I’ve finally watched something great in this October marathon: The Innocents (1961)
A true masterpiece. Now I’ll go and read the book, but from what I’ve read, little tweaks in the story they did for the movie were truly genius and helped to lift the whole thing on another level.
I get the chills just thinking of this scene (and it reminds me of cover of first Black Sabbath album):
Yep, The Innocents is a good one.
I’ve watched loads more than this but just too busy obsessing about building a VHS transferring rig to post about them all…
[b]The Sect (La setta) /b - Despite the suggestion of this cover above, Argento did not direct but “presents” the film, as well as being credited as a writer. Michele Soavi is director and again delivers an exceptionally well made horror film. Sort of a trashier Rosemary’s Baby, with more Italian style, gore, and stuff that isn’t overly concerned with making any sense :P. Thought I had seen it but was excited to watch when I realized I hadn’t.
[size=12pt]The Mist[/size] - 2007 - Frank Darabont
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Stephen King really must have a twisted mind to come up with these kind of stories.
Among the horror genre I always preferred those films based mostly in creating a certain atmosphere with an eerie feeling, and less on gore and those freak scenes good for the horror house of the fairgrounds.
Saying this The Mist is able to mix both gore and a scary atmosphere in the right dose. It’s a well-made movie, based in a sense of desperation of all the characters as they seek a way out of to escape the horrific situation they are. The premise of the film is simple and similar to those zombies flicks, with a diverse group of people trying to escape the siege made by zombies, in The Mist the siege is made by some sort of pre-historic creatures. The plot also uses religion and mob mentality/control, fundamentalism and lack of faith.
The acting is pretty good in the good tradition of not using superstar actors in horror films (still remember how I didn’t recognize anyone from Prince of Darkness). Not a flawless film, sometimes the religious thematic is pretty straightforward, but I don’t have many complains the director seems to have specialized in directing King’s novels, still I haven’t read the book, so I really don’t know how good adaptation to the screen it is, the film does have an old school feeling in it even with CGI.
The ending is quite horrible true and pure horror, amplified by Dead Can Dance theme The Host of Seraphim, I couldn’t imagine a more dark ending for the story, it’s so strong that made forget the rest of the film and any eventual double meaning in the story…
Yeah I liked not an ultimate masterpiece, but definitively one I can recommend Halloween or not.
For days 23 and 24 I went old school and caught up with a couple of Karloff classics from his original Universal days.
The Mummy (Freund 1932) and Son of Frankenstein (Lee 1939).
S of F is difficult to take seriously as so much of it was lifted by Mel Brooks for Young Frankenstein but The Mummy, for all its dated style was worth seeing for Karloff alone, the magnificent make up of Jack Pierce and the fabulously lit close ups of Karloff excentuate his eery bone structure perfectly. Strangely we hardly ever see him as the actual Mummy and the story plays out more like Dracula than anything else. Enjoyed it though.
For days 25 and 26 I decided to go B Movie style and with mixed results. Cat Girl (O’Shaughnessey 1957) was a nice little British B featuring the beautiful Barbara Shelley as a woman who inherits a family curse of having a dual personalty with a wild leopard. Whacky of course but Shelley never looked better and the film never wears out its welcome. Carnival of Souls (Harvey 1962) on the other hand had me nodding off inside 20 minutes. I stuck with it but was glad when it ended. Not sure where this film’s apparent cult following comes from.
@ El Topo: nice review of The Mist. I haven’t read the book either, but as you’ve said, Darabont has specialized in directing King’s work, and I think it captures the spirit of King’s novels perfectly. Ecranisations of King’s work are usually well done, be it for TV or for cinema, I cannot think of any one that I didn’t like.
@ Phil: I’ve put Carnivals of Souls last night, but decided to leave it for tomorrow and watch something else instead. So I’ll probably watch it today. You have lowered my expectations, but that can be a good thing 
What I did watch is: Jigoku / The Sinners of Hell (1960)
I’m having a go at Japanese horror classics, recently I’ve watched Blind Beast, and I’ll hopefully watch Onibaba before the end of this marathon. Asian cinematography is usually not my cup of tea, and Jigoku didn’t thrilled me either. Movie starts like faustian psychological story, but later has long sequence in hell that is pretty daringly gory for the time it was made. I guess combination of the two acquired it its cult status.
I’ve decided to go more of a sci-fi route this Halloween and watch two of the greatest sci-fi horrors on Blu ray. Alien and The Thing. I’ve watched both films many times but its always a pleasure because they look great on Blu and both films have good rewatch value.
Alien looks a bit hokey though by today’s standards. The big buttons, small screens with huge fonts, flashing lightbulbs on the ship lol.
As for the Thing, I’ve heard that the people working in the Amundsen-Scott research station in Antarctica make it an annual tradition to watch the film each winter.
[quote=“last.caress, post:1039, topic:405”]31 DAYS of HALLOWEEN - DAY 30
Following up on Wednesday’s movie, Thursday will host Halloween II (Zombie, 2009). One of Rob Zombie’s least loved pictures - even Rob himself didn’t care for it IIRC - but I like it. And 'tis the season, after all. The Family Frightener for Thursday will be Tarantula! (Arnold, 1955).[/quote]
You are an easy guy to please lol. If you like Zombie’s Halloween II than you have the stomach to handle anything. Was it the unrated version or theatrical?
This is one where we can agree to disagree. I thought the film was brilliant.
I wouldn’t describe one of the greatest designs in film history with ‘hokey’ or ‘lol’, but my impressions on recent viewing was that today it looks like sort of steampunk.
[quote=“titoli, post:1041, topic:405”]I’ve finally watched something great in this October marathon: The Innocents (1961)
A true masterpiece. Now I’ll go and read the book, but from what I’ve read, little tweaks in the story they did for the movie were truly genius and helped to lift the whole thing on another level.
I get the chills just thinking of this scene (and it reminds me of cover of first Black Sabbath album):
[/quote]Thanks for mentioning this one. I’d never heard of it before, but now plan to get the DVD.
Another good old-time ghost movie is The Uninvited (1944). The last time I saw it was back in 1972. I don’t think even my 9-year-old self ever felt scared watching it, but I do remember a great atmosphere and story.
I don’t recall if I mentioned it before, but a good ‘vampire’ movie is Let’s Scare Jessica to Death (1971). This one did give me the creeps as a kid. It’s still one of my favorite horror films to this day.
Completely agree - that “used future” aesthetic of the ship and sexual, biological designs of Giger’s Alien world have been incredibly influential, replicated by a variety of sci-fi films: in terms of art direction, it’s hard to better Alien.
[quote=“Filmlovr1, post:1049, topic:405”]Thanks for mentioning this one. I’d never heard of it before, but now plan to get the DVD.
Another good old-time ghost movie is The Uninvited (1944). The last time I saw it was back in 1972. I don’t think even my 9-year-old self ever felt scared watching it, but I do remember a great atmosphere and story.
I don’t recall if I mentioned it before, but a good ‘vampire’ movie is Let’s Scare Jessica to Death (1971). This one did give me the creeps as a kid. It’s still one of my favorite horror films to this day.[/quote]
Cheers. And thanks for recommendations.
Last night I’ve watched Onibaba (1964).
Not really a horror, only slight horror elements in it, but very good movie from start to finish. One of those that from every shot it is obvious it was directed by someone who has mastered his craft. Also, unlike many contemporaries, doesn’t feel much dated. Great score too.
I like the Innocents but The Uninvited is one horror film that I will never get the appeal of.
I love Giger’s design and Ron Cobbs work was groundbreaking. I was just referring to the big buttons, flashing lightbulbs in the mother room and green oversized font on the little monitors that looks out of date today.
Yesterday I did mini marathon. First I’ve watched Nosferatu (1922).
Then I’ve watched The Last Exorcism (2010): good one but I didn’t liked the ending. I had my doubts about the begging which had more in common with Modern Family or The Office, than with horror films, but later accepted it as clever decoy to lure the audience into scary second part. But for the very ending they’ve decided to throw all sense out the door and open many questions that weren’t even hinted at during the movie. So it slipped back into parody territory again.
After that I finally collected the courage to watch the composite version of first two original Ju-On: The Curse films. First part is almost unbearable, non-stop nightmare, but to watch all segments at once waters down the effect a little, because after a while you realize it is similar to Final Destination franchise, every character will have to face its inevitable demise, there will be no cure for the curse, so you cannot get attached to any character. It is the classic of modern horror nevertheless, done with unique style. These days I watch movies with my headphones on, but it was not an option for this movie 
To be honest, I don’t know how I’d like it now. Last time I saw it was 42 years ago, and it was probably the first ghost movie I ever saw. But I remember watching it several times back then. There are certainly better movies in the traditional haunted house/mansion genre:
The Haunting (1963)
The Legend of Hell House (1973)
And others I can’t name off the top of my head…
titoli:
IMO, the original Ju-On movies are very effectively creepy, especially the first one. Once it started being remade for the U.S. market and became overdone, it kind of lost some of the original effect it had on me, but it remains a classic. It has a constant, unrelenting sense of dread. For me, the best horror is psychological/atmospheric as opposed to overly gory and violent.
IMO, the first 30 to 45 minutes of the original Pulse (Kairo) had a very creepy vibe.
[quote=“El Topo, post:1044, topic:405”]the director seems to have specialized in directing King’s novels, still I haven’t read the book, so I really don’t know how good adaptation to the screen it is, the film does have an old school feeling in it even with CGI.
The ending is quite horrible true and pure horror, amplified by Dead Can Dance theme The Host of Seraphim, I couldn’t imagine a more dark ending for the story, it’s so strong that made forget the rest of the film and any eventual double meaning in the story[/quote]
It’s a very faithful retelling of the fantastic King short story, right up until that ending, which is all Darabont. Remember the bit right near the ending where a MASSIVE creature is walking over the car? That’s where Stephen King’s story ends.
;D It was the theatrical. I like it but I guess not enough to have ever chased down any additional minutes.
And so, we’re here. All Hallow’s Eve.
31 DAYS of HALLOWEEN - DAY 31
When I put together my pile of films that I’d be enjoying throughout October, there were two which, for me, both deserved the DAY 31 slot and between which, in the end, I couldn’t choose. So, for the big day, it’s a double-bill: Trick 'r Treat (Dougherty, 2007) and of course, Halloween (Carpenter, 1978).
The final Family Frightener for the big day will be The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror Episodes XXI-XXIV (2010-2013).
Viewings over the past days:
[b]The Eye of the Devil /b - Got this for my girlfriend as one of many Sharon Tate movies she wanted to see. My interest perked up when I saw it was directed by J. Lee Thompson. The first portion of the film is pretty good stuff, with some interesting camera work for a black and white film from 1966. Some decent creepiness built up with the various characters and black robed mystery men. The ending is a bit anti-climatic for my taste, and film ultimately peters out compared to atmosphere built up until this point.
It’s Alive (1974) - Larry Cohen helms this story of troubled parenthood. I think the introduction scene is the only time I’ve ever seen a totally relaxed trip to the hospital for delivery. Nice performance from John P. Ryan as the father, I like this guy. A good watch but not among the best I’ve seen from Cohen. The first parts at the hospital are really great though, and leading into the craziness from the total relaxed happiness is a good touch from Cohen. These scenes are filmed pretty nicely as well, looks great.
It’s Alive 2 - It Lives Again (1978) - Cohen again acting as director, writer and producer. John P. Ryan returns to seek out new parents unaware that they are being watched by an organization bent on destroying this new wave of monster babies. Cohen is up to his usual tricks, making not-very-veiled references to society and culture. I’d say as good as the first.
Living Dead Girl (1982) - More Jean Rollin, some kind of undead vampire girl is awakened from her crypt by some dudes looking to store toxic waste barrels. Its not exactly clear why she is undead or what she is, but she’s got some long fingernails. I’m guessing this is maybe the best known film from Rollin, and while I wouldn’t place it as my favorite so far, it was pretty good.
Two Orphan Vampies (1997) - Finally found a Jean Rollin film that I just couldn’t get into. Don’t know if it was because it was made so much later than the others and Rollin had petered out at this point, or maybe had a lot to do with the totally terrible English dub. I can handle a bad dub, but this is bad… real bad… actually I didn’t finish the film yet because after several tries I just couldn’t find the interest. I will re-visit this sometime and maybe with more focused attention and original French dub it will be better.
Reel Zombies (2008) - Cheap Canadian horror comedy faux documentary about some dudes making a zombie movie after the real zombie invasion has started. Gave it a shot because thought it may be funny, it wasn’t, turned it off.
A Fantastic Fear of Everything (2012) - Another comedy horror flic, starring Simon Pegg as a crime/horror writer who has become ulta-paranoid and agoraphobic. I didn’t think I would get into this film much at first, but it steadily pulled me in and turned out to be really great and a very enjoyable viewing.
Still got quite a few more titles I planned on watching, and only 1 day left… Its Alive 3, and Its Alive remake from 2008 among them.
Also, Santa Sangre, Born of Fire (1987), Clive Barker’s Book of Blood, Bay of Blood… more Rollin…
I don’t think I’ll make it 
Devil (2010)
I’m not a fan of M. Night Shyamalan, and although he wrote and co-produced this, the fact that another director helmed it gave it a chance of being good. And IMO it is. To be honest, I kind of guessed early who would be who/what when they got on the elevator. Better than I expected.
It (1990)
Earlier in this thread, I had included this as an example of a King film far below the novel. It had been a long time since I saw it, and now, I must say that, although I still think the the book is better, this adaptation is much better than I remembered, and is fairly close to the book. Possibly as close as a screen adaptation of a story like this can get. I particularly enjoyed the flashback scenes to the early 1960s (in the book, the childhood scenes took place in 1958, I believe).
Uau that’s different an all lot different, maybe Daranbont wanted to be more King than the King himself. Thanks for the info Last.caress
In an act of amazing bad timing my DVD player upped and stopped working a few days back so my 31 Days of Halloween got cut short on day 27.
The good news is that this event has finally pushed me into the Blu Ray world as I figured if I was going to buy a new player anyway it may as well be BD compliant. So I carefully picked one out on line that was region fixed for BD but region free for DVDs (I don’t actually own any Blus so the DVD thing was more important) then used my Argos points to pick one up for the princely sum of zero. Or at least £49 worth of Argos points anyway. Got it home and was delighted to discover it also connects to the internet, so can now watch Amazon Prime and Youtube stuff on the telly. Modern technology sure is wonderful. Only down side was that on popping a Region 1 DVD in the damn thing it refused to play it. Turns out this model (Sony BDP-S1200) is only region free in some models, not all. A call to the Sony help line proved completely unhelpful so retreated to Mr Google and his chum Captain Ebay and purchased a little hacking device which promised to unlock the region restriction for DVDs by simply pointing and pressing the gadget at it. And guess what? It actually worked. An amazing little thing that looks like a kid made it with his home electronic kit but it worked a treat and I am back in the world of film geek happiness.
Not sure if I should bother finishing the challenge after the 31st though. Might just have to call it a day at 26.
Bought the same thing from the same people Phil, but the Panasonic version. I was pretty dismayed at how much more difficult it seems to be now to unlock DVD regions. Before blu-ray players, the whole thing seemed to have devolved into a simple 4-digit code inputted via the remote. For ANY player, even the cheapo £20 ones. It doesn’t appear to be that simple anymore though. Those people on eBay turned out to be lifesavers.
