Movie Database

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, 40th Anniversary Edition (1974, Tobe Hooper). I didn’t expect so much of this movie to be slow and boring. 🏆 🚗🚶‍♂️🧑‍🦽👫🏠🔨🪚😱🏃‍♀️😱🏃‍♀️😱🏃‍♀️😑 I didn’t expect so much of this movie to be slow and boring. It wasn’t very gory either, contrary to the expectations built up for most of my life. Still, there’s something about the characters and the grainy handheld footage that makes everything feel gross. Interesting that it had a found-footage feel to it, in the sense that all the actors seemed to be improvising their lines. I could see some innovative quick-cut editing that’s unusual for the time. Otherwise the non-stop screaming for the last half hour really got on my nerves, and not in the fun way it was supposed to. (Amazon Prime.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Texas_Chain_Saw_Massacre

1408 (2012). Always meant to see this one. 🧑📕🏨🖼️📞🙂 Always meant to see this one. As with most all Stephen King movie adaptations, it wasn’t as good as the source material, but it wasn’t bad. I didn’t think it would work as a movie, since it’s such an internal experience. The bit with his daughter wasn’t in the short story at all, but I swear I remember it from somewhere. Maybe it was lifted from another King story, or it’s possible I actually have seen this movie before and didn’t remember it. It’s that kind of movie; the kind that holds your attention while you’re watching it, but you forget it a day after watching it, unless you write something down like this to know that you watched it. (Amazon Prime Video.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1408_(film)

Phantasm (Remastered) (1979). I lost interest in this after an hour. 🪦⚰️👦🪩👉🪰🚗🤷🥱😑 I lost interest in this after an hour. Supposedly a classic, but to me it’s more of a testement to the perserverance of young filmmakers learning on the job, and evidence for the long-held studio belief that low-budget horror films sometimes turn into gold mines. (Amazon Prime.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phantasm_(film) http://www.containsmoderateperil.com/blog/2023/10/8/phantasm-1979

Horror of Dracula (1958). One of those classic “Hammer horrors” you’ve heard about all your life, but never actually seen. 👨🧛‍♀️🧛‍♀️🩸🧐 One of those classic “Hammer horrors” you’ve heard about all your life, but never actually seen. (Maybe that’s just me.) Anyway, it’s another historical artifact movie–my parents would have been in their 20s watching this in theaters (except my parents definitely wouldn’t have been watching any Hammer horrors). It’s Dracula again, except in color and even more melodramatic, with Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. A surprisingly modern-sounding score toward the end. And great diction throughout–very soothing ASMR voices. Whatever happened to actors you could actually understand? I sound like my dad. (Max.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dracula_(1958_film) https://letterboxd.com/jaedia/film/dracula-1958/

Maniac Cop (1988). I could tell from the title and the description and the first five minutes that this movie wasn’t going to work for me so I just fast forwarded through it. 👮🔪🥱⏩⏩⏩ I could tell from the title and the description and the first five minutes that this movie wasn’t going to work for me so I just fast forwarded through it. I didn’t watch these kinds of movies in the 80s and I still don’t particularly want to. Not even stereotypical 80s synth movie music can save this for me. (Tubi.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maniac_Cop http://www.containsmoderateperil.com/blog/2023/10/7/maniac-cop-1988

Resolution (2012). Very low budget indie movie. 👨👨🏠🥱⏩⏩⏩🤷 Very low budget indie movie. Handheld cameras. Couldn’t get into it. Couldn’t bring myself to care about the characters or the mystery. Just fast forwarded through it. (Tubi.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resolution_(film)

Triangle (2009, Christopher Smith). Started a bit slow, but has some very compelling plot developments. 👩⛵️⛈️🛳️🔫🏃‍♀️😯🤩👏 Started a bit slow, but has some very compelling plot developments. At first I thought it would end up similar to Dead Calm (1989), but it went a completely different way. There are some logical inconsistencies, and too much shaky-cam, but it’s a fantastic horror story. Never even heard of it before, but it’s a great find. One of the best ones I’ve seen recently. (Tubi.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangle_(2009_British_film)

Hell Fest (2018). Typical factory-produced teen slasher made to pay the bills. 🎃🔪🎃🔪🥱⏩⏩ Typical factory-produced teen slasher made to pay the bills. Not much else to say. Didn’t care about the slasher or the slashees and just skipped to the end to see the twist, if you can call it that. (Plex.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hell_Fest https://letterboxd.com/jaedia/film/hell-fest/

Nope (2022, Jordan Peele). Turned out it wasn’t really a horror movie, it’s more of a science ficion movie. 🐴🛩️👽🌥️🎈😯🤩😍👏 Turned out it wasn’t really a horror movie, it’s more of a science ficion movie. But wow, this is a fantastic movie. Jordan Peele is an amazing filmmaker. Just let him make all the movies, please. Tear down the Marvel Industrial Complex once and for all. (Amazon Prime.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nope_(film)

Dracula (1931). Not something I meant to watch, but it just happened to be on the front page of Amazon Prime one day. 🏆 🏰🧛‍♂️🛳️🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🦇👧🩸⚰️🥩🫀🧐 Not something I meant to watch, but it just happened to be on the front page of Amazon Prime one day. Surprisingly watchable for an old movie without much of a score. Like watching a play (it’s also a play). Way more Renfield than I was expecting. Sort of a weird ending, though. It just stopped, almost mid-sentence. Apparently there was an epilogue that was cut when “the code” upturned Hollywood debauchery in the 30s, and it wasn’t in Amazon’s version. (Amazon Prime.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dracula_(1931_English-language_film)

The Caller (1987). It’s a unique movie, I’ll give it that. 👩🏠🌲👀👨‍🦳📞⛈️🗣️🏎️🏃‍♀️🙂🧐 It’s a unique movie, I’ll give it that. I thought it was an allegory for the longest time. Stilted, unbelievable dialog means it’s pretty obvious not all is as it seems as soon as the two characters start talking. Felt like more of a play. But it’s an intriguing mystery to try to guess what’s going on. That’s the main reason to watch, really. To see if you can correctly guess the ending. (I didn’t, because nobody could, because it’s out of nowhere.) (Tubi.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Caller_(1987_film) http://www.containsmoderateperil.com/blog/2023/10/2/the-caller-1987

The Sentinal (1977). The one where Christopher Walken gets a higher credit than Jeff Goldblum by chewing gum and saying nothing whatsoever, and where Tom Berenger makes a surprise one-line appearance at the end. 👩🏠🐤🐈‍⬛🍷🥳👻🔪✝️😐 The one where Christopher Walken gets a higher credit than Jeff Goldblum by chewing gum and saying nothing whatsoever, and where Tom Berenger makes a surprise one-line appearance at the end. Felt like a made-for-television movie. Never felt invested in any characters. Sometimes it was okay (e.g. the Burges Meredith scenes), but mostly I found it a mishmash of vaguely spooky scenes thrown together that didn’t make much sense. (Netflix.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sentinel_(1977_film) http://www.containsmoderateperil.com/blog/2023/10/6/the-sentinel-1977

Jigoku (1960, Japanese). Um. 😈🚗💃💋🚂🪦🥱⏩🔥👫🤔🤷 Um. What? Seriously, though. What? I got a Criterion Channel trial for that? Usually I lament the lack of creativity in movies but it turns out it’s actually possible to have way too much creativity in movies. I skipped past a good 40 minutes and didn’t notice any continuity problems. It’s a curiosity from a different time and a different culture. (Criterion Channel.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jigoku_(film) https://letterboxd.com/jaedia/film/jigoku/

The Exorcist (1973). Well I finally watched it. 🏆 🐪🎬👩‍👧🤒🩺😈✝️🛌🧐 Well I finally watched it. I guess I’m obligated to say it was as good as everyone says it is? Although I imagine it was probably a lot more impactful in 1973. In 2023, the pacing is slow and everything looks and sounds fake. The demon’s voice sounded like a literal cartoon voice actor, the least scary demon voice I’ve ever heard, bees or no bees. This is the drawback to watching older classics through modern jaded eyes–I’ve seen the tropes in The Exorcist done better a hundred times. Also, I don’t think I’m supposed to think this, but I found the mom character fairly insufferable. I didn’t think the priest’s internal struggle with faith was shown very well. Max von Sydow wasn’t in the movie enough (also, speaking of demons, he somehow looked exactly the same in this as he did in The Force Awakens). (Max.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Exorcist

Train to Busan (2016, Korean). It’s okay, but I got a bit bored in the middle of it. 👨‍👧🚆🧟‍♀️🏃🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️🎵🙂 It’s okay, but I got a bit bored in the middle of it. I never really liked the zombie craze. Zombies are gross and I don’t like gross horror. But I kept hearing this one is a fresh take on zombies … except it’s not, really, is it? Besides it’s on a train in a different language? Everything felt contrived, the zombies looked performative, and the number of times the plot depended on characters and situations being cartoonishly non-believable extended well beyond credible limits, so it was difficult to form any attachment to it. But it wasn’t bad. I just never got emotionally invested in it, which is clearly what needed to happen for the bits at the end to land right. (Amazon Prime.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Train_to_Busan