Movie opinions thread (what have you seen, what did you think?)

SouthtownKid

There are four lights
20 Year Member
Joined
Oct 12, 2003
Posts
26,899
Happy Death Day- Terrible title, great little movie. Groundhog Day meets a slasher, not the most original premise but at least it has a fairly unique spin. I don't think it would be half as enjoyable with a different lead actress, she's fantastic. Not only is she great in the role but it's nice to see a slasher where the lead actually has a character arc. It is a little predictable and it's pretty "girly" but that doesn't really detract too much overall. It's well made, briskly paced and funny. Not a bad way to waste 90 minutes. I just wish it had been R rated, nothing crazy but a bit of gore would have gone a long way.
Sequel is kind of interesting, too. Goes off in kind of a different direction.
 

terry.330

Time? Astonishing!
20 Year Member
Joined
May 4, 2004
Posts
11,793
Sequel is kind of interesting, too. Goes off in kind of a different direction.
Speaking of...

Happy Death Day 2 U- A solid enough sequel even though it doesn't really make too much sense from a logic perspective. It does do a good job of continuing the gimmick without it getting stale or annoying. I also appreciate it veering into sci-fi territory a bit, definitely helps it keep from being just another typical slasher sequel. It's a little sappy and some of the humor falls flat but it's still pretty fun. Also somehow an even worse title.
 
Last edited:

NeoSneth

Ned's Ninja Academy Dropout
20 Year Member
Joined
Oct 22, 2000
Posts
11,087
Barbarian is a movie surrounded by interesting premises, but fails to deliver. think that was the intent tho... It's intriguing subplots that get railroaded by the horror plot.
 

terry.330

Time? Astonishing!
20 Year Member
Joined
May 4, 2004
Posts
11,793
The Church- During the crusades a band of Teutonic knights slaughters an entire village of "heretics" and builds a giant gothic cathedral on top of the mass grave to somehow contain the evil. Hundreds of years later a librarian and art restorer working in the cathedral break some sort of magical seal and unleashed the demonic forces which traps a group of random people in the church. Slowly they become possessed, go insane and conduct a satanic ritual that will cause armageddon.

Directed by the guy behind Della Morte Dellamore (Cemetery Man) who can best be described as the Italian Sam Raimi. With a great location, camera and visual trickery, some nasty practical effects and more Italian logic than you can shake a stick at. It all culminates with a full on winged goat headed demon fucking a woman on a giant crucifix. The movie is batshit insane. It's little slow and at times hard to follow but the atmosphere and creative visuals keep you engaged.


Screamers- Peter Weller stars in this 90s VHS rental and cable sci-fi action shlock classic. It's a mashup of Tremors, Aliens, Terminator, The Thing and many others.

On an off world mining colony/military base Weller and a rag tag group of survivors battle an army of cyborgs that are able to reproduce and advance their own technology. Ranging from tiny buzzsaws that travel underground like Graboids to full human copies able to disguise themselves as real. It's a solid B movie with big aspirations and Weller does a good job as the lead and they certainly found some great locations but it's still hampered by typical genre jank. An interesting mix of CG and practical effects that doesn't always work but is still a lot of fun. If this is one you remember and enjoyed back in the day it's still worth a watch.
 

jro

Gonna take a lot
20 Year Member
Joined
Oct 11, 2004
Posts
14,410
Accurate. I thought it wa enjoyable but so dumb. I think the overwhelmingly positive reviews were mainly because of the drastic shift when Justin Long is introduced which is unexpected but nothing revolutionary. I also suspect there's more than a little bit of #metoo influencing the scores as well. There's also the urban neglect social commentary on top of that. It's a weird and clumsy movie.
I coudn't help but notice that the UHD rental price on this was a couple bucks cheaper than everything else, hashtag metoo plzwatch maybe, I dunno still bad either way.

Speaking of.... I watched Terrifier 2 - I'm pretty sure I liked the first one, so here's that with a 145 minute run time. Luckily, it's up to the task (barely, the f'ing Bible shouldn't run that long) and comes in with some genuinely nasty kill scenes. Props, for the most part, for what I'm pretty sure are practical effects even though half or so look hilariously bad. Art is a really solid slasher villain, love how he takes his time to laugh at almost every kill scene to his own detriment or not. Little girl Art is kinda crazy, hopefully the kid actress that plays her doesn't need therapy or anything.

Third one clearly on the way-
Spoiler:
I assume Sienna/Valkyrie will be taken over by little girl/Art incarnate? Dumb, obviously, but the series has beaten dumb before].



Shouldn't have run 145 minutes but still fun and mostly recommended. Also kinda LOL at there's not really THAT much gore WTF are people talking about, okay, though... I suppose it's a bit out there on that front, proceed accordingly.
 
Last edited:

SouthtownKid

There are four lights
20 Year Member
Joined
Oct 12, 2003
Posts
26,899
3:10 To Yuma. I'd never seen it. It's really good. Well, I mean, it's nothing revolutionary, it's not going to change anyone's life, it's not going to have you thinking about it days later or anything, and it's somewhat predictable. But it's solid, and for what it is, really well executed.
 

HornheaDD

Viewpoint Vigilante
Fagit of the Year
Joined
Mar 22, 2016
Posts
4,274
Screamers- Peter Weller stars in this 90s VHS rental and cable sci-fi action shlock classic. It's a mashup of Tremors, Aliens, Terminator, The Thing and many others.

On an off world mining colony/military base Weller and a rag tag group of survivors battle an army of cyborgs that are able to reproduce and advance their own technology. Ranging from tiny buzzsaws that travel underground like Graboids to full human copies able to disguise themselves as real. It's a solid B movie with big aspirations and Weller does a good job as the lead and they certainly found some great locations but it's still hampered by typical genre jank. An interesting mix of CG and practical effects that doesn't always work but is still a lot of fun. If this is one you remember and enjoyed back in the day it's still worth a watch.

I remember seeing this in the theaters because of Peter Weller. Didn't they make a sequel a few years ago? I never saw that one.
 

terry.330

Time? Astonishing!
20 Year Member
Joined
May 4, 2004
Posts
11,793
Righting Wrongs- Hong Kong action from 1986 starring Yuen Biao and Cynthia Rothrock, both of whom I think are quite under appreciated. Like most HK action movies of the time the plot is a mess but the action scenes are incredible. It's up there with Jackie Chans best at the time. I picked up the BD set from Vinegar Syndrome which includes all 3 cuts of the movie and it's pretty great.

 

LoneSage

A Broken Man
20 Year Member
Joined
Dec 20, 2004
Posts
44,746

terry.330

Time? Astonishing!
20 Year Member
Joined
May 4, 2004
Posts
11,793
I remember seeing this in the theaters because of Peter Weller. Didn't they make a sequel a few years ago? I never saw that one.
Yeah and apparently it has Lance Henriksen in it. I haven't seen it but considering it came out like 15 years after the first, is direct to video and the fact that I'd never heard of it before you mentioned it I assume it's trash full of Sharknado level CG.
 

rarehero

Rotterdam Nation Resident,
20 Year Member
Joined
Jan 12, 2001
Posts
13,388

Syn

There can be only one.
10 Year Member
Joined
Jan 21, 2009
Posts
9,079
VHS 94 and 99

Mostly good to very good stories. I usually don't watch anthologies but VHS is an exception since they keep doing it right. Both movies are AMC + / Shudder exclusives but tubi will eventually show them like they did with

Hellhouse llc 3 lake of fire

A fitting finale to the series. Still managing to create scary, tense moments doing very little. The scary ass clown returns again doing little but it's creepy as hell.
 

Syn

There can be only one.
10 Year Member
Joined
Jan 21, 2009
Posts
9,079
Deadstream

A disgraced streamer trying to improve his image stays the night in a haunted house and gets more than he bargained for. Really great horror comedy that I understand why it has a 97% rotten tomatoes approval rating.
 

terry.330

Time? Astonishing!
20 Year Member
Joined
May 4, 2004
Posts
11,793
Videodrome- Classic Cronenberg weirdness and body horror with effects by Rick Baker. Also Debbie Harry naked. Not my favorite from Cronenberg but always awesome and while almost archaic at this point as far as all the CRT and broadcasting elements are concerned it's an amazing time capsule.
 

Hot Chocolate

No Longer Yung, No Longer Raoul,
20 Year Member
Joined
Sep 11, 2002
Posts
10,622
Glass Onion
-I really enjoyed this and I think I might like it more than the first one Knives Out. Kinda timely despite being done a while ago.

Strange World
-my third fav Disney animated movie, bodes well for it considering Mouse Detective & Atlantis are my 1 & 2
 

terry.330

Time? Astonishing!
20 Year Member
Joined
May 4, 2004
Posts
11,793
The Big Lebowski- Quite possibly a perfect movie, certainly one of the best comedies ever made. It's funny though as it has more in common with a film noir than any other genre. Just replace the hard boiled detective with a burnout. Amazing cast, impeccable dialogue and comedic timing. One of those movies that once you start watching you automatically end up watching all the way through. It's also one of those movies that can completely change your mood and make you forget about whatever was bothering you.
 

HornheaDD

Viewpoint Vigilante
Fagit of the Year
Joined
Mar 22, 2016
Posts
4,274
The Big Lebowski- Quite possibly a perfect movie, certainly one of the best comedies ever made. It's funny though as it has more in common with a film noir than any other genre. Just replace the hard boiled detective with a burnout. Amazing cast, impeccable dialogue and comedic timing. One of those movies that once you start watching you automatically end up watching all the way through. It's also one of those movies that can completely change your mood and make you forget about whatever was bothering you.
One time when I was driving I saw a car with a bumper sticker that just said "nice marmot" and I busted up laughing. That's one of my favorite scenes in the movie.

Agreed. Perfect film.
 

terry.330

Time? Astonishing!
20 Year Member
Joined
May 4, 2004
Posts
11,793
Hell House, LLC- A bunch of dipshits setup a seasonal haunted house in an old hotel which turns out was the site of some sort of mysterious indecent years earlier. Nothing about this worked for me. It's like almost every found footage/handheld horror movie has the same problems. A cast of generic unlikable idiots played by amateurs, over reacting to everything but showing nothing and most of all stupidly predictable. At least with The Blair Witch there was an element of mystery as to what was eventually going to happen to the characters but this establishes that within the first 15 minutes. I was hoping that maybe in the last few minutes shit was going to go bananas but nope. Just more people being incredibly stupid. Even the excuse as to why everything is being filmed in the first place is beyond flimsy. Also the haunted house that they setup is lame as hell, they could have at least made it awesome. The ones around here every year are amazing in comparison.
 
Last edited:

Syn

There can be only one.
10 Year Member
Joined
Jan 21, 2009
Posts
9,079
That sucks. I actually enjoyed it. To me they created some serious creepiness with no budget.

Don't watch 2 and 3 then. It's more of the same.
 

terry.330

Time? Astonishing!
20 Year Member
Joined
May 4, 2004
Posts
11,793
Body Heat- A rather adult film noir from 1981. Not just an homage either, a real old fashioned noir that just happens to be set in modern Florida. Great cast with John Hurt, Kathleen Turner, Rickey Rourke, Ted Danson and Richard Crenna. Great atmosphere, thick, hot and steamy. A little slow but that just gives you time to really soak in the sticky ambiance. Kathleen Turner was a quite smokin little thing back in the day.
 

100proof

Insert Something Clever Here
10 Year Member
Joined
Jan 16, 2014
Posts
3,579
Little late for Spoopy Movie Month but Creepshow came up during the holiday week and the wife had never seen it. Fixed that mistake. Not my favorite horror anthology but a damn good one. It captures the spirit of those old EC Comics and strikes the right balance between corny (Stephen King's bug-eyed overacting, the random splashes of color and comic book panels) and genuinely unsettling (they draw out the buried in sand and drowned scene just the right amount and that final bug scene just... bugs don't bother me but that shit's gross). The wife has a weird fear of plants growing too fast so the whole Stephen King story was just 15 minutes of her going "No no no no NO NO NO NO". Made it through like a trooper though. So many great little performances from veteran actors as well as the little cameos from Romero regulars.

I've always thought The Crate was a little too long and never much cared for the wrap-around story other than it being thematically appropriate but those are just nitpicks. Great Halloween watch and a reminder that we got screwed out of so many good Romero projects over the years. Could've been so much more than just the "of the Dead" guy.
 

LoneSage

A Broken Man
20 Year Member
Joined
Dec 20, 2004
Posts
44,746
Creepshow is one of my favorites. Man, old memories of being in middle school and watching that late at night. If it's not your favorite horror anthology, though, then what is? Tales from the Hood?
 

terry.330

Time? Astonishing!
20 Year Member
Joined
May 4, 2004
Posts
11,793
Creepshow is one of my favorites. Man, old memories of being in middle school and watching that late at night. If it's not your favorite horror anthology, though, then what is? Tales from the Hood?
Trick r Treat is great and I think Tales from the Darkside is just about on par with Creepshow.
 

100proof

Insert Something Clever Here
10 Year Member
Joined
Jan 16, 2014
Posts
3,579
Creepshow is one of my favorites. Man, old memories of being in middle school and watching that late at night. If it's not your favorite horror anthology, though, then what is? Tales from the Hood?

Probably Trick r' Treat. The way the stories weave in and out from one another and there's a little more variety and a better overarching theme. Totally personal preference though. Creepshow would probably be 2nd though. Then I imagine it would be TftD: The Movie, VHS and Twilight Zone: The Movie in some order (I haven't watched any of them in a while).

I actually don't hate Creepshow 2 either. As a whole, it's way worse than the first one (esoecially that god-awful animated stuff) but The Raft is one of the best bits from either movie.
 
Top