At the Movies with Kane and BN

[Kane52630]

The Exorcist: Believer

Ann Dowd would have saved this movie if she summoned King Paimon to fight the two Regans.

This was a mixed bag despite everyone trashing this. The movie had a promising start and I did like the first half when it was just centered around the two girls who went missing and the families that were affected by it. They definitely were trying to mimic the same tone and pace as the first Exorcist movie but not as well as they hoped obviously. There are some effective moments where they do deliver the horror and the craziness that you'd expect from every possession movie. Performance-wise, I thought Leslie Odom Jr. was decent and Lidya Jewett and Olivia Marcum who played the two girls were actually pretty good. It's just a lot of the character moments and over-arching story stuff they do here aren't that interesting or well-written. Where this movie really falls apart is when they bring in Ellen Burstyn at the halfway point and all the cheap nods and fanboy moments that you'd hope they wouldn't do that is all over the second half of this movie. I also thought the movie was too dark and unnecessarily dull to look at at times. It almost feels like you're watching a movie that is for a streamer. Overall, not bad but not great. It's a movie that felt simultaneously too safe but also too ambitious but misguided (if that makes any sense).
2.5/5

31 Days of Horror Marathon
Day 1: Saw X (3.5/5)
Day 2: No One Will Save You (4/5)
Day 3: Cobweb (3.5/5)
Day 4: The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster (4/5)
Day 5: The Exorcist: Believer (2.5/5)
​

 

[Kane52630]

V/H/S/85

I dunno if I should get the eye-phone 15. I hear it overheats.

So happy that Shudder continues cranking these out every year and this year has yet another banger of horror segments. I think 85 was a slight improvement over 99 but it almost reached the horror heights of 94. You can tell the budgets of these segments have grown compared to the last ones but still maintain the rough edges that make them work. The wraparound is pretty clever considering the 80s and newsreels of that time and what they do with the buildup so by the end, it was pretty fun.

Total Copy

This is the documentary/newsreel that is the wraparound of the movie that takes a very Stranger Things approach to the horror. I thought David Bruckner did a great job making that 60 Minutes-esque newsreel feel like it actually happened. As for the documentary/science lab of it all, they did a good job of being creepy and when it gets silly they go all in and it has a funny punchline at the end that ends the movie.

No Wake

This is the first real segment and it opens really strong with a very Stephen King/Friday the 13th homage that takes you by surprise. The movie does a lot to make you think it's two different kinds of horror before it shows you what it's really about. It's the one that feels very naturalistic out of all of them and feels more in line with the first two VHS movies. It's probably my favorite out of the bunch and I'm actually excited to see what Mike P. Nelson does next. This one could have been a full feature.

God of Death

This one takes place in the Mexico City earthquake that really happened and uses it to tell a survival story that takes a more supernatural turn. It's probably the most straightforward segment of the bunch that goes exactly where you think it does. I will say Gigi Saul Guerrero did a phenomenal job recreating the Mexican newscasters and the aesthetic of these news reports that feel real and authentic. Although, I feel like this needed something more especially when it got to the ending.

TKNOGD

This was a fun one and it taps into my love for Tron. The segment is pretty much a one-woman show theater production that goes off the rails and Chivonne Michelle did a good job carrying it by herself. Natasha Kermani did a good job keeping it interesting and light and the gore was pretty gnarly.

Ambrosia

The less said about this one the better because I don't wanna spoil it. It's so good... I loved the reveal and then the insane stuff that follows.

Dreamkill

It's probably my second favorite and it's by Scott Derrickson. He does a great job recapturing those grimy 8mm films as he did in Sinister and The Black Phone through a POV lens. I will say this is the only segment with actual horror and when the segment was focused on those kills, it reminded me of John Carpenter and William Lustig. The segment also takes a turn and where that goes is pretty nuts and takes a page from The Terminator.


Overall, V/H/S/85 is another solid addition to the VHS series and they keep continuing to deliver some interesting horror ideas that you would love to see become full-length films. I still think of the last three, 94 is still the best when it comes to horror, but 85 and 99 are probably the most fun.
4/5

31 Days of Horror Marathon
Day 1: Saw X (3.5/5)
Day 2: No One Will Save You (4/5)
Day 3: Cobweb (3.5/5)
Day 4: The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster (4/5)
Day 5: The Exorcist: Believer (2.5/5)
Day 6: V/H/S/85 (4/5)
​

 

[Kane52630]

Totally Killer

Not to totally be Comic Book Guy for a second, but there's no way they were able to obtain a VHS copy of Robocop in 1987. They were released in 1988.
*pushes up glasses* Worst. Metaslasher. Ever.

This was fine with some good moments in between. It's another one of these metaslashers that try to satirize 80s culture and slashers and I thought it started off pretty well. Kiernan Shipka carries the movie despite the writers giving her some awful Gen Z stereotypes and lame observational humor that doesn't really land. As for the rest of the cast, I thought they were fine but I really dug Troy Leigh-Anne Johnson and Ella Choi the most. It pretty much takes a similar route as The Final Girls and Scream only done through a Back to the Future style time travel. In many ways, it reminded me more of the sequel to Happy Death Day than anything else where they use sci-fi elements only it's not as funny or clever as they think it is. Where the movie really works is in the story and the relationships between the younger versions of themselves. Wasn't a fan of how much CG blood they used and the slasher stuff wasn't as interesting as opposed to the time travel shenanigans. Overall, just above average. I thought The Final Girls and Happy Death Day 2U did this kind of movie much better.
3/5

31 Days of Horror Marathon
Day 1: Saw X (3.5/5)
Day 2: No One Will Save You (4/5)
Day 3: Cobweb (3.5/5)
Day 4: The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster (4/5)
Day 5: The Exorcist: Believer (2.5/5)
Day 6: V/H/S/85 (4/5)
Day 7: Totally Killer (3/5)​

 

[Kane52630]

Beaten to Death

ngl I spent like 5 minutes wondering if the girl in this movie was dead or was having a good afternoon nap.

It's a horror flick set in the Tasmania outbacks that is somehow visually ambitious yet thematically underwhelming. The film didn't know if it wanted to be a nail-biting thriller, a non-linear drama, a survival horror, or an artistic indie film, so it tried to be everything and hoped it worked out in the end. I thought there were bits of the movie when it was a thriller that really worked and the actors they got were solid. The movie is at its least effective when it's a survival horror where it only relies on the main character played by Thomas Roach. I also thought it was funny when they revealed the premise of this movie, it reminded me of the Tuco episodes in Breaking Bad. As far as the gore and the visuals, it's the main reason to watch this, it's got an interesting grindhouse splatter film that doesn't fully work but it was cool to look at. Overall, while it's not all that great, it was ambitious enough to make me admire it more than anything else.
3/5

31 Days of Horror Marathon
Day 1: Saw X (3.5/5)
Day 2: No One Will Save You (4/5)
Day 3: Cobweb (3.5/5)
Day 4: The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster (4/5)
Day 5: The Exorcist: Believer (2.5/5)
Day 6: V/H/S/85 (4/5)
Day 7: Totally Killer (3/5)
Day 8: Beaten to Death (3/5)​

 

[Kane52630]

The Wolf Man

That ol telescope creepin' on a gal who's with someone gag, amirite?

While I've seen my fair share of werewolf movies, finally seeing the one that really took off in the cannon was interesting to see. It feels more polished than the older Univeral Monsters that preceded it but it also feels a little bit more safe because of the time period. What it excels is the atmosphere and the overall lore that they introduce in such a short runtime. It was also really cool seeing almost all the heavy hitters from the Universal Monsters show up in this movie between Lon Chaney Jr., Claude Rains, and Bela Lugosi. It's also shocking how much of the movie is spent before he even transforms into the Wolf Man and if I had any complaints it would be they weren't really able to showcase and show off the Wolf Man in all his glory. Overall, while this might not take over the top spot of favorite Univeral Monsters (that title still goes to Invisible Man), this was still a great watch and worthy of its iconic status.
4/5

31 Days of Horror Marathon
Day 1: Saw X (3.5/5)
Day 2: No One Will Save You (4/5)
Day 3: Cobweb (3.5/5)
Day 4: The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster (4/5)
Day 5: The Exorcist: Believer (2.5/5)
Day 6: V/H/S/85 (4/5)
Day 7: Totally Killer (3/5)
Day 8: Beaten to Death (3/5)
Day 9: The Wolf Man (4/5)​

 

[Kane52630]

Werewolf of London

Actually surprised at how much I enjoyed this one. It was released in 1935, 6 years before The Wolf Man and I honestly think this is more fun to watch between the two. It somehow maintains the original Carl Laemmle Jr aesthetic of the earlier Universal Monsters (like the Invisible Man) and I thought it's shot pretty well. It delves more into the scientific route rather than something more spiritual and Wiccan which I thought was interesting. And they do a good job of having personality in all the characters which I didn't really get in the other movie and Henry Hull played a pretty good wolf man. The only thing that didn't age well is Warner Oland who's notoriously played yellowface and here it's no different. Also, it features a really cool Wolfman transformation that I didn't see coming and you also see where some of the influences show up in later werewolf movies. Overall, this is definitely worth checking out if you're an old-school horror fan.
4/5

31 Days of Horror Marathon
Day 1: Saw X (3.5/5)
Day 2: No One Will Save You (4/5)
Day 3: Cobweb (3.5/5)
Day 4: The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster (4/5)
Day 5: The Exorcist: Believer (2.5/5)
Day 6: V/H/S/85 (4/5)
Day 7: Totally Killer (3/5)
Day 8: Beaten to Death (3/5)
Day 9: The Wolf Man (4/5)
Day 10: Werewolf of London (4/5)​

 

[Kane52630]

Here's the transformation sequence I was talking about:

 

[flickchick85]

Werewolf of London

Actually surprised at how much I enjoyed this one. It was released in 1935, 6 years before The Wolf Man and I honestly think this is more fun to watch between the two. It somehow maintains the original Carl Laemmle Jr aesthetic of the earlier Universal Monsters (like the Invisible Man) and I thought it's shot pretty well. It delves more into the scientific route rather than something more spiritual and Wiccan which I thought was interesting. And they do a good job of having personality in all the characters which I didn't really get in the other movie and Henry Hull played a pretty good wolf man. The only thing that didn't age well is Warner Oland who's notoriously played yellowface and here it's no different. Also, it features a really cool Wolfman transformation that I didn't see coming and you also see where some of the influences show up in later werewolf movies. Overall, this is definitely worth checking out if you're an old-school horror fan.
4/5

31 Days of Horror Marathon
Day 1: Saw X (3.5/5)
Day 2: No One Will Save You (4/5)
Day 3: Cobweb (3.5/5)
Day 4: The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster (4/5)
Day 5: The Exorcist: Believer (2.5/5)
Day 6: V/H/S/85 (4/5)
Day 7: Totally Killer (3/5)
Day 8: Beaten to Death (3/5)
Day 9: The Wolf Man (4/5)
Day 10: Werewolf of London (4/5)​

It baffles me how The Wolf Man is constantly revered as "The OG" while this exists. I chalk it up to the names involved, honestly.

 

[Kane52630]

It baffles me how The Wolf Man is constantly revered as "The OG" while this exists. I chalk it up to the names involved, honestly.

Yeah, it's a shame this was forgotten. But I guess can see why because Carl Laemmle Jr. wasn't directly involved with Warewolf in London because he was producing Bride of Frankenstein that same year and Bride obviously took off. Also, it looks like Valerie Hobson was in both movies.

 

[Kane52630]

She-Wolf of London

This was simultaneously super disappointing and super intriguing for reasons I can't spoil just yet. I thought it was interesting that they took this idea where it could have easily been another monster flick and chose to do something different with it. This is probably the cheapest Universal Monster movie I've seen so far and it shows between the limited number of sets to the hour and change runtime to what they do with the she-wolf. I will say I thought June Lockhart and Sara Haden were actually pretty good and where their characters end up was something I did enjoy despite everything that happens.
Spoilers:

Spoiler

So to spoil it, this movie doesn't have a She-Wolf nor there's any transformation sequence, it's actually a whodunit thriller disguised as a creature feature. The movie tries to get you thinking one of them is the werewolf and because of the hour runtime, the movie really takes up most of it getting to know the main character and her relationship with the fiancé, the aunt, and her cousin. I can totally see why most people hated this movie for false advertising but I kinda dug the story they had instead. It's not a perfect whodunit but I thought it kept me guessing the entire time.

3/5

31 Days of Horror Marathon
Day 1: Saw X (3.5/5)
Day 2: No One Will Save You (4/5)
Day 3: Cobweb (3.5/5)
Day 4: The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster (4/5)
Day 5: The Exorcist: Believer (2.5/5)
Day 6: V/H/S/85 (4/5)
Day 7: Totally Killer (3/5)
Day 8: Beaten to Death (3/5)
Day 9: The Wolf Man (4/5)
Day 10: Werewolf of London (4/5)
Day 11: She-Wolf of London (3/5)​

 

[Kane52630]

Friday the 13th (rewatch)

While this technically counts as a rewatch, I haven't seen this in its entirety for like 20 years so it almost feels like I'm watching it for the first time, especially with the Shout Factory restoration which looks incredible. While I get a lot of people love to ding this movie for being a Halloween knockoff, I thought among the many knockoffs this was pretty well put together on a technical level despite trying to copy Carptenter's POV style and having Tom Savini do the effects is what takes this up a notch. Even though Jason doesn't show up and steal the spotlight until the ending, I thought it actually benefits the movie because you're stuck with these characters that are actually not annoying to watch (except maybe the free-spirit hitchhiker girl lol). Betsy Palmer doesn't get enough credit for playing Mrs. Voorehees because she did a lot with just 3 minutes of screen time. Overall, this was a pure and straightforward B horror that would later become one of the biggest horror franchises.
4/5

31 Days of Horror Marathon
Day 1: Saw X (3.5/5)
Day 2: No One Will Save You (4/5)
Day 3: Cobweb (3.5/5)
Day 4: The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster (4/5)
Day 5: The Exorcist: Believer (2.5/5)
Day 6: V/H/S/85 (4/5)
Day 7: Totally Killer (3/5)
Day 8: Beaten to Death (3/5)
Day 9: The Wolf Man (4/5)
Day 10: Werewolf of London (4/5)
Day 11: She-Wolf of London (3/5)
Day 12: Friday the 13th (4/5) (REWATCH)​

 

[Kane52630]

Friday the 13th Part 2

Another one that technically counts as a rewatch even though I haven't seen this in forever. A horror trope I always find funny is when a movie franchise uses 5-10 minutes to recap the last movie and this one is hilarious because Part 2 is bearly above an hour after the recap but I get why they did it. I also think it's ballsy that the movie will give the remaining survivors from the last movie just a scene only to kill them off immediately. As for the movie itself, I thought it was still enjoyable, it's definitely the one that would become the blueprint for every Friday movie after this. I forgot how agile and vulnerable Jason was in his first real movie before he became a zombie king. Also, it's wild that sack head Jason and Dark Night of the Scarecrow came out in the same year. As for the campers, I thought Ginny and Paul were the least interesting "main characters" compared to the others in the group even Alice from the last one (which funny enough they gave more character development here). Overall, while I had fun watching it, it's a Friday movie that is sort of missing a piece and I think that piece will be found in the next movie.
3.5/5

31 Days of Horror Marathon
Day 1: Saw X (3.5/5)
Day 2: No One Will Save You (4/5)
Day 3: Cobweb (3.5/5)
Day 4: The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster (4/5)
Day 5: The Exorcist: Believer (2.5/5)
Day 6: V/H/S/85 (4/5)
Day 7: Totally Killer (3/5)
Day 8: Beaten to Death (3/5)
Day 9: The Wolf Man (4/5)
Day 10: Werewolf of London (4/5)
Day 11: She-Wolf of London (3/5)
Day 12: Friday the 13th (4/5) (REWATCH)
Day 13: Friday the 13th Part 2 (3.5/5) (REWATCH)​

 

[Kane52630]

Friday the 13th Part III

Shout out to the Marc Maron doppelganger. Even though I haven't really seen this one from start to finish in years, I still do remember the last 20 minutes. It's the start of Jason as we know him with his iconic hockey mask but also it's the one that really becomes by the numbers while also truly silly and campy with main characters that you do find really annoying. While I thought she was kinda uninteresting in the last one, I think Ginny would have been perfect to lead in III but they wrote it around yet another final girl with an invented backstory that doesn't line up. The 3D gimmick filmmaking is not only apparent as you watch it but it hits you over the head with it even when they don't mean to shoot it for 3D. They also tone down the nudity compared to the first two and upped the lame pranks that had an obvious payoff. There's also the random gang subplot that really went nowhere except for the kills. I still think this version of Jason is probably the best just on visuals and aesthetics alone but it's a shame he's in a slightly above-average Friday movie.
3/5

31 Days of Horror Marathon
Day 1: Saw X (3.5/5)
Day 2: No One Will Save You (4/5)
Day 3: Cobweb (3.5/5)
Day 4: The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster (4/5)
Day 5: The Exorcist: Believer (2.5/5)
Day 6: V/H/S/85 (4/5)
Day 7: Totally Killer (3/5)
Day 8: Beaten to Death (3/5)
Day 9: The Wolf Man (4/5)
Day 10: Werewolf of London (4/5)
Day 11: She-Wolf of London (3/5)
Day 12: Friday the 13th (4/5) (REWATCH)
Day 13: Friday the 13th Part 2 (3.5/5) (REWATCH)
Day 14: Friday the 13th Part III (3/5) (REWATCH)​

 

[Kane52630]

Tremors

While I know this is beloved I wasn't sure if I was gonna be a fan of it just going by a few clips I've seen but this was a fun time. I had to double-check to see if his name was in the credits somehow but this was very Spielbergian, more so with Jaws and Jurassic Park. They do a good balance of old-fashioned comedy with a creature feature from the 50s and I thought the directing and cinematography were wonderful. Kevin Bacon, Fred Ward, and Finn Carter work really well together, and they know how to create some good banter between them. The creature effects were pretty good and gooey and they do a good job setting up suspense because just like Jaws you can't spot them. Overall, I had a fun time. It's a great creature feature with some cool effects.
4/5

31 Days of Horror Marathon
Day 1: Saw X (3.5/5)
Day 2: No One Will Save You (4/5)
Day 3: Cobweb (3.5/5)
Day 4: The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster (4/5)
Day 5: The Exorcist: Believer (2.5/5)
Day 6: V/H/S/85 (4/5)
Day 7: Totally Killer (3/5)
Day 8: Beaten to Death (3/5)
Day 9: The Wolf Man (4/5)
Day 10: Werewolf of London (4/5)
Day 11: She-Wolf of London (3/5)
Day 12: Friday the 13th (4/5) (REWATCH)
Day 13: Friday the 13th Part 2 (3.5/5) (REWATCH)
Day 14: Friday the 13th Part III (3/5) (REWATCH)
Day 15: Tremors (4/5)​

 

[Kane52630]

Someone's Watching Me!

Yeah, Sheriff Brackett continues to be utterly useless.

Crossing off another John Carpenter flick from my watchlist and this one is probably the most underrated film he's made. While it says it's a TV movie and it may have a couple of TV qualities of the late 70s, it's an incredibly well-made, well-shot thriller that is obviously inspired by Rear Window but it does its own thing. I guess you can say this is the prototype version of Halloween considering he made this right before and used some similar camera movements/plot mechanics. Also, this is basically Carpenter's full-length feature of his original short "Captain Voyeur" which uses almost the same plot about a voyeur spying on women through a telescope. I thought Lauren Hutton did a great job with her performance as a lead who has to carry the entire movie and I thought the movie was pretty progressive for the late 70s. They also have Adrienne Barbeau who's fantastic in this, Charles Cyphers who is basically playing Sherrif Brackett again, and they even have Uncle Leo from Seinfeld for a couple of interesting scenes. Overall, highly recommend it for those who want to see more paranoia thrillers like Rear Window or Chloe Okuno's Watcher or just want to see Carptener workshopping his ideas for Halloween.
4.5/5

31 Days of Horror Marathon
Day 1: Saw X (3.5/5)
Day 2: No One Will Save You (4/5)
Day 3: Cobweb (3.5/5)
Day 4: The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster (4/5)
Day 5: The Exorcist: Believer (2.5/5)
Day 6: V/H/S/85 (4/5)
Day 7: Totally Killer (3/5)
Day 8: Beaten to Death (3/5)
Day 9: The Wolf Man (4/5)
Day 10: Werewolf of London (4/5)
Day 11: She-Wolf of London (3/5)
Day 12: Friday the 13th (4/5) (REWATCH)
Day 13: Friday the 13th Part 2 (3.5/5) (REWATCH)
Day 14: Friday the 13th Part III (3/5) (REWATCH)
Day 15: Tremors (4/5)
Day 16: Someone's Watching Me! (4.5/5)​

 

[Kane52630]

Tourist Trap

Well, that was creepy as f***. While this can be easily labeled as an obvious Texas Chainsaw/Carrie knockoff, I thought the atmosphere and truly disturbing moments propel it to be something more. Mannequins always creep me out especially when they start moving unnatually so this was probably more effective than most people and I feel like the grindhouse indie-ness of the movie does wonders for the creep factor. Chuck Conners does a great job doing his own version of Norman Bates crossed with Norman Osborn even though I thought some of the dialogue felt unnecessary. The rest of the cast was fine I suppose and I didn't expect to see Tanya Roberts in this. While I was enjoying the movie I did notice the movie was almost running around in circles to pad the movie a bit but I thought the horror moments paid off each time. Overall, it's a rough-around-the-edges indie horror from the 70s that does a great job of being utterly terrifying.
3.5/5

31 Days of Horror Marathon
Day 1: Saw X (3.5/5)
Day 2: No One Will Save You (4/5)
Day 3: Cobweb (3.5/5)
Day 4: The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster (4/5)
Day 5: The Exorcist: Believer (2.5/5)
Day 6: V/H/S/85 (4/5)
Day 7: Totally Killer (3/5)
Day 8: Beaten to Death (3/5)
Day 9: The Wolf Man (4/5)
Day 10: Werewolf of London (4/5)
Day 11: She-Wolf of London (3/5)
Day 12: Friday the 13th (4/5) (REWATCH)
Day 13: Friday the 13th Part 2 (3.5/5) (REWATCH)
Day 14: Friday the 13th Part III (3/5) (REWATCH)
Day 15: Tremors (4/5)
Day 16: Someone's Watching Me! (4.5/5)
Day 17: Tourist Trap (3.5/5)​

 

[Kane52630]

When a Stranger Calls

It's coming from inside the house!

I guessed it right as I was watching the middle act that this came from a short film because this is a movie with such a strong hook with its opening that it almost fizzles out. I suppose this counts as a Halloween knockoff but in actuality, it's more of a knockoff of Black Christmas because the short predates Halloween. I absolutely loved the opening 20-30 minutes. It knows how to do isolation well and know how to move the camera especially when there is nothing going on with a great performance by Carol Kane. And it's got two iconic quotes. I can totally see where movies like The House of the Devil got their aesthetic. It's just a shame that the movie didn't find a way to carry that momentum through the entire time and just be a bottle film. Where the movie kinda falters is when it tries to become a knockoff crime thriller in the vein of the French Connection or Dirty Harry. It wasn't awful but it changes the focus and shifts the tone of the movie that felt out of place. When the movie does switch back to horror in those last 15 minutes, I thought it worked and that's almost entirely due to Carol Kane's performance. I haven't seen the 06 remake but I'm assuming it's more of a traditional horror. Overall, I thought it was a good mixed bag but I wished the movie stayed as a bottle film.
3/5

31 Days of Horror Marathon
Day 1: Saw X (3.5/5)
Day 2: No One Will Save You (4/5)
Day 3: Cobweb (3.5/5)
Day 4: The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster (4/5)
Day 5: The Exorcist: Believer (2.5/5)
Day 6: V/H/S/85 (4/5)
Day 7: Totally Killer (3/5)
Day 8: Beaten to Death (3/5)
Day 9: The Wolf Man (4/5)
Day 10: Werewolf of London (4/5)
Day 11: She-Wolf of London (3/5)
Day 12: Friday the 13th (4/5) (REWATCH)
Day 13: Friday the 13th Part 2 (3.5/5) (REWATCH)
Day 14: Friday the 13th Part III (3/5) (REWATCH)
Day 15: Tremors (4/5)
Day 16: Someone's Watching Me! (4.5/5)
Day 17: Tourist Trap (3.5/5)
Day 18: When a Stranger Calls (1979) (3/5)​

 

[Kane52630]

Motel Hell

WHAT? lol. Kevin Connor must've had Maximum Overdrive levels of cocaine when he made this. It's obviously a knockoff of Texas Chainsaw Maccasare but done as a dark comedy before they would do the same thing. Rory Calhoun seems like the only good actor they have here because everyone else is acting like they're in a Roger Corman movie. The movie stays silly and over the top even though I think they could have done more with the concept. I did appreciate the ever-revolving door of new "guests" that would come to the motel and everyone played a stereotype terribly, shout out to the swingers. There's also a part where the movie suddenly becomes a jealous love triangle of the main three characters and then it immediately becomes Evil Dead before Evil Dead with the dueling chainsaws. Overall, not great but I was never bored by this weird ass movie.
3/5

31 Days of Horror Marathon
Day 1: Saw X (3.5/5)
Day 2: No One Will Save You (4/5)
Day 3: Cobweb (3.5/5)
Day 4: The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster (4/5)
Day 5: The Exorcist: Believer (2.5/5)
Day 6: V/H/S/85 (4/5)
Day 7: Totally Killer (3/5)
Day 8: Beaten to Death (3/5)
Day 9: The Wolf Man (4/5)
Day 10: Werewolf of London (4/5)
Day 11: She-Wolf of London (3/5)
Day 12: Friday the 13th (4/5) (REWATCH)
Day 13: Friday the 13th Part 2 (3.5/5) (REWATCH)
Day 14: Friday the 13th Part III (3/5) (REWATCH)
Day 15: Tremors (4/5)
Day 16: Someone's Watching Me! (4.5/5)
Day 17: Tourist Trap (3.5/5)
Day 18: When a Stranger Calls (1979) (3/5)
Day 19: Motel Hell (3/5)​

 

[Kane52630]

Night of the Comet


A hot gamer girl who works at a movie theater and can kick ass? It's like they saw the future.

So f**kin good and so much fun. I'm shocked that I hadn't heard of this movie until this year and it's wild how so perfectly New Wave 80s this is. I love that this movie takes everyone's anticipation of Halley's Comet and turns it into a post-apocalyptic action horror comedy. It's a movie that knows how to deliver atmosphere, charm, colorful vibes, campy dialogue, and a killer soundtrack. Catherine Mary Stewart, Kelli Maroney, and Robert Beltran were great in this and knew what kind of a movie they were in. It almost reminds me a bit of both Dawn and Day of the Dead with how they used the post-apocalyptic vibes along with where they travel to and the secret bunker. Also, it reminded me a bit of Miracle Mile considering the barren LA of it all and they used that same red sky filter. My only complaint is they didn't show enough "zombies" and they didn't spend too much time on the secret bunker scientists. Overall, while it bearly counts as a horror film, it's probably my favorite new watch or second new favorite of my marathon.
4.5/5

31 Days of Horror Marathon
Day 1: Saw X (3.5/5)
Day 2: No One Will Save You (4/5)
Day 3: Cobweb (3.5/5)
Day 4: The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster (4/5)
Day 5: The Exorcist: Believer (2.5/5)
Day 6: V/H/S/85 (4/5)
Day 7: Totally Killer (3/5)
Day 8: Beaten to Death (3/5)
Day 9: The Wolf Man (4/5)
Day 10: Werewolf of London (4/5)
Day 11: She-Wolf of London (3/5)
Day 12: Friday the 13th (4/5) (REWATCH)
Day 13: Friday the 13th Part 2 (3.5/5) (REWATCH)
Day 14: Friday the 13th Part III (3/5) (REWATCH)
Day 15: Tremors (4/5)
Day 16: Someone's Watching Me! (4.5/5)
Day 17: Tourist Trap (3.5/5)
Day 18: When a Stranger Calls (1979) (3/5)
Day 19: Motel Hell (3/5)
Day 20: Night of the Comet (4.5/5)​

 

[Kane52630]

Eden Lake

An incredible survival horror that is brutal and relentlessly unforgiving. With what it was going for, it's definitely inspired by movies like Straw Dogs and Last House on the Left. There was another movie that came after this called Preservation that this also reminded me of and while that one relies more on the action, here it relies on the survival part. The cast is phenomenal but it's mostly Kelly Reilly's movie and she's killed it. I also like how this was before Kelly Reilly, Michael Fassbender, and Jack O'Connell became big stars and it was great to see them really act here. I feel like while you know where it's headed it's still stressful to watch and the ending is where it really gets you. I thought the directing, cinematography, and color grading were phenomenal, it's easily one of the best-looking movies I've seen in my marathon. Overall, a truly great horror flick.
4.5/5

31 Days of Horror Marathon
Day 1: Saw X (3.5/5)
Day 2: No One Will Save You (4/5)
Day 3: Cobweb (3.5/5)
Day 4: The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster (4/5)
Day 5: The Exorcist: Believer (2.5/5)
Day 6: V/H/S/85 (4/5)
Day 7: Totally Killer (3/5)
Day 8: Beaten to Death (3/5)
Day 9: The Wolf Man (4/5)
Day 10: Werewolf of London (4/5)
Day 11: She-Wolf of London (3/5)
Day 12: Friday the 13th (4/5) (REWATCH)
Day 13: Friday the 13th Part 2 (3.5/5) (REWATCH)
Day 14: Friday the 13th Part III (3/5) (REWATCH)
Day 15: Tremors (4/5)
Day 16: Someone's Watching Me! (4.5/5)
Day 17: Tourist Trap (3.5/5)
Day 18: When a Stranger Calls (1979) (3/5)
Day 19: Motel Hell (3/5)
Day 20: Night of the Comet (4.5/5)
Day 21: Eden Lake (4.5/5)​

 

[Kane52630]

Killers of the Flower Moon

3 Hours and 26 minutes of me just Leo pointing at all the wolves in this picture.

Marty still has the juice and here he returned to what made him an all-time director. It's a dark crime epic that's on a massive scale and scope that takes you back to the days when he was making Goodfellas and Casino. This is essentially taking the structure of Goodfellas and Wolf of Wall Street and putting it in a Western setting while also providing insights into the history of White American greed in the West and real-world atrocities done to the Osage Nation. There's definitely a version of this movie where it is super procedural and straightforward to where you're almost watching someone lecture and hit you over the head for three hours and I'm kinda glad they went to a more complex route. It's directed, shot, and edited brilliantly and how Martin Scoresses used certain narratives and showcased various subplots is wonderfully done and it keeps the movie flowing, I honestly didn't feel the length for almost three hours. I also like how the movie can be comedic at times and it doesn't always try to be tragic for tragedy's sake... however, it does whenever it needs to hammer in the point.

The performances from everyone are simply phenomenal, while Leonardo DiCaprio does his best dumb guy routine yet again, I thought Robert De Niro hadn't been this good in years even with his small role in Joker. Lily Gladstone (who's incredible in Reservation Dogs fyi) probably has the hardest role in the movie because of how she managed to sell her character in the subtlest of ways. Her performance is the glue that puts this movie together and she nails it every time she shows up. There are a lot of people in the supporting cast who also did an amazing job like Jesse Plemons and Brendan Fraser, but I thought Everett Waller and Talee Redcorn delivered some of the best monologues in the whole movie, they were perfection.

Overall, this is without a doubt one of the best movies of the year. While I do have a couple of nitpicks that are pretty valid to the overall narrative and while I can see people bringing it up, I think this movie does a great job showcasing a more complex narrative with complex characters that makes you see how something this awful can happen and be swept under the rug while also kinda be a Goodfellas style crime flick.
4.5/5

 

[Kane52630]

Lake Mungo

A deeply haunting horror film that will appeal to documentary obsessives. While it can get a bit stale at times in the first half, I thought they did a great job committing to the documentary format and keeping it pretty authentic while adding some found footage horror flourishes. It's definitely not a movie for those who find the Ken Burns Zoom effect on a creepy/blurred image not scary enough. It's simply an effective horror mockumentary that takes a look inside grief and loss and turns it into something more haunting. You can see why someone like Mike Flanagan thought this was a masterpiece. Overall, I really dug it, it's one that really stays with you when you get to the end of this.
4/5

31 Days of Horror Marathon
Day 1: Saw X (3.5/5)
Day 2: No One Will Save You (4/5)
Day 3: Cobweb (3.5/5)
Day 4: The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster (4/5)
Day 5: The Exorcist: Believer (2.5/5)
Day 6: V/H/S/85 (4/5)
Day 7: Totally Killer (3/5)
Day 8: Beaten to Death (3/5)
Day 9: The Wolf Man (4/5)
Day 10: Werewolf of London (4/5)
Day 11: She-Wolf of London (3/5)
Day 12: Friday the 13th (4/5) (REWATCH)
Day 13: Friday the 13th Part 2 (3.5/5) (REWATCH)
Day 14: Friday the 13th Part III (3/5) (REWATCH)
Day 15: Tremors (4/5)
Day 16: Someone's Watching Me! (4.5/5)
Day 17: Tourist Trap (3.5/5)
Day 18: When a Stranger Calls (1979) (3/5)
Day 19: Motel Hell (3/5)
Day 20: Night of the Comet (4.5/5)
Day 21: Eden Lake (4.5/5)
Day 22: Lake Mungo (4/5)​

 

[Kane52630]

Halloween III: Season of the Witch

I always forget to watch Season of the Witch on the 23rd because of "Eight More Days Until Halloween" but not this year! As always, it's still a banger and it's still one of the best Halloween movies to put you into the mood for Halloween. It's still something of note that this is pretty much the last movie that had almost everybody from Carpenter's original film crew all working on it (Debra Hill, John Carpenter, Tommy Lee Wallace, and Dean Cundey). I've lost count of how many times I've rewatched this but it always takes me back to the first time the moment they played the opening credits. Overall, forever an icon.

31 Days of Horror Marathon
Day 1: Saw X (3.5/5)
Day 2: No One Will Save You (4/5)
Day 3: Cobweb (3.5/5)
Day 4: The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster (4/5)
Day 5: The Exorcist: Believer (2.5/5)
Day 6: V/H/S/85 (4/5)
Day 7: Totally Killer (3/5)
Day 8: Beaten to Death (3/5)
Day 9: The Wolf Man (4/5)
Day 10: Werewolf of London (4/5)
Day 11: She-Wolf of London (3/5)
Day 12: Friday the 13th (4/5) (REWATCH)
Day 13: Friday the 13th Part 2 (3.5/5) (REWATCH)
Day 14: Friday the 13th Part III (3/5) (REWATCH)
Day 15: Tremors (4/5)
Day 16: Someone's Watching Me! (4.5/5)
Day 17: Tourist Trap (3.5/5)
Day 18: When a Stranger Calls (1979) (3/5)
Day 19: Motel Hell (3/5)
Day 20: Night of the Comet (4.5/5)
Day 21: Eden Lake (4.5/5)
Day 22: Lake Mungo (4/5)
Day 23: Halloween III: Season of the Witch (5/5) (REWATCH)​

 

[Kane52630]

Megan is Missing

For a found footage film with an extremely small budget even by indie horror standards, I thought this was impressive yet deeply disturbing when you get to the last 30 minutes. I don't think I even heard about this one when it came out but it's almost hilarious to see the tiktok people believing this is real when there's a lot of amateurish acting and production value. I will say I do think the movie has spots where the acting does feel authentic to the mid/late 00s, not to mention the suburban culture and fashion of the time. Rachel Quinn as Megan feels like she belongs in the movie Thirteen by Catherine Hardwicke and I thought it was kinda rough to follow her around in the first 40 minutes along with other people in the cast who can't really act. Amber Perkins as Amy probably gave the only decent performance out of everyone. When the movie does shift from annoying teen antics and cheap/laughable scenes to more serious ones, the movie does get more horrific. The last 30 minutes are pretty horrific and hard to watch in a way that reminded me of watching the Poughkeepsie Tapes or The Den and I see why it became viral. Overall, cheap and sometimes annoying but it's super effective as a horror film by the end.
3/5

31 Days of Horror Marathon
Day 1: Saw X (3.5/5)
Day 2: No One Will Save You (4/5)
Day 3: Cobweb (3.5/5)
Day 4: The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster (4/5)
Day 5: The Exorcist: Believer (2.5/5)
Day 6: V/H/S/85 (4/5)
Day 7: Totally Killer (3/5)
Day 8: Beaten to Death (3/5)
Day 9: The Wolf Man (4/5)
Day 10: Werewolf of London (4/5)
Day 11: She-Wolf of London (3/5)
Day 12: Friday the 13th (4/5) (REWATCH)
Day 13: Friday the 13th Part 2 (3.5/5) (REWATCH)
Day 14: Friday the 13th Part III (3/5) (REWATCH)
Day 15: Tremors (4/5)
Day 16: Someone's Watching Me! (4.5/5)
Day 17: Tourist Trap (3.5/5)
Day 18: When a Stranger Calls (1979) (3/5)
Day 19: Motel Hell (3/5)
Day 20: Night of the Comet (4.5/5)
Day 21: Eden Lake (4.5/5)
Day 22: Lake Mungo (4/5)
Day 23: Halloween III: Season of the Witch (5/5) (REWATCH)
Day 24: Megan is Missing (3/5)​

 

[Kane52630]

The Autopsy of Jane Doe

For some reason, I got this movie confused with Deadgirl so I was expecting the worst, but this was actually a great mainstream horror with some surprises. I did like where they went with the story and how they resisted from being a dumb shlocky exploitation flick that doesn't have anything to say and André Øvredal is the perfect director for this kind of movie. It very much feels like a well-written horror short story that would later show up in a Creepshow movie. Even before the horror really starts they do a good job on the build-up and showing the process of being a coroner and they did a good job setting up the father-son relationship. Brian Cox and Emile Hirsch really elevated the film with their performances and Olwen Kelly was extremely impressive playing dead. Overall, a surprisingly well made movie.
4/5

31 Days of Horror Marathon
Day 1: Saw X (3.5/5)
Day 2: No One Will Save You (4/5)
Day 3: Cobweb (3.5/5)
Day 4: The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster (4/5)
Day 5: The Exorcist: Believer (2.5/5)
Day 6: V/H/S/85 (4/5)
Day 7: Totally Killer (3/5)
Day 8: Beaten to Death (3/5)
Day 9: The Wolf Man (4/5)
Day 10: Werewolf of London (4/5)
Day 11: She-Wolf of London (3/5)
Day 12: Friday the 13th (4/5) (REWATCH)
Day 13: Friday the 13th Part 2 (3.5/5) (REWATCH)
Day 14: Friday the 13th Part III (3/5) (REWATCH)
Day 15: Tremors (4/5)
Day 16: Someone's Watching Me! (4.5/5)
Day 17: Tourist Trap (3.5/5)
Day 18: When a Stranger Calls (1979) (3/5)
Day 19: Motel Hell (3/5)
Day 20: Night of the Comet (4.5/5)
Day 21: Eden Lake (4.5/5)
Day 22: Lake Mungo (4/5)
Day 23: Halloween III: Season of the Witch (5/5) (REWATCH)
Day 24: Megan is Missing (3/5)
Day 25: The Autopsy of Jane Doe (4/5)​