What was the last movie you've seen?

[PretentiousHipster]

Oh yea I only found out about this from an underrated action movie list. Here it is: https://letterboxd.com/lordcookie/list/ ... ed-action/

[Ack]

Oh yea I only found out about this from an underrated action movie list. Here it is: https://letterboxd.com/lordcookie/list/ ... ed-action/

Oh man, the list fucking STARTS with The Hidden, Night Hawks, Stone Cold, and Samurai Fiction?! This is perfection.

[REPO Man]

First film of 2021 is a rewatch of Phantom of the Paradise, a fabulous yet fiendish rock musical update to the story of The Phantom of the Opera, one that technically predates that other PotO adaptation. Easily one of my favorite musicals.

It's currently streaming on AMC+ and Shudder, and is available on Blu-ray from Shout! Factory.

[Michi]

Next write-up for "Remake" month is a remake a lot of people forget is a remake:

The Thing



An isolated, scientific base in the arctic gets a nasty surprise when the dog they saved from some seemingly crazed Norwegians turns out to be an alien that can perfectly mimic whatever organism it aborbs. Now they have to figure out who's who and stop the alien spread before The Thing can escape to the greater world.

It still amazes me that something now generally considered one of the greatest monster movies of all time was heralded as such a colossal dud when it came out. Like, initially, people really hated this movie. Seriously HATED it. I mean, I can understand not liking parts of it, but the hate it got seems out of proportion to what's there. Reading some of the reviews that came out at the time is a real trip. Just goes to show what a difference a couple of years can make in changing people's perspective.

[REPO Man]

Mmmmkay. That was interesting.

[Michi]

This week's Remake write-up:

When A Stranger Calls (2006)



Poor Jill has a bad night when she's forced to do a babysitting gig at a remote house in the mountains and is harassed the entire time by a creepy caller whose threats get more and more extreme as the evening rolls on.

This remake pretty much takes the opening of the original 1979 version and extends it to feature length. Which is great, because the whole premise of the original Urban Legend the films are based on is great and more than terrifying enough to hold a whole movie. And the remake does a fine job of letting the tension slowly build throughout the whole runtime. My one real qualm is that said tension never really feels like it reaches the levels of "OMG, I'm in mortal danger!" levels that the original managed in its opening. But I think it still ends up being a fun little thriller.

[Ack]

And meanwhile, I got busy watching more made-for-tv crap:

Legion (1998)



You know me. You know I like trash. And this movie is a combination of The Dirty Dozen, Aliens, and Predator, with no budget and a very wet Corey Feldman alongside a surprising cast of TV actors from the 1990s. Do I really need to say more?

[Ack]

Most of the time I talk about older films, and this one literally got released on Friday to a few services, but...I had to talk about it.

Psycho Goreman



I love this movie, and Mimi is my spirit animal.

[REPO Man]

Return of the Living Dead 3. I recently purchased the Blu-ray put out by Lionsgate via their Vestron Video label. Vestron Video used to be one of the best purveyors of horror films back in the VHS days and brought back as an ersatz Criterion Collection devoted to cult horror films and includes the Wishmaster tetralogy and the Waxworks duology.

While ROTLD2 leaned more into comedy and almost got a PG-13 rating, here it does a complete 180, rejecting the comedic elements in favor of more twisted zombie designs and an almost "Romeo and Juliet" story. When Curt swipes his father's key card, he and his girlfriend Julie sneak into an army has and discover that the military is doing clandestine experiments with 245 Trioxin, the chemical from the series said to have caused a zombie outbreak that was the inspiration behind Night of the Living Dead. But when things go wrong, Curt finds himself using the chemical to resurrect his girlfriend after an accident. But in opening a canister of Trioxin, Curt opens a can of worms that leaves mayhem and mutilation in his and Julie's wake, the latter slowly becoming more zombie than human.

With vastly improved practical effects and a darker story, Return of the Living Dead 3 is a fine end to the series… if you ignore parts 4 and 5. But most folks just ignore those two, anyway.

[fuctfuct]

I watched The Thing 1982 last night. I guess the hype raised my expectations too high. "Everyone" talks about how good it is. I did not like it. It was boring and I laughed out loud at all the effects. I would have probably loved it if I had seen it in the 80s.