You could watch Dot and the Kangaroo, it is terrifying enough to give my brother nightmares
Has anyone seen The Witch yet? Really curious about that one.
I loved the Witch. I saw it at an 11AM matinee on the last day it was showing at my local theater. There was a blackout by me so I couldnāt work and I was like āfuck this, Iām going to the movies.ā So it was me, two elderly couples who both walked out before the movie was over, and one woman with a bunch of special needs people sitting in the front row.
Iāve gone to see a few matinee horror movies over the last 2 years and for some reason there are always special needs people there. There is always a big commotion near the climax of the film. I am not complaining here, because it usually adds to the experience, and I am totally ignorant as to whatās appropriate for people with special needs. Iām also not sure if thatās the term I should be using. But I wonder if stuff like this is, like, appropriate? For anyone? Maybe seeing some movie with ghosts and shit is better than, say, Deadpool or some Jason Statham movie or a raunchy comedy? Maybe they also go to those movies and I donāt know cuz I only watch horror movies and foreign films.
Anyway, the Witch is good. Last year I watched a ton of horror movies around this time, cuz itās fall and thatās the reason for the season. I watched every Phantasm movie, and you should watch them all, because theyāre all pretty insane even though the first is the only one thatās really great. I watched the first 2 Nightmare on Elm Streets for the first time ā one is fun, two isā¦I think two had some gay panic which made it kinda fun but not fun enough that I felt compelled to watch three, even though Iāve been assured itās good shit. I watched House ā not Hausu, which you should watch because itās a top 10 movie of all times, but the American movie ā and it was so bad that whenever I think of going on a horror bender this year it scares me straight. I watched Pieces, which was very funny and gory and Italian (I think?). I watched that movie with a chimp that kills people. I forget its name but itās really bad.
And I watched the Conjuring. The Conjuring infuriated me. A friend told me āItās supposed to be one of the good modern horrors and it has jump scares! I want to see how you feel about it. I havenāt seen it.ā Yeah well fuck you buddy, cuz I watched it and it fucking blew. 100% a supernatural movie made by a non-believer. It is almost 2 hours long. That is way too long for a horror movie. For any movie, really. If your movie is longer than Bride of Frankenstein it is too long. (Watch the first two Karloff Frankensteins if you havenāt. Theyāre fabulous.) Now maybe the director was a slight believer. Maybe he goes to some fucking megachurch. I donāt know. But I 100% guarantee that dudeās never been real deal scared in his life. Itās just a bunch of people who watched a bunch of movies regurgitating tropes without ever really interacting with folks who have been truly fearful of oblivion, or eternal damnation, or being murdered by a loved one, or being hurt by a stranger. Itās just fucking bullshit. Watch Poltergeist instead. Spielbergās schmaltzy but at least he isnāt cynical.
The Witch is not like the Conjuring. The Witch is all about hardcore believers and it doesnāt treat them like idiots for believing cuz fuck, if I was in their shoes Iād buy into that shit too and Iād be TERRIFIED. I thought it was a very bleak movie. It left me feeling very sad. But I loved it, and I think itās probably the best movie Iāve seen this year. (I havenāt seen many movies. I doubt I missed many good ones.)
(Watch Texas Chainsaw Massacre, itās top 10.)
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Just gonna say my last post is probably a mess but itās 666 words and I think every post after this should strive to hit that word count or go to hell.
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\m/
My ladyfan just watched The Invitation and said it was weirdly satisfying; I will have to give it a view and see if I concur. It sounds very tense.
Thanks for all the recommendations! Will have to sit down at some point (maybe on my day off) and figure out which of these I want to watch (or even spread them out over a couple Halloweens!)
FYI I moved this to Cinephile Showdown so we wouldnāt lose this thread.
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Tonight Iām going to pay US dollars to see THE THING for the first time. In 35MM! I am very excited. Itās a double feature with THE BLOB. But itās the 80s version. I dunno if I wanna watch that. Isnāt a Dillon brother in it? The one that isnāt Matt, maybe? Are there more than two Dillon bros? Has anyone seen 80s Blob? Is it any good? Thereās a pretty good chance Iāve already seen it and just forgot everything about it.
Itās almost October and I think I am going to watch a few horror movies every week, because thatās a thing to do.
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80ās Blob is awesome.
Iāve watched The Witch and Hausu so far. Both were great (and very different!)
The fact that The Conjuring got such positive reviews both from the critics and the plebs mystifies me. I canāt remember a single thing from that movie because it was so inoffensive and so incredibly mediocre. Iāve watched tons of horror movies and this is the only one where I canāt recall a single scare, single character, single scene or even what the gist of the plot was, nor even the shape of the fucking house. It is that forgettable.
Btw, watch Black Christmas (1974). Carpenterās Halloween has lost most of its lustre for me after I saw Black Christmas, since it predates Halloween and is much more effective and tense. I actually love Carpenter but think Halloween is one of his least interesting movies.
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Itās not a movie, but the cartoon miniseries Over the Garden Wall is something Iād recommend.
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Hey, Iām watching the Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell mini series right now, and I feel like it could create a good autumnal spooky mood without being explicitly horror or halloweeny at all. Itās chill and mysterious.
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the book is real good but Iāve heard that people that arenāt me had some difficulty getting into it
Cronenbergās Dead Zone has some great atmosphere and is a must given the very Greg Stilson-esque motherfucker running for office this year.
Yeah if reading was a thing that I could do for fun these days with any dedication I would want to read it after this, it seems like exactly the sort of thing I would enjoy. I like the TV show a lot though.
I saw The Thing for the first time a few months ago and was seriously impressed. I think youāre gonna love it.
Itās Carpenterās best movie.
Itās one of the Best Movies Of All Time
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Watched āHocus Pocusā last night. It was pretty fun!
Anything Halloween themed is at least vaguely exciting to me. My parents both grew up Mennonite and my dad led a ānon-denominationalā church that I went to all they way through highschool. It was a church with essentially Mennonite ideals but I guess with an attempt to be a little more inclusive? (I sporadically went to churches in college with decreasing frequency until I completely stopped by my junior year).
My parents wouldnāt allow us (my sister and I) to trick-or-treat and they would pull us out of school for any Halloween activities. My teachers would usually give me a bag of candy as I left and I would hide it from my parents. When Harry Potter got popular we werenāt allowed to read that either. I once caught my mom reading it though and I donāt think I ever got a satisfying answer as to āwhyā.
I recently remembered that my mom gave me a āCarmanā cassette tape when I was in about 4th grade and I would listen to this track on repeat:
which is pretty hilarious and sort of scary in another way in retrospect. When I finally played D&D in college it wasnāt as exciting as I expected it to be.
So anyway, Halloween used to make me feel weird and excluded and now it makes me feel happy and thatās why I liked Hocus Pocus.
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