shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,871
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Post by shaxper on Oct 20, 2024 0:46:57 GMT -5
Did a quadruple feature at the drive-in tonight. Very very cool.
1. It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. It's no Mad Monster Party, but definitely a classic in its own right. Snoopy marching/crying/howling to Schroeder's Piano suite is always a high point for me. 9/10
2. A Nightmare on Elm Street. I disagree with horror snobs who claim this was so superior to the sequels (at least 3 and 4), but it's still a great movie with a powerful story to tell, even if a lot of the acting is second-rate. 6/10
3. Trick 'R Treat. My first time seeing this one. Very clever and a whole lot of fun, even if there were a few loose threads in the complex narrative it wove. 8/10
4. Scream. My first time seeing this one as well, and I did not like it. Much as the meta awareness of the horror genre was slightly clever and I definitely liked protagonists who were tougher/more capable than the usual dead meat, both the casting and the cinematography are far too stuck in late 1990s teen culture to a sickenining extent. I kept thinking I was watching a slightly scary episode of Dawson's Creek, and I hated Dawson's Creek. And, with no creepy atmosphere, no scary or especially tense moments after the first few scenes, as well as a killer who never seemed all that awe-inspiring, all that was left to savor was the mystery, and the solution to that mystery was dumb as hell 5/10
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Post by The Captain on Oct 20, 2024 5:29:11 GMT -5
I'm in my real fall comfort zone when I finally put on Mad Monster party (1967). In my 20s, I started watching it ironically, but, by my mid 30s, it sort of became a part of me. It's not the Halloween season without hearing this tune at least once... I had no idea this existed before your post, but now I have to see it. |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Oct 20, 2024 6:17:10 GMT -5
I'm in my real fall comfort zone when I finally put on Mad Monster party (1967). In my 20s, I started watching it ironically, but, by my mid 30s, it sort of became a part of me. It's not the Halloween season without hearing this tune at least once... I had no idea this existed before your post, but now I have to see it. Shame on you, it's an absolute classic and you must rectify your crime immediately! |
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Post by Jeddak on Oct 20, 2024 11:41:26 GMT -5
The Case of the Bloody Iris - 1972 - Edwige Fenech again. She's still not given a very fleshed-out character, but I did care what happened to her this time. The characters here were more interesting than in Strip Nude, the killings more varied, and there's less filler. We even get a couple of possible suspects, though no real clues pointing to the real killer. But giallo seem to be more about the killings and late reveals than a mystery the audience can try to solve. There is more of a plot to this one, though there's a subplot involving a sex cult that goes nowhere. And the title refers to that subplot, which is a bit of a cheat. The original title translates as Why Those Strange Drops of Blood on Jennifer's Body, which even I think is pushing it a bit. The cops are trying to be comic relief, but at least their scenes are tied into the rest of the movie. There are some suspenseful bits, and the male lead isn't a total jerk.Not a classic, but worth watching.
Is there one movie of hers you'd recommend as her best?
The three movies I've talked about here are the only ones of hers I've seen, so I'm hardly an expert. But Your Vice is a Locked Room is easily the best of the 3. Her performance in that one impressed me enough that I've been seeking out her other work. |
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Oct 20, 2024 15:10:45 GMT -5
Newcastle after Dark just uploaded 1967's Torture Garden, an Amicus anthology film with Peter Cushing, Jack Palance and Burgess Meredith.
The Amicus films are usually a lot of fun, just like the ones produced by Hammer. This one was just like an issue of The Witching Hour, albeit one with four stories instead of three. Palance in particular surprised me, as he wasn't playing the kind of character I usually associate with him.
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Post by commond on Oct 20, 2024 15:47:28 GMT -5
The Case of the Bloody Iris - 1972 - Edwige Fenech again. She's still not given a very fleshed-out character, but I did care what happened to her this time. The characters here were more interesting than in Strip Nude, the killings more varied, and there's less filler. We even get a couple of possible suspects, though no real clues pointing to the real killer. But giallo seem to be more about the killings and late reveals than a mystery the audience can try to solve. There is more of a plot to this one, though there's a subplot involving a sex cult that goes nowhere. And the title refers to that subplot, which is a bit of a cheat. The original title translates as Why Those Strange Drops of Blood on Jennifer's Body, which even I think is pushing it a bit. The cops are trying to be comic relief, but at least their scenes are tied into the rest of the movie. There are some suspenseful bits, and the male lead isn't a total jerk.Not a classic, but worth watching.
Is there one movie of hers you'd recommend as her best?
fwiw, she's also in The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh and All the Colors of the Dark. |
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Post by berkley on Oct 20, 2024 17:12:01 GMT -5
I'm in my real fall comfort zone when I finally put on Mad Monster party (1967). In my 20s, I started watching it ironically, but, by my mid 30s, it sort of became a part of me. It's not the Halloween season without hearing this tune at least once... I had no idea this existed before your post, but now I have to see it.
A new one on me too, I'll definitely try to see it some time.
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shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,871
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Post by shaxper on Oct 21, 2024 4:33:04 GMT -5
I'm in my real fall comfort zone when I finally put on Mad Monster party (1967). In my 20s, I started watching it ironically, but, by my mid 30s, it sort of became a part of me. It's not the Halloween season without hearing this tune at least once... I had no idea this existed before your post, but now I have to see it. I don't know how to prepare you for this. It's the best stop motion animation ever attempted at the time, a strong plot, and some of the worst writing and voice acting you'll ever see. |
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Post by codystarbuck on Oct 21, 2024 10:20:08 GMT -5
Last night's viewing was Shadow of the Vampire, a metafiction where Max Schreck (Willem Dafoe), star of FW Murnau's (John Malkovich) Nosferatu, is an actual vampire. It mixes the story of that film, with a fictional account of the filming, with Schreck promised the female lead, as payment for playing Count Orlock. Darkly funny, a great cast, and an excellent look at filming the German expressionist films of the 20s.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Oct 21, 2024 10:34:11 GMT -5
Travel plus work plus being under the weather played havoc with my film watching. But I did get in
The Brides of Dracula (1960).
I wanted to get in at least one Hammer film for this undertaking and this was one of the few that was readily available on the streaming services that I have. I haven't seen this in probably 25 to 30 years. Always good to see Peter Cushing as Van Helsing. I thought this was fine. Decently atmospheric. Maybe a bit lacking in the trademark Hammer blood. The ending didn't entirely work for me. Van Helsing's manner for defeating the Baron's bite didn't ring true and the ultimate defeat of the Baron and his two extant brides was weak. But it was generally a decent film.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Oct 21, 2024 10:34:48 GMT -5
Last night's viewing was Shadow of the Vampire, a metafiction where Max Schreck (Willem Dafoe), star of FW Murnau's (John Malkovich) Nosferatu, is an actual vampire. It mixes the story of that film, with a fictional account of the filming, with Schreck promised the female lead, as payment for playing Count Orlock. Darkly funny, a great cast, and an excellent look at filming the German expressionist films of the 20s. I love that movie a lot. Dafoe is outstanding. |
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Post by berkley on Oct 21, 2024 10:59:20 GMT -5
Newcastle after Dark just uploaded 1967's Torture Garden, an Amicus anthology film with Peter Cushing, Jack Palance and Burgess Meredith. The Amicus films are usually a lot of fun, just like the ones produced by Hammer. This one was just like an issue of The Witching Hour, albeit one with four stories instead of three. Palance in particular surprised me, as he wasn't playing the kind of character I usually associate with him. No connection with the 1899 novel of the same title (Le Jardin des Supplices) written by Octave Mirbeau, it seems? I haven't read it but from the wikipedia page the stories don't sound in any way similar. |
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Oct 21, 2024 17:03:25 GMT -5
Newcastle after Dark just uploaded 1967's Torture Garden, an Amicus anthology film with Peter Cushing, Jack Palance and Burgess Meredith. The Amicus films are usually a lot of fun, just like the ones produced by Hammer. This one was just like an issue of The Witching Hour, albeit one with four stories instead of three. Palance in particular surprised me, as he wasn't playing the kind of character I usually associate with him. No connection with the 1899 novel of the same title (Le Jardin des Supplices) written by Octave Mirbeau, it seems? I haven't read it but from the wikipedia page the stories don't sound in any way similar. No, the four stories were written by Robert Bloch. We really get what we expect from this type of movie! |
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Post by codystarbuck on Oct 22, 2024 0:24:19 GMT -5
Tonight's double feature was a pair of adaptations of Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. First, a cartoon feature: Walt Disney's version, from The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr Toad. Bing Crosby narrates the tale of the skinny schoolteacher who comes to Tarry Town and Sleepy Hollow, where he falls for Katrina Van Tassel, daughter of the wealthiest farmer. Disney sticks relatively close to Irving, presenting Ichabod as more in love with Van Tassel's wealth than Katrina's beauty. He runs afoul of Brom Bones, her bohunk suitor. It comes to a head at the Fall Frolic, at Van Tassel's home, where Brom and Ichabod compete for Katrina, before Ichabod leaves, on a borrowed horse and runs into the Headless Horseman. Disney leaves out the backstory of the Horseman being a Hessian soldier who was decapitated by a cannonball, during the Revolutionary War. They present a pretty frightening figure, carrying a flaming jack o'lantern for his head, which he hurls at Ichabod, as he gallops for the safety of the bridge.
The other version was the 1980 tv movie, produced by Sunn Classic, purveyors of family fare, like The Life and Times of Grizzly Adamas, and paranoid nutjob "documentaries" about alien visitors, Bigfoot and alleged arks, as well as a notion that Abraham Lincoln was murdered in a grand conspiracy and the real culprit got away to Canada.
This one features Jeff Goldblum, before he really hit it big in movies, as the hapless schoolteacher, in love with Katrina, played by the freaky-eyed Meg Foster. Ex-Chicago Bear Dick Butkis is Brom Bones, with Paul Sand as his co-conspirator, while Welcome Back Kotter's John Sylvester White (Mr Woodman) is Fritz Vanderhoof. This version presents the idea of Thelma Dumkey, Vanderhoff's daughter, as a rival for Katrina, for Ichabod's affection. It also presents former schoolteacher Winthrop Palmer, who supposedly rode off a cliff. The ladies work out that Katrina is in love with Ichabod and Thelma with Brom Bones, while Brom still wants Katrina, as does Ichabod. Palmer wants his revenge on Bones, after he attacked him and then chased him, as the Headless Horseman. Brom sets out to do the same to Ichabod, but runs into the "real" Horseman, who Ichabod comes to believe is Palmer. However, Palmer finds himself trapped in Squire Van Tassel's barn.
The telemovie is mostly lighthearted, with spooky elements, mostly superstition and anxiety; but, it adds enough doubt to be fun. It's a nice production, even with some of the stilted dialogue, as they try to ape the style of Irving. Still better than Tim Burton's mess of a film, which swipes the Disney image and manages to be boring, more than scary. It has its fan, but I'll stick with this version. For one thing, the director doesn't cast his latest girlfriend in his movies.
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Post by commond on Oct 22, 2024 8:33:55 GMT -5
The Amityville Horror (Stuart Rosenberg, 1979)
What freaks me out more than horror films is documentaries about haunted houses, as well as old episodes of Unsolved Mysteries. I'd never seen this before, but I knew about the story from old TV shows. The film didn't scare me as much as those TV docos did, but I appreciate the effort they went to with the final act. Reports of Rod Steiger's overacting were not exaggerated.
Suddenly at Midnight (Ko Young-nam, 1981)
This looked incredibly dated, and I wasn't impressed with the colors or the special effects, however it was a fairly convincing portrayal of a wife's mental disintegration when she becomes convinced that her husband is sleeping with their housemaid. Great ending. I also wanted to watch the 1986 Korean film A Woman's Wail, but couldn't find a version with English subtitles.
28 Days Later (Danny Boyle, 2002)
This was the highest ranked horror film on Flickchart that I hadn't seen. Pretty good film. I don't really think it added a ton to zombie film lore, but it was impressive seeing a deserted London. The pacing was good, even if the editing and camerawork were difficult to keep up with at times. Two hours whizzed by, so there's that. Bit of a cop out with the ending to the theatrical cut, but you've gotta send them home happy I suppose.
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