Search
Steve Fearon (84 KP) rated Halloween (1978) in Movies
Sep 5, 2018 (Updated Sep 5, 2018)
John Carpenter's Slasher still stands tallest
Contains spoilers, click to show
That theme song starts.
You feel it somewhere deep inside, that feeling that something special is going to happen.
Halloween is THE Slasher, with a silent antagonist, an over-the-top performance from Donald Pleasance, the introduction of Jamie Lee Curtis, and the establishment of John Carpenter as one of the foremost purveyors of horror.
Patiently paced, with little time given to explanation of exposition, we are taken on the slow build up of tension as we go from the legendary intro sequence, to a breakout at the asylum, through to the stalking of teenagers by the man in the William Shatner mask.
Lots of shots of Myers just watching, waiting, judging, which could be interpreted as boring on paper, but it is just the right side of unnerving, and it is this constant threat which means the viewer is constantly scanning the edges of the screen, looking for our antagonist.
It contrasts beautifully with the naivety and innocence of his victims, who are just trying to enjoy Halloween as most teenagers are wont to do.
Yes this film is relatively tame compared to the films that have come after, but few can touch the pure sinister feel and atmosphere that Carpenter creates, and it is a simply iconic entry in cinema history.
Watch it for what it is, a genre changing horror film, that changed all that followed it.
No Myers, No Friday 13th, No Scream, No Nightmare On Elm Street.
Its that important.
You feel it somewhere deep inside, that feeling that something special is going to happen.
Halloween is THE Slasher, with a silent antagonist, an over-the-top performance from Donald Pleasance, the introduction of Jamie Lee Curtis, and the establishment of John Carpenter as one of the foremost purveyors of horror.
Patiently paced, with little time given to explanation of exposition, we are taken on the slow build up of tension as we go from the legendary intro sequence, to a breakout at the asylum, through to the stalking of teenagers by the man in the William Shatner mask.
Lots of shots of Myers just watching, waiting, judging, which could be interpreted as boring on paper, but it is just the right side of unnerving, and it is this constant threat which means the viewer is constantly scanning the edges of the screen, looking for our antagonist.
It contrasts beautifully with the naivety and innocence of his victims, who are just trying to enjoy Halloween as most teenagers are wont to do.
Yes this film is relatively tame compared to the films that have come after, but few can touch the pure sinister feel and atmosphere that Carpenter creates, and it is a simply iconic entry in cinema history.
Watch it for what it is, a genre changing horror film, that changed all that followed it.
No Myers, No Friday 13th, No Scream, No Nightmare On Elm Street.
Its that important.
Scott Tostik (389 KP) rated Three on A Meathook (1972) in Movies
Jan 6, 2019
The Porno 70's Soundtrack (1 more)
The Dad character
About a million gratuitous boob shots (1 more)
The plot is somewhat absent...ish
Huh.... Kinda cool...ish
Contains spoilers, click to show
When you review cheesy horror films for fun while your fiancee is alseep.... And you have to keep the volune down so you can barely hear the drivel that most scripted movies spew out... Captions are always an option.
When they work...
This movie is sorta bad to begin with. The camera work is sub par. Tue acting is all around shite. And lets be honest here.... The only good part about this film was the creativity of the kills for the time it was made.
The movie breaks down at the halfway point when it turns into Billy goes to tue city lookin for love and all he finds is a brunette skank who wants to come to his farm after knowing him for 15 seconds in a bar.... But its true love
Lobg story short... Billy's Daddy is a psychopath... Blood is spilt... Carnage insues... And boobs are flashed a plenty....
But not even glorious tan lined hooters can save this thing.... Only reason i rated it what i did... Is because i could see how modern day horror film writers and directors would use this as source material for writing their own slasher style scripts. Its groundbreaking... I admit that... It's just not... Well... It's not Black Christmas enough to be considered the first slasher style film of the 70's... Watch it if you want to.... I recommend it to those who want to go into horror directing or writing as both things to do and not to do.
On to the next....
When they work...
This movie is sorta bad to begin with. The camera work is sub par. Tue acting is all around shite. And lets be honest here.... The only good part about this film was the creativity of the kills for the time it was made.
The movie breaks down at the halfway point when it turns into Billy goes to tue city lookin for love and all he finds is a brunette skank who wants to come to his farm after knowing him for 15 seconds in a bar.... But its true love
Lobg story short... Billy's Daddy is a psychopath... Blood is spilt... Carnage insues... And boobs are flashed a plenty....
But not even glorious tan lined hooters can save this thing.... Only reason i rated it what i did... Is because i could see how modern day horror film writers and directors would use this as source material for writing their own slasher style scripts. Its groundbreaking... I admit that... It's just not... Well... It's not Black Christmas enough to be considered the first slasher style film of the 70's... Watch it if you want to.... I recommend it to those who want to go into horror directing or writing as both things to do and not to do.
On to the next....
Dakotah Salazar (12 KP) rated Child's Play (2019) in Movies
Jul 1, 2019
Good Kills (1 more)
Good Doll Design
Slasher Cliches (1 more)
Predictable
A.I. Chucky reborn in a tech savvy world.
As Chucky embarks into a new century, the filmmakers realize that it was time to make Chucky into artificial intelligence. In previous films, there was always a sense of witchcraft going on where it made Chucky come to life. This makes more sense of making Chucky as a Amazon Alexa type of technology. A Buddi of sorts.
They cleverly weave that into the depth of where Chucky's madness is taking over him. In how it started was a little far fetched. A guy decided to break the rules at his job because of poor working conditions and a over the top douche of a boss. It was mishandled how it happened.
I think that Aubrey Plaza, Gabriel Bateman, and Brian Tyree Howard are amazing in this movie. They really sell the world that was created for them, especially Bateman who is tortured by Chucky's antics.
As for the doll design, I think it looked really good. There are moments where rendering in the CGI was needed, but overall, it looked amazing in some scenes. I specifically remember the moment where Bateman is walking Chucky into his room and the way his facial expressions are used makes him weirdly human, and that increases the creepy factor within Chucky.
As for the negatives, it follows the typical ground plan of every slasher, especially Child's Play movies. Mom's boyfriend is a douche. Mom doesn't believe her son. Friends believe Andy. Nice cop who lives with mother may be the knight in shining armor. We can see where this is going, and it also takes a while for Chucky to actually kill something. It panders too much and I think they could've had more potential with the horror.
They cleverly weave that into the depth of where Chucky's madness is taking over him. In how it started was a little far fetched. A guy decided to break the rules at his job because of poor working conditions and a over the top douche of a boss. It was mishandled how it happened.
I think that Aubrey Plaza, Gabriel Bateman, and Brian Tyree Howard are amazing in this movie. They really sell the world that was created for them, especially Bateman who is tortured by Chucky's antics.
As for the doll design, I think it looked really good. There are moments where rendering in the CGI was needed, but overall, it looked amazing in some scenes. I specifically remember the moment where Bateman is walking Chucky into his room and the way his facial expressions are used makes him weirdly human, and that increases the creepy factor within Chucky.
As for the negatives, it follows the typical ground plan of every slasher, especially Child's Play movies. Mom's boyfriend is a douche. Mom doesn't believe her son. Friends believe Andy. Nice cop who lives with mother may be the knight in shining armor. We can see where this is going, and it also takes a while for Chucky to actually kill something. It panders too much and I think they could've had more potential with the horror.
Madbatdan82 (341 KP) rated Hell Fest (2018) in Movies
Mar 5, 2019
This generations scream? No - but still ok!
Not to be confused with the very similar 'Blood fest' this slasher has a group of teenagers who go to a horror theme park at Halloween where they start to get picked off my a masked killer. This film is better than 'Blood fest' mainly due to better/cleverer gore and death scenes and a much better killer. What let's it down is highly forgettable and annoying characters (yes - I'm looking at you Bex Taylor Klaus) so you don't really care who survives. The real highlight is the killer and the film keeps them wrapped in mystery and hands us one of the most interesting endings in a long time. Nowhere near a game changer but definitely worth a watch.
Peter G. (247 KP) rated A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) in Movies
Oct 30, 2019
Aged but incredibly original and unsettling for it's time this slasher single handedly caused me a few sleepless nights due to its connection with sleep and dreams.
The serial killer with the unforgettable name who affects dreams and pushes into the real world was a horror story type unheard of back then and Robert Englund was quite menacing and genuinely frightening as Freddy and the bladed glove scraping along walls was a huge indicator that shit was going to hit the fan and someone was going to die.
If you are interested in this franchise then this classic is the one to see and not the confusing and muddled sequels that followed.
It delivers strongly on the fright even though the budget was quite low and changed the landscape of horror that had somewhat stalled at that time.
The serial killer with the unforgettable name who affects dreams and pushes into the real world was a horror story type unheard of back then and Robert Englund was quite menacing and genuinely frightening as Freddy and the bladed glove scraping along walls was a huge indicator that shit was going to hit the fan and someone was going to die.
If you are interested in this franchise then this classic is the one to see and not the confusing and muddled sequels that followed.
It delivers strongly on the fright even though the budget was quite low and changed the landscape of horror that had somewhat stalled at that time.
Barry Newman (204 KP) rated A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) in Movies
Feb 1, 2020
The original and by far the best of the Nightmare series. Wes Craven’s film is like most 80’s movies looking a little dated in 2019 particularly in its special effects but to me still holds up very well as an original and unsettling horror thriller that puts a unique supernatural spin on the well established slasher formula. The film’s ace is in it’s boogeyman Freddy Krueger, coming after the silent killers of ‘Halloween’ and ‘Friday the 13th’ Robert Englund’s iconic Freddy actually had a personality and the sequels realising his popularity put him front and centre with much more screen time and subsequently making him considerably less scary . Craven conjures up some memorable kill scenes here and the concept of being vulnerable somewhere seemingly as safe as in your dreams makes for a great horror movie.
D-Tox (Eye See You) (2002)
6.0
Rate It
Movie
A brutal serial killer is targeting cops, and detective Jake Malloy (Sylvester Stallone) is on the...
Slasher remote location Thriller
Awix (3310 KP) rated Death Line (1972) in Movies
Nov 18, 2020
Nihilistic Anglo-American horror movie. The disappearance of an MP leads the police and two students to discover the existence of something nasty living in the London Underground.
An odd mixture of slasher movie, cannibal splatter and sheer existential bleakness results in a very distinctive film; it would probably be much better known if original casting Marlon Brando (playing a degenerate inbred plague-ridden cannibal; would have been an interesting challenge for a Method actor) had been able to participate. As it is, most of the acting is done by Donald Pleasence (who may be trying a bit too hard). Works much harder at creating a dismal, oppressive atmosphere than at actually being scary, though there are a few effective shocks. The cannibals themselves are depicted relatively sympathetically and considerable pathos is generated. Not your typical horror film, but very creepy and unsettling.
An odd mixture of slasher movie, cannibal splatter and sheer existential bleakness results in a very distinctive film; it would probably be much better known if original casting Marlon Brando (playing a degenerate inbred plague-ridden cannibal; would have been an interesting challenge for a Method actor) had been able to participate. As it is, most of the acting is done by Donald Pleasence (who may be trying a bit too hard). Works much harder at creating a dismal, oppressive atmosphere than at actually being scary, though there are a few effective shocks. The cannibals themselves are depicted relatively sympathetically and considerable pathos is generated. Not your typical horror film, but very creepy and unsettling.
Lake Nowhere (2014)
5.0
Rate It
Movie
From the vaults of the golden age of slasher films comes LAKE NOWHERE, a raucous, bloody romp which...
Movie Metropolis (309 KP) rated Halloween (1978) in Movies
Jun 10, 2019
The oldest film on my list, John Carpenter’s 1978 masterpiece was the film that began my enjoyment of the slasher genre.
And by enjoyment, I of course mean sitting with my hands in front of my eyes for the majority of the run-time. This seventies film set the standard for the genre with its incredible mix of horror, teenage angst and obviously that iconic tune.
Jamie Lee Curtis became the scream queen of the period and Michael Myers was the antagonist that made you check your wardrobes before going to bed – or was that just me?
It still gives me chills to this day. Sure, it’s been impersonated, remade and has about 100 sequels to its name, but that doesn’t tarnish the memory of one of the greatest horror films ever made.
https://moviemetropolis.net/2017/07/08/films-that-influenced-me-adam-brannon-2/
And by enjoyment, I of course mean sitting with my hands in front of my eyes for the majority of the run-time. This seventies film set the standard for the genre with its incredible mix of horror, teenage angst and obviously that iconic tune.
Jamie Lee Curtis became the scream queen of the period and Michael Myers was the antagonist that made you check your wardrobes before going to bed – or was that just me?
It still gives me chills to this day. Sure, it’s been impersonated, remade and has about 100 sequels to its name, but that doesn’t tarnish the memory of one of the greatest horror films ever made.
https://moviemetropolis.net/2017/07/08/films-that-influenced-me-adam-brannon-2/