/sapphic/ - Sapphic Dreams

<Women in Horror: The Fabulous Horror Queens Of The 1980s

https://1428elm.com/2017/02/08/horror-queens-the-fabulous-80s/

I rewatched Galaxy of Terror a few weeks ago, and it was even better than I remembered it being. For being a low-budget Roger Corman production, the film looks absolutely stunning – top-notch practical effects all around. James Cameron worked on the special effects and was second unit director, and rumour has it he was involved in shooting the main portion of the film as well. Bill Paxton was a carpenter for the sets, though he is not in the credits, which were deliberately shortened by Corman to save money. Alec Gillis of ADI, who has worked on major Hollywood productions, including Alien³ & Death Becomes Her, also worked on the special effects.

The film stars a then-unknown Robert Englund, Grace Zabriskie (Sarah Palmer in Twin Peaks), Sid Haig, Erin Moran & Edward Albert.

The film is rather infamous for a scene in which one of the characters (played by Taaffe O’Connell), is raped to death by a giant worm/maggot – though judging by the sounds she makes, and the look on her face and her body language, it doesn’t seem like an entirely unpleasant experience. Now, on the audio commentary track one of the guys who worked on the special effects reveals that they nicknamed the giant worm/maggot Maggie, to which Taaffe joked about it being a girl on girl scene.

The film borrows from O’Bannon’s Alien & the earlier Forbidden Planet, and you can tell this was a great inspiration to Cameron for making Aliens – the scene at the beginning, where one guy is alone in the crashed ship, the hallways and the electrical wire hanging down from the ceiling and spooking him is exactly like in Aliens when the marines enter the Hadley’s Hope base.

How a low budget film led to James Cameron's Aliens | Den of Geek:

http://web.archive.org/web/20170718052436/https://www.denofgeek.com/uk/movies/james-cameron/50280/how-a-low-budget-film-led-to-james-camerons-aliens

James Cameron Painting a Matte for Battle Beyond the Stars (1980) | 2 Warps to Neptune:

https://web.archive.org/web/20160322202745/https://2warpstoneptune.com/2013/05/17/james-cameron-painting-a-matte-for-battle-beyond-the-stars-1980/

Galaxy.of.Terror.1981.720p.BluRay.x264-x0r[SN]

>>1277

>Barbara Crampton

Loved her in Re-Animator & From Beyond.

From Beyond in particular is gorgeous to look at; a neon enthusiasts dream!

She also did a risqué horror themed photoshoot for Playboy back in the ’80s – the one where she is dressed as a scientist must have been shot on the set for From Beyond, which came out in 1986.

>>1280

>Barbara Crampton

Those shots are great. Cute and fun.

Coincidentally came across her twitter the other day. https://twitter.com/barbaracrampton

>>1279

I got around to watching Galaxy of Terror a few weeks ago.

>For being a low-budget Roger Corman production, the film looks absolutely stunning – top-notch practical effects all around.

Absolutely. It felt like as the movie progressed the death effects became more well done and the sets were stunning. Could definitely see the influence of Alien.

>Now, on the audio commentary track one of the guys who worked on the special effects reveals that they nicknamed the giant worm/maggot Maggie, to which Taaffe joked about it being a girl on girl scene.

Ha! A fitting movie for this board then. You're right, she seemed to get the least awful death kek. The Happy Days chick got a terrifying death.

So what happened to Ranger (Englund)? He confronted and overcame his fears. But then Cabren becomes the master by killing the old master and we never see what happens to Ranger. Unless I zoned out or already forgot.

>>1353

Lovely stuff! She looks really great; did she stop aging like Keanu Reeves?

Nice to see her rejunited with Jeff again too.

IMHO Barbara is the female horror actress of the ’80s.

>>1354

>She looks really great; did she stop aging like Keanu Reeves?

IKR? What is her secret?

>>1355

Maybe she bathes in the blood of beautiful virgins?

>>1393

You may very well be right.

I rewatched Carpenter’s Prince of Darkness from 1987 the other day, and I found it even more enjoyable this time. There are two or three scenes where Carpenter ‘borrows’ from his earlier film, The Thing, and the story could have done with a bit up a rewrite from the midway leading up to the big finale, but the payoff is phenomenal; stellar make-up job and practical effects throughout, and unlike a lot of 1980s horror, there is an almost philosophical layer to it that really sticks with you after the film has ended.

Now, there are two things that reminded me a lot of a film we watched for the film club on that other board. Have you seen PoD, and if so, did you pick up on these similarities/possible homages too?

>>1546

>the story could have done with a bit up a rewrite from the midway leading up to the big finale, but the payoff is phenomenal

I vaguely remember watching it many years ago. I remember getting kind of bored and then wham the last third freaked me out. I can't even remember what it was, something about the recording coming from the church not being from the time they thought it was? I just remember it suddenly becoming much creepier and affecting.

>did you pick up on these similarities/possible homages too?

Honestly drawing a blank right now. Need to watch PoD again. Got a digital copy though so might be able to get on to it soon.

>>1548

Aye, it does seem to come to a standstill before it suddenly kicks off into high gear at the finale. The makeup job on Kelly (Susan Blanchard) is just terrific. She becomes possessed by whatever that thing in the container is (what we know as Satan?), and tries to bring its father, ‘Anti-God’, into our reality thru the mirror portal. Everything from that point till the end is absolutely perfect. Catherine’s (Lisa Blount) reaction to seeing Susan reach into the mirror portal and help ‘Anti-God’ into our world is one of my all-time favourites – it feels so real and honest…

And that shot of Catherine on the other side of the mirror portal right before it is closed is first rate nightmare fuel.

The shared dream they experience is a broadcast sent back in time from the future (1999), warning them that they didn’t stop it, only delaying it. That bit reminded me of Like Me, wherein Kiya watches Plan 9 From Outer Space. The scene in question is of two characters talking about aliens broadcasting signals and how they are now being able to decipher/make sense of them. The Priest (Donald Pleasence) in PoD says that Jesus was a being of extraterrestrial origin, and it isn’t till the end of the film one of the characters receive the full warning broadcast.

The second, and most obvious, similarity is the final scene, where Brian (Jameson Parker) looks at his reflection in the mirror after waking up from the nightmare – he raises one hand to touch his eye as he stares right at his reflection – just like Kiya did in the restroom mirror where she moved slightly faster than her reflection.

Sounds like we’ve got yet another honorary sapphic ’80s horror film like Galaxy of terror.

Also on the audio commentary track: Carpenter mentions that one of the deaths is inspired by the Hammer film Curse of the Werewolf (1961) directed by Terence Fisher.

I was browsing moviechat.org earlier whilst enjoying my usual cup morning tea, and I kept going from film to film by clicking whatever was listed under “Similar Movies” – here are the two most interesting films I came across: The Kindred (1987) & The Dead Pit (1989). The Kindred stars some familiar faces (Amanda Pays), and could be inspired by, if not an outright adaptation of H. P. Lovecraft’s ‘The Dunwich Horror’. The poster’s neon green title is certainly reminiscent of Re-Animator (1985).

The Dead Pit seems like an underrated ’80s gem – it definitely comes off as way more ambitious than a low-budget ’80s zombie flick – the cinematography seems to be top notch, with some cool shots shown in the trailer. The idea that only the “insane” can see the horror reminded me a lot of the Buffy episode where she’s in the hospital and can see the daemon (Kinder tot?) because she has a fever.

The Kindred (1987) Trailer.: https://invidio.us/watch?v=BnvHqY1PdLI

The Kindred (1987) trailer (longer trailer that maybe shows a bit too much): https://invidio.us/watch?v=yPIKZP5Pdug

The Dead Pit Trailer: https://invidio.us/watch?v=cRSG4y-gc1A

>>1908

>I watched The Kindred the other day

Ok, I'm 35 mins in and I have to REEEEE a little before continuing.

The man is told explicitly by his mother (who knows what the fuck she is talking about re: her research) to destroy everything and not be tempted to continue the research. He does the exact opposite (with what seems to be little to no hesitation at all) and invites a bunch of fellow researchers, including a complete stranger (no doubt a baddie, as women with that accent always are) to also be tempted and peruse the materials.

I wish he would die in this movie. It would be a just consequence to his stupidity. I doubt I will get the satisfaction of seeing this though as he's the protagonist.

I'm guessing this is kind of a Frankenstein reimagined? I can't wait to see the beast quelled with the lullaby (perhaps in order to strike it down?). Also I think killing animals in these movies is a cheap move.

His gf is hot and should end up with the british baddie. Ah well.

Also

>my mom had a falling out with Dr. X

>I'll use him as my sounding board and tell him everything about everything

wtf

P.S. Don't watch a movie with a headache

>>1909

Harsh, but mostly fair. His curiosity is understandable though – she just dropped a massive bombshell on him before she lost consciousness again.

As for telling Dr. Lloyd… John seems to admire his work, and since he, i.e. Dr. Lloyd, used to work with his mother before they had a falling out, John probably saw it as his best hope of learning more about Anthony and his mother’s research.

That ambulance driver noted that Dr. Lloyd had the “eyes of a killer” – kinda strange that John doesn’t notice anything is off about him, but he seems rather naïve.

>(no doubt a baddie, as women with that accent always are)

In real life too! It’s pretty eerie.

>I wish he would die in this movie. It would be a just consequence to his stupidity. I doubt I will get the satisfaction of seeing this though as he's the protagonist.

I’d stick to my take that he is naïve and too trusting, but I can at least understand his curiosity about the research and desire to find out about his supposed brother.

He does seem like a typical TV doctor – rather too handsome and perfect for real life, but I thought the characters were pretty well-written – quite pleasantly surprised by them all.

Keep an eye out for these goofs:

* the boom mic makes a brief appearance when they talk to the black doctor at the hospital, just as he is called off

* the legs of the guy in the monster suit are plainly visible after Anthony is electrocuted and tears off his own skin – never noticed it myself, but saw someone commenting on it over at moviechat.org – in my defence I caught a VHS rip of the film originally, then found this laser disc DVD rip on the Internet Archive, and the quality was not this good.

>>1910

Wow it certainly did get better almost immediately after my rant. The gore was spectacular, and the fish woman effects were outstanding. Dug watching this with what I thought was a video aesthetic too. But now that you write laser disc I can make sense of the side 1 & 2 section of the file kek.

>he seems rather naïve.

To put it mildly.

>He does seem like a typical TV doctor – rather too handsome and perfect for real life

Yes, I refer to to him as the dudebro doctor/researcher. I would have liked to see him die and Anthony live tbh.

I like the guy trying to quit smoking the most. He seemed to have the greatest character development/depth. Certainly more than dudebro.

>never noticed it myself

Me either. I guess the film makers didn't expect drive in theatre audiences to notice it either.

>>1910

>In real life too! It’s pretty eerie.

Oooh meant to ask…real life experience?

>>1911

If you are looking for that authentic VHS æsthetic look no further than the first rip I watched. The first one I DL’d only had a Ruski dub audio track, but thankfully one with English audio finished soon after. WebM related; this is the only time it was this bad though, and considering the source it wasn’t bad IMHO.

Thought it was laser disc because of the section 1/2 bit too, but according to the Wikipedia article there is only mention of a VHS release. Weird. The one on the Internet Archive, but be from a laser disc, right? In any case this film needs and deserves a deluxe Blu-ray release from Arrow.

>Yes, I refer to to him as the dudebro doctor/researcher. I would have liked to see him die and Anthony live tbh.

>I like the guy trying to quit smoking the most. He seemed to have the greatest character development/depth. Certainly more than dudebro.

John looks far too calm and serious to be a dudebro tbh. He may give off that impression, but really I just think he wants to spend time in the lab doing research rather than partying with the fratbros.

>Me either. I guess the film makers didn't expect drive in theatre audiences to notice it either.

In everyone’s defence there is a lot of shit going on in that scene with the flashing lights, so I can see how it slipped their attention during filming. They must have caught it during editing, but then there wasn’t much they could have done.

Was very pleasantly surprised by Amanda Pays’ character, Melissa, found her story to be very tragic and sad. Fully expected a short scene of her having survived and made it to the sea before or after the end credits.

The effects and look of her transformed body is very similar to Stuart Gordon’s Dagon (2001), and the look of Uxía (Macarena Gómez), but even more impressive here.

It was very refreshing to get a film that breaks the “rules” most horror films follow, and have most of the characters survive and get a happy ending.

A bit confused why the watermelon was necessary though – Anthony (are they all one/a hivemind, or are there multiple Anthonys?) could just as easily slip into her car undetected without having to hide inside(!) a watermelon… Really outstanding special effects on her death btw, with the tentacles/tendrils moving under her skin. Top notch.

One of the guys who worked on the special effects went from this one straight to Nightmare on Elm Street 3, and also worked on Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Another guy who worked on the special effects showed up on the IMDb forum, now archived on moviechat.org, and answered a question about the animal Dr. Lloyd is experimenting on when he is rudely interrupted by the ambulance driver: https://moviechat.org/tt0091343/The-Kindred/58c747536b51e905f6720bad/The-animal-on-the-table?reply=58c747536b51e905f6720baf

My favourite bit in the whole film is Dr. Lloyd crying “OH MY GOD!”. Almost fell out of my chair. The actor, Rod Steiger, won the Academy Award for Best Actor back in 1967. Kim Hunter, who plays Amanda Hollins, won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress back in 1951, and also a Golden Global Award, both for A Streetcar Named Desire.

>>1912

Not with any britbongs, no. Sorry to disappoint; you wanted some scandalous true story about evil British women…

Can’t think of any examples of women with a British accent being evil… That is mostly applied to older males based on my viewing experience. Maybe this movie was ahead of its time?

>>1924

>That's how I read it. She probably realised the project was beyond her control.

Do you think Amanda told the truth about Amanda’s work being her inspiration? Or did Dr. Lloyd feed her the lines to get John to trust her enough to let her tag along?

Btw., I wonder why they decided to stick around after hearing that tape where Amanda has to calm down some eldritch horror with a lullaby. That thing did not sound friendly, and they have to know it is somewhere in the house.

>Here are another couple of examples.

Miss Trunchbull may get a pass since Dahl’s book is set in England. Henry Selick did the same thing when he adapted Neil Gaiman’s book ‘Coraline’; he changed the setting to the U.S., but kept two of the characters, Miss Spink & Miss Forcible, English. I could have sworn Embeth Davidtz (Miss Honey) was English too, but her parents are American, though she did grow up in South Africa. Somehow it got into my head that she was English too, and that she spoke with a British accent in the film.

It does seem that an accent (British, or Russian, or any at all), is a strong indicator of being a baddie in U.S. films…

Looked around for some ’80s horror, and here some are that looked interesting:

The Unseen 1980 Trailer: https://invidio.us/watch?v=CWZfmUJ9iao

<A trio of female reporters find themselves staying overnight in a house occupied by a hostile being lurking in the basement.

Ghostkeeper (1981) - Trailer: https://invidio.us/watch?v=3gjRfqSr470

<A group of three friends on a snowmobiling trip find themselves stranded at an abandoned lodge isolated in the mountains. They discover that an old woman resides in the hotel, along with an evil entity that she is keeping in the basement.

The Slayer Original Trailer (J. S. Cardone, 1982): https://invidio.us/watch?v=VAkf6ft9Egg

<Two couples become stranded on a rugged isle, and are haunted by a supernatural beast, drawn to the wife of one of the couples, who dreams of its killings.

The Initiation (1984) Theatrical Trailer: https://invidio.us/watch?v=N3hLj2cOTDw

<While trying to understand a frightening reoccurring nightmare, a pledge is coaxed into breaking into her father's department store by her sorority sisters, where a deranged killer targets the girls and their boyfriends.

Killer Workout / Trailer: https://invidio.us/watch?v=mxP2HKqEL4g

<Two years ago, a young woman named Valerie was burned after entering a tanning salon. Now, her twin sister, Rhonda, runs a local gym where, all of a sudden, people are being murdered.

Cheerleader Camp (1988) Trailer: https://invidio.us/watch?v=UJcJfb6WN6s

<A group of cheerleaders become the targets of an unknown killer at a remote summer camp.

Bad Dreams (1988) Theatrical Trailer: https://invidio.us/watch?v=IB-tvXJovC4

<The lone survivor of a suicide cult wakes from a thirteen-year coma in a psychiatric ward, where other patients suddenly start dying under mysterious and gruesome circumstances.

Night of the Demons (1988) - ORIGINAL VIDEO TRAILER: https://invidio.us/watch?v=XKzuj2eavtU

<Ten teenagers party at an abandoned funeral parlor on Halloween night. When an evil force awakens, demonic spirits keep them from leaving and turn their gathering into a living Hell.

Looks like there could be a girl/girl kiss in this…

Hide and Go Shriek (1988) Trailer: https://www.invidio.us/watch?v=2j3vFtdZUR0

<A group of teenagers spend the night in a furniture store for a graduation party. A psycho killer starts hunting them down one by one.

SPIDER LABYRINTH (1988) Trailer: https://www.invidio.us/watch?v=O0Coq2XrwmE

<Alan Whitmore, a young American researcher, goes to Budapest to visit Professor Roth, with whom he collaborated on a secret project called "Intextus". Arrived in the Hungarian capital, Alan finds Roth whom, in panic, hands him a black book which he says should include information of the utmost importance.

I have already seen this one, and I can highly recommend it. Criminally underrated late ’80s horror – a stylish blend of Italian giallo and Lovecraft-inspired horror, with some nice special effects. If you thought John came off as a dudebro in The Kindred, I am interested to hear what you think of Professor Alan Whitmore…

The torrent on rutracker.org has both Ruski & English audio tracks, and the entire film is up on YT as well: https://www.invidio.us/watch?v=wCHdO0QZTi0

>>1932

>Do you think Amanda told the truth about Amanda’s work being her inspiration?

I thought it was a ruse at the start but I think later, I think after she's been exposed, she says something about really being inspired by her so I think she was telling the truth in that regard.

>Btw., I wonder why they decided to stick around after hearing that tape where Amanda has to calm down some eldritch horror with a lullaby. That thing did not sound friendly, and they have to know it is somewhere in the house.

They're idiots, or to be kinder, they make incredibly foolish decisions. An unfortunate trope found in many horrors.

>Somehow it got into my head that she was English too, and that she spoke with a British accent in the film.

I think it's just a rather elegant American accent.

>It does seem that an accent (British, or Russian, or any at all), is a strong indicator of being a baddie in U.S. films…

It probably ties in with that "left" marker I mentioned earlier. An exotic accent adds a sense of the unknown and hence the possibility of danger.

>Looked around for some ’80s horror, and here some are that looked interesting:

Awesome. I don't think I've seen any of these. Will check out the trailers tonight.

>>1945

I can't find a source.

>>1949

>This one is quite big (9,23 GB), but I got some great DL speed from one seeder so it didn’t take too long.

Comes up as zero seeders for me. Did find a 200MB file on wip though, and apparently there is an alternative ending. Seriously considering just buying a premium account there one day.

https://wipfilms.net/women-in-captivity-2/dead-pit/

>Is it just my imagination, or is there some /sapphic/ caressing going on at 0:58 in this trailer?

Certainly appears to tease it yes.

>>1932

Liked the Ghostkeeper trailer. Very intense.

>The Initiation

Daphne Zuniga! I was quite taken with her on Melrose Place as a kid. Will definitely have to give this one a watch just for her.

Bad Dreams looks interesting. In fact, they all look appealing. What a wonderful selection you've come up with. Spider Labyrinth looks insane! In a good way

>>1946

>I thought it was a ruse at the start but I think later, I think after she's been exposed, she says something about really being inspired by her so I think she was telling the truth in that regard.

Yeah, I must have forgotten that part; adds to the tragedy of her character and elevates hers too above most horror film characters.

>I think it's just a rather elegant American accent.

Probably the ‘trans-Atlantic accent’. It was much more common in the past, during the golden age of Hollywood. And it makes sense that she would speak in that accent since the British Miss Trunchbull is her aunt.

>>1951

>Certainly appears to tease it yes.

Even a brief moment would be interesting to see in a film from 1983. “It broke new ground!”

>>1957

The trailer for Ghostkeeper is probably a quite recent one; it seems too modern for 1981…

That said, the trailer, and the pitch reminds me of Fritt Vilt aka Cold Prey (2006), but a lot better.

The trailers for The Initiation & Hide and Go Shriek makes me think these films influenced Ryan Murphy’s Scream Queens.

The college/university setting is one of my favourites, and if it includes fraternities and/or sororities, that is the cherry on top.

Killer Workout will probably be a guilty pleasure for me, no matter how bad the film is; along with my aforementioned Kryptonite, women with 1980s hairdos, tight spandex workout wear and legwarmers is certainly another one.

Nice to see many cool films from the late ’80s that I have never even heard of, and not the typical masked horror slasher, but all kinds of different horrors.

>>1958

>women with 1980s hairdos

Did you catch the do on the chick in the Slayer trailer?

>>1959

That is some grade-A early 1980s hair. You can still see the 1970s influence there along with the fashion.

Someone over at /tv/ (tvch.moe/tv/) made a thread about Underwater (2020) starring KStew, and that reminded me that I have yet to check out these two deepsea horror films from 1989.

Especially interested in Leviathan, directed by George Cosmatos (the father of Panos Cosmatos), and starring Peter Weller, Richard Crenna, Amanda Pays(!), Daniel Stern & Ernie Hudson.

I thought the British accent sounded familiar, and though her face is somewhat obscured by the diving suit in the trailer, I just knew it was Amanda Pays. Think the British accent means she’ll be a villain in this film as well?

Leviathan (1989) Trailer: https://www.invidio.us/watch?v=HJyqe0xANnc

DeepStar Six (1989) Trailer: https://www.invidio.us/watch?v=pouTM3jqZCM

>>2237

>>2238

Just got a hold of a copy of Leviathan now, and the opening credits made me really hopeful this is a good film.

Meg Foster is in it! She played Evil-Lyn in Masters of the Universe (1987) alongside Dolph Lundgren & Frank Lagella, and her eyes are absolutely hypnotic and gorgeous.

Music is by Jerry Goldsmith, who has done tons of big films, including Alien, Poltergeist & Total Recall.

The monsters were designed by Stan Winston Studios & Ron Cobb (Dark Star, Star Wars, Alien, Conan the Barbarian, &c., &c.

I’ve got a good feeling about this!

Just noticed they included President Reagan among the movie monsters on the poster for In Search of Darkness. smhtbqh

>>2393

>How did they manage to fuck up a docu on ’80s horror?

The doc itself is ok I guess. Just talking heads the whole time. They didn't do what they said they would do with the stretch goals they hit. Like a segment on women in 80s horror. The kickstarter was an absolute mess. They sent out Chinese fake blu rays and posters were sent folded up and creased all to hell in tiny packages etc. When backers complained, they said they would replace with proper blu rays but only to those who went to a site and complained about each item. Shit show. They also did the same thing with the 80s action doc they made. Shit company. Stay away from CreatorVC Studios.

>Stuart Gordon, who directed Re-Animator (1985), From Beyond (1986), Castle Freak (1995) & Dagon (2001), died back in March.

RIP

>>2396

>They didn't do what they said they would do with the stretch goals they hit. Like a segment on women in 80s horror.

So no Barbara Crampton? I would have imagined there would be a lot of focus in the docu on women in 1980s horror tbh. The whole “final girl” trope is so prevalent, and many of these final girls are quite iconic. Seems like some think slasher films were/are “misogynistic”, but with just about every film having a final girl, and more female characters than a lot of other genres, I would have assumed the genre would be praised.

>>2397

wew! So weird seeing Amanda Bearse in this after I grew up seeing her in Married… with Children.

Saw The Gate for the first time in HD the other day. Only had it on DVD, and the quality was borderline VHS tbh. Noticed so many new details now, and I love that film more and more with each viewing. What a gem.

>>2399

They literally just had talking head after talking head referring to films in a chronological manner, starting from 1980. It's as though, once they recorded the interviews, they just stuck them together. Disappointing tbh. Can't even remember if Crampton was in it now. Pretty sure she was slated to be. There was just no organisation at all but for putting it into chronological years.

>wew! So weird seeing Amanda Bearse in this after I grew up seeing her in Married… with Children.

I know right? She's such a dag in Married… and so hot in Fright Night. Wew lad.

>Saw The Gate for the first time in HD the other day.

Nice. I watched it again a few months ago. The copy was so bad it was funny. It was fun to watch again since I hadn't seen it since childhood. It's funny what things stick in the memory. Like dancing with the dead dog. And the phone call.

Just got done with The Beast Within from 1982… there are glimpses of a good horror film sprinkled in throughout, but it is drowned out by stupid characters and a highly questionable plot. Apparently the filmmakers wanted to cash in on the recent werewolf films The Howling & An American Werewolf in London (1981) – the opening showing a rising full moon sets this up right from the start, and the basic story is very similar to the Hammer film The Curse of the Werewolf (1961) with Oliver Reed, and the Amicus film And Now the Screaming Starts! (1973) directed by Roy Ward Baker.

After a while the film is divided into “The first night”, &c., further giving off the impression of a werewolf film. But there is also a revenge story here, with Michael becoming possessed by his dead father, who was kept locked up in a root cellar and fed corpses, which in turn turned him into a monster. It doesn’t make a damn lick of sense, and the good, atmospheric scenes are soon buried under a whole heap of nonsense.

The scenes of the cops finding a mass grave out in the swamp and investigating the root cellar are terrific.

The transformation scene has to be seen to be believed. It goes on forever, and it puts the death scene in Carmilla to shame. Clearly the filmmakers took “inspiration” from John Carpenter’s The Thing, but decided to crank it up even further. The transformation scene of Windows in The Thing is pretty much ripped-off. This scene should have been heavily trimmed, and it would have been quite effective. As it is now, we have a bunch of characters reacting to a horrific, unbelievable transformation with mild surprise, yet too frightened to look away or escape while they have the chance.

If the story had been streamlined and focused more on the Lovecraftian inspirations, trimmed down the transformation, and heavily rewritten most of the characters, it could have been as enjoyable as The Kindred (1987).

>>2429

Continuing with The Three Mothers, Inferno (1980) comes next and is fully on-topic.

As a horror film it's a lot more effective than Suspiria was, incorporating some giallo elements to it. It's very entertaining and manages to keep the tension high, but gives a less satisfying ending.

In terms of lighting, it feels cheaper and more forced than the lavish Suspiria. Argento couldn't avoid making it look like a fetish of the director rather than an atmospheric thing, and it feels a lot more artificial. You get actors illuminated by regular light very often, whereas Suspiria seemed to have banished white light from its red-soaked scenes. Inferno seems to make compromises more often seen in low budget live theaters than in cinema.

The Rose-centric scenes in the first half hour are the most visceral and give us what Suspiria lacked, the rest is not quite as intense but it's still great and unrolls the mistery. To me the highlight was the underwater scene. To me the most horrific and visceral of them all, even more than the murders themselves. And the first time viewer is left wondering if Rose leaving her shoes behind has something to do with the third key.

There's a good amount of surprises and twists in the latter parts. Greatest allies that turn out to be enemies, suspicious people who turn out to not be the culprits if not innocent either.

I find the ending to be quite unsatisfying and ambiguous, despite most people's interpretation being that Mater Tenebrarum dies in the fire. Sure, the building is destroyed and she vanishes but she's vanished before, and her speech about the building burning down having happened before could be a reference to Markos' fake death or to the real one. Maybe my approach to it is a bit too Adam Wingard tier.

Just finished Curtains from 1983, and it was not at all what I was expecting. Easily the most unusual and weirdly wonderful slasher I have ever seen.

Numerous references to Italian gialli with a sort of meta framing, and a strange sense of heightened reality and masterfully crafted atmosphere all combine to make this one of the most interesting slasher/horror films.

This film must also have been one of the inspirations for Ryan Murphy’s Scream Queens. Not only visually, but some of the action is reminiscent of SQ.

>>2471

Yes, there are several statues in the mansion that reminded me of the ones in the ΚΚΤ house in SQ. The mansion is done in the Art Nouveau style, and the inside in particular, is absolutely stunning to look at.

Just finished rewatching Ti West’s The House of the Devil, and that was a blast too. Though the film was made in 2009, it is set in the 1980s, and it looks like something that could have been made back then. I haven’t seen film grain like this since Fulci’s Paura nella città dei morti viventi/The City of the Living Dead (1980) – I love it! Excellent slow and atmospheric build-up – genuinely eerie and well-handled. Then it kicks off into high gear at the end. Perhaps two of the reveals could have been pushed back a little, to the absolute mayhem towards the end, so it feels like everything comes crashing down all at once.

There is also a graveyard in the film, not far from the titular house, and that could be a reference to Fulci’s Quella villa accanto al cimitero/The House by the Cemetery (1981).

In addition to the film grain the cinematography is top notch – restrained and fitting the slowburn approach of a 1980s horror film. Writer/director/editor/actor Ti West also directed the brilliant The Innkeepers (2011), and, arguably, the best segment, Second Honeymoon, in the otherwise disappointing anthology film V/H/S (2012). That segment was also /sapphic/, making it one of three found footage films that I can think of to feature lesbians.

The House of the Devil Official HD Trailer NOW ON VOD: https://invidio.us/watch?v=z9vJF61_NLU

Shark - Rosso nell’oceano/Devil Fish/Devouring Waves (UK title) is the fourth and final Michael Sopkiw film, so I am gonna get to that one soon. The film is directed by Lamberto Bava under the pseudonym John Old, Jr., the same pseudonym he used for Blastfighter (1984). This film boasts no less than seven screenwriting credits, including Luigi Cozzi, Sergi Martino & frequent Lucio Fulci collaborator Dardano Sacchetti.

<Several boats are torn apart, badly wrecked corpses are washed ashore… something horrible is out in the Caribbean sea. The teeth marks on the bodies don’t lead to any known animal, so scientist Dr. Stella Dickens suspects it’s a so far unknown life form and strives to catch it alive. She doesn’t know yet that ruthless scientists have genetically created this creature as a bioweapon, or that it has been designed to reproduce by asexual means. And that the company she works for created the creature and will stop at nothing to keep their secret.

Devouring Waves Trailer (1984): https://invidio.us/watch?v=afU2PYUMs10

Found another Lamberto Bava film worth checking out Le foto di Gioia/Delirium: Photo of Gioia from 1987. Looks like a lewd ’80s giallo.

<A former hooker runs a successful men’s magazine. An obsessed admirer systematically slaughters her models (occasionally increasing the magazine’s output) and supplies the mistress with pictures of their disfigured corpses taken in front of her semi-nude posters visible in the background. Is she going to be the psycho’s next victim?

Delirium (Le foto di Gioia) 1987 Trailer: https://invidio.us/watch?v=nhsFTCrDuic

>>2524

I think The Rift has enough charm to make it watchable. Some of the special effects are a bit dodgy, (that toxic seaweed looked an awful lot like strands on green-coloured bubblewrap,) but most of the monsters they encounter in the cave, and that large shapeless thing attacking the submarine were quite nice-looking.

I could have done without the giant machine down in the cave changing the vegetation and fauna though – they should have made it pollution or something natural in the cave instead, ’cause that machine would have been better suited for a 1950s B-movie, not a 1980s/90s B-movie.

Amanda Pays was great in Leviathan; she added a lot to the enjoyment of the film with her portrayal. We need to check if she’s been in any more 1980s horror films like this – it could be her niche.

>>2525

The plot of Shark - Rosso nell’oceano/Devil Fish sounds similar to the Peter Benchley mini-series Creature from 1998 with Craig T. Nelson & Kim Cattrall as well; a monster hybrid developed by the U.S. military leaves behind a trail of death, and the two leads are scientists.

>>2535

>You could see the fabric weave.

Yeah, very cheeky of them to try and pull that off. Though to be fair they probably never expected people to see it in HD up close like that. I don’t think the film had a theatrical run, so people only saw it on their 4:3 CRT TV, and that probably hid a lot of the problems.

>This sounds familiar. I think it came up on /tv/ perhaps at some time. Will have to look for a copy.

Yeah, I brought it up in a thread on this board. Pretty impressive special effects for a TV mini series.

Got around to watch Prophecy (1979) yesterday; directed by John Frankenheimer & written by David Seltzer, who also wrote the novelisation, said to be superior to the film. Was pleasantly surprised by the characters in this film; there are thankfully no teenagers heading out into a cabin in the woods to party in this – all the characters are mature and, while there are some clichéd sides to them, they never go overboard.

Some familiar names/faces in the film; Talia Shire, Robert Foxworth, Richard Dysart (John Carpenter’s The Thing) & Armand Assante. I couldn’t get over how much Robert Foxworth looks like Michael Shannon – it’s uncanny, the resemblance between them.

Read online that the director was struggling with alcoholism during the shooting, but this is a very competently made film – looks beautiful, great score (and great use of silence to add to the scene as well), and it is pretty well-written for a horror film about a bear-monster running rampant. Very effective, atmospheric opening of the search/rescue team in the woods at night – natural lighting, and the sound of the wind in the trees… great stuff.

The film also does a great job setting up the remoteness of the setting – we see the characters travelling deep into the wilderness; air-plane, car, boat… with all signs of human civilisation slowly fading away completely.

The “tunnel scene” is by far my favourite, and is one of the best damn horror scenes I have seen; we see the monster appear, and some of the carnage, but once they take refuge in the tunnels we only see close-ups of the character’s face – their reactions to the horrific sounds from above. Pure brilliance!

The scene where they are using the truck to escape the woods is another brilliant scene – we get a great sense of how isolated the characters are, seeing them driving along this dirt road in the wilderness at night. The natural lighting in this scene also adds a lot to the atmosphere.

The earlier scene of the family hiking thru the woods and stopping up to listen is also a great, eerie scene – the lingering scene of the wood with just the ominous sounds of the monster in the distance builds up the mood nicely. The climax doesn’t work as well, especially coming right off those two brilliant scenes with the tunnel and the truck. The shot of the monster by the obviously fake lake, with obviously lighting, is suboptimal and reminded me of the silliness of a 1970s Godzilla film. The part where Foxworth’s character goes full on Rambo and stabs the monster with an arrow, then jumps into the lake after it and stabs it some more, is so over-the-top and silly it feels out of place in an otherwise serious film.

I think it would have been better if they showed the same cleverness and reticence of the earlier tunnel scene, and gone for a Jaws approach; only shown glimpses of the monster till the big finale, and then gone all in.

Well acted throughout, and the relationship between Shire & Foxworth was especially nice and believable – the small gestures between them worked much better than any grand declarations of love would have.

Another surprising film; The Initiation (1984), like Curtains (1983), is a very atypical slasher, and the influence on Scream Queens even more obvious. I am almost certain the exteriors/interiors of the mental institution are the same as those in The Dead Pit (1989), and there are also a few surface similarities to that film.

It is a somewhat uneven film; the good parts are really good and make it stand out, but there are parts that really could have been fixed/changed without much effort.

More attention on the characters, especially those we spend time with inside the mall; and a change from the clichéd fratboys would have been nice. Hell Night (1981) managed to give extra depth to the same character types in the exact same predicament; locked inside a building as part of the sorority’s/fraternity’s hazing of the pledges and stalked by a killer.

There are brief glimpses of more character development, but before long it quickly goes back to treating them like clichés again.

The third act is the most uneven and really could have done with some changes – it really feels contrived at times how characters manage to stay unaware of the killer picking them off one by one, especially when one murder is heard over the damn speakers. Surely there would be another exit the characters could try, or a way to open the only exit we see from within?

There are enough small “problems” like these that keep me from really loving this film. It is a damn shame, since it has a lot of good things going for it.

I think it would have been an improvement to have a more visible, masked killer instead, of the constant shots of the gloved hand. They could probably have done some more cool things with the killer given the reveal…

Nightwish (1989) stars Brian Thompson (Cobra, Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

<A professor and four graduate students journey to a crumbling mansion to investigate paranormal activity and must battle ghosts, aliens and satanic entities.

NIGHTWISH TRAILER (Sci-Fi, Horror, USA, 1989): https://invidio.us/watch?v=5V8Sy6qd2qk

Deadly Manor (1990) is a Spanish-American slasher directed by José Ramón Larraz, who directed Vampyres (1974)

<A group of teenagers take refuge in an old, deserted mansion. Soon the members of the group start turning up dead, and the teenagers realize that they're not alone in the mansion.

Deadly Manor Official Trailer HD: https://invidio.us/watch?v=GDVgTCrmh7c

Finished Nightwish earlier today, opting for the 4:3 low res version on YT: https://www.invidio.us/watch?v=GJabNUwwBhU

Along with Brian Thompson there was also another familiar face; Elizabeth Kaitan, who was in Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988). Story-wise it is rather similar to The Kindred, with a group of students staying at a remote house in California, and tunnels below the house. The special effects are pretty damn impressive for a low-budget film. Top notch stuff.

The boom mic operator (Barbara Delpuech) should get top billing. I have never seen a boom mic get this much screen-time before. Its total screen-time probably rivals that of Brian Thompson tbh. It is very distracting when that mic pops into view and stay there, mere inches above the heads of the actors and actresses.

The core idea is interesting and deserves to be explored in a film with better writing. The film references “The Butterfly Dream” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhuangzi_(book)#%22The_Butterfly_Dream%22), and the ending is pretty cool, even though you know it is coming from the very beginning, but 90% of the film is sadly not holding up. Neat special effects and a cool love-it-or-hate-it ending drowned out in a sea of nonsense where the boom mic steals the scene.

Two out of four Elder Signs – OK

Looks like Synapse Films’ Blu-ray release of The Kindred will be in time for Halloween this year: https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=17544547&postcount=90

Arrow Video is releasing Bloodtide (1982) on Blu-ray soon/now.

Blood Tide Official Trailer HD: https://invidio.us/watch?v=JHqUrYbwajU

http://wrongsideoftheart.com/2010/01/blood-tide-1982-uk-greece/

There is also a recent Blu-ray release of Pale Blood (1990), described as “[a] tense and sensual blending of supernatural mysticism and horror set in the neon tinged world of early 90s Hollywood”. Looks stunning.

>>2457

Certain scenes in Suspiria were certainly superior to a lot of what we got in Inferno, but I did like the mystery angle of Inferno better.

The sets, for the most part, were more impressive than the ballet academy in Suspiria; the large city building shows us a variety of “environments”, from the posh apartments, the seemingly labyrinthine hallways, the almost industrial look of the boiler room, the dilapidated sections with rain leaking in, and the flooded basement…

I think you are right about the “death” of Matre Tenebrarum/Mother of Darkness – it is also interesting to see how prominent rain/water and fire is in both films – “When this kind of fire starts, it is very hard to put out.”

The alchemy angle is another interesting one. I’ve recently started rereading the works of H. P. Lovecraft, and one early story is The Alchemist, a very underrated and highly Poe-inspired tale, wherein an alchemist manages to create the philosopher’s stone/elixir of life, but though he managed to overcome death, he has become like Death himself – a gaunt, sickly thin figure with a death’s-head rather than a normal head.

One thing I really liked in both Suspiria & Inferno is how Argento chose to not show the faces of Matre Suspiriorum/Mother of Sighs & the Alchemist. He very wisely keeps their faces in shadow and cuts away from them at the right time.

“Matre Tenebrarum, Matre Lacrimarum, Matre Suspiriorum ignis vestri imagine inferiorum recipiunt, animi mei deliciarum.”

Someone over on the archived IMDb boards (https://moviechat.org/tt0080923/Inferno/58c736305ec57f0478fabc02/The-Scroll-Under-The-Floorboards) gave this translation: “Mother of Darkness, Mother of Tears, Mother of Sighs, take from my mind this vision of Hell for your delirium.”

Here is my take on it: “Mother of Darkness, Mother of Tears, Mother of Sighs, fire shall remove you[r presence] from this place.”

I am certain the bit about driving the three Mothers away with fire is correct. “[A]nimi mei” could be “my soul” or “my life-force”, but according to Wiktionary “deliciarum” could mean:

<1. The corner-beam supporting an edifice

<2. A gutter

A third alternative is “a sweetheart”/“someone beloved”, but this usage is “very rare” according to Wiktionary. It seems likely the last bit is referring to the building, built by the same person who wrote the scroll.

There was something very Corman-esque about the ending; many of Corman’s Poe-adaptations ends with the house ablaze, and someone dying as the massive wooden beams come crashing down and the house collapses.

Shark - Rosso nell'oceano/Devil Fish was another enjoyable Sopkiw film by John Old, Jr. Lamberto Bava. At times it feels like watching a 1980s giallo, then it switches into fun monster/giant shark film. This film has a ton of different titles in English: Devil Fish, Monster Shark, Devouring Waves, Monster from the Red Ocean & Shark: Red in the Ocean…

I like the title Devil Fish as “devil-fish” is an archaic term for octopus, and monster is a shark/octopus hybrid + some prehistoric shark-ancestor(?).

The female lead, Dr. Stella Dickens, is played Valentine Monnier, who also was in 2019 – After the Fall of New York (1983) with Sopkiw.

The guy who plays Dr. Davis Barker manages to steal all scenes he is in. His death-scene is gloriously hammy and over the top. He certainly earned his paycheck the way he goes out. His co-worker/mistress reminded me slightly of Catherine Martell in Twin Peaks.

The guy who plays Dr. Bob Hogan could be Peter Cushing’s son – the eyes in particular are exactly like Cushing’s, and there is an overall similarity in the facial features as well.

The finale is rather anti-climatic and the monster shark doesn’t hold up. Up until the finale Bava wisely does what Jaws did, and doesn’t show much of the monster at all. The sounds and sonar dot does the work and the occasional shot of a tentacle, and the massive shape captured on the underwater cameras work really well.

The close-ups of the monster’s eyes later on looked pretty nice too. The problem is its mouth and teeth are rather goofy-looking and wholly unconvincing.

In addition to Jaws there are similarities to John Carpenter’s The Thing, and the even earlier Riccardo Freda/Mario Bava film Caltiki, il mostro immortale/Caltiki – the Immortal Monster. In fact the finale is very similar to Caltiki…; a large monster that can survive …. is being destroyed by men wielding flamethrowers at night.

Doctor West using the computer to show a model of the monster’s cells splitting up is also similar to The Thing.

Had a gander at the archived IMDb boards on moviechat.org and saw two posts claiming the film was racist: one guy was creeped out by the fact that everyone, even Sandra, who is a mulatto, has blue yes: https://moviechat.org/tt0088100/Devil-Fish/58c742706b51e905f66f3d46/did-it-creep-anyone-else-out

And to make matters worse she calls Peter “master”, and on the Seaquarium ship they have a plush toy gorilla hanging from a noose: https://moviechat.org/tt0088100/Devil-Fish/58c742706b51e905f66f3d88/Suggested-racism

Despite its somewhat disappointing finale it is a pretty damn entertaining and fun 1980s action/horror film with great music and a likeable cast.

>>2779

>The lead is played by Meg Tilly and Adam West has a cameo.

Meg started a YouTube channel not to long ago.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQw8RZAWvPwZhkZqQmQQl9w

>>2898

>Wow, how beautiful was Meg?

Top tier cute 3,14 for sure. She was perfect in the role. Her BF looked like he should be done with university, let alone high school.

Along with The Gate this could be my all-time favourite ’80s horror film. Goes to show that there is a lot more to ’80s horror than slashers. Saw some reviewers online, compare it to Gothic British horror and Hammer Horror, but one of them thought the film was boring till the finale, so I discarded his opinion.

Found the site of a chick who worked on the film; she worked on the corpses, and that girl with the toy was pretty effective. Not often you see that in horror.

Lisa's SFX Gallery: https://archive.vn/m3bTv / https://web.archive.org/web/20160305082032/http://www.lisamorton.com/sfx.html

>Did the 'mean girls' suffocate to death under the corpses?

Sure looks that way. But Raymar probably nearly drained their bioenergy, so it may not have taken much more before they died; maybe they died from fright?

Found this Norwegian VHS cover online. Of course this PG film was given a 18 rating here. Guessing the Nor title, Når de døde våkner (When the dead awaken) could be a nod to Henrik Ibsen’s 1899 play Når vi døde vågner (When We Dead Awaken).

>>2809

Noticed she made a recent video on accepting and learning to love her grey hair – maybe that will help me cope?

>>2899

>She was perfect in the role.

I loved her outfits. Too cute.

>Her BF looked like he should be done with university, let alone high school.

IKR? I assumed they were in college what with the whole fraternity/sorority thing. Then the mum

<she has to finish her homework

>wut

>this is high school?

>Found the site of a chick who worked on the film; she worked on the corpses

The corpses being re-animated and moving around remind me so much of something but I can't think what. I wonder if I saw this when I was very young.

>Noticed she made a recent video on accepting and learning to love her grey hair – maybe that will help me cope?

Very sound advice in that video. Which tells me we should resurrect the writing thread. What say you? Even if it's one sentence at a time. We could come up with something fun.

>>2902

Those jackets the Sisters wear are pretty neat too; got some Drive vibes from them.

The sort of hazing they are putting Julie thru may not have worked in a college setting; either there would be other pledges in the mausoleum with her, or it would just be her getting that kind of hazing, and that would be weird too.

It may have felt more natural without the custom jackets and them being called the Sisters, since it makes it seem like a sorority, rather than a group of friends.

>The corpses being re-animated and moving around remind me so much of something but I can't think what. I wonder if I saw this when I was very young.

If I were as pedantic as you were regarding the stars on the Cosmati Pavement/Selburose, I would make the point that the corpses are not actually reanimated. Raymar is using his telekinetic powers to move them around like puppets on strings. But I’ll take the high road on that :^)

You could do a tag search on IMDb to try and find the film you are thinking of. Would have loved to see this film as a kid.

>Which tells me we should resurrect the writing thread. What say you? Even if it's one sentence at a time. We could come up with something fun.

Sure. I am in. Been writing a lot this year; it is a great way to keep the mind occupied and focus on something else, but it doesn’t appear that anyone else finds my writings worthwhile, so it probably deserves to be stored away in a folder and forgotten.

The site is acting really strange, there must be some bug with the caching because the newest posts I'm seeing on the index page are from mid August.

Planned to get Las Brujas de Zugarramurdi off my backlog last night after Aerobicide/Killer Workout but had some delays that meant I was too exhausted to do a double feature by the time Aerobicide was over. By the way, Aerobicide is basically the retarded sister of Lucio Fulci's Murderock: uccide a passo di danza, which doesn't mean I didn't like it, though. It's just a shameless ripoff, even the murder weapon and the motivations of the killer are variants of what was seen in Fulci's film. This one is a lot less graphic on the murders, but a lot more graphic when it comes to showing T&A, shamelessly gratuitous to the point of hilarity. The ending is a lot more like an American slasher than Fulci's was, though. And when it comes to the murders themselves, it's less graphic than Fulci, probably out of budgetary concerns. Some effects in the beginning are Batman (1966 TV series) or The New Original Wonder Woman (1975) tier, which was both charming and hilarious at the same time. While it's very lustful one thing that can't be denied is that the director wanted to give eye candy to women as well, just like you get gratuitous T&A shots you also get a lot of torso shots of men flexing, both things are hilarious in how obvious they are. You don't see a guy or a woman in some shots, you only see their torso and arms. It's like a collection of creepshots at some moments. Cliches abound too, and if you analyze the movie after watching it some parts of the plot fall apart (didn't Rhonda's "partner" who was actually herself hire the detective guy? Why would she do such a thing?). Some parts are straight-out wish fulfillment. A guy (could say the hero) beats up another guy who messed with him, then a hot girl from the gym who saw the whole thing invites him for a ride on her convertible. They go to her house, have some beers and she goes inside to change her clothes. She comes out in a bathrobe and when the guy says he's gotta go do some stuff she says "you have plenty of stuff to do here", takes off the bathrobe and is seen in a bikini, then they embrace and kiss. It's like one of those dreams where you're an irresistibly cool guy and random women casually throw themselves at you in the blink of an eye, hilarious.

>>2911

>Those jackets the Sisters wear are pretty neat too; got some Drive vibes from them.

Yes, and the pink ladies in Grease

>The sort of hazing they are putting Julie thru may not have worked in a college setting;

I legit thought it was just a small college or select group kek.

Speaking of Meg, I came across a clip of Body Snatchers and she was in it! I don't remember her being in it but do remember the main actress and Elise from the Chucky series. Definitely want to watch that one again (but it's from the 90s).

>Raymar is using his telekinetic powers to move them around like puppets on strings.

Fair play.

>But I’ll take the high road on that :^)

Someone as magnificently humble as me can admit when I am mistaken.

>You could do a tag search on IMDb to try and find the film you are thinking of.

I never have much luck with that kind of thing. I tend to just come across films accidentally decades later and shout

<aha! I knew that wasn't a dream!

>Sure. I am in.

Great!

>Been writing a lot this year

Double great!

>but it doesn’t appear that anyone else finds my writings worthwhile

There are many lurkers on the internet in ratio to those that comment/interact. Have you posted stuff for anyone to see? In any case, fuck what others think.

>it probably deserves to be stored away in a folder and forgotten.

What needs to be expressed needs to be expressed. I very much doubt your writings need vaulting as much as you think. Have you seen the amount of media crap we are surrounded by on a daily basis?

>>2917

>It's as if Lara Flynn Boyle were blended with Laura Branigan

Can totally see that.

>>2918

Killer Workout

Will have to give this one a watch. I thought it was something I watch a couple of years ago at first but I think that one was Death Spa (which I honestly don't remember much of other than some of the plot and thinking it was entertaining to have a gym as the setting for crazy deaths).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HImCpzFxCg

>>2920

>wSjZjX4ShjU is the video ID, I suggest using youtube-dl and watching it with your player of choice

Danke

Finally got around to watch Fulci’s Ængima from 1987). It has that familiar Fulci atmosphere; there is a strange, sort of dreamlike or nightmarish atmosphere in his films, and it can be found in other Italian-made films set in the U.S. as well. The combination of a U.S., setting, the Italian crew/production and music and cast create this weird feeling that something is slightly off, giving everything a beautiful dreamlike quality.

Not sure if it is this dreamlike tone, but there were two scenes in particular that felt almost /sapphic/; the girl who casually caresses Eva’s lower arm when they are lounging on the bed, and then the spectacles teacher who seems almost smitten with Eva after her nervous breakdown at the dorm.

This is the least violent film I have seen by Fulci, though there are decapitations and blood enough. The scene in the hospital morgue reminded me a lot of the morgue scene in …E tu vivrai nel terrore! L'aldilà/The Beyond (1982), and it is also very reminiscent of The Dead Pit (1989) without the latter being a rip-off; it is the atmosphere and the setting – a female protagonist who has had a nervous breakdown, and we are not sure what her backstory is.

I was left with quite a few questions after the film ended, though the main story is pretty straightforward; Kathy’s spirit/soul uses Eva’s body to remain in this mortal world since she wants her revenge on the other girls and Fred the P.E. teacher. But Mary’s part in the whole matter is much harder to find out – the other girls at the school speculate who Kathy’s father could be, and Mary’s eyes turn daemonic red, as does Eva’s at one point. Is Mary using/forcing her daughter to take revenge – keeping her broken body artificially alive at the hospital long enough so her spirit (in Eva’s body) can kill those who wronged her (i.e. Kathy)? That possibility, along with the scene where Kim, one of the girls who in particular tormented Kathy, finds her boyfriend’s decapitated body in every room she looks into, is reminiscent of Mario Bava’s Operazione paura/Kill, Baby, Kill (1966), where a mother forces her daughter’s ghost to carry out a revenge on those who wronged her, and a character chases someone only to run though the same room over and over, and eventually finding out he has been chasing himself – very much like in Twin Peaks with Cooper and the doppelgänger…

Aenigma (Lucio Fulci, Italia, 1987) - Trailer: https://yewtu.be/watch?v=NKQ-j68QRjA

>>2930

Only seen Grease once, almost twenty years ago, but now that you mention it, it probably is a reference to the pink jackets in that film. If Julie’s BF in One Dark Night looked too old for high school, John Travolta looked positively ancient in that film – what on earth were they thinking, trying to pass him off as a high school student?

Christ, I thought Meg was in the Chucky series, but is her sister, Jennifer. Mind blown. Also, the ’90s is close enough to the ’80s imho tbh.

>Someone as magnificently humble as me can admit when I am mistaken.

Well played.

>I never have much luck with that kind of thing.

Same, and it is so damn annoying to not know the name of the film or song you are thinking of. Hate that feeling.

>There are many lurkers on the internet in ratio to those that comment/interact. Have you posted stuff for anyone to see? In any case, fuck what others think.

Yeah, first time in forever, and it went as well as can be expected. It was basically a challenge to see if I could continue writing a story without a fixed plot in mind from the beginning. The idea being that if I put it out there I would have an incentive to keep going. It was no doubt a bit too outré to appeal to a mainstream audience, and nothing special, but I’ve seen worse stories receive attention and praise, so that was a bit disheartening.

If I made an effort to appeal to as wide an audience as possible perhaps that would be noticed, but it’d feel like selling out.

I very much doubt your writings need vaulting as much as you think. Have you seen the amount of media crap we are surrounded by on a daily basis?

I try not to watch as little TV as possible these days. Just turning on the news is enough to ruin my day. Writing can be a nice way to cope. I think the important thing is to write something positive, happy and “feelgood” nonsense – that way you keep thinking about that happy story rather than all the depressing things going on.

>Death Spa

That one looks pretty neat. Love the neon colours/unnatural lighting, and the prospect of /fit/ women in leotards and wearing legwarmers is tempting.

The weight lifting in the trailer, and presumably in Killer Workout, made me think back to Tragedy Girls (2017).

>tfw the story continues

>>2937

It is on life-support.

>>2941

>>2944

If the film or show is interesting I do tend to look it up and check the archived IMDb forum and articles on blogs and magazines. The lunar eclipse death was pretty solid too though. You could take scenes from these two and cobble them together to make a perfect film.

There is a lot of focus on gutters in both Suspiria & Inferno; the heavy downpour and the rainwater going down the gutters. The three witches appear to manipulate the weather and cause these heavy rainfalls almost as a defence against fire.

Got done watching yet another Fulci film just now; Manhattan Baby from 1982. Knew nothing about it and was expecting another giallo, but this is horror. Very unique and weird film with the Fulci tropes. Really beautiful film. Fulci doesn’t use the unnatural lighting as much as Argento, but he manages to come up with some really clever visuals nonetheless.

The kid actor who played the annoying Bob in Quella villa accanto al cimitero/The House by the Cemetery (1981), though he is nowhere near as annoying in this. One or two other Fulci regulars show up as well, and Fulci has a small cameo as a pipesmoking doctor.

Some interesting connections to Lo squartatore di New York/The New York Ripper (1982) other than the New York City setting. The young daughter, Susie, reminds me of the young blonde hospitalised girl Susan in that film. A very similar visual of a hospitalised girl also appears in Ænigma (1987).

The film opens in Egypt, and the Egyptian theme in this film is quite unique to this horror film. Whenever you have a horror film and a connection to Egypt you always have mummies, but not in this.

Some absolutely gorgeous imagery connecting the Egypt and NYC settings and removing the borders between these places. The ancient evil cult who is still operating and carrying out their evil schemes and the NYC setting reminded me of H. P. Lovecraft’s underrated story The Horror at Red Hook. The film also alludes to cosmic horrors HPL would have appreciated.

This film, perhaps more than any other, really shows Fulci’s fascination with eyes; so many close-ups of eyes in this film, almost all of the characters have beautiful blue eyes, and it is nice to see so much emphasis on their eyes. Rather than relying on dialogue the eyes reveal what they feel or think, and it makes for a striking visual.

IMHO the brutal scene in Argento’s Profondo rosso/Deep Red (1975) where one character almost has his teeth knocked out by the killer, is much harder to sit through than any of Fulci’s eye-gouging scenes. There is a scene in this film involving nails that was also pretty damn brutal, and a scene very similar to the lengthy bat attack in Quella villa accanto al cimitero/The House by the Cemetery.

>>2979

The hardest Fulci scene to sit through is in Non si sevizia un Paperino.

I actually still have to see Una lucertola con la pelle di donna, but incidentally I had planned to see it soon. Planning on going through a lot of Sergio Martino's stuff too. My biggest problem right now is finding the time to get through the backlog. These days I'm just managing to see movies I had planned to watch since last year before the site went down and all that fuzz.

I haven't seen the others you mentioned, my experience with Fulci outside of Murderock - Uccide a passo di danza is all from the 70s (and 1969).

Glad to see you liked Sette note in nero. I bet the scene in pic related caught your attention :^).

>>2979

>lousy lesbian

Kek I thought it was going to show her being a lousy pitcher. That blonde kid is just the worst.

>This film, perhaps more than any other, really shows Fulci’s fascination with eyes; so many close-ups of eyes in this film, almost all of the characters have beautiful blue eyes, and it is nice to see so much emphasis on their eyes. Rather than relying on dialogue the eyes reveal what they feel or think, and it makes for a striking visual.

So the opposite of Amer I hope.

>>2981

>My biggest problem right now is finding the time to get through the backlog.

IKR.

Decided to check out The Return of the Living Dead from 1985 because Dan O’Bannon (Alien & The Resurrected) wrote the screenplay. Turns out he directed it as well! Not have so much fun seeing a horror comedy in ages. This is the perfect blend of horror and comedy; all too often you have characters acting like they are aware they are in a comedy, causing the overall film to suffer from it.

Here you have a dark comedy with terrific special effects, a killer soundtrack, and Linnea Quigley dancing nude in a graveyard.

Now I really wish O’Bannon had written the screenplay and directed Re-Animator… Supposedly he had added some dark comedic parts to The Resurrected (1991) as well, and he was not pleased when the studio took control and recut the film.

>>3106

You would be shocked if you knew how many classics I have not seen.

The very dark comedy helps take some of the edge off the incredibly bleak and nihilistic tone, but after the film ended I was struck by just how bleak it really was. Not only the nuclear ending, but seeing the characters constantly doing the smart thing to deal with the situation, only to have it all spiral out of control and mean nothing in the end. Then there is the part where they tie down the ½ Lady Corpse and ask her why they are killing and eating brains – her answer was pretty damn chilling. The idea that they are in constant, unbearable pain, and that only eating brains can help dull their agony for a moment is incredibly dark. Normally you have reanimated corpses who can’t feel anything and just shamble around, but here they are very intelligent, fast and they have a motivation too!

Btw., I loved how Burt just wanted to wipe the whole thing under the rug to save his business. His reaction (“Oh, shit!”) to hearing there was a walking corpse in his medical warehouse. Gotta admire that kind of passion and drive.

Interestingly there are quite a few connections and parallels to Mortuary from 2005 directed by Tobe Hooper. Hooper was originally set to direct The Return of the Living Dead.

In Mortuary you have a scene where a mortician breaks up the rigor mortis and begins to inject the embalming fluid. You also have a trio of punks heading to a graveyard to drink and have sex. The film also has a similar dark comedic tone, in sharp contrast with the very dark story. The cadavers looked really good in Mortuary, but I cannot stand the actor who plays the son/brother, and the CGI looks beyond atrocious. It is not a good film, but it managed to entertain me. With a new draft, recasting and going practical effects only, it might have been a good film.

>I secured a copy of Messiah of Evil.

Swell! I’ll rewatch it whenever you get around to it. Already got some notes written down, but this film really deserves a closer look. It is as if Argento directed a slow-burn, atmospheric Lovecraftian horror film. Reminded me of Dead & Buried (1981), written by Ronald Shusett & Dan O’Bannon, who wrote the story for Alien (1979) together, and Let’s Scare Jessica to Death (1971). There are also some interesting similarities to Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1973)…

Even the poster to Dead & Buried reminds me of Messiah of Evil.

Dead & Buried (1981) Trailer: https://yewtu.be/watch?v=8ZmlEh34unM

DEAD & BURIED (1981) HD TRAILER: https://yewtu.be/watch?v=5X0z0uCALKU

Rewatched Dead & Buried just now and this outfit was very familiar…

>>3155

Wow, it's almost the exact same as Carol's from Una lucertola con la pelle di donna. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Sure, the hat is slightly different but it's "steal her look" tier.

Just saw Brian De Palma's Body Double (1984), a film I had on my backlog for a long time. It's basically an American giallo, like Dressed to Kill. Honestly, I found it a bit underwhelming in comparison, specially given the hype around it. Some parts dragged a bit. I don't remember exactly where but at some point I felt tempted to up the playing speed. I think it was during one of the phobia scenes. The opening is genius and I love the self-conscious use of mattes and smoke that look obvious yet produce a wonderful juxtaposition. It's classic De Palma, he did something similar in Scarface (1983). The way it opens was genius and had me confused until it was clear what was going on. Had a good scare too, mainly driven by it taking me off-guard. And like some gialli, it's hard to make complete sense of the plot. There's some dreamlike ambiguity aided by non-linearity. I'm unsure of how to interpret the ending as a whole. There were also some apparent plotholes that might have been clues, like the key card. I thought it was a policeman returning it to Gloria but I guess it was someone from the alarm company giving her a new one. The Indian wouldn't have needed it because he had to have his own key but it would have given away a lot. The perp completely surprised me. As for the ending, my personal interpretation is that the coffin scene played in his head but what came after was real. I wonder how much this influenced Conspiracy Theory. Jake gets called a "conspiracy nut" here and Jerry (Mel Gibson) was rather voyeuristic, watching Alice through the blinds of her window on his way to becoming her protector.

And as gialloesque as it is, it would be stupid to ignore its number one influence: Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window. It's so obvious I won't comment further on it though.

Overall, a good film but overhyped. I can't really point out what it was but it left me unsatiated. I think it's not as visually stylish as it could have been. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't ugly. But it could have been even more stylish. And for its infamy, I didn't find it particularly scandalous. Dressed to Kill felt more scandalous to me and it was released four years before.

>>3156

It is the exact same look, even the colour is the same. Think it is an intentional homage?

Was surprised to see that Disney made this one. Bette Davis is in it, and the trailer looks very interesting, stunning posters as well. Like that it is marketed as a suspence film, rather than an outright horror.

The Watcher in the Woods (1980) Trailer Ingles: https://yewtu.be/watch?v=4tEJ_HKC_NE

This one looks really good and I love these posters. Very similar to the alternate posters for John Carpenter’s The Thing.

Mutant AKA Night Shadows Trailer {1984}: https://yewtu.be/watch?v=oXcC3dt7NsI

Never seen a Mattei film, but this one, Guardian of Hell aka The Other Hell, looks sorta interesting, and more than a little Fulci-inspired. Fulci apparently did not have a very high opinion of Mattei, and disavowed Zombi 3 in an interview; Fulci was credited with directing it, but it was actually directed by Mattei.

<At the peak of his ‘80s excess, Italian sleaze maestro Bruno Mattei – using the alias ‘Stefan Oblowsky’ – stunned audiences with THE OTHER HELL, a raging Nunsploitation shocker about a series of brutal murders in a depraved convent. And while his cinematic legacy may remain controversial, Mattei here delivers a surprisingly stylized yet undeniably blasphemous orgy of stabbings, stigmata, Satanism, sexual violence and graphic savagery that ranks among his very best. Franca Stoppi (THE TRUE STORY OF THE NUN OF MONZA), Carlo De Mejo (WOMEN’S PRISON MASSACRE) and Franco Garofalo (HELL OF THE LIVING DEAD) star in this “filthy nugget” (Mondo Digital) – written by the notorious Claudio Fragasso (RATS: NIGHT OF TERROR, TROLL 2) and featuring a score ‘borrowed’ from Goblin – newly transferred from a 35mm print discovered behind a false wall in a Bologna nunnery!

The Other Hell [Blu-ray] | Severin Films: https://web.archive.org/web/20190517161347/https://severin-films.com/shop/the-other-hell-bluray/

The Other Hell Trailer: https://yewtu.be/watch?v=bDuQyjDpyJ0

The Watcher in the Woods is one of the most interesting Disney films I have ever seen, and a damn fine horror-light/suspense thriller. Was afraid it would turn out to be a standard ghost film at one point, but then it went in a completely different direction. Even looking at the posters I got a hint that there would be something unique and special about the film, and it did not disappoint.

There are three endings to this film it turns out – the original cut of the film did not go over well with audiences and the film was pulled from theatres after a few weeks, and a new ending was shot by a different director. This new ending was the one I saw first.

Then there are two versions of the original ending – one short and one slightly longer. Can’t decide which of these I prefer, but they are far better than the ending they replaced it it, though that one is not bad either.

Got some serious flashbacks to Children of the Stones (1977) while watching this, and afterwards I found out Katharine Levy, who plays Karen Aylwood in the film, played Sandra in Children of the Stones!

Watcher in the Woods– Alternate Ending: https://www.yewtu.be/watch?v=Bkpf2IzmMVg

The Watcher in the Woods (1980) - Alternate Ending #2: https://www.yewtu.be/watch?v=nj7BTISeq7E / https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xursfv

BFI | Sight & Sound | Lost and found: The Watcher in the Woods: http://old.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/feature/49702

https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/3521/watcher-in-the-woods-the/

Melissa Joan Hart directed a made-for-TV version of the story in 2017, and I am tempted to check it out to see how it compares to the 1980/1 version(s).

>>3197

Not only is it a Disney horror film, it is undeniably a cosmic horror film! The two versions of the original ending in particular are very Lovecraftian. In the cut endings there is an actual H. R. Giger-inspired Lovecraftian eldritch abomination who shows up at the climax.

I watched the Melissa Joan Hart adaptation from 2017, and it is nothing special visually. Pretty much typical made-for-TV fair.

By far the biggest problem is that the 2017 adaptation removes the unknown Lovecraftian entity in the woods with the spirit of a plague doctor who was burned to death. Again, nothing special, but it was interesting to see another take on the story. Want to check out the book, A Watcher in the Woods, now. I expect the Lovecraftian eldritch horrors was there originally.

>To me she's always just been Sabrina (which was an admittedly fun show).

I also remember her from Clarissa Explains It All from back in the day, but, yeah, she will always be Sabrina for me as well. I got the first season on DVD a few years ago. Was fun to revisit that. Got a bunch of memories of watching that show after coming home from school. The guy who voices Salem wrote and directed the best episode in the first season, the one where Sabrina wishes things were more interesting and ends up turning everything into a real-life soap opera.

If I remember correctly she is a conservative/on the right side, which is very rare for Hollywood – at least openly.

>For me this will most likely be no movie week, tight schedules. I hate deadlines.

Just got a bunch of films off my backlog these last days.

Sleepy Hollow (1999) directed by Tim Burton, screenplay by Kevin Andrew Walker, story by Kevin Yagher

The Watcher in the Woods (1980) directed by John Hough, based on the novel A Watcher in the Woods by by Florence Engel Randall

Tenebre/Tenebrae (1982) written & directed by Dario Argento

The Watcher in the Woods (2017) directed by Melissa Joan Hart, based on the novel A Watcher in the Woods by Florence Engel Randall

Bad Dreams (1988) co-written & directed by Andrew Fleming

Bad Dreams is fucking amazing. I love it. Great performance by Jennifer Rubin from Little Witches (1996) & Richard Lynch, who I remember from God Told Me To aka Demon (1976). Bruce Abbot from Re-Animator (1985), Dean Cameron, Harris Yulin & E. G. Daily are also in it. Jennifer Rubin reminds me of Milla Jovovich, and the film is sorta similar to The Dead Pit'' (1989); a young woman with amnesia is hospitalised and there she is terrorised by a figure from her past who starts killing those around her.

Bad Dreams (1988) Theatrical Trailer: https://yewtu.be/watch?v=IB-tvXJovC4

<Lynch's distinct scarred appearance made him a popular nemesis, and he can be seen in more than 100 film and television performances. The scars came from a 1967 incident in New York's Central Park in which, under the influence of drugs, he set himself on fire, burning more than 70% of his body.[3] He spent a year in recovery, gave up drug use and ultimately began training at The Actors Studio and at the HB Studio.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Lynch

PS: if you want another audio commentary track that goes into low-budget/indie filmmaking, check out the one on God Told Me To aka Demon (1976) by Larry Cohen.

>>3202

>Tenebre/Tenebrae (1982) written & directed by Dario Argento

That one is great, I love it. The camerawork is top notch and makes it alone makes it one of the quintessential gialli in my opinion. The long crane shot and the creep camera.

It probably would make a great double-feature with Michael Mann's Manhunter, with the photographic themes going on.

Also I love Goblin's Lesbo. Listening to it right now. We had a short discussion about it with BO last year. Interestingly enough I brought up both Tenebre and La dama rossa uccide sette volte in our talks the other day, specifically the creep camera part and I mention it in my review too. Looks like it had an immense æsthetic impact on me because I talked it on my review over a year ago:

>>1527

>>1528

>>1529

Mutant aka Night Shadows is an overlooked horror/action film from 1984, and it is one worth adding to the list of 1980s horror films that are criminally underrated. This was not at all what I expected, and it kept on surprising me all throughout. It subverted my expectations in a good way. The story is a bit of a mess, and there are several massive questions left unanswered, but it was a fun ride, and the characters really make this film great. The dynamic between the two brothers, Josh & Mike, was great. Very refreshing and unusual to see two brothers who really care about each other. By far the best character is the town Sheriff. At first I thought he would be a minor character and a caricature, but they really bring him to life in the story, and what began as a comedic character, turned into a fully fleshed out human being.

The film goes really dark, and after the death of a major character it felt like it would end on a very bleak note, just like The Return of the Living Dead (1985). In fact, according to an article in Fangoria, it did end just like The Return of the Living Dead!

<I was one of the original screenwriters. The original title was THE PESTILENCE before the storyline was changed from germ warfare to toxic waste poisoning. It was filmed under the rather generic title NIGHT SHADOWS. Prior to release the title was changed to MUTANT in an attempt to mimic the success of ALIEN. I've always felt the original poster art was beautiful and atmospheric, with the airbrushed swirls in the dark sky deliberately eerie and ambiguous. The first video release from Vestron featured a bad paint-over of the image to resemble the jaws/face of a monster. Deliberately deceptive but doubtless intended to promote rentals and sales.

https://moviechat.org/tt0087796/Mutant/58c742106b51e905f66f0239/Who-else-thinks-the-title-and-cover-art-is-misleading

Article on the film in Fangoria #34 1984: https://archive.org/details/Fangoria_034/page/n11/mode/2up?

Interview with actor Wings Hauser about the film in Fangoria #36 1984: https://archive.org/details/Fangoria_036_c2c_1984_Friday_13th_final_chapter_HotPoker-Bollywox-DREGS_S/page/n21/mode/2up

Interview with director John “Bud” Cardos about the film in Fangoria #36 1984: https://archive.org/details/Fangoria_036_c2c_1984_Friday_13th_final_chapter_HotPoker-Bollywox-DREGS_S/page/n23/mode/2up

Next up I plan to check out The Titan Find aka Creature from 1985 & The Deadly Spawn from 1983. Seen parts of The Titan Find/Creature before, but it has been re-released on DVD in its original widescreen format, and hopefully the picture quality is better than the public domain versions that circulate online. Doesn’t seem to be a Blu-ray release for this one yet, which is a real shame; reading the articles about the film in Fangoria & Cinefantastique, it is obviously a film that deserved to be viewed in HD. The Skotak brothers worked on the special effects, and the gore effects sounds pretty awesome as well, so it would be suboptimal to see a dark and grainy 4:3 VHS rip of it.

Article on the film, then known as Titan Find, in Fangoria #41 1985: https://archive.org/details/Fangoria_041_c2c_1985_Torture_0daypoopoo-Bollywox-DREGS_S/page/n51/mode/2up

Review of Creature aka Titan Find in Fangoria #54 1986: https://archive.org/details/Fangoria_054_c2c_1986_Poltergeist_2_c2c_Sprout-DREGS_S/page/n17/mode/2up

http://wrongsideoftheart.com/2009/03/creature-1985-usa/

TITAN FIND (1985, AKA CREATURE): DIRECTOR’S CUT DVD | MEMORY MOVIES: https://archive.vn/6Q6E4 / http://web.archive.org/web/20201116000011/https://forthehellofitreviews.wordpress.com/2018/03/07/titan-find-1985-aka-creature-directors-cut-dvd/

US-Trailer 'Creature': https://yewtu.be/watch?v=N2ZHZyj8vrU

The Titan Find aka Creature (1984)-Original Trailer: https://yewtu.be/watch?v=HTS_DlIh3VM

https://www.dreadcentral.com/news/42008/titan-find-a-k-a-creature-finally-getting-a-proper-dvd-release/

The Deadly Spawn (1983) trailer: https://yewtu.be/watch?v=agtrqXBfiE4

The eye-catching poster for The Deadly Spawn was drawn by Tim Hildebrandt (F), who along with his brother Greg did a number of illustrations for The Lord of the Rings in the 1970s, as well as artwork for Star Wars: http://wrongsideoftheart.com/2010/05/the-deadly-spawn-1983-usa/

The original, The Gate (1987), is one of my all-time favourite ’80s horror films, and that one delved into some dark territory as well, but this once ups the ante even more – sacrificing pets to open a gate to communicate with daemons, parents struggling with alcoholism and attempted suicide… they don’t make films like this nowadays.

Wasn’t sure what to expect going in with the knowledge that it focuses on Terry who opens the titular gate again, but I think it works surprisingly well. In the first film we find out Terry has been struggling after the death of his mother, so it makes sense he would look after his dad, who is suicidal and struggling with alcoholism.

Like the original, this sequel is written by Michael Nakin & directed by Tibor Takacs, and that helps connect the two films – they have a similar, shared tone and atmosphere, and both films deal with the esoteric and sorcery and daemons. The sequel goes even deeper into the daemonology angle of it, whereas in the original it was more through bad luck and ignorance that they opened the gate, this time Terry deliberately opens the gate to make a deal with the daemons from beyond.

In this sequel our main characters are teenagers themselves, and there were some interesting Twin Peaks similarities going on. Two of the main characters come off as a bit thin and clichéd at first, but they are given depth and fleshed out more, and Moe in particular came off as more sympathetic.

I did not like it as much as the original, but it is a pretty damn solid film all around – it looks absolutely stunning, the practical effects, with one or two exceptions, look fantastic, the characters are interesting, and the tone is surprisingly dark. The story is too much of a “be careful what you wish for”/monkey’s paw story, and the ending did feel wonky, but it was a thrilling ride, well worth a watch.

<FX artist Reardon takes a similar view. “It has a cast of characters who are rather colorful young adults … It gets pretty horrific at the end, like those H.P. Lovecraft stories, with ancient demons coming back to rule the earth.”

Article on the film in Fangoria #97 1990: https://archive.org/details/Fangoria_097_c2c_1990_Night_of_the_Living_Dead_FemaleBikerSweat-DREGS/page/n29/mode/2up

Gate 2 Trailer 1992: https://yewtu.be/watch?v=AHfOJBo_l_I

>>3302

I didn't even know there was a Gate 2! Will have to see if I can find a copy.

Just watched Nightmare City (1980). Cipriani does the soundtrack. Pretty fun and gory. The characters are largely insufferable which makes watching them getting bumped off infinitely more enjoyable.

Apologies for the lack of posting lately. End of year has been crazy with marking and planning for next year.

>>3314

>I didn't even know there was a Gate 2!

That came as a surprise to me too.

Gate.2.The.Trespassers.1990.1080p.BluRay.x264-SADPANDA[rarbg]

Director Tibor Takács and special effects artist Randall William Cook also made another horror film together: I, Madman aka Hardcover from 1989. Jennifer Wright from Near Dark plays the lead!

I, Madman (1989) Trailer: https://yewtu.be/watch?v=Jr-BpaRTq8s

>Just watched Nightmare City (1980). Cipriani does the soundtrack. Pretty fun and gory. The characters are largely insufferable which makes watching them getting bumped off infinitely more enjoyable.

Sounds familiar… I see it is made by Umberto Lenzi and stars Hugo Stiglitz, and it can be seen online: https://ok(dot)ru/video/33162201711

Might check this one out.

Btw., have you seen that they are making another In Search of Darknes documentary on ’80s horror? They are asking for preorders or KickStarter support.

>Apologies for the lack of posting lately. End of year has been crazy with marking and planning for next year.

It hasn’t been the same without you. Take care Down there and try not to let the kids coof on you.

Sounds like this author could be one of the inspirations for Garth Marenghi. Someone claimed the author was a “high level executive at the BBC”

<John Halkin is the pseudonym of an unknown British author who wrote several horror novels in the 1980s for Hamlyn, most notably the “slimy” trilogy Slime, Slither, and Squelch. He also wrote Blood Worm, Fangs of the Werewolf, The Unholy, Fatal Odds, Hantu, a literary novel called Kenya, and a handful of short stories before apparently calling it quits.

http://realmsofnight.com/2015/09/02/john-halkin/

>>3368

>Slither

Wait, like the film?

>>3369

Not according to writer/director James Gunn: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slither_(2006_film)#Themes_and_influences

Here is the description of Halkin’s Slither novel on Amazon:

<From his first terrifying, bloody encounter with them Matt Parker knew they were lethal to the human race. Out of the murky sewers they suddenly attacked —snapping, biting, ripping at his flesh. After the first sensationalism had died down, the newspapers lost interest … the experts dismissed them as no more dangerous than ferrets … people started to forget.

<But Matt knew different. All the time they were growing in size and numbers — and they preyed on living flesh!

<For when they returned — slithering out of village ponds, swimming pools, even bath pipes — the fate of the British population was sealed.

<And there was no more horrifying way to die….

Hard to tell if these critters in the book look like the alien worms in the film, but check out the alternate book cover and compare it to the bathtub scene in the 2006 film… 🤔

>>3370

It is a really great teen horror dulogy, and there’s some really memorable lines in both films. There have been rumours about a third film, with Randall William Cook set to (write &?) direct at one time.

<[John:] I saw you with that freak, what’s his name.

<[Moe:] Larry.

<[Liz:] Terrence. His name is Terrence.

<[John:] ’scuse me, so he’s got a faggot’s name instead of an asshole’s name.

>>2918

Finished this one yesterday, and I had a blast watching it. The aerobics scenes and the kick-ass soundtrack alone makes it worth a watch IMHO.

>Aerobicide is basically the retarded sister of Lucio Fulci's Murderock: uccide a passo di danza

It totally is – first film I can remember where the Americans are ripping off the Italians. Fulci’s film is a masterpiece, but this film has a whole lot of charm, and it’s just so much fun! Detective Morgan has some really memorable lines in this, and it is so damn ’80s; the aerobics, leotards, hairstyles, cars, outfits, attitudes, and the slasher genre. Every 1980s cliché wrapped up into one damn enjoyable low-budget rip-off film!

>Some parts are straight-out wish fulfillment.

That not-hero is actually played by the writer/director’s brother! And they drink (diet) Pepsi in the chick’s back garden, not beer.

This film has a very weird tone to it, not unlike a lot of the Italian-made 1980s films – the characters and the dialogue feels detached from reality in a way. How on earth is still gym not shut down after the first couple of murders? People are pumping iron and dancing as the paramedics are carrying out the most recent murder victims! One of the paramedics even tell detective Morgan “see you soon!” or something along those lines as they carry out a new murder victim. That showed me the filmmakers knew how silly the whole story is and made with a wink to the audience.

>>3406

>Murderock: uccide a passo di danza

While performing a quick search to see if this too was on YT I found what appears to be a gem of a channel: GialloRealm https://www.youtube.com/c/GialloRealmOfficial/videos

>>3411

How has this channel managed to fly under the radar of the copyright?

The poster for Grotesque caught my interest, but the trailer looks meh. Linda Blair is in it though. Might just be a cameo, but still.

Grotesque Trailer 1987: https://invidious.snopyta.org/watch?v=mfenBtoqBvw

>>3569

>Terrence was an idiot like that dweeb in the Evil Dead remake.

Yeah, he really should have known better than to mess with that shit again – especially after

It might have been better if it was some new kid who heard the rumours of what happened, maybe someone who had recently moved into the house where Glen & Alex lived in the first one?

>The underworld setting near the end reminded me of a setting in one of the Hellraiser movies, can't think which one. One of the sequels I think, also with teenagers?

Loved the look of that place – so creepy and simple. I haven’t read this book yet, but from what I know about it, it sounds similar to William Hope Hodgson’s 1912 horror/fantasy novel The Night Land; it takes place millions of years into the future, after the Sun and all the stars have died out, and the entire world is a barren wasteland, lit only by the faint glow of residual vulcanism.

Haven’t seen a single Hellraiser film, but I’ve seen a clip of the second one, “Hellbound: Hellraiser II” (1988), and that might the one you are thinking of. It has that M. C. Escher-esque world and the massive shape, Leviathan, Lord of the Labyrinth, looming above it. That eerie, droning score playing over that scene supposedly contains a Morse code message: “I am God”. Here is the scene on YT: https://yewtu.be/watch?v=u2qT7GylRxw

>The father buried his son in jeans and a leather jacket? Kek.

That is pretty badass. Reminds me of the opening quote in Mandy:

<When I die

<Bury me deep

<Lay two speakers at my feet

<Wrap some headphones

<Around my head

<And rock and roll me

<When I’m dead

>Yes they were impressive. Especially the little minion in the beginning.

According to the interview in Fangoria they made a new minion suit with better articulation than the first film, and got a prima ballerina to play the role, since she’d have better body control and know how to move with the suit to make it look natural due to the proportions of the suit:

>”I made it faithful to the original miniature,” reveals Reardon. “And this was complicated to do because the proportions of that puppet, though they are definitely humanoid, are actually not human. They have a much greater spread between the shoulders than does any normal human being. Also, the elbow joint is in a slightly different place, and the legs are jointed differently too. The sculpted details of the suit don’t directly correspond to where the woman who wears the suit actually moves.”

Think Christophe Gans used dancers because of these reasons in Silent Hill (2006), such as the nurses, who had to move in a very erratic and unpredictable way and have good body control and stamina to do take after take.

>Understatement.

Do you think they originally had Terry, Moe & John die in the original ending and were forced to come up with a new ending where they come back to life?

>>3576

>The monologue by the detective is hilarious, I could see the final result from a mile lol.

After all the shenanigans thru the film I half expected Lieut. Morgan to actually kill her and get away with it. The director has done a bunch of other films too, might be something else worth checking out on his filmography too.

Found out Barbara Crampton was on the episode of Creature Features dedicated to Messiah of Evil the other day. What are the odds? The constant ads are bad enough, but by far the most annoying part is the host. He is a fucking spaz and he is doing this horror host role all thru the interview. What a waste.

Barbara Crampton & Messiah Of Evil: https://yewtu.be/watch?v=vb4hj-biIBE