61 Nights of Halloween (2024 Edition)

[DarthSkywalker]

 

[Luigi]

Looks like we've got a good one coming out on Friday.

Reviews of Lumina

Reviews of Lumina

letterboxd.com

It’s as if Tommy Wiseau wrote and directed some no-budget sci-fi like SKYLINE. The best piece of “oh, this guy’s a nutjob” cinema since Deon Taylor’s FEAR. By the time you reach the on-screen text at the end, you’ll be howling.

Didn't even know about this one, just found out about it while looking at the local listings.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Looks like we've got a good one coming out on Friday.

Reviews of Lumina

Reviews of Lumina

letterboxd.com

Didn't even know about this one, just found out about it while looking at the local listings.

 

[Kane52630]

Seeing Eric Roberts's name on that tells me everything. lol

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Night 16

41. Stopmotion (2024) dir. Robert Morgan (NEW)

Bite-Sized Review: Stylish, haunting, and strikingly brutal at times. Not sure what I was expecting, but it wasn't this. Oh, and Aisling really needs a break.

****

42. Sanctuary (2023) dir. Zachary Wigon (NEW)

Bite-Sized Review: Who doesn't love a happy ending? Watching this took me back to Girl on the Third Floor. The skill and confidence in the direction in comparison is like night and day. Only breaking out the fancy when it serves the two powerhouse actors doing their thing.

****1/4

 

[Lily Adler]

Spoiler

Night 0: MaXXXine
Night 1: Black Sabbath
Night 2: The Neon Demon
Night 3: Beetlejuice
Night 4: Dracula (1979)
Night 5: Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
Night 6: A Nightmare on Elm Street
Night 7: Predator
Night 8A: A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge
Night 8B: A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors
Night 9: Orphan
Night 10: Speak No Evil (2022)
Night 11: Project Wolf Hunting
Night 12: Noita palaa elämään

Night 13: Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988)
Night 14: The Strangers (2008)
Night 15: Speak No Evil (2024)
Night 16A: Hellraiser: Deader (2005)
Night 16B: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)

Probably one of my least favorite Friday the 13th installments so far. Jason's zombie look is incredible, though. The New Blood suffers tremendously from censorship, and apparently most footage of the kills remains on the cutting room floor. Fans have been clamoring for an unrated cut for decades, and I have to join the ranks on that.

I was supposed to watch the recent sequel, but since I had seen the original The Strangers only once over a decade ago, I figured a rewatch might be in order. It's pretty good! The story and the characters are a little lacking, but the film is oozing with atmosphere, and the killer trio is iconic. The cinematography is really nice too. I just can't help but feel that there's some untapped potential here.

Speak No Evil is a remake of a very recent horror film that I like, so comparisons are inevitable. Luckily, it's a good movie in its own right. The filmmaking is excellent (it's a lot more cinematic than the original), and the cast is top-notch, especially the reliably brilliant James McAvoy. As an adaptation of the 2022 film, I have a few issues. There's two ways to look at what they've done here.

First, the optimistic take. It's a localized adaptation with all the changes that come with the concept. The characters would act differently, and they would react unexpectedly in these heightened scenarios because they're from a different culture than the cast of characters from the original film. With this approach, we can also acknowledge that a brand-new third act is a refreshing choice and a surprise element for fans of the original. It's good to switch things up.

Now, let's look at it with some cynicism. The changes they've made seem to largely exist to please American, mainstream audiences. Many scenes from the original are repeated, but there's small additions that add context. This is good, as the film isn't so much a black comedy of manners and cultural differences anymore, but a more straightforward thriller about two very different families. Then again, those little additions work almost as a checklist of fixes for all the gripes from people who disliked the original. The ending, the largest departure, reeks of studio interference. It's odd to take something unusually cruel (but thematically rich) and turn it into a deeply familiar, cookie-cutter conclusion.

All in all, this is a film that I enjoy quite a bit, but I'm having a hard time finding much respect for. Perhaps the most interesting take would've been just simply making a sequel. In fact, this could've very easily been a sequel, and an extraordinarily satisfying one at that. Still, it's a fun movie as it is (an adjective never used about the 2022 Speak No Evil) and would make for a really weird, intriguing double feature with the original.

The Hellraiser franchise might take me to an early grave. This **** is excruciatingly bad. These films used to be about pain and pleasure! I'm feeling the pain, but somebody forgot the pleasure.

Multiverse of Madness worked better for me the second time around! It's still a messy film with occasionally dodgy visuals and an even dodgier screenplay, but every time Sam Raimi's personality shines through, it's a cool movie. The horror elements are very exciting, and Wanda is a fantastic antagonist, even if the conclusion isn't a particularly satisfying turn of events for fans of the superior WandaVision.

I do wonder what happened with the wigs in this film. There's several cheap-looking numbers on several characters, but nothing compares to the hair hat Steven wears at an early wedding scene.

Sometimes I think about all the lost opportunities with this film. What it could've been before the extensive reshoots or Scott Derrickson's even more horror-oriented original pitch long before shooting. It's not bad though, and it was nice to finally watch it without being puked on mid-showing.

No nude McAvoy means that remake is meaningless.

 

[Lily Adler]

Quite the list there @Link . The changes I've head about with Speak No Evil really do feel there to appease us stateside. And they feel like they'd really hurt the narrative punch.

See Goodnight, Mommy.

 

[Kane52630]

Oh, and Aisling really needs a break.

Damn now come to think of it, every movie I've seen her in, she's always goin thru it. lol

The Nightingale
That GoT episode
God's Creatures
The Last Voyage of the Demeter
Stopmotion

Even in the new Speak No Evil movie, she was kinda goin thru it.

 

[Lily Adler]

You know Hollywood you can remake Audition now. I'm sure we're ready for another psychological torture porn horror again.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Damn now come to think of it, every movie I've seen her in, she's always goin thru it. lol

The Nightingale
That GoT episode
God's Creatures
The Last Voyage of the Demeter
Stopmotion

Even in the new Speak No Evil movie, she was kinda goin thru it.

Seriously. It's just constant pain.

Looked up what she has coming next. One is another thriller with McAvoy and then a comedy. Knowing her, that comedy will be a comedy the same way Hannibal is.

 

[Snow Queen]

Perfect hour of TV.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

The end of season 2 of Hannibal is the worst ****ing thing that's ever happened.

 

[Sithborg]

Seeing Eric Roberts's name on that tells me everything. lol

One does wonder what his drug bills must be...

Seriously. It's just constant pain.

Looked up what she has coming next. One is another thriller with McAvoy and then a comedy. Knowing her, that comedy will be a comedy the same way Hannibal is.

 

[Lily Adler]

One does wonder what his drug bills must be...

I feel like that SNL skit still relevant today with The Bear debate.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Last Night...

Bad seeds,
Spooky buddies,
and terrifying zoom calls.

 

[Snow Queen]

 

[StarLord]

Directed & written by Stuart Ortiz (Grave Encounters 1 & 2, Extraterrestrial), Strange Harvest: Occult Murder in the Inland Empire will have its World Premiere at Fantastic Fest on September 22.

Stuart Ortiz is one half of the directing duo known as the Vicious Brothers. This solo outing from Ortiz uses the true crime documentary format to unleash horror, and you can further preview the upcoming movie by watching yesterday’s official teaser trailer down below as well.

The faux true-crime documentary centers on two detectives’ pursuit of an infamous serial killer named Mr. Shiny, who terrorized Southern California for almost two decades.

Fantastic Fest’s official description gives further insight:

“In July 2010, the San Bernardino County authorities were faced with one of the most bizarre crime scenes they’d ever encountered. Alerted by a concerned friend, local police arrived at the victims’ home, and the murders they discovered shook them to the ground. The crime scene showed ritualistic aspects, and quickly, one of the detectives recognized a symbol painted on the ceiling in the victims’ blood linking back to a serial killer they’d chased in 1995, before the killer seemingly took a 15-year break.

 

[Link]

Quite the list there @Link . The changes I've head about with Speak No Evil really do feel there to appease us stateside. And they feel like they'd really hurt the narrative punch.

It's an odd film in the sense that it absolutely is a dumbed down, fairly toothless American horror remake... and it's still good. James Watkins and the cast put a lot more into it than I was expecting. I still wouldn't call it a must-watch, but it was a pleasant surprise.

 

[Kane52630]

If it was any other mid-tier horror director besides James Watkins, it would have been a real sh**pie.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Night 17

43. Spooky Buddies (2011) dir. Robert Vince (NEW)

Bite-Sized Review: Perfectly adorable kids' fare. Rather enjoyed it.

***1/4

44. The Bad Seed (2018) dir. Rob Lowe

Bite-Sized Review: It's truly remarkable to me how effective Lowe's direction is here. He genuinely understands the material and mood here, nailing when it should serious and when it should be a little goofy.

***1/2

45. Host (2020) dir. Rob Savage

Bite-Sized Review: Why did Savage turn to poop when lockdown ended? Perhaps him not being on set was the key...

****

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Tonight...

The Bad Seed Returns and Mr. Vengeance.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

 

[Lily Adler]

Leto II is such a good actor.

Are you speaking of Bill or James here?

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Are you speaking of Bill or James here?

Why not both?

 

[Lily Adler]

Why not both?

Oh rewatched Barbarian and still like it, but wish Justin Long was killed sooner.