Rate the Last Film You Watched

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Halloween (2018) reboot sequal to the John Carpenter original movie with serial killer Michael Myers. I really enjoyed this movie, it had the tension and also had a little bit of cheese with some of Myers kills. Jamie Lee Curtis reprises her role as Laurie who is now estranged from her family as she suffers from severe PTSD as a survivor from the first movie. Overall a pretty worthy sequal I think 8/10
 
31 Days of Halloween 2023! Day XX:

The Hell of the Living Dead (1980, Bruno Mattei), Zombi Holocaust (1980, Mario Girolami), Burial Ground (1981, Andrea Bianchi)
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A triplet of Zombie films, all recently given 4K releases by 88Films. Hell of the Living Dead, which also goes by the titles “Night of the Zombies” and “Virus”, combines zombies with a tribal setting and was a decent watch, whilst Zombi Holocaust was more of a mixed bag for me, taking time to get going but having Ian McCulloch as good value. Burial Ground was by far the best of the trio, and the most entertaining. 3/5, 3/5, 3.5/5
 
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31 Days of Halloween 2023! Day XXI:

Hellraiser (1987, Clive Barker), Hellraiser II: Hellbound (1988, Tony Randel), Hellraiser IIII: Hell On Earth (1992, Anthony Hickox), Hellraiser IV: Bloodline (1996, Kevin Yagher)
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I decided to spend the afternoon diving into the theatrical offerings of the Hellraiser franchise courtesy of Arrow Video’s new boxset. The first Hellraiser is still a very solid piece of horror, with some superb effects and interesting concepts. Hellbound, meanwhile, is a very ambitious but flawed sequel that I nevertheless have always loved, whilst III and Bloodlines represent diminishing returns for the franchise, which would only continue as the series took a direct-to-video route,

I will say though that Bloodlines held up better this time around than III, as though its plot suffers from over-ambition and studio meddling it does attempt to take the story in new directions, whilst III felt more derivative of 80s slashers despite being a 90s flick. Of the remaining DTV entries only Inferno is worth a watch, and Doug Bradley remains the franchise’ powerhouse actor throughout the highs and lows. 3.5/5, 4/5, 2.5/5, 3/5
 
I really enjoyed Hellraiser 1+2 to the point that I wish the arrow boxset was just those two films in 4k. Though maybe I am being unfair basing an oppinion on hearsay and reputation and should just watch Hellraiser 3 to make up my own mind.
 
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Scary Movie 2

It has been a long time since I last saw this movie, I remember not liking it as much as the first one but upon rewatch it still got a few chuckles from me. 3spoopy5me/10
 
31 Days of Halloween 2023! Day XXII:

Christine (1983, John Carpenter), Pet Sematary (1989, Mary Lambert)
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A duology of Stephen King adaptations, both entertaining for differing reasons, thought I felt Christine was the stronger of the two films. This won’t be the last John Carpenter of the marathon either. 3.5/5, 3.5/5
 
Oh I love me some John Carpenter movies as well.

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My first back to back sequal this month. With The Ring being dated by the redundancy of VHS and Signs... being stuck behind a wooden door this is the better parody. Starring Charlie Sheen and Liam Neeson.

This will be the last oScary Movie ne I watch this month and will be going back to the horror. I rate Cursed Netflix Stream/10
 
31 Days of Halloween 2023! Day XXIII:

Rosemary’s Baby (1968, Roman Polanski)
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Another recent pick-up, this is a psychological horror that was overdue watch for me. Mia Farrow is great as the lead, as is John Cassavetes, and the new 4K is mostly very solid. 4/5
 
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31 Days of Halloween 2023! Day XXIV:
Martin (1977, George A. Romero)
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A long-awaited release from Second Sight and one of Romero’s most beloved non-zombie films, Martin was also his personal favourite, and tells the story of a young man who is convinced he’s a vampire. This combines the gothic with the urbane and is also rather poignant in how Martin is treated and how it spirals into his behaviour. A great watch from a superb filmmaker. 4/5
 
31 Days of Halloween 2023! Day XXV:

Suicide Club (2001, Sion Sono)
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Also known as Suicide Circle, this Japanese independent horror film deals with themes that tie closely to elements of Japanese culture and acts as both social commentary and horror. It’s a hard watch if you find the subject matter unsettling, but some of the effects reminded me more of early photoshop than intended, but the film was still worth the watch, and I can see why it would build a cult following, 3.5/5
 
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Another amazing entry in the Evil Dead saga. This might be one of my favorites. This is the first movie (not counting the series) that takes place entirely in an urban setting but still manages to be personal to the small family the book haunts.

I rate it a very high rating almost as good as Evil Dead 2 / 10
 
31 Days of Halloween 2023! Day XXVI:

Crimes of the Future (2022, David Cronenberg)
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A visceral and unnerving return to body horror by the master of the craft David Cronenberg. This was weird, surreal and discomforting, and built upon some great performances by Viggo Mortensen and Lea Seydoux. 4/5
 
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31 Days of Halloween 2023! Day XXVII:

Halloween (1978, John Carpenter), Halloween II (1981, Rick Rosenthal), Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982, Tommy Lee Wallace)
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The Halloween series is one I’ve been meaning to revisit, and since Shout Factory now have all bar the Rob Zombie reboots out on 4K, this was a perfect time to rewatch.

Halloween is a classic, one of the best horror films of all time and ultimately a story that despite all the sequels and reimagining, has yet to be topped. Halloween II is a direct sequel to the first that takes place during the same night. Whilst not as strong as its predecessor it makes for a solid double-bill.

Halloween III attempted to take the franchise into an anthology approach, releasing films with their own unique stories. The film didn’t do as well though so this concept was abandoned - a shame as H III is in my view a great little story, despite being tethered to the Halloween namesake - Tom Atkins is always a plus too. 4.5/5, 3.5/5, 4/5
 
While I haven't been in the rhythm to watch a whole bunch of Asian films or do any in a row just yet like I have done in the past. I did want to watch a few J-Horror titles this weekend, and today I watched one.

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Got around to finally watching Kiyoshi Kurosawa's 1997 film Cure (キュア). It's a really great film, with an intriguing plot that slowly gets tense as you learn more about what is going on and where the direction is heading to next. One scene involving a man on his knees was well-executed.

What I also found intriguing by this film was its sound design and how instead of your typical music score it's a bunch of noise that adds to the bleak tone throughout. The ending was also really good as well as both the lighting and the long camera shots.

How I watched the film was via Eureka Entertainment's Blu-ray release which does use an older master compared to what Criterion has put out.

Cure isn't my first Kiyoshi Kurosawa film as I've seen Pulse, Tokyo Sonata & Before We Vanish. Pulse I do consider to be the scariest in terms of its direction and how it handles death. The only other film I have left from his works to watch that I own is Creepy on Blu-ray but later in November I'll eventually have The Guard from Underground soon by Third Window.

Bonus Trivia: The actor that portrays the villain for the film also provided the voice of Kaiji Itō in the Kaiji anime series.
 
31 Days of Halloween 2023! Day XXVIII:

Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988, Dwight H. Little), Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989, Dominique Othenin-Girard), Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (Producer’s Cut) (1995, Joe Chappelle)
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After H III failed to impress audiences yearning for more Michael Myers the franchise was restarted, taking on a more traditional slasher approach for its next two entries, and retread to mixed results. Of the two, I’d say I prefer 4 over 5, which is one of the weaker entries in the franchise for me.

Curse, meanwhile, feels like a film that suffered from behind the scenes issues, with ideas left on the cutting room floor. These would eventually be revisited for the more recent “Producer’s Cut”, which I’ve always had a soft spot for, despite the Cult of Thorn plot elements feeling like an unneeded piece of mythos. 3/5, 2.5/5, 4/5 (2/5 for theatrical cut)
 
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31 Days of Halloween 2023! Day XXIX:

Halloween H2O: 20 Years Later (1998, Steve Miner), Halloween Resurrection (2002, Rick Rosenthal)
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Twenty years after the original film Halloween got a sequel that ignores the events of 3-6 and instead focuses on an older Laurie, now with a teenage son, as Michael Myers returns to settle the score.

It’s a decent entry into the franchise, certainly better than Resurrection, which is pretty awful all around except for the odd entertaining moment - and even those are more unintentional then anything else. 3.5/5, 1.5/5
 
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