What did you stalkers watch this week? (09/25-01/10) CLOSED

Greetings StoneKeeper!

No stalking allowed. :)

I remember Tales From the Crypt (1972) having Peter Cushing in it but I just cant recall much more so I'll add it to my watch list. I have watched lots of Cushing movies here recently and somehow I have omitted this one.

My week:

Planet of the vampires (1965) 6/10
Top Line (1988) 6.5/10
Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion (1970) 7/10
Day of the Cobra (1980) 6.5/10
Violent City (1975) 7/10
Ghost House (1988) 6/10
The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans (2009) 7/10
Chesty: A Tribute to a Legend (1976) 7/10
The Beast Must Die (1974) 5/10

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010) - Awesome film. I'd heard about this film for years, dismissed it as it sounded a bit silly. But I watched it back in February for the first time and really liked it, a peculiar film, on a second watch it was even better. I can see why this film has a cult following and is regularly listed on 'comfort film' lists. It's a joy to watch. A film almost everyone should check out, it'll be divisive but if it clicks for you, you'll love it. 10/10

Black Christmas (1974) - One of the best Horror films of all time. A must watch for all Horror fans. 10/10

Baby Driver (2017) - This one took a little while to get going but it's a great film. Superbly edited like all Edgar Wright films, strong technical qualities and a decent story. 8/10

Drive (2011) - It's took me a long time to finally check this one out. A very simplistic film, straight forward but executed very well. The soundtrack is godly! 9/10

Evil Dead (2013) - Got this on 4K. Solid upgrade on the old blu-ray. Gory thrill-ride of a film. A lot of fun. 8.5/10

Thor: Love and Thunder (2022) - A little underrated. I heard so much how this film was poor and overdid the comedy...it wasn't more comedic than Thor: Ragnarok (2017), though the comedy was not as well executed which is an issue. I enjoyed the more heartfelt and emotional scenes.7.25/10

I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) - Brilliant 4K. This is a fun little film, too flawed to be truly elite but an enjoyable slasher. 7.5/10

Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022) - Too obnoxious to be anything special but better than I thought it'd be. Good twist, decently acted and entertaining enough. But I must be getting old as this 'film for gen-z' stuff is cringe and annoying, some irritating characters. I find references to twitter, tinder, twerking etc to be cringe inducing. 6.5/10

Beetlejuice: It wasn't as scary or creepy as when I watched it as a kid, but I think it was still entertaining nonetheless. I appreciated some of the dialogue and humor more as an adult. 9/10

I like stalking people.

A quiet place 2 7/10

I watched:

The Legend of the Titanic 1999 3/10 The plot of the movie is inherently offensive and problematic as it tries to rewrite history and put a happy ending on a tragedy. The animation is mediocre, but I did enjoy the design of the octopus (which was ridiculous looking).

Kinky Coaches and the Pom Pom Pussycats 1981 2/10 (rewatch) The writing and acting range from awful to mediocre.

Terrifier 2016 7/10 An entertaining and effective horror film. It doesn't clown around.

Don’t Worry Darling 2022 8/10 This was entertaining. Florence Pugh did a good job and Chris Pine is fantastically villainous. I thought Harry Styles was miscast and his performance didn't work for me. The story was interesting and I was satisfied by the resolution. I also really liked the cinematography and the score.

Love Is Strange 2014 6/10 Good performances, but I didn't find the story very interesting.

Carnival of Souls 1998 5/10 Am I going crazy or was this actually not that bad? Granted, it's not very good, but it isn't as bad as some of the other films I have watched lately.

Clash 2016 7/10 An effective and well written drama with good performances.

Brendan Schaub: You’d Be Surprised 2019 2/10 This is by far the worst stand up comedy special I have seen.

The Nightingale 2018 9/10 Aisling Franciosi is fantastic and the film is exceptionally well directed.

If Beale Street Could Talk 2018 8/10 Good movie, well written, strong performances.

Blonde 2022 9/10 Masterfully directed by Andrew Dominik and features a great performance by Ana de Armas. It's beautifully filmed and effectively haunting. For me, Blonde is one of the best films of the year. Love it or hate it, Blonde is a must see.

45 Years 2015 6/10 Well acted, but I didn't find the story overly interesting. A couple good moments, but mostly fall a little flat for me.

continued...

Greetings Friend. Of yours this week I've only seen Stakeout, and I don't really remember it.

My week:
Piranha Women (2022) 5/10
So it's sort of a Lifetime drama romance crossed with an Asylum movie, and it sort of works. I really have only seen Fred Olen Ray's Christmas movies, so I really had no idea what to expect. The acting for this type of movie was pretty good, but that isn't saying too much. I usually never say this about low budget horror movies, but this could have been longer. It switches the narrative halfway through and it ends up a bit of a mess.

Jeepers Creepers 2 (2003) 6.5/10
I think this one may be more fun than the original. It certainly has it's flaws, but it really is a non stop ride. I do think that we see the Creeper a little too much in this, but I really like Ray Wise's character. I think I may actually like this one a little better than the first one, simply because Trish, and Darry were annoying and made so many stupid decisions. Oh well. This is a pretty worthy sequel.

Next of Kin (1982) 6.75/10
Really slow start, and I'm still not 100% I understood what was happening at all times, but the last part was pretty good. Great imagery with some solid suspense. Might have to give it another go at some point to see if I can sort the plot out a little more.

Moriah’s Lighthouse (2022) 5/10
It's really irritating when an actor can actually speak another language but then has to fake an accent in English. Over all the story was pretty so so. I'm giving it a half a point for scenery.

Archons (2020) 6/10
I liked this more than I thought I was going to. I'm not a huge fan of 'drug horror' but this one did have it's creepy moments. The characters were mostly unlikeable, so I didn't really have a strong interest in their well being. The plot, and the scenery did keep me interested. Also, I give the film makers props for making a Canadian film and setting it in Canada. (although using miles and not kms for distance was a pet peeve). The first 40ish minutes are pretty slow, but we do get some character development. Not all that bad over all.

The Night They Knocked (2019) 6/10
So this is a pretty typical run of the mill home invasion horror movie. I didn't read any reviews before hand so I didn't know there was no ending. So if that's not for you, it might piss you off. Obviously pretty low budget, and the acting was a mixed bag. This was just middle of the road for me. I've seen much worse.

Dance in the Sun (1953) 7/10
A mesmerising watch. I could watch Daniel Negrin dance all day.

Four Women (1975) 7/10
I do enjoy when dance can tell me a story, and this did. Great Nina Simone song as well. If I had a complaint, it would be the same complaint that I have for most dance on film, and that is that I want to see the entire dancer at all times. I understand the logic behind it, but as an ex dancer, I want to see everything at all times.

Ghostland (2018) 7/10
I really, really thought that I had seen this before. I had not. I do like brutality in my horror. This was violent to be sure, but I also found it a little disappointing. I did see the twist coming, but it didn't really make the watch any easier. So since I usually base my review on how much I enjoy a movie, I can't really do that here. I think it was mostly well done, but it was a hard watch for me.

Jason X (2001) 7/10
I remember the first time I watched this and saw the cast I was like "oh no! Jason moved to Canada" This one is really, really stupid, but I have to admit that I enjoyed it more than some of the others. It's probably the least scary and most intentionally comedic of the series, and is okay with me because it's fun to watch. It also has some pretty cool deaths.

Asylum (2008) 5/10
Poor Travis Van Winkle. Spent most of the 2000's playing the same character. I didn't think that I had seen this before, but I guess I had. It's really completely unremarkable, and even though I just finished it, I honestly am already forgetting it. A couple of interesting kills kept this from being really boring, and with unlikeable characters, I was waiting to see how they would be killed. Not a waste of time, but it's not good.

Wolf Creek 2 (2013) 6.5/10
I couldn't remember anything about this film other than the kangaroo scene. I really liked the first movie, and season one of the series. (I never did see season 2). This one fell a little short for me. I know in a horror sequel, the deaths, and gore are supposed to be amped up, which they are, but what I missed in this one was having characters that I could really relate to, and care about. This one was all about the action. Not that it's a bad thing, but I just wanted to care about the victims a little more.

Of yours, I've seen Tales from the Crypt... which I remember as being really good fun. And it's actually on my list to re-watch this month, which won't overly surprise you when you see some of the films I did watch this week:

Blonde (Andrew Dominik, 2022) [Netflix]

I’m not saying some of the criticisms of Blonde aren’t valid. There have been some intelligent, articulate reviews from people who hated it. But I am saying that most of what people have been reading about the film is what happens when an arthouse film is mismarketed at a mainstream (Netflix) audience, and a social media bandwagon starts up. If you’re looking for a traditional biopic of Marilyn Monroe, you’ve come to the wrong place. If you want something that recalls Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, with Gasper Noe type elements designed to provoke, and a wee bit of Paul Verhoeven camp around the edges… maybe. It’s probably best understood as a horror movie. It’s gloomy from start to finish, it’s confrontational, and it’s overlong. But it’s not the film I see a lot of people writing about online. 4/5

The Girl With All the Gifts (Colm McCarthy, 2016) [Tubi]

Loved this. At times,you do wonder when The Doctor is going to show up in the story. But if it occasionally feels like a Doctor Who episode, it at least feels like one of the really good, tight, well-scripted ones. As I learned when I saw Train to Busan last year, going in more or less blind to this genre of film and then finding out it’s this genre of film is one of my favourite things to do in life. 4/5

Bacurau (Kleber Mendonca Filho, Juliano Dornelles, 2019) [Mubi]

An old lady dies in a Brazilian village. That village then seems to disappear off the map. Then drones in the shape of flying saucers and Udo Kier turn up. Sort of John Carpenter social commentary / Western thing that goes on a bit and doesn’t entirely stick the landing, but is a lot of fun – especially in the first hour or so when it’s the frowning, ‘Where the hell is this thing going?’ kind of fun. 4/5


BPM (Beats Per Minute) (Robin Campillo, 2017) [Netflix]

Drama about the Act Up Paris activists and their fight against pharmaceutical companies and homophobic attitudes towards the Aids crisis in the early 90s. Campillo makes this surprisingly dynamic, given that a significant part of its runtime is devoted to people debating each other in a lecture hall. And it’s also surprisingly funny given its heavy subject matter. Above all, it benefits from feeling quite authentic. Campillo was there at the time. He lived this. It shows. 4/5

The House on Straw Hill (James Kenelm Clarke, 1976) [Tubi]

Holds the dubious distinction of being the only British film in Section 1 of the early-80s ‘Video Nasties’ list in the UK. In other words, it was prosecuted for obscenity… which probably seemed fairly silly in 1982. Seems even sillier in 2022. I can kind of see what they were thinking though. Because the legal people will have balanced up the film’s ‘artistic merit’ against its seedier content and, quite rightly, concluded that the film doesn’t have any artistic merit. But being absolute inept rubbish (and boring as well) is no solid foundation for banning a film. 1/5

Dr Terror’s House of Horrors (Freddie Francis, 1965) [Tubi]
The House That Dripped Blood (Peter Duffel, 1971) [Tubi]

Two solid enough British horror anthologies from Amicus. You know the drill: Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, a bunch of other faces familiar from Hammer Productions. A frame story and a bunch of short stories of varying quality. And then A TWIST… Both 3/5

... And Now the Screaming Starts! (Roy Ward Baker, 1973) [Tubi]

Stately mansion. Family curse. Peter Cushing again. Enjoyable hokum of a kind the UK film industry had been making for 20 years at this point, which means it’s got nothing novel about it, but they were pretty efficient at doing it by this point. 3/5

Count Dracula (Jesus Franco, 1970) [Tubi]

I think Christopher Lee only agreed to do this if – unlike the endless Hammer sequels he was in – it stuck quite firmly to Bram Stoker’s novel. Which it does. It’s quite small-scale, and a bit dry but it’s alright. 3/5

Demonlover (Olivier Assayas, 2002) [Mubi]

This seemed to meander around for an hour before the story kicked in. I found it dull and unfocused. I’m not sure I entirely get Olivier Assayas’s films even at the best of times. 2/5

The Cat o’ Nine Tails (Dario Argento, 1971) [Tubi]

Argento, so it’s stylish. Narratively, it’s an only OK murder mystery. I think Argento thinks this is his worst film. He’s wrong. It’s fine. He’s made far worse. 3/5

Sorry didn't watched any of yours.
I didn't post last week but I wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed watching Birdman and not only because I am big fan of Emma Stone. There is something about the film.

My last two weeks:

Fearless (1993): A great movie about the meaning of life with some really interesting scenes. Nice performance by Jeff Bridges and Rosie Perez. 7.5/10

Blow Out (1981): Thriller mystery about a movie sound recordist (Travolta). The film has some flaws but the storyline, the amazing ending and more than all the suspense I felt throughout the movie overcomes all. I would have preferred another actress than Nancy Allen but beside that the movie kept me in suspense from start to finish. 8/10

The Conversation (1974): Similar movie to Blow Out: both about recording. I find myself love Blow Out more, although Francis Ford Coppola film is more professional in terms of directing, photography and psychology of the main character and a perfect ending. I had a rare two weeks in regards to movie endings. 7.5/10

The War at Home (1996): A movie about a young man returns home from Vietnam War and is troubles adjusting back to civilian life, his family and his stern father. As someone who read a lot about veterans and specifically veterans and PTSD, this movie does an excellent job presenting the issue. All actors doing an excellent job. I don't understand why it didn't get more buzz. 8/10

Pinocchio (I) (2022): Bad in almost every way. They even managed to ruin the ending 1.5/10

Shtisel
(final episodes) Among the best family series I ever watched. I already miss the characters. Very well written. The main story is about an ultra-Orthodox rabbi and his quirky artist son he's trying to marry off. But, there are plenty of other good characters and storylines. This show has plenty of heart. Highly recommend.

Welcome to Plattville
Fundamentalist Christian parents who homeschool and isolate their kids. Now the four oldest appear miserable. The mother and children appear to be conforming to society now so it's pointless to continue watching.

Omega Man - 1971
I haven't watched this since I was a kid so I remembered nothing except that I loved it. Now I find it meh.

The Haunting - 1963
WTF?
But, it was nice to see Riff from West Side Story.

Walking Dead
It's back!!!!

My Wife and Kids
This show is funny!

Seinfeld, Gomer Pyle, Big Bang Theory
Comfort TV series.