31 Days of October

[thoxans]

house on haunted hill (william castle) kitsch, kitsch, kitsch. starts off tongue-in-cheek so fun, goes scary in surprisingly a pretty effective way, and then kinda putters out with the various reveals. like a balloon that's blowing up and up and up, but then, instead of blowing until finally it blows up, it just sadly deflates. still, a good vehicle for vincent

also, started body bags, and carp's opening segment the gas station was pretty damn good. the legend was still at the top of his game here. sure, there's the dumb 'don't do that!' and 'don't go there!' and 'just run away!' and 'look behind you!' moments, but carp's direction is running on all cylinders, and it ends up great. think this actually coulda made a dope feature, with that setting, more of an exposition, and a longer format for carp to work his deft hand at building tension for 90+ mins, yeah, i'd watch that

[greennui]

Double Door (Charles Vidor, 1934) - I wouldn't say I liked it much but it was def interesting. Super melodramatic with some truly cursed performances, Mary Morris in her only film role as the most miserable woman ever put on screen, she was only 39 years old but looked around 65. Anne Revere as her hysterical lackey who managed to transcend and unlock a new dimension of hysterics.



The Iron Rose (Jean Rollin, 1973) - Rewatch. Pure Rollin, fantastique stripped down to its essence. Boy + Girl + Cemetery + Opaque happenings + the ubiquitous beach.



Spider (Vasili Mass, 1992) - The Beast as directed by Zulawski, with some Valerie and Her Week of Wonders thrown into the pot. I liked it, great visuals, pumping score but I think the fact that it was fairly well-trodden territory prevented me from truly loving it. Might be the first Latvian film I've seen.

[nrh]

hooper getting andre de toth to theatrically pronounce the title of the movie is one of the great cool moves in genre movies.

still think this is a great movie, integrating body horror and the '50s atomic panic sci-fi tradition kind of like lifeforce did with the british nigel kneale stuff, a half century of american military evil coursing through the body of poor, desperate brad dourif.

it does make an interesting companion to scanners, with these shadowy conspiratorial forces shaping human lives as a kind of sick research and development experiment, cronenberg's playing out in a ballardian landscape of industrial parks and corporate hallways, hooper's in a strange california still haunted by the deceitful promises of the '50s...and even more than life force it makes a ton of sense that kiyoshi kurosawa cites this as a major influence.

think the only thing that really holds it back for me is the last act, which rushes from productively hysterical to just kind of hysterical, apparently hooper's preferred version would have been significantly longer.

[niminy-piminy]

horror movies from the 40s

i finally watched the film i derive my avatar identity from...
https://letterboxd.com/marcfusion/film/ ... f-horrors/

1/ its initial premise should be taken seriously!
to become truly an artist one has to find a body of deep water, indulge in mild suicide ideation, and thus to awaken one's inner Neandertal (to meet the Creeper) who is capable to uninhibit one's creative powers. the latest evidence proves that our deepest artistic strata is Neandertal. to become a full-fledged artist one has to traverse all the human layers of one's identity and go beyond.
https://youtu.be/0H_wFNfrMmU

2/ subsequent premise is however dated (disproved by latest scientific findings related to Neandertals).
the idea that once you meet the Creeper (awaken your inner Neandertal), this savage creature will destroy you, is a pure fiction!

Neanderthals were until quite recently often seen as simple-minded savages – powerful hunters with a short attention span. But in the last few years, scientists have realised that they were a lot more refined than previously thought – capable of caring for the vulnerable, burying their dead and even adorning themselves with feathers and beads.

thus there is no need to be afraid of the awakening of one's creative powers by meeting the Creeper. it can only enhance one's humanity by a much deeper sense of esthetics.

whoever would nonsensically argue otherwise should be shout down in high-pitched voice!
https://youtu.be/o589CAu73UM

3/ another proof that there is nothing more wrong than to think, "Neandertal=Savage," is already withing the film. if Neandertal would be a savage creature he could hardly coexist within a film with a cat. aforementioned cat is called Pietro! from the initial scene (and the initial dialogue of a cat and sculptor, carried out solely by a sculptor) we get to know, "Pietro doesn't like cheese!"


4/ this film also provides insights into the world of art criticism and gives us hints how to deal with the phrase "solid commercial art"...

[thoxans]

night of the creeps (fred dekker) damn near perfect for what it is! no, it's not ford or rossellini or straub-huillet, but that's not the register in which it's working. dekker knows his mode precisely, and works solidly within it. while the mashup approach is literal and on the nose in the monster squad, here it's much more dynamic, interwoven into the delivery. genre connections are apparent from the very get-go, at once throwback sci-fi, slasher flick, and teen romance-cum-horror, but smarter, self-aware. it's not just a collage of all the stuff dekker clearly cares about, but a love letter. everything clever, but not necessarily precious. tom atkins' one-liners of course steal most of the show, but the heart and soul is really steve marshall's character, and his genuine bromance with jason lively. it also helps that jill whitlow is a total babe who goes full-on ellen ripley by film's end. just a really exceptional piece of '80s horror, deserving of its cult classic status. will def be making my final list for the halloseen poll

[MatiasAlbertotti]

Very interesting Jiri, I will add it to my watchlist.

Although to be honest, I was going to start with 40's horror, but I still had a few Universal monsters from the 30's left to check.
So I watched "The Mummy" (1932) Freund made it a bit slow for 73 minutes, still the sequences from the past and Karloff where worth the watch.
Last night I went back to "Hellraiser" (1987) after I believe 20 years from my last viewing. It hasn't aged all that well, even though I do enjoy 80s slimey style effects. I think Barker had a very interesting start and good themes going around (desire/lust/pain/addiction), but some of the acting and the decision of centering the story around the young teenager, instead of continuing to explore the brothers & wife triangle kind of watered down the intensity.

Next in line:
- "Werewolf of London" (1935)
- "Son of Frankenstein" (1939)
- "The old Dark House" (1932)
And then on to the 40s.

[rischka]

watched 1992 HK horror/scifi/detective/action movie the cat...







totally nuts. i hope no animals were harmed. the cat did kick a dog's ass though

[thoxans]

planet of the vampires (mario bava) not so much a movie as an audio/visual presentation, more suited to an installation piece at a museum than a screen. essentially a walking tour of various sets full of color and shadow and smoke, and all set to ever present hums and drones and white noise that predates eraserhead's industrial soundscapes. head-scratching yet hypnotizing

genocide (kazui nihonmatsu) holy shit. when they called this genocide, they weren't kidding. i'd say a good alt title would be master race, but genocide pretty much well sums it up. highly rec'd

[thoxans]

the cat

ngl that looks amazing. might even need to swipe that third screenshot for a future avie...

[niminy-piminy]

i watched "Diary of a Madman"...
https://letterboxd.com/film/diary-of-a-madman/
which gives me a second chance to post pics of Vincent Price. first, i did so in "Cooking & Dishwashing Club" thread in bygone SCFZ times...


maybe some of you remember the thread...


anyway.
to avoid spoilers, i will be short.
Price is possessed!


posssessed by Horla!

The word horla itself is not French, and is a neologism. Charlotte Mandell, who has translated "The Horla" for publisher Melville House, suggests in an afterword that the word "horla" is a portmanteau of the French words hors ("outside"), and là ("there") and that "le horla" sounds like "the Outsider, the outer, the one Out There," and can be transliterally interpreted as "the 'what's out there'"

The invisible – yet corporeal – being, called a “horla” is capable of limited psychokinesis and complete mind control.

his first victim is his pet bird Kiki!


the rest watch on your own...

[rischka]

low budget 70s folk horror. just about my favorite kind of horror! it's a slow burn

[niminy-piminy]

EXECUTION OF CZOLGOSZ WITH PANORAMA OF AUBURN PRISON
https://letterboxd.com/film/execution-o ... rn-prison/

Paddy Hannan wrote...
Edison really was a terrible cunt.
When he wasn't touring the country trying to discredit Tesla by electrocuting animals to prove AC current was dangerous, bankrupting Georges Méliès, stealing patents from his employees or his utter disregard of the most elementary rules of personal hygiene, he was profiteering from nasty little exploitation films.

"No animals were harmed" in the making of this horror docudrama.
"An anarchist was harmed" in the "rehearsing" for this horror docudrama.
"Republican president was harmed" prior to the rehearsing/making of this horror docudrama.
(Republican president... No, sorry, it was another one! It's 1901, it was McKinley.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6E46pa ... roductions

diablo wrote...
Throughout 1901, Edison had produced and released numerous films about the assassination, due to intense public interest. For the final film in the series, producer Edwin S. Porter sought permission to film the execution itself but was denied. Instead, they filmed outside the prison the day of the execution, then recreated the execution on a set.
...
According to the Edison Studios catalog of the time, the film is:
A detailed reproduction of the execution of the assassin of President McKinley faithfully carried out from the description of an eye witness.

PLENA STELLARUM
https://letterboxd.com/film/plena-stellarum/
https://www.ukfilmreview.co.uk/post/ple ... short-film
https://vimeo.com/213900748

[niminy-piminy]

another adaptation of Guy de Maupasant's horror story...
https://letterboxd.com/film/the-horla/
(a double bill to the previous "Diary of a Madman".)
now, i wish to see Vincent Price and Laurent Terzieff both in a single film.
it would be like "Alien vs. Predator", or "Freddy vs. Jason".

[rischka]

fantastic gothic thriller from iran restored by WCF







the film was long believed lost til a print was found in an antique shop and returned to director mohammad reza aslani. screened only once before it was banned

Shatranj-e baad/chess of the wind (1976) debut of shohreh aghdashloo who has since had a long career in the west

[sally]

fantastic gothic thriller from iran restored by WCF

so used to barely being able to see what's on the screen at all for pre-rev iranian cinema that it's just hard to mentally process that this film is what it says it is. i don't believe it. it looks so good. giallo on sumptuous opioids.

[rischka]

it is REAL ! ! !

glad i saved it for spooky season

[thoxans]

butcher, baker, nightmare maker (william asher) psychomomdrama! susan tyrell is all-time great as the lady with the worst case of postpartum-triggered bpd i've ever seen. also, feel like this somehow could've played a part in the very odd uptick in popularity of incest porn over the past few years...? nevertheless, will make my final halloseen ballot this year

[Evelyn Library P.I.]

fantastic gothic thriller from iran restored by WCF

so used to barely being able to see what's on the screen at all for pre-rev iranian cinema that it's just hard to mentally process that this film is what it says it is. i don't believe it. it looks so good. giallo on sumptuous opioids.

Agreed, never seen such good quality for a pre-Rev Iran flick Great recommendation, witchka!

[greennui]

Thought there was something off about those screenshots and now I realized why! Imagine Shahid Saless' work in that quality.

[FLABREZU]

I have now finished all 5 Final Destination movies. I gave the first two 2/5 and the last three 0.5/5. The first three follow the standard naming convention of Final Destination/Final Destination 2/Final Destination 3, but then the fourth one is called The Final Destination, and the last one goes back to Final Destination 5. If the last one were called The Final Destination 2, then I'd have bumped it up to 1/5.

[Curtis, baby]

Ok watch the man who laughs now

[Roscoe]

THE GHOUL from 1931 -- some tasty production values and shadowy cinematography and lively performances, but the story is just a mess.

[Roscoe]

NIGHT OF THE LEPUS -- a more than capable cast must have had some serious blackmailable material out there to get them into this thing, the movie about bunnies running around causing havoc. There's a certain low-rent surrealist buzz to be gotten from the sight of Big Rabbits and Small Houses, to be fair. It doesn't last long.

[thoxans]

the fly (kurt neumann) euthanasia as an acceptable option after a loss of the will to live. the best monster movie melodrama that douglas sirk never made

[thoxans]

NIGHT OF THE LEPUS

just recorded this one off tcm!

[Roscoe]

NIGHT OF THE LEPUS

just recorded this one off tcm!

It's just more sad than anything else.

[nrh]

the weirdest thing with night of the lepus is that the book is apparently a really good, satirical black comedy about the destruction of the australian ecology (in which case the choice of rabbits as animal actually makes some sense). totally baffling that someone optioned the book and thought the marketable angle was "giant rabbits played totally straight."

[Roscoe]

Satirical black comedy isn't on the agenda -- there are a couple mentions of over-population and its dangers, though. The comedy is unintentional.

[niminy-piminy]

after watching two films about deranged sculptors (DIARY OF A MADMAN and HOUSE OF HORRORS) i tried two about painters painting with bodily fluids.

COLOR ME BLOOD RED was waste of time. about in the middle i started to fast-forward...
https://letterboxd.com/film/color-me-blood-red/

on the other hand, GUINEA PIG: MERMAID IN A MANHOLE was worth watching...
https://letterboxd.com/film/guinea-pig- ... e-manhole/

as opposed to the first one (painting with plain blood), this film is more inventive...


and besides buckets of colorful pus and blood (intermingled with several handfuls of body worms) it can also offer some words of wisdom...

[rischka]

yikes jiri. i also watched a deranged sculptor film. the man who could cheat death from hammer which was quite good, thx to nrh for this tip in terence fisher poll



this should by rights be peter cushing (tho this guy isn't bad) and christopher lee gets to be the hero here like in the devil rides out

now watching...la dama de la muerte by carlos hugo christensen. based in rls looks tres goth(ic)



it's the suicide club