Movie Database

31 words.

Movie Database

This is where I jot down a few sentences about movies I’ve watched recently. Currently these are all horror movies.

Recently-Watched Movies

The Keep (1983, Michael Mann). Lots of star power and Tangerine Dream but I think I must have had a stroke because what was that? It started very promising, but it wasn’t my imagination that it felt like half the narrative had been cut out, leaving random gibberish, because it was. 🪖🏰💨👹🍊🤨🤔🧐 Lots of star power and Tangerine Dream but I think I must have had a stroke because what was that? It started very promising, but it wasn’t my imagination that it felt like half the narrative had been cut out, leaving random gibberish, because it was. I’m not convinced it would have been better without the cuts, but at least it might have had some internal logic. (PlutoTV.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Keep_(film) http://www.containsmoderateperil.com/blog/2023/10/5/the-keep-1983

A Bay of Blood (1971, Mario Bava). Another cheap Italian Mario Bava movie from the film era before sound design mattered, so everything sounds like a badly dubbed, warbly cassette tape. 🌊👩‍🦽🦑💃🔪🧐 Another cheap Italian Mario Bava movie from the film era before sound design mattered, so everything sounds like a badly dubbed, warbly cassette tape. One of the so-called giallo genre flicks, a new term to me. Allegedly one of the best ones. I can see the origins of the 80s teen slasher in it, but unfortunately for me, I don’t really like teen slashers, no matter how much teens generally deserve slashing. As with Black Sunday above, it’s mainly an interesting historical artifact. (Amazon Prime.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Bay_of_Blood http://www.containsmoderateperil.com/blog/2023/10/3/a-bay-of-blood-1971

Devil (2010). This is my favorite kind of Stephen King story, except it’s not a Stephen King story, it’s credited to Brian Nelson and M. Night Shyamalan. 🏢🪞😈😐 This is my favorite kind of Stephen King story, except it’s not a Stephen King story, it’s credited to Brian Nelson and M. Night Shyamalan. It’s a good idea, but it wasn’t executed very well, and it wasn’t very scary. The score was way over the top. Nifty camera shots at the beginning though. (The old it’s-not-a-mirror-it’s-another-set-of-lookalike-actors-behind-glass trick.) (Amazon Prime.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devil_(2010_film) https://letterboxd.com/jaedia/film/devil/

The Wailing (2016, Korean). The first half hour is a subtitled fever dream. 👮‍♂️🤷👨‍👧👻😢😀👏 The first half hour is a subtitled fever dream. Was it Keystone Kops investigating a ghost? A comedy? Koreans’ open contempt for the Japanese? Not sure. But it didn’t start very scary. Or coherent. But! Somewhere around the halfway point, it turned into a very compelling horror movie with stakes. After that, there’s a lot of screaming and, well, wailing, and it’s hard to look away. A good find. (Amazon Prime.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wailing_(2016_film) https://letterboxd.com/jaedia/film/the-wailing/

Haunt (2019, Scott Beck, Bryan Woods). A well-shot SAW-ish movie that had its moments (well, one moment… the end) but overall kind of a predictable story full of shallow kids I didn’t really care about, and too much slasher for my tastes. 🎃🏠✋🔪⋔😐 A well-shot SAW-ish movie that had its moments (well, one moment… the end) but overall kind of a predictable story full of shallow kids I didn’t really care about, and too much slasher for my tastes. A major problem with most teen slashers is that if I’m not made to care about the teens, why should I care if the teens get slashed? Who’s going to mourn them when they’re gone? (Amazon Prime.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haunt_(2019_film) https://letterboxd.com/jaedia/film/haunt-2019/

Horror Movie Database. Movies in the database, starting with the most recent. Movies in the database, starting with the most recent.

Horror Movie Recommendations. A list of what I would recommend as anywhere from good to great horror movies, by year. A list of what I would recommend as anywhere from good to great horror movies, by year.

Horror Movies To Watch. A list of horror movies I’ve marked to watch. A list of horror movies I’ve marked to watch.

Black Sunday (1960, Mario Bava). Old Italian Mario Bava black and white fare. 🧛‍♀️🏰⚰️🧐 Old Italian Mario Bava black and white fare. It’s gothic. It’s influential. It’s poorly dubbed. The value of such a movie in 2023 is more as a historical artifact than as an entertainment product. More for getting a better understanding of the homages in things like the FMV game Immortality, or for marvelling at just how much better everyone’s pocket cell phone is for movie production than expensive late 50s studio equipment, or for grabbing samples to use in trippy EDM or Pink Floyd-style songs, or for falling asleep, because it has that “old timey” lo-fi 50s orchestral palette and distorted radio microphone sound that reminds you of the 13" black-and-white kitchen television you grew up with. (Amazon Prime.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Sunday_(1960_film) https://letterboxd.com/jaedia/film/black-sunday-1960/