5th Annual N&G 31 Days* of Halloween (2023)
- Thread starter LeeVing
- Start date
EvanBenner
Well-Known Member
Finally back at it after a busy weekend at Riot Fest. Kicked my HoopTober challenge off with a recent Takashi Shimizu (Ju-on/The Grudge) offering—the third in his village-themed folk horror movies.
I was not a fan of Howling Village which was far too shallow and convoluted, but Ox-head Village is a marked improvement, showing Shimizu's still got what it takes to create an engaging horror flick. It may not be downright scary, but I dug it, which is a nice feeling after many disappointments within his works post-Marebito.
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I was not a fan of Howling Village which was far too shallow and convoluted, but Ox-head Village is a marked improvement, showing Shimizu's still got what it takes to create an engaging horror flick. It may not be downright scary, but I dug it, which is a nice feeling after many disappointments within his works post-Marebito.
A ★★★½ review of Ox-Head Village (2022)
Kicking off HoopTober X with one of my two x-factor titles. Movie CW: Suicide. I have to admit, the idea of jumping back into Takashi Shimizu's "village" movies wasn't the most exciting of prospects after grappling with the squandered potential of Howling Village. (The nearly 2-hour runtime...
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zomgbear
Well-Known Member
5. Psycho II
Super decent! I feel like I've seen this before but just completely forgot. It kinda has this 80's home movies vibe to it but I have to say I like the dimension they add to Norman Bates and the continued backstory they had here. Pretty cool they got Vera Miles & Anthony Perkins to reprise their characters. Lots of scenes & camera shots are homages to the original. Story keeps you guessing until the end. I recommend it!
EvanBenner
Well-Known Member
I second your recommendation! It's a surprisingly good continuation written by Tom Holland (Childs Play, Fright Night). I have it on my list to see how the third installment with Perkins himself at the director's helm lands.
5. Psycho II
Super decent! I feel like I've seen this before but just completely forgot. It kinda has this 80's home movies vibe to it but I have to say I like the dimension they add to Norman Bates and the continued backstory they had here. Pretty cool they got Vera Miles & Anthony Perkins to reprise their characters. Lots of scenes & camera shots are homages to the original. Story keeps you guessing until the end. I recommend it!
Ghost
Original Resident Ghost
My neighbor/friend, Casimere, is in this movie! She plays “Aviva”. Excited to support and give it a watch next month!
LeeVing
Well-Known Member
5. Psycho II
Super decent! I feel like I've seen this before but just completely forgot. It kinda has this 80's home movies vibe to it but I have to say I like the dimension they add to Norman Bates and the continued backstory they had here. Pretty cool they got Vera Miles & Anthony Perkins to reprise their characters. Lots of scenes & camera shots are homages to the original. Story keeps you guessing until the end. I recommend it!
I had to wait to my days off to get to watching Psycho to finish off this Hitchcock box set - but I was also planning to watch II and III - I think II is highly underrated.
I think I'm going to try to watch them all later tonight if Starfield doesn't get in the way.
Melt Face Molly Drop
Well-Known Member
Just discovered this thread so I'll backdate my last 60 days of horror viewings
Relic (2020) ½ : Interesting horror spin on dealing with an aging parent
Magic (1978) ½ : Anthony Hopkins gifts are on full display here and he's no dummy
Skinamarink (2022) : I can see why this one is divisive, as it's low budget with relatively no dialogue. But those born in the 90s will recognize a lot of the seemingly mundane things that scared them in their own households.
Eden Lake (2008) : Terrifying, unsettling, stomach-churning. That about sums it up. 4 skulls but I'm not sure this is worth watching again for different reasons.
Sleepy Hollow (1999) ½: A Depp performance if there ever was one, this one had captivating set pieces and an intriguing story to keep me engaged.
M3GAN (2022) ½ : Starts out promising but falls into the same ol' schtick that plagues many horror films
Monster Squad (1987) ½ : Has all of the 80s horror stylings we’ve grown to love and now see in other movies and shows (e.g. Stranger Things). I never saw this one growing up but am sure I would’ve loved it.
I saw Terrifier 2 hit Prime so gonna check that one out soon.
Relic (2020)
½ : Interesting horror spin on dealing with an aging parentMagic (1978)
½ : Anthony Hopkins gifts are on full display here and he's no dummySkinamarink (2022)
: I can see why this one is divisive, as it's low budget with relatively no dialogue. But those born in the 90s will recognize a lot of the seemingly mundane things that scared them in their own households.Eden Lake (2008)
: Terrifying, unsettling, stomach-churning. That about sums it up. 4 skulls but I'm not sure this is worth watching again for different reasons.Sleepy Hollow (1999)
½: A Depp performance if there ever was one, this one had captivating set pieces and an intriguing story to keep me engaged.M3GAN (2022)
½ : Starts out promising but falls into the same ol' schtick that plagues many horror filmsMonster Squad (1987)
½ : Has all of the 80s horror stylings we’ve grown to love and now see in other movies and shows (e.g. Stranger Things). I never saw this one growing up but am sure I would’ve loved it. I saw Terrifier 2 hit Prime so gonna check that one out soon.
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EvanBenner
Well-Known Member
Been fighting off some respiratory ick after Riot Fest (no corona, thankfully), and there's something about being sick that steers me toward action-oriented flicks.
Mayhem is a rollicking action film centered around a toxic workplace—a mob-like law firm that previously got a client off a murder charge by pinning the blame on a virus that impedes moral and emotional inhibitions. Unfortunately for them, that very virus now wreaks havoc within their own walls.
With the building placed under quarantine before the newly fired Derek Cho can be escorted out, he decides to use the viral loophole to his disgruntled advantage for being scapegoated after years of thankless servitude. He's joined on his rampage by a woman whose attempt to appeal a home foreclosure was callously dismissed by the firm's heartless partners.
Amid the utter bedlam of workplace toxicity boiled over, the pair hack, slash, and nail gun their way through a series of figures with whom they hold specific grudges, working their way to the top. It's rather video gamey in a way.
Less concerned with the dark moral dilemmas of the similarly themed The Belco Experiment, Mayhem is free to revel in quippy comedy and over-the-top performances. You can tell everyone was having loads of fun bringing this to life.
Mayhem is a rollicking action film centered around a toxic workplace—a mob-like law firm that previously got a client off a murder charge by pinning the blame on a virus that impedes moral and emotional inhibitions. Unfortunately for them, that very virus now wreaks havoc within their own walls.
With the building placed under quarantine before the newly fired Derek Cho can be escorted out, he decides to use the viral loophole to his disgruntled advantage for being scapegoated after years of thankless servitude. He's joined on his rampage by a woman whose attempt to appeal a home foreclosure was callously dismissed by the firm's heartless partners.
Amid the utter bedlam of workplace toxicity boiled over, the pair hack, slash, and nail gun their way through a series of figures with whom they hold specific grudges, working their way to the top. It's rather video gamey in a way.
Less concerned with the dark moral dilemmas of the similarly themed The Belco Experiment, Mayhem is free to revel in quippy comedy and over-the-top performances. You can tell everyone was having loads of fun bringing this to life.
zomgbear
Well-Known Member
Been trying to watch Skinamarink but my attention span too low. I also have Eden Lake on my list!Skinamarink (2022)
Eden Lake (2008)
EvanBenner
Well-Known Member
Had I known Brooklyn 45 takes place between Christmas and New Years Eve, I might have saved it for a more wintery watch time, but it drew me in quick and I didn't want to hit pause, so finish I did.
This period-set chamber piece opens on a group of veterans gathering for an evening of cocktails following the first Christmas post-WWII. They find themselves quickly coerced to perform a seance for their grieving host's wife who took her own life around Thanksgiving. Their choice to entertain their host turns spiritually south as the supernatural happenings dredge up deep-seated conflicts suggesting that their real war was never truly over.
It's a super tight script with great performances all around (fully embodied characters). Perfect for when you're in the mood for a Dickensian A Christmas Carol brand of ghostly, personal horror.
This period-set chamber piece opens on a group of veterans gathering for an evening of cocktails following the first Christmas post-WWII. They find themselves quickly coerced to perform a seance for their grieving host's wife who took her own life around Thanksgiving. Their choice to entertain their host turns spiritually south as the supernatural happenings dredge up deep-seated conflicts suggesting that their real war was never truly over.
It's a super tight script with great performances all around (fully embodied characters). Perfect for when you're in the mood for a Dickensian A Christmas Carol brand of ghostly, personal horror.
EvanBenner
Well-Known Member
The short film that preceded it is under 30 minutes. The feature changes a few things up that didn't work as well for me, but I liked both.
Melt Face Molly Drop
Well-Known Member
Will have to check this out. Kaitlyn Dever is great.30. No One Will Save You (2023)
I loved this. Visually it was very well done. An unusual risk in film today that paid off. This will get multiple watches by me.
EvanBenner
Well-Known Member
After spending half the week catatonic, I woke up with a fire under my ass to begin work on my Halloween costume today. Figured it was the perfect time to knock out some more Max series before my sub dies Sunday night. I started by assembling several foam skeletal components to Trixie Motel, which was a productive delight, then moved on to the last several episodes of pan-Asian folk horror anthology series Folklore.
I enjoyed season 1 just fine, but I'm really impressed with how things ramped up in quality in season 2. The second season's curation was far more cinematic in nature with consistently intriguing plots.
If you're at all into eastern mythologies, spiritualism, and horror sensibilities, this collection is well worth your time. Each standalone short is under 60 minutes and features stories from across East and Southeast Asia.
Season 1
Season 2
I enjoyed season 1 just fine, but I'm really impressed with how things ramped up in quality in season 2. The second season's curation was far more cinematic in nature with consistently intriguing plots.
If you're at all into eastern mythologies, spiritualism, and horror sensibilities, this collection is well worth your time. Each standalone short is under 60 minutes and features stories from across East and Southeast Asia.
Season 1
Season 2
zomgbear
Well-Known Member
6. Skinamarink
Finally got through this one... Took me a few times to get through, kept falling asleep. The movie was just so silent except for cartoons playing in the background so anything remotely happens like someone opens a door jump scares the crap out of me. Most of the movie felt like a nightmare ASMR VHS found footage video for an hour and a half long. Very atmospheric but pretty boring to me - no idea what's going on most of it. Not trying to put down anyone's enjoyment of this but its just not for me.
90% of the movie:
EvanBenner
Well-Known Member
Probably the last thing I'll finish on Max (before Zaslav gets my boot at midnight) is season 1 of 30 Coins. As a fan of everything that I've seen from Alex de la Iglesia so far, it's fun to now see his tenacious sensibilities applied in a serialized format.
30 Coins starts strong with its first couple of episodes, beginning with the seemingly supernatural occurrence of a human baby born of a cow. The town priest (an ex-exorcist with plenty of regrets) finds reason to believe the event to be a hoax and partners with the mayor and a local veterinarian to find who among the locals may have reason to hide their pregnancy and stage the cattle birth. As their investigation deepens, a grander scheme involving secret societies and Catholic occultism.
The village and interpersonal drama elements kind of yo-yo in intrigue for me, but the underlying mysteries, various occult relics/rituals (of which the titular coins are central), graphic horror elements, brooding atmosphere, sectarian subterfuge, and global scale of its diabolical plot are a lot of fun.
Season 2 is expected this October, so I will eventually steal a trial or re-sub for a month to dive back in down the road sometime.
30 Coins starts strong with its first couple of episodes, beginning with the seemingly supernatural occurrence of a human baby born of a cow. The town priest (an ex-exorcist with plenty of regrets) finds reason to believe the event to be a hoax and partners with the mayor and a local veterinarian to find who among the locals may have reason to hide their pregnancy and stage the cattle birth. As their investigation deepens, a grander scheme involving secret societies and Catholic occultism.
The village and interpersonal drama elements kind of yo-yo in intrigue for me, but the underlying mysteries, various occult relics/rituals (of which the titular coins are central), graphic horror elements, brooding atmosphere, sectarian subterfuge, and global scale of its diabolical plot are a lot of fun.
Season 2 is expected this October, so I will eventually steal a trial or re-sub for a month to dive back in down the road sometime.
Hemotep
Well-Known Member
I loved this show and can't wait for the next season.Probably the last thing I'll finish on Max (before Zaslav gets my boot at midnight) is season 1 of 30 Coins. As a fan of everything that I've seen from Alex de la Iglesia so far, it's fun to now see his tenacious sensibilities applied in a serialized format.
30 Coins starts strong with its first couple of episodes, beginning with the seemingly supernatural occurrence of a human baby born of a cow. The town priest (an ex-exorcist with plenty of regrets) finds reason to believe the event to be a hoax and partners with the mayor and a local veterinarian to find who among the locals may have reason to hide their pregnancy and stage the cattle birth. As their investigation deepens, a grander scheme involving secret societies and Catholic occultism.
The village and interpersonal drama elements kind of yo-yo in intrigue for me, but the underlying mysteries, various occult relics/rituals (of which the titular coins are central), graphic horror elements, brooding atmosphere, sectarian subterfuge, and global scale of its diabolical plot are a lot of fun.
Season 2 is expected this October, so I will eventually steal a trial or re-sub for a month to dive back in down the road sometime.
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