It's my favourite of all the Universal horrors.

I voted it my #9 in the 2014 Best horror films poll.

https://www.cult-labs.com/forums/gen...-thread-2.html

How much has your top 10 changed since then? There are 3 on the top 10 I've not seen, I walked with a Zombie, The Black Cat and The Loreley's Grasp.

The same i think except Zombie Flesh Eaters would drop a few places to be replaced by Halloween.

Naturally since i posted the link here i copied the list to a document and aim to tweak it. No idea where i'll post it though.

You really need to see I Walked With a Zombie and The Black Cat. They really are fantastic films. I'm not talking good films now, all time classics.

My schedule for 2017:
Attachment 197246
Attachment 197247
Kill Baby, Kill, The Wailing, City In Panic, Sole Survivor, Scream, Lost After Dark, Discopath, Train To Busan, Girl In Room 2A, Eye In The Labyrinth, The Night Evelyn Came Out Of The Grave, The Red Queen Kills Seven Times, The Perfume Of The Lady In Black, Don't Torture A Duckling, Amuck, The Last House On The Beach, So Sweet, So Dead /The Slasher Is The Sex Maniac, 2 Masks For Alexa, Goodnight Mommy, Absurd, The Mutilator, Mountaintop Motel Massacre, Twisted Nightmare, Hide And Go Shriek, The Maniac, The Gorgon, The Curse Of The Mummy's Tomb, Die Die My Darling / Fanatic, Necromancy, The Hearse, The Intruder, The Iron Rose, The Living Dead Girl, Suddenly In The Dark, The Pumpkin Karver, Satan's Little Helper, Popcorn, The Slayer, Hack-O-Lantern and The Barn.

Attachment 197248
[01] Kill Baby, Kill
Kill Baby, Kill is situated in the same splendorous gothic playground as Mario Bava’s Black Sunday and Black Sabbath. Set in a small rural deteriorating town, the physical structures decaying seemingly as with the inhabitants. Littered with nods to Universal horror films from the ‘30s, the opening playing out as if shorn from the script of Tod Browning’s Dracula. A whistling wind inspirits both the residents and viewer with a haunted hysteria. There’s a pervading sense of dread, the villagers typically hiding a secret, but that which is typical is given new life, reanimated by Bava’s direction, playful at times, swinging as if perched on a child’s swing. Bava escalates masterfully, the confrontation between the sorceress Ruth and Baroness Graps feels intense, as if charged with electricity, but the ending almost feels a little too succinct, in comparison to a harrowing, paranoia-laced build up.
:pumpkin::pumpkin::pumpkin::pumpkin:

Attachment 197249
[02] The Wailing
Na Hong-jin’s The Wailing is breathtaking in its setting and cinematography, but where there is beauty there is darkness. Lush landscapes are interwoven with grimy suffocating interiors; a human-sized bird’s nest occupies one house’s floor, spinous and baleful, slaughtered animals hang from another’s ceiling. There’s an intense bleakness, but the director is able to skilfully navigate from such despair to hysterical humour seamlessly, humanising the protagonist, his faults, and the absurdity of the situation. Deftly the director is able to renew the sense of dread after comedic interludes with a single shot. An entwined sense of failure and paranoia haunt the protagonist, who is in a near constant state of flailing, in both his work and private life, hopelessness permeates. The film feels in flux, malleable, shape-shifting just when you think you have it pegged. Jun Kunimura is spectacularly blank.
:pumpkin::pumpkin::pumpkin::pumpkin:

Attachment 197250
[03] City In Panic
Alternately titled The Aids Murders, a slightly more literal and luridly appropriate mantle, the promotional materials liken City In Panic to the work of Mario Bava. Clearly the writers had lofty inspiration, also paying homage to the work of Fritz Lang, the killer carving the letter M into their victims. The late-eighties are known for a substantial decline in taste and decency, but one still can’t quite imagine if Bava and Lang were alive and putting out something of this nature, that they would ever have considered a glory hole murder set-piece. If you don’t know what a glory hole is, I suggest you do not Google it. There’s a seedy cityscape aesthetic that has a kitsch charm, but the dingy interiors are less enamouring. The radio talk show, with the killer inevitably phoning in, is a narrative device completely devoid of originality, but at the same time comfortably familiar to genre fans. At a time when it seemed the slasher sub-genre had exhausted all motive for the deranged, City In Panic provided a unique take, a subject matter with a weight the film is ultimately unable to do justice. At times deplorable, there is an unmistakable allure.
:pumpkin::pumpkin::pumpkin:

Attachment 197251
[04] Sole Survivor
The concept of Death stalking a survivor of a horrific tragedy to correct a fluke error to their design is far more widely synonymous with the Final Destination films. Sole Survivor, made 17 years earlier, treads similar ground, but in a less elaborate way, delivering chills rather than spectacle. The opening prophetic dream sequence is satisfyingly effective, conveying the horrifying aftermath of the crash, the concept delivered with nuance, analogies expressed by the protagonist of a clerical computer error that will eventually be rectified, or the feeling of a naughty child about to be caught. Death’s murderous rampage carried out with reanimated corpses, decaying and zombie-like, propelled as with puppet strings, stalking the protagonist and those in-between. The climax is smart, utilising the physical and mental haunting of one character to bluff both viewer and protagonist, the closing moments an eerie gesture of predominance.
:pumpkin::pumpkin::pumpkin::pumpkin:

A terrific post, Baka. :ghostclap:

Welcome back to the October Horror Fest. :welcome:

You have some fantastic stuff lined up. I remember you mentioning The Barn in January i think. Is it now available?

Bava and glory hole. Words that really don't match up. :skull:

As far as I'm aware it's still just available in the US, via the company that made it, and smaller retailers like Diabolik. I haven't looked into it since I bought it though. I'm really looking forward to checking it out, the trailer was ace.

Right, thanks.

I notice you have Hammers Maniac down for a watch. It's very good but not really a horror as such. I reviewed it here a few weeks ago if you're interested.

https://www.cult-labs.com/forums/mem...hread-111.html

Page 111 if it doesn't link you directly to it.

I echo that – it's a great film with one of the most sadistic scenes ever committed to celluloid.

I've very minimal exposure to Hammer, so had no idea. It might be getting removed with the other Hammer films due to the box set getting delayed. I'm hoping Indicator are able to ship it a least a week early though. I'll definitely give your review a look once I've seen it. I'm trying to go in as blind as I can to the ones I've never seen (just over half the list).

I don't think I'll get a chance to watch as many films this October, however kicked off with this bizarre but fairly satisfying Latvian psycho-sexual surrealist nightmare last night: