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An error has ocurred. Please try againHollywood dominates my collection but only just.
International film charaterizes the other half of this list: Onibaba and Kwaidan head the Japanese entries; the 2008 vampire film "Let the Right One In" by Tomas Alfredson leads a small contingent of Scandinavian films; British horror is well represented, as are the Italians and the rest of Europe. One of my personal favorites is a Spanish horror film call "El Dia de la Bestia" directed by Alex de la Iglesia, released in 1995.
I don't much care for gore porn or torture flicks like Hostel and the Saw series, so you won't find any of that here. I do, however, include progenitors of the gore genre, like Carpenter's slasher, Halloween, the zombie films of Romero and the Italian giallos of Fulci and Argento who, in turn, were influenced by the very first gore innovator, the original Mario Bava.
I will admit some films in my collection don't qualify (they may have come in a set) but the majority make up what I feel are the best of the genre.
Enjoy.
Though "best of" is typically very subjective, my collection and resulting lists are compiled from research using many sources: rateyourmusic.com, DVD Beaver, The Criterion Collection, Second Run DVD, IMDB, Rotten Tomatoes, other film websites, various books and magazines on film, filmmaker interviews, film commentaries as well as public and private libraries. I would also add that this is in no way a complete collection. I’ve identified at least another 1000 films I’d like to add or have an interest in and there are probably several hundred more I’ve not come across as of this writing.
You can also see much of my collection through my genre lists that can be found on my profile page, here: http://www.imdb.com/user/ur4246457/?ref_=nv_usr_prof_2
Some lists are a vanity and are made for the sake of my love for film (Critically Acclaimed Jungle Movies, for example) but all were compiled to help those who are exploring, to hopefully guide their curiosity.
Many of the films have a quick note written by me, so if you're on the mobile version of this site, tap on the "i" to see what I have to say about any particular title. If you're only interested in what I have for any specific genre in my collection without that context, stay in The Filmnibus and just use the filters under the "refine list" function on the right of your screen.
I hope this list inspires you to watch films you may not have otherwise considered and be as entertained as I have been watching them.
CC = Criterion Collection; SR = Second Run DVD; KV = Kino Video; KL = Kino Lorber Studio Classics; BR = Bluray; DVD = Digital Video Disc; DC = Digital Copy; OOP = Out of Print
Reviews
Blue Beetle (2023)
Pointless trash
$104 million, flushed down the toilet. This film just made me so upset with its sheer incompetence, I felt the need to vent with a review.
The writing is egregiously lazy with no care given to character development... why would they need to? Every character is a poorly constructed copy of marginally better written ones from other films, so the writers must have assumed the audience will know them immediately. The whole script is just cobbled together from films of the same genre that had better success. People performing impossible physics, irritating screaming throughout, illogical choices made by characters to shoe-horn in story points and actions, practically plagiarized dialogue, the list of dumb goes on and on. The whole shebang felt like it was written by high school students as homework.
The acting can't really be blamed for this absolute failure, though it is rather tepid all round, with Sarandon of all people being the worst. No, the blame is on the director who, without vision, ends up selling out to producers, most of whom are only concerned about the safest way to make a buck.
Effects? It's a weird sensation to see so much action and be completely bored by it.
DC has had one real franchise success with Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy and the rest are on a sliding scale of mediocrity. The massive budget comic book genre is dead, not unlike the massive budget sword and sandal epics of the 50's and 60's. If we're lucky, as a result of this insultingly lacklustre rubbish, a new New Wave of cinema is just around the corner.
Gunpowder Milkshake (2021)
Gunpowder Milkshake 5.8/10
Excessive camera movement, jarring editing, some below par performances, questionable musical montages, fight sequences were unconvincing. Reminded me a lot of Smokin' Aces 2 in this regard.
Even though shot in apparent comic book style, the dialogue is shallow and hokey. The plot is derivative of better material, the story unremarkable and well travelled by others. There was a glimmer of hope here and there and I didn't mind the overt "Me Too" ultra-violent retribution, though its execution was ultimately borrowed material (ala John Wick, Kingsmen).
Middling action fest for teen boys and film illiterates.
The Lighthouse (2019)
Are you a dullard? Could have fooled me.
You may read among these opinions terribly miscast as "reviews" how "boring" this film is, or how "silly things" happen that "confused" the writer, or how "nothing happens". I'm here to tell you that those are wrong. Period.
Look; just because one doesn't understand the actions before them, or the meaning and cadence of 19th century English, or cannot fathom the consequences befalling characters or their predicaments, does not mean that such complaints are justifiable when clearly the issue is the inability to comprehend the material. I'm sure, for instance, that some would look on the Mona Lisa and pronounce the piece amateurish and without much to merit it's fame. This is the case regarding these misrepresentations of The Lighthouse. Every detail of this story is supported by either dialogue, action or imagery, the plot has no ambiguity, and all contrivances are derived from the environment the characters inhabit or the history they have brought with them.
*** Spoilers ***
Simply explained, this is a Promethean tale: Dafoe is the Zeusian taskmaster under the influence of the worldly and otherworldly, while Pattinson, haunted by his conscience, covets what is forbidden. However, it is much, much more than that.
Pattinson plays convincingly a godforsaken Maine transient, a timberman of late, looking for anonymity in becoming a wickie, a lighthouse keeper, and Willem Dafoe will most certainly receive the Oscar for Best Actor (if there remains any integrity in the Academy's process of selection) for his salty portrayal of the current keeper of the flame, a Protean Old Man of the Sea. While none of the sub-themes are particularly original (solitude and madness, heavy consciences), it is the telling of them that impresses viewers (after all, there are only 7 archetypal storylines, the themes of which have been visited and revisited endlessly) and Eggers proves masterful at his craft yet again.
Besides the outstanding performances from both actors, the incredible sound design fosters the idea that the lighthouse itself is alive, an unmoving, evil kaiju, not unlike Ishiro Honda's Godzilla in some regards and, coupled with another excellent unsettling Michael Korven soundtrack, gives an overwhelming sense of dread at times. The gorgeous black and white photography, filmed in Movietone ratio (1.19:1, popular in the 1920's, it was 1.33:1 that lost ratio due to a synchronized soundtrack) at once recollects German expressionism (as does the set design), and hints at the foreboding and murderousness of Fritz Lang's "M".
The film is as simple as it is complex, imaginative as it is familiar, psychological as it is physical, and every bit as entertaining as it is horrifying. I'm thrilled as can be by Mr. Eggers' storytelling and anticipate further greatness from him.
Bert Kreischer: Secret Time (2018)
Whaaaaaaat?
Who finds this peurile, lazily constructed pap funny? Well, apparently people who have never seen good comedy before and given this garbage 9 and 10 out of 10 ratings. Kreischer's silly "secret time" announcements are a form of one-liner comedy so worn out that it literally felt like I was watching a 30 year old comedy special hosted by Louis Anderson or Stephen Wright but not nearly as funny given that Kreischer is the first to laugh at his own jokes half the time. Chappelle, CK, Seinfeld, Gadsby, Silverman, Jeffries all have nothing to worry about in terms of competition from this twaddle spewing fraud who takes the lazy route, unable to craft any type of sophisticated joke and, instead, relies on being shirtless and relating unfunny personal anecdotes that he squeezes for all the forced chuckle juice he can extract that, while funny to him, inspires nothing but a kind of Inquirer-esque titillation from his "I'm-here-for-a-comedy-special-so-I'm-gonna-laugh-dammit" audience. He is, however, laughing all the way to the bank because the societal bar is so low right now or the state of worldly affairs is so traumatizing, there is no end to people who desperately want to find hilarity where there is none. What a disappointment.
A Quiet Place (2018)
It won't be in my collection
This film has so many gaping plot holes, I can't help but feel insulted that this below average movie has such an obviously manipulated high rating.
There are plenty of films I can forgive hokey premises and just go along for the ride but this has laughable, infuriatingly poor plot devices and nothing at all to back them up. When approached intelligently and made with care, you get great films like The Road, or Cloverfield, where ambiguity is an asset as opposed to a major liability as it is in this piece of garbage.
Tired, boring special effects, silly stereotypes, contrived scenarios, cheesy, unbelievable set ups, characters who are ridiculously stupid... just gawdawful rubbish.
When Hollywood tells me they're selling me gold and serve me up a steaming pile of excrement, I get quite irate and feel I should be reimbursed. After all, if I buy a toaster that ends up being crap, I'll be damn sure I get my money back. Why should it be different for movies?
Ip Man (2008)
Propaganda isn't film
This "film" is 100% fiction; there is NOTHING remotely true about it. Ip Man never had a single fight as described in the film, never lived in Fo Shan during the war (he lived in Hong Kong), did not work at any of the jobs as portrayed (his profession was as a police officer), and was persecuted not by the Japanese but by the Chinese Maoists. This is a disgrace and leads me to this question: why not make a fictional movie about a fictional character if all one is going to do is create entirely fictional accounts of a real person?
Donnie Yen is a fine actor, don't get me wrong. The action is entertaining, the plot is invigorating... but it's all a pile of pandering rubbish because of the absolute misinformation it conveys without a single disclaimer to it's veracity. I would have appreciated it as a fiction but not as shameless propaganda. There are far too many fine wuxia, kung fu and dramatic Chinese movies out there to give any credence to one that outright and completely lies to its audience: Come Drink with Me, Iron Monkey, Kung Fu Hustle, Raise the Red Lantern, The Assassin, Devils on the Doorstep, Farewell My Concubine, YiYi, A Touch of Zen to name but a few.
Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015)
Utter rubbish
One would have had to live under a rock all their lives to have not seen Star Wars: A New Hope (1977), which begs the question: why are they remaking it here? And, as is almost the case of any remake, it pales in comparison to the original. This episode lacks the pacing, the pathos, the rawness, the acting and the excitement of the first; it is dull, recycled, predictable garbage done half as well.
Instead of the producers quite obvious motivation to reintroduce the franchise to a new generation, they've succeeded in alienating the very audience that gave the franchise it's legs. So much fails in this movie: from rehashed plot to abject failure in creativity (such as developing the technologies of the stated future this movie inhabits or creating interesting new characters), I can't help but describe this whole waste of an effort in one word: LAZY. Thoroughly disappointing for any who are a fan of the original and a cookie cutter action film for any new audience.
Io la conoscevo bene (1965)
Antonio Pietrangeli's swansong is his greatest achievement
There is a scene from I Knew Her Well between Adriana (Stefania Sandrelli) and The Writer (Joachim Fuchsberger) that says a lot about the film:
The Writer: "Trouble is, she likes everything. She's always happy. She desires nothing, envies no one, is curious about nothing. You can't surprise her. She doesn't notice the humiliations, though they happen to her every day. It all rolls off her back like some waterproof material. Zero ambition. No moral code. Not even a whore's love of money. Yesterday and tomorrow don't exist for her. Even living for today would mean too much planning, so she lives for the moment. Sunbathing, listening to records, and dancing are her sole activities. The rest of the time she's mercurial and capricious, always needing brief new encounters with anyone at all... just never with herself."
Adriana: "I'm Milena, right? Is that what I'm like? Some sort of dimwit?"
The Writer: "On the contrary. You may be the wisest of all."
I couldn't encapsulate the brilliance of this incredibly well directed character essay any better.