjoy it for what it is, but what it isn't is very deep.  In fact, it's frequently very silly, and not necessarily intentionally.

6.5/10




There's probably some dipshit executive right now stuck in a chagrin over the neglected franchise potential of Freaks.  Out of all of the classic 1930s horror films, how come that particular film never earned any sequels or remakes?  This might come closest, in theory, as it does involve a circus troupe of biological oddities - dwarves, bearded-ladies, alligator women, a 'frogman', etc.  But the bulk of the plot surrounds mad scientist Donald Pleasence who is quite determined to create "a new race" of human/plant hybrids, and who uses the circus as both a place to discard his failed experiments (a venus-flytrap woman) and its deformed strongman as a procurer of healthy specimens.  This film feels like a throwback to the sci-fi horror of the '50s, even though it adds some of the expected nude accoutrements of the '70s.  All in all, it's pretty fun stuff, very silly as well in more pleasant ways.

7.5/10