The Horror Thread II: The Return

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  • Posts: 12,242
    FoxRox wrote: »
    Nice review!

    Thank you! I’m a little surprised, and jealous, to see as many people that loved this one as there are, but more power to them. All entitled to their tastes!

    I'll be seeing it at the weekend. I don't have much hope for it but who knows, I've been surprised before.

    Nonetheless I hope you enjoy! Worst case scenario there are so many amazing horror films to fall back on and we are all blessed for that.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 23,448
    FoxRox wrote: »
    FoxRox wrote: »
    Nice review!

    Thank you! I’m a little surprised, and jealous, to see as many people that loved this one as there are, but more power to them. All entitled to their tastes!

    I'll be seeing it at the weekend. I don't have much hope for it but who knows, I've been surprised before.

    Nonetheless I hope you enjoy! Worst case scenario there are so many amazing horror films to fall back on and we are all blessed for that.

    I'm seeing Halloween Ends tonight. Fingers crossed. I have been known to like stuff that "everyone else" hates. So... who knows. ;-)
  • NickTwentyTwoNickTwentyTwo Vancouver, BC, Canada
    edited October 2022 Posts: 7,518
    https://apple.news/AhW7GjmnIQQOqmnfKXXDyxw

    I'm so intrigued by films like this but I know I could never watch them.

    I am quite tempted to watch Terrifier 1... I've read enough about it now that at least nothing would come as a surprise.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    edited October 2022 Posts: 23,448
    Ok, I have just seen Halloween Ends. And I must be frank, I liked the film a whole lot better than Halloween Kills. I went in not expecting anything in particular, but I got into the story early on. I think the filmmakers were wise to take a slightly different route with this one. The film reflects on the state our society is in right now and frames a pretty decent slasher film around that. I get why people complain about "not enough Michael". I'd say that what we got of Michael is still a whole lot better than what is in at least half the films in this series. Oh and I, for one, am not disappointed by the finale. I also like the leads in the film, the two parallel story lines -- one of revenge, the other of obsession -- merging into one, and the effective score. The film is allowed to breathe, to let its characters' stories congeal with patience before the dramatic tension is increased. Unlike the previous film, which felt sort of pointless to me, this one actually has something to say, even if Michael isn't in the picture as much as we may expect from a Halloween film.

    I bet many people will dismiss this one as a letdown, and I can understand why, but the Halloween fan in me is still more than pleased with what he got.

    3.5/5
  • CraigMooreOHMSSCraigMooreOHMSS Dublin, Ireland
    Posts: 8,009
    I've been listening to the score today and it's really quite brilliant, as expected.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 23,448
    I've been listening to the score today and it's really quite brilliant, as expected.

    It is. The Carpenters infused it with John's vintage '80s sound.
  • Posts: 12,242
    https://apple.news/AhW7GjmnIQQOqmnfKXXDyxw

    I'm so intrigued by films like this but I know I could never watch them.

    I am quite tempted to watch Terrifier 1... I've read enough about it now that at least nothing would come as a surprise.

    They’re pretty sick, twisted, and over the top, to a point where it’s not normally my thing, but the crazy original and comedic villain, Art, makes it all work for me. I encourage you to give it a chance if you do have the stomach.

    Halloween Ends sure is looking like one of the ultimate divisive movies of our times. I’m happy for those who really did like it. It just was such a massive letdown for me. I do hope it’s a super long time before anyone touches the series again, no one should until there’s something really brilliant to work with.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 23,448
    FoxRox wrote: »
    https://apple.news/AhW7GjmnIQQOqmnfKXXDyxw

    I'm so intrigued by films like this but I know I could never watch them.

    I am quite tempted to watch Terrifier 1... I've read enough about it now that at least nothing would come as a surprise.

    They’re pretty sick, twisted, and over the top, to a point where it’s not normally my thing, but the crazy original and comedic villain, Art, makes it all work for me. I encourage you to give it a chance if you do have the stomach.

    Halloween Ends sure is looking like one of the ultimate divisive movies of our times. I’m happy for those who really did like it. It just was such a massive letdown for me. I do hope it’s a super long time before anyone touches the series again, no one should until there’s something really brilliant to work with.

    I love ALL HALLOW'S EVE and TERRIFIER because of Art. I'm also a fan of bold, brutal movies, so I can't wait to see TERRIFIER 2. I'm not buying into this "people are fainting" crap, though. People fainted during FRANKENSTEIN in the '30s because Karloff's makeup shocked them. People fainted during THE EXORCIST because, well, most Americans were (are?) still as superstitious then (now?) as their ancestors were in Medieval times. People fainted during THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE because -- forget it, no one fainted during that movie because no one, apart from myself and other fans of exploitation cinema, saw that movie when it came out. ;-)

    I've never fainted during a movie, not even during the ones that allegedly have people fainting everywhere. It's a marketing stunt, nothing more. Like every now and then, Netflix supposedly has the "scariest film ever" to offer. Right, like BIRDBOX I suppose. Sure.

    TERRIFIER is not for the faint of heart, but it's not CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST either. It's SAW level gory, and still less intense. And that's fine. The film has much more to offer than that: Art, a grindhouse quality, Art, a few cool splatter scenes, and Art. The art is in Art, a simple but effective "monster". And horror fans like myself, we love good horror film monsters.
  • NickTwentyTwoNickTwentyTwo Vancouver, BC, Canada
    Posts: 7,518
    Saw 1 was actually not gory at all, interestingly. Great film though. Also, BirdBox, lol.
  • Posts: 12,242
    As I laid out in my review, Terrifier 2 is soooo good. My favorite horror of the year easily, and slays the first couple franchise movies in quality. Can’t wait for DVD.
  • MajorDSmytheMajorDSmythe "I tolerate this century, but I don't enjoy it."Moderator
    Posts: 13,882
    Ted White, aka Jason from Friday The 13th Pt IV: The Final Chapter has passed away, aged 96
    https://bloody-disgusting.com/news/3736642/ted-white-jason-voorhees-actor-from-friday-the-13th-the-final-chapter-has-passed-away/

    RIP
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 23,448
    Sad to see that Jason go. The Final Chapter combines a playful intensity with wicked comedy and gratuitous nudity. Ted played his part in it very well.
  • MajorDSmytheMajorDSmythe "I tolerate this century, but I don't enjoy it."Moderator
    Posts: 13,882
    It was only a few nights ago, that I watched the 'The Men Behind The Mask' panel from 2018. That was from 2018, later that year, Steve Dash passed away, and now Ted White has gone to that big summer camp in the sky as well.
  • NickTwentyTwoNickTwentyTwo Vancouver, BC, Canada
    Posts: 7,518
    https://www.polygon.com/23409413/smile-monster-practical-effect-movie-ending-interview

    Giving me Babadook vibes... still kind of want to check it out.
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,370
    Well, I didn't think anything could put the likes of the Rob Zombie installments or even Halloween Kills in a more positive light in hindsight but Halloween Ends certainly did, a perfect and shining example as to how Green and co. clearly didn't have a proper trilogy outline from the beginning. So many bits and bobs throughout the film make no sense and one of the biggest offenses for me in any given trilogy is introducing a new character in the final film that takes priority over so many others, which certainly happened here. How you're going to sideline the OG Michael Myers to a couple of kills and barely 10 minutes of screentime in a film marketed as the definitive and exciting conclusion to his and Laurie's story is absolutely beyond me. This one is a certified dud to me.
  • Posts: 12,242
    Creasy47 wrote: »
    Well, I didn't think anything could put the likes of the Rob Zombie installments or even Halloween Kills in a more positive light in hindsight but Halloween Ends certainly did, a perfect and shining example as to how Green and co. clearly didn't have a proper trilogy outline from the beginning. So many bits and bobs throughout the film make no sense and one of the biggest offenses for me in any given trilogy is introducing a new character in the final film that takes priority over so many others, which certainly happened here. How you're going to sideline the OG Michael Myers to a couple of kills and barely 10 minutes of screentime in a film marketed as the definitive and exciting conclusion to his and Laurie's story is absolutely beyond me. This one is a certified dud to me.

    Amen to all that. Resurrection and Zombie’s second are the only ones I dislike more which still says a lot. Really hoping there’s a long, long gap before the next one, and that they can figure out something much better.
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,370
    It comes back to the KISS approach mentioned here before - Keep It Simple, Stupid. Give me Michael stalking some teens for 90-120 minutes, lots of long takes and frequent scares, the chilling fall atmosphere and uncertainty as to where Michael is, and I'm gold. I don't need brutality, I don't need kills that would make Jason Vorhees proud. Give me tension, give me some solid character development without taking away from the overall sinister ambience, a sprinkling of sex and death, and I'm happy.
  • CraigMooreOHMSSCraigMooreOHMSS Dublin, Ireland
    edited October 2022 Posts: 8,009
    I saw it and enjoyed it more than others did, though the trilogy to me has been a big steep decline since 2018. I loved that first film and wish they had stopped there. Both Kills and Ends had neat ideas that were just not very well followed through.

    The idea that binds Ends together is a very interesting one. The problem is that the character used to carry that theme is one that has been introduced in the third part of a trilogy when it really should have been an arc hitting its own climax by that point - just like the conflict between Laurie and Michael.

    Imagine first introducing Darth Vader in ROTJ, revealing him as Luke's father, and then having them duel to the death followed by another battle with the Emperor? That is what Ends ultimately felt like. It's not bad, it's just ill-timed and awkward and the film never really hits a stride as a result.

    At least Kills was pretty much batshit right from the first frame.
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,370
    Yes, Kills at least seemed to fully buy into the type of film it wished to be right from the start. Ends feels like a cobbled together mess of half-baked ideas that were shifted, moved around, and awkwardly stuffed into this conclusion. This whole new story that follows a brand new character is clearly a last second idea and I'm honestly kind of stunned that so many people agreed with the idea, greenlit it and paid money to see it achieved.
  • CraigMooreOHMSSCraigMooreOHMSS Dublin, Ireland
    Posts: 8,009
    Hindsight is 2020 and all that, but how nice would it have been to have the flashback of Kills open the 2018 film? It would have added weight to Officer Hawkins throughout as well as Laurie. I think Will Patton does great work in the film as the guy carrying a lot of guilt, but having the flashbacks at the start of that film would have made a lot of sense.

    We could have introduced Corey in the opening of Kills, and with a bit of clever re-writing, had him be the guy that the townsfolk also go after following
    Jeremy's death.

    Rather than that random guy who clearly looks nothing like Michael Myers.
  • VenutiusVenutius Yorkshire
    Posts: 2,895
    Creasy47 wrote: »
    It comes back to the KISS approach mentioned here before - Keep It Simple, Stupid. Give me Michael stalking some teens for 90-120 minutes, lots of long takes and frequent scares, the chilling fall atmosphere and uncertainty as to where Michael is, and I'm gold. I don't need brutality, I don't need kills that would make Jason Vorhees proud. Give me tension, give me some solid character development without taking away from the overall sinister ambience, a sprinkling of sex and death, and I'm happy.

    This ought to be the official template for every Halloween movie!
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,370
    Hindsight is 2020 and all that, but how nice would it have been to have the flashback of Kills open the 2018 film? It would have added weight to Officer Hawkins throughout as well as Laurie. I think Will Patton does great work in the film as the guy carrying a lot of guilt, but having the flashbacks at the start of that film would have made a lot of sense.

    We could have introduced Corey in the opening of Kills, and with a bit of clever re-writing, had him be the guy that the townsfolk also go after following
    Jeremy's death.

    Rather than that random guy who clearly looks nothing like Michael Myers.

    The characters were certainly inconsistent in a lot of respects, especially in their appearances and layout. I laughed pretty hard when that sheriff with the huge hat appeared at the end of this new one, I completely forgot about his character. What a shame, as the actor's quite talented.

    I also saw a question that made a ton of sense in hindsight: why would Laurie be living this survivalist life with Michael having been imprisoned for decades, but now that he's returned, slaughtered your daughter and several other townsfolk, escaped to a nearby area, NOW you decide to live some life of quiet tranquility with absolutely no preparations made for his return, no firearms stashed away just in case? It's pretty remarkable.
  • Posts: 462
    I’m still trying to make heads or tails out of what Halloween Ends ended up being. The biggest problem was the film’s marketing and how they wanted to subvert expectations.

    Either way, I do feel like this final one makes a mess out of what came before. It actually made me realize how much I liked Kills. He goes from “transcending his humanity the more he kills,” surviving that mob attack to being a geriatric old man who gets his mask stolen by a guy in his twenties.

    They killed Hawkins off in 2018, brought him back with a big story arc in Kills and then do absolutely nothing with it in Ends. Pretty much everything I wanted answers for in the first two did not get answered.
  • It sounds like this Halloween trilogy has gone the way of the Craig era or the last Star Wars trilogy...making it up as they go along, retconning at will, and needlessly cramming a whole arc(s) into the final film when they could have been played out over multiple films had things been planned from the beginning. This is why if you're going to do a multi-film arc or make it all interconnected you shouldn't make it up as you go along.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 23,448
    I actually applaud them for trying something different. We've seen Michael just chasing a bunch of kids. H4, H5, H Res, ... I've had my share. H Ends isn't a H film proper, but I dig Corey's story. That said, the final confrontation in the film is not the big capper we were all waiting for.
  • MajorDSmytheMajorDSmythe "I tolerate this century, but I don't enjoy it."Moderator
    Posts: 13,882
    Though I haven't seen Halloween Ends yet, part of me wants to condemn it for the lack of Michael Myers... but then I remember that I am one of the few people to appreciate the 'something different' approach to Jason Goes To Hell (even if some of it makes no sense).
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 23,448
    Though I haven't seen Halloween Ends yet, part of me wants to condemn it for the lack of Michael Myers... but then I remember that I am one of the few people to appreciate the 'something different' approach to Jason Goes To Hell (even if some of it makes no sense).

    Well, JGTH is kinda where I'm at with H Ends. I mean, it's a totally different film in tone and story and whatnot, but they're also trying to tell a different story, set in the universe of Michael, but without Michael doing what Michael does, all the time.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    edited October 2022 Posts: 23,448
    There were six titles I was looking forward to seeing this time of the year, and I finally have. My quick evaluation:

    THE VERY ENTERTAINING
    • Pearl
    This was the big one for me, and the film didn't disappoint. Ti West, director of two favourites of mine (Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever, House Of The Devil), is hot on the track of classic horror status with his 2022 blitz krieg of X and Pearl, with MaXXXine in 'TBA' status. Pearl is a stylistic exercise in patience-before-the-reward, carried on the talented shoulders of the enigmatic Mia Goth, with a clear quality-over-quantity mission statement. I can't wait to see Ti West expand this into a creative saga.
    • Terrifier 2
    This isn't a film for everyone... but it is for me. All Hallow's Eve introduced me to Art The Clown, a new slasher killer who combines the relentlessness of Michael Myers with the sadistic brutality of Freddy Krueger. Terrifier cemented Art as a guy who deserves our attention, even in cheap, repetitive splatter fests. But with Terrifier 2, director Damien Leone went "Dawn Of The Dead" on us, with well over two hours (!) of Art versus the world, a cat-and-mouse game, soaked in blood, that keeps the pulse high. It's been claimed that people have fainted or thrown up while watching the film, the most obvious promotional stunt since Karloff allegedly did the same in 1931. It's a juicy exploitation flick all right, but certainly nothing the average stomach can't take. To me, it's good, gory fun, centred around the mysteriously effective Art. Leone has said that another film is in the making. If so, thank you, Damien. Terrfier 2 is a bloody good feature for the gorehounds among us.
    • Hellraiser 2022
    A long-time Hellraiser fan, I was really looking forward to seeing this latest instalment, the first of hopefully a couple more from the same people. I wasn't let down. It's a fresh take on the Hellraiser myth; it selected what marvellous pains it wanted to keep, and cut away the rotten flesh of tediousness we've had to suffer through since Barker's original was "sequelled" into hell. While an imperfect film for sure, it opened the box for interesting new avenues to pursue. I'm more than happy with this film.

    THE GOOD
    • Halloween Ends
    This is the polarizing film of the season. I like this one, as I have stated before. The story of Corey is really good; it's almost a return to Carpenter's Christine rather than to Halloween. As a Halloween film, it's lacking in spades, but that doesn't make it a bad film.
    • Orphan: First Kill
    I was lukewarm on the 2009 film Orphan and so my hopes were low for a prequel made 13 years later. But a few cool twists got me involved in ways I hadn't expected. It's not a great film, but there's still a lot of fun to be had with it.

    THE BAD
    • Jeepers Creepers Reborn
    No, just no. The first two films in the series were good. Yes, they were made by a convicted paedophile; they were still good. The third one forced me to sober up in my appreciation of the predatorial flesh-eater returning every 23 years for a quick bite. But nothing could have prepared me for the major disappointment that is Jeepers Creepers Reborn, a film that looks like it was made by a few neighbourhood kids with cheap moviemaking software and grandma's dilapidated house at their disposal. The only horror here is the film itself, creepy only in its intentions to sell us this unfinished parody of a student project.
  • Posts: 12,242
    Going back to revisit It (2017) was such a blast. Definitely my favorite adaptation. The cast is so perfect and I love beyond just the horror there are great moments with comedy, coming of age, and other dramatic beats.
  • NickTwentyTwoNickTwentyTwo Vancouver, BC, Canada
    edited October 2022 Posts: 7,518
    FoxRox wrote: »
    Going back to revisit It (2017) was such a blast. Definitely my favorite adaptation. The cast is so perfect and I love beyond just the horror there are great moments with comedy, coming of age, and other dramatic beats.

    A particular favourite of mine as well. Glad to hear others like it; even if a movie like that isn't scary, it can still be fantastic, and the cast and everything else make it that.

    A real Stephen King adaption where the real villains are the adults.
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