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Post by someoldguy on Oct 16, 2019 13:58:54 GMT -5
Not finding any more werewolf (or vampire) movies readily available that I have not seen or care to see, I checked out some haunted house flicks for a change of pace. Insidious Boy who astral projects in his sleep gets in too deep. Good concept, nicely carried out. Decent scares along the way and a thrilling climax. But… It is another ‘it aint over’ ending, not even suitably foreshadowed or serving any purpose I can see other than to have a switcheroo anticlimax. Lazy and unsatisfying, ruined the whole movie for me. House of the Witch Teenagers in supposedly haunted house on Halloween. Familiar concept and execution. Less than stellar dialog and acting. But a fun ride if you do not expect too much. LOTS of people die in a variety of ways. And… A rather creative spin on the ‘final girl’ idea that IMO rescues the movie. Don’t Knock Twice Knocking on the witch’s door is not a good idea. Good one. Very nice concept, surprisingly original. Complex plot, decent acting. Loads of twists and turns along the way. Definitely worthwhile watching. Switcheroo ending but this one works. American Poltergeist Bunch of college students in the Lizzie Borden house on the anniversary of the axe murders. Nothing to do with poltergeists at all unless you want to count strange noises and slamming doors. Plot, acting, dialog are all substandard. No real scares, or even any gore to make up for it. Don’t bother. Another ‘it aint over’ ending but this one you can see coming a mile away. The Conjuring Good one. Spookily atmospheric, frequent scary stuff building up to a fine climax. And… At the end it really is over and we see evidence of that. Plus a cleverly humorous anticlimax. |
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Post by silverbullet63 on Oct 17, 2019 15:52:56 GMT -5
I really liked Insidious, never bothered with the sequels that followed.
Haven't seen any of The Conjuring movies yet.
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Post by someoldguy on Oct 17, 2019 16:51:05 GMT -5
I really liked Insidious, never bothered with the sequels that followed. Haven't seen any of The Conjuring movies yet. I have not seen any of the sequels to either. I have heard good things about Conjuring 2 and not so good things about the Insidious sequels. But I like to judge for myself. I am known to disagree with both critics and fans. |
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Post by someoldguy on Oct 20, 2019 8:52:07 GMT -5
I watched The Conjuring 2. Pretty spooky with possession and spirit violence (or is it?) and the investigators getting personally involved. Some twists and turns on that last. Not as eerie as the first one, partly due to it being in the middle of a city rather than in an isolated house in the country, but still good. Worth a watch if you like this genre.
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Post by silverbullet63 on Oct 22, 2019 11:57:34 GMT -5
I think there's another Conjuring sequel coming in 2020.
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Post by someoldguy on Oct 22, 2019 18:12:40 GMT -5
I think there's another Conjuring sequel coming in 2020. I hope they do not blow it like they did with the Annabelle and The Nun spinoffs. Although I have read that the sequels to Annabelle are better. |
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Post by silverbullet63 on Oct 23, 2019 14:00:32 GMT -5
Have you seen Sinister?
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Post by someoldguy on Oct 23, 2019 21:01:25 GMT -5
No. Have you? Any good? It does not appear to be available on any service I have. Amazon Prime seems to have it but Amazon and I have a history.  |
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Post by someoldguy on Oct 24, 2019 14:06:28 GMT -5
I watched The Changeling again after many years. Last time it was on commercial TV, chopped up by commercials and I think edited somewhat. I appreciated it much more this time around. Definitely a good haunted house tale. But... It is unclear why the ghost was so angry at Claire and John near the end, trying to do violence to them. John did what it wanted, leading to the resolution - the fake Joseph dying. And why hurt Claire at all? Final note: When you go to a house you already know is haunted and the door opens by itself before you touch it, don't go in! |
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Post by silverbullet63 on Oct 24, 2019 15:42:21 GMT -5
Final note: When you go to a house you already know is haunted and the door opens by itself before you touch it, don't go in!
Definitley Horror 101.
Oh and no, I haven't seen Sinister yet.
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Post by someoldguy on Oct 27, 2019 20:26:31 GMT -5
Watched Hell Night (1981). Mostly 'slasher in a haunted house' predictable but with a couple of twists on the usual memes. Not academy award material but a reasonable amount of fun, with the (very real) huge mansion a good setting.
Talking about Nicole Kidman in another thread reminded me of The Others, a first class haunted house film, with the spookiness starting right at the beginning and building, building right up to the climax. Kidman does a top rate job here. The often underrated Fionnula Flanagan hits exactly the right note as well.
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Post by ArcLight on Oct 28, 2019 1:14:07 GMT -5
Watching the original Haunting of Hill House alone in the dark late one night when I was a kid was one of the few times I ever got creeped out by a movie. By the end, the dark hall back to my bedroom seemed way too long.
Enjoyed the Netflix Hill House series, despite it not having much of anything to do with Shirley Jackson's story.
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Post by someoldguy on Oct 28, 2019 8:27:21 GMT -5
Watching the original Haunting of Hill House alone in the dark late one night when I was a kid was one of the few times I ever got creeped out by a movie. By the end, the dark hall back to my bedroom seemed way too long. Enjoyed the Netflix Hill House series, despite it not having much of anything to do with Shirley Jackson's story. The Haunting (1963), based on Jackson's novel, Is a truly great scary movie. No gore, no monsters jumping out of the closet, just a great example of how to be really spookily scary. "Whose hand was I holding?!?!" Or the banging on the doors working up the hallway. Or when Eleanor cruelly jokes that the newly arrived Doctor's wife should stay in the (locked up tight) nursery and they look down the hall and the doors of the nursery are wide open.  I saw this in the movies in October 1963, a late night showing with a girl who also loved spooky movies. She actually EEKed a few times during the movie. I had just read the book and was happy to see that the movie followed both the letter and the 'spirit' of the book quite closely. |
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Post by someoldguy on Oct 28, 2019 8:56:47 GMT -5
I also checked out Hell House LLC. A 'haunted house' tour turns out to be rather more haunted than expected. The movie is a documentary of the lead up to opening night and what took place. Decent fun despite parts being shaky camera. In fact the hand held camera aspect lends itself to the plot. It is of course all fake. The alleged location does not even exist, there is no record anywhere of the alleged events and there are clear clues throughout that it is all a put on even thought it is presented as real. Just suspend your disbelief and go with the flow. It is a fun trip if you are in the mood. |
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Post by ArcLight on Oct 28, 2019 10:11:15 GMT -5
For a 'found-footage' movie (which I generally don't like but they keep making them based on things I'm interested in so I keep watching them) the first Hell House LLC isn't bad. I haven't tried out the 2nd or 3rd ones yet.
If you don't mind slipping over to haunted asylums, I liked the first Grave Encounters (2011) - another found-footage one - and liked the idea behind its 2012 sequel.
Having not read the book or seen the original, I liked Daniel Radcliffe's 2012 The Woman in Black. Not checked out the sequel yet.
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Le Loup-Garou Qui Rit
