Funny Games [Psychological - Home Invasion]
Santa Sangre [Psychological - Fanaticism] Session 9 [Psychological - Phobia & Isolation]
Berberian Sound Studio [Psychological - Madness & Paranoia]
The Howling [Monster - Werewolf]
Thirst [Monster - Vampire]
Day of the Dead [Monster - Undead]
The Fog [Monster - Animals & Nature]
The Battery [Monster - Virus] Critters [Monster - Small Creatures]
Dracula [Monster - Classic]
Them! [Monster - Giant Monsters] Creature from the Black Lagoon [Monster - Neo Monster]
Invasion of the Body Snatchers [Monster - Aliens]
The Perfection [Gore - Torture]
Phantasm [Gore - Splatter]
The Neon Demon [Gore - Cannibal]
Ichi the Killer [Gore - Extreme]
Possession [Paranormal - Possession]
Midsommar [Paranormal - Witches & Occult]
Carrie [Paranormal - Supernatural]
The Haunting [Paranormal - Haunted House]
The Beyond [Paranormal - Devil/Demon/Hell]
Tigers Are Not Afraid [Paranormal - Ghost & Spirits]
The Hills Have Eyes [Killer - Backwoods & Redneck]
Peeping Tom [Killer - Slasher]
Opera [Killer - Crime & Giallo]
One Cut of the Dead [Misc - Meta]
The Love Witch [Misc - Horror Romance] Pet Sematary [Misc - Creepy Kid]
The Skin I Live In [Misc. - Body Horror]
Irreversible [Misc - Revenge] Creepshow [Misc - Anthology]
Inside [Misc - French Extremity]
Vampire's Kiss [Misc - Comedy Horror] As Above, So Below [Misc - Found Footage]
Dracula [Misc - Gothic Horror]
Beyond the Black Rainbow [Misc - SciFi Horror] Pulse [Misc - Technology]
So fun fact, I realized about a quarter through this movie that I had seen the American remake back when I was a kid. I think I tucked it away into my memory as just another one of those bad 2000's horror movies.
I thought the concept was really heavy. I'm starting to realize that old Japanese horror has very slow pacing to it. Ringu and Ju-On are the same way. This movie has some very disturbing and dark visuals but doesn't really care too much about big horror moments rather than creating a type of atmosphere. It's very bleak and depressing but then the end still leaves some feeling of hope which prevents it from being a straight up BUMMER. It's basically just a movie talking about death, suicide, purpose. Unlike the remake, the dead feel less like demons/monsters and more so spirits or ghost stuck in the physical realm. I enjoyed it as a movie with something to say, but can't say it'll ever be one of my favorites. It's almost TOO slow for my taste with little payoff and a bit repetitive.
Critters
+
Last year we watched Gremlins, this year is Critters. I'm not looking forward to our small creatures pick next year. I wasn't BLOWN away by Gremlins. I thought it was a bit too hokey and I wasn't invested in any of the main characters. I did, however, enjoy some of the deaths and thought the Mom v Gremlin scene was really fun.
Jump to Critters and I can't help but feel that it was an even more stripped down version of Gremlins. Aside from some really funny moments of "Critter dialogue" I couldn't help but get a little bored. I think this movie takes a little too long to set up. None of the deaths are very memorable, the only death I can remember is the boyfriend's, where they just munch on his neck and stomach? IDK! I just couldn't help but remember the Mom from Gremlins putting one of the creatures in the microwave. I was waiting for that moment in this movie and it never really came.
I thought the overall writing was FINE. We get the bum/baseball player's redemption moment where he blows up the spaceship. I thought the alien bounty hunters were totally pointless and unnecessary. They could have fit in so much more Critter action in the time they wasted with the fish out of water alien material. It'd be willing to watch the sequels, especially the one with LEO, to see if they improve the series, but overall I thought this was pretty lackluster.
Creepshow
+
I was looking forward to the pairing of King/Romero. There aren't a lot (if any) good horror anthologies out there, so I went in hoping for the best.
I thought Creepshow was a lot of fun! I love the way the stories are intermixed with each other through animation. I thought every story was mostly entertaining. The Beach and Box stories were probably two of the slowest ones but once they get going, they're pretty fun.
The cockroach story is easily my favorite. I love that it's one location. The white rooms work perfectly to help highlight the color and quantity of the bugs. The ending is fucking GROSS and classic Savini.
Stephen King's story is pretty funny. I love how over the top and corny he is, it works perfectly for the tone of the entire movie. I'd love to watch the sequels and see how they hold up.
This movie has some pretty powerful themes, a few big moments, and never suffers from bad pacing or boredom. Unfortunately, that's where it ends for me. This movie feels like a very sloppy version of the Handmaiden, which I think was the inspiration for the story structure and style.
This movie loses me in several ways.
Allison Williams is a very stone cold actress. She can play heartless and cold really well and I think that's part of what made her performance so haunting in Get Out. It just doesn't work for me here. I thought the acting, which could have suffered more so from the overall writing, was very half-assed and lifeless. I just didn't really believe anything they were trying to sell.
I thought the overall story and character behavior made absolutely no sense and were somewhat insulting. Does Charlette seriously believe that tricking Lizzie into cutting off her arm is the ONLY way...the ONLY WAY to convince her that being repeatedly raped was horrible? Are these character's minds so absolutely brainwashed by trauma that the only way to overcome and move past that trauma...is to experience more trauma? Does the movie really think it can convince me that this is okay, by including a line from Lizzie that says "this is the only way you could have convinced me" which felt so incredibly forced and lazy?
Why wouldn't Charlette initially plan to go after Anton in the first place? Go after the root of the problem! Until Lizzie goes to confront Charlette, it looked liked Charlette was just going to stay at home and give herself a pat on the back from "saving" Lizzie. Like...she knows Anton is just going to keep doing this to other women, right? Hell, Lizzie wasn't even going to turn her back on Anton until he completely kicked her out of the academy. Narratively this is just all over the place and completely takes you out of the movie IMO. I couldn't buy into the relationship and the ending because I wasn't invested in the steps that got me there. I also HATED the editing decisions with the VHS-esque rewind. Take that shit out. It's corny. Just have the title card for the new chapter, and start the story where you want to.
This feels a little ranty but I just had a lot of strong reactions to it. I think there was a lot of potential here and a good concept to start, but the execution was just too messy to forgive.
Session 9
+
Session 9 was very...boring. I can appreciate the Perfection for it's pacing and few fun moments, but with this movie, I was just totally out of it.
It waits too long to answer its questions. I'm not saying that a movie has to show us its cards, but at least sprinkle some clues to keep us engaged. I had no idea what was going on for almost the entire movie, and even when they explain everything in the last five minutes, I STILL had to google what really happened.
I would say that this movie definitely benefits from rewatching, but I almost don't care enough to even give it another shot. Nothing about this movie pops for me. Yea the recordings are creepy, but why doesn't Mike let the rest of the crew know what he found? Why is it MIKE that finds the tapes and not someone more prominent to the story like Gordon or Phill? This movie would benefit so much more by having these characters slowly discover the mystery of Simon and what he is. Was he a ghost? A demon? Was he not just a personality? I don't think a movie has to answer every question, but not answering enough leaves the experience unsatisfying and frustrating.
Also, there's a shot of David Caruso saying "fuck you" that might be the most unintentionally funniest thing I'ver ever seen in a movie. The shot is zoomed in and so overdramatic. It's hilarious.
People keep calling it Martyrs (my fav of last year's 39!) meets Whiplash which is such a fun idea on paper, but this fell pretty short of that great concept
I like Allison Williams a lot. I thought she was mostly good here but the acting overall was still spotty. MVP is Steven Weber for sure, he was so creepy. He played both halves of his character really well
The first half was good. Editing and cello score was good. The rewind effect was terrible. And they did it TWICE!
I do appreciate how bonkers it was willing to get...even though it made zero sense. I think overall it was still more fun bonkers than annoying bonkers but it definitely danced on that line the entire time. I don't think it was a very good movie but I was certainly entertained throughout so there's that. I always wanted to know what was gonna happen next and the two or three changes kept the pace up and made things fresh so that was well done. It just never came together in any sorta meaningful way to me and was too sloppy by the end. I did like the final two shots
Was going 6 after viewing (I watched two weeks ago) but it didn't sit as well with me like a day or two after
★★½ mixed feelings/flawed but fine/some good idea
Gore & Disturbing - Torture: Last year it was a unique kinda torture, The Strangers. This movie's torture was just as unique, neither are your standard torture movies at all which is nice tbh, torture isn't my favorite sub-genre. I'm giving this showdown one to The Strangers, a 6/10 for me. It worked better for what it was
2018: 2
2019: 0
Funny Games [Psychological - Home Invasion]
Santa Sangre [Psychological - Fanaticism]
Session 9 [Psychological - Phobia & Isolation]
Berberian Sound Studio [Psychological - Madness & Paranoia]
The Howling [Monster - Werewolf]
Thirst [Monster - Vampire]
Day of the Dead [Monster - Undead]
The Fog [Monster - Animals & Nature]
The Battery [Monster - Virus]
Critters [Monster - Small Creatures]
Dracula [Monster - Classic]
Colossal [Monster - Giant Monsters]
Creature from the Black Lagoon [Monster - Neo Monster]
Invasion of the Body Snatchers [Monster - Aliens]
The Perfection [Gore - Torture]
Phantasm [Gore - Splatter]
The Neon Demon [Gore - Cannibal]
Ichi the Killer [Gore - Extreme]
Possession [Paranormal - Possession]
Midsommar [Paranormal - Witches & Occult]
Carrie [Paranormal - Supernatural] The Haunting [Paranormal - Haunted House]
The Beyond [Paranormal - Devil/Demon/Hell]
Tigers Are Not Afraid [Paranormal - Ghost & Spirits]
The Hills Have Eyes [Killer - Backwoods & Redneck]
Peeping Tom [Killer - Slasher]
Opera [Killer - Crime & Giallo]
One Cut of the Dead [Misc - Meta]
The Love Witch [Misc - Horror Romance]
Pet Sematary [Misc - Creepy Kid]
The Skin I Live In [Misc. - Body Horror]
Irreversible [Misc - Revenge]
Creepshow [Misc - Anthology]
Inside [Misc - French Extremity]
Vampire's Kiss [Misc - Comedy Horror]
As Above, So Below [Misc - Found Footage]
Dracula [Misc - Gothic Horror]
Beyond the Black Rainbow [Misc - SciFi Horror]
Pulse [Misc - Technology]
What a bad movie. First of all, the alien shit at the beginning was so cringey. That weird guy who sent the two bounty hunters? Terrible. And the two bounty hunters themselves were super lame, I have no idea why they were in the movie. The only thing that I liked about them were the couple of cop car driving jokes. The rest was really bad
Deaths were lame and I think there were only two, Billy Zane and the first cop. The creatures themselves left a lot to be desired, I didn't find them interesting or threatening. I wish they were more vicious or there were a lot more of them to make them more threatening or something
Humor did nothing for me, I didn't like the critter speak. There were like one or two parts that worked but I forget what they were
Poor Dee Wallace, she deserved a better movie. She does her best. The rest of the acting is crap. But the great villain from BLOOD SIMPLE is the sheriff! So that's fun. The fun ends there
★★ disappointing/uninteresting
Monsters - Small Creatures: Last year it was Gremlins, aka the first Critters movie. They're way too similar, I guess Critters got a lot of rightful flak back in the day for it. But apparently the writer claims it was finished before Gremlins. I find that hard to believe tbh. Gremlins succeeded with fun kills and the rules element which added a different spin. This failed in pretty much every department. Gremlins beats it out for sure
2018: 3
2019: 0
Funny Games [Psychological - Home Invasion]
Santa Sangre [Psychological - Fanaticism]
Session 9 [Psychological - Phobia & Isolation]
Berberian Sound Studio [Psychological - Madness & Paranoia]
The Howling [Monster - Werewolf]
Thirst [Monster - Vampire]
Day of the Dead [Monster - Undead]
The Fog [Monster - Animals & Nature]
The Battery [Monster - Virus] Critters [Monster - Small Creatures]
Dracula [Monster - Classic]
Colossal [Monster - Giant Monsters]
Creature from the Black Lagoon [Monster - Neo Monster]
Invasion of the Body Snatchers [Monster - Aliens]
The Perfection [Gore - Torture]
Phantasm [Gore - Splatter]
The Neon Demon [Gore - Cannibal]
Ichi the Killer [Gore - Extreme]
Possession [Paranormal - Possession]
Midsommar [Paranormal - Witches & Occult]
Carrie [Paranormal - Supernatural] The Haunting [Paranormal - Haunted House]
The Beyond [Paranormal - Devil/Demon/Hell]
Tigers Are Not Afraid [Paranormal - Ghost & Spirits]
The Hills Have Eyes [Killer - Backwoods & Redneck]
Peeping Tom [Killer - Slasher]
Opera [Killer - Crime & Giallo]
One Cut of the Dead [Misc - Meta]
The Love Witch [Misc - Horror Romance]
Pet Sematary [Misc - Creepy Kid]
The Skin I Live In [Misc. - Body Horror]
Irreversible [Misc - Revenge]
Creepshow [Misc - Anthology]
Inside [Misc - French Extremity]
Vampire's Kiss [Misc - Comedy Horror]
As Above, So Below [Misc - Found Footage]
Dracula [Misc - Gothic Horror]
Beyond the Black Rainbow [Misc - SciFi Horror]
Pulse [Misc - Technology]
This one was a mixed bag for me. First of all, why did it feel like it was filmed in 1825 with a twelve dollar budget. That bugged me. The lo-fi audio quality stunk. I get that it was 77 and they definitely had no money, and it kiiiinda fit with the tone, but it just made it rough to watch at times
It was definitely sadistic though which I liked. Boy did I hate the cannibals, I wanted them to all die brutally. The big RV attack scene was especially rough. The blood and gore effects left a lot to be desired ofc. I did like his gnarled ankle and exposed bone after the dog attacked him though
What also hurt is that I've seen the remake which was surprisingly exactly the same as this. They barely changed anything. I almost preferred the remake I think? It was the same movie with more disgusting cannibals, much better acting, and modern gore. Also Ted Levine was such a good fit for the dad from this version, he looked just like him at times
The acting here mostly stunk, I hated the whiny little brother and some of his choices in facial expressions and delivery were uh..questionable! And the sister shrieking nonstop the entire second half of the movie was awful
Dee Wallace DOUBLE FEATURE! She’s in The Howling too, also on our list. She’s the Jeffrey Combs of 2.0
Almost went with a five but I'm going with four. There just wasn't enough that I liked. It was definitely a spooky setup and helpless situation though, I liked that
★★ disappointing/uninteresting
Killer - Backwoods & Redneck: 2018 was Wolf Creek, a 6/10 for me. Giving it to Wolf Creek which I definitely enjoyed more. A similar redneck horror premise but more grisly with a better lead villain
2018: 4
2019: 0
Funny Games [Psychological - Home Invasion]
Santa Sangre [Psychological - Fanaticism]
Session 9 [Psychological - Phobia & Isolation]
Berberian Sound Studio [Psychological - Madness & Paranoia]
The Howling [Monster - Werewolf]
Thirst [Monster - Vampire]
Day of the Dead [Monster - Undead]
The Fog [Monster - Animals & Nature]
The Battery [Monster - Virus] Critters [Monster - Small Creatures]
Dracula [Monster - Classic]
Colossal [Monster - Giant Monsters]
Creature from the Black Lagoon [Monster - Neo Monster]
Invasion of the Body Snatchers [Monster - Aliens]
The Perfection [Gore - Torture]
Phantasm [Gore - Splatter]
The Neon Demon [Gore - Cannibal]
Ichi the Killer [Gore - Extreme]
Possession [Paranormal - Possession]
Midsommar [Paranormal - Witches & Occult]
Carrie [Paranormal - Supernatural] The Haunting [Paranormal - Haunted House]
The Beyond [Paranormal - Devil/Demon/Hell]
Tigers Are Not Afraid [Paranormal - Ghost & Spirits]
The Hills Have Eyes [Killer - Backwoods & Redneck]
Peeping Tom [Killer - Slasher]
Opera [Killer - Crime & Giallo]
One Cut of the Dead [Misc - Meta]
The Love Witch [Misc - Horror Romance]
Pet Sematary [Misc - Creepy Kid]
The Skin I Live In [Misc. - Body Horror]
Irreversible [Misc - Revenge]
Creepshow [Misc - Anthology]
Inside [Misc - French Extremity]
Vampire's Kiss [Misc - Comedy Horror]
As Above, So Below [Misc - Found Footage]
Dracula [Misc - Gothic Horror]
Beyond the Black Rainbow [Misc - SciFi Horror]
Pulse [Misc - Technology]
It's difficult to really enjoy a movie for the first time when you pretty much know every single beat of the story. I knew about the deaths and I knew about the twists, but in spite of that I still enjoyed it. Jud's death is so brutal, it's a great payoff from an otherwise slow story. The scenes with the dead sister were super weird especially because they had a man play her? I really liked the ending. The visual of the husband kissing his rotting wife is just so painfully gross, it's a great image to end on.
The acting was pretty ROUGH. It was just a weird mix of performances. The dad was just brutally stale and Jud's delivery was in the same tempo every...single...sentence. The daughter was also a LOT too, every line was delivered super over the top.
I'd actually be interested to see how the remake holds up. I didn't like how the dad made the decision to revive his son and then just went to bed, only reacting to the results after they happened. It seems like there are a lot more layers to the consequences in the remake. I wasn't so in love with the original to the point where I thought it was impossible to improve upon.
As Above So Below
+
A few years back, I went on a date with a girl and we were talking about our favorite horror movies. She had some critiques on the Shining, my favorite, and when I asked her what her favorite was, she replied: "As Above So Below." I couldn't really say much because I had never seen it, but I vowed that one day I would watch it so I could talk shit about it. That day has finally come.
It's not AWFUL. Not the worst found footage I've seen. It's actually a pretty interesting concept and although the "see your greatest fear/regret" element is pretty overdone, some of the memories were visually haunting (the burning car, the hanging father).
There's also a really effective scene where someone gets stuck in a tunnel full of bones and the movie does a great job of making you FEEL the claustrophobia. The scene is just long enough for you to get uncomfortable but not too long for you to get bored.
The problem with this movie is that after the midway point, it gets so fucking messy. The pacing feels incredibly rushed and it's like the movie doesn't really know what else to do except wrap itself up. You just have no idea what's going on, which you could argue is the point...but with an exploration/found footage movie, you can only show me a shaky cam of some rubble for so long before I get frustrated.
I would have loved for them to further develop the characters and their past. Outside of the main explorer, we really don't know anything about anyone else. They wait very long before killing off anyone, and then they kill three people in what feels like the span of 10 minutes. Can't we get a little more context about what these individual's inner demons are? Why do some characters see visions and others don't?
By the end of the movie, the plot just feels petered out and unsure of where to go. I get that it's not guaranteed that they're back in their normal realm, but to end it the way they did...where they kind of just stand there and awkwardly walk away...just feels lackluster. This movie waits too long to do anything unique, and because of that it feels repetitive and pointless, then when it tries to do something, it's rushed and half baked. I wouldn't say this was as bad as I thought it would be, but it doesn't mean I wasn't disappointed with it overall.
Overall Ranking
Creepshow
Pet Sematary
Pulse
As Above So Below
Critters
The Perfection
Session 9
You know what...didn't hate it! Didn't love it, but didn't hate it
I went in with the lowest expectations. I heard it was shitty when it came out and had no interest in seeing it. It was the one movie on our list here that I wanted to replace AND it's the lowest rated movie on Letterboxd on our list. So I was definitely able to manage my expectations going in which definitely helped
Thought the idea was pretty fun, I was into the setup. The characters were pretty good, I felt bad when the cameraman died. An tbh kinda felt bad when the tour guy died too, thought he was gonna be a douche but he was fine as it went on. The three deaths were all pretty good, I kinda wish there were more. And I agree that I wish they were spread out more instead of in quick succession
I liked the upside down concept too, I kinda wish that was somehow explored me. Also I've always liked the poster and title a lot
Thought it was pretty funny that ZED of all people survived the movie, I thought he'd be the first to die. They literally kept him around to be the cameraman so they could keep the two leads in a single shot together. That's pretty amusing
The scares were lacking for me. None of the jump scares did it for me at all. I guess the closest was the woman lunging at Theo? But it was easy to see coming. Tbh the scariest part was Theo getting stuck in the bone tunnel. With such a creepy setting they really should've done more sp00ky wise
Worst thing about the movie was how often everyone said "we need to keep moving." "we need to go forward." Over and over and over. I kinda wanna make a supercut of it. Whenever someone died or they ran into something mysterious, that's the only thing that someone would say and then the scene would skip to the next
Overall it was fine. Good concept, I like Ben Feldman from his Mad Men days, good setting. Bad scares and nothing terribly interesting happens in the second half
★★½ mixed feelings/flawed but fine/some good ideas
Misc. - Found Footage: 2018 Hell House LLC which I find very similar to this. Good/unique concepts for found footage that don't really make the most out of it. Neither movie is very great, but I'm gonna give it to As Above, So Below which surprises me a bit. Hell House beats it on the scares for sure, I'll never forget the demon woman crawling up on the guy hiding under his sheets. But I think AASB was more competently made and the ending to Hell House was garbage. Super close tho, ask me on a different day and my answer might be flipped
2018: 4
2019: 1
Funny Games [Psychological - Home Invasion]
Santa Sangre [Psychological - Fanaticism]
Session 9 [Psychological - Phobia & Isolation]
Berberian Sound Studio [Psychological - Madness & Paranoia]
The Howling [Monster - Werewolf]
Thirst [Monster - Vampire]
Day of the Dead [Monster - Undead]
The Fog [Monster - Animals & Nature]
The Battery [Monster - Virus] Critters [Monster - Small Creatures]
Dracula [Monster - Classic]
Colossal [Monster - Giant Monsters]
Creature from the Black Lagoon [Monster - Neo Monster]
Invasion of the Body Snatchers [Monster - Aliens]
The Perfection [Gore - Torture]
Phantasm [Gore - Splatter]
The Neon Demon [Gore - Cannibal]
Ichi the Killer [Gore - Extreme]
Possession [Paranormal - Possession]
Midsommar [Paranormal - Witches & Occult]
Carrie [Paranormal - Supernatural] The Haunting [Paranormal - Haunted House]
The Beyond [Paranormal - Devil/Demon/Hell]
Tigers Are Not Afraid [Paranormal - Ghost & Spirits]
The Hills Have Eyes [Killer - Backwoods & Redneck]
Peeping Tom [Killer - Slasher]
Opera [Killer - Crime & Giallo]
One Cut of the Dead [Misc - Meta]
The Love Witch [Misc - Horror Romance]
Pet Sematary [Misc - Creepy Kid]
The Skin I Live In [Misc. - Body Horror]
Irreversible [Misc - Revenge]
Creepshow [Misc - Anthology]
Inside [Misc - French Extremity]
Vampire's Kiss [Misc - Comedy Horror] As Above, So Below [Misc - Found Footage]
Dracula [Misc - Gothic Horror]
Beyond the Black Rainbow [Misc - SciFi Horror]
Pulse [Misc - Technology]
Just like last year, I'm gonna rank the movies after every five:
1-5 Rank
+
1. The Haunting
2. The Perfection
3. As Above, So Below
4. The Hills Have Eyes
5. Critters
Not the BEST start! The Haunting is a 6/10, everything else is a 5, Critters is a 4. No difficulty in ranking these for me really. The Haunting was the most competent for its time. The Perfection was the most entertaining out of my middle three and Hills was the biggest disappointment. And Critters stunk
The good news is that I happened to have watched the four lowest rated movies (via letterboxd) out of all 39. All but The Haunting. It was just a coincidence but I managed to get the four 'worst' out of the way. But it means nothing of course, some of the more highly regarded movies on our list last year ended up being my absolute least favorites. Looking at you CRONENBERG!
