Well, you had things like Threads a few years prior.  And just the whole War of the Worlds vibe of it.

edit: Not Threads but something called Special Bulletin.  I'm not sure if it played in Britain but was notorious in the States.

Last edited by Jinnistan (11/01/2023 3:11 pm)

Still on the blue-plate special for remakes....




This shit.  It's clear early on that this film has exactly zero to do with the classic 1974 original film, outside of involving a sorority around the Christmas season, so, I'm a nice guy, I figure there's a couple of dozen sorority-set horror films, why judge this one based on the impossible standards of its seminal source?  Just judge it like any other sorority horror film that didn't have the benefit of a celebrated IP to bank it.

Like I pointed out, the film has absolutely nothing in common with the original's story, characters or the nature of the killer in question.  It doesn't even take place in one night, negating one of the more effective framings of the original film.  Writer/director Sophia Takal is among the promising crop of independent filmmakers as the Amy Seimetz/Lawrence Michael Levine crowd, and I gave her earlier Always Shine a fairly positive review (with, telling, some criticism over the writing).  So I was willing to take this version on good faith even despite its clear deviations from the source material.

What's inescapable and inexcusable is the deep silliness of the results.  The ludicrous pseudo-Scream/Eyes Wide Shut regalia, the completely unwelcome supernatural element, the very basic LCD SJW manipulations.  It isn't even the material as much as the strained, derivative delivery.  At some point near the completely fatuous third act, you have to stop any pretense of defending the film on its own terms and be reminded that, yes, it's simply a cynical perversion of an infinitely superior film presented for an audience that is pre-emptively assumed not to know any better, and that, oh right!, fuck this piece of shit and everyone associated with it.

4/10
 

And Mary Elizabeth Winstead.

But, speaking of awful remakes, she let me down with that Thing.

(I know, technically a prequel, who cares, shattup.)
 

YES!!!

NOW it's time to pull out the Halloween stuff. Not four WEEKS ago like the retailers did. I was in a Goodwill in early September and got really weirded out when I heard the opening theme from The Shining playing in there! I didn't make the connection right away because it was still fucking summer. "Why the hell am I hearing the extremely creepy opening theme from The Shining in a Goodwill store???" It wasn't until I got close to the checkout counter that I saw all the Halloween merch and made the connection. It doesn't work! Well maybe it works for the retailers' bottom line, I don't know, but it's just fucking wrong. It doesn't make any fucking sense. A friend of mine said his neighbor already had jack-o'-lanterns out at the beginning of September, real jack-o'-lanterns! Just WTF??? I mean, I love Halloween, it's my favorite holiday, and I love it enough to want it done properly.
I am also thinking this year's Halloween season will be characterized by revisiting classics. Not much new cinematic fare to speak of, afaik.

Last edited by Rampop II (10/03/2024 8:00 pm)

Some more late-era Hammer....




Tale of a young wallflower who isn't capable of recognizing the sociopathic red flags in the attractive man who takes her in.  The man in question, Shane Briant, tends to come off as a low-rent Malcom McDowell, but the film overall is elevated by the performance of Rita Tushingham as the naive and insecure young woman and an interesting editing scheme from director Peter Collinson.  Unfortunately the entire film feels quite dated for 1974, feeling very much stuck in the swinging '60s fashion.

7.5/10




An example of the influence of giallos on Hammer, another Hitchcockian scheme with pseudo-supernatural overtones, the real key to this film lies in Judy Geeson as the gaslit heroine who earns the audience investment.

7/10




Mostly silly gothic piece about murder and incest.  The real draw is in watching such uber-thespian assassins like Patrick Magee and Michael Hordern ham it up like Christmas dinner in a homeless shelter.

6/10
 

Rampop II wrote:

really imagine it: you're in a brightly–lit Goodwill store in summer, testing used chairs...

Ok...

Rampop II wrote:

How does that yogurt look now?

You mean that delicious Goodwill yogurt?  Mm.

Rampop II wrote:

I'm kicking around the idea of having some kind of screening at the clubhouse in my apartment community. They have a huge flatscreen in there. I'd probably have to forgo anything too extreme if I'm opening it to the community. Or maybe start with "family–friendly" earlier in the day and progress upwards in age–appropriateness over the course of the evening. I know Spider Baby would have to figure in there somewhere.

I think some good B&W stuff, Universal classics. Val Lewton stuff.  Check out the earlier talk about pre-code horror.

Rampop II wrote:

I feel like the Twilight Zone vibe doesn't quite fit the Halloween aesthetic

Nonsense.  "Nightmare at 30000 Feet" is a great example. 

Rampop II wrote:

I've never seen Peter Cushing's Dracula....Kinski's Nosferatu...

Bullshit.  We watched both of these together.  I remember cause they were from my own videocassettes.  And Cushing was van Helsing; Christopher Lee was Dracula.  I don't think Peter Cushing was ever Dracula.

Rampop II wrote:

everybody come on and list their favorite Dracula flicks.

There's the Spanish version, shot simultaneously and using the same sets as Browning's 1931 original.  And Blood For Dracula, which we also watched together (remember May gifted me a VHS copy for my birthday, but it was called Andy Warhol's Dracula at the time.)  On second thought, that may not be the best selection for a general audience.
 

Jinnistan wrote:

You mean that delicious Goodwill yogurt?  Mm.

Haha yeah I noticed that incongruency but decided to let it stand.

Jinnistan wrote:

Nonsense.  "Nightmare at 30000 Feet" is a great example. 

There's a case to be made, no doubt. "The Dummy," "It's a Wonderful Life," "Long–Distance Caller"... I'd call Twilight Zone something like Halloween–adjacent, but still a degree of separation further out from the classic Halloween aesthetic so dominated by folklore, monsters and the occult, though slashers have found their way into canon (which of course begs some kind of question or another). Even the gremlin from "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet," a monster indeed, based on pilots' tales from WWII, feels one step removed from legends of werewolves and vampires, even if we group the gremlins of WWII with the various kobolds of old in order to complete the connection. But Twilight Zone rarely touched on the occult, preferring those hues of 1960s surrealism, scifi, and almost obligatory paradigm–shattering plot–twists. Again it depends on how rigid one wants to be. Frankenstein is technically scifi, and I would never kick a Twilight Zone marathon out of bed. Twilight Zone's surrealistic iconoclasm just feels like a separate world from the one characterized by scarecrows Jack-o-lanterns and cobweb–draped Victorian–style houses.

Jinnistan wrote:

Rampop II wrote:

I've never seen Peter Cushing's Dracula....Kinski's Nosferatu...

Bullshit.  We watched both of these together.  I remember cause they were from my own videocassettes.

Well I guess they didn't leave an impression.

 

Jinnistan wrote:

And Cushing was van Helsing; Christopher Lee was Dracula.  I don't think Peter Cushing was ever Dracula.

NINETEEN–WHAT??????

Jinnistan wrote:

Rampop II wrote:

everybody come on and list their favorite Dracula flicks.

There's the Spanish version, shot simultaneously and using the same sets as Browning's 1931 original.  And Blood For Dracula, which we also watched together (remember May gifted me a VHS copy for my birthday, but it was called Andy Warhol's Dracula at the time.)  On second thought, that may not be the best selection for a general audience.
 

Ahhh! Now we're getting some bloood on the table!

Jinnistan wrote:

On second thought, that may not be the best selection for a general audience.
 

Yes, let's consider the "name your favorite Draculas" question as separate from the brainstorm for a general–audience Halloween marathon. Then we can take the reins off the Dracula list. I wouldn't want to miss out on any good porno–Dracula if it's out there.

Rampop II wrote:

crumbsroom wrote:

Oh fuck, should I be watching horror movies to contribute or something?

What are movies?
 

LOL well you finished the novel, I'd call that grounds for exemption if you'd prefer.

Plus contributing regularly to the ever–growing treasure–trove of tales over at love, crumbsroom.  I have it on good authority there's something undead going on in there. ;)

crumbsroom wrote:

Oh fuck, should I be watching horror movies to contribute or something?

What are movies?
 

What?  Are you binging shows instead now?