Racketboy Month of Horror 10: The Rebootening

[noiseredux]

Yes! I loved Neon Demon. Definitely would count it.

[prfsnl_gmr]

Cool. It to likely replace The Woman in Black on my list, then.

.....

Last night my wife and I watched Veronica (2017) on Netflix. It is a Spanish horror film directed by Paco Plaza, who wrote and directed REC (which I still need to see...). It is about a teenage girl who attempts to contact her dead father with the help of a Ouija board during a solar eclipse, and it is loosely based on a true story. (Basically, a girl in Spain used a Ouija board one day, had some seizures, and died. Then, her apartment was allegedly haunted.) I had relatively high hopes for this movie, and I’m sure it’d be great if you’d never seen a horror film before. For me, unfortunately, it was pretty much “Hoary Possession Movie Tropes: The Movie Part 2.” Ouija board? Check. Flickering lights? Check. Altered reflections? Check. A blind nun? Check. It even has a Stranger Things-inspired synth soundtrack and 1991-period clothing. Basically, if you’ve seen a mainstream scary movie, you’ve seen this movie, and I could only recommend it to people who haven’t seen a horror movie before.


prfsnl_gmr’s Halloween Movies 2019 (The Ill-Conceived Reboot)
1. Witchboard -
2. Mad Love -
3. The Love Witch -
4. Goodnight, Mommy -
5. The Monkey’s Paw -
6. Spider Baby -
7. Bone Tomahawk -
8. Creepy -
9. Opera -
10. Black Christmas -
11. Veronica -

[Nemoide]

@Nemoide

Where’d you watch The Lighthouse? In a theater?

Indeed I did! I'm a fan of seeing movies in theaters instead of on a TV screen and The Lighthouse benefited from being on a big screen. I wish I could have seen a film-projection of it since it's strongly rooted in an older film aesthetic, but those are pretty rare these days.

[Ack]

We're coming up on the end of the month...



28. Ginger Snaps (2000)

Yeah, nearly twenty years later, I finally get around to seeing the werewolf movie I'd been wanting to see for most of my life. The reason? Well, werewolf movies can get pretty samey after a while; yes, I can appreciate a nice wolf design, but a lot of these movies are simply "Dude gets bit, dude becomes wolf, dude kills other people" or "Dude realizes there are werewolves and kills them." As much as I love a good werewolf design, the concept gets as stale as vampires before Anne Rice came along...and vampires post-Anne Rice too.

Here, the idea of being a werewolf is equated with female puberty. One of the two leads gets her period around the same time she's mauled, she grows hair, she gets aggressive both physically and sexually, and she undergoes a lot of physiological change. Her sister tries to stop and save her, but once you hit puberty, you can't go back. Also, a werewolf changes on the lunar cycle, which matches up pretty well with a menstrual cycle...it's appalling that some brilliant horror writers hadn't come up with this concept of approaching female sexuality through the lens of werewolves years ago, but then I guess werewolves are seen as more like male territory: unrelenting rage, physical prowess, the need to dominate, that kind of thing.

Anyway, this movie is damn good. So good in fact that I intend to seek out the sequels...which admittedly I'd probably do anyway even if it wasn't so good, but now I actually look forward to them.




29. The Wind (2018)

You know that list of 20 horror films that I loved from this decade? It's officially out of date. This movie deserves a spot.

The Wind is a Weird Western, about a woman living on the prairie who confronts personal troubles, possible marital problems, loneliness, psychological torment, and probably demons. Or maybe she's crazy. We get a non-linear narrative, some probably hallucinatory images and ideas, a supernatural element that may be real or may just be psychological, and a tale that I found just as fascinating as The Witch. You may figure out what's going on...and then even at the end of the film, you can't really be sure.

With a small cast of around five people, most of the performance hangs on the ability of one actress, and she nails it. In fact, there isn't a weak actor of the bunch. With a preoccupation toward gothic literature and an understanding of the harsh emptiness of the frontier, this movie is fantastic.




30. Climax (2018)

And here's another from last year. A bunch of dancers have a party, only someone spiked the sangria with LSD, and it doesn't agree with...well, nearly anybody.

This is not your traditional horror film, but it is a horror film. It's also a Gaspar Noé film, and if you're not familiar with his work, well, prepare to be challenged. He upends the traditional narrative aspects of cinema, presenting you with an end before a beginning, opening credits halfway through, crazy lighting, improvisational acting by a bunch of dancers with no acting experience, long takes (including one that is around 42 minutes), bizarre camera angles, upside down captions, and some fascinating dance choreography done in a way that is as incredible as it is unsettling.

By the end of this movie, you will feel pity for some characters, shame for others, and even hatred of a few. You will have seen suffering, endurance, lust, pain, and the human grotesque. Some will be dead, some will despair, and some may just end up ok...and that's the best you can hope for, considering the circumstances. And all of it was inspired by Gaspar and his friends experiencing the Mandela Effect about these events possibly having happened in the 1990s.

Just don't expect it to be an easy watch. And expect it to stay with you for a while.

30/31

1. Mulberry Street
2. As Above, So Below
3. Southbound
4. Don't Look in the Basement
5. Turkey Shoot
6. Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer
7. It Chapter 2
8. Mausoleum
9. Razorback
10. 1922
11. Eaten Alive
12. Manhattan Baby
13. Willard
14. TerrorVision
15. Bride of Re-Animator
16. Return of the Living Dead III
17. Darkness Falls
18. The Unnamable
19. The Driller Killer
20. The Barn
21. Claws
22. Don't Kill It
23. The Lair of the White Worm
24. The Witch
25. The Pool
26. The Gorgon
27. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2
28. Ginger Snaps
29. The Wind
30. Climax

[noiseredux]

Ginger Snaps is amazing. The sequels are less good. The second one is not bad. The third is a weird prequel. But... they're still worth seeing. The original is incredible though.

[prfsnl_gmr]

The night before Halloween, and my wife and I watched The Return of the Living Dead (1985). Most of you have seen this already; so I want elaborate on the plot too much. I’ll just say the film has zombies, and they are hungry for some...braaaaiiiinnnnssss!!!! The effects are great, although it’s not as gory as I anticipated. The punk rock soundtrack is also awesome, and the movie is very funny. Recommended.

prfsnl_gmr’s Halloween Movies 2019 (The Ill-Conceived Reboot)
1. Witchboard -
2. Mad Love -
3. The Love Witch -
4. Goodnight, Mommy -
5. The Monkey’s Paw -
6. Spider Baby -
7. Bone Tomahawk -
8. Creepy -
9. Opera -
10. Black Christmas -
11. Veronica -
12. The Return of the Living Dead -

[Ack]

Don't you ever doubt me, son.



31. Tales of Halloween (2015)

This year I decided to finish things off with another portmanteau film, one that Fangoria praised as "The best horror anthology since Trick 'r Treat." I bet you didn't know this, but I own a Trick 'r Treat t-shirt. Yes, that alone was enough to get me to watch this. And with 10 different stories approached from very different angles, I was happy I did.

Some of these movies have ridiculous twists. Some have freaky turns. Some are fairly traditional tales ending with jump scares while others go in radically unique directions. One is a Neo-Western. One has a Jason-wannabe take on an alien-controlled deadite-wannabe in a blood-soaked festival of dismemberment. One ventures into police procedural territory. One is simply a question of whether the classic or the modern takes on horror are better, done through the lens of two neighbors having a fight. All of them bring something fun for Halloween. It's the most wonderful time of the year.

It's bloody, it's gory, it's chock full of love for the horror films of yesteryear and holds copious amounts of blatant and subtle references. What a perfect way to end this month's marathon. I truly enjoyed myself.

And now I am sated on the guts of yet another horror movie marathon. I look forward to what celluloid frights next year will hold, but for now it's time for sleep. Sleep and sweet dreams of things that go bump in the night.

THE FINAL COUNT: 31/31

1. Mulberry Street
2. As Above, So Below
3. Southbound
4. Don't Look in the Basement
5. Turkey Shoot
6. Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer
7. It Chapter 2
8. Mausoleum
9. Razorback
10. 1922
11. Eaten Alive
12. Manhattan Baby
13. Willard
14. TerrorVision
15. Bride of Re-Animator
16. Return of the Living Dead III
17. Darkness Falls
18. The Unnamable
19. The Driller Killer
20. The Barn
21. Claws
22. Don't Kill It
23. The Lair of the White Worm
24. The Witch
25. The Pool
26. The Gorgon
27. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2
28. Ginger Snaps
29. The Wind
30. Climax
31. Tales of Halloween

[Michi]

Awesomeness, Ack. Looks like another sweet anthology film to add to my growing list of recommendations from this year.

And now, my final Write up of this most glorious month–


Write-up #9:

Psycho Cop

Killer Workout
A Blade In The Dark
My Mom's a Werewolf
The Prowler
Blood Theatre
The Killing Hour
Rabid Grannies
Leviathan
Psycho Cop

And that does it for my write-ups this month. Tonight is dedicated to Halloween film favorites, pumpkin carving and pumpkin seed baking (though I might save that one for tomorrow.) I'll try to post a picture of the pumpkin later.

Have a horrific night, ya'll.

[Ack]

Ooph, Psycho Cop. Michi, I'm sorry.

But enjoy those pumpkin seeds!

[Michi]

Ooph, Psycho Cop. Michi, I'm sorry.

Yeah, it has some amusing moments, but upon reflection not the best choice to ring out the month.

But hey, at least I didn't end the month with Blood Theatre. That would have made for an uber downer