Horrorfest 2022 Presents: Godzilla vs Spacegodzilla (1994, Kensho Yamashita)

The 1990s Godzilla flicks tried to be more serious again and have Godzilla as an anti-hero or enemy. Although in this movie he does battle Spacegodzilla, which helps out Japan while also naturally destroying a bunch of cities and stuff in the process. I don’t mind Godzilla as the hero sometimes, and he’s a lot more fun as the villain, yet having him be the anti-hero is the most interesting take on the character. Yes a giant fire breathing atomic lizard is a character.

Is this a horror movie? Are any of them really horror movies? Eh, close enough, and Spacegodzilla looks fantastic. The human stuff is a bit too silly for my liking, yet I still cared enough about them and that’s typical for a Godzilla movie. One nice thing about the American ones that came out in the late 2010s/early 2020s is that the human characters are a bit more fleshed out. The best Godzilla movies try to balance that with the awesome monster battles.

Does this movie have plenty of cool battles? Yes it does, and I will not accept any Baby Godzilla slander here. He’s adorable. The movie even tries to include a space environmental message, which isn’t too surprising considering the series’ history. I saw this thanks to Hulu, and with some notable exceptions I feel that most Godzilla movies are worth viewing, flaws and all.

November 15, 2022 0

Horrorfest 2022 Presents: Oculus (2013, Mike Flanagan)

Thanks to Hulu I finally got around to viewing Mike Flanagan’s Oculus, which revolves around an evil mirror. Or maybe it was a cursed mirror? I’m not sure, really, yet it doesn’t matter because the movie doesn’t bother explaining it too much. Which is fine, since the history of the mirror that Karen Gillan’s Kaylie explains to her younger brother, Tim, played by Brenton Thwaites.

Kaylie has a wild plan to destroy the mirror, which she blames for ruining the lives of her family. Flashbacks featuring Katee Sackhoff and Rory Cochrane as the siblings parents are really creepy and very effective, as it demonstrates the true power of the mirror over people. The mirror causes hallucinations, insanity, and takes over people’s minds. That’s a lot for one mirror.

Despite really liking and enjoying this movie, I feel the ending should have been switched around a bit. I do love the final shot, which is bittersweet and very eerie, and Flanagan is one of the best horror directors working today. This was a nice early effort from him. I look forward to finishing his filmography at some point, along with his tv work, most of which is on Netflix.

November 15, 2022 0

Horrorfest 2022 Presents: Prey (2022, Dan Trachtenberg)

Now this is how you make a good Predator movie. Years after the first two busted onto the scene we finally got one in the franchise that was truly worthy. Dan Trachtenberg knows how to make a sequel or a franchise entry as 10 Cloverfield Lane indicated, and he gives us a movie that both acknowledges the series history while adding to it’s overall mythology. Plus the cast is fantastic, which helps a lot.

Amber Midthunder and Dakota Beavers are excellent as brother and sister Comanche who end up battling a Predator. I love that this movie had a dog that is almost as much a character as the others. This movie doesn’t skimp on the Predator gore either, and there are multiple parts that are incredibly violent in the grand Predator tradition. This franchise is very R rated, doesn’t go over the two hour mark and is not for those who can’t handle plenty of slicing and dicing.

While some other characters are just there to be cannon fodder and I don’t feel this movie is better or equal to the original, I definitely think it’s near great and very well made. I wish I could have gotten to see Prey on the big screen, and I’m glad it did well on Hulu, which is one of my favorite streaming services. I hope this leads to more period based entries in the Predator series, yet even if that doesn’t happen this fine movie still exists to be watched again and again.

November 4, 2022 0

Horrorfest 2022 Presents: The Predator (2018, Shane Black)

The Predator is a big dumb blockbuster that bombed because honestly the series was a bit played out by this point, although I hear Prey was good so maybe this was just the wrong approach. Compared to the AVP series this movie is high art haha, and yet I think I liked this one mostly for the cast which is a good bunch of actors elevating some thin and bland material. I think I’ve seen enough marines battle aliens movies to last me a lifetime, and this one is no different although the hero is an Army Ranger which is a different branch of the army, anyways.

Sterling K. Brown was actually the best character in this movie, honestly, and I wished he had been the main character instead. In fact this movie suffers from way too many characters, and most if not all of them exist as victims to be murdered horribly by first one Predator, then another super Predator that shows up later in the movie. Boyd Holbrook does his best yet he doesn’t seem to be leading man material although I wouldn’t really base that upon this movie, and Olivia Munn shows up because the movie’s creators probably wanted at least one female presence in amongst a sea of testosterone who wasn’t there for just a bit role.

I do think it is cool that Hulu has the entire Predator series available currently, which is nice and I liked going through the entire series again although I had not viewed this one or AVP before. I’m looking forward to watching Prey, and I must admit that I found the series to be a bit uneven at times. Nothing will probably top the original, which is usually true for most franchises.

September 19, 2022 0

Horrorfest 2022 Presents: AVP: Alien vs. Predator (2004, Paul W. S. Anderson)

While I was viewing Alien vs Predator I realized that this definitely feels like the Jason Takes Manhattan of the series, in which case I end up defending the movie haha. I prefer JTM anyways and I thought this wasn’t worth more than a 7/10, however there are things to like about AVP and I wonder if maybe I wouldn’t end up liking it even more on a second viewing in the future. For now I’ll have to rely on this review, which is half assed like most of my writings these days.

A group of experts descend into a hidden temple in Antarctica that is located beneath the ice. There, they uncover ancient secrets that would greatly excite that History Channel Aliens Guy. Sanaa Lathan is the main character and arguably a type of “Final Woman/Girl,” along with Raoul Bova, Lance Henriksen (who was also in Aliens), Colin Salmon and Ewen Bremner, plus others who end up becoming the victims of the battle between Predators and Xenomorphs. I was hoping for a far more gorier movie than we ended up with, still you can’t get everything you wish for.

The pyramid endlessly shifting around was a really cool bit, and Lathan is really good as Lex. I learned that if you help kill a Xenomorph with a Predator you become their teammate of sorts, and that going to some hidden temple area is never a good idea, although I knew that one already from countless other movies. The tag line for this movie also still cracks me up: “Whoever wins, we lose!” Man that’s serious. Viewed thanks to Hulu which because they got the new Predator movie they had all the series available to watch, which is nice.

September 7, 2022 0

Dead People Aren’t Much Fun: Horrorfest 2022

Whew it took me a few months after October but I finished all the reviews. I’m not doing this many movies next year haha or this many months either. Thanks for reading, see you all next year for Horrorfest 2023!

I’ve run out of title ideas. That or I’m just tired these days. Yet I press on to another Horrorfest even though at some point I’ve got to be getting too old for this sort of thing. Anyways on with the show!

July (Monsters Oh My!):

August (Things Aren’t What They Seem):

September (Murder, and Lots of It):

Always bring a flashlight in case you lose your phone

October (Forever Haunted):

Please remain seated until the plane has finished crashing.

Coda (Can’t Stop Won’t Stop):

Top 10:

1. The Cremator (1969)
2. Nope (2022)
3. The Devil’s Backbone (2001)
4. Häxan (1922)
5. Barbarian (2022)
6. Sole Survivor (1984)
7. The Raven (1963)
8. Pearl (2022)
9. Onibaba (1964)
10. Storm of the Century (1999)

HM: The Fall of the House of Usher (1928)

July 2, 2022 1

Tubi Time!

When I finally bought a Roku streaming device in 2018 one of the services on there was Tubi, which used to be a nice little very free secret which is still thankfully free. It reminds me of old video stores or the public library with the mix of old and newer movies, random junk, nice cult gems and everything in between. I’ve been using it even more since last year due to it’s halfway decent collection of horror and western movies, plus kung fu movies.

Sure there are ads, and Tubi doesn’t have any original programing that I know of, yet it’s still rather handy. Right now as I type this I’m watching Airport ’77, which is definitely not on Netflix or Hulu. Sure it’s cheesy as hell but it’s nice to view a slice of 1970s blockbuster cinema. Plus you get used to the ads, anyways. I really am trying to burn through my list on Tubi, yet they keep adding stuff I want to see. So it’s really just like the other streaming services I’m currently using. Quarantine time is cinema time.

April 16, 2021 0

Premium Gatekeeping Never Ends

Roku Has Become a Gatekeeper in Premium Streaming - Variety

So my dad got into the CBS Clarice show but he’s never seen Silence of the Lambs. It’s on Hulu but you need a premium subscription to even watch it. And people wonder why I’m still buying movies. I guess I should have purchased the Criterion copy of the movie during their last flash sale.

However I’m wondering why I need to upgrade for a service I’m already paying for. Disney+ is guilty of that too with their special new releases that they expect people already subscribed to their service to pay extra for. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that streaming services are greedy like that, yet it is still disappointing. I know there are other options but those also cost money and the segmentation of streaming is really aggravating. At this point I don’t blame people resorting to piracy again, however it shouldn’t have to come to this point.

Especially with a movie like Silence of the Lambs that is only 6 years younger than I am. I work with people younger than that movie. I guess it has always been this way with anything older than 1980 or 1970, however now you encounter it with even 1990s and modern flicks. I remember Netflix lacking a lot of older movies on streaming due to studios wanting people to still buy them on physical media. Well congratulations, that worked all too well.

Hey at least I found a cheap Blu-ray version of Silence of the Lambs at Best Buy, which amuses me since they gutted their movie section. Remind why I should bother supporting copyright law when giant corporations abuse the hell out of it and older movies that should be public domain and available for free on YouTube are not…

PS: My local library had a copy and it was the Criterion DVD edition. I might need to use them more often.

March 27, 2021 0

Movie Log 2021

Time for more film viewing…again!

January:

1. The Furies (1950, Mann)-90, Hulu
20.
2. The Sisters Brothers (2018, Audiard)-86, Hulu
3. Batman: The Killing Joke (2016, Liu)-60, Netflix Instant Viewing
4. Mank (2020, Fincher)-83, Netflix Instant Viewing
5. Five Element Ninjas (1982, Chang)-93, Netflix Instant Viewing
6. Extraction (2020, Hargrave)-73, Netflix Instant Viewing
7. Cairo Station (1958, Chahine)-91, Netflix Instant Viewing
8. I’m Thinking of Ending Things (2020, Kaufman)-85, Netflix Instant Viewing
9. The Master (2012, Anderson)-100, Netflix Instant Viewing
10. The Flying Guillotine (1975, Ho)-85, Netflix Instant Viewing
11. Flying Guillotine 2 (1978, Hua, Cheng)-83, Netflix Instant Viewing
12. Sabotage (1936, Hitchcock)-87, Tubi
13. The Three Ages (1923, Keaton, Cline)-80, Tubi
14. House of Games (1987, Mamet)-100, Tubi
15. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (2011, Fincher)-100, Netflix Instant Viewing
16. I Am Not Your Negro (2016, Peck)-100, Netflix Instant Viewing
17. Passenger 57 (1992, Hooks)-80, Netflix Instant Viewing
18. Lockout (2011, Mather, St. Leger)-67, Netflix Instant Viewing
19. Midnight Special (2016, Nichols)-93, Netflix Instant Viewing
20. American Assassin (2017, Cuesta)-51, Netflix Instant Viewing
21. Kill The Messenger (2014, Cuesta)-87, Netflix Instant Viewing
22. A Bridge Too Far (1977, Attenborough)-88, Netflix Instant Viewing
23. Rawhead Rex (1986, Pavlou)-68, Shudder

February:

24. The Grandmaster (2013, Wong)-88, Netflix Instant Viewing American Cut
25. Return to the 36th Chamber(1980, Kar-leung)-75, Netflix Instant Viewing
26. Psych: The Movie (2017, Franks)-80, Peacock
27. The Flesh and the Fiends (1960, Gilling)-77, Shudder
28. The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020, Sorkin)-89, Netflix Instant Viewing
29. Rango (2011, Verbinski)-85, Netflix Instant Viewing
30. The Muppets (2011, Bobin)-93, Netflix Instant Viewing
31. Psych 2: Lassie Come Home (2020, Franks)-86, Peacock
32. Shock Waves (1977, Wiederhorn)-73, Tubi
33. Twice Dead (1988, Dragin)-35, Tubi
34. Oh, Susanna! (1936, Kane)-65, Tubi
35. Antonio das Mortes (1969, Rocha)-94, YouTube
36. Spotlight (2015, McCarthy)-96, Netflix Instant Viewing
37. Machete Kills (2013, Rodriguez)-45, Netflix Instant Viewing
38. Secret In Their Eyes (2015, Ray)-54, Netflix Instant Viewing
39. Southern Comfort (1981, Hill)-93, Tubi
40. Devil in a Blue Dress (1995, Franklin)-88, Tubi

March:

41. One-Eyed Jacks (1961, Brando)-95, Criterion Blu-ray
42. Broken Arrow (1950, Daves)-80, Tubi
43. Willow (1988, Howard)-83, Disney+
44. Psychomania (1973, Sharp)-80, Shudder
45. Runaway Train (1985, Konchalovskiy)-91, Tubi
46. Warlock (1989, Miner)-75, Tubi
47. The Last Seduction (1994, Dahl)-95, Tubi
48. Werewolf (1996, Zarindast)-0/MST3K score: 95, Tubi
49. Cocaine Cowboys (2006, Corben)-94, Tubi
50. The Baby (1973, Post)-65, Shudder
51. Wild Bill (1995, Hill)-73, Tubi
52. Destroyer (2018, Kusama)-90, Hulu
53. If Beale Street Could Talk (2018, Jenkins)-92, Hulu
54. The Invincible Armour (1977, Ng)-85, Tubi
55. Weird Science (1985, Hughes)-90, Arrow Videos Blu-ray
56. Hard Target (1993, Woo)-80, Tubi
57. Lucky Number Slevin (2006, McGuigan)-75, Tubi
58. The Apartment (1960, Wilder)-97, Tubi
59. White Zombie (1932, Halperin)-83, Shudder
60. Asylum (1972, Baker)-75, Shudder

April:

61. And Now the Screaming Starts! (1973, Baker)-70, Shudder
62. The Beast Must Die (1974, Annett)-76, Shudder
63. Crank: High Voltage (2009, Neveldine, Taylor)-87, Tubi
64. Smooth Talk (1985, Chopra)-91, Criterion Blu-ray
65. Sword of the Beast (1965, Gosha)-93, Criterion Public Library DVD
66. Samurai Rebellion (1967, Kobayashi)-93, Criterion Public Library DVD
67. The Cocoanuts (1929, Florey and Santley)-85, Barnes & Noble DVD
68. Accepted (2006, Pink)-75, Netflix Instant Viewing
69. Hour of the Gun (1967, Sturges)-87, Tubi
70. Airport (1970, Seaton)-71, Tubi
71. Airport 1975 (1974, Smight)-68, Tubi
72. Airport ’77 (1977, Jameson)-71, Tubi
73. The Concorde…Airport ’79 (1979, Rich)-29, Tubi
74. A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy (1982, Allen)-85, Tubi
75. Godzilla vs Kong (2021, Wingard)-93, Theater!
76. Mother’s Day (1980, Kaufman)-55, Shudder
77. Class of 1984 (1982, Lester)-90, Shudder
78. Suddenly (1954, Allen)-84, Tubi

May:

79. Next of Kin (1982, Williams)-81, Shudder
80. The Hudsucker Proxy (1994, Coen Brothers)-91, Tubi
81. Varan the Unbelievable (1962, Baerwitz)-60, DVD
82. The Big Red One (1980, Fuller)-95, Public Library DVD
83. Audition (1999, Miike)-94, Shudder
84. The Wind (1986, Mastorakis)-80, Arrow Video Blu-ray
85. Stormy Monday (1988, Figgis)-94, Arrow Video Blu-ray
86. Sabata (1970, Kramer)-86, Tubi
87. Into The Night (1985, Landis)-67, Tubi
88. Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins (1986, Hamilton)-81, Tubi
89. Maniac Cop 2 (1990, Lustig)-85, Shudder
90. Apache (1954, Aldrich)-69, Tubi
91. Vera Cruz (1954, Aldrich)-92, Tubi
92. A Bullet for the General (1966, Damiani)-97, Tubi
93. 13 Ghosts (1960, Castle)-78, Shudder
94. The Avengers (1998, Chechik)-20, Tubi
95. College (1927, Keaton and Horne)-78, Tubi
96. The Bellboy (1960, Lewis)-80, Hulu
97. Fried Barry (2020, Kruger)-74, Shudder
98. Train To Busan (2016, Yeon)-97, Shudder
99. Spookies (1986, Joseph, Doran, Faulkner)-53, Shudder
100. Frantic (1988, Polanski)-90, Tubi

June:

101. Things (1989, Jordan)-1, Shudder
102. Maniac Cop 3: Badge of Silence (1993, Lustig, Soisson)-56, Shudder
103. Inherent Vice (2014, Anderson)-90, Tubi
104. A Quiet Place Part 2 (2021, Krasinski)-90, Theater Viewing
105. The Return of Godzilla (1984, Hashimoto)-85, Internet
106. The Day of the Beast (1995, de la Iglesia)-92, Shudder
107. Sledgehammer (1983, Prior)-67, Shudder
108. Evilspeak (1981, Weston)-80, Shudder
109. Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965, Meyer)-93, YouTube
110. Miami Blues (1990, Armitage)-90, Tubi
111. Burn, Witch, Burn aka Night of the Eagle (1962, Hayers)-86, Shudder
112. Willy’s Wonderland (2021, Lewis)-85, Hulu
113. The Sparks Brothers (2021, Wright)-95, Theater Viewing
114. The Missouri Breaks (1976, Penn)-90, Tubi
115. Marty (1955, Mann)-93, Tubi

July:

116. The Amusement Park (1972, Romero)-85, Shudder
117. He Walked By Night (1948, Werker)-90, Tubi
118. Your Vice Is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key (1972, Martino)-90, Arrow Video Blu-ray
119. Crimes of Passion (1984, Russell)-80, Arrow Video Blu-ray DC
120. Vamp (1986, Wenk)-78, Arrow Video Blu-ray
121. Perdita Durango (1997, de la Iglesia)-82, Shudder
122. McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971, Altman)-100, Criterion DVD
123. Lady Snowblood (1973, Fujita)-95, Criterion DVD
124. Black Widow (2021, Shortland)-88, Theater Viewing
125. Lady Snowblood: Love Song of Vengeance (1974, Fujita)-80, Criterion DVD
126. Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th (2013, Farrands)-91, Shudder
127. Vampyres (1975, Larraz)-60, Shudder
128. Patrick (1978, Franklin)-82, Shudder
129. Child’s Play 2 (1990, Lafia)-80, Netflix Instant Viewing
130. Prevenge (2016, Lowe)-84, Shudder
131. Night Tide (1961, Harrington)-87, Shudder
132. The Queen of Black Magic (1979, Sudjio)-91, Shudder
133. Here Comes Hell (2019, McHenry)-65, Shudder
134. Wargames (1983, Badham)-89, Tubi
135. Cowboy (1958, Daves)-86, Tubi
136. Frankenhooker (1990, Henenlotter)-85, Shudder
137. Def By Temptation (1990, Bond III)-91, Shudder
138. Stay Tuned (1992, Hyams)-80, Tubi

August:

139. Last Man Standing (1996, Hill)-76, Tubi
140. Black Roses (1988, Fasano)-60, Shudder
141. Death Ship (1980, Rakoff)-65, Shudder
142. Don’t Panic (1989, Galindo Jr.)-80, Shudder
143. The Whistler (2019, Stang)-75, Shudder
144. Tigers Are Not Afraid (2019, López)-91, Shudder
145. The Green Knight (2021, Lowery)-95, Theater Viewing
146. Muppet Treasure Island (1996, Henson)-85, Disney+
147. Bill and Ted Face The Music (2020, Parisot)-86, Hulu
148. Brokeback Mountain (2005, Lee)-100, Peacock TV
149. The Suicide Squad (2021, Gunn)-91, Theater Viewing
150. Kentucky Fried Movie (1977, Landis)-70, Tubi
151. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… and Spring (2003, Ki-duk)-99, Tubi
152. Turkey Shoot (1982, Trenchard-Smith)-84, Shudder
153. Dave Made a Maze (2017, Watterson)-82, Shudder
154. Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker (1981, Asher)-75, Shudder
155. White of the Eye (1988, Cammell)-69, Shudder
156. Lisa and the Devil (1973, Bava)-80, Shudder
157. Wonder Woman 1984 (2020, Jenkins)-85, RedBox
158. Shock (1977, Bava)-73, Shudder
159. Messiah of Evil (1973, Huyck and Katz)-87, Shudder
160. Cruella (2021, Gillespie)-82, Disney+
161. Straw Dogs (1971, Peckinpah)-95, Criterion Blu-ray

September:

162. Vicious Fun (2020, Calahan)-90, Shudder
163. Mortuary (1983, Avedis)-36, Shudder
164. Hellmaster (1992, Schulze)-45, Shudder
165. The Dead Pit (1989, Leonard)-85, Shudder
166. VFW (2020, Begos)-90, Shudder
167. The Pale Door (2020, Koontz)-71, Shudder
168. Chillerama (2011, Rifkin, Sullivan, Green, Lynch)-73, Tubi
169. Mohawk (2017, Geoghegan)-80, Shudder
170. Dark Star (1974, Carpenter)-75, Tubi
171. The Brain Eaters (1958, VeSota)-79, Tubi
172. Death Curse of Tartu (1966, Grefé)-74, Tubi
173. Sting of Death (1966, Grefé)-77, Tubi
174. Blood Quantum (2019, Barnaby)-70, Shudder
175. I Bury the Living (1958, Band)-88, Tubi
176. Candyman (2021, DaCosta)-94, Theater Viewing
177. Head Count (2019, Callahan)-77, Shudder
178. Found Footage 3D (2016, DeGennaro)-70, Shudder
179. The Color Out of Space (2020, Stanley)-88, Shudder
180. Shakma (1990, Logan, Parks)-65, Shudder
181. Copshop (2021, Carnahan)-85, Theater Viewing
182. Malignant (2021, Wan)-93, Theater Viewing

October:

183. The Church (1989, Soavi)-40, Tubi
184. Blood (1973, Milligan)-60, Tubi
185. Cannibal Ferox (1981, Lenzi)-35, Shudder
186. Sorority House Massacre (1986, Frank)-70, Shudder
187. Pledge Night (1990, Ziller)-10, Shudder
188. WNUF Halloween Special (2013, LaMartina, Branscome, Jones, Maccubbin, Martin, Menter, Schoeb)-78, Shudder
189. Vampires vs. the Bronx (2020, Rodriguez)-80, Netflix Instant Viewing
190. No Time To Die (2021, Fukunaga)-90, Theater Viewing
191. One Dark Night (1983, McLoughlin)-79, Tubi
192. Doom Asylum (1987, Friedman)-77, Tubi
193. Hannah, Queen of the Vampires (1973, Salvador, Danton)-80, Tubi
194. Death By Invitation (1971, Friedman)-51, Tubi
195. Two Thousand Maniacs (1964, Lewis)-85, Tubi
196. Frankenstein’s Castle of Freaks (1974, Randall)-40, Tubi
197. The Convent (2000, Mendez)-82, Tubi
198. Demonia (1990, Fulci)-40, Tubi
199. PG: Psycho Goreman (2020, Kostanski)-90, Shudder
200. The Descent (2005, Marshall)-75, Tubi
201. Jack Frost 2: Revenge of the Mutant Killer Snowman (2000, Cooney)-20, Crackle/Tubi
202. The Last Duel (2021, Scott)-83, Theater Viewing
203. Habit (1997, Fessenden)-87, Shudder
204. Halloween Kills (2021, Green)-82, Theater Viewing
205. Rituals (1977, Carter)-70, Shudder
206. Just Before Dawn (1981, Lieberman)-82, Shudder
207. The House That Screamed (1969, Serrador)-82, Shudder

November:

208. Last Night In Soho (2021, Wright)-95, Theater Viewing
209. V/H/S/94 (2021, Tjahjanto, Barrett)-84, Shudder
210. Wait Until Dark (1967, Young)-94, Shudder
211. Alien Resurrection (1997, Jeunet)-53, Tubi
212. Whiskey Mountain (1977, Grefé)-74, Tubi
213. Live By Night (2016, Affleck)-83, Netflix Instant Viewing
214. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021, Cretton)-90, Disney+
215. The Neverending Story (1984, Petersen)-70, YouTube
216. Let the Corpses Tan (2017, Cattet, Forzani)-80, Shudder
217. El Topo (1970, Jodorowsky)-96, Public Library
218. Fatal Instinct (1993, Reiner)-64, Tubi
219. Meatballs (1979, Reitman)-77, Barnes & Noble DVD
220. The Holiday (2006, Meyers)-60, Netflix Instant Viewing
221. The Long Riders (1980, Hill)-86, Tubi
222. The Velvet Vampire (1971, Rothman)-77, Shudder
223. Mill of the Stone Women (1960, Ferroni)-60, Shudder

December:

224. Prisoners of the Ghostland (2021, Sono), Shudder-65
225. Turbo Kid (2015, Simard, Whissell, Whissell)-91, Shudder
226. Beyond the Door (1975, Hellman)-60, Shudder
227. The Ice Harvest (2005, Ramis)-73, Tubi
228. Le Pacte des loups aka Brotherhood of the Wolf DC (2001, Gans)-90, Shudder
229. Mulholland Falls (1996, Tamahori)-80, Tubi
230. The Shadow (1994, Mulcahy)-73, Tubi
231. Thunder Road (1958, Ripley)-83, Tubi
232. Hunger (2008, McQueen)-98, Plex
233. Devil Times Five (1974, MacGregor)-50, Shudder
234. Silent Night, Deadly Night III: Better Watch Out! (1989, Hellman)-65, Shudder
235. Ice Cream Man (1995, Norman)-80, Shudder
236. Gator Bait (1974, The Sebastians)-46, Shudder
237. Black Moon Rising (1986, Cokeliss)-80, Tubi
238. West Side Story (2021, Spielberg)-81, Movie Theater Viewing
239. Man Of The West (1958, Mann)-92, Tubi
240. The Hitch-Hiker (1953, Lupino)-80, Tubi
241. Farewell My Lovely (1975, Richards)-93, Tubi
242. The Big Sleep (1978, Winner)-77, Tubi
243. Silent Night, Deadly Night 4: Initiation (1990, Yuzna)-25, Shudder
244. All a Good Night (1980, Hess)-30, Shudder
245. The Darkest Hour (2011, Gorak)-45, Netflix Instant Viewing
246. Screams of a Winter Night (1979, Wilson)-77, Shudder
247. Ace In The Hole (1951, Wilder)-98, Criterion Blu-ray
248. The Power of the Dog (2021, Campion)-85, Netflix Instant Viewing
249. Angel (1984, O’Neill)-83, Shudder
250. There Will Be Blood (2007, Anderson)-95, Netflix Instant Viewing

January 1, 2021 0

Horrorfest 2020 Presents: Blood Diner (1987, Jackie Kong)

Blood Diner easily fits the definition of “Good trash.” I’m not sure it was a good movie, yet I was entertained and it has the weird charm element that seems to be a part of typical cult cinema. I’m still amused that I found this on Hulu of all places, yet Hulu decided to feature some horror movies this time around. Two brothers and their uncle’s brain decide to summor the goddess Sheetar, using the corpses of people they kill. If that sounds familiar, think of the cult flick Blood Feast.

Really Blood Diner feels like a natural sequel to that movie, only with two people instead of one offering up sacrifices to some ancient god. In this case it is a goddess, and she requires blood, people, and a virgin to be eaten later. Which makes the fact that the brothers run a vegetarian diner all the more amusing. Rick Burks and Carl Crew are both hilarious and creepy as the two brothers, tracked by cops LaNette LaFrance and Roger Dauer.

At some point there is a club scene with a Nazi band, and one of the brothers wrestles a Nazi in the ring. I’m not sure what the hell that was about, and neither aspects seem to fit in the movie. However the club scene escalates rather quickly, and this movie has plenty of guts, gore and body parts. They don’t make these quite like they used to anymore. Maybe that’s a good thing. “First they great you, then they eat you!”

October 23, 2020 0