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Satanic Panic (2019)
Satanic Panic (2019)
2019 | Comedy, Horror
Satanic Panic is a horror-comedy that depicts the world's rich elite as Satan worshiping cultists who would love nothing more than to bring about the end of days. Relatable then!
The "eat the rich" concept is a tried and tested method of giving a movie some hateful antagonists, and Satanic Panic does it well, as a working class pizza delivery girl stumbles upon said cult, and quickly finds herself fighting for her life as the cultists seek to use her virginity as a method to bring about Baphomet and blah blah blah, you've surely heard this one before.

My main gripe with this movie is precisely that - it offers nothing new to the table. That, and the fact that it's low budget prevents us from seeing any demonic creatures, which is a shame.
Honestly though, apart from these negatives, Satanic Panic is actually a lot of fun. It's got a good sense of humour, a likeable heroine in Hayley Griffith, some pretty nasty practical gore effects here and there, and a somewhat cheap but charming aesthetic.
The cast also includes Rebecca Romijn, Jerry O' Connell, and a few horror mainstays such as Jordan Ladd, Ruby Modine and Jeff Daniel Phillips.

You could do a lot worse, and Satanic Panic does just about enough to scramble above the depths of horror shittiness.
  
Porno (2019)
Porno (2019)
2019 | Comedy, Horror
5
5.0 (1 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Porno is unfortunately a swing and a miss. It has a great cast, but they're trapped in a by the numbers horror comedy that never commits hard enough to either genre to be convincing as either.

Set in the early 90s, Porno revolves around a group of Christian movie theatre workers who unwittingly stumble into a seperate, sealed off abandoned movie theatre underneath they one they work in. They find a mysterious movie reel in the depths and watch it, unleashing a Succubus intent on doing a bunch of evil things. I think. The motive isn't made particularly clear.
It's horror element doesn't work as it's too shy to show the gore one would expect from a film like this, but it still takes things too seriously to fully bring the laughs.
It's still humourous though. The cast are all likable, and the script manages to be funny on occasion, in what is essentially a silly semi-horror. Much like it's flirtation with genres, it also touches on some more serious issues, such as homosexuality and it's acceptance by religion, but once again, never quite goes all the way if you will.

Porno isn't awful by any means, but it feels like a wasted opportunity, a fun idea that isn't quite executed well enough to be a film worth returning to.
  
Tremors (1990)
Tremors (1990)
1990 | Comedy, Horror
As far as practical effects driven monster movies go, you can't get much better than Tremors.

It has a wonderful cast for a start - lead by Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward, and featuring the likes of Finn Carter, Michael Gross, and Reba McEntire, every character is likable (apart from that little shit Melvin) and you want them all to survive their ordeal, usually a rarity in this genre!
The chemistry between all of the actors is great, and makes for a frequently funny adventure. It has its fair share of bloodier moments that push into horror territory, and in that regards, the mostly daylit Nevada desert setting is something different to enjoy. The practical effects are extremely B-Movie, but it works so well with the overall tone.

The narrative takes a little while to set everything up, but when things get moving, it doesn't stop, moving from set piece to set piece, that are all memorable as hell, from pole vaulting from boulder to boulder, to fishing with homemade bombs, to a over the top l, laughable amount of guns being fired when a Graboid breaches an underground bunker.

Tremors is fucking great and deserves so much praise for what it is - it's own little pocket of comedy horror, with its own rules. Long live Tremors.
  
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Darren Fisher (2436 KP) rated Mr. Bean's Holiday (2007) in Movies

Dec 17, 2020 (Updated Jan 31, 2021)  
Mr. Bean's Holiday (2007)
Mr. Bean's Holiday (2007)
2007 | Comedy, Family
8
7.3 (9 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Mr. Bean (0 more)
The tragic yet comical story about a man who suffers from acute mental health issues. After winning a camera and a trip to Cannes, socially awkward and mostly misunderstood, Bean is mistakenly accused of kidnapping a young boy. Little does Bean know that the young lad is the son of a pretentious, self-gratifying film director, who will stop at nothing to assure the safety and return of his son. Bean and boy head for Cannes on a deranged road-trip where each new incident strengthens the bond between them.
Although the films message is clear and isn't afraid to pull any punches, the interspersed comedy throughout is hilarious as it is touching (are we laughing because Bean is seemingly a fool? or are we laughing with Bean because these situations are actually funny?).
 It's sad to think that, even in todays times, that mental health is still misunderstood by many people and is upon reaction based on fear and a lack of understanding. The sons father takes on that role, whilst the son himself takes on the role of those that do not judge a person by their wellbeing alone. And, with all of Beans supposed misgivings, he does come through at the end. Thought provoking stuff to be sure...
Joking of course!
Great fun and a big improvement on the first film.
  
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Sarah (7798 KP) rated Brassic in TV

Sep 1, 2019  
Brassic
Brassic
2019 | Comedy, Drama
8
6.8 (9 Ratings)
TV Show Rating
Daft and quintessentially northern
I didn’t really fancy this show, as I’m not particularly a big fan of Michelle Keegan. However the trailer full of silly escapades and northern accents kept tempting me in and in the end, I’m rather glad I watched it.

This comes across as a rather silly farcical comedy with a few crude jokes and in some parts it is, but it’s actually so much more than this and a much more sensitive and heartwarming side. Yes it’s funny, mainly thanks to Joseph Gilgun and his rather inept gang of petty thieves, and his entirely inappropriate GP played wonderfully by Dominic West. Being northern myself, this is part of the reason why I found this series so enjoyable. You can almost imagine things like that happening in certain parts of the world up here. But despite the humour, this has a deeper story which works in well amongst all of the wacky exploits and chaos, and it provides a nice balance.

Unfortunately I’m still not a fan of Michelle Keegan even after watching this, and I’m afraid I found her part in the story and episodes the weakest and most boring of everything. But fortunately this didn’t ruin the rest of the show too much and it was still a rather fun and entertaining series.
  
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LeftSideCut (3778 KP) rated Dead Set in TV

Aug 18, 2019 (Updated Oct 25, 2019)  
Dead Set
Dead Set
2008 | Drama, Horror
8
7.5 (33 Ratings)
TV Show Rating
Dead Set in short - a six part British drama series, set around a zombie apocalypse, where most of the story takes place in the Big Brother house.
It's also from the mind of Charlie Brooker - the creator of Black Mirror, and the results are pretty good.

The opening episode deals with an eviction night of the British Big Brother series, where everyone involved both on camera and behind the scenes go about their usual business.
As a virus takes hold and chaos quickly ensues, the Big Brother housemates are trapped inside the house - which happens to be pretty secure.

The way that Dead Set is shot is frantic when the action starts. It's nasty and gritty whilst keeping a British dark humour sort of charm without ever going full comedy. In fact, the series is really quite bleak throughout.
The episodes run at 20 minutes each with an extended pilot, clocking in at just over 2 hours and it managed to hold my attention throughout.

Of course, being a Charlie Brooker project, there's an underlying message - as the zombie horde surrounding the house grows and grows, even in death, the public are drawn towards trashy reality shows.

Considering Dead Set is a TV show aired on Channel 4, it's pretty impressive. Well worth checking out for anyone who enjoys horror.
  
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Lee KM Pallatina (951 KP) Aug 19, 2019

I watched this during it's original airing and really enjoyed it, it helped that I enjoy zombie movies, gritty brit flicks and am an adam deacon fan.
Still have the dvd.

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LeftSideCut (3778 KP) Aug 19, 2019

@Lee KM Pallatina it passed me by when it originally aired unfortunately. It's only in the last few years that I watched it. Thought it was great though 👍

Jojo Rabbit (2019)
Jojo Rabbit (2019)
2019 | Comedy, Drama, War
Jojo Rabbit- alot of people told me that their liked this movie. From the trailer it looked reallly good. So when i watched it yesterday, i didnt love it, i liked it kinda. Let me explain...

The subject of Nazis and Hitler is a touchy one to say the least, but it's also a subject that is ripe for satire, and one of the many aspects that stands out here, is how Taika Waititi has managed to craft a film that is absolutely hilarious, but never undermines how horrible this part of history was. So the fact that Taika made Hitler funny was kinda weird, strange and also didnt feel right. But at the same time Taika did a excellent job playing Hitler. Its just strange and out of chacter to see hitler funny. Other than that the movie is good.

The plot: Jojo is a lonely German boy who discovers that his single mother is hiding a Jewish girl in their attic. Aided only by his imaginary friend -- Adolf Hitler -- Jojo must confront his blind nationalism as World War II continues to rage on.

The cast is good, the plot is good, like i said its just strange, wired, out of charcter to see hitler funny. The film never shows the darkside of WWII. So thats good. Jojo Rabbit is a good dark comedy film.
  
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Jpb (34 KP) rated Malignant (2021) in Movies

Sep 12, 2021  
Malignant (2021)
Malignant (2021)
2021 | Crime, Drama, Horror
7
7.6 (8 Ratings)
Movie Rating
New, jumpy, nice fresh film (0 more)
To out there (0 more)
Not your typical Wan
Contains spoilers, click to show
So I went see this , And with it being James Wan I expected a serious supernatural horror so, I started watching it with a mind set it might be a supernatural or entity type movie like the conjuring but I couldn’t of been more wrong. Its different in a good way its on the verge of silly but by damn he made it work. The visuals, the camera angles, the music, the gore its all one fun head fu**ed up ride! The special effects are crazy cool looking and the movie even gives you a hint of nostalgia to all those original horror movies. This movie is an unexpected mind blow I enjoyed every plot twist and hidden joke because there is some comedy in the mix or perhaps its just my dark sense of humor lol. Over all a good movie to watch a refreshing plot line to be honest. James Wan is a master at what he does and once again he delivered.

I came out thinking if this was the late 80s I would of just watched elm street about a serial kill that kills u in your sleep , which was also silly fun and scary. If you want something that pushes the boundaries then this is for you.
  
Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023)
Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023)
2023 | Action, Adventure, Comedy
6
6.3 (7 Ratings)
Movie Rating
I've always quite liekd Zachary Levi, going back to when I first encountered him in his TV days on the spy comedy drama show 'Chuck' (remember that?)

Beyond that - and a few side character appearances in the early Thor films - I would struggle to name a single movie with him in it.

Except for 2019s Shazam!, where he took the leading role of the grown-up alter-ego of a teenager who is granted magic (superheroic) powers when he shouts the word Shazam!

That movie, itself, was enjoyable and a breath of fresh air from the grimdark of the DC brand (in the movies) at the time.

This follows on from the events of the first movie, with a certain select group of people now aware of who Shazam *is*, and with the same sprinkling of the horror genre throughout; albeit not quite so much 'on the nose' as the Seven Deadly Sins were. Instead, we have the mythical Daughters of Atlas out for revenge, viewing their powers as having been stolen and gifted to the mortals by the (still nameless) Wizard (who makes a return, despite having turned to dust previously - don't ask).

Whilst the future structure of the whole DC universe is currently 'under review', it may be interesting to see where this lesser-known (at least, to me) brand goes!
  
Werewolves Within (2021)
Werewolves Within (2021)
2021 | Comedy, Horror
6
6.4 (8 Ratings)
Movie Rating
An incredible ensemble cast. (2 more)
Plot stays true to the classic 'whodunit' formula.
Milana Vayntrub.
Not enough horror. (2 more)
Not enough werewolves.
The burning desire for a hard R-rating.
A Sleepover with Guns
A horror comedy film based on the 2016 Red Storm Entertainment developed, Ubisoft published multiplayer VR video game of the same name, Werewolves Within keeps the same mystery/whodunit element of the game by introducing audiences to a small town under attack from a werewolf and leaving them to wonder which of the townsfolk could be the actual lycanthrope.

Directed by Josh Ruben and written by Mishna Wolff, Werewolves Within begins as Ranger Finn Wheeler (Sam Richardson) arrives in Beaverfield for his new post. Finn hits it off with the local mail carrier Cecily (Milana Vayntrub), but the rest of the town is unusually eccentric, to say the least.

There’s Trisha (Micahela Watkins) and Pete (Michael Chernus) Aderton, a couple who makes weird miniature dolls of everyone they meet and care a little too much for their dog. Devon (Cheyenne Jackson) and Joaquim (Harvey Guillén) are a homosexual couple living off the riches of a successful technological company. The town’s resident mechanic is Gwen (Sarah Burns), a crude woman whose husband Marcus (George Basil) is largely regarded as the town idiot.

Elsewhere in town, rounding out Beaverfield’s colorful cast of characters, is the clingy owner of the local lodge, Jeanine (Catherine Curtin), canine attack expert Dr. Ellis (Rebecca Henderson), oil magnate Sam (Wayne Duvall) who hopes to install a pipeline through the town at any cost, and Emerson, a ‘scary’ hunter who hates people and lives on the outskirts of town.

One night, when the power suddenly goes out and with the town’s back-up generators in a state of disrepair, everyone in town takes refuge in Jeanine’s lodge. However, after a corpse is discovered underneath the lodge’s porch and the townsfolk barricade themselves inside the building in an attempt to protect themselves from whatever may be lurking outside, the werewolf manages to attack from within.

In the aftermath of the attack, everyone begins to turn on each other, as the monster’s strike from inside the lodge provides them with a shocking revelation: Somebody in the lodge is the werewolf.

The cast works so well together. Richardson is does an excellent job of portraying Finn, a guy so nice and soft spoken that he feels like an African American Ned Flanders attempting to take charge as the authority figure.

Similarly, Vayntrub is so charming as Cecily that it makes you wonder why she hasn’t been in much else outside of AT&T commercials and the occasional voice role as Marvel’s Squirrel Girl, while Guillén is just as funny here as he is on What We Do in the Shadows, albeit in a slightly different way.

However, the most entertaining aspect of the film’s casting is the way everyone’s eccentric chemistry bounces off each other in a way that evokes this palpable sense of quirky absurdity that you can’t really find anywhere else.

The formula of Werewolves Within is a lot like Knives Out or Murder on the Orient Express, as it’s a mystery wrapped within the confines of a horror comedy, with the ensemble cast taking center stage as they dance around the comedy genre and a mild R-rating while the horror aspect is mostly reduced to sitting in the backseat and tapping you on the shoulder from time to time.

In fact, to that same mysterious end, the eponymous werewolf isn’t actually revealed until the last ten or so minutes of the film.

As someone who hasn’t played the original video game, the film adaptation of Werewolves Within was, overall, a little disappointing from a personal standpoint.

Yes, the film is more of a whodunit than a straight horror film, and thus it’s understandable why it did not lean completely into the more gory and terrifying potential of its premise. Yet, even with this fact in mind, the film still feels particularly lacking when it comes to its actual horror elements.

It’s also one of the softest R-rated films to come along in quite some time. While some aspects, such as Finn biting his tongue or saying “Heavens to Betsy” instead of dropping an F-bomb make sense, it remains frustrating nonetheless that Werewolves Within constantly feels as if it’s purposely holding itself back.

Which is a shame, because there’s more to a film like this than silly on-screen hijinks and running attempts by the audience to figure out who the killer is – after all, some of us will pay good money to see the monster you’ve advertised your entire film.

Recently, there seems to be a rising trend among modern werewolf movies to barely feature a film’s respective monster on screen. This year’s Bloodthirsty is a great example and, as much as I love the film, The Wolf of Snow Hollow did the horror/comedy concoction to a much more satisfying degree than Werewolves Within, and yet totally massacred the idea of an actual werewolf being the culprit.

At the end of the day, Werewolves Within is a film where a bunch of weirdos in some-little-nowhere-town are forcibly crammed into a lodge during a snowstorm and proceed to irritate one another to semi-humorous results as a werewolf hides among them. The film is essentially a wolf in a person’s clothing, as while Werewolves Within is fine for what it is and features some great performances here and a couple laugh-out-loud moments, its potential seems to be far greater than what we received.

Ultimately, Werewolves Within leaves horror fans starving and salivating for more.