Rate the Last Movie You Saw

[dannyboy121070]

I loved LAMB. I thought the end was worth the trip. I was planning on watching JACKSON, tonight, but maybe I'll take a pass now.

I've spent the week watching:

WHO SLEW AUNTIE ROO and WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH HELEN?, a couple of oldsploitation films starring Shelly Winters. ROO is a spin on Hansel & Gretel, and HELEN is a batshit crazy story about the mothers of a pair of thrill-killers who relocate to Hollywood to start a dance studio. Murder and madness ensue. I had a blast watching both. They're on TCM on demand, and they have intros and wrap-ups by Ben Mankiewicz and Mario Cantone that hilarious and insightful.

THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL, which was my last shot at Ti West. As usual, this was a twenty minute premise stretched out to feature length. I loved seeing Tom Noonan and Mary Woronov, but the film is basically a girl in a not-so-creepy mansion walking around and snooping for 80 minutes. I still want to see PEARL, but I'm tapping out on any other Ti West films after that.

BARBARIAN renewed my faith in Horror for Halloween. WOW, what a bonkers film. My wife could hear me yelling "Oh, NOOOOO" from across the house. I applauded at the end. I wish I had seen this with an audience, because it must have been amazing. See this knowing as little as you can. I knew the twists already, and I was still blown away.

[Sock Monkey]

WAY behind on posting my Halloween viewing...

Halloween Horror Movie #4:

LAMB (2021): Director Vladimar Johannsson delivers an interesting folktale that strains both the need for the film's 106 minute runtime and it's definition as horror. Set in rural Iceland, an emotionally estranged couple find an unnatural newborn on their farm and decide to raise it as their own. There is little more to this film than this what this brief description provides, but Johannsson and his cast do their best to wring the most out of the idea as possible and it is amazing how unsettling Johannsson is able to make the film by his presentation of how normal it is. Unfortunately, even the unnoticed of a ne'er-do-well family member does little to move the pace and pulse of the film. Likewise, the movie's ending doesn't earn it's glacial pace by providing the thematic revelations of The Witch or the insanity of Hereditary. Instead, the ending, while thematically solid, will leave most viewers thinking it wasn't worth the effort. This assessment may lead one to think I didn't like the film, but I found a lot to admire. Johannsson's directing is assured and the acting was solid. There just wasn't nothing here that couldn't have been accomplished in sixty minutes.

Grade: C+

Halloween Horror Movie #5:

ANYTHING FOR JACKSON (2020): Sometimes movies have nuggets of ideas that are so clever that they elevate it above its flaws. Other times, the flaws snuff out the struggling flame of that good idea. This film was unfortunately the latter. The premise is clever: two grandparents kidnap a pregnant woman to perform a "reverse exorcism" in which they'll summon the spirit of their dead grandson--the titular Jackson--to possess the body of the unborn child. It's a great idea that is surrounded by other little gems, including the idea that other ghosts or demons arrive to beat Jackson to the punch. Unfortunately, the movie is either too enamored with it's monsters or too unsure if the audience has been sold on the scare, but either way, it lingers on the creatures way too long, robbing them of their creepy mystique, reducing them to haunted house actors who outstayed their scare. If you like indie horror, there might be enough here to make it worth your while as there are some flashes of cleverness.

Grade: C-

Halloween Horror Movie #6:

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984): For some reason, my wife had never seen the original Nightmare, so I added it to our viewing list. There's not a whole lot to talk about here that other people haven't said before. This is considered a classic and I can see why people love it, even if I don't. Unlike most, I just can't warm up to Langenkamp's Nancy and the movie just leaves me kinda cold. The deaths are incredibly effective, though.

Grade: B-

[Ben Staad]

Hannibal. 2.5 out of 5 stars.

This was a rewatch from many years ago and I can honestly say I wasn't that into it. I had remembered really liking this 19-20 years ago but for whatever reason it didn't do it for me this time.

I thought the final few scenes were ludicrous. Not unwatchable but I feel like they over delivered on the gross out and under delivered on the drama.

[Ben Staad]

Watched Hannibal Rising today. It was okay and I didn't try to pick it apart. I was entertained for most of it but did find their nods to the original movie a little stupid.

Guess it's a 3 out of 5 for me. Slightly better than okay.

[Ben Staad]

Hadn't heard of this one. Just watched the trailer and it looked interesting. Sounds unbalanced.

Based on your rating it appears to be watchable but nothing new or overly exciting.

Saw Barbarian the other night.

Overall, it didn’t live up to the potential of the first part of the movie.

It took a distinct left turn in the second part of the movie with the introduction of the Justin Long character, and at that point it became more weird than horror.

The last 10 to 15 minutes delved into your standard Friday the 13th fair, which didn’t help.

Oversll it was OK and worth a trip to the movie theater,
but it could have been so much better.

B