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#1231
29th October 2016, 07:07 AM
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__________________ People try to put us down Just because we get around Golly, Gee! it's wrong to be so guilty  |
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#1232
29th October 2016, 10:52 AM
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#1233
29th October 2016, 11:41 AM
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 It's been floating around a few years now.
bizarre_eye@Cult Labs likes this. |
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#1234
29th October 2016, 11:43 AM
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 bizarre_eye@Cult Labs and trebor8273 like this. |
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#1235
29th October 2016, 12:15 PM
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 [24] Mardi Gras Massacre Mardi Gras Massacre is one of those films that perpetrated the demonising of the slasher subgenre as misogynistic in its attitudes to women. I don’t think there’s a single female character that isn’t a hooker. But interestingly it’s the male characters who exploit these women, from the antagonist who is sacrificing them, in a bizarrely captivating ritual that hypnotically repeats itself several times, to a cop who steals from one. The film’s morals are all over the place, in one amusing scene the antagonist attempts to let a sacrifice go, after discovering she’s only nineteen, but she stays, protesting that he should get his money’s worth, in another we see one sacrifice treated to a Chinese banquet, to ensure she isn’t gutted on an empty stomach. The score adds to the disconcerting atmosphere, from an ambient breathy drone to lapses into disco. The brief scenes at the Mardi Gras are spectacular looking, it’s such a shame for the most part much of the action takes place in bland nondescript dingy interiors. The acting is consistently abysmal, but despite so many faults the film is never anything less than entertaining.   [25] Horror House On Highway Five Richard Casey’s Horror House On Highway Five is one of those films that I’ve always struggled to articulate my love for. It has a schizophrenic quality, at times seeming completely inept, but at others showing genius in its lunacy. There’s an absurdity to so much, from a teacher sending his students unaccompanied into the woods to investigate some rocket inventor with ties to the Nazis, to nods to the likes of Fritz Lang’s Dr. Mabuse films. The film has an endearing sense of humour; the final girl’s ambivalence to her school-project partner finding a butchered cat in their van and then a dead body by a bin is deadpan brilliance. The same girl’s hair at one point towards the end amusingly becomes a wig. Apparently they took so long to complete the film the lead actress had completely changed her hairstyle. Director Richard Casey coming from a background of music videos, the score is of particular note, providing a surreal quality, but oddly when it came to sound effects they didn’t show the same acuity, one scene with an iron standing out in particular as woefully incompetent. Despite so much of it being played for laughs, or comically inefficient in execution, that Richard Nixon mask is still creepy as hell, the scene where one character is dictating a letter and a close up reveals nothing but a gibberish scrawl is also effective and those closing moments are hauntingly reminiscent of Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, if slightly botched.  [26] Slaughterhouse Slaughterhouse’s setting is undoubtedly its best asset, the opening shots of the slaughterhouse, the strung up animal carcasses, the shots at the dilapidated homestead, of decomposing animals, bones and pelts all set an effective atmosphere. The slaughterhouse owner’s monstrosity of a son Buddy is an imposing presence, slaughtering the people trying to take away his land, and amusingly, teens who were messing with his pigs. There are some fantastic, largely static, shots that set the scene dramatically well, like the string of bodies hanging from meat hooks towards the end, but when it comes to action sequences, none of the chase or kill scenes are in any way as striking or memorable. The attempts at humour often fall flat, the script is littered with puns, Lester ‘Bacon’ owns the slaughterhouse, and Buddy playing dress up as a cop comes across as woeful. The victims are largely undeveloped, particularly the teens, fodder with no effort made to get the viewer to relate to them, or care about them. As far as slashers go, Slaughterhouse is merely serviceable, not particularly bad or good.  [27] Cherry Falls Scream and the post modern wave of slasher films highlighted the now fabled rule set, one of which being, you have sex, you die. For Cherry Falls to have the killer specifically targeting virgins was an ingenious decision. It’s conceptually self-aware, and director Geoffrey Wright laces everything with a satirical sense of humour, tongue also firmly planted in cheek. There are some cracking one-liners, when the students organise a party to mass de-flower themselves, one character dubs it a ‘hymen holocaust’. There’s a pervading sexuality, Brittany Murphy looks like she’s about to climax in almost every scene, and there’s a creepy sexual tension between her character and her on-screen father. The killer’s look is genuinely effective, feeling straight out of Brian De Palma’s Dressed To Kill. There’s dynamism to the set pieces and chase scenes, and the movie has a brisk pace. Apparently a victim of studio meddling, it feels very much like there’s more to Cherry Falls than we get, as if there’s something slightly more special under the surface, attempting to break out. The pieces are all there, but they don’t quite fit, as they should. But it’s a movie I’m very fond of, despite its flaws, I was a teenager during this wave of the self-aware slasher cycle, and it feels significant to me.  [28] Last Girl Standing Last Girl Standing is a novel spin on the slasher formula, opening with the final chase but focusing primarily on the surviving final girl Camryn, and her dealing with both her physical and psychological scars, but also survivors guilt. It’s an intriguing prospect, opening with what is traditionally the pay-off for the subgenre, the movie manages to sustain momentum with the mystery of a killer who has seemingly returned from the grave. Camryn is visibly fragile, her quirks endearing, her newly forged friendship with Danielle is touching, and their relationship proves hauntingly significant in the final scenes. Occasionally the film lulls, as it descends back into the traditional formula, but it does still have the ability to shock, the skinned rabbit with twig antlers is a strikingly visceral image. Oddly the actual final chase is nowhere near as effective as the opening one, lacking the taut tempo, foregoing velocity for sentimentality. But the passing of the torch symbolism is chilling, if a little heavy handed. The penultimate week has been very slasher heavy. Now onto the final few days. Sad times. Looking forward to closing with Trance, Retribution, Chopping Mall and Tales Of Halloween. |
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#1236
29th October 2016, 12:48 PM
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| Tales of Halloween (2015) Ten stories are woven together by their shared theme of Halloween night in an American suburb, where ghouls, imps, aliens and axe murderers appear for one night only to terrorize unsuspecting residents. It's impossible not to compare Tales of Halloween to Trick r Treat (2007). However whilst that film works a treat (ahem) the same cannot be said for Tales of Halloween. Not all of it anyway. After a terrific opening half hour with the short stories hitting you thick and fast it suddenly became a bit of a chore to sit through. So much information attacking your senses. Ten stories in under 90 mins is just too much. It would have worked far more successfully with half that number. I wanted it all to stop or slow down and take it's time. Visually it's excellent with so many references to horror down the years you just don't have chance to take it all in. Where Trick r' Treat really works for me is the loving way all the stories interconnect with each other and you notice scenes from one story taking place whilst watching another. There's nothing like this here with only a few references thrown in, mainly during the police investigation story at the climax. Some of the ideas used did seem to come from other films such as Jeff Lieberman's Satan's Little Helper (2004), but it was lovely to hear and briefly see Adrienne Barbeau reprise her role of late night witching idea DJ throughout the film. Shame there wasn't much of a role for Tiffany Shepis mind, not that anyone really had much screen time. Some of the stories amuse, some repulse, a couple i felt didn't work at all. Mostly though Tales of Halloween is a fun and gory spectacle that i think i'll watch in three segments next year. Finally whoever told me Axelle Carolyn's entry was The Halloween Kid was wrong. If you want to see that you'll still have to buy the Soulmate dvd.  |
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#1237
29th October 2016, 01:13 PM
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We don't care about you watching it with a commentary. We want to know if you enjoyed it or not.  |
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#1238
29th October 2016, 01:19 PM
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I didn't get on with the commentary particularly well because it a bit too much of a 'lads night in' with a selection of the filmmakers chatting about what they are watching and imparting observations of locations, stories, actors etc., but with far too much laughter and backslapping for my tastes.
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#1239
29th October 2016, 01:22 PM
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 Again, as much about the commentary as the film. You are obsessed dude!  |
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#1240
29th October 2016, 01:25 PM
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It's also probably a hangover from reviewing discs for so long, writing down the length and quality of every extra feature on the disc! Demdike@Cult Labs and nosferatu42 like this.
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