'What scary movie have you watched recently?' - When remakes attack (not about remakes)

Okay, so I've officially started a new thread (and on my Xmas iPad no less!)...now that's out of the way...

I just Redbox rented Apollo 18. What a snooze-fest. I'd sum this up as Blair Witch on the moon with alien creatures (what is it about alien movies, especially recent alien movies, and the aliens are always insect-like?). I liked the found-footage premise and the idea that this event actually happened, and really, things like this could happen and we not know about it because of the government, but the movie didn't do much for me. I'd give it a 5/10

I've got Grimm Love to watch from Netflix and I'm also eyeballing Straw Dogs.

That's a shame about Apollo 18. The previews had a real X-Files vibe about them. I had hoped it would be good.

I thought Apollo 18 was not too bad. Far from scary, but somehow still highly entertaining. You just have to leave your brain at the door.

Straw Dogs on the other hand...ugh. That was a snooze fest with laughable and awkward acting moments. The original was just fine as it was. There was no need for a remake.

#1-3: I don't have cable, so I'm clueless about the Apollo 18 previews, but I might still give the movie a try.

#1: Grimm Love was pretty good, imho. I'm not sure how accurate it is, though, to the actual characters. Either way, I hope you like it.

#1 & 3: Darnit. I just returned Straw Dogs to work unwatched (it was overdue or something). I didn't know it was a remake. Wasn't it based on a Michael Marshall book? Er, wait. I think I'm thinking of Straw Men. Never mind. :) Blonde moment.

I watched the Fright Night remake the other night. I like the original. I saw it in the theater and even read the comic book (I think it was from the defunct Now Comics, but I could be wrong). In fact, I even saw the sequel in the theater! As far as the remake goes, I was prepared to be underwhelmed, but was very curious. I am pleased to say that I really enjoyed the remake. I like what they did with every character, and especially Jerry Dandridge, the vampire. It's not too much of a spoiler to say that there is a part at the end that takes place in Jerry's basement that I really liked. That's what put it over the top for me. What had to that point been a pretty good remake became something better because of what Jerry had done in the basement. I recommend it for everyone, even big fans of the original.

#5: I'm glad to hear that. I really liked the original Fright Night, too, because it was one of the first scary movies I remember as a kid. I'm not expecting a lot from it either, but I'm sure I'll still enjoy it. (Too bad that was another DVD I returned the other day--unwatched--or I would be watching that now to ring in the new year.)

Just watched Scream 4 and I really liked it. Of course, I was a big fan of the original trilogy. I was nervous that they were going to screw it up, but I thought they did quite well.

I also really liked the Rob Zombie Halloween (which I just saw for the first time this weekend). It was very different, but I thought that made it better than a lot of the remakes have been--it was its own movie, and I really enjoyed it. Just enough of a love letter to the original, but plenty of completely new stuff that wasn't stupid. Well done.

#7: Just curious, but do you know why was there such a time lapse between Scream 3 and 4? Money issues or something?

I honestly don't remember the original Halloween to be able to compare the two, but I generally like anything by Rob Zombie, so I thought it was good enough. I love that he always has his wife in his films. She's definitely made for scary movies.

#5 - Wow! I thought I was the only one that read the Fright Night comics. You are right. It was Now Comics that put them out.

I'm gonna keep an open mind about Apollo 18. It's number one in my Netflix queue right now. I have a feeling that I'll keep thinking of They Might Be Giants as I watch it though. (They have an album called Apollo 18.)

For Christmas, we watched that heart-warming holiday favorite, Gremlins. I wasn't sure about watching it. I didn't figure it would age well. But it held up a lot better than I expected.

I love watching Gremlins during Christmas. Most people don't think of it as a holiday movie, but it does take place during Christmas. Love it! :) The sequel wasn't too bad either, if I remember right.

I watched Tucker and Dale vs Evil yesterday. I loved it! It was fun, well-acted, and had a great amount of comedy and gore. I want to see more of Tucker and Dale, they are great. I didn't care for the college kids in the film but that was the point. It was predictable towards the end but since the film was a parody overall, it worked. It reminded me a bit of Zombieland meets Severance but it really fals into a category of it's own. I think fans of the horror genre wil enjoy. 9/10

#10 Sara

"You do with Mogwai what your society has done with all of nature's gifts. You do not understand. You are not ready. Perhaps someday, you may be ready. Until then, Mogwai will be waiting."

Love it :-D

#11: I had a coworker who highly recommended that one to me as well. I'm not sure I'll get around to it anytime soon, but thanks for mentioning it! :)

#12: I forgot that quote (was that from the old Asian man?), but yes, I love that movie, too! :)

#13 - Yeah. That's the lecture he gives the Peltzers at the end. I loved that movie as a kid. I remember reading the novelization twice.

Thinking back on it now, I was worried that it wouldn't hold up, mainly because I remember the too-goofy bar scene. That's still a little cringe inducing, but the movie is otherwise very good. And the special effects are still pretty impressive.

Watching Gremlins now, I saw it as an attack on technology. I can't say that Joe Dante or Chris Columbus intended it or not, but it's there and pretty obvious.

I was reading the Wikipedia article and it was talking about how the original script was much darker and more violent (there's no Stripe, Gizmo is the head gremlin and Billy's mom dies for instance). I'm curious to know what that would have been like.

Yeah, I read the novelization, too. For some reason, I didn't like it; can't remember why.

the original script was much darker and more violent -- Oh, you know they'll eventually do a remake like that. But I hope it's not for a very, very long time! The original's too much fun.

Watched Quarantine early - was more similar to REC than I expected which was a downer :(

Have seen Quarantine, which I really enjoyed, but not REC. Are they that similar?

REC is the original film, which was made in Spain which was good enough for America to do a re-make (which is Quarantine). It's nice not having to read subtitles but aside from that and a couple of small things they are SO similar.

I recently watched the Mario Bava film The Devil Inside Her, released in the US as Beyond the Door. I was crushingly disappointed. The opening five minutes were the best part of the film. That and the totally surreal musical interlude where the protagonist's husband is inexplicably harassed by street musicians.

#8: I don't think they ever intended to do a Scream 4. I think the trilogy was always kind of planned for--even if nobody really talked about it. Then the plan was that they would be famous enough to permanently move on to new projects (a la Jamie Lee Curtis). But it didn't work out that way, and ten years later, there was a new script and they were all pretty much unemployed so it worked out. Or maybe they just all burned out on it for awhile, but then this seemed like a fun reunion. I do know Craven and Williamson maintained the rights to the series, so it couldn't be run into the ground by absentee producers like Halloween and Friday the 13th were. I think Craven might have learned his lesson on that with Freddy Kruger.

#10, 12-15: I ADORE Gremlins. I especially love how the Gremlins are all just really, really bad CHILDREN. Killing the teacher, wrecking the movie theatre, watching cartoons. It's the perfect Christmas movie. I try to watch it every year. I read the novelization a billion years ago--I think I was about 12. I liked it back then, but I still own it, and I've been afraid to pick it up since. It probably sucks.

#19 - The only Mario Bava film I've seen (that I remember clearly) was Black Sabbath (yes, Ozzy's group is named after the movie).

It was an anthology film and only the first of the three stories ("The Drop of Water") was memorable. But man, that first story was very, very eerie. It was available on Netflix instant. If it still is, I'd highly recommend checking it out (though you can stop after the first story).

His son Lamberto Bava directed the so-bad-they're-good Demons and Demons 2.

We just got a blu-ray player with wifi access which will make it much easier for me to watch streaming Netflix movies (before, I had to hook my laptop up to the TV). I don't know if this will be a blessing or a curse;)

Just watched "Don't be afraid of the Dark" makes me want to track down the original as I remember being more creeped out by it.

I watched Don't be Afraid of the Dark last night. Bummer! I love Guillermo del Toro but this was an epic letdown. I'd not seen the original nor any of the previews/trailers so I had no expectations of the story or plot. I actually thought this would be a haunted house flick but instead it was a mini-goblin fest. The only redeeming quality this film had was the atmosphere of the really awesome and totally creepy house. The cliches were overboard (flashlights stopped working at convenient times, the little creatures had all this knowledge of technology, they miraculously could open the grate on their own but why they didn't until the little girl attempts to help is beyond me, and of course, dad sent his kid to bed alone and drugged even after he knew there were creatures in the house). Okay, rant aside, this was really very predictable and was an utter disappointment. 5/10 for the house alone

Looking towards the new year, I'm really looking forward to The Innkeepers, The Woman in Black, and Dark Shadows.

Movie spoilers

#23 what about cutting the power? that bugged me big time. Guillermo Del Toro helped write the script and that was it. The creatures were cool but did you pick up on the last owner and his son were turned into creatures and which ones they were?

Not really scary, but just watched Stephen King's Thinner (also originally a Bachman book. Ok movie, not great. The acting was average and the movie itself just kinda seemed to be a bit blah. They did manage to follow the storyline fairly well though without leaving out any major elements.

#24 beeg

Don't be Afraid of the Dark spoilers cont.
The plot holes were really endless. Yeah, why didn't the creatures cut the power earlier? We never see any developed polaroids nor was there any mention of the squished goblin. I also noticed quite a few time issues. Like Katie Holmes' character changes out of her party outfit super fast yet it takes her quite awhile to pack the child's already full suitcase? And what was the point of the koi pond? And I might have missed it, but the housekeeper lady just disappears from the script towards the end. And how could this guy afford so much hired help? I could go on but I will refrain.

/spoilers

I actually liked Thinner. It was more subtle but still pretty entertaining. I've not read the book but I imagine it is scarier than seeing the story on film. I thought the main character did a good acting job in the movie. I don't know why he didn't go onto bigger roles.

I'm on the fan side of Thinner as well, next to the Dark Half it's on the list of following the books for a change

#26 Yes, I too though that the actor who played the main character was pretty good. Actually the cast in general was decent (I really didn't care for the daughter, I found her to be a bit abrasive.)

#27 The fact that it actually followed the book was the movie's biggest plus.

Also, we watched Gothika this weekend and it wasn't too bad either. I'd heard bad reviews on it and wasn't too keen on watching it, but it was on some cable network during a horror week and I thought I might as well DVR it. Even though it was edited and had commercials (both of which I HATE with movies), I thought that this was a pretty entertaining psychological horror. I thought that Halle Berry did a good job with the main character and that the rest of the cast was pretty solid overall. There were a few stupid effects during the finale, but overall it was a pretty well-done movie.

LOL another fan of Gothika, some movies I just like, I set aside "why now"? (although that really bugs me) and just roll with it. Like What Lies Beneath I like that creepy factor better than wet horror or something that depends totally on the jump factor (which don't get me wrong I like that too, but it's got to have more going for it)

I saw The Shining last night (read the book in 2006)

#30 The Kubric Shining with Nicholson or the other one?

I didn't realize there were multiple versions.

Jack Nicholson played as Jack Torrance
Shelley Duvall was Wendy Torrance
Danny Lloyd played as Danny Torrance

I've read every full-length novel from Carrie to Rose Madder except for The Stand. After that, they started going down hill. I also read the Long Walk, and Thinner, amongst his Bachman Books.

I've now seen the film for The Shining, Firestarter, Christine, Needful Things, and 1408 (one of his recent short stories, and the only one of the five where I haven't read the book).

#32 There was a newer version made (I think it was a made for TV movie) with Steven Weber. I didn't see it, but I've heard it's good.

Anyway, LOVE Nicholson in this one. The rest of the cast minus Shelley Duvall is very good also. Hers is the only role that I would have liked to have seen recast. (Maybe it's just me, but I think she is one of the worst actresses that I have ever seen.)

It's definitely among one of my top 10 favorite movies ever.

Has anyone seen The Orphanage? I saw it super cheap at the store this weekend and it looked creepy, but wasn't sure if anyone had a recommendation. Thanks!

#20: Thanks for the info on Scream 4! :) Yeah, I'm glad they retained their rights to the movie, too, because I'd hate to see a bunch of half-assed Scream sequels come out. I'm sure I'll get to Scream 4 eventually, but probably not anytime soon.

lol @ Gremlins are all just really, really bad CHILDREN. -- I couldn't have said it better. :) Murderous children, but definitely little kids in disguise.

#28: I haven't watched Gothika but I own it (go figure). I've heard the same thing--that it's really bad--but I'm still hopeful. I like Halle Berry, so I can't imagine it's all bad.

#32: It's been ages since I've seen the old version of The Shining. I wasn't a big fan of it (I'm not a big fan of Stanley Kubrick in general), but it's a good movie to at least be familiar with if you're a Stephen King fan. Same goes, I guess, for the other movies you mentioned--Firestarter, Christine, Needful Things, and 1408. I think I've seen them all except for 1408. I know a lot of people on this thread love Stephen King's movies, but I think a lot of them are pretty poorly done and haven't aged very well (though Stand By Me is still my all-time favorite SK movie).

#34: I've seen The Orphanage (I own a copy, too), but it's been so long since I first saw it, that I don't remember everything about it except that I did like it overall. I'd definitely recommend buying it if it's super cheap like you said. Even if you don't like it, you can always return it or sell it.

I've only gotten through a couple horror flicks these past couple weeks: Spider Forest (Korean; a guy with a head injury tries to recall the events that leads up to him finding two dead bodies in a cabin; not recommended at all; it's too confusing and the killer is so obvious it's a bit insulting to the viewer) and the Fright Night remake (definitely recommended; good for a few laughs and jumps).

I actually enjoyed Gothika. I don't remember much of it but I did enjoy it. Sure it wasn't the best movie ever, but I was surprised I actually liked it!

My favorite horror movie ever is The Shining. I thought it was a great mix of my favorite elements (creepy house/hotel, ghosts, crazy person, and the script and acting were great too). It just really worked for me. I love it! =o) The made for TV version is also worth seeing. It is a mini series and incredibly long, but it is more true to the book than the Kubrick version.

I actually own The Orphanage but haven't yet seen it. I need to get into the right mindset to watch foreign flicks (subtitles seem to take a lot out of me!). Since this one has good reviews, I want to make sure I have the time to sit down and really enjoy the film.

Thanks, saraslibrary, for the recommendation. For $5.99, I'll give The Orphanage a whirl. :)

I enjoyed the dark, gloomy atmosphere of Gothika, but didn't find the plot that great. I've definitely seen worse!

#22 - "Don't be afraid of the Dark" makes me want to track down the original as I remember being more creeped out by it.

Don't! I actually bought that movie because of the reviews (and it is not available on Netflix). Sadly, I learned that all those positive reviews are based on nostalgia. Do yourself a favor and go to Amazon and see how often variations of the phrase "this movie terrified me when I saw it as a kid" show up. This is a movie whose reputation benefits from its scarcity. People are remembering it through the haze of childhood.

The original Don't be afraid of the Dark was dumb and lacking in tension or frights. The special effects are similar to Land of the Lost and they show the mosters too often to make them scary. I reviewed it in the previous thread if memory serves.

I have the remake in my queue and am not expecting much, but I'm almost positive it will at least be better than the original.

If anyone wants to borrow the original, email me (address on my profile). I want to save you money! But prepare to have your nostalgia wiped away.

Oh yeah. I (finally!) watched Super 8 last night and I loved it! Not especially frightening. But I grooved on the way J.J. Abrams captured that early '80's Spielberg vibe. When Spielberg as at the top of his form.

Super 8 felt a bit like what you would get if you threw Jaws, Close Encounters and E.T. in a blender, but it doesn't feel like a swipe of them at all.

#39 – great description, jseger90000! I loved Super 8 – it reminded me of my early childhood.

#37 LOL well I was a kid when I saw it but don't remember too much other than all the whispering at the end and wanted it all explained to me.

#39-40: I passed Super 8 off to my mom to watch, and she really liked it too. Maybe when my DVD pile isn't so huge, I'll try watching it.

Hellraiser - Never seen it before but I need to catch up on my horror classics.

#43: I don't remember the series very well (and there are a few I never even watched), other than it being very gory and involving a fun-loving little guy named Pinhead. Good luck with it! :)

---

I have two more horror recommendation from this past week or so: Choose and A Horrible Way to Die. I liked them both, though Choose really got bad reviews on IMDb.

#43 - I think your best bet is to stop after the first one (which is very good). Then again, I only ever saw part 2 which is only a hazy memory. I could be missing some classics I guess.

I watched one that was a better idea than a movie: 100 Feet. A woman serves the last year of her prison term under house arrest. She killed her abusive cop ex-husband. Turns out he's still haunting the house.

Not bad, really. But not especially good either. Done by Eric Red who wrote the original Hitcher and Near Dark.

I'm *almost* finsihed with The Stand, so I watched the first two parts of the miniseries last night. It could have used a bigger budget and seeing what Frank Darabont has done with Stephen King works really points out how merely competant a director Mick Garris is. But the casting is excellent.

Netflix has sent me the remake of Don't Be Afraid of the Dark (I'm already pretty sure of how I will feel about that one. See post #38) and Apollo 18. That one sure looks good, but reviews have not been kind.

#45 - I have numbers 2 and 3 recorded on the Sky box so might give them a go when I'm bored, at least I didn't spend money on them if they turn out bad.

Watched Friday the 13th on Friday the 13th. I had forgotten how different it is from the rest of the series. Not a bad movie, but kinda drags in parts.

*******************SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER**********************

I had totally forgotten that Jason isn't really even in the movie at all. Yes, he is talked about and has that small dream-sequence scene at the end sans hockey mask, but I don't know how I blanked on that!

********************END SPOILER*********************************

#47 - Did you watch the uncut version? Only released on DVD within the last year or two.

I liked how in the remake they kinda blew through the whole first movie in the prologue. Very clever.

#48 I own Friday the 13th: From Crystal Lake to Manhattan - Ultimate Edition DVD Collection from 2004 (I don't really know what makes it ultimate, but I wanted the movies and didn't really care about a lot of extras with the series). So no, not the extended cut. I also haven't watched the remake yet.

I always wondered how Jason came back fully grown and why he wears a hockey mask.

#50 I'm guessing that the hockey mask is from his face being kinda deformed etc. Not a clue as to how he became a fully-grown behemoth though.

LOL yeah I can see how self conscious he would be while carrying a machete

Have seen Hellraiser 2 now - not as good as the first and gets kinda odd towards the last 45 mins. Might watch the 3rd just to give it a chance.

I finally got around to watching Grimm Love. I didn't enjoy the movie but I was fascinated with the topic. I agree with saraslibrary that the graduate student character was somewhat unnecessary. I want to learn more about the story too. it is a shame because I think this film had the potential to be really great. 6/10

I also watched (most of) The Dark Half. I didn't enjoy this one either. I found it much too similar to other King stories (particularly Secret Window). The acting was good but the movie itself was predictable and boring (I fell asleep twice trying to finish the thing). The end was silly and I ended up stopping it before it was totally through (which is rare for me). 6/10

I also watched Beyond Re-Animator. This was laughably awful. It seemed longer than necessary and again, predictable. The female character was really annoying (he voice seemed dubbed over). I got annoyed at how impossible the scenarios were. I know the movie is fiction and already implausible, but they'd never let Dr. West near the prison clinic after what he was he was convicted of. They also wouldn't let the woman nurse and female main character dress as provocatively as they did. Again, I know it was just a movie but points like this irk me. 5/10

#50 - I always wondered how Jason came back fully grown and why he wears a hockey mask.

He's full grown because It's Alive showed that killer children are just silly.

But on a (slightly) more serious note, the hockey mask came from Friday the 13th part 3. In part one the killer was off camera, in part two he wore a burlap sack over his head. Then in part three he bumps off a kid in the barn and in a scene that I'm sure they *didn't* steal from Halloween, the recently deceased's girlfriend come to investigate and the killer disguises himself as the dead boy (in this case, by wearing a hockey mask Mr. Dead Boyfriend was playing with).

Oh yeah. I watched the rest of The Stand which deserves a (longer) remake. Good cast, but the direction and pacing were kinda clunky.

I also saw the remake of Don't Be Afraid of the Dark, which went pretty much as predicted in post #38. It's a shame that the movie was such a solid three (out of five) star movie. There really is potential in that story. But everything about the movie was just so middle of the road.

#45: I have 100 Feet lurking somewhere in my DVD collection; I just haven't watched it yet. Thanks for reminding me about it. I didn't know Eric Red directed it either. I love The Hitcher!

#54: Sorry to hear you didn't like Grimm Love as much as I did, but I know what you mean about it piquing your interest in the real-life story.

I remember really liking The Dark Half when I was younger, but it's been too many years to remember it all. I never really thought about it, but you're right--The Secret Window is pretty similar to The Dark Half.

#55: It's Alive showed that killer children are just silly. -- I agree with you that children as the bad guy just aren't scary (though the kid in Pet Semetary definitely had his moments). However, I just recently watched Bereavement (about a serial killer who abducts a young boy and basically turns him into his protege) and was kind of creeped out by the whole idea of a child serial killer.

I also got done watching the previous movie to Bereavement: Malevolence. That one's more of your typical slasher, whereas Bereavement shows how everything began with the young serial killer. Out of the two (there's supposed to be a third movie made, but I'm not sure if/when that'll happen), I'd recommend Bereavement first, then maybe Malevolence if you're really into the series.

The third horror movie I've watched this past week was Zombie Strippers, which I really wouldn't recommend unless you're a fan of Jenna Jameson and/or Robert Englund. It does juggle both nudity and gore fairly well, in addition to some pretty funny scenes. Still, the acting, some of the special effects, etc were pretty lousy (but then, it is a low-budget movie), that I was a tad disappointed overall.

I rented Final Destination 5 this weekend. I have seen all of these films except for #4. I usually won't watch films out of order or without seeing one installment of the series but I made an exception this time. I thought the films was really "meh." It would've been better viewed in 3D (like it was released in theaters) but still, I didn't think the deaths were that impressive. Maybe I'm jaded with the series? I did love the twist ending. That alone bumped this up a notch for me. I'd recommend it if you're a fan of the series. There was also a really sweet montage at the end of the film showing the best kills from the entire series. That was a nice touch. 6/10

I also rented Cowboys and Aliens. I don't get the hate for this film. It wasn't epic, but it certainly wasn't a train wreck either. I liked the premise and the storyline was decent. Oddly, Harrison Ford's acting was really disappointing. Daniel Craig was awesome and there were even a fair amount of funny parts in the film. I thought the characters in the film should've been more terrified of the occurrences, but that could be just me. I think without the high profile actors, this movie would have been better. I guess everyone just expected more from it and overall, it was just decent. 6.5/10

I was stoked to rent Paranormal Activity 3. Oh. My. Goodness. This was awful! My impressions of the first two were fair. I thought the first was okay but I really loved the second. In turn, since I enjoyed Paranormal Activity 2 so much, it made me appreciate the first even more. The third one was a mess. It was very misleading that none of the scenes in the previews to be in the film. In fact, there were maybe 2 scary scenes in the film. It also didn't answer the questions about the house fire from the girls' childhood. No mention of it. Weak. I hated it. 4/10

This weekend I hope to make it to see The Innkeepers. I'm not sure if it will be at my local theater, but it would be a nice birthday present for me. Ti West is really a director to watch for. Or maybe I will see The Woman in Black. I like atmospheric/haunted house/ghosty horror the best.

Watched The Orphanage this weekend. Nice, creepy atmosphere with an end that's different from the majority of horror flicks out nowadays, so I found it to be a nice change of pace. It's in Spanish, so you have to read subtitles.

#58 – I'm eager to see The Woman in Black too. I hope it lives up to the trailer.

Just watched Husk - scarecrow spirits in corn fields, stranded young people, creepy old houses and an old peddle sewing machine. I think my desensitisation is becoming desensitised as I was jumping about like a scratched record. Still at least I had a good cardio work out... Have to go and watch something light now before I can go to bed :-/

@61 I was surprised with Husk. I actually enjoyed it! I found it to be genuinely creepy and it kept me interested until the end.

I watched Hellraiser: Hellseeker and Hellraiser:Deader. I preferred the latter even though that seems to go against the trend of the reviews I've read. It was nice to see Kirsty in Hellseeker but the plot was far too similar to Inferno for my liking whereas Deader, though rather convoluted, had an interesting core concept - shame it was so rushed in places and that they could not have better integrated the cenobites into the narrative.

I watched Shark Night over the weekend. I imagine it was much more tolerable in 3D but I rented a 2D version. You could tell the which scenes were intended for 3D and in 2D, they were of course silly. This is one of the worst films I've seen in awhile...actually ever. They really tried to tie a plot into the movie but it would have been better if they just embraced the movie for what it's sub-genre is (a gimmicky gore fest shark feeding frenzy). It was PG-13, so there was limited gore and nudity. I'm not one for the nudity but it is pretty typical in horror flicks. The storyline was bogus and there were so many plot holes it was overall, laughable. The acting was "meh," and there was not much emphasis on the shark scenes. The shark attacks were not shown on screen closeup. Really, I'm surprised this ever made it to theaters. It seems like a direct-to-video release at best but much more like something that would air on the weekends on the Sy-Fy channel (think Megaladon vs Giant Octopus but less entertaining. 4/10

I also watched Contagion. This is more of a thriller than horror but it was very well done. I wasn't expecting much from it (it was my boyfriend's movie pick) but I was drawn in throughout the duration of the film. The acting was great and certain events were unpredictable. It was a good example of how society would react if a catastrophic deadly virus swept the world. It was realistic in that it didn't kill off everyone (think post-apocalyptic virus/zombie movies where seeming everyone but a group of like a dozen are left). Millions died in the movie yes, but still, many others survived and infrastructure didn't break down to the effect seen in most other movies like this. I enjoyed it and recommend it. 7/10

Oh yeah, did anyone see either The Innkeepers or The Woman in Black? I'm curious to hear non-spoiler thoughts on even a general "yay" or "nay" on either.

A few more oldies from me - I rarely catch new films...

Feardotcom - utterly rubbish! I remember the ads for this years ago, hard to believe it didn't go straight to dvd. One of those 'jump-on-the-bandwagon' horror films that throws everything in there and doesn't work on any level, there was a bit of The Ring in there, The House on Haunted Hill, Se7en...

Threads - have been meaning to see this again for years but was too frightened to! Terrified me when it was shown on tv in my early teens, it was less frightening this time and just plain grim. REALLY grim. Very, very depressing.

Eastern Promises - yeah, yeah, not a horror, but by a legendary horror director (a favourite of mine), and worth a mention because it was such a good film. Or so I thought. Was surprised how bloody funny it was, and I always love seeing London as a location. The acting by everyone concerned was great, especially Viggo Mortensen and Vincent Cassell.

#65 - thanks for the Feardotcom warning – I've considered it a couple times but put it back not the shelf. And totally agree with Eastern Promises – grim but excellent movie. And Mortensen is a brave actor for the fight scene in the bath house!

>66 PJGraham:: Brave scene, and extremely gripping - was too wrapped up in it to sneak a peak, but thinking about it now I'm amazed at how uninhibited he was.

Recently watched Alfred Hitchcock's Rope. An astounding movie with some of the best camera work I have ever seen. A shame it isn't ranked higher in his body of work.

If you haven't seen the movie, it is loosely based on Leopold and Loeb. Two esthetes murder a friend and hide his body in a trunk, then host a party in that very room. The movie was filmed to look like a single, long continuous take and takes place in real time, with Hitchcock moving the camera around to reveal certain details. Excellent, excellent movie.

#58 - Thanks for the heads' up on Ti West's The Innkeepers. I saw The Roost and The House of the Devil and while neither was great, they were both admirable. Ti could really go somewhere.

We just watched Snakes On A Plane. Of course it was terrible, but then I think it was about as good as a movie called Snakes On A Plane can be. Has anyone seen the TV edit of the infamous line? I liked it better than the original!

Here is the original line: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amYzBQMT4VI

And here is the 'family friendly' version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4t6zNZ-b0A

Recently watched Dead Snow again. I loved The idea of zombie nazis. Have you ever watched a zombie movie and started thinking about the person the zombie was before he/she was a zombie and started feeling a little bad for the poor dead bastard? No problem here. No ambiguity. Thes guys were assholes when they were alive, and they are still assholes when they are dead. Loved it. Plus all the nods to classic horror cliches were nice.

Really curious; Could human (zombie) intetines really support as much weight as they did in the movie? I think I'm going to send that one in to Mythbusters.

Just watched Horror Hotel (a.k.a. City of the Dead), low-budget B&W from 1960 about modern New England witches performing human sacrifices. It's an awesome movie if you like FOG. (The whole thing was shot in a sound stage.) Christopher Lee was supposedly very proud of his American accent in this one.

Really, some terribly cornball stuff, and the narrative tropes are beyond tired. But it did still create and maintain the occult horror atmosphere that I relish.

>70 paradoxosalpha:: Did you get it on one of those cheap copyright-free compilations? I have a copy - fell asleep the first few times I tried watching it, but once I managed to stay awake I found it wasn't too bad. Not nearly as much fun as others I've seen such as 'Bucket of Blood' or 'House on Haunted Hill', though.

> 71

It was cheap, but I don't think it was "copyright-free," and it wasn't part of a compilation. The DVD production was fairly bare bones, but not as crude as some I've seen.

I just watched Paranormal Activity 3. It had a few made me jump music. But I would have to say that the first one was the scariest. They're all good.

#73 poemgirl98 - I thought the first Paranormal Activity was over-hyped but I loved the second one (which in turn, made me like the first one more because of the storyline). I absolutely HATED the third. I thought it was very misleading that the scenes from the commercials were not part of the movie.

I watched In Dreams this weekend. It isn't horror per se but more of a psychological thriller. I saw it when it first came out and liked it then and was wondering if my thoughts on it would change. I still enjoyed it this time around but felt like it stretched a bit at times. I had forgotten what a chilling performance Robert Downey Jr. made. Bening was great too. The film reminded me of The Cell. I liked it and would recommend it. 7/10

I also saw Wind Chill over the weekend. I really enjoyed this. It was different and did not play out how I expected. It was a bit slow going, but I liked the dialogue and the characters. Very spooky. 7.5/10

I'm finally getting around to making my way through Season 3 of True Blood. It isn't as good as the first two seasons but I am enjoying it. I have had the DVDs for awhile now but I always get so sad when I crank through seasons so quickly. Hopefully I'm pacing myself so I won't have to wait so long for Season 4 to be released!

I'm hoping to watch The Children tonight or maybe tomorrow. It has some good reviews for a non-theatrical released horror flick.

#74 – I enjoyed Wind Chill quite a bit. Glad I'm not alone. :)

I'm curious about The Children, though skeptical of anything that goes straight to video. Hope it turns out good.

Saw The Woman in Black this weekend and really enjoyed it. Very creepy and atmospheric. I've read a review somewhere that said the addition of modern jump scares and effects weren't needed, and I have to agree -- though I didn't mind them at all. Compared to some movies and there poor use of CGI to show things that couldn't be shown before, I think the movie did a good job of balancing that while maintaining a gothic standard, IMO.

There is a whole other thread comparing the movie to the book, but I haven't read the book so didn't want to comment there.

#76 – To clarify, when I mentioned the gothic standard, I was really referring to the feel of the movie. Some of the plot points wouldn't fit the classic gothic story. :)

Sounds promising PJGraham. I'm hoping to catch The Woman in Black while it is in theaters. Spooky, atmospheric horror movies are my favorite!

I finished up Season 3 of True Blood. The show isn't as good as it was in the first season, but I do still enjoy it. I hate that there are only 10-13 episodes each season because it makes whipping through the DVDs very do-able in just a weekend. Now I have to wait until May when season 4 comes out on DVD!

I watched The 4th Floor this weekend. I decided to hurry up and watch it since it expires from NetFlix tomorrow. I hadn't heard of the film but only decided to see it because of its high rating on Netflix. I was impressed. It had a pretty great cast Juliette Lewis, William Hurt, Shelley Duvall, and Tobin Bell. I was surprised to see that it was made in 1994. It held up rather well and reminded me of the classic thrillers of the 1960s. There was a lot of Hitchcockian influence too (Real Window, Vertigo), but it worked. It got a bit cheesey towards the end, but overall, I enjoyed the movie. 7/10

As usual, nothing too current :)

The Orphanage - Shot in a very eerie, suspenseful way, like good Japanes horror films (Dark Water comes to mind). In fact it reminded me very much of Dark Water - suspenseful, scary children, a good jump or two and an emotional ending. The Orphanage was the sadder of the two, I did well up slightly.

Insidious - What can I say? Decent actors and a scary score, plus a few good creeps and scares at the beginning, but didn't it get silly? Tried to be a bit of everything, what with nods to The Exorcist, Amityville Horror, Poltergeist, etc. That kind of thing works when it's done with wit, here it just screamed 'rip-off'. I was warned about the Darth Maul look-a-like, all I can say is that they weren't wrong there.

I watched "The Dead" last night, a movie I ordered from amazon. Never heard of it, but I needed a zombie fix.
"the first zombie road movie set in Africa. One of the most unique zombies movie of all time"(blurb on the movie).

It really was a decent movie.

Jack Ketchum's The Girl Next Door

Oh, the 4th Floor sounds good. Maybe I'll go add the DVD to my queue.

I just watched Kevin Smith's Red State. It was marketed as a horror movie and it is for the first hour or so, but then it becomes something else. I loved how outside the mainstream it was.

I know Kevin Smith says he's got two more movies and he's out. But I'd like to see him make a few more of these self-distributed low budget flicks. And I'd like to see him make a straight-up horror movie.

Not sure if I would recommend Red State or not. More than many other movies, it depends on who I would be recommending it to. But if you have an open mind, I would recommend it.

I just read about the originally planned ending to Red State. Boy I wish he had the $$$ to do that!

@jseger900 I really enjoyed Red State. It wasn't the typical type of horror/action/thriller flick that I go for, and in fact I usually don't like uber violent movies, but this one worked. I thought it was really different and unpredictable. I'd recommend it to horror/thriller fans who are open minded and looking for something fresh.

Another movie that reminds me of Red State (and coincidentally is titled similarly) is Red, White, and Blue. It is gritty---not for the feint of heart and also dances along horror/thriller genre line. It was also low-budget, indie, and unpredictable.

Azeryk (or anyone else who has seen it) What did you think of Jack Ketchum's The Girl Next Door? It is in my Netflix queue with a pretty low rating, but I've heard several recommendations for it.

#85 - Ah yeah. I've had Red, White and Blue in my instant queue for a while now. I'll try to watch it this weekend.

Netflix is sending me an oldie: The Norliss Tapes, another '70's Dan Curtis made-for-TV movie. Anybody seen it yet?

#82 - I'd also like some feedback on The Girl Next Door.

#85 - CurrLee33 = I thought the film was alright, it isn't a masterpiece but if you liked the story from the book then you should like the film.

I've watched a handful of horror movies in the past month or so, but the only one that really stands out is the remake of I Spit on Your Grave. I'd definitely recommend that one over the original.

Thanks for all the movie recs, you guys! I have a ton to add to my TBW pile now.

Shadow of the Vampire - not really horror but about the (fictional) making of Nosferatu. Excellent.

The Changeling - never seen this, believe it or not, but heard loads about it over the years. Wasn't what I was expecting but was just as scary as I'd been told. I slept with the lights on!

#89 – I loved Shadow of the Vampire! I think any fan of classic vampires or Nosferatu would enjoy it.

#90 – Am I assuming this is not the one with Jolie in it?

PJGraham - That's right. I think the Jolie film is Changeling (no 'The'), which I thought was a good film personally. The murders were unpleasant, I'd never heard of the case before. The one I watched was THE Changeling, with George C. Scott, classic haunted house horror.

Nosferatu is favourite of mine but I wouldn't have thought you'd have to be a fan to enjoy Shadow of the Vampire. There's the parallels between directing/film-making and vampirism, and Willem Dafoe is amazing in it. Similar ideas, about the nature of authorship and vampirism, are a theme in The Merciful Women, which is very, very loosely based on the get-together of Byron, the Shelleys and Polidori that resulted in Frankenstein.

#92 – Oooohhhh, I'll definitely have to put The Changeling on my list – I love George C. Scott (he was my favorite Scrooge too). And I also love a good haunted house story.

I agree about Shadow of the Vampire – I was just focusing on the horror angle rather than the film making angle. Thanks for the tip on The Merciful Women.

George C. Scott is great, and in a favourite horror film of mine - The Exorcist 3. Extremely creepy film.

I've still not watched The Children. Despite it being a Netflix rental, at this point I have probably spent more on it to rent than it if I had purchased it! I didn't realize it was set during Christmas and I just have this thing about watching holiday movies at the wrong time of the year. I WILL watch it before December, though! =o)

I just bought several movies that I'd seen before and enjoyed enough that I wanted to own them. For $15 Amazon is selling The Amityville Horror DVD collection (which includes the original Amityville, plus II and III, plus a special features DVD. I also picked up Black Swan which truthfully, I did not love but I did want to re-watch. Lake Mungo which was an Afterdark Horrorfest movie that I absolutely loved (spooky and original, I highly recommend). Basket Case was on sale for like $7 new. I saw this several years ago and really liked it (it is a good cheesey horror movie with some comedic bits a likened to the feeling of Evil Dead. I also picked up Red State and Fulci's The House by the Cemetery which is actually my favorite (thus far) of the Fulci films that I've seen (I didn't so much care for the Zombie trilogy).

I picked up Ketchum's The Girl Next Door from the annual library book sale yesterday. I've not read before but but plan to before watching the movie.

And to chime in on some recent posts...I would also recommend The Changeling. I saw this as a kid and it was one of the scariest ghost movies I'd seen. I re-watched it last year and was a bit disappointed as it seemed slower than I remembered. Also, George C. Scott wasn't the highlight of the film for me (his character was a little too casual about the weird things happening to him).

And I saw Shadow of the Vampire before watching the original Nosferatu and I thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated it. I was so amazed by Willem Dafoe's performance and physical appearance. It was really chilling. I wonder why the film doesn't attract more attention?

Did anyone see The Woman in Black? I think it is still in theaters and I wanted to catch it before it makes it to DVD. And what about Silent House? I'm not so amped about that one but I'll probably rent it.

I've seen the original Woman in black, it's quite cultie but seems like I got it off of Netflix years ago, worth watching for sure. I didn't love Silent House, but I didn't hate it either - very low on the supernatural aspects and more on the twisty ending, if you liked The Others, then this is for you. Also a big fan of Shadow of the Vampier :)

damn, am I the only one in here? I watched The Thing, it's not a remake but a prequel, starts with the group that finds the alien, good concept but that was about it. It didn't have any of the creepiness the first movie had or the tension, I remember watching that first movie through my fingers.

beeg, sorry, it's been busy. I haven't seen the older Woman in Black, but I'm sure I'd like it. Nor have I seen Silent House.

CurrLee33 – thanks for the Lake Mungo tip – after a couple uninspired Afterdark movies, I wasn't sure about this one.

Anybody seen The Innkeepers? Thought about renting that one.

PJGraham While I rarely do this, I have pre-ordered The Innkeepers despite not having seen it. I'm a big fan of Ti West and think he's got a great future in horror films ahead of him. I think the movie will be released next month. I'll let you know what I think.

I finally got around to watching The Children. I thought it was pretty decent. It was reminiscent of a few films (Children of the Corn, The Village of the Damned) but it was engaging and entertaining enough. The ending was a little open-ended but that didn't bother me. I'd recommend seeing it once. While I didn't love it, nothing particularly bothered me about it. It was just fine. 6/10

I'm looking forward to The Cabin in the Woods. It looks different. I'm not sure if I will see this in theaters or rent it.

Watched Lake Mungo on CurrLee33's recommendation. I don't normally like the documentary or amateur filmmaker style of movie, but I did enjoy this once it got going. I agree, it's very spooky and a different type of horror movie.

I've watched a few movies recently, but first I wanted to sing the praises of The Changeling. That is an excellent, atmospheric and quietly scary movie.

I also loved the meta-horror of Shadow of the Vampire and as a bonus, it was my introduction to Eddie Izzard.

Recently I watched The Norliss Tapes which was a total disappointment.

But I also watched that '80's gem The Gate which is surprisingly good. And is almost worth watching just to check out the fashions worn in the party scene.

From the same director, I also watched I, Madman. It had a host of problems including wooden acting and lack of suspense. But I give it credit for an original idea (the villain of a pulp horror novel begins stalking the woman reading the book), a unique villain and that it featured a sprawling used book store similar to Acres of Books in Long Beach, CA as one of the main settings gave it bonus points. If you understand you aren't going to see a masterpiece, it is worth renting.

I have Arachnaphobia at home and am planning on watching a couple of the Hellraiser sequels (they are all currently streaming on Netflix) this weekend.

Based on suggestions here, I've added Lake Mungo to my queue (in the #1 spot) and The House By The Cemetery, though I've HATED every Fulci movie I have yet seen.

PJGraham - Glad you enjoyed Lake Mungo. I was skeptical when I began the movie because there have been A LOT of those faux-documentary horror flicks recently but I was really intrigued with this one. I bought it because I know it is something I'll want to re-watch.

jseger9000 - I can't wait to hear what you think of The House By The Cemetery. I've tried to like Fulci and for the most part, I just can't get into his films. This one I absolutely loved. It was a departure from his overt "zombie" gore fests. This was spooky. It does have the weird dubbing, though.

Have you seen Arachnophobia before? I watched it first as a child. Before then, I wasn't afraid of spiders but now I am terrified of them! I liked the film, though. There was some comedic relief with John Goodman.

I've got a comedy flick rented now (Young Adult) but when that is returned, I should be receiving Straw Dogs and shortly after, Midnight Meat Train. I'm thinking of going by Redbox this weekend and picking up Absentia (no idea what it is about but it has rave reviews, especially that it is a DTV horror flick). Also Netflix is streaming April Fools Day andThe Howling until Sunday. I want to watch one of those before they disappear (kinda ironic that April Fool's Day expires on the actual April Fool's Day).

#102 - (kinda ironic that April Fool's Day expires on the actual April Fool's Day).

Maybe it's a joke? I think I'll try to catch that before it disappears.

My problem with the Fulchi movies I've seen so far (which is Zombie and The Beyond, two of his 'best') is that they are just terrible incompetent messes.

Being a fan of horror, a genre that is already looked down upon, I try not to judge others' tastes. But I secretly suspect that Fulchi's reputation rests solely on his penchant for extreme gore.

I have not yet seen Arachnaphobia. I'm not sure how I missed it. I remember it being out and very popular. Just never caught it.

I watched Roger Corman's infamous Humanoids From the Deep last night. I know it's not saying a lot, but it was the best Roger Corman produced movie I've seen. It comes close to being a good movie. But it falls apart at the end. The fish-men are goofy looking and shown too much.

And the shots of them humping women really is tacky, even for an exploitation movie. I read that those scenes were shot against director Barbara Peeters wishes. And they are bad, though there's only two and they are mercifully short. But for the first forty minutes to an hour, it really isn't a bad movie.

I remember Arachnaphobia having some really funny moments as well as creepy (it does have John Goodman in it, after all). I should probably give it another viewing since I haven't seen it since it came out.

#103 - Fish men humping women? Yeah, I think I'll pass on that one. Thanks for the heads up!

Hellraiser 2, in a word, sucked.

Now, I loved the first one and think of it as a horror classic. But the sequel...

For one thing, it followed the original so closely that the whole movie felt like an extended epilog, the part that should have been left on the cutting room floor.

I'm one of the few people I know who hated Arachnophobia, but I'm also one of the few people I know who loved April Fool's Day. Just have to be different, I guess...

Now I agree with you, jseger, about Hellraiser 2. Only the first one was any good. Almost anyone will tell you to stick with the first two and I can never believe what I'm hearing. Good to know I'm not the only one :)

Didn't Fulci do Zombie Flesh Eaters? It's the only one of his I've seen if that's the case and I won't have a word said against it, purely because of the underwater fight between the zombie and the shark. It isn't a particularly gory scene but it's played pretty straight and doesn't seem to be there for comedy's sake either. It's just there because it's there, it's completely and utterly ridiculous and I love it.

#106 - I've never heard it called that. Just Zombie or Zombi 2. I love when a movie has a dozen different names like that:-)

Last night I watched an adaptation of Dean Koontz' Servants of Twilight. It wasn't bad considering the less than shoestring budget it obviously had. Seriously, it made your average Lifetime movie look lavish. Also, the evil ringleader lady looked an awful lot like my mother-in-law, which was just weird.

Anyway, I'd like to see that one remade with a larger budget. But if you are bored and can't find anything worthwhile on Netflix streaming (and if you can tolerate micro-budget movies), it wasn't bad.

big fan of Arachnophobia, it's just pretty, then tense and funny and tense again. Good fun.

I watched April Fool's this weekend and was impressed! It was a little hokey, but I enjoyed it. I'd like to see some alternate endings. It reminded me a bit of Clue (LOVE!). 7/10

Moomin_Mama - How could I have forgotten about the underwater zombie shark fight? I still don't know how they filmed that. It was easily the best part of the movie.

@jseger and Moomin - I recall liking the second Hellraiser. I don't remember anything about it now though trying to think back on it. I guess it was a little too similar to the first. I don't understand how they've been able to make so many sequels. They are truly awful the further into the series you get.

Saw April Fools Day on a date when I was in highschool. Wonder what ever happened to that girl?

CurrLee33 - you've linked me to some other Moomin :)

Big, big fan of CLUE. Also liked how April Fool's Day was such an early spoof of the slasher genre, which was still fairly new then. Years before Craven's Scream, too, although Scream was more trendily 'post-modern'. Good fun.

Now I'm regretting not having caught April Fool's Day while it was instantly available. I did watch an Errol Morris documentary (Mr. Death) right before it got pulled, so at least I caught something last minute.

Not exactly horror, but I watched Death Race 2000 last night and loved it.

And I wanted to chime in on Clue. Love that movie. I think Mrs. White's "I hated her SO much..." speech is my favorite part of the movie. And here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8d8y4BLWtI

Clue and Murder by Death, good times

I watched Straw Dogs (the 2011 remake). I have not seen the original. The reviews are pretty harsh, mostly because viewers felt it was too similar to the original. I thought the movie was awful. I couldn't stand James Marsden's character. It was just a terrible movie (and I'm not saying that because of the rape scene). The film went from boring to rushed with loose ends. I definitely don't recommend it. 4.5/10

I also watched Sublime this weekend. This was pretty predictable and if I told you what movies it reminded me of, it would ruin the "twist." Overall, it was weird and extremely depressing. Horror movie blood is a pet peeve of mine and this one, the blood was fakey looking (too orange-y and bright to be realistic to me). I don't recommend this movie either. 5/10

I watched Arachnophobia and liked it quite a bit. John Goodman stole the show, though I think maybe that was a detriment to the rest of the movie.

Also watched the TV movie of Stephen King's Desperation. I think the casting was excellent, but the movie felt too middle-of-the-road to me. It was like all the things Mick Garris attaches his name to. A very good idea, but Garris is just too lackluster a director.

I just rewatched Hitchcock's The Birds. Now that was horrifying. I forgot how very disturbing it was (makes me look askance at my two parrots, that's for sure).

Watched Crowley (also known as Chemical Wedding) and Lady in White this weekend.

Was unimpressed with Crowley. Seemed like there was a seed of a good story with the L. Ron Hubbard angle, but that plot thread seemed to hang loose from the story's fabric. Not great production value either, though I can easily forgive that if I like the story.

Which brings me to Lady in White. I thought someone on this thread suggested it, but I cannot find that post. Anyway, despite some cheesy and low-budget 80s effects, I thought this was an entertaining story with a couple good actors -- including Lukas Haas as the child MC. Though I'm sure some traditionalists would scream, I would like to see what would happen if it could be remade with today's production abilities and with another talented child actor.

> 117

I don't remember there being an "L. Ron Hubbard angle" in that movie. Or do you mean a potential "angle" in the biography of Aleister Crowley? (Crowley never met Hubbard, by the way. He only knew him through reportage from Jack Parsons.) That film was hardly a documentary biopic, and shouldn't be judged as such.

As for me, I found it mildly entertaining, but I got a lot more enjoyment out of Bruce Dickinson's music album Accident of Birth. (The original Chemical Wedding movie treatment and the music were coeval in Dickinson's creative process, from what I gather.)

No, this movie referenced Hubbard and a physicist (forgot his name) who was a student of one or both men are mentioned in the movie as trying to create an elemental, or moon child, to harbor a soul or something or other. They don't appear in the movie, but are mentioned a few times.

> 119

The "physicist" would have been Jack Parsons. He was actually more a technician than an academic researcher or theorist. "Rocket scientist" is in fact the most apt descriptor. He was a founder of JPL and has a crater on the moon named after him. He was a dedicated follower of Crowley's teachings, but only interacted with the Beast through correspondence. Hubbard, as I mentioned in in #118, only knew Crowley through Parsons.

My favorite scene in that movie is the one where Crowley gives a theology lesson to the university dons.

Yes, that was fun!. But overall, I didn't find the movie that enjoyable – but it had moments.

Anyone going to see Cabin in the Woods? Very interested to see/hear how it is!

Aerrin99 I want to see Cabin in the Woods. I don't know about this weekend, though. I usually hate going to see horror movies on the opening weekend (or weekends in general). Too many audience distractions and silliness for me. If I do catch it in theaters this weekend, it will probably be during the day.

I have Rogue at home. It looks like a fun crocodile horror flick. I wouldn't typically be interested in this but I've heard some recommendations for it and the IMDB.com rating isn't that bad either. I hope it isn't hokey like those SyFy creature features. Those are sometimes fun but generally awful (and the CGI is painful to watch).

Anybody see Cabin in the Woods? Been curious as to how good it will really be.

Rogue started off interesting but then got way predictable and hokey. I was disappointed. The CGI was good, though. The croc looked realistic when you finally got to see him. 5.5/6

:::::::::::spolier alert:::::::::::
I don't like crocodiles in particular and I think they are scary as hell, however I was sad when the gator died. The movie failed to really communicate that this creature was "evil." I mean he was just an animal trying to live. And how he died was sad to me as well. I much preferred the Lake Placid ending. I also really hated the death of the dog in this film. They saved the dog several times during the movie and I though he'd make it but in the end, no luck. Really shitty of them.
:::::::::::end spoiler:::::::::::

#125 – Yeah, it seems like dogs are easy prey in horror movies. I know my dogs take cover when anything strange or unusual comes around. (Like the big owl that hung out in my yard for a while, swooping from one tree line to the other – Zoe was outta' there!).

I watched an old Mario Bava giallo movie (maybe the first giallo, or at least one of the earliest) called Blood and Black Lace For the most part it was only so-so, but there were some wonderful bits and one prolonged scene in a closed antique store with flashing neon light was brilliant. Almost worth watching just for the quality of that one scene. Also, the 'blank' face of the killer was creepy.

Rented Lake Mungo. Overall, it didn't work for me. It was creepy though, and I appreciated the way it was presented as an actual documentary rather than the 'shaky hand-held camera' thing. I would like to see more faux-documentaries like this. (There is an extra feature on the Blair Witch Project DVD called Curse of the Blair Witch that is presented as if it were an old In Search of... episode. I actually enjoyed that more than the movie itself.)

Netflix is sending me The House by the Cemetery by Fulci. So far, Fulci is hated by me, but fingers crossed...

Sorry you didn't enjoy Lake Mungo. I was impressed with it and it did literally give me chills. I've seen so many horror movies that it is hard to get me genuinely spooked.

I was prepared to watch Don't Look Now this weekend but was bummed when I opened the Netflix sleeve to find disc in two pieces! This is my last Netflix mailer rental before we drop to streaming alone (I found I haven't watched nearly as much by mail as I anticipated so I will probably supplement my rentals with RedBox). They're resending me (a hopefully intact) Don't Look Now that should arrive today. I'm looking forward to it.

#128 - That's the thing. Lake Mungo impressed me and gave me chills. Yet even so, there was something off about it. Something in the pacing maybe. I don't know.

My memories of Don't Look Know are vague. I remember it being beautifully filmed and acted, though very slow. Too slow for its own good really. The ending really was spooky.

Saw Cabin in the Woods, really liked it!

I was afraid going in that it'd be too gory - I like physiological thrills and stay away from anything that could even loosely be described as torture porn - but it was pretty well balanced. The scares were scary, the laughs were really remarkably funny, and I liked the way the movie kept twisting. Not so much in a 'aha, that's what's going on!' way but in a 'what is this movie actually doing?' way.

It was simultaneously a fun scare and an homage to the entire genre.

#130 – thanks for the review, Aerrin99. I was considering going to see it tomorrow night, and now I think I will for sure!

Don't Look Now was definitely slow-going. It took two sittings to finish it. I have to say I am confused by the ending. I think a lot of it is left to the viewer to interpret, which doesn't really bother me, but right now I don't know what to think of the movie. It has definitely stayed with me. Maybe after a few days of mulling it over I'd have decided whether I liked it or not. =o)

I rented Absentia from RedBox over the weekend. This was an independent psychological/ghost/missing person film that was a big let down. A pregnant woman's younger sister (who had been living on the road and who is now a recovering drug addict) visits her sister whose husband has been missing for 7 years. They just filed all the paperwork to declare him dead, and then surprisingly, he just shows up (completely out of it and not aware of where he'd been). I knew it was low budget, but it was pretty painful to watch (in a boring, when-is-this-going-to-be-over kind of way). The acting was okay, but the story was lacking although it did have potential. At the risk of sounding vain, the characters weren't easy to look at either. I don't recommend it. 5.5/10

This week I want to rent The Innkeepers. I still want to catch Cabin in the Woods too before it leaves theaters.

The last scary movie I watched was Insidious. What a crazy movie!

Well, after a very busy weekend, I decided not to venture to the theatre on Sunday, so I didn't see Cabin in the Woods as I'd planned. Hopefully, it will still be playing this weekend.

Instead, I rented The Innkeepers and Drag Me to Hell. The first one wasn't as good as I'd hoped, but it still had an idea that I hadn't seen a dozen times before (employees trying to capture evidence of a ghost in an old hotel that's about to close). But the characterization seemed shallow to me. One thing I did like is that it doesn't seem clear whether the place is truly haunted or if the main character is imagining it.

Drag Me To Hell was entertaining with some humor, but I know folks here have reviewed it before so I won't go into it.

This weekend I saw both The Innkeepers and Cabin in the Woods.

The Innkeepers wasn't quite what I thought it would be. I had not seen the trailers (purposely) but from what I gather online, the trailers are misleading to the film. I'm a fan of Ti West and I think he's got a great future ahead of him but he isn't quite "there" yet. The Innkeepers was very slow going and really was more of a psychological thriller than horror (there was some gore but it wasn't balanced throughout the film). I think I'd have enjoyed this if I hadn't been expecting much. 6.5/10

Cabin in the Woods was very interesting. Again, I hadn't seen the trailer (not completely, at least) so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. It is best described as a "meta-horror" film. I was pretty confused by it well into the end, and I think it could have benefited by being longer just to explain the whole "ancients" subtext. Perhaps there will be a prequel which, if done right, could be a great complement to the franchise. I loved, LOVED the scene with the elevators and all the baddies. I could re-watch that again and again. If I had to say, this film reminded me a bit of Thirteen Ghosts and The Truman Show and Scream with nods to Evil Dead, Cube, and Scream (really, it had nods to many iconic horror films). I definitely recommend it, although I did think it needed some polishing. 7.5/10

Slow going on the board...

I watched Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight last weekend. Somehow I had never seen it. It was a big disappointment. I did like the gore but the rules for the demons didn't quite work for me. The dialogue was irritatingly cheesey as well. 5.5-6/10

I'm looking forward to renting The Woman in Black this weekend.

I watched The Woman in Black, I enjoyed it for the most part. I wish I remembered the original better for comparison. I'm no sure how I feel about the ending, but some pretty good creepy moments.

Didn't make it to RedBox this weekend so I didn't get to rent The Woman in Black but I do have a long weekend this coming weekend and well definitely catch it then!

I did manage to watch a really great and unique movie on Netflix called The Caller. It is considered a foreign/horror/thriller film but it was in English. It was set in San Juan but the main actors were not hispanic (Stephen Moyer was the lead male character). The movie was spooky and did not unfold how I imagined. There were some possible plotholes (depending on how you interpret the film) but it worked for me. I'm planning on buying it to add to my DVD collection. Highly recommended. 8.5/10

Just watched a Korean movie, R-Point (2004) via Netflix. It was a decent atmospheric movie taking place during Vietnam War where some soldiers have to go into jungle to find missing platoon... but probably something I would not remember in a week or so. Innkeeper which didn't hold my interest. I am having great trouble finding much of anything recently that has grabbed me. I have some bad movies queued up such as 11/11/11 and The Devil Inside, so if I lower my expectations drastically I am sure I will dig them.

>139 CurrLee33: totally enjoyed The Caller, thanks for recommending

jengel I too have loose plans on watching 11/11/11 and The Devil Inside. Not expecting much out of either but I will eventually get to them, as well as Priest.

beeg Great! I'm glad you liked The Caller. It didn't get much love on IMDB but I thought it was original and enjoyed it.

I was the only unfortunate soul who had to work at my office on Memorial Day. To comp that time I am getting Thursday and Friday off this week so I have a four day weekend to catch some horror flicks. Coincidentally, True Blood season 4 was released yesterday so I plan on screaming through that season. I now have HBO (have yet to watch season 4) but season 5 debuts soon so I am stoked about that. Also will be sure to rent The Woman in Black which I know I've mentioned on here several times. =o)

Eden Lake - Grisly. I'm getting more squeamish as I get older and I got very queasy watching some parts. Ending was grim and wasn't expecting it. All in all very good, not the straight-forward 'feral youth against nice people' story I'd been led to believe, but think that went over a lot of people's heads judging by the responses of the people I've spoken to, many of them similar to said 'nice people' in the film. That was really the only downside to the film - not well done enough that the commentary (about parenting, class differences, haves-vs-have-nots and the drawing in of communities who feel that local decisions do not reflect their interests) made people think, just reinforced a lot of stereotypes.

Wow, haven't we been quiet? Must be those busy summer months upon us.

I heard Prometheus had some horror angle – anybody see that one? Or plan to see Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter? I'm afraid it might be kitschy.

I saw Prometheus, I enjoyed it. It wasn't scary, or suspenseful for the most part. I'm now reading how it wasn't really a prequel to Alien but more of its own story - possibly with a sequel to follow. It was pretty in 3D.

Thanks, beeg. I loved Aliens, and I've heard a lot of comparisons of Prometheus to it. I consider the first Aliens to be scarier than many movies labeled as horror, so I was hoping . . .

de nada, I too am a big fan of the Alien franchise and had high hopes for this only to be a bit disappointed as it wasn't truly a prequel just related to the Alien movie - if that makes sense. I'm assuming more will be revealed in the sequel. It was a good movie, just not what i expected and dumped another load of questions rather than answers.

Every summer my cousins and I pick a theme and read books and get together to watch movies on that theme. In the past we have done zombie summer, mutant summer, post apocaliptic summer, etc. (when reaaly on top of our game we order t-shirts to commemorate). My cousins and I have decided that this would be "Evil/Creepy Child Summer". We started with Jeniffer's Body, which really didn't feature a kid (possibly a teenager, but not what we had in mind) and really wasn't that creapy; just campy. We have talked about The Omen and The Other and a few other movies, but if you have creepy kid movie suggestions please share.

tjm568 How fun! I think that is awesome that you have horror theme summers. What a great idea.

Some Movie Suggestions:
The Good Son - More thriller/drama than horror but would fit nicely into your theme.
The Orphan - I won't spoil the twist here but if you haven't seen this one, don't do your research on it. Just watch it and be surprised. I liked it.
Case 39 - I didn't particularly like this one but it is appropriate for the topic.
The Shining - Danny is pretty creepy.
Pet Sematary - Not all about children but Gage is also pretty creepy.
Children of the Corn - Pretty much the premise of this movie is evil kids.
The Children - This is a U.K. film that might be harder to track down. It is from 2008 and set during Christmas. Some super creepy children in this one.

There are several others but I don't want to overload you!

beeg PJGraham
I am a huge horror enthusiast but I am not a fan of the Alien movies. This usually shocks friends of mine and other horror enthusiasts but I just don't like them. In general, I am not a fan of space movies. They feel really staged and unrealistic to me. I don't mind movies with aliens, but films in space I just can't get into. But I guess everyone has a subgenre they aren't a fan of. (Gasp, I don't even like the Star Wars movies!)

I've had a pretty busy summer with work and haven't seen many horror films. I blazed through Season 4 of True Blood two weeks ago and I now have HBO and have been following Season 5 as it airs each Sunday. I'm liking it.

I'm going on a long weekend next week to the mountains. There is an actual drive-in movie theater in a nearby town and I'm hoping Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter will play there. That would be so fun. If it doesn't, I will still probably see something there because I've never been to a drive-in!

#148 – what a fantastic idea! I concur with many of CurrLee33's suggestions and might add the Spanish film The Orphanage (if you can handle subtitles). Of course, The Sixth Sense and The Ring have a creepy kid ghosts, but I'm sure most of us have seen these. I've also considered renting the After Dark Horrorfest's Wicked Little Things.

#149 – CurrLee33, I also hope to catch old Abe take out some vampires, after deciding it would at least be fun if not scary. And if you've never been to a drive-in, well, you should have that experience at least once in your life! (Ideally, twice: once as a child and once as an adult.) I grew up just a few miles from the Route 66 Drive In outside Carthage, MO, so I've seen a few there, including the first time I saw E.T.

Have fun everyone!

#149-150 Thanks for the suggestions.

I finally got around to renting The Woman in Black. Man, what a disappointment! I have not read the book but I do like Susan Hill. I heard the book and movie are different and I hope so, because the movie was a let down. It was purely atmospheric with nothing new to add to the genre. Horror fans will probably be bored. I kept thinking there would be more but it was pretty stereotypical. I don't recommend. 5.5/10

Has anyone else seen it?

I've seen both versions, although I don't remember the first one so much. I recently read the book and enjoyed it. It's a gothic ghost story with a better ending than the movie.

Watched "Village of the Damned" as second installment of Creepy Kid Summer. Good fun with creepy little toe-heads.

I like those movies, the first and the remake, excellent creepy kids.

#154 - I'll have to add that to the list. Did you watch the original or the Carpenter version?

The original. I didn't know there was a remake.

According to IMDB, the original was in 1960 and Carpenter remade it in 1995. Sometimes I like to watch the original and the remake together for a compare/contrast examination.

I saw Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter in the theater. Some nifty 3-D FX, humor and overall a pretty decent film if you don't take it too seriously.
A foreign film I saw recently (though it didn't come out recently) was The Relic, creepy asian horror based on a mythology I was unfamiliar with. I liked it a lot, but I'm a big fan of asian ghost stories.

In our latest installment of "Creepy Kid Summer" we watched The Excorcist. Still creepy, but not as terifying as it was when I was 12 and watching it in my pitch dark basement when my parents weren't home. A lot of nightmares from this one back then. I was actually a bit reluctant to watch it again. Being raised Roman Catholic this movie always had a "This shit could really happen" vibe.

Well, I grew up Baptist, and that movie still scared the crap out of me when I first saw it. LOL! I should dust off my copy soon. :)

I watched the 1997 movie Wolf this weekend. Kind of funny and interesting – it's the one starring Jack Nicholson as the werewolf. Some of the effects were more funny than scary, but I almost think it was intentional.

tjm568 Related to your "Creepy Kid Summer" I highly recommend R.L. Stine's upcoming adult book Red Rain. I just reviewed an ARC and it has some super creepy twins in it. Unfortunately the book doesn't release until October but still, I think you might like it. =o)

For me I recently watched:

Midnight Meat Train - This was based off a Clive Barker short story (which I haven't read). According to the reviews, the two stories are quite different. That said, I really enjoyed this movie. It was a nice blend of gore, supernatural, and slasher flick. Bradley Cooper did a commendable job and the lead villain was super creepy. 7/10

I also remembered another film I just watched over the weekend:

The Thing (2011) - I like Carpenter's The Thing but never regarded it so highly as many horror enthusiasts do. Generally sci-fi horror isn't my favorite but I do like to watch an occasional sci-fi scary flick. The 2011 The Thing was a major disappointment to me. There were some enjoyable parts, the gore was decent, however it just didn't work for me (too predictable, really). Possible spoiler alert, apparently it was a prequel of John Carpenter's film. I don't remember enough of Carpenter's to say if it works as a prequel, but it was worth mentioning since I wasn't aware it was a prequel and went in thinking it was a remake. 6/10

#162: I haven't read the short story Midnight Meat Train was based on either, but I liked the movie, too. The end was a bit too out-there for me, but overall, it's a keeper.

I saw The Woman (2011) last night. I didn't start off choosing this film (my boyfriend selected the title on NetFlix while I was reading) but it ended up pulling me in so I watched most of it. The beginning was slow and seemed quite low-budget, but as the story moved along, it got really interesting. The story is about a family man who sees a feral woman one day while he's hunting. He traps her and imprisons her in his barn. It is very disturbing and there is decent gore. There's a lot of feminist undertones (which would typically bother me) but it worked in this case. The film is based off a Jack Ketchum story (or maybe the Jack Ketchum story is based off this movie?) but there is a connection to the literature. It reminded me some of The Dead Girl (which is interesting because I didn't like that one at all). But this one I recommend. 7/10

I watched Pandorum (2009) the other day and I loved it, wonderfully written, terrifically directed, and great acting. I was on the edge of my seat right up till the credits. It has replaced Ravenous as my favorite horror film.

I watched Drive this weekend. I like Ryan Gosling but was reluctant to watch this (I thought it would be a rehash of The Fast and the Furious). Man, I was wrong. This was an unusual film, more thriller than horror but I'm mentioning it here because there was a surprising amount of explicit gore. It reminded me some of No Country for Old Men. If you're looking for something different, check this out. 7.5/10

Creapy kid summer continued with the original "The Omen". I don't think that poor kid ever landed another job after that (although I haven't actually checked). Man he was creepy. Interesting point that in the afterword, the director said that he felt that he felt that the movie was more of a portrayal of the father's paranoia running away with him than the Devil taking over the world. I didn't get that at all. Obviously the sequels didn't either.

#167: I watched Drive awhile back, but I'm still kind of "meh" about it. If Ryan Gosling hadn't been it, I doubt I would've watched it. And you're right--there is quite a bit of gore in it I wasn't expecting.

#168 – I looked the boy up in IMDB. Apparently, he had one TV movie after that and then had a cameo in the 2006 remake of the movie – that's kinda funny.

I watched Mirrors 2 last night. It was playing on FearNet OnDemand so I gave it a go. I feel confident I wouldn't have actively chosen this movie to rent but since it was free, I gave it a chance. I was very shocked that I enjoyed the film. It was a little slow at first and was fairly predictable. There was some pretty decent gore. The story doesn't pick up from the first Mirrors (with Keifer Sutherland) but the plot was solid enough to be interesting. It felt like a mix between the Final Destination films and Stir of Echoes. I like Nick Stahl too so that was also a bonus. 6.5/10

I saw Silent House over the weekend. I was expecting it to be along the lines of The Strangers but I was wrong. It ended up being a really deep psychological thriller (but horror too). I know I will need to re-watch it a few times so I went ahead and bought it. There's some great discussion on IMDB which makes me like the film even more. I think it is one of the best horror movies in the past few years. 9/10

#172 I have it to watch, when I first saw the previews I was put off, thought it was a mindless slasher flick but it's got pretty good reviews so I put it on the list. Glad to know someone liked it.

#172: I have that one in my TBW pile, but I'm not sure when I'll watch it. Good to know it's worth watching, though.

I just did a few films on my last work break (I'm more of a ghost story fan than a gore lover):

I did The Woman in Black, which I though was a very nice take on the story. It's a ghost story and it had a nice eerieness about it. I had seen the BBC version and liked it, but I think I like the 2012 a little better.

Voice, a Korean ghost story - very interesting perspective and too easy to spoil so I won't say anything except that if you like ghost stories and enjoy asian horror films, I would definitely recommend it.

Fingerprints which is an odd combination of ghost story and slasher flick. It has the classic half naked teens getting killed while having sex, but also has a nice ghost story. I think it would have been better if they'd just stuck with the ghost story and maybe fleshed it out a bit more, but it was suprisingly good for a hybrid.

Casa Muda, which is the Ecuadorian original of Silent House. Interesting, pretty good - I'm going to be curious to see the remake and compare the two.

#175 - Love ghost stories, so might have to check out Fingerprints sometime. Agree about The Woman in Black, though I think I've talked about that before.

Hoping to go see The Possession this weekend, though I wished they'd used a title that plays up the Dibbuk box angle (The Possession just seems so generic). The only other "scary" movie I've watched recently was ParaNorman. LOL

I watched The Final last night. It was streaming on Netflix and had a decent rating. It is another one of the AfterDark Horrorfest films. There was a lot of criticism of the film sensationalizing school attacks such as Columbine. The movie is about a group of high school outcasts who take revenge on the "cool kids" who have harassed them for years. There is an homage to Audition and a few other horror flicks. It is really dark and I enjoyed it. I recommend it. 7/10

I also watched Grave Encounters which was too streaming on Netflix. I'd seen the film listed in the horror queue but never got around to watching it until I saw that they're making a sequel to it. I figured it had to be at least partially good! It is a found-footage spoof on those Ghost Hunter TV shows. A group of ghost hunters are locked in an insane asylum to record footage for their TV show. It was mix between Paranormal Activity, Blair Witch, and House on Haunted Hill. It didn't take itself too seriously but definitely delivered some spooky scares and a bit of gore. It wasn't too original but was well done. I recommend it 7/10.

Finally saw The Possession this weekend. I found it adequately frightening in the theatre, but didn't come away looking over my should in the parking lot or anything. Of course, I admit to really liking Jeffrey Dean Morgan without really pinpointing why. The little girl is super creepy, so the person doing the Creepy Kid movies this year might want to check it out.

I had intended on renting The Tall Man from RedBox but to my surprise, I saw it was on Netflix already. I didn't know anything of this movie other than the fact that it looked like a typical horror movie where some character (i.e. "The Tall Man") was kidnapping children from a remote town. Well, this movie certainly turned out to be something completely different. I won't spoil this for others who might also want to be surprised, but I didn't like it. It really wasn't a horror movie at all. Boo. 6/10 (I boosted this a whole point for the sheer surprise, I didn't see it coming but still, I was let down)

Nice to know about The Possession; I'm going to add it to my list.

I watched Basketcase over the weekend. I had seen it several years ago and recently purchased it on DVD because I remembered liking it. I had forgotten how awesomely bad it was! What a total cheese-fest. I loved it! I especially enjoyed the stop-motion scene. I highly recommend it for fans of cheesey 80s, B-rate horror. 7/10

Went to see The Possession in the theatre. It wasn't bad, but I was unimpressed. There were a couple of really good scenes (not to offer any spoilers, but I thought the broken wine glasses were nicely done, very effective, and very subtle physical horror). It has a very respectable cast. But it's completely derivative. It kind of made me think that The Exorcist might officially be the last word in demon possession movies. It is to The Exorcist what Terror Train was to Halloween. In other words, if you really loved The Exorcist, it's a very decent contribution to the genre--not just low-budget knock-off crap--but it's nothing new.....

#182 – I would say that's a good analysis. Though I wonder if anyone will be able to outdo The Exorcist. It would be like outdoing Silence of the Lambs for a suspense movie.

Don't die board, don't die!

Since my last post, I haven't seen THAT many horror flicks, actually. Here's what I have seen:

Rosewood Lane - This was on Netflix and I thought it would be promising as it has Rose McGowan, Lin Shayne, and Ray Wise cast in it. The main character, a radio talk show psychologist inherits her father's house after he passes away. Weird things happen in the house and neighborhood. The villain (a paperboy) looked more like a paperMAN. There were so many loose ends and confusing parts of this movie. I really don't recommend it. 4.5/10

V/H/S - I'm a fan of Ti West. Some of his movies are good (The House of the Devil) and some of his movies I found disappointing (The Innkeepers) but I think he is a really original and innovative filmmaker so I am always keeping an eye out foranything he's involved in. That being said, I watched V/H/S with no idea of the plot. I went into it only knowing it was a Ti west movie and it was a "found footage" movie. The film was an anthology with five? (I think) stories, again, all shot in first-person. The stories were all different, the villains were different too. There was a good mix of slasher and supernatural. I love this! I found it very interesting, well-rounded, and different. It has gore, suspense, and nudity too. 8.5/10

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter - I think this would best be enjoyed in the theater. Luckily I have an embarrassingly large flat screen TV along with surround sound so I feel I enjoyed a similar cinema experience. This was a fun and weird movie. I didn't like the lack of explanation about the vampires (they are just here in America the "new world" for whatever reason) but hey, I went with it. If you take it for what it is, it is enjoyable. 6.5/10

Night of the Demons (2009) - This came on for Halloween and was appropriately Halloween-themed. I liked Edward Furlong in the 90s but wow, has he changed. He did a good job in this, the gore was decent, however it was pretty "meh." I have not seen the original NOTD but it is on my list now. I've heard it is much better. 6/10

I rather liked the original Night of the Demons. I haven't seen the remake, but I'll put it on my list now.

Recently watched:

The Dark Hours (2005) - This has been in my Netflix Steaming queue forever and I finally decided to watch it. A psychiatrist decides to take some time off after discovering her brain tumor has started to grow again. She meets her husband and her sister at a remote cabin. A stranger stops by and the tension begins. It was a very brutal movie (reminiscent of "Funny Games"). There is gore and a great deal of psychological tension. Spoiler alert, the dog gets shot. The way this is filmed (another spoiler alert), the dog gets killed twice. This is one of those movies that could be left up for interpretation. Lots of symbolism (also reminded me of the underrated Jeff Daniels movie "Chasing Sleep"). I recommend it. 7/10

Stake Land - I passively watched this while my boyfriend was steaming this. This is a post-apocalyptic horror film where vampires have taken over the world. They reminded me more of zombies, though (think "The Walking Dead" only these guys are smart and fast). I wasn't impressed. There wasn't much of a plot. It was a really quick-paced action flick which I tend to not enjoy. There was a lot of gore (including an incredibly difficult scene with a baby). Looking at reviews online, lots of people liked it, though. It just wasn't quite my style. 6/10

Sorry all, I accidentally posted this on an old thread, so I'm reposting it on the more current one.

Okay, so I had a bit of a horror orgy last weekend. All were basically ghost stories except Cabin in the Woods.

I saw:

Apartment 143 - a good ghost story, lots of jump-in-your-seat startles and pretty good acting.

A Haunting in Salem - disappointing. It had potential, but only two good actors - the others were dismal and the story wasn't quite tight enough.

Insidious - Good, decent acting and an interesting story that held together pretty well. It had a few weak moments at the end, but I liked it.

Paranormal Activity 2 - This is my favorite of the three Paranormal Activity movies that I've seen so far. It had good acting and a nice clear story line. I may go back and watch Paranormal Activity again in light of this one. I didn't like Paranormal Activity the first time I watched it - it felt slow and boring. Paranormal Activity 2 had some slow parts, but made up for it by the end.

Paranormal Activity 3 - Not brilliant, but not horrible. The period clothing and sets were very nice.

The Innkeepers - I thought this had a lot of potential, but the story just fell apart at the end. I liked the main characters, though the supporting cast could have done a better job. The buildup was excellent, but the resolution was a letdown.

Cabin in the Woods - I loved it. If you're a Joss Whedon fan, you'll feel right at home, and even if you're not it offers a really nifty slant on the classic slasher movie.

I just got Netflicks, so I'll probably have a few more orgies in the coming weeks. :)

#187 Helcura I LOVED Cabin in the Woods. Very original. I also agree with you about Paranormal Activity 2. I personally wasn't a big fan of the first but #2 was so great, it made me inadvertently like the first one. It was interesting as it was a prequel/sequel but also took place during the same time. I'll have to check out Apartment 143.

Since you just got Netflix, here are some goodies I recommend if you haven't seen them yet and/or if they're still available streaming: The Caller, The Sentinel, Dead Snow, Tucker and Dale vs Evil, House of the Devil, Pontypool, and Grave Encounters.

I recently saw The Collection in theaters. I don't remember much of the details of the first but I do remember thinking it wasn't bad and that it was unique. The sequel was "meh." It was pretty typical but there was a lot of gore and some pretty original killings. If you liked the first, I recommend it (although probably more of a rental than watching in theaters). 6.5/10

Over Christmas I managed to see Sinister. I had heard some bad things about it from coworkers but I really loved it. I think it is definitely one of the top films of 2012. I screamed out loud at one point which is rare for me. It was truly spooky (especially the movie). I watch so much horror that I'm desensitized to a lot of it but this one was refreshing. 9/10

I also watched Funny Games (2007, the "American remake"). I had heard this was a pretty intense and disturbing movie. I have to say I was truly let down. It was slow, boring, and I didn't care for any of the characters. Spoilerish alert, the characters just seemed to be so passive with no will to live. I know for sure that I would've fought if I was in the same situation. There were your typical cliche's (cell phone not working, etc.) and I was overall supremely disappointed. I don't recommend it at all. I think the appeal of this movie was the brutality but there are much "better" movies of this type (Eden Lake, The Strangers, The Dark Hours). 4/10

#189: I agree with your opinion of Funny Games (it applies to the original version, too). It's not all that scary, and there are better ones out there, like you mentioned.

Just watched "Fingerprints" and thought the concept was good. The dead children pushing the car over the tracks and trying to let people know what happened to them.

Sounds interesting. I'll have to look for it sometime, thanks! :)

ETA: I just watched April Fool's Day (IMDb page) last week and thought it was pretty good, despite the characters being shallow, rich brats. Honestly, I didn't think it deserved the 3.7/10 stars it got on IMDb; I've seen worse. And I don't think it was the remake version, but then I never saw the original April Fool's Day.

I also watched Wicked (IMDb page), which I liked (kind of like a darker version of Lolita) and Swimfan (IMDb page), which I didn't like as much (too predictable, and the ending was underwhelming). Both are more thrillers, but I thought I'd at least mention them, even though they're hardly new releases.

saraslibrary The original April Fool's Day was pretty great in my opinion. I think it is highly underrated (its score on IMDB is a meager 5.9). I would be interested in watching the 2008 version despite the low IMDB rating.

While I liked Swimfan I think it was only because I watched it while I was in highschool. It was one of those films that I'm sure I'd not typically enjoy if seen for the first time now at this stage in my life.

brianbigel Fingerprints was a great little low-budget flick. I was surprised by it.

Anyone seen the new Texas Chainsaw? I've heard it was okay, not great. Looking ahead into 2013, there look like lots of good options for horror this year. Particularly I am interested in: Evil Dead remake, Mama, Lords of Salem, Maniac remake, Insidious 2, and The Conjuring.

CurrLee33, Have you seen a trailer for The Conjuring? I've only seen a few pics on IMDB, which doesn't have a lot of info on it. Looks like it's set in the 60s or 70s.

I've been interested in Lords of Salem, though mostly because I love the Rob Zombie song by that name. LOL

#193: I'd be interested in hearing what you thought of April Fool's Day if/when you get around to watching it. Again, I'm not sure if it's the remake of the older April Fool's Day, but I'm sure you'll be able to figure that out once you see it.

And, yeah, Swimfan is One of Those Teen Flicks from the 90's/00's, where I can see its appeal for then and for a younger audience, but as a 30-somethinger, I was a bit let down. Still, I'm keeping it (it was on sale for super cheap).

And, no, I haven't seen the new Texas Chainsaw movie...or very many new horror movies, for that matter (though I plan on fixing that this year). I will keep an eye out for the ones you mentioned; they sound good. Thanks! :)

I finished watching Farmhouse Friday night and was plesantly surprised by it, especially since the DVD cover makes it look pretty bad. I wasn't too crazy about the ending (**spoiler** it kind of goes the supernatural/afterlife route **end of spoiler**), but overall, I'd recommend it. Very well done.

Saw Muoi, a Korean horror movie that had a nice twist and some really interesting subtext about the relationship between Korea and Vietnam. Also, some awesome clothes - I never realized how stunning a simple white ao dai looks.

Also saw Ju-on - White Ghost, Black Ghost. If you've seen the first two movies, this one is good, but you need the background to really get it, and I ended up watching it twice to catch all the references. I suspect it was made for TV, as the production values are a bit less than cinematic, but I liked it. It's fun to puzzle out the relationship each character has with the others.

#196: I haven't seen either Muoi or Ju-on - White Ghost, Black Ghost, though I'm sure I've seen the first Ju-on movie, possibly the second. I usually enjoy Korean horror movies, even though I never quite understand their fear of ghosts. But I do agree--ao dais are beautiful!

I watched Asylum and Circle of Eight this week, both of which got really poor and unjust rating/reviews on IMDb (I think both are around 3.9 or 4/10). Personally, I thought both were pretty good (Circle of Eight's a little confusing) and would recommend them if you're into ghosts/haunted buildings.

>197 saraslibrary: Added to my list.

Saw Sinister - very scary, made me jump a lot, also Prometheus, while science fiction also very intense, Dreamhouse with Daniel Craig,
Woman in Black - film version good although the BBC version 1989 is better - can view on youtube!
Ghost Story for Christmas - BBC adaptations of five M.R James stories originally shown in the seventies - still amazingly atmospheric - does anyone out there remember them???

#199: No, unfortunately, I haven't seen any of the movies you listed. I did check out the more recent The Woman in Black (my mom watched it and liked it, which says something, since she doesn't like horror movies), Prometheus, and Dreamhouse from work, but I never got around to watching them before they were due back. Sinister definitely sounds good, though! I'll keep my eyes open for that one. Thanks! :)

I finished watching Darkness yesterday, which really started out strong, but I found myself losing interest as the movie progressed. Maybe I'm sick of haunted houses; who knows. But like the front cover says, it's a combination of The Shining and The Amityville Horror, so if you're into those types of movies, I'd give this one a go.

Sinister was really great. I highly recommend it. Definitely one of the best modern horror movies I've seen in a long, long time.

saraslibrary I really enjoyed The Darkness but see what you mean. It seemed longer than it needed to be.

I watched The Dentist over the weekend. I remember seeing the movie cover as a child and it freaked me out (okay, to be fair, the cover of Dentist 2 was the one that really freaked me out). This was a fun, cheesy film that didn't take itself too seriously. It felt older, like it was filmed in the 80s (it came out in 1996) but that was part of its charm. It wasn't scary but there was some gore. I recommend it if you are in the mood for that kind of movie. 6/10

2 for 2 on Sinister. Sounds good! :) I just don't know if/when we'll get a copy of it at our library. (fingers crossed)

Yeah, Darkness wasn't a terrible movie. As I mentioned, the beginning scene in particular got me sucked in; but I had other stuff going on at the same time, so my attention was kind of elsewhere as I watched it (which was over a week's time). And I agree: even though it was 102 minutes, it did seem to drag a bit, though I liked that the scenes were pretty short.

Oh yikes! Was this the cover you were mentioning of Dentist 2? I can see why it'd freak you out. I don't have a dentist phobia, but having things impaled into your gums... (shudders) I doubt we have either Dentist movie at our library, but it'd definitely be something I'd watch. Sounds very 80-ish. :)

I just watched The Possession - a jewish version of the exorcist with props borrowed from The Grudge - great eye effects, but mostly on the meh side.

Still sounds pretty good to me, beeg. :) I'll have to look for it. Thanks!

ETA: Not sure this one really fits in here, since it's more of a crime drama, but I finished watched the second season of Dexter. A little behind, I know, since they're up to--what?--season 7 or 8. Anyway, thumbs up from me. It's one of those rare movie/tv programs that's slightly better than the series (imho).

I just read the moonlit mind by Dean Koontz.

Cool. I haven't read any ready Dean Koontz books in years. (Note to self: get to it.) That's interesting that he went the occult route, like you mentioned in your review. Btw, thumbed you.

saraslibrary Yes! That was the cover. I don't have a feat of dentists either but that just looks horrifying.

I was really into Dexter up until season 3-ish. I just grew tired of it. I do plan on watching all the other seasons at some point. Michael C. Hall is great. Have you ever seen Six Feet Under? It was a great show! One of my favorites. I highly recommend it.

Over the past few weeks I've seen:

Chernobyl Diaries - This had potential. It felt a little like Hostel at first. A group of Americans meet with a sketchy Russian tour guide who takes them to the abandoned Chernobyl site. It is spooky at first because you don't know what type of villain it will be (sketchy tour guide, monsters, ghosts, etc.). It was good to a point, the atmosphere was awesome, very chilling, but it just was a letdown as it went on. I don't like that we never saw what the "villain" looked like. 6/10

The Pact - Oh man, this was surprisingly good. I knew nothing of the premise and was generally intrigued throughout. Some of it was unrealistic (i.e. the layout of the house) but overall, I enjoyed it very much. 8/10

The Hole - Again, this started off good but just went in a really lame direction. Kind of kiddie-ish (think The Gate) but it was okay for a once-through. 6/10

Absolutely! More painful than anything else.

I'm the same way--I plan on watching all the other Dexter series eventually. For now, I just plan on rewatching the first two for awhile, then move on to the third when I can scrounge up enough money to buy it. As for Six Feet Under, no, I haven't watched it yet, not that I don't want to. I've had a couple coworkers recommend it to me, so that'll be another "eventually" show.

Chernobyl Diaries I checked out a couple times from work, but never got around to watching. I still want to see it, though. Thanks for the review. I'm kind of on the fence about villains being revealed. I usually prefer it, but we'll see.

I'm guessing you were talking about this version of The Pact? (There are a couple other horror-esque movies with the same title.) Unfortunately, we don't have that one at work, but hopefully we'll get it sometime (we're woefully behind on ordering new horror movies).

The Hole--which one did you watch? This one? Or this one? I checked out the first one awhile back, but never watched it.

I'm slowly making my way through Suicide Club right now. I don't know why it's taking so long. Maybe because my expectations were so high. I heard the opening train scene was supposed to be extremely horrific (54 school girls jump in front of a subway train), but I wasn't too shocked by it, probably because 1) I was already expecting it, and 2) the special effects (the blood spray especially) wasn't too believable. Anyway, fingers crossed that it gets better.

You know, I have seen both The Hole movies. The one I was referring to was the 2009 one (the first you linked to).

And yes, that was the correction version of The Pact too. It has crummy IMDB ratings but I thought it was different. Definitely the type of film I like.

I've tried to watch a series of truly awful horror movies on Netflix (Scary or Die, The Theatre Bizarre, Monster Brawl) but these were so terrible, I just couldn't finish any one of them.

Both Hole movies look good. I might give The Hole (the first linked one) a second shot.

As for crummy IMDb ratings (like the one for The Pact), I've learned not to rely too heavily on them. If it's something that remotely sounds interesting, then try it, even if it gets 3 or 4 stars. The same could be said of LT's prediction meter. ;)

lol @ the titles of your 3 duds. Sorry to hear you didn't like them. I haven't seen/heard of any them. I might IMDb later, but for now, I'll take your word that they're bad.

I just finished Suicide Club tonight and yeesh. It's not 100% awful (I did give it a 2/5 on LT); it's just too odd for me. The ending doesn't really answer anything. There are too many characters introduced, discarded (sometimes in front of trains). Plus there were some strange musical/singing scenes I just didn't get. Overall, not one I'd recommend at all.

I watched The Awakening, nice atmosphere, good ghost story with a way the heck out of there ending. I want to watch it again.

beeg

Sounds encouraging! I have this DL'd on my Boxee account. I will make a point to watch it this weekend.

I just watched the Haunting of Whaley House - it was a very low budget ghost movie but surprisingly good considering. Several very nice acting jobs, and a few that were just funny.

Another low budget film, Visible Secret, from Hong Kong was also pretty good. It was clearly made on the cheap, but the acting was decent and there was a nice little twist at the end (which the astute observer probably would see coming, but still nice).

#199: Yes, I have a couple of the Ghost Stories for Christmas on DVD. They are utterly terrifying!

I really wanted to like "The Woman in Black", it was right up my alley, but I just didn't, sadly. Is it just me, or did they kinda go overboard with the whole "make the audience jump" thing. I love scary movies, and of course you're going to jump at some parts, but it just seemed never-ending in this film.

There were some really great and creepy things (like the beginning....amazing!), but not enough. The rocking chair would have been awesome if it hadn't been overused (in my opinion). After awhile, it lost its effect, which is too bad.

I find, if the movie doesn't have enough down-time (moments where you aren't on the edge of your seat, waiting for something to jump out), I get exhausted.

Anyone else in the same boat?

Anyone see "The Fourth Phase"?

It's an alien abduction film and it's amazing! It has elements of the "found footage" premise, but they only use it in the really intense scenes, the rest is a "re-enactment".

This movie kept me awake several nights, keeping my back to the window, while throwing paranoid glances over my shoulder to make sure nothing was there.

#211-212: Yep, what CurrLee said. The Awakening looks good!

#213: I brought The Haunting of Whaley House home once, but I never watched it. I'll have to try it again.

Visible Secret I might try, if I find a copy, but I've been bored with Asian horror lately.

#215: Sorry you didn't like The Woman in Black. Most of the people I've talked to (on/off LT) seem to like it. I haven't watched it yet, so I can't comment on it, other than I do want to watch it eventually.

#216: I tried looking for The Fourth Phase on IMDb, but I didn't find it. Too bad; it sounds halfway decent.

I got done watching Voices this past week. It was one of those 8 Films to Die For/After Dark Horrorfest flicks, which I'm kind of a sucker for. This one, however, I didn't like as much. But if you're into foreign horror and/or family curses, then you might like it. The ending was pretty good.

Sorry, "The Fourth Phase" is the spanish translation :S In english, it's "The Fourth Kind".

My bad :(

I saw "The Evil Twin" - a Korean period ghost movie about a girl waking up from a coma. It was pretty typical of ghost movies, but what I really liked about it was the period dress and detail. A detail that struck me was a scene of a woman tenderly putting a wooden block under the sleeping girl's head. The contrast and similarity with the same action in western movies involving pillows was cool.

Saw the original "Slit-mouthed Woman" - lots of explicit sex and a few gruesome killings, pretty boring from my perspective.

Also saw "Carved - the Slit-mouthed Woman" which was more up my alley being a ghost story with some interesting themes regarding child abuse.

As you can tell, I'm on a bit of a Korean movie kick right now.

Another one I liked was "Epitaph" which again had period themes and was a collection of three inter-related ghost stories. I found the portrayal of Korea during WWII interesting.

Hezba I too wanted to like The Woman in Blackbut I just couldn't get into it. I don't particularly remember all the jump scares (maybe I stopped paying attention). My problem with the film was it seemed very cliche and unnecessarily long. Like it could have ended in multiple places but kept going.

I really enjoyed The Fourth Kind, I don't remember a lot of the details, but I know that I liked it. It was different.

I'm thinking of getting the book version of The Woman in Black , since I actually liked the storyline. The thing is, I hate being startled, so if I think something is going to jump out, I watch through my fingers. I watched more than half of this film through my fingers....it got old :S

I liked the movie "Don't be afraid of the dark" too, except for one thing. The whole "kritters luring kidlets down into the basement" thing seemed to depend on one crucial point: children being enchanted (and not simply terrified) by creepy, disembodied voices coming from the walls. It's been awhile since I was a kid, but I really don't think they are.

I watched 2001 Maniacs over the weekend (well, most of it). This was the 2005 version w/Robert Englund and Lin Shaye. Okay, I am aware that this is a B movie, but it was truly awful. The movie looked styled from the early 90s, the acting was painful to watch, and things were just overall not believable. There was an awkward amount of nudity and sex and the gore was unrealistic. I made it through most of the film (got far enough to learn that these were just crazy hillbillies, some paranormal was afoot!) but I could not sit through any more! 4/10

Sometimes I can enjoy a really terrible horror film. I watched "The Nun" last year, and once I figured out that it wasn't going to be a good movie (at around 10 minutes, cause it was that bad), I actually had fun watching it.

#218: No problem. :) I've wanted to watch "The Fourth Kind", but haven't gotten around to it.

#219: "The Evil Twin" and "Epitaph" sound good (I IMDb'd them both). I watched "Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman" years ago and didn't like it very much, so I'll probably pass on any sequels.

#222: "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark" is another I want to see but haven't yet.

#223: That's too bad about "2001 Maniacs." I like Robert Englund and all (even though the last thing I saw him in was Zombie Strippers, which was pretty horrible), but I'll probably pass on that one.

#224: "The Nun" doesn't sound half-bad. Or maybe my movie expectations are pretty low. :)

I finished watching From Within tonight, which is probably one of the better After Dark Horrorfest movies I've seen in awhile. It deals with a suicide curse on a small town and a bunch of religious fanatics. Good stuff, if you're into that.

From Within does sound good! I'd never heard of it before, but I'll definitely check it out now :D

I'd never heard of "Fom Within" before either, but since it was part of an After Dark Horrorfest DVD pack, I thought I'd give it a try. Most of the ones I've watched so far are really good: "The Broken," "Slaughter," "Perkins' 14," "Dying Breed," and "Voices" (well, the latter one is probably my least favorite). Hope you like it! :)

I watched Lake Placid tonight and really loved it. The humor was probably the best part of it. If you're into creature-feature horror (like Anaconda, Jaws, etc etc), then I'd definitely recommend this one.

that's your first time for Lake Placid? LOL it's one of my favorites, right up there with American werwolf in London, and Cabin in the woods for horror mixed with snarky goodness.

Yep, first time. Believe me, there are a ton of "old" horror movies I haven't seen yet, including An American Werewolf in London. And I haven't watched Cabin in the Woods yet either. Bad, huh? :)

ack! *faints*

:D Sorry, beeg. Maybe I should've lied and said I've seen/owned/watched a million times all the horror classics, but I'm behind on a lot of them. Cabin in the Woods I'll probably watch asap, though. I've been hearing a lot of good things about it.

I can't wait to watch Cabin in the Woods.

I guess I probably shouldn't admit that I've never seen "Lake Placid"? Yeah, I'll just keep that one to myself then :S

I saw "Sinister" and I was suprised by how "meh" I felt about it. I was so ready to love it, but I think it was so hyped up in my mind that I was a bit disappointed. Plus, Mr Boogie reminded me waaay too much of The Crow to be scary :(

What about "Jennifer's Body"? I absolutely loved that movie, but I know it gets a bad rap. Did anyone else watch it and like it? Or dislike it?

I definitely loved Cabin in the Woods, Lake Placid, and I really enjoyed Jennifer's Body. Some other movies with the same feel as these that I would recommend are:

Tucker and Dale vs Evil (love, love it!)
Dead Snow (foreign w/subtitles bit I still enjoyed it)
Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (a bit slow, the end is slightly a let down, but really original)

#232: Just don't tell beeg you haven't seen Lake Placid. ;) Actually, I like hearing that other people haven't watched every horror movie ever made, because really, who has time to do that? (rhetorical)

Hmm, that's good to know about Sinister. I still have that one in my work bag, waiting to be watched. Maybe I'll get to it this week. (fingers crossed)

Jennifer's Body I loved! :) I don't know why some people didn't like it, but it's one of my faves.

#233: I haven't seen Tucker & Dale vs Evil (though I want to), but I have seen Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (definitely one of my all-time favorite movies) and Dead Snow (I liked it too, though it's been many years since I first watched it). I love your choice of favorites! You have good taste in horror movies. :)

My to-be-watch list is getting longer and longer :)

With Jennifer's Body, I think that a lot of people judged it based on the trailer or just the simple fact that it has Megan Fox in it, and didn't even bother watching it. *shrugs*

My to-be-watch list is getting longer and longer -- Yeah, that's the one downside to LT--your TBW/TBR list will become never-ending. :)

Now that you mention it, I do remember a lot of people complaining about this or that about Megan Fox. Too bad for them, I guess. It's a fun movie, and I thought she was pretty good in it, too.

I just got done watching ChromeSkull: Laid to Rest 2 tonight. It's been too many years since I watched the first one, so I can't accurately compare the two, but if you like slashers, then it's worth checking out.

I haven't seen anything great or memorable recently.

I have been wanting to catch the remake of Evil Dead. There is also a documentary on The Shining called Room 237. It is a UK documentary available for 24/hr download on Amazon but not available for purchase anywhere in the US (Amazon UK has the DVD for sale). The Shining is my all time favorite movie and I am really looking forward to this documentary.

Citadel just started screaming on Netflix so I hope to see that over the weekend.

The Evil Dead's on my TBW list, too, though I should probably watch all of the original first (I only saw bits and pieces). That's odd about the UK-only download for Room 237. Do you know when they'll release it elsewhere?

I watched Let Me In (the American remake) today, which I was really, really impressed with. I haven't read the book, but it's very true to the original movie. Highly recommended.

Just watched Sinister starring Ethan Hawke, and I thought it was pretty good, Want to watch the new Evil Dead also. Although the preview doesn't compare to the original in my opinion. I'm hoping that it is as scary as people are saying.

saraslibrary
Room 237 is available to download in the US, just the DVD is available (for now, at least) in the UK. The download is something like $7 for a 24/hr rental which is steep to me. It JUST became available so hopefully will be on DVD for US purchase before too long.

#239: Just skimming through IMDb, it looks like the new Evil Dead movie was well received, which I'm glad about. You can never tell with remakes. Sinister's also in my TBW pile. Good to know you liked it, too!

#240: Oh, gotcha. I think I'll wait until it's released on DVD in the U.S. No hurries here. My TBW list is a mile long. :)

>240 CurrLee33:

It's a 48 hour rental on Amazon. I just finished watching it this afternoon. What fun!

I did not get around to watching The Citadel but did catch The Bay. Again, I prefer to go into movies with as least amount of knowledge possible. With that being said, I enjoyed this one. I didn't mind the first person/found footage aspect of this; it was well done and there was minimal of the "shaky camera" effect. There wasn't a whole lot of suspense because you know what the outcome is at the beginning, but it is interesting to see everything unfold. Decent gore and a nice summer-theme to get me looking forward to my upcoming vacation. 6.5/10

A co-worker of mine said he saw the Evil Dead remake over the weekend and he really liked it. I hold his opinion of film and horror in high regard (he and I have similar taste, Hitchcock, David Lynch, Kubrick, etc.) so if he is stoked, it must be good! I plan on catching it at an "off time" soon while it is still in theaters.

It is confirmed: I have a date w/my boyfriend tomorrow night to see Evil Dead! Will post thoughts of it afterwards!

#243: The Bay does look good. I don't think I have it at work, so I doubt I'll get around to seeing it soon, but I'll keep it in mind.

#244: Awesome. Hope you guys have fun! :)

I watched Thirst a couple days ago and was kind of disappointed (too long, overly silly at times, predictable ending, etc). I must be in the minority, though, since it received 7.1 stars on IMDb. But if you're into vampires and/or Korean movies, then you might like it.

I watched another ho-hum movie this week: My Soul to Take. I had a hard time believing the split personality/possession bit of the movie. But I suppose if you're a Wes Craven fan, then you might like it. I just found it kind of mediocre.

If you have Netflix streaming there is a new series called Hemlock Grove. I finished it up late last night and enjoyed it for the most part. It has those typical loose ends that never get explained and makes you wonder why they were there in the first place. It's more a David Lynch Twin Peaks feel with the quirky remarks and characters, weird accents though, like they kept forgetting if they had one - or what to do with the one they had. Oh and lots of sex and smoking. Ever notice there are smoking and non-smoking movies?

I love Twin Peaks, so I'm sure Hemlock Grove would be up my alley. Unfortunately, I don't have Netflix streaming. :( Maybe eventually. Thanks for mentioning it at least! :) And no, I've never really noticed smoking/non-smoking movies before. Maybe if it's a kid's movie then I would notice, but not so much in horror.

I tried watching Hemlock Grove and just could not get into it. I only made it through 30 minutes or so. I will try and rewatch it at a later date because I want to like it.

Here are a few recent horror flicks I've seen on Netflix Streaming:

388 Arletta Ave - Somewhat reminiscent of Paranormal Activity (think found footage but minus the jiggling camera) only with no supernatural elements. This was a voyeuristic movie with a lot of suspense, minimal gore but enough surprises to keep me intrigued. Nick Stahl is great and I enjoyed Devon Sawa's performance too. I recommend it. 6.5/10

Walled In - This was a movie about a historic apartment building set for demolition. Years earlier several people living in the building were murdered and entombed in the walls. Mischa Barton was painful to watch but the idea was interesting. I like abandoned house/building movies and this one had its fair share of creepiness. It reminded me a bit of See no Evil. 5.5/10

The Raven - This got really bad reviews but I thought it was a fair movie. Nothing stellar but an interesting concept. I like Poe so it was fun for me. It did feel like it was trying to be a little Sherlock Holmes-y but there was some nice gore. 6/10

I'm in the middle of Citadel, The Cottage, and Stevie. The latter is really predictable to me but I only have like 20 mins left. The other two I just cannot get into. And I never did have my Evil Dead date night! Hopefully soon though, before it has left theaters.

Sorry to hear about Hemlock Grove. It's not a bad idea to try it again later. Sometimes shows work out better after a second or third try. More than that, it's not worth it. :)

I haven't seen 388 Arletta Ave, but I'll keep it in mind. I like stalker movies, and someone on the IMDb boards mentioned it was similar to Alone With Her, which I loved, though it's been years since I watched that one.

I have seen Walled In and The Raven, both of which I really liked and would recommend, too. I think I've seen See No Evil, if this is the one you meant. I don't remember much about it except for a few scenes in an abandoned building. And the cover, of course.

I'll add Citadel, The Cottage, and Stevie to my TBW pile (unless you meant this Cottage movie; in that case, I've already seen it and liked it; there're quite a few funny bits in it).

Bummer about your Evil Dead date night! :( Hope you get to see it soon.

I haven't watched anything really horror-ish this past week. I did start to watch Beneath the Darkness a few days ago (which is horror), but it got pushed aside by a few others (all non-horror): The Hobbit (never finished: too long; maybe I'll try again later), The Killer Inside Me (suspense/thriller based on the Jim Thompson book; both the movie and book are really good), and In the Land of Blood and Honey (what I'm currently watching and liking so far). Maybe I'll try Beneath the Darkness again afterwards.

saraslibrary

Yep, that is the See No Evil I was referring to. I actually really enjoyed it. Saw it a few years ago and was surprised I liked it so much. 7/10

Your thoughts of The Raven and Walled In pretty much sum up how I felt about them. They were fine but forgettable.

The Cottage I was referring to has David Arquette in it. I have, however, seen The Cottage movie you linked to. It was also fine...but forgettable to me.

I don't remember when I saw See No Evil, but probably a few years ago, like you. I'll have to watch it again to remember what I thought of it.

I agree--The Raven probably won't ever make my top 10 favorites, but I still enjoyed it. From my thread last year on the movie, here's what I thought: "Recommended to me by a coworker. I have to say, I didn't find it all that scary, maybe because I've seen John Cusack in one too many comedic roles. Not to mention I'm really not a big Edgar Allan Poe fan*. Despite all this (and that it took me about a week to watch), I still liked it. It's well made and compelling, and the bad guy isn't very easy to pick out."

Walled In I liked mainly for the atmosphere/building. I don't think I wrote anything about in on my thread back in 2011 (when I watched it), but I still remember that kid, Cameron Bright, being perfectly creepy for the part.

Ah, found The Cottage you were talking about, and I had to laugh at one of the reviewers mentioning "Nothing says menacing bad guy like David Arquette." I don't know; I may still give it a try if I ever stumble across it, but no rush. Glad you were able to finish it at least. :)

*I know, I know. I read/watch horror; therefore I should worship Poe, but I just never got into some of his stories.

saraslibrary Yeah The Cottage was not great by any means but it worked alright. David Arquette is pretty creepy to me.

I watched ATM a couple of nights ago. It was alright. It was full of "why are you doing that?" moments that ultimately left me unsympathetic towards the characters. The ending was pretty odd. It felt forced. I could see them inserting other possible scenarios in the last 15 minutes or so of the film, changing the feel of it altogether. It is worth a watch if you like movies where unseen bad guys put their victims in torturous situations. 6.5/10

I guess I still remember David Arquette from the Scream series. For me, he seems too goofy to be scary, so I'd like to see if he could pull it off.

I've checked out ATM several times but never watched it. I just put another hold on it, so it may take a couple weeks until I get to it. Thanks for the rec! :)

I finally finished watching Beneath the Darkness last night. It wasn't absolutely terrible, but it could've been better (eg, parents/police could've pretended to be a little more concerned about the kids in peril, more depth to Dennis Quaid's character, etc etc). The ending scene was just so goofy, you just couldn't take the movie seriously. Still, not too bad, but I can understand the 4.4 star-rating on IMDb. Hesitantly recommended.

I took a day off and made popcorn (on the stove with butter) and watched Bram Stokers Dracula, it's a favorite but now I've ruined it for myself by noticing when Gary Oldman is wearing his partial wolf suit and moaning he looks and sounds like the Cowardly Lion.

Sigh, ruined it for life I tell you.

:D It's been too long for me to remember that part, but funny.

I watched The House at the End of the Street (with Jennifer Lawrence) last night. I had no idea what to expect, and honestly I had confused it The Last House on the Left or else I'd have watched it sooner. :P I thought it was very clever and it truly did surprise me (I'd like to avoid the word "twist" but opps, I guess I just did). I highly recommend it. 7.5/10

I'm kind of struggling to find decent horror I haven't seen on Netflix. Maybe I will luck out tonight? Netflix Streaming just makes it so hard to search. Thinking of giving John Dies at the End another shot.

You mean it's not the same movie? ;) I know what you mean though. Horror movies aren't too original with their titles, especially the first two you mentioned. I have seen/liked The Last House on the Left (both versions), but The House at the End of the Street is still on my TBW list. I'm glad to hear it's watchable! :) And good luck with John Dies at the End. I have no idea if it's good/bad. Right now I'm watching Fragile (the one with Calista Flockhart).

saraslibrary I really enjoyed Fragile. So much that I bought it after watching it! I am a sucker for ghost horror movies and I was surprisingly pleased with it.

Anyone been watching Bates Motel? Granted it is more thriller than horror, but I am enjoying it. Much different, though, than I expected it to be.

I remember you mentioning Fragile was good; that's why I went ahead and bought it when I stumbled across it last week at Half Price Books (can't beat $2). I haven't had time to watch all of it yet, but I'm halfway through and like it so far. Good recommendation; thank you! :)

And, no, I haven't watched the Bates Motel series, though I wish I could (I don't have cable). From what I've heard/read, it's really good.

I'm watching Bates Motel and enjoying the heck out of it, finally a place where Norman is Normal.

I loved Fragile and I'd definitely add it to my collection if I ran across a copy.

I saw Arang, a Korean thriller/ghost/detective film. I really liked the characters in it. The ghosts were pretty classic Asian horror ghosts, but creepy all the same.

For some reason, I thought I'd seen Arang too (the cover looks very familiar), but it must've been one of those check-it-out-and-forget-about-it-until-it's-due movies. And now our library no longer has a copy of it (I just checked). Bummer. But I'll keep it in mind when I'm out shopping. Thanks! :)

Along the same "classic Asian horror ghosts" vein, did anyone happen to watch SNL this weekend? There was an awesome Disney Channel parody for a show called "Aw Nuts! Mom's a Ghost" about a Korean water ghost. Try and Google it if you can. I know SNL clips are sometimes hard to find.

Nope, I never saw it until now. Is this the one you meant (YouTube link)? If so, yeah, that pretty much sums up every Korean ghost movie. ;)

I guess there are cultural tropes everywhere. I think about the classic American "haunted house" a huge mansion with secret passages or a huge attic full of old stuff for a ghost to hide behind.

The hair thing seems to be very specific to asian horror films, you see it even in the old ones, so I suspect that it's an old symbol. I'd be curious if the ghost stories that kids tell each other have long black hair covering the face as a common theme.

An additional side thought - in England it's traditional to tell ghost stories on Christmas Eve and in Japan it's traditional to tell ghost stories on hot summer nights. I wonder what other cultures have traditional times to tell ghost stories.

saraslibrary Yep, that's the clip. I was laughing so hard. It was so random and awesome when I saw it live on TV.

I will reluctantly say that I am not a fan of the Asian horror movies. I think the ghosts are creepy, but I just get downright distracted with the subtitles. I want to enjoy the setting and ambiance of the film (which is mostly dark and difficult to see in Asian horror) and I end up reading and pausing and rewinding to make sure I read everything and also can see the action on screen.

#267-268: I haven't watched enough international horror movies to compare stereotypes. American horror seems to be famous for being more slasher/gore-oriented, especially back in the 80's/90's. And yes, for some reason, there seems to be a lot of long hair in Asian horror. I'm not sure why, and would be interested to know why it's considered scary.

I wasn't aware that Christmas Eve was the time to tell ghost stories in England. Here in the U.S. I guess it's Halloween. But I would have to say during summer camp as a kid, we told quite a few. And camping, in general, seems to be the best time for ghosts stories (just in the U.S.?).

#269: I'm glad I found the right one. :)

I like Asian horror just for a change of pace (well, anything international really); however, I just don't find their horror scary at all. Most of it deals with ghosts, and for me, ghosts just aren't something to fear. If anything, I feel sorry for them. Usually, they're the victim of a brutal murder, etc. and just want peace. As for subtitles, I love them. :) I usually turn captions on with every movie I watch, because sometimes actors mumble their lines or I'm distracted with other things (exercise, music, or my pets), etc.

And speaking of ghosts, I finally finished Fragile. I'm not sure why it took me a week to watch it (it's only 95 minutes). Maybe because it was a little low-key or because ghosts have never really interested me? Who knows. But it did have a great cast, the setting was beautiful and moody, and the identity of the ghost was a surprise. I'd recommend it, especially to people who like low-key supernatural horror.

I watched another Frightfest movie: The Tomb. I wasn't too crazy about it, but if you like Edgar Allan Poe adaptations, then you might want to give it a go.

I just got done watching Borderland tonight and really liked it. It's probably one of the better After Dark Horrorfest/8 Films to Die For movies I've seen. I was even surprised Sean Astin was in it. It's kind of like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (like the back cover mentions), but with a Mexican voodoo cult twist. Just a heads-up for those who aren't into gore: there are a few torture scenes, mainly at the beginning and end of the movie.

Caught a couple of pretty average but watchable horrors on Film4:

The Crazies (new version) - have never seen the old version so can't compare the two. This was just your average modern remake, a shame because they can be good (I really rate the new Dawn of the Dead), but it was entertaining enough while it was on.

Paradise Lost (2006) - found this really boring, more so than The Crazies in fact, and a bit like a cross between The Beach and Hostel. The organ removal scene would have been grim were it not for the ridiculous lecture given by the surgeon.

Also on was The Host (2006), which I thought looked good but missed! Please someone on here tell me I wasn't missing much...

I haven't seen the old version of The Crazies either, but I thought the new one was fine on its own. As for the new Dawn of the Dead, I honestly don't remember if I watched all of it. I think I checked it out from work, but it kept skipping. :/ That's another one in my TBW pile. And I agree: some remakes can be very good.

Paradise Lost = Turistas? If so, it's funny you should mention that one. I was going to watch it immediately after I watched Borderland, but I put in Trespass (the Nicolas Cage/Nicole Kidman flick) instead just so I wouldn't O.D. on gore. I've heard Paradise Lost/Turistas isn't all that good, but I'm willing to try it.

You mean the Korean Host? I haven't seen it either yet, but from what I've heard, it's pretty good. Sorry. Did you want me to say it really, really sucked? ;)

I liked the Korean "Host" a lot. The main character really pulled me in.

Yep, it was the Korean Host :(

If you liked The Crazies I'm sure you'll enjoy Dawn of the Dead. They're very similar in style, sort of modern action-horror, but I thought The Crazies that bit more formulaic and lazy. Still a decent watch though.

Yes, it was Paradise Lost = Turistas. As forgettable and silly as it was, it held my attention while it was on and I must say it was easier to sit through than your typical Nicolas Cage film - in fact I also missed the chance to re-watch 'Knowing', but that was on purpose! And it really isn't too bad on the gore, just a bit here and there to freak out the teens.

#275: I'm not sure who the main character is in The Host. I checked on IMDb, and they have Kang-ho Song listed first (who I liked in Thirst, even though I thought that movie was a tad long and silly), so I'm not sure if that's who you meant. Anyway, The Host is now on my TBW list for this year. Thanks! :)

#276: I definitely like action-horror, so I'm sure you're right. I just have to find a copy of Dawn of the Dead that doesn't skip.

Honestly, I'm not a big Nicolas Cage fan (my sis used to love him), though there are a few of his movies that I like: Trapped in Paradise, 8MM, and probably a few others I'm forgetting. And, no, I haven't seen Knowing. Is it really that bad?

You're right about Paradise Lost/Turistas not being really heavy on gore. I finished it yesterday, and all I really remember was a bunch of 20-somethingers running around half-nude. The organ removal part did get to me, though, but that's because I'm a complete weakling when it comes to scalpels. XP And the ending was a little "meh" (btw, how did they get money to fly out of there? I thought they were robbed). But overall, I gave it a 4/5. Definitely not better and scarier than Hostel like the front cover boasted, but still really good.

I finished watching The Roommate tonight. I wasn't too crazy about it (it's very predictable = boring at times), but I could see its appeal for young horror fans. If you're a fan of one of the actors/actresses in it, then you might like it; otherwise, I'm sure there's something better on TV.

>277 saraslibrary:: "all I really remember was a bunch of 20-somethingers running around half-nude"... yeah, that was pretty much my take on it too :)

Some more recent watches:

The Last Exorcism - again, watchable but nothing special, typical modern horror (I'm getting old...).

Don't Look Now - this is more like it! Yes it's old and I've seen it before but I had forgotten how good it is. Weird and creepy, a bit David Lynch in places.

Wolf Creek - another re-watch. Even more impressed with it, I think it's a very decent low budget film. I know the build up is incredibly long but that's what's so good about it; you get to know the characters properly, it feels very ordinary and realistic, and when the horror comes it's like a bolt from the blue, sudden and ugly and over before you know it.

The Hills Have Eyes (remake) - can't compare it to the original because I haven't seen it but this was horrible. I didn't like it and thought it was gratuitously sick. I'm a huge fan of the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre and I think that, at least, had some sort of artistic merit. The sound of that film frazzles your nerves, with whole sections of chainsaw and/or screaming, even the opening with it's voyeuristic camera-shutter clicks and whirrs. There are some great visuals too, the terrified blinking eye, the first time we see Leatherface. There was nothing to elevate The Hills Have Eyes.

lol @ (I'm getting old...)

I feel the same way sometimes when I'm watching some of the new horror movies coming out.

I haven't seen The Last Exorcism, so I put that one and its sequel on hold (the sequel should be coming out soon here).

Same with Don't Look Now. I haven't seen it; and even though I'm not a big fan of older horror movies, I'm willing to give it a try because I like David Lynch-y movies, even if his movies barely much sense to me. :)

Wolf Creek is definitely one of my favorite horror flicks. It's a great one to rewatch. I agree: kind of slow in the beginning, but I love how it all ends. (scratches Australia off of her list of places to visit now ;) Btw, I just noticed on IMDb that there's a sequel, possibly released this year. I had no idea.

I haven't seen the original The Hills Have Eyes either, but I actually liked the remake, though it's been many years since I've seen it. I can probably safely say you might not want to watch the sequel. :)

I watched The Zombie Diaries last night, and I was a little surprised it got 4.1/10 stars on IMDb. It's hardly better than 28 Days Later like one quote on the back cover states, but I thought it was a halfway decent found-footage zombie flick. It's a bit non-linear and leaves the viewer with a few questions by the end, but I still liked it (4/5 stars from me).

Sara, I'd watch (almost) anything in horror, even if it offends or sickens. My problem with films like The Hills Have Eyes and Hostel is that I can't help compare them with the 'video nasty' era films. They were pushing the boundaries of taste for the time, and with their low budgets had to be inventive (although there was a lot of rubbish too). The new ones seem, to my older eyes, like directors have taken the intent to sicken and shock and added a layer of gloss, but left out the originality and inventiveness. That's what I find gratuitous, not the content itself. Weird, huh? Mutant rapist cannibal hillbillies, okay, bigger production values, no :)

The Last Exorcism 2 is out here soon, if not already (I've seen a few ads for it on tv). Didn't know Wolf Creek had a sequel either. Have you seen any of the internet/poster ads for The Purge? That face!!! Really scary!

Its been a bit since I've posted. I went on a cruise a few weeks ago. I am a TV/movie junky and almost went nuts watching the same handful of channels on the cabin TV. Interestingly, I did catch the original (well, most of it) My Bloody Valentine on one of the channels one night. I had never seen it and enjoyed it (lots of cheesey gore). It is classic 70s/80s horror. I saw the 3D remake in theaters a few years ago and surprisingly really enjoyed it too.

Moomin_Mama and saraslibrary

I liked Wolf Creek too. Possible spoiler alert!!!!! Okay, this might have been just me reading too much into it, but did you ever think that the young guy was the killer and that the crazed Australian native guy Mick was just made up? I just thought it was odd at the very end of the film, the young guy was the only one to live and they could never confirm anything he recounted. At the beginning of the film, I think he and the girls had just met so they really didn't know him at all. I'll have to re-watch this one again (it has been some time since I've seen it) but I remember thinking it could be interpreted this way. End spoiler

If you liked John Jarrett (Mick)'s performance, you should check out Picnic at Hanging Rock. John is one of the cute young fellows the girls encounter in the woods. I was completely shocked he was the same guy in Wold Creek. And if you haven't seen it, really check out Picnic at Hanging Rock. It is not horror but is a really tense atmospheric movie. Very unique.

I am looking forward to several movies and hope to actually make it to the theater to see some of them!: The Purge, Maniac Insidious 2, and The Conjuring.

And hope to download or rent as they become available: Mama, Dark Skies, Hatchet III, Evil Dead remake, and V/H/S 2.

#281: I don't think I've seen a lot of the older "video nasties," just ones like I Spit On Your Grave (the remake was better, imho) and Last House on the Left (ditto on the remake).

I had to google the face you mentioned for The Purge, and yes, very creepy! That's another movie I can't wait to watch.

#282: I still need to watch the original My Bloody Valentine, especially since I bought it awhile back, but still haven't gotten around to it. I also like the remake.

I think that thought crossed my mind about Wolf Creek. I also figured the young guy got framed by the killer. But maybe I should rewatch it to be sure. Glad I'm not the only one who thought that. :)

Good luck with your TBW pile! It's huge, but they all look really, really good. :)

> 277

I would regard the little girl Hyun-seo (played by Go Ah-sung) to be the protagonist of The Host, although it's very much an ensemble film.

The little girl who was "abducted" by the monster? I think I know who you mean. I just started The Host last night, and am halfway through it, and like it fairly well. But does it get scary any time soon?

big fan of Picnic at Hanging Rock, I just finished Mama, and liked it until the end. Nice creepy atmosphere, some jump factor, good storyline until the end...just didn't do it for me.

Sorry to hear about Mama. That one's in my TBW pile, but I'm not sure when I'll get to it. I'll keep what you said in mind.

Btw, to answer my question in #285 (because I just finished watching it last night): no, The Host doesn't get any scarier (giant salamander creatures just aren't scary for me). I'm sorry to say, but I didn't really like it. It's beautifully shot (though I wasn't too crazy about the CGI), it's kind of funny (which I also found distracting, because then I couldn't take any of it seriously), but it's just not for me.

I rented Dark Skies and Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D this weekend from Redbox.

Dark Skies - This was a very slow going movie. The characters were boring and flat and the film really failed to set up the relationships between the wife/husband and parents/kids. There were several borrowed items from other films (odd animal behavior, house items mysteriously stacked, etc.). Overall, it was very predictable and disappointing to me. 5.5/10

Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D - This one surprised me. It began with clips from the original TCM and then immediately followed up with a story after the girl escaped in the back of the truck. Then it cut to approximately 20 years later which is where most of the film took place. I don't want to give away too much, but it was interesting to actually root for Leatherface by the end of the movie. My biggest criticism is that the movie was set in today's time (CD's, contemporary music, today's gas prices, modern cars) but there was one character who would have been 40 but she was a teenager. I don't get why they couldn't have just set the film in the 90s to make this character's aging work. It was distracting to me, but that aside, it was a decent film and added something to the franchise. 6.5/10

I also rented Mama but didn't get around to watching it. Returning it today but might DL it and check it out later.

<288 too bad I didn't read this before watching Dark Skies - what a dumb movie.

#288: All three of those are gathering dust in my work cubby, but I'll get to them soonish. I hope.

#289: Uh oh. Thanks for the heads-up, beeg. (bumps Dark Skies down a bit)

I finished a couple good movies this week: Good Neighbors (which is more of a thriller than horror, but still very good; recommended) and From Hell (not too bad; I'm not a big fan of historical horror, but fans of Jack the Ripper might really like it; also recommended).

saraslibrary Too weird! I watched Good Neighbors several months back and enjoyed it. I was just thinking about it last night as I was drifting off to sleep, and decided I need to re-watch it again soon. Spooky. =o)

beeg Yeah Dark Skies was just pretty meh. It took me a long time to get through it (I stopped it multiple times but eventually did end up finishing it). I just felt overall, it didn't add anything to the alien subgenre. I much preferred Signs and The Fourth Kind to this. Also along the same vein, I recommend Fire in the Sky.

I decided against seeing The Purge in theaters. I don't make it to the movies much and don't want to waste a visit on something that has marginal reviews. People are saying it is more similar to Panic Room than The Strangers. ::sigh::

Ha! Yeah, that is seriously too weird. :D But's it a good movie. Definitely worth a rewatch.

I don't have the extra cash to go to the theaters all the time, so I'm waiting for The Purge to be released on DVD. I don't think I've seen all of Panic Room yet, but The Strangers is definitely good (same with Them (Ils), which I always keep thinking is the "original" foreign version; it's not).

I watched Silent Hill: Revelation this weekend. It is streaming on Netflix. I'm a big fan of the video games, and I really liked the first Silent Hill movie, but this was disappointing. The acting was pretty horrible. The two lead characters/teens clearly had accents and failed at covering them up during the dialogue scenes. The effects were the movie's saving grace for me however, the spider/mannequin creature just looked so cheesy it wasn't even scary. The film felt a bit too similar to Hellraiser in many of the character's appearances. It was creepy at times, I loved the eerie music (same as the video game), but overall, I was very bummed out. 5/10

SH:R is in my TBW pile, too, even though I wasn't too crazy about the first Silent Hill. That one was a bit too long and confusing, imho, though the "monsters" were perfectly creepy.

Rewatched Audition - think it's a third or fourth go and still not entirely sure what's going on (in a good way). Well acted, compelling, and thought provoking, and that's BEFORE the infamous ending.

Shutter - this was the American remake. I've never seen the original but I got the feeling this was the typical American remake of an Asian horror. The plot was good but everything else about it was fairly pedestrian - the best of Asian horror isn't all plot and dark-haired ghost-women, but shot and scored in an incredibly suspenseful way.

>282 CurrLee33:: Forgot to reply to your point about Wolf Creek! Yes, the ending did leave you wondering. Was Mick really the killer or the mythic "Crazed Aussie from the Outback" that can be blamed but never tracked down? Or was he very real but so elusive that the survivor would be blamed (as in the case of Joanne Lees?).

Moomin_Mama What a great summary of Wolf Creek. Those two thoughts were exactly what I thought at the end of the film.

I need to see Audition. I am hesitant because I don't typically like torture or subtitled movies, but I have heard so much about it. Similarly, I need to watch I Saw the Devil too. Maybe this weekend! Both on streaming on Netflix, I believe.

CurrLee, most of the talking in Audition takes place in the non-horror parts so you won't miss much. There is a nasty scene that is hard to watch but I don't know if I'd call it gratuitous; it fits with the weirdness and the subtext of the film. I definitely wouldn't think of it as torture porn.

#295: Audition's one I really need to watch all the way through. I have it and fast-forwarded to the end, but I must've been in a hurry, because I didn't catch that infamous scene.

I never saw the original Shutter movie either, but I thought the remake was decent enough (it's been many, many years since I've seen it).

And that's ok re: commenting on Wolf Creek. :) I do the same thing sometimes. And I totally agree. I really liked how that one left you hanging.

#296: That sounds like a good combo! :) Let us know how they are (which is better, etc). They're both in my TBW pile.

Has anyone seen a Brit film called 'F' (on IMDB it's called 'The Expelled', 2010)? I caught it late last night and it wasn't too bad for a low budget film, although I found the central theme amusing - it was all a little 'Daily Mail' (that's a UK newspaper that appeals to those who want to start their day dwelling on how the country is going downhill and would be better off without immigrants/single parents/Islamists/those that don't or can't work/political correctness/suing or litigation culture). The out of control schoolkids, threats to sue those that have been assaulted, the breakdown of families and the smug manager all got a look in, but at it's heart was a man on the verge of breakdown from all these things, but then it turns out he's right! A faceless 'they' are really out to get us! Very funny premise.

F/The Expelled looks great! But I'm guessing it won't be released until July 9 here in the U.S. (going by the IMDb page), so it might be awhile before I see it. Thanks for the rec! :)

I watched The Collection tonight. I liked it, but the first one ("The Collector") was better, imho. This one was also pretty short--just over 70 minutes--which was kind of a good/bad thing (good if you don't have a lot of time; bad if you expect a lot to be revealed about the bad guy). Saw fans might like this one.