October Horror Movie Marathon

[MrBarlow]

Black Water: Abyss. 2020

Five friends go on a cave exploration and become trapped with a hungry crocodile.

This shows how daft some people are with their great comments

"So nobody knows where we are...lets go down to the bottom" great thinking, ok it's a uncharted cave but best letting someone explore it first. As the group become trapped another decides "let's swim for it" knowing something is in the water, think crocodiles can swim fast. I would be rooting for the guy to swim fast but in my back pocket will be a betting slip with crocodile on it 20/1 to win.

This did have a lot of tense dark atmosphere but not really on the edge of your seat though. The acting was a bit better in this than the previous but nothing seems to save the film except for the kills. As you think it could be over we get hit with a curve ball and some CGI moments. Think these films are a one watch only for me.

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Up next Cabin Fever

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

I enjoyed Black Water: Abyss.

[MrBarlow]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

I enjoyed Black Water: Abyss.

I am toying with the idea of perhaps a second watch of it.

[MrBarlow]

Cabin Fever. 2002.

We have had horrors that made us fear going into the woods with The Evil Dead, Don't Go Into The Woods, Friday The 13th, The Burning, The Blair Witch Project, but Eli Roth decided to kick it up a notch, not with a serial killer or demons but a flesh eating virus.

This had a mix sort of bag of teens and you always get the annoying one with a air rifle, Eli Roth managed to capture how people were back then are still are today, drinking, smoking, swearing and generally being horny. The actors playing the teens do a good job probably not the best at times, there is some laughs then everyone remembers they are in a horror then the laughs go a bit to dark humour then serious. The make-up effects with the boils and skin peeling are done decently.

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Up next Drag Me To Hell.

[MrBarlow]

Drag Me To Hell. 2009.

A bank worker becomes a target of a demonic force by a old woman and seeks help.

Director Sam Raimi returns to the horror genre and decent way to come back with, some people like the movie and others hate it, i'm in the minority of those that enjoyed this. Ok the trailer did kinda spoil one or two moments but didn't stop me from almost jumping out my seat. The film isn't intense as other horrors and some black comedy mixed in but that doesn't seem to spoil the tone of the movie, like The Evil Dead, you think it's over then Raimi hits us with a curve ball.

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Up next Sinister

[MacBlayne]

Originally Posted by The Reaper Man@Cult Labs

THE KEEP Michael Mann 1983

Another film I never tire of, Mann's neglected classic is long overdue for an all singing and dancing edition on Blu Ray or 4k.

The way to go just now is the Imprint Betamax disc.

If anybody knows of a free file storage service, I have a 35mm scan of The Keep on my computer. It's about 16GB in size, so it's way too large to upload onto Google Drive.

[Justin101]

That's the version I recently watched too. The guys who scanned the print did a commendable job allowing people to see it in HD (actually 4k) since the studio and director aren't going to put it out themselves unfortunately. The visuals are amazing I will admit even I don't really like the film as a whole, it does look great!

Actually, the version I watched was 38GB

[MacBlayne]

Originally Posted by Justin101

That's the version I recently watched too. The guys who scanned the print did a commendable job allowing people to see it in HD (actually 4k) since the studio and director aren't going to put it out themselves unfortunately. The visuals are amazing I will admit even I don't really like the film as a whole, it does look great!

I do wonder if it is just Michael Mann blocking it, and not rights issues over the soundtrack.

Mann has sent messages of support to the makers of the fan-documentary of The Keep. He also spoke about it briefly in the odd interview. It obviously stings him, and he knows it's a failure. I know he said that it's impossible to restore it due to the special effects. But speaking about it doesn't sound like somebody trying to bury it.

And I once spoke to somebody who was an extra on Public Enemies. She said that Mann is very precise, and usually directs the extras himself. When he was moving her to a more suitable location, she told him that The Keep was her favourite film. She said he smiled, thanked her, saying it's an important film for him.

[MacBlayne]

Originally Posted by Justin101

That's the version I recently watched too. The guys who scanned the print did a commendable job allowing people to see it in HD (actually 4k) since the studio and director aren't going to put it out themselves unfortunately. The visuals are amazing I will admit even I don't really like the film as a whole, it does look great!

Actually, the version I watched was 38GB

I had the means of downloading that, but I didn't have a 4K set-up at the time, so I just downloaded the 1080p version.

[MacBlayne]

ZOMBIE FLESH EATERS

An abandoned boat drifts into New York City. The owner’s daughter teams up with a journalist to learn where did the boat come from, and what happened to her father. Their investigations lead them to an island where the locals are undergoing a very, VERY strange illness. Blood (and aqueous humour) will flow.

Lucio Fulci’s zombie shocker may not be the best zombie film, but it is the most beautiful. Fulci, even to this day, was a vastly underrated visual filmmaker, and Zombie Flesh Eaters is a masterpiece of anamorphic photography. Although the gore and the undead make-up is enough to shock, the true genius of Fulci’s film is how it uses shadows and the edges of the frame to craft suspense. The way the light brightens up a darkened room as a zombie tries to force its way in? Nail-biting. The opening of the coast guard approaching the abandoned boat is a masterclass of how editing, sound design, and wide lenses can create foreboding.

However, if one were to see the film on VHS, or those awful Vipco discs, it’s very likely that you could hate this film. Zombie Flesh Eaters, like a lot of Fulci’s horror, has very little time for plot. Granted, it’s a lot easier to follow than his Gates of Hell trilogy, but it’s an extremely slight plot. Fulci’s horror was in atmosphere, and with the help of Fabio Frizzi’s outstanding score, he creates a world going to Hell for no reason*.

The acting is a mixed bag, admittedly. Ian McCulloch, Olga Karlatos, and David Johnson are great, and even if they didn’t love the material, they are extremely professional. Tia Farrow, on the other hand… Well, she won’t be showing up her sister anytime soon. And of course, some of the dubbing is atrocious.

Zombie Flesh Eaters is like an old 1930s horror given a fresh coat of paint (actually, it’s more like fifty buckets of blood). The story is very barebones, with many scenes just characters walking to the next gory setpiece. I strongly suspect one underwater scene exists simply because they realised that nothing had happened for 15 minutes. But when the film is this visually striking, and rocks a soundtrack this belting, it’s hard to squabble. Zombie Flesh Eaters may not be the “best” zombie film, but I think it might be my favourite.

*Actually, the script had an explanation for the zombies. It was written as a throwback to old horrors like White Zombie, and there was a reference to a voodoo witchdoctor cursing the population. However, Fulci felt that there was no way he could film it without it feeling racist and culturally insensitive (forward thinking there), and decided to leave it unexplained. All for the better, really.