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John Roope (4 KP) rated Velvet Buzzsaw (2019) in Movies
Feb 12, 2019
A mixed bag of a film, both engaging and tiresome
Dan Gilroys teams up again with jake Gyllenhaal but this time with far less success than 2014's nightcrawler. Velvet Buzzsaw follows a small group of the LA art world as the mysterious paintings of dease are released into the world. As seen in the trailer the paintings are able to move and even come out and grab you and here is where my issues with the film start.
In my opinion in horror it's best to have some kind of rules so you know what to be scared of. Even the slightest hint of ghosts or the supernatural will do at separating horror from something more psychological. Here it's unclear as to why these paintings have these properties as everything feels like the real world and for the first act the film it balances on this in between of something psychological and actual physically alive paintings. And for the most part these horror sections are terribly predictable as soon as we see a main character alone with one of the paintings it's pretty clear as to what's gonna happen.
Where the movie excels is in between these horror parts when we get more of Morf(played by gyllenhaal in scintillating form) trying to figure out what's going on while experiencing haunting visual and auditory hallucinations. This descent into paranoia and almost madness is far more engaging than the cheap thrills the film seems more eager to give us. More of these characters being entranced yet horrified by these pictures and subtle things going wrong would have made for a far creepier experience.
Overall what could have been a really interesting psychological thriller ended up being a slightly above par horror movie with good performances all round and a interesting premise and while the horror elements were my least favourite part they were very creative and any horror fan would be sure to get a kick out of it
In my opinion in horror it's best to have some kind of rules so you know what to be scared of. Even the slightest hint of ghosts or the supernatural will do at separating horror from something more psychological. Here it's unclear as to why these paintings have these properties as everything feels like the real world and for the first act the film it balances on this in between of something psychological and actual physically alive paintings. And for the most part these horror sections are terribly predictable as soon as we see a main character alone with one of the paintings it's pretty clear as to what's gonna happen.
Where the movie excels is in between these horror parts when we get more of Morf(played by gyllenhaal in scintillating form) trying to figure out what's going on while experiencing haunting visual and auditory hallucinations. This descent into paranoia and almost madness is far more engaging than the cheap thrills the film seems more eager to give us. More of these characters being entranced yet horrified by these pictures and subtle things going wrong would have made for a far creepier experience.
Overall what could have been a really interesting psychological thriller ended up being a slightly above par horror movie with good performances all round and a interesting premise and while the horror elements were my least favourite part they were very creative and any horror fan would be sure to get a kick out of it
Pumpkin Cinema: The Best Movies for Halloween
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People celebrate the magical holiday of Halloween in a wide variety of ways, but most will, at some...
LeftSideCut (3776 KP) rated Porno (2019) in Movies
Nov 27, 2020
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.
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.
Karica Truebenbach (156 KP) rated The Exorcist (1973) in Movies
Sep 27, 2018
A classic for a reason
This movie has everything a horror fan could want. Demons, possession, the never-not-scary backward walking down the staircase, and of course, head spinning. This story of a girl possessed and slowly being devoured by a demon is my favorite kind of horror because it doesn't make you scared for a second. It makes you scared for years. The kind of story where you feel like it could really happen so you go home and check your closets, under the beds, and your kids' foreheads for triple sixes.
Compared to what we have now, the visual aspect of the movie is not the cleanest, but that doesn't detract from the awesome makeup and other effects. Reagan's slow descent into hell is reflected in her appearance as her teeth blacken and her skin rots with lesions. She does something in the movie that still makes my skin crawl (crucifix scene, ugh) but that's how I can tell that the movie hit its mark, if I can think on it years later and still get the creeps. This is definitely something to add to your Halloween collection if you haven't already.
Compared to what we have now, the visual aspect of the movie is not the cleanest, but that doesn't detract from the awesome makeup and other effects. Reagan's slow descent into hell is reflected in her appearance as her teeth blacken and her skin rots with lesions. She does something in the movie that still makes my skin crawl (crucifix scene, ugh) but that's how I can tell that the movie hit its mark, if I can think on it years later and still get the creeps. This is definitely something to add to your Halloween collection if you haven't already.
LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated House of 1000 Corpses (2003) in Movies
Oct 9, 2020
Has there ever been another movie that more profoundly screams "Halloween" than this one? If there is, I have yet to see it. A front-to-back phantasmagoria of blood, ick, and some of the all-time greatest horror movie imagery you'll ever see: what can only be described as a carnival of pure filth sprawled out in the form of a feature length Rob Zombie music video - the increasing amounts of bonkers gore, the unforgettable and outright euphoric production design, the horror-ready cast all grotesquely dolled up, the sheer headstrong devotion to being as revolting as can be all interspliced with film-grained smut footage, diagnostic seething Zombie tunes, and 50s/60s primetime television spookiness. Every frame just oozes old school shock and terror, a clear love letter to the sweaty stuck pig that was the 70s horror film meets a neon-soaked greasy stage provocation. Plus it's funny as hell, too. It's so eager to bash its brains up against the wall to please, the copious amounts of passion and work that went into this is always apparent on the screen - quite possibly the most self-assured and satisfying debut since the previous year's 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘪𝘹𝘵𝘩 𝘚𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦. A tremendous time inside and out that could only be possible by a seasoned visual + audible horror maestro and forever one of my go-to movies for the October season.
BobbiesDustyPages (1259 KP) rated Train to Busan (2016) in Movies
Aug 14, 2018
One of the best zombie movies in ages.
Okay I kept hearing people talk about Train to Busan and just how amazing of a movie it was not just as a movie but as a zombie movie and with the market being so saturated in zombie movies since the success of The Walking Dead I've been really worried about watching zombie movies anymore cuz I used to be a huge fan but just the amount of them that they were throwing at you just really drained me and kept me away from the genre for a while, but when a movie gets the amount of hype I was hearing and especially a foreign horror movie to get that much hype I knew I had to check it out.
And holy crap I am so glad I gave the movie a shot from start to finish it really is an amazing movie and one of the best zombie movies I've probably ever seen. You really get invested in the characters even the awful ones the plot really keeps you at the edge of your seat even though it's not the most original I can admit that but there's just something about it that just kept you hooked.
And holy crap I am so glad I gave the movie a shot from start to finish it really is an amazing movie and one of the best zombie movies I've probably ever seen. You really get invested in the characters even the awful ones the plot really keeps you at the edge of your seat even though it's not the most original I can admit that but there's just something about it that just kept you hooked.
Daniel Boyd (1066 KP) rated It Comes At Night (2017) in Movies
Sep 11, 2017
Well written dialogue (1 more)
Great performances
Not What I Expected
This movie surprised me in a good way. If you are a fan of movies like the Conjuring and Insidious and that is the sort of tone and style that you are expecting from this, then you will probably be disappointed. This movie is so much more than that. I don't think I've seen tension done this well in a horror scenario since 10 Cloverfield Lane last year. The performances are solid all around and we are given a good amount of context for the drastic decisions that we see certain characters make. This movie is chilling and thought provoking and is probably more creepy than it is scary, but it is still most definitely worth a watch.
Karica Truebenbach (156 KP) rated The Nun (2018) in Movies
Sep 27, 2018
Fair to Middlin'
I really wanted to love this movie. The Conjuring has been one of my favorite horror movies since its release. Sadly, this film relied on jump scares and predictable outcomes instead of the insidious creepiness that I loved in the previous movies. Although it does succeed in bridging the gaps between the two Conjurings, the storyline itself was weak and disappointing. With all the time it took to be released, I feel that a much better film could have been produced. Visually it was great. The Nun character is still as horrifying as before, but the movie glosses over the origin of the demon. I appreciated the few comedic bits, but overall this movie was a letdown.
Bree (30 KP) rated Mother! (2017) in Movies
Sep 30, 2018
What did I just watch
Contains spoilers, click to show
I feel like this was a large waste of my time. The main characters in this movie are a married couple who are expecting a child. He is a poet and she seems to be decorator. They live in a beautiful mansion in the middle of no where and people just keep showing up. He is very unsupportive of her feeling of all of these individuals intruding on her home. Everytime she requests he ask the visitors to leave he comes up with s ok me reason as to why he cant. By the end of the movie I was literally sickened by his behavior. I am a HUGE horror movie fan but this one fell short for me.
