The 2016 October Horror Marathon

[noiseredux]

I liked the Scream tv show, but never actually finished the first season. I think I was trying to juggle to many shows at the time, and as a result I ended up dropping them all. (Scream Queens was another).

[Jagosaurus]

I liked the Scream tv show, but never actually finished the first season. I think I was trying to juggle to many shows at the time, and as a result I ended up dropping them all. (Scream Queens was another).

Scream Queens was completely under my radar. It was too late for me. I watched Scream as it aired and was surprised at how much I looked forward to each week. I guess that means I did enjoy it!

[Ack]

There are more white people on this poster than in this movie.

12. Varan the Unbelievable

Varan the Unbelievable is an extensively edited and recut Americanized version of the Japanese kaiju film 大怪獣バラン, or Giant Monster Varan for those of us who cannot read that. Giant Monster Varan was created by Toho to ape their own Godzilla movie on American television, but the US investors pulled out, so they changed a few things and put the film out for Japanese theatergoers. Crown International Pictures then managed to secure a distribution deal for the US, but they shot additional material with American actors and added in a new super weapon being tested in a move reminiscent of the original Godzilla. In other words, Toho created a knock off film of their own Godzilla, which was then edited to be an Americanized knock off of the Americanized Godzilla, only to now feature elements for the American version that were present in the original Japanese release of Godzilla. Confusing, no?

Only this time the cuts, edits, and splices were far more severe, entirely changing the plot so that it has almost nothing to do with the original film, removing many of the monster scenes and entirely cutting one of its abilities(the original Varan could fly. Apparently someone thought the American public would find giant flying monsters too far-fetched. We like our monsters on the ground, dammit!), and even changing all of the locations and cities. Instead of being about a scientific discovery involving butterflies, the edited American version involved the US Navy attempting to forcibly relocate an island village so an officer can test his new desalination weapon. While the American officer in question is just trying to be helpful to all of humanity, it still seems an odd point to (perhaps unintentionally) add an anti-occupation angle to a film that didn't previously have one. It's even weirder when considering that the occupation of Japan ended 6 years before the film was made, and a full decade before the edited version was released.

Anyway, the entire film is now a postscript of said officer looking back on the strange events involving the monster's rise(which is never actually called Varan in the new movie). Most of the action focuses on this one man, who spends most of the movie either watching from afar or listening in on a busted radio as other people do all the hard work. Imagine the joy of watching someone who is hearing about something terrible on the radio...for half an hour. That's exactly what you get in Varan the Unbelievable. Shoot, the edited version is only 70 minutes long, and the monster doesn't really even arrive until about 30 minutes in. The first 30 minutes are all about this officer, how inept he is at handling the press, and how he's cheerfully and unwittingly but basically forcing a mass migration on an unwilling native populace despite easily being able to perform his test somewhere like, oh, say, Southern California on US government property where no one will be made to leave(this happens in the end). Yes, it's that kind of movie. It's horrendously edited, poorly acted, horribly paced, and ludicrously put together.

Are there any saving graces to this movie? Well yes, there is one that I found, which is how it chooses to tackle said officer's interracial marriage with a Japanese woman. As ignorant and dumbfoundingly innocent and idiotic this guy could be, he loves his wife, no questions asked, and he doesn't care who knows it. Outside of his work, she is everything; I appreciated the positivity of how it is tackled, but also how tastefully they don't force her Japanese heritage down the viewer's throat. It genuinely surprised me considering how poorly everything else was handled.

Also that poster is way off. The monster in question was sleeping in a lake, not the sea. The constant ellipses mean to pause with each phrase too, which pretty accurately describe the pace of this film. And "mankind's probing" involved dumping chemicals to remove the salt in the water cause we're jerks like that. Also, why is that one guy whose face is hidden under the running Naval officer's arm dressed as a Wild West tycoon?

12/31

1. Late Phases
2. Ghoulies
3. Nightbeast
4. Tombs of the Blind Dead
5. Return of the Blind Dead
6. The Ghost Galleon
7. Night of the Seagulls
8. Chopping Mall
9. Bad Moon
10. C.H.U.D. II: Bud the C.H.U.D.
11. Dead Heat
12. Varan the Unbelievable

[Xeogred]

Tenebre was definitely fun. Funny to see another epic arm chop after Day of the Dead yesterday. This reminded me of a strange blend between Don't Look Now (amazing stuff) and Sleepaway Camp, for some reason haha. Definitely cool. Looks like this director has some other good ones, though I've heard he's infamous for some nasty animal abuse.

Sorry my updates aren't very elaborate, tired lately I guess.

Videodrome will be next... which people seem to favor even above The Fly. That's a tall order for me, so I'm ready for some top tier greatness.

[noiseredux]

Videodrome is incredible. Enjoy!

Bte, the best Argento movie is Opera.

[Nemoide]

^I'm a little embarrassed to say I've never seen Tenebrae. Or Deep Red, The Bird with Crystal Plumage, Opera, and a whole bunch of other famous Argento works. My favorite of his films that I've seen is probably Inferno - I love the opening scene with the underwater room. I have the earliest, lowest-quality DVD release of it and I'm thinking of upgrading for Blu-Ray at some point, even though I hate double-dipping.

Tonight's horror media: Berni Wrightson: Master of the Macabre #2
Oh my God guys, this is some sick and brilliant stuff. The first story, "Jennifer," is apparently Wrightson's major breakout and I can see why. A man saves a deformed woman from being murdered in the woods, he decides to adopt her... horror ensues. I don't want to give away the twisted direction this story takes, but it's sick and I love it.
Then there's an adaptation of HP Lovecraft's "Cool Air." It's been a long while since I read the story but it was interesting how similar the aesthetic of this story matched up with how I remember the live-action film adaptation in the movie Necronomicon.
Then we get a story about two men looking to capture a legendary man-ape and this turns into some super sick stuff as well! Finally a poem telling the tale of a lost love... and living corpse.
Man, I have GOT to get those Dark Horse Archives of Creepy and Eerie. Once I have more money. And a smaller comic backlog. And room on my bookshelves...

[jp1]

Pretty great little movie if you are looking for something new...

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cb5BFm4qIow

Movie free on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOnumfWyDQU

[noiseredux]

the thing about Argento is that for every one great movie he made, there's like six terrible ones. Real talk.

EDIT: Jp1, I saw that trailer a while ago. Looks interesting.

[Jagosaurus]

Pretty great little movie if you are looking for something new...

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cb5BFm4qIow

Movie free on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOnumfWyDQU

Free! I may have to watch this. I bet we've all had that one crazy girlfriend ...

[Ack]

Argento is great up until around 1987 or so. After that, it is down hill fast. And he is more well known for his use of color and strange cinematography than his actual stories, which get weird fast. As much as I enjoy Phenomena, it is batshit crazy. But Deep Red? Bird with the Crystal Plumage? Opera? They are genius.