Rate the Last Film You Watched

Vincentdante said:
Day 7

I cheated. Instead of a movie I played a bit of forbidden siren. It's a good if very difficult horror game from the creators of Silent Hill.
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Have had this on my playlist not realising it was from the creators of Silent Hill. Not sure if I actually bought this or the second one during a sale. Now I'm tempted to play a horror game for the season too heh. If you've never played Hellblade: Senua's sacrifice and like Norse mythology with psychological horror, I would highly recommend that for the next season perhaps.
 
31 Days of Halloween 2024! Day XI: Cannibal marathon: Man From Deep River (1972, Umberto Lenzi), Eaten Alive! (1980, Umberto Lenzi), Cannibal Holocaust (1980, Ruggero Deodato), Cannibal Ferox (1981, Umberto Lenzi)

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(No poster for Eaten Alive as they’re all too graphic + nudity)
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Both Lenzi and Deodato are synonymous with the birth and rise of the cannibal subgenre of horror, which led to the Cannibal Boom of the 70s and early 80s, from which I chose four films to marathon here.

MFDR feels more like a cannibal romance film than the more grisly films it inspired, whilst EA amps up the shock factor and violence, distinguishing itself though incorporating a Jonestown-like Cult to the story. Both it and CF apparently borrow footage from prior cannibal films and in CF’s case it goes further to feel like a retread of CH with certain plot elements and being the overall weakest film here.

CH is arguably the most well known cannibal-themed movie of them all, incorporating a found-footage narrative as footage from a missing documentary film crew is examined in an attempt to figure out what went down in the Amazon rainforest when they journeyed there but never returned. It was a brutal and unpleasant watch, but I couldn’t look away as the chaos unfolded (and needed a breather after it was over.)

Overall, the cannibal subgenre is a hard one to recommend to horror fans unless you know what you’re getting yourself in for. These were rather well-made entries but their especially violent content makes for some difficult watches. However, part of these marathons for me is being able to explore new sub-genres of horror, so it was at least a change of pace to explore some notable entries. 3/5, 3/5, 3.5/5, 2.5/5
I’ve put this in spoilers due to the nature of these films.
 
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Prey (2022)

A fresh and engaging entry to the Predator series (when last could you say that?), that sees a young Comanche woman (Amber Midthunder) and her brother encounter cinema’s most famous big-game hunter in the wilds of 18th century America. The film’s modest circumstances do show in the CG effects and I felt it lost its lustre a little with a finale that feels a lot like a retread of the original film, but otherwise this was a taut and exciting little thriller with a real standout performance from Midthunder in the lead.

Wouldn’t argue that this is the best Predator sequel to date, although I think it would take a lot to replace the daffy second one in my affections…
 
I'll just say upfront my weekend plans is still horror games, I had intended earlier this year to play one of the siren games for the season, though I am unlikely to complete it lol. I shall resume movies likely closer to halloween itself or if I want a break. I will keep an eye on the thread though to read everyone's reviews :)
 
31 Days of Halloween 2024! Day XII: The Toxic Avenger (1984, Lloyd Kaufman, Michael Herz), The Toxic Avenger Part II (1989, Lloyd Kaufman, Michael Herz)

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A change of plans last night led me to bump these up. It was overdue that Troma would get a spot for one of these marathons, and TTA is arguably the most well-known project from Lloyd Kaufman. The first film is tasteless and excessive but also an entertaining mess, whilst its first sequel takes the story to Japan and is still fun though not as enjoyable as its predecessor. 3.5/5, 3/5
 
31 Days of Halloween 2024! Day XIII: The Toxic Avenger Part III: The Last Temptation of Toxie (1989, Lloyd Kaufman, Michael Herz), Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger Part IV (2000, Lloyd Kaufman)

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These sequels were more of a mixed bag than the first two - TLTOT sees Toxie become embroiled with a corrupt chemical corporation to fix his blind girlfriends’ sight, whilst CT incorporates a parallel universe wherein Toxie has to take down his evil counterpart. I thought CT was the stronger of the two and that TLTOT was the weakest of the lot and, overall, the first film is still probably the best. 2.5/5, 3/5
 
FYI horror aficionados, Film 4 are showing a few of Ben Wheatley's movies this week including Kill List, Sightseers and A Field in England. I guess that's down to his TV series Generation Z coming out soon. Of that list, I quite enjoyed the first two but haven't seen the third so will hopefully try to watch that.
 
31 Days of Halloween 2024! Day XIV: The Ring (2002, Gore Verbinski)

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A remake of the 1998 J-horror classic, The Ring follows a similar narrative to that original entry but now sees Naomi Watt’s as the lead. This isn’t as good as the original but having the talented Gore Verbinski directing helped elevate the production. 3/5
 
31 Days of Halloween 2024! Day XV: The Ring Two (2005, Hideo Nakata), Rings (2017, F. Javier Gutiérrez)

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After the first film was commercially successful Paramount decided to make a sequel, and interestingly enough managed to bring in Hideo Nakata, the director of the 1998 original, to direct. This unfortunately doesn’t save the film from its mediocrity, and the 2017 follow up Rings is an even worse and muddled origin story. 2/5, 1.5/5
 
31 Days of Halloween 2024! Day XVI: Bubba Ho-Tep (2002, Don Coscarelli)

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A bizarre premise which sees two elderly retirement home residents, one who’s convinced he’s Elvis (Bruce Campbell) and the other JFK (Ossie Davis) forced to fight off an ancient Egyptian mummy invading their retirement home, BHT is a blast with its leads on great form. 4/5
 
HWR said:
31 Days of Halloween 2024! Day XVI: Bubba Ho-Tep (2002, Don Coscarelli)

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A bizarre premise which sees two elderly retirement home residents, one who’s convinced he’s Elvis (Bruce Campbell) and the other JFK (Ossie Davis) forced to fight off an ancient Egyptian mummy invading their retirement home, BHT is a blast with its leads on great form. 4/5
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I chose to believe it is Elvis and JFK.
 
31 Days of Halloween 2024! Day XVII: The Little Shop of Horrors (1960, Roger Corman), Meatcleaver Massacre (1977, Keith Burns, Ed Wood - credited onscreen as “Evan Lee”)

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Roger Corman’s passing this year was very sad to see, but his legacy and efficiency as a filmmaker is unmatched, and as such it felt appropriate to check out one of his earlier classics in TLSoH. Notably shot in just a few days and reusing sets from his earlier project A Bucket of Blood, this was also one of Jack Nicholson’s early film appearances, and regular Dick Miller appears as well. It’s a fun romp that’s worth a look. 3.5/5

After watching Tim Burtons’ seminal biopic on the filmmaker it was about time I had something Ed Wood-related in one of these marathons. MM is a low-budget slasher, bookended by some Christopher Lee segments from an unrelated project and repurposed here.

The film’s title is very misleading as there’s not a meatcleaver in sight, and Ed Wood was brought in apparently as a replacement director owing to a mishap with the previous director. As is, this is a lesser horror and slasher film but I have to get at least one or two from the genre in here. 2/5
 
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