Just Watched Movies (2012)

[Termination]

Underworld: Awaking

The fourth & hopefully last installment in the series. If your a gore buff who likes to see good CGI & a killer soundtrack to go with it, you might like it. I found the lack of story to be a bigger let down.

Rental for sure

[slayrrr666]

Added uncut copies of Blood of Dracula and Devil Doll to the collection.

Piranhaconda-When a low-budget movie shoot stumbles upon a massive snake/killer fish hybrid living in the jungle near their shoot, they try to find a way to get away from the creature and the terrorist squad in the area intending on holding them for ransom. Absolutely impressive creature feature that is just cheesy and goofy that it's an absolute blast to watch. From the utterly dreadful-looking CGI creature to the cheesy movie being shot, the snake's antics and the way in which it plays out between the creature's select ambush kills make for an entertaining cheesy good time, and that this one manages to do so the entire time is an even better accomplishment, filled to the brim with lots of action, tons of kills and even a few surprisingly-suspenseful moments or two. Yeah, the fact that this is explained as a factual creature is a bit of a stretch, and the terrorist inclusion into the story makes no sense, but otherwise this is a fine and worthwhile effort.

[slayrrr666]

Don't Go in the Woods-Gathering out in the woods to write music, a struggling young band finds themselves joined by their fanatical groupies and a killer intent on killing them off one-by-one, forcing them into a race to save themselves and the others from the killer's grasp. Absolutely, utterly atrocious horror effort as it's a musical that tends to ignore the horror for the entire duration of the running time until the last ten minutes, concentrating on bland, melodic college rock by a group of pretentious, wannabe-introspective souls who think they're doing something creative and original but come off as nothing more than utter nonsense. Add onto that absolutely inane characters that no one would want to be around in real life, no real slashing going on even when it gets to the horror segments and edited to be nearly impossible to tell what's going on, and overall this one is just not worthwhile. Absolutely nothing of interest here.

[slayrrr666]

Donner Pass-Joining up together in the mountains for a weekend getaway, a group of friends find themselves stalked through the remote area by the re-emergence of a sinister legend that prowls the area and must find a way to stop it from spreading to them. Somewhat decent entry here, nothing all that spectacular but certainly features enough worthwhile moments. While the storyline isn't all that original, what hurts it more is the needless and overly-complicated twists and turns it undertakes in the last half which make no sense at all. From the agenda of the wronged couple that interferes with the survivability of the others, to the twist regarding the one members' true motivations and the needless backstory given out, this one gets way too smart for it's own good and really requires streamlining to pack more of a punch. That said, the stalking scenes get plenty suspenseful at times, the gore is nicely handled and never gratuitous, and there's some nice action in the later half to make up for a mildly-dull beginning. All in all, it's pretty decent.

[slayrrr666]

The Devil Within Her-When a newborn baby begins to display several rather bizarre feats of strength and hostility that shouldn't be present at it's stage, her mother fears it's become possessed by a wronged man in her past life and tries to get it free from his spell before it gets even more dangerous. Pretty interesting possession film, with the focus being made on the infant being the only innovative and original idea in the movie. Far too much of this is based around the by-now cliche use of everyone writing off her ramblings as those of a woman with a loose grip on reality from lack of sleep, and every possible instance of doing anything to get their attention does draw remarks of it not being possible yet nothing is done at that stage. It's all stuff that's been done hundreds of times since and its not really all that shocking, until we get to the exorcism at the final moments which provide all the usual goodness and cheese associated with such moments, really making an impression and ending on a high-note that does somewhat make up for the earlier moments.

[Fenril]

- La casa dalle finestre que ridono [aka The house with laughing windows]. Stefano is hired to restorate a fesco depicting St. Sebastian's martyrdom in a 50's Itallian rural village. Said painting was the last work of the local painter Legnani (quite possibly based on Francisco Goya), whose art evolved from ordinary romantic landscapes to graphic depictions of torture and suffering. As Stefano discovers more of Legnani's legend he gets involved in a dangerous conspiracy. Some people will do anything to keep their skeletons in a closet...

Terrific italian horror from the 70's (and one of the few that is neither a Ghiallo nor a gory supernatural / zombie romp), from cult director Pupi Avati. This has a fascinating background story for the painter (well, facinating because of several nods to the history of European painting, mixed with allusions to Italy's fascist past) and tons of atmosphere. The ending packs a wallop, through it requires at least two viewings to make sense of it all.

- Ghost Ship (1943). The new third officer aboard the Altair becomes convinced that the captain is losing his mind after several sailors die in inexplicable "accidents". Will he be able to convince the rest of the crew to help him before he, too, becomes prey to a dangerous maniac?

A Val Lewton production with the expected level of quality, moody atmosphere and a clever script. Despite the title and marketing this isn't an horror movie at all, but rather a taut suspense drama -in fact the title is metaphorical instead of literal. Also notable for its' generous dose of gay subtext.

[slayrrr666]

So glad you enjoyed "House of Laughter,' Fenril. Mostly my thoughts as well on that one, though I much preferred the giallo intricacies than you did. Still, an underrated and enjoyable entry.

The Beginning of the End-When a series of disasters around the countryside are found to be the work of giant, mutated locusts, the military teams up with a scientist to devise a way of stopping the creatures before they wreak havoc on the city. Classic old-school monster movie goodness, filled to the brim with the sort of material that works well and makes such fare enjoyable. From the cheesy special effects, to the fast-paced simple story and simple to understand methodology employed, this one has a lot to like about it. While the special effects might be cheesy, they're the single biggest hurdle to overcome here, since it's nearly impossible to make them believable or realistic due to the tactics utilized as oftentimes they're movements don't mesh with the actions that they were trying to capture. Still, this one is a lot of fun and doesn't really have a lot wrong with it.

[slayrrr666]

Added uncut versions of Blood of the Vampire and Fiend Without a Face to the Collection.

Arachnoquake-When a series of earthquakes releases a violent breed of spider into New Orleans, a tourist group and several others band together to fight off the deadly creatures before they wreak havoc on the city. Slightly silly and goofy Sci-Fi Channel creature feature, but one that actually has some good points about it to make it worthwhile. With the spiders out and about quite early, it makes for a lot of action to come from their encounters, and this one makes the most of it with several rather big action scenes including stand-outs in a shopping center and a rather suspenseful one in a stranded bus along an abandoned highway that's quickly overrun by the creatures. While they have some nifty powers that are hard to get a handle on, the finale is even harder as its far out of place in the film and doesn't really have a lot of purpose being there other than to fill the cheese quotient even more, but after the fun of the rest of the movie it feels a little underwhelming. Overall, a decent enough entry with some minor problems.

[slayrrr666]

Fright Night-After a mysterious stranger moves into his neighborhood and he stumbles upon his terrifying secret, a teen and his friends try to stop the trail of carnage left behind and his friends become the next target. Surprisingly decent enough affair, not really all that bad but definitely with some good points to it. Since the ruse is discovered early on, it has a lot of rather fun action antics that really push this along, from the house destruction and eventual high-speed chase along the highway that has a lot to like about it, to the battle in the office that includes some nice stalking scenes and some decent enough gore scenes to make it interesting, as well as the final assault on the hideout with all the turned victims providing enough of a battle to allow for some big action moments before the one-on-one confrontation, which is rather entertaining in it's own right. Along with the vampire make-up and gore, this is pretty good, but the fact that the ruse is found out far too early and far too easily, along with some questionable storyline points do knock it down somewhat but not enough to call it less than ideal.

[slayrrr666]

The Children-When a family gathers together at a large mountainside cottage for a reunion, the children come into contact with a strange virus that makes them homicidal maniacs who begin to kill off the others one-by-one, forcing them into a fight for survival to get away. Not really too sure what to say about this one, as the majority of the time with this one is spent in situations that not everyone can relate to. Far too much of this is based around the situation of how parents would react in those situations, but that leaves way too many scenes where the parental instincts are pushed to the forefront and common sense and logic fall by the wayside, as this one constantly keeps them in danger after failing to realize the obvious and trust in their parental instincts. It gets old after the twentieth time spent utilizing the same set-up over and over again due to the stupidity exhibited. That said, there's some nice scenes of atmosphere here with the snowbound setting provided a great place and enough gore to get this one over a couple humps, but not enough to take this out of the storyline problems.

[slayrrr666]

Robert Kurtzman's The Rage-After being stranded in the wilderness following a rave concert, a group of friends find themselves being used by a mad scientist hoping to turn them into the deformed mutants that prowl the forest as revenge for his mistreatment by society and must find a way to stop his experiments. Absolutely fun and enjoyable effort here that really doesn't have a lot of faults. With a cheesy, campy storyline that allows for a lot of gore and guts to be spilled, both from a series of creepy bird attacks that absolutely mangle the body to the experiments and deformities laying around, to the blood-splatter filled finale that unleashes a multitude of blood and gore as the survivors attempt means of escape. Along with the cheesy-looking make-up used on gruesome mutants as well as the way in which this plays out at times gives this one a healthy dose of cheese that works very well here, making this one quite entertaining. The action is fast, the pace is furious and while it may not know what it wants to be at times, this is a solid effort overall.

[slayrrr666]

The Blob-When a rash of mysterious deaths in a small midwestern town is found to be done by a killer amorphous blob that grows bigger with each body it dissolves into it, a few locals try to find a way to stop it before it gets out of hand. Outrageously fun sequel that really has a lot going for it and is a lot more enjoyable than expected. With a ton of high quality special effects onboard, from the slimy creature and it's constantly changing appearance to the dissolving victims and their wounds and scars to the gore, this one has a lot of great stuff in that regard and gives it a cheesy, enjoyable quality that, due to the course of how it plays out, maintains itself throughout the film. That's generated by a lot of action scenes that really play up a rather healthy dose of excitement, with great scenes in the sewers and a big shootout at the end to really get a lot out of this. While the introduction of the biohazard team in the last half doesn't really do much and their overall purpose seems to hinder the film a tad, overall this one is a lot of fun and has plenty to like about it.

[slayrrr666]

Final Destination 5-When a group of survivors of a devastating bridge collapse suddenly start turning up dead in a series of freak accidents, the others learn that they were meant to die on that day and try to prevent it from happening to them as well. As much as I wanted to absolutely love this one, there's still a few problems here that need to be mentioned. The new twist on the hero's plight doesn't make much sense, for something as supposedly vicious and cruel as what's stalking the heroes to just roll over like it does here with this new twist doesn't really make any sense at all, for that changes around the entire purpose of the events that transpire, and that also ends up giving us the finale in the restaurant which has no business being here and nearly ruins the film on it's own just for it's inclusion. It's also way to lax about going after them once they've survived, taking forever to start knocking them off and we get way too much time with their personal lives here, making it way too boring. The deaths are still a lot of fun (if a bit hokey at times in the Rube Goldberg-ian-ness of their set-ups) the gore is spectacular and the suspense is decently handled. All in all, a pretty decent entry if not overly spectacular.

[slayrrr666]

Added uncut copies of Magic and The Covenant to the collection.

The Howling: Reborn-Due to graduate from high school, a loner finds hims long-dormant werewolf instincts kicking in when his mother returns to help usher in his full transformation as part of a plan to overthrow mankind with werewolves, and he and his girlfriend must stop her nefarious plans. Far, far better than it has every right to be, especially since the beginning of this plays out exactly like a retread of the paranormal teen romance it's so obviously inspired by, as they're tepid romance is just painfully boring to sit through. Luckily, this is more than made-up for in the second half where it really lets loose with the horror, getting a ton of big action scenes out of the werewolf powers kicking in, including some nice stalking scenes as well which are given a boost by the abandoned school setting. With a big finale to end it on a high note and lots of action and gore, this is a lot better than expected and comes out feeling pretty good.

[slayrrr666]

The Haunting-Moving into a new house, a woman learns that her increasingly paranoid reactions and psychotic breakdowns are the result of lingering ghosts left in the house by it's concealed past history and try to end the curse left by that tormented history. Surprisingly fun and decent Spanish haunted house film, which manages to maintain it's sense of fear and thrills despite not having a lot of it's story make sense. This is a case of having way too much going on for it's own good, as there's three different backstories played out trying to piece together what's going on, and it eventually gets frustrating trying to keep everything straight, and although the film does it itself, there's still a lot more going on here than needs to be. That said, there's some rather impressive hauntings here, which make for a rather fun time when it starts to let them go in the middle half and the visuals that accompany them are a lot of fun. With a rousing finale that evokes the best of the old-school burning-down-the-house styles so often employed before, it's a great ending and raises this one pretty highly.