Enjoy the upgrade, Phil and be sure to get a couple really great blu ray releases to break it in proper 
that hacking device is genius on the part of the makers. Never heard of these things but probably pretty easy to make with a bit of remote IR programming knowledge
[quote=ātitoli, post:1053, topic:405ā]Yesterday I did mini marathon. First Iāve watched Nosferatu (1922).
Then Iāve watched The Last Exorcism (2010): good one but I didnāt 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 theyāve decided to throw all sense out the door and open many questions that werenāt 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 :)[/quote]
I totally agree regarding Ju On the Curse. Its a favorite of mine and probably the scariest thing Iāve ever seen on screen. Its way better than the Grudge films, both US and Japanese versions. However the problem I have is that I find the lack of resolution in these movies disappointing. There is no point!
Actually they both have completely different endings. I always wondered what possessed Zombie to make Laurie Strode such an unlikable bitch in the sequel.
And yeah Trick R Treat is actually quite decent. Congrats on completing the 31 day challenge.
[quote=āFilmlovr1, post:1057, topic:405ā]Devil (2010)
Iām 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).[/quote]
āIām 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.ā
HAHAHAHA quote of the week.
Concerning It, I actually think this was one of the better King adaptations, especially for TV movie.
[quote=āPhil H, post:1059, topic:405ā]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 donāt 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 Ā£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.[/quote]
No wait, I think THIS is the quote of the week lol.
Youāre gonna love Blu Ray Phil. Many titles are completely night and day with their dvd counterparts. Watching a film on BD, even though youāve seen it many times before is like watching it for the first time. Iāve sold off most of my DVD collection and replacing them with BDs slowly but surely.
Watched Creature from the Black Lagoon. Absolutely loved it. Great classic horror. Also, watched Dario Argentoās Sleepless, pretty good. Better than I thought it would be. I picked it up after seeing Goblin perform in concert and liking the music they did for it. Definitely a cool soundtrack.
Never seen Sleepless, actually Iāve never heard of it. I will remember to look for it. Cool that you got to see Goblin live! Really like their music and some live videos Iāve seen were really good
For my final Halloween night viewings (which was actually the morning of the 1st because I work night shift until 6am), I watchedā¦
[b]Sometimes They Come Back /b - Another Stephen King short story adapted to film for a TV movie. I remember really liking this movie as a kid, but hadnāt seen it since. Was feeling nostalgic after listening to Kingās DT audiobooks. The TV movie feel is definitely present, and brings the film down a bitā¦ at times it feels a bit prime-time-family-viewing-friendly (particularly with the soundtrack), but then there are just a few gory scenes in the mix that really jump out because of this. Storywise, its pretty good if you can look past some big faults in logic. A handful of really nice scenes that are very Stephen Kingy, like when the main character is looking into the dark train tunnel and hearing taunting voices from the past, and the scene with the ghost train is great. I think I remember liking the sequel also but do not remember anything about it, and never saw the third.
I havenāt seen The Mist but did read the story when I was about 12. I was a huge King fan from childhood to mid-teens and tried to read all the short story collections but could never get into them. Iāve just never liked short stories, even from my most favorite authors they always seem like a waste of time.
IT was another one I couldnāt get into, movie or book, they both just never caught my interest. But maybe I will retry both some time.
[b]Willard /b - Was originally going to watch the newer remake with Crisper Glovend, but then saw this original and went with it. Not quite what I was expecting, much more light-hearted and again seeming very much like a TV movie, but it wasnāt. Still an alright enough watch and Ernest Borgnine delivering the line of the movie when he yells at Willard to get off a table.
And tonight I finished the Itās Alive trilogy with
Itās Alive III: Island of the Alive (1987) - The pharmaceutical-drug-side-effect-mutation-babies are continuing to pop up, and now a judge decides to send them all to their own private island away from civilization. Now this is the Larry Cohen I love so much. In true Cohen fashion, he makes a sequel which is way better than the original, with tons of actually funny humor. This time the lead is played by Cohen regular Michael Moriarty, an actor Iāve come to really enjoy watching in Cohenās films- he delivers perfectly in this movie.
Some of Stephen Kingās better screen adaptations seem to come from some of his short storiesā¦Stand By Me, The Mist, etc. Iād almost forgotten about The Mist. I think Iāll have to revisit it again.
Yea I was thinking that although short stories arenāt much good for reading, they are great for movies because a full novel is too long for film adaptation. Plus there is room for adding new stuff because short stories arenāt fully developed
Viewed the remake of Its Alive the other day, and not a patch on the original film.
Do watch Sleepless, it is a first-rate giallo.
Dangitt, ENNIOO, youāve killed my motivation to watch this nowā¦ 
Will do. So far I dont care too much for Argentoās more recent films
Argentoās recent stuff is shit I agree but Sleepless is actually halfway decent.
I finally got around to watching the 1979 Salemās lot. I canāt seem to decide which if it is better than the 2004 or not.
Its definitely much creepier and works better as a horror movie. Unsurprising, since Tobe Hooper directs it. But I think the 2004 version did a better job of fleshing out the relationships between the characters and made them less cookie cutter. So in the end its about the same.
I canāt remember, did the 2004 version include the scene on the schoolbus?
Yes the most enjoyable of the Larry Cohen directed Itās Alive films. Just so different from the other two. Have you seen Cohenās A Return To Salemās Lot ?
Yes, actually viewed this for the first time around Halloween last year via the Warner Archives disc. Great move, at the top of my favorite Cohen films for sure. Actually, I mentioned it earlier in this thread saying its the only really good Salemās Lot film so far 
[quote=āautephex, post:1069, topic:405ā]Dangitt, ENNIOO, youāve killed my motivation to watch this nowā¦ 
Will do. So far I dont care too much for Argentoās more recent films[/quote]
I dont like his recent stuff either but this one uses the classic giallo formula with more modern gore effects. Its like a āneo gialloā.
Finally watched The Innocents (1961) last night.
Very good atmosphere and characterizations, IMO. I didnāt really get any creepy feelings watching it, though. Definitely one of the better haunted house movies.
Iāve yet to see The Changeling, which Iāve heard is another good one.
I need your opinions on the following films. To watch or not to watch?
Calvaire 2004
Inside 2007
Rec 2007
Mothman Prophecies 2002
Rose Red 2002
Tourist Trap 1979
Thanks.
[quote=āCol. Douglas Mortimer, post:1076, topic:405ā]I need your opinions on the following films. To watch or not to watch?
Calvaire 2004
Inside 2007
Rec 2007
Mothman Prophecies 2002
Rose Red 2002
Tourist Trap 1979
Thanks.[/quote]
I canāt recommend any of these, but wait for the real fans of the genre
Enjoyed Tourist Trap 1979ā¦has a fair creepy atmosphere.
I liked Mothman Prophecies but then I have been interested in John Keel and related subject matter so was enjoyable in that regard for me
[quote=āCol. Douglas Mortimer, post:1076, topic:405ā]I need your opinions on the following films. To watch or not to watch?
Calvaire 2004
Inside 2007
Rec 2007
Mothman Prophecies 2002
Rose Red 2002
Tourist Trap 1979
Thanks.[/quote]
Calvaire - I was glad I saw it, but I mistakenly thought it was going to descend into something far creepier and menacing than it did. What it actually became was something almostā¦ comical, really. Thatās not to say that the protagonistās āordealā isnāt pretty fucking horrific - it is - but it all just felt a bit limp, a bit outrageous-for-the-sake-of-it. You know? I bought it from a second-hand market for a pound, I watched it, and then a few months later when upon looking at it I realised I would almost certainly never decide to watch it again, I binned it.
Inside - A very good movie, IMO. Not a movie youāll want to watch with any regularity either but, unlike Calvaire, this is a tense and visceral experience. Recommended.
[REC] - One of my very favourite horror movies. Hasnāt got one original thing to say - in fact, it relies on many very standard horror tropes and cliches - but it does everything so very fucking well. Everything. When I first saw it - and Iām someone who happily lets the movie take me away with it, you know? You may be different - I must have hit the ceiling in fright about five times. I think I was still recreationally using Ecstasy at the time and that probably helped matters along somewhat but, still. An outstanding picture. I want to watch it right now just from writing about it. I think thatās my viewing sorted for later this evening though, no doubt.
The Mothman Prophecies - Not a movie that gets a lot of love and it does kind-of limp over the finish line by the end but I found it a very interesting premise and it does well for a good portion of the runtime. Itās not a āhorrorā in the same way that the previous three are, though. More of a creepy mystery pic, really, with an added based-in-truth appeal a la The Amityville Horror if you go for that sort of thing, which I do from time to time.
Havenāt seen the other two. Is Rose Red the Stephen King thing? If so, I watched about half-hour of it, dismissed it as a load of old bumhole pickings. Maybe it improved, I dunno.