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Svengali (1931)
Svengali (1931)
If you found 'Svengali' under horror, like I did, it's probably gonna be a bit disappointing. It does deal with something horrific happening to someone, but it explores this in a way a drama might, not in a way horror tends to. Even back when this was made other films dealt with similar situations where there was more fear for the victim. If I found this under drama or social commentary I'd give it a higher rating, but I found it under horror. In this case it would have made a better horror film to see more horrific things on screen.
Dracula (1931)
Dracula (1931)
Classic. Not very faithful to the book but a fantastic adaptation. Lugosi is so iconic that to this day when most people do impressions of Dracula they imitate Lugosi. Costumes and sets are beautiful. Some of the acting is clearly over-acted due to it being an early talkie and silent films really needed the over-acting. Most of it is still haunting though. And it gets in, tells the story, then ends in around an hour. This was common for old films but I really appreciate films that take the time they actually need rather than using a load of filler to hit 3 hours.
Koroshiya 1 (2001)
Ichi The Killer
Re-watched 'Ichi The Killer' and don't see why it shows up on so many lists of most disturbing films of all time. It's a beautiful art film that happens to have a lot of gore and violence.
Harbinger Down (2015)
Uses the amazing practical effects used in 'The Thing' (2011) before they were replaced with bad CGI
It's important to know why 'Inanimate' AKA 'Harbinger Down' looks like 'The Thing'. The only negative reviews I see of it complain that it seems to be a low budget rip off of 'The Thing'. 'Inanimate' was made to show the original practical effects used in 'The Thing' (2011) until they were badly CGI'd over at the last minute before release. If you look on YouTube you can find interviews from 'The Thing' (2011) talking about how practical effects were being used and how important the practical effects were. There's also footage released by the practical effects company who worked on 'The Thing' (2011) after they received criticism for the lack of practical effects. This behind the scenes footage shows that they made all the practical effects, and they looked amazing, but the studio stepped in last minute and changed it to CGI. As far as I'm aware, the practical effects team didn't know all their work had been replaced with CGI until they saw it at the premier. As I understand it a full practical cut of 'The Thing' (2011) does exist, but the studio released the CGI version. 'Inanimate' was made to show the practical effects, so it has to be similar to 'The Thing' in order to use those practical effects. It's really a film for people who want to see how good the effects in 'The Thing' (2011) would have looked if the studio hadn't decided to CGI over the practical effects. If you've seen 'The Thing' you know what you're gonna get with 'Inanimate', and I imagine if I'd seen it without knowing why it was made I'd give it a lower rating thinking I'd rather be watching 'The Thing' (1982). But knowing why it was made gave me the opportunity to appreciate it more.
Maniac on the Loose (2008)
Misleading Advertising. I love low-budget films but this isn't even trying to entertain.
When it comes to low-budget films I overlook things like poor sound quality and bad acting because quite often these are passionate people making the best film they can with the resources they have - just look at Len Kabasinski's films to see what I mean. However, that's not the case with 'Maniac on the Loose'. It suffers from the overused horror plot of an escaped killer and doesn't even throw in some interesting death and gore scenes to make it memorable. In an over-saturated market I can't even say watch it if you like horror and have run out of things to watch because there's so much out there I can't imagine anyone running out.
The director published a book of 'Maniac on the Loose' which is free on Kindle. I was even less impressed with the book because it's basically just the film script. This would be fine if it was advertised as a script rather than a short story.
Dybbuk Box: The Story of Chris Chambers (2019)
"Documentary" about YouTuber Chris Chambers.
At the time of writing this 'Dybbuk Box: The Story of Chris Chambers' has an 8/10 rating on IMDB and I have no idea why. I'm giving it a 1/5 because it's exceptionally tame and the few jump scares it has are so well lit they have no impact. There are much better supernatural films out there.
The film opens with some text saying it's a documentary and industry professionals have verified that the footage shows true paranormal events. Then we see screenshots of real YouTubers who opened dybuk boxes on their channels. Chris Chambers is included in this selection but his channel name is hidden while the others are visible. Recognising the other channels I paused the film and looked for the Chris Chambers video expecting it to be fake. The video is there on the channel Joseph Mazzaferro Mazz Appeal Films. Joseph Mazzaferro is the writer and director of 'Dybbuk Box: The Story of Chris Chambers' as well as being the actor who plays Chris Chambers according to IMDB. Amazon Prime and the film credits say Chris Chambers appears as himself.
It's cool when films try to look like documentaries showing real events, this one would have got a much higher rating from me, probably a 4/5, if Joseph Mazzaferro had used his own name and YouTube channel for the main character. That way he could have got some attention and later explained that it was just a film, 'The Blair Witch Project' style.
Caved In (2006)
After 'Star Trek' Colm Meaney made this.
'Caved In' stars Colm Meaney, Miles O'Brian from 'Star Trek'. Although he's the only real selling point of this low-budget creature feature, I'm giving it a 4/5 (8/10 on IMDB) because I rate based on entertainment and I find funny bad films entertaining. If you don't like funny bad films, 'Caved In' has nothing to offer you.
This is not a spoiler as you see it in the cover art and opening scene: The CGI for the giant bugs is terrible. It's far from the worst CGI I've seen, but it never looks like the bugs are there.
Colm Meaney is the only actor who can act in a convincing way, so there's plenty to laugh at on bad film night. Weirdly, the most convincing performance aside from Colm Meaney's is Stevie Mitchell's, the younger of the two kids in the film. And yes, I took the time to look up his name because I so rarely see child or teen actors who are really convincing even in big budget films that I wanna give him credit.
I can't say much about the plot because there's not a lot to it. Treasure hunters find giant bugs. But it doesn't end up being mostly pointless filler. With better acting and puppets instead of bad CGI, 'Caved In' could have gone from funny bad to legitimately good small film.
Mandy (2018)
Beautiful but disappointing - thanks misleading trailer.
Seeing the trailer for 'Mandy' before seeing the film was a mistake. The trailer suggested a beautiful, gory, and funny grindhouse film with Nicholas Cage freaking out in the way only he can. And I was really looking forward to seeing the axe Cage forged in the trailer. The second half of the film kind of lived up to this, but the first half is like a totally different film.
When 'Mandy' finally got to Nicholas Cage freaking out it was a delight, it just took far too long to get there. The hints of 'Hellraiser' were cute, and the film was beautiful to watch with a fantastic score. But it dragged a lot, didn't show the axe enough considering how prominently it was featured in the trailer. The bigger chainsaw joke has been done to death and made me think of 'Phantasm 2' which is always good. Unfortunately it made me wish I was watching 'Phantasm 2' instead. If I watch 'Mandy' again now I know what kind of film it is I think I'll enjoy it more, although I would probably still be left wondering why the axe needed to be in the trailer when it's barely used in the film.
Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich (2018)
Bad taste humour and gore - not for the easily offended.
'Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich' is kind of a reboot of the original 'Puppet Master' franchise but it also follows on from the original and will apparently be running along side the original franchise. I saw them all in the order they were released, but you can just jump in with this one.
I love the look of 'Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich', it looks like it was made in the 80s right down to what I think was mostly stop motion and puppetry for the puppets, not obvious CGI that looks dated on release - I'm looking at you CGI The Rock from 'The Mummy Returns'. It has bucket loads of very nicely done gore, although it could have had more. It's a film about Nazi puppets coming to life and committing hate crimes, so it's not like it was trying to get a 15 or 12 certificate.
All the jokes are what most people would call extremely bad taste to the point of feeling bad if they laughed. If you're gonna watch it you need to go in knowing that and accepting it for what it is.
The Wicker Man (1973)
One of my all time favourite films.
'The Wicker Man' (1973) is one of my favourite films. I'm Pagan and know that some people don't like the inaccurate portrayal of Pagans in this film. But as the film is a work of fiction, I think we can enjoy the story without comparing it to any branch of Paganism, modern or historical.
I recommend the director's cut over the theatrical. The director's cut adds a lot of atmosphere and character development.
This is where the spoilers will start...
The image used for most of the physical and digital promotion is great if you've seen the film, but could be a spoiler for anyone who hasn't.
'The Wicker Man' follows a Christian police officer going to an island to investigate a report of a missing girl. Only when he gets to the island does he realise everyone on the island is a Pagan who wants to sacrifice him in a giant wicker man to ensure a good harvest.
Starring Christopher Lee, Edward Woodward, Britt Ekland, and Ingrid Pitt, it feels very much like a Hammer film even though it isn't one. I see this as a good thing because Hammer created a classic style that draws the viewer in.
'The Wicker Man' is a fairly slow moving film and I wouldn't say any of the visuals are scary, but the story itself could be. For the story to be scary you just have to believe there are people in an isolated area who want to kill strangers.
So what makes 'The Wicker Man' a good film when compared to more modern examples of a group of people trying to kill strangers like 'House of 1000 Corpses'? In my opinion, the lack of gore. Now don't get me wrong, I love gory films. I'll happily watch films just for cool gore effects. But gory films aren't often the ones that leave a lasting fear in my mind. The more special effects a film has, the less realistic it tends to look in years to come. Everything in 'The Wicker Man' still looks real. But some of the effects in 'House of 1000 Corpses' have aged badly enough to be funny. I love 'House of 1000 Corpses', by the way, I just can't honestly say it still looks as good as it did when it came out. Nothing in 'The Wicker Man' takes me out of the story.
The end scene in 'The Wicker Man' in particular manages to be haunting and unforgettable without the need for overly graphic gore or violence. They had one shot at getting that scene because they only had one wicker man. The animals and Edward Woodward are actually in the wicker man for some of those shots. Forced perspective is used for the rest as they obviously didn't kill Edward Woodward or the animals.
Modern horror films tend to have much faster pacing so 'The Wicker Man' probably won't appeal to those who expect faster pacing and jump scares. However, it will leave you with the horrific idea that you would be powerless against a group of people wanting to kill you.
Ghost Adventures (2008)
A paranormal show with something for skeptics and believers alike.
Any show dealing with paranormal investigation faces the problem of presenting believable evidence. We've all seen horror films and know about things like rigging doors to open or close seemingly by themselves. Skeptics can easily see how it would be possible for Zak Bagans and his team to rig all the evidence presented in each case, but the evidence presented is never anything stupid like bad GCI monsters that would even have believers laughing. There's a lot more showmanship than most paranormal investigation shows use, but that works for this show. Whether you're looking for a show that gives you a detailed history of haunted places or you're a skeptic just looking to be entertained, Zak's Ghost Adventures is for you.
The X Files: Pilot (1993)
One of the best pilot episodes I've ever seen.
This episode takes the time to establish so many things that become iconic throughout the series - we even see Smoking Man although he doesn't do really do anything in this episode (at lest not on screen). Mulder and Scully have great chemistry from the start. The thing I love the most about this episode is the way it manages to walk the line between whether or not the alien abduction is real. Even when they find a primate body suggesting the whole thing is a hoax the show still walks the line. If it was just a hoax there would be no need for the cover up. I kind of wish on the re-releases the creators had decided to add the classic X Files theme tune to this episode because the lack of theme tune is one of the very few things that makes this episode seem like a pilot.
Le cauchemar (1896)
A Nightmare
A man tries to sleep but is plagued by nightmares. The part with the moon is mildly disturbing, although Méliès does use this idea to better effect in his later work, 'A Trip To The Moon'.
Une nuit terrible (1896)
A Terrible Night
A man tries to sleep but a large spider won't let him. The spider puppet is nicely done although not realistic at all. I can't decide if the bowl is a wash basin or a chamber pot. I assume it's a chamber pot because it's hidden away. If it is, is this the first film to feature a toilet? 'Psycho' always gets credited as being the first film to show a toilet, but I think 'A Terrible Night' might actually be the first... It's probably a wash basin.
Le manoir du diable (1896)
The House of the Devil
The first comedy horror? This short film is packed with fantastic effects for the time. It blends some great slapstick moments in with the overall gothic horror atmosphere. The film shows a bat transform into the devil who proceeds to conjure all manner of creatures. Two soldiers walk in to see this, but they can't leave as easily as they entered.
Escamotage d'une dame au théâtre Robert Houdin (1896)
The Conjuring of a Woman at the House of Robert Houdin
The vanishing lady must have been impressive when this short film was made, and the skeleton would almost certainly have scared viewers. I was left wondering if this would have been less impressive for anyone who had seen a stage magician perform this illusion though. This short film is just the one illusion and although it's interesting from a film history point of view, if you're watching it to see the illusion you might prefer to see a live stage magician or modern HD version of the illusion.
The Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots (1895)
Interesting. The first horror film.
Considered by many to be the first horror film, this 12 second short shows what might be the first beheading effect on screen. There's not a lot I can say about such a short film. Watch it if you're interested in comparing how effects have changed over the years or if you just want to see the earliest surviving horror film.
Electrocuting an Elephant (1903)
Real, Not Special Effects
This seems to find its way on to a lot of lists of most disturbing horror films, only it isn't a film. In my opinion a film is either fiction or a recreation of real events intended as entertainment, not the actual footage of those events that you would expect to see in a documentary. Even if you see this footage in a documentary it's still the real footage of Topsy the elephant murdered by Thomas Edison and Coney Island workers as part of an experiment. As I understand it Topsy was chosen to die because after a lot of mistreatment including one of her trainers burning her trunk she became difficult to handle. A depressing watch that makes me so glad we now have animal rights.