Oktoberfest 2023

This is not a great movie, but I really love it. It always used to play on TV when I was a teenager and it's sort of cemented itself as a nostalgic film experience for me. I love the tone, I like the cast even though nobody's giving an Oscar worthy performance and I love the pacing, like I can't see anybody being bored by this movie. Objectively I would only call this like a 6/10, but personally I just love it top to bottom.

Extremely ahead of it's time, both in terms of subject matter and filmmaking. However, I think it's a bit too long. 90 minutes would've been perfect for this, because some of the scenes go on far too long. In particular the chase spectacle in the middle. Other than that I have no complaints about the film. Peter Lorre is excellent.

This was pretty much everything I want from a Giallo film. A rapid pace, great cinematography and shot composition, great editing and a fun score by Ennio Morricone. It had a great foot chase in the middle that ended in sort of an unexpected way. Sure, most of the people being murdered either had very little screentime or were kind of inconsequential to the story, but I'm not really mad about that. I mainly watch Giallo movies for the aesthetics anyway. It ended on a very strange note, though. First of all when we actually see the murderer he looks alot like old Swedish prime minister Olof Palme which made me laugh quite a bit. He injected the main character's wife with the paralyzer but never had the chance to finish the job. Our main character (Tellini) doesn't know this and goes on to strangle Olof Palme after a short scuffle. So far, so good. However, then we get an epilogue where the doctors tell him that his wife will be alright and make a full recovery. Tellini keeps acting as if she's dead. He walks out of the hospital and onto the streets of Rome leaving his old life behind and then the credits roll. This ending implies that his wife actually died and would've worked so much more if she did, but she didn't. As a result, it just leaves the audience scratching their heads. It was so fucking weird. I don't understand why they didn't go for the dark ending. I might've given the movie an 8/10 if they had. Nevertheless, I still very much enjoyed this movie. One of my favorite Giallo's for sure. Highly recommended for fans of the genre. I just hope that the rest of them I have on this list are as good, but I have a feeling they won't be.

Great sound editing, great atmospheric score, great cinematography, great performances, heavy subject matter. Not too much of a horror movie, though. It's more of a psychological drama/thriller.

This is not a horror movie.

It's a solid John Carpenter movie.

Wasn't too crazy about this movie overall. It's decent. It's very imaginative and unique, I'll give it that. It has some really cool visuals even though the green screen effects doesn't quite hold up. However, all of this is only prevelent during the scenes with the dead body. I adored those scenes, especially the first one which really drew me in. The problem is that the entire movie surrounding those scenes weren't nearly as intriguing visually. And the fact that the corpse scenes combined span for maybe 5 minutes?, when it should be the entire movie. The set up should've been 10 minutes tops, maybe 15, then the rest of the movie should've taken place inside that church with a whole bunch of weird shit happening. That way the ending wouldn't have been as anti-climactic. The titular Viy showed up for like 5 seconds to say "There he is" and then the movie ends. It's such a shame that most of this movie was spent on the less interesting stuff. Alot of people probably disagree and that's fine, but to me the movie could be summed up with two words: Missed opportunity.

I like this movie quite a bit. It might be my favorite vampire movie along with Carl Dreyer's Vampyr. It has a fantastic tone, it's really well shot, some solid performances (even though the overdubbing isn't always on point) and Popol Vuh provides a great score.

Really solid, under-appreciated and creepy little film. The acting is fantastic by everyone involved, especially Anthony Hopkins. The score is very odd and eerie - that harmonica really helps selling the unease you get whenever Fats is on screen and it's something that I didn't fully appreciate the first time I saw it. What I did appreciate back then was the "5 minutes" scene and it doesn't get any less impressive. Not only just the way the scene is executed, but also the build up to it. You're kind of on level with Burgess Meredith at that point. Even though you're aware that something's wrong, you're not quite sure how bad things are until he shows up. Then you get the centrepiece and it's one of the most perfectly paced scenes ever. The movie peaks at that point, but it's still really solid all the way through. The scene after they get off the boat is also really creepy. Same goes for the ending, specifically the shot when Anthony Hopkins is hiding behind the door. I still think I prefer the movie Pin, which is a very similar movie in concept, but I liked it alot more than I did a few years ago.

Subbed in for Blacula (1972) because I couldn't find a way to watch it.

This is going to sound really strange, but I thought this movie was too competent. As a person who loves shitty Italian B-movies I wanted this to be more like Zombie 3 or something, but it's way more well constructed than movies like that. For most people this would be an attribute and had I went into it without any expectations it might've been for me as well. Still don't know if I would've enjoyed it any more had that been the case, though. Tone is one of the most essential aspects of filmmaking for me and can be a deal-breaker if it doesn't sit well with me. The movie is listed as a comedy, but I found it to be too serious in tone for it to work. I mean, yes, it is definitely comedic in a dark twisted kind of way, I'm not denying that. I appreciate that it wasn't too overt, but I would've preferred if it had more of a "fuck it" kind of attitude. It also doesn't help that it's shot like a mid 2000's music video. Some people will enjoy that, I don't.

I really don't know what to make of this. As a Giallo, it's fine. There are so many red herrings, but whatever. The thing that breaks it for me is the fact that Barbara Bouchet's character is a pedophile and nobody acknowledges it. All of the creepy shit she does with the children is never followed up on. We don't even know if she molests that one boy or not and when she left in order for the priest to show up and murder him. They just brush over that plot point completely. I guess that the priest stalks her so that he can show up at the most convenient time. Was he trying to frame her? If so, that is never implied by anyone. In a more cleverly written script I would attribute that as intentional, but because this has as many loose ends as it has I can only assume that it wasn't thought of during the writing stage. Barbara Bouchet is also just supposed to be a red herring, but the implications leaves such a sour taste in my mouth that it throws the entirity of the movie off for me. She is completely exhonorated by the end, I couldn't believe it. I doubt that I'll forget about the movie any time soon, though.

The plot was kind of nonsensical at times, but it was hell of alot of fun and had a fantastic October atmosphere to it that I adored.

Better than 1, 2 and 8. Not better than 4. Haven't seen Freddy vs. Jason in over a decade, so I can't tell. I think I saw the remake around the time it came out, but I remember nothing about it. Haven't seen the rest. I'm going to assume that this is one of the better Friday the 13th movies. I'm not a huge fan or anything, I'm just a casual viewer of the franchise. No strong opinion either way on this particular movie. It was alright, I guess.

I'd say one of Dario Argento's best. I'm not the biggest fan of his (I hate Suspiria), so the fact that this had more of a general Giallo style to it really helped. Like, if I didn't already know that this was an Argento film I might not've figured it out. Sure, all the other Giallo filmmakers basically mimicked his style, but his style got more and more obnoxious for every film he made. Tenebre is the odd one out, but that has a more fun tone to it. While I can't say that I loved this movie overall, I did love the kills and how those scenes were executed. I kept imagining how they would've played out if he had made this 10 years later and how much the inappropriate music would ruin the tension. Fortunately for me, that wasn't the case with this movie. They felt alot more Hitchcock influenced which I really appreciated. If only Deep Red was the same... The movie has stupid moments, pointless characters and subplots, awful comic relief and whatnot, but I think that the movie's positives outweigh it's negatives enough for me to give it a recommendation.

I think that if a movie has a creepy enough tone overall, it doesn't need to do much in order to send chills down your spine. At least, that's the case for me. Because, I can't say that it's one of the scariest movies ever made or anything, but I was shivering like crazy during some of the more suspensful and intense scenes. That's quality filmmaking, in my opinion. I was hoping for one of the horror movies I watch this October to have that effect on me and this was the first one to deliver.

I really enjoyed this movie. It's not a horror movie per say, it's more of a film-noir, but it definitely has it's fair share of tension and I think that all those scenes were executed brilliantly. There's a couple of unnecessary jump scares, yes. I still don't think they ruined the scenes and what they were going for, it just felt a little awkward for a second. That's going too much into detail, though, the tension in this film is straight out of a Hitchcock movie. It's kind of like a Giallo too, except without the Giallo aesthetics, which I guess is just like any murder mystery. So, it's really nothing like a Giallo at all. There was like one close-up shot of a hand holding a knife from a low angle. Nevermind. The acting is really solid. It goes without saying that Meryl Streep did a great job, but she had a monologue in the third act that was fantastic. The camera just holds on her for the entire time as she's delivering this backstory, getting more and more emotional until you see the tears. No cuts, just pure acting. Roy Scheider is really good too. Not in that scene, he just appears in a couple of insert shots, just in general. I loved the early scenes with Roy Scheider going through his notes from the sessions he had with the Andrew Bynum guy. I loved the scene in the park. I loved the scene at the auction, although I would've loved an epilogue where he has to pay for the painting. It would completely go against the tone of the movie, but it would've been really funny. Usually movies like these clock in at about 2 hours and usually they sag a bit in the middle. Movies like What Lies Beneath, The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, Sea of Love is one that I enjoy alot, but it does suffer from that same problem. This cut out all of the fat. In and out in 90 minutes - perfect. You don't need anything else, the movie flew by, perfectly paced. I'm surprised that it has such a low score and is talked about as little as it is. It's not a fantastic movie, but for what it is I'd say that it hit its marks excellently. Except for that dummy shot at the end. That was embarassing. If this was a Giallo I would've been fine with it. However, as we've already established this is far more classy than that.

I predict that this is a movie that I'll have forgotten all about come next October. All I can say is that I hated the goddamn echo effect running throughout the entire fucking movie.

I particularly loved the cinematography and lighting in this movie. I don't think it beats the first like 20 minutes of Lisa and the Devil when it comes to my personal enjoyment, but overall I might call this my favorite movie of Mario Bava so far.

The second I came across this title and read the plot description I knew that I had to include it on this list. However, I think I watched a severely edited down version. There were so many abrupt scene transitions where I felt like a gore scene was coming up, but never did. I don't think I can give this a fair score because I feel like I missed half of the movie. Very disappointing and I can't really blame the movie for it.

The concept of this movie is far better than the movie itself, but it's still pretty good. Some of the acting isn't all that great and it kind of falls apart at the end. I think if it had been executed perfectly it would've had as legendary of a status as Scream or The Cabin in the Woods at this point.

It's not a masterpiece or anything, but I liked the sets, I liked the matte paintings and I really liked the tone and atmosphere of the movie.

Music by Ennio Morricone... What music? I don't remember hearing a single moment of instrumentation. This movie wasn't very good.

This movie is a classic for a reason.

It had it's creepy moments for sure. The way the townspeople acted made me feel a bit uncomfortable at times, which is not something I was expecting. It's not a mind blowing movie, it's not one of the greatest movies of all time. It's just a solid little atmospheric horror movie with a great pace, creepy visuals, good shot composition and a nice synthesizer score.

This is a horrors of reality kind of movie, rather than being an actual horror movie. But, I really wanted to watch it again because I hadn't seen it in quite a few years. and this has been remade as a horror movie anyway, so it kind of fits. It's a really good movie.

Quality movie overall. Mia Goth's performance is the glue that holds it all together, but it's probably the best movie Ti West has ever made in terms of filmmaking and storytelling. All the other ones I've seen are slow burners by design, but they go on for way too long, in my opinion, to the point where I've never gotten the urge to rewatch them. I can definitely see myself watching this movie again. The monologue Mia Goth delivers in the third act is acting perfection and really brought the movie home for me. That and the following scene which was also brilliantly executed. I haven't seen X, don't know if I needed to, I think this worked as a standalone film. Maybe it's intended to do so, I don't think it matters either way.

Fun bad B-movie! It has some great gore, stupid moments, terrible ADR and a decent soundtrack. Did not expect to hear White Wedding by Billy Idol in this movie, I'll tell you that much. Although, I find it hilarious that the rebellious coke snorting punks in the car were listening to Go West. Whoever dubbed the black guy deserves some kind of award for worst ADR ever. Every time he spoke it made me laugh. I loved the ending. Watch this with a group of drunk friends and you'll have a ball, if you enjoy bad movies, that is.

The fun thing about William Castle movies are the gimmicks. This had none, it was just a remake of the one from the 30's. I don't remember liking that one very much, it was okay, but I think I liked this even less.

Stuart Gordon and Brian Yuzna were two perverted sons of bitches, but the movie is very enjoyable.

I really really love this movie. I'm not going to say that it's a better movie than The Shining, the third act definitely hinders that from being possible. The "waking up the hotel" sequence is the worst part about the movie, because it's just "REMEMBER THE SHINING?". You also can't watch this movie without having seen The Shining. Sure, you might enjoy it purely for it's atmosphere or for it's good filmmaking, but you'll be completely lost in the plot and that third act will mean nothing to you. However, I am going on record with the controversial opinion that I might honeslty like Doctor Sleep more than The Shining. It may have to do with the fact that I watched The Shining SO much as a teenager. It got to the point, not that I got sick of it, but more so desensitized by it. This was the first time I've seen Doctor Sleep in 3 years (on the date actually) and I loved it even more than I remembered. Those opinions might shift in the future, maybe not, but as of right now I can comfortably say that I like Doctor Sleep better than The Shining.

Is there a better way to end the spooky month of October than with social commentary, bad acting, great gore and a movie that isn't scary at all? Perhaps, but I love this movie nonetheless. It's one of my favorite horror movies.

Happy Halloween!