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Lenard (726 KP) rated Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (2019) in Movies
Aug 21, 2019
Yesterday, I saw the movie based on the series of short story collections that inspired future makers of horror. It affected me so deeply that I decided to skip a Rifftrax screening. The actual film collects multiple horror tropes: haunted house, creepy hallways, reanimated corpses, spiders, supernatural serial killer, books. Most of the stories startle, but never terrify. The creature designs are phenomenal. The ending is kind of a letdown after all the thrills. However, one story completely disturbed me. Not the story or the creature, but the style. It used a lot of anticipation and narrative, but never showed much of the horror. It just built up tension and had one huge scare leading to a horrifying "ending" for one of the characters.
Dork_knight74 (881 KP) rated Lights Out (2016) in Movies
Jun 14, 2019
Good one
What a find. This movie was very entertaining. It has a good cast who performed great. The effects/ cinematography were well done(really nasty creature)and the story was unique with a pretty high "creep" factor to it. A few jump scares and a couple predictable parts but all around a great feature. Worth a watch!
Lilyn G - Sci-Fi & Scary (91 KP) rated The Mist (2007) in Movies
Jul 3, 2018
Excellent movie, best ending compared to novel
This is a great movie. They did a solid job selecting the cast (So many Walking Deads!). The dialogue and whatnot is on point. I even liked the creature effects! And, honestly, in comparison to the novel(la), the ending of The Mist movie is so much more powerful and well done.
Awix (3310 KP) rated The Shape of Water (2017) in Movies
Feb 19, 2018 (Updated Feb 19, 2018)
Guillermo del Toro's stunning fantasy film is either a radical reimagining of Creature from the Black Lagoon, or a grand amour as written by H.P. Lovecraft (or maybe both). Lonely cleaner discovers fish-man creature being mistreated in the installation where she works, bond develops between them.
Manages to work both as a 60s-set genre movie and more topical comment on issues of tolerance and diversity (just for a change). Quite charming and beautiful on the whole, though the strength of the sex and violence might be an issue for some people. The downtrodden-minorities-stick-it-to-The-Man subtext is a bit on the nose, perhaps, and I'm not sure the third act musical number really works, but on the whole this is a brilliant movie.
Manages to work both as a 60s-set genre movie and more topical comment on issues of tolerance and diversity (just for a change). Quite charming and beautiful on the whole, though the strength of the sex and violence might be an issue for some people. The downtrodden-minorities-stick-it-to-The-Man subtext is a bit on the nose, perhaps, and I'm not sure the third act musical number really works, but on the whole this is a brilliant movie.
CJ (8 KP) rated The Meg (2018) in Movies
Aug 26, 2018 (Updated Aug 26, 2018)
Big shark. Big screen. Big fun.
If you’re up for a corny creature feature, look not further than The Meg. I saw it on both of the biggest screens around (IMAX and XD) and it was a fun ride both times. I found it slightly better than the average creature feature (the reasoning for the Meg’s continued survival being somewhat more plausible than average), it’s still too corny for many. But if you’re idea of fun is to watch a CGI shark try to eat people for a couple hours, this is worth looking into. Highly recommended you try to watch this on the biggest screen to get that underwater feel.
Doug Jones recommended Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) in Movies (curated)
Acanthea Grimscythe (300 KP) rated The Moor in Books
Jan 31, 2019
The Moor is Sam Haysom’s debut novel and though it seems to have pretty high ratings, I found it to fall short of my expectations. The book encompasses the story of a handful of thirteen-year-old boys on a hiking trip through the moors. During this trip, things go wrong and… well, that’s where it tries to be two stories at once: a ghost story and a creature feature.
The ghost story side of this book is fantastic. It’s written in a way that captures the reader’s imagination and honestly, I could picture the details quite well. What I didn’t like was the creature feature side of the book. The monster that makes up this horror tale should be terrifying, but instead I found it to be one dimensional–in fact, every single time the creature shows up, it’s described the same way which really put me off.
I felt no emotions or connections to the boys in the book, and this greatly diminished the emotional/fright factor of the novel for me. I really wanted to taste the fear that these teenaged boys were going through.
I’d like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
The ghost story side of this book is fantastic. It’s written in a way that captures the reader’s imagination and honestly, I could picture the details quite well. What I didn’t like was the creature feature side of the book. The monster that makes up this horror tale should be terrifying, but instead I found it to be one dimensional–in fact, every single time the creature shows up, it’s described the same way which really put me off.
I felt no emotions or connections to the boys in the book, and this greatly diminished the emotional/fright factor of the novel for me. I really wanted to taste the fear that these teenaged boys were going through.
I’d like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Andy K (10821 KP) rated Revenge of the Creature (1955) in Movies
Sep 22, 2019
I'm seeing some Spielbergisms in these movies so far as it seems like he must've used some ideas or themes when starting out like in Jaws. Once you show the monster, it's hard to put jack back in the box.
Unlike the original film, you see too much of the creature right away to build tension or think of him as menacing. This time around different scientists go back to the lagoon and capture the creature and bring him back to civilization. His new home is a large public aquarium where he instantly becomes the new star attraction. While chained to the tank floor he wows the spectators, defends himself against the nosy scientists and attempts escape. This sequence also felt like the 3rd act of The Lost World where the dinosaurs made it to land and terrorized the suburbs.
He eventually escapes and follows the main scientist and his girlfriend whilst they try and have a romantic time out to sea together. The last half of the film feels like you are watching From Here To Eternity with an occasional creature showing up every once in a while.
The tension just wasn't there in this one. A disappointment,
Unlike the original film, you see too much of the creature right away to build tension or think of him as menacing. This time around different scientists go back to the lagoon and capture the creature and bring him back to civilization. His new home is a large public aquarium where he instantly becomes the new star attraction. While chained to the tank floor he wows the spectators, defends himself against the nosy scientists and attempts escape. This sequence also felt like the 3rd act of The Lost World where the dinosaurs made it to land and terrorized the suburbs.
He eventually escapes and follows the main scientist and his girlfriend whilst they try and have a romantic time out to sea together. The last half of the film feels like you are watching From Here To Eternity with an occasional creature showing up every once in a while.
The tension just wasn't there in this one. A disappointment,
Dean (6925 KP) rated Life (2017) in Movies
Jun 28, 2017
Great cast (1 more)
Good Sfx
A decent Sci-fi thriller
An ok film overall with a strong cast and good special effects. I wouldn't say the creature design was great, maybe they thought it would be more plausible? The big problem is it has been done better before many times. It's quite a predictable film but it's well made.
Dean (6925 KP) rated Labyrinth (1986) in Movies
Aug 14, 2017
A classic
A cult classic film from my childhood. It has a wide variety of weird and wonderful characters, most created by the master of puppets Jim Henson. It has a cool soundtrack and a great story with plenty of laughs for all ages. If you like the Never Ending Story, The Dark Crystal you have to see this!