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Post by someoldguy on Jan 10, 2021 11:04:18 GMT -5
The Beast With Five Fingers (1946)
An old favorite. Nicely scary tale about the severed hand of a murdered pianist that crawls around playing the piano late at night and killing people. Would have been a decent watch even without the presence of Peter Lorre's delightful disturbed in the head character. Lorre did some memorable parts over the years. And I do not mean Mr. Moto or evil Nazi officers. He showed what he could do given a proper role in his first ever film, the German language M.
'Beast' is atmospheric and creepy, a good example of old school melodrama done right.
Svengoolie had it on and did some gentle ribbing of the movie but was careful not to ruin the mood. Sven knows what movies require respect and which do not.
BTW I ordered a total of 22 old SF and horror movies mostly from the 1950s and just about all re-watchable classics for less than two bucks each. Maybe reviews when I get/watch them.
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Post by ArcLight on Jan 10, 2021 11:55:48 GMT -5
The Lost Zeppelin (1929)
An early talkie.
On the eve of a daring expedition to the South Pole (by zeppelin, as per the title) Commander Hall discovers that his beloved wife is in love with his best friend and First Officer, Lt. Armstrong. When the zeppelin goes down in a blizzard, it's not clear if either man will make it back to her.
Eh...pretty basic, even for 1929. A couple of scenes of fun model work and some incredibly annoying sound effects.
On DVD via Netflix.
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Post by ArcLight on Jan 10, 2021 11:57:46 GMT -5
Grizzly II: Revenge (1983) In other words, the kind of monster movie where you root for the monster. For me, that's most of them.  |
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Post by someoldguy on Jan 10, 2021 14:51:30 GMT -5
M (1931)
In German
Talking about Peter Lorre earlier reminded me that I had not watched M in quite a few years. Long enough that between my gradual loss of hearing acuity (Gee, could still listening to classic rock with headphones have anything to do with that?) and lack of practice in German cut down on my understanding. But my memory of prior viewings/listenings were still with me. (I have watched The Seven Samurai so many times I think I am hearing it in English. But that has subtitles.)
IMO 'M' qualifies as a genuine horror movie of the quasi-slasher category. In 1931 Germany a Kindermörder would be the worst kind of monster. That the victims are all prepubescent girls makes it even worse, especially with the comment made along the line that they know all 8 murders were done by the same person by the condition of the victims. The murderer (Lorre) is shown with a knife at one point. Were they stabbed or something even worse as well? Today they would come out and tell you in detail on SVU but that would never get past the censors in 1931 Germany.
Amazing that this was Peter Lorre's first screen appearance. He makes a great villain with uncontrollable psychotic episodes. And a real tour de force directing effort from the legendary Fritz Lang. Want the madman to get thrown down a flight of concrete steps realistically. Throw Peter Lorre down those steps!
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Post by silverbullet63 on Jan 10, 2021 16:21:20 GMT -5
Spirit in the Woods (2014)
Five students skip into Spritual Woods.
For funsies, school poject and extra credit on their final grades.
Oh and said woods are known to be haunted.
Available on Tubi.
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Post by silverbullet63 on Jan 10, 2021 18:34:13 GMT -5
Gorjiam: Haunted Asylum (2018)
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Post by someoldguy on Jan 11, 2021 11:41:23 GMT -5
Cub (2014) In Flemish, a Dutch dialect spoken in Flanders in northern Belgium The Flemish title is Welp, which means Cub. The Welps are like Boy Scouts. They are on a camping trip forced out of their original campsite and into deep woods with a bad reputation. Scary and creepy with lots of carnage, especially in the extended climax. Good soundtrack heavy on bass but only used where appropriate to build atmosphere. Main characters are well acted, believable and sharply drawn. Unique monster and some ingenious killings. Jump scares are more scare than jump and none of them are fake, a welcome switch. Clever and very creepy story line with well thought out clues to what is going on revealed at the proper places. Lots of little teasers along the way that make you think Huh? but they all ultimately make sense. No phony baloney 'its all a fake' ending but an unexpected yet perfectly logical one that will stick with you. On Shudder with English subtitles. The dog dies, an important part of the story. |
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Post by someoldguy on Jan 11, 2021 14:35:07 GMT -5
The Pit (1981)
Rather cheaply made B-movie that is surprisingly watchable. Acting is less than grade A, dialog not the greatest, direction and cinematography acceptable if not exceptional. Soundtrack amateurish and overwrought, worthy of a low budget TV action series and various other hackneyed themes. Yet at heart quite disturbing and watchable.
A bullied 12 year old boy with psychological issues (he talks to his teddy bear who talks back) is being watched over by a young female Psych major housekeeper while his parents are off on a business trip. He develops a major crush on her in that edge of adolescence way, which underscores his less than balanced mental state. He also has a secret. In the woods there is a pit with nasty looking troglodytes in it. He feeds them raw meat with stolen money. When he runs out of money, the teddy bear suggests a diet of bullies would be a good substitute. The trogs discover a way of getting out of the pit and shorten the supply chain. The hairy trogs look halfway between silly and terrifying if you can imagine that.
Love that ending. A sort of 'it aint over' but with a nice twist.
What we have is a good candidate for a cult film hampered by a lack of decent financing and experienced professionalism but with a sweet heart of horror.
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Post by ArcLight on Jan 12, 2021 20:52:30 GMT -5
I Am Lisa (2020)
Low-budget werewolf movie I picked up from Redbox while out running around.
From IMDb:
"A sadistic, small-town sheriff and her underlings brutalize Lisa and leave her for dead in the woods. Bitten by a werewolf and bestowed with supernatural abilities, can Lisa retain her humanity as she exacts revenge?"
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Post by silverbullet63 on Jan 12, 2021 23:54:16 GMT -5
Borgen/Season one
Been meaning to watch this Danish series for a while.
The entire series is currently on netflix.
I like it so far.
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Post by ArcLight on Jan 13, 2021 16:17:30 GMT -5
Love and Monsters (2020)
Been hearing good things about this so I snagged it from RedBox, too.
Seven years after 95% of humanity has been destroyed by an onslaught of giant, mutated insects/amphibians/etc. the survivors are largely hiding in underground shelters. When Joel (Dylan O'Brien) discovers that his girlfriend Aimee(Jessica Henwick) that he was separated from during the initial attack is only 85 miles away, he decides to make the dangerous journey overland despite being spectacularly ill-equipped for such a venture.
Well-done, humorous, Michael Rooker shows up...recommended.
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Post by someoldguy on Jan 13, 2021 21:42:43 GMT -5
Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008) It was on cable. I watched it. Again.  An uncommon case of a good SF/Fantasy/Horror movie getting an even better sequel. Plot, characters, acting, dialog, FX, direction etc. all up to snuff. The scope of the events and the fantasy world they take place in are grander and more imaginative than the first movie. And the FX are terrific. Ron Perlman and Selma Blair are very good, their characters more developed this time around and IMO more likable for that. Especially Liz Just the right amount of humor in the right places. The drinking scene is fabulous. "My body is a temple.” “It’s an amusement park.” All in all, a really fun ride. |
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Post by ArcLight on Jan 14, 2021 13:13:44 GMT -5
Ravage (2019)
A generally well-done revenge flick, tho not without issues.
Annabelle Dexter-Jones is wildlife photographer Harper. While somewhere in the backwoods of the US (Virginia, probably) she stumbles upon a group of small-town types brutally whipping someone. She flees, but not before snapping some pictures. She tries to report the crime but is pretty much immediately picked up by the group who plan on making her their next victim.
Doesn't work as well as they expect because apparently Harper picked up all sorts of skill while trekking the world on her photographic safaris and pretty much immediately sets out to show them off on the folk who done her wrong.
Dexter-Jones was pretty good. The ending kind-of just happened and was a bit of a letdown, especially given the flashback nature of the storytelling.
Bruce Dern shows up for a few minutes along the way.
On Amazon Prime
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Post by silverbullet63 on Jan 14, 2021 21:16:34 GMT -5
Borgen/Season Two
Continuing with more Nordic Drama.
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Post by ArcLight on Jan 15, 2021 16:13:56 GMT -5
American Mummy (2014)
I think I got this because I needed to spend like $2 on an order to qualify for free shipping. Or maybe it was part of a Dollar Tree pick-up. Don't think I knew at the time that it was in 3D, but I was in the mood for a 3D flick and it was the shortest one I had so I could have it finished by dinner time.
College archeology students find an Aztec mummy in the California desert. For some reason, two of them do a ritual to revive it which works out for the gang about as well as these things always do.
Low-budget, wooden acting, but with a bit of gore and nudity so not a *total* waste of an hour and a half.
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Le Loup-Garou Qui Rit
