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Post by primemcgee on Oct 16, 2021 7:04:23 GMT 1
THE STRANGE CASE OF DR JEKYLL AND MR HYDE 1968 --TV movie with Jack Palance. Maybe the best made overall that I have seen (excluding a particular variation on the theme that I will be re-watching soon) . The March version is a little clunky in parts. This one adds a woman character but dispenses with the good girl/bad girl theme. I have yet to see the Spencer Tracy version. The makeup didn't impress me in photos.
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Post by RiP, IMDb on Oct 16, 2021 7:40:31 GMT 1
He ends up a head on a shelf so who knows. I heard that scene with him cut up is in the book-The Disoriented Man--that's him---but they make it clear it's aliens. When Michael Gothard is driving and tells the police woman to guess his name--just for fun--she goes...John...Richard......Michael? And he smiles and says: "not today lady." I wonder if that was an accident that she said it and he ad libbed the response and they kept it in. Yes, I've seen it years ago on Ch. 9, 32 or 44. I forget which one. I know he's the same character seen jogging and then fainting in the beginning, but I'm NOT sure whether or not he's the SAME actor??
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Post by primemcgee on Oct 16, 2021 18:55:09 GMT 1
I think it was the same guy but he seemed thinner at the start. I saw this Halloween Kills review on IMDB
"The night patriarchy came home"
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Post by primemcgee on Oct 17, 2021 8:57:19 GMT 1
It's the 50th anniversary of IMO Hammer's most brilliant idea and their best film of the 70s. DR. JEKYLL AND SISTER HYDE. I think it goes beyond a very clever reworking of the classic tale (with matching genius title) but actually surpasses the original for a profoundly defined clash of dual natures. Since there's some debate whether a dual nature in an individual exists, good vs evil or civilized vs the primitive, using gender instead places it in reality and every day experience--it's more elemental. I don't think the good girl/bad girl subplot of famous film versions of the story is as emotionally gripping or amusing as the Howard and Susan scenes. The casting is so perfect--that was Fate--and also the musical score is hauntingly epic--it works so well to augment the conflict, which feels much more meaningful than just having the same actor playing two roles.
NIGHT OF DARK SHADOWS 1971. I had not seen it before. In fact, I didn't even know how many from the series or the first movie returned. Having not paid attention to the opening credits--most of the cast came as a surprise (never saw the series but I knew they did multiple parts). Lara Parker was a welcome surprise to see because she indicated in the commentary for Race With The Devil that she had not done a feature film before but I guess she meant not a major role. I noticed how much the plot echoes the Haunted Palace and the later Curtis film Burnt Offerings (NEVER go back into the house to get something)--but that also made me realize how much The Shining follows the same idea.
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Post by RiP, IMDb on Oct 18, 2021 7:56:26 GMT 1
I think it was the same guy but he seemed thinner at the start. That could be. Perhaps the hospital scene was shot a month or so later and he put on some pounds.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 19, 2021 1:46:13 GMT 1
No Time To Die
I liked it a lot more than I expected to. Though, like most of the Craig movies I feel like it contains flashes of true greatness, but can never sustain it for the whole movie. There were scenes/moments in here that I absolutely loved, but the movie as a whole just felt too long and a bit forgettable.
Better than QoS and Spectre. Not as good as Skyfall or CR.
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Post by primemcgee on Oct 19, 2021 6:40:43 GMT 1
CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF 1961 - The kid who plays the young Leon is such a good choice--he looks so much like a young Oliver Reed--it makes the transition to adult so smooth. The makeup design is really good. Philosophically, it suggests God is kind of a jerk since the child is cursed because he was born on the wrong day (according to Spanish time zones. Technically it wouldn't be December 25th in Australia).
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Post by taylorfirst1 on Oct 20, 2021 1:27:34 GMT 1
Son of Frankenstein
Young Frankenstein
Spaceballs
Galaxy Quest
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Post by primemcgee on Oct 20, 2021 7:58:29 GMT 1
CURSE OF THE YELLOW SNAKE 1963 --not really horror or much of a thriller--Edgar Wallace Krimi.
ISLAND OF TERROR 1966 - rewatch
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Post by primemcgee on Oct 21, 2021 7:10:57 GMT 1
THE RETURN OF COUNT YORGA 1971
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Post by Indiana Jones on Oct 21, 2021 21:15:51 GMT 1
Didn't hate it but it's one of the middle-tier installments for me.
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Post by primemcgee on Oct 22, 2021 7:50:01 GMT 1
DARK NIGHT OF THE SCARECROW 1981 --what can I say? It is still damn good. Damn good. If you haven't seen it--see it.
HOME SWEET HOME (1981) is a slasher film set at Thanksgiving. Verdict? No thanks. It is about a homicidal fellow who escapes from an institution and goes on a killing spree. The problems with it stem right from the first appearance of the killer--Jake Steinfeld--who I vaguely remember from the 80s. Before I saw his name I was thinking --what if Bowser from Sha Na Na was a bodybuilder but didn't sing--just laughed goofy when he killed? That is what you have with this guy. No mask, not modus operandi. He plays it for laughs--I hope he was because if he was trying to be serious and scary--that would be the most frightening thought of all. The script is awful (the heroine--who might have been created while someone was on heroin, keeps forgetting about the child who is left in the house with the killer--but then it's not her kid so I guess that is a touch of harsh realism). All the characters are a lost cause so you don't care when they are killed--except for the singer with the mime makeup--it is somewhat satisfying when he departs. The soundtrack is surprisingly good though. A symphonic score I would have assumed was stock library music. The constantly abandoned child is Vinessa Shaw in her first film.
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Post by primemcgee on Oct 23, 2021 6:40:50 GMT 1
DRACULA starring Jack Palance, or as I prefer to call it, Taste the Blah of Dracula.
A dud despite the credentials. I don't understand it--I like other Curtis and Matheson projects a lot, and never is disappointed in a Palance performance but in this case--I think it is rather lifeless and disjointed. They said the romance subplot was added to give Dracula a reason to go to England BUT he was already planning to go to England!
Even the death of Dracula is a bland affair--Nigel Davenport is blank-faced as he delivers the death blow. Strange given that a good number of the cast are familiar and are good in other films but here--it just doesn't work. Even the cinematography lacks any spookiness.
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Post by primemcgee on Oct 24, 2021 8:00:32 GMT 1
PLAY MISTY FOR ME 1971 - Not really a horror film but it does have some scary moments. Good humor too.
SCHIZO 1976 - This feels like a dark comedy at times--the red herrings were used effectively to throw you off who the killer was.
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Post by taylorfirst1 on Oct 25, 2021 1:35:50 GMT 1
Dune
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Post by primemcgee on Oct 26, 2021 6:28:18 GMT 1
DAUGHTERS OF DARKNESS 1971 --Re-watch. John Karlen goes from Dark Shadows to a Euro Gothic vampire film which I assume was the basis for The Hunger becomes the plot is identical.
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Post by Grandmaster on Oct 26, 2021 12:34:01 GMT 1
No Time To Die I liked it a lot more than I expected to. Though, like most of the Craig movies I feel like it contains flashes of true greatness, but can never sustain it for the whole movie. There were scenes/moments in here that I absolutely loved, but the movie as a whole just felt too long and a bit forgettable. Better than QoS and Spectre. Not as good as Skyfall or CR. That seems to be the general consensus.
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Post by AQUA CAT! on Oct 26, 2021 17:44:06 GMT 1
Son of Frankenstein Young Frankenstein Spaceballs Galaxy Quest Great line-up!
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Post by Deleted on Oct 26, 2021 19:52:34 GMT 1
No Time To Die I liked it a lot more than I expected to. Though, like most of the Craig movies I feel like it contains flashes of true greatness, but can never sustain it for the whole movie. There were scenes/moments in here that I absolutely loved, but the movie as a whole just felt too long and a bit forgettable. Better than QoS and Spectre. Not as good as Skyfall or CR. That seems to be the general consensus. I’ve soften my opinion a bit. I suspect I’ll enjoy it more on rewatches. I love the Craig era. But I do think the third act of Casino Royale was a high that the series never quite matched again (outside of some of Skyfall’s better scenes)
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Post by primemcgee on Oct 27, 2021 7:58:03 GMT 1
MY BLOOD RUNS COLD 1965 - It starts with a passage from a Lord Byron poem read by director William Conrad. I am not sure it makes any sense for the rest of the film but sent up the soap opera pretentiousness to follow. Biggest problem with this film is the nutty script. It doesnt really work for suspense or romance, especially with the limited acting range of the stars. Joey Heatherton and Troy "You might remember me from..." Donahue-who does wear a sweater like the one that is worn by his namesake from the Simpsons (and may have been borrowed by Doug McClure for the Land That Time Forgot).
Now they do make a nice looking couple but are not likable at all. Barry Sullivan and Jeanette Nolan provide the only real emotional acting and it doesn't make much sense when you think about it since they start talking about a character who I presume was another daughter and something bad happened to her but it's dropped right after.
It gets laughably bad towards the end with the poor acting of the leads.
TERROR 1978 - This is my third Norman J Warren movie-I liked the first two I saw -Satan's Slave and a 1977 film --ALIEN PREY--which both had good acting with a somewhat sleazy exploitation story. The acting in this good-but the story is just bonkers and incoherent--but I suspect it was intentional. At times it is a comedy and feels like a forerunner of SCREAM. I can't hate it-not eager to re-watch it, but that's out of the way and INSEMINOID is coming up this weekend.
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Post by primemcgee on Oct 28, 2021 8:05:47 GMT 1
THE MONSTER CLUB 1981 - Some really bad songs detract but overall it is a pretty good trio of stories. It is often said Vincent Price established himself with younger audiences thanks to Michael Jackson--I don't think that is really true--he was already appearing in modern cultural venues--he is on a disco dance floor here and he was on the Muppets.
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Post by Indiana Jones on Oct 29, 2021 1:45:17 GMT 1
My favorite out of all the Universal classic monsters. It's been years since I saw it all the way through though.
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Post by AQUA CAT! on Oct 29, 2021 2:28:57 GMT 1
Fantastic Voyage (1966) Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966) Red Sun (1971) Dracula Has Risen from the Grave (1969) A Sun (2019) From Beyond (1986)
From Beyond is one of my favorite movies. It's red because it's a rewatch.
They'll be fine.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 29, 2021 3:27:16 GMT 1
My favorite out of all the Universal classic monsters. It's been years since I saw it all the way through though.
A masterpiece. My all time favorite horror movie
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Post by primemcgee on Oct 29, 2021 8:22:06 GMT 1
NIGHT OF THE DEMON 1957 - I try to watch it every October on the 28th since it is the time of the events in the last 20 minutes. One of my favorites.
I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE 1978 - Had not seen it before and I was thinking how ubiquitous women assassin movies are now. It has become so mainstream for Hollywood to do movies about women killing, in revenge etc. It's like baking cookies. It's so common now. Considering that this film is among the first--I will just say that it is actually well-made despite the unpleasant subjective matter. There is no glamorous depiction to it--the actress is professional and yet almost anorexic-- there's nothing erotic about it. The revenge is also done in a more thoughtful way than one would expect--we see that one of the rapists is a father, and they are not cartoonish in their behavior. Roger Ebert really slammed the film but I think he is wrong to suggest it was made without artistic ability or attempt. The most shocking scene is the castration in the bath tub and it is disturbing-not just because of the act, but how it is done--it seems so realistic--the victim is not immediately aware that it has happened--and then blood starts gushing in a bubble bath. Perhaps what is is so disturbing is that the revenge is meditative. It feels so calculated--but I am not sure I would call it exploitation--it seems to me it was not done for the purpose of entertainment. But it doesn't serve as educational either. The behavior of the woman doesn't seen natural though-in order to get revenge she basically prostitutes herself. That is not realistic or traditional. If she was presented as insane--then ok-but we get no sense of that.
I don't have an interest in rewatching it (or any of the sequels or remakes), but I can see how influential it was--or foreshadowed a trend that is all too common now. What surprises me is how good the acting is--there are very expensive movies today that appear to put less effort into performance that this one did. It doesn't seem like a good thing to say I Spit On Your Grave had better performances than "studio family film number 3."
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Post by Deleted on Oct 29, 2021 9:35:22 GMT 1
Decent enough flick but tbh it bored me a little. The fight at the end was awesomely brutal. Great performances
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Post by Grandmaster on Oct 29, 2021 21:43:16 GMT 1
Free Guy
That was fun
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Post by primemcgee on Oct 30, 2021 8:31:29 GMT 1
Two movies I avoided watching when they came out.
THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA 1989--I figured it would be Freddy Kreuger does opera--and there's an element of that, especially by the end. I think Robert Englund isn't intense enough to carry a horror role like Erik the Phantom. In fact, the most intriguing actor in it--I didn't recognize him--Bill Nighy and the police inspector is the most interesting character. But, there are times I think Dracula 92 should have used some pointers from this film-it didn't look as set-bound as that one did.
THE PIT AND PENDULUM 1991 is a more successful affair. Lance Henricksen is very intense as the grand inquisitor. The way the witch uses gunpowder to get revenge on the people who burn her is memorable--but the trouble I have with Stuart Gordon films is that while he casts the movies very well--some of the humor undermines any chance to take the story seriously. That's the case here.
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Post by Indiana Jones on Oct 30, 2021 17:34:06 GMT 1
A couple nights ago I rewatched Dracula (1931) and last night I revisited Frankenstein (1931). Still such a good movie and at ninety years of age too.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 30, 2021 18:53:43 GMT 1
A couple nights ago I rewatched Dracula (1931) and last night I revisited Frankenstein (1931). Still such a good movie and at ninety years of age too. Don’t miss out on Bride of Frankenstein! Or The Mummy for that matter…. Might as well watch The Invisible Man too!
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