Topic: The Movie Thread

Woke up before my alarm and decided to get my horror movie in early today. Another Shudder movie - In a Violent Nature. Also another fairly misguided attempt to reinvent the Slasher. Really hard to recommend this one, even if in places this is a lot of fun. There is a good half an hour - forty minutes of premium slasher fun times wedged in the middle of a wrap around of pure boredom. I genuinely struggled not to fall asleep a few times.

@nessisonett Yeah, I expect BFI are not messing around with their screenings. Bit of a trek though, but if taken as a long weekend with some other activities it could be worthwhile, maybe? Are trains a viable alternative or would it take too long? (assuming it's a cheaper way to travel than by air)

@Pizzamorg I've noticed some buzz about that one and it seems fairly mixed. Many are hyping it to high heaven, while others seems to remain unimpressed. It hasn't really managed to catch my interest, despite being a huge fan of slashers. Could be that it just doesn't sound like it would be any fun, like a good slasher should be. I'll be giving that a pass, then.

It is shot with real art house sensibilities. So I think for a certain crowd, a Slasher is too lowbrow to be appreciated, but one that's shot like a Terrence Malik movie? OKAY THEN. I'm too old for this stuff though, I just want to have fun.

@Pizzamorg That makes two of us, then

@Pizzamorg Horror movie in the morning… not sure that fits for my taste. I know it shouldn’t matter but I feel like Horror/Thrillers hit best at night in the dark.

In fact, almost all of my movie and TV watching works best in the evening. Even pulling up a nice gritty drama during breakfast feels weird to me. For some reason morning and daytime is made for light-hearted content, if I watch anything at all. Maybe I’m broken. Although I suppose it’s not that much different than horror hitting better in October versus May.

To be honest @Th3solution it wouldn't be my first choice either, but when you dedicate yourself to watch a horror movie a day, if you get a free window you may as well take it. A decision for efficiency of time used rather than for optimal viewing experience.

Absolutely. I think it may be primal that we feel more vulnerable when it's dark so horror hits better or maybe we've just been socialised into it as TV stations generally left the adult stuff for later evenings. I feel the same about games but usually have more time for gaming during morning's and early afternoons but it's just not as scary in the light.

@Pizzamorg Love the dedication Would you consider watching two movies in one night if you missed the previous day cheating or is that okay?

I know I would spectacularly fail at a project like that, so I've decided to just go with "as many as I can" during October. So tonight I'm planning a double bill of classics: The Kiss of the Vampire, the Hammer film from 1963 and Roger Corman's The Masque of the Red Death with Vincent Price from 1964. Haven't seen any of them before, but I love the old horror movies, so here's hoping it will be a fun evening

Generally @FuriousMachine if there is ever anything I don't get to, I have a big blow out on Halloween and just do them all in one marathon. So far though I've not missed a day in the last few years I have been doing this, and generally I just end up ordering too many films, which make up the marathon on the last day 😂

@Pizzamorg Yeah I watched "In a Violent Nature" in theatres when it played and agree with you completely! There are some great moments in the film that definitely make it a slasher however the majority of the film has very "artistic" dull moments of nothingness. Definitely not for everyone and worth 1 watch for the deaths but that's about it.

Fortunately I have been able to watch 2 movies a day since Oct 1st however I don't know if I can maintain that for the full month of October haha!

Yesterday I watched the 50th Anniversary Re-Release of the original "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" and damn was it great! Can't believe the film is already 50 years old to start with however there's a reason why it's legendary and why it influenced so many filmmakers and artists. It still shows very well and the audio is amazing. Does anyone know if Tobe Hooper and the film created the group of friends going on a trip, going to a cabin trope for the horror genre? I think it may have been the first but I'm not quite sure.

I also saw "The Witch" which is one of the best and authentic tellings of witchcraft on film. It is hauntingly good and dark. Robert Eggers has made many masterpieces already and can't wait for his version of "Nosferatu"!

@FuriousMachine The trains are a whole debacle over here, I’m pretty sure the Brits on this site would all agree! I don’t mind the actual journey, it’s more the price and the unreliability 😂

@nessisonett I was in Bath a while back, and the last train home got cancelled. Had to get a taxi which cost about 70 quid. Has put me off relying on them again for the for foreseeable future.

@Pizzamorg That's a sensible approach that will avoid it becoming like a chore, I expect I've done three so far, but there won't be any today and tomorrow's uncertain, but Sunday's looking promising. I plan to check out House of Spoils on Prime Video and It's What's Inside on Netflix next; some fresh releases to counter the two classics from the 60's (classics are fun, but two in the same night made me a little antsy towards the end, so I'll spread them out a bit in the future... still got quite a few borrowed Hammer and Vincent Price DVDs to check out).

@nessisonett @JohnnyShoulder That sounds depressingly familiar. Running a rail service seems to be beyond the abilities of the people who attempt it in this country as well. But, it's a fairly new invention so I guess it takes time to learn how to do it properly. Another 200 years of trial and error might do the trick...

@Malaise Have you read the book? It's actually a little bit incredible just how much got stripped out for the movie. I'm with you though - it's a five star classic.

Can anyone give me “Crima drama movies you likely haven’t seen” recommendations? I’m already watching a tv show for Q42024, I might as well sneak in a couple of films. I’ve paused my niche watchthroughs for a while now and don’t remember what I was on last time. I think I was trying to get through the Taken trilogy?

@Malaise “that’s pot luck”?
Thanks for the recs!

@Malaise oh sorry sorry I was just asking what the idiom itself meant 😂 but thx!

Forgot to post my horror check in yesterday - but I promise I did watch something! A film called You'll Never Find Me. If you have a very high tolerance for slow burners then maybe give this one a go, it is well made (especially the sound design) and the last 20 minutes felt like they could have made a solid horror short on their own. But overall, I got what it was going for but just don't think it achieved really anything it set out to do. As such, I just found it boring and a waste of time. It is why I just kinda forgot to check in to be honest, cause the moment it was over my brain ejected it from memory to make room for something more interesting.

@Pizzamorg There is indeed a thin line between slow burn and boring, yes. Too bad that one fell on the wrong side