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killer elevators
Nov. 8th, 2023 07:22 pmI can't believe I forgot to post even once in October lol. I feel like the whole month was a wash of anything close to productivity. Or anything at all. It's like a blank. Partially it might be from having a pretty attention hungry foster kitten but boy did it fly by.
So my lazy choice is movie talkin from the last little while.
The Loreley’s Grasp (1973) - Not like a super recommend, but I'm a sucker for an unusual mythological monster being featured (in this case the Lorelei, which I'm familiar with spelled this way but I guess both are correct). Lady is lizard and kills people, with some decent imagery for a schlocky little thing. Spanish movies from this time can be just as if not more wild than Italian ones but they're not as popular.
Deep Red (1975) - Argento does it again!! I'm glad this subgenre has picked up a lot of fans but it seems like a lot of people will like... just see Suspiria and there's a LOT of good stuff just, everywhere. Not that Deep Red is some obscure choice LOL. Classic like, digging through weird family history and a scary house (actually a fucking beautiful art nouveau mansion, the movie is worth it just for that) and great kills. I'll have to watch this one again.
The Uncanny (1977) - (I promise I did not intentionally pick 3 that are 2 years apart) A HIGH recommend. An anthology of cat-themed horror stories where even though the cats are like, killing people they like. Mostly kinda deserve it in one way or another? The second story is my favorite, mostly because the end fucking rules and is exactly what you want, instead of pussying out (I said that to be a cat pun) and trying to be all nice. I have a dream of seeing every killer cat movie and this put me closer in the best way.
Encounter of the Spooky Kind (1980) - From the Criterion hopping vampire collection--another subsubgenre I always wanted to get into, so I'm at least trying to get through the ones they put together for ease of access. This movie's hilarious; I love comedy martial arts movies and even better, it has a spooooky scary twist because there are jiangshi! And honestly, despite the comedy I think it's a surprisingly threatening spirit. I think it's the sudden, quick movements that are pretty offputting despite sounding like they'd be limited by it. I knew someone from Macau who was scared of jiangshi and I was like that's so sillyyyy but if I was a kid and saw this or the Mr. Vampire movies, I think I would've been scared too.
The Exorcist III (1990) - George C Scott!! I will watch anything with him!!! I was surprised this was good, I've mostly only heard about the second one being bad and so assumed that held true for the rest (and I am the kind of person who believes in the first movies often being best. yeah I will never see Terminator 2 you can't make me) and I was wrong. It maintains a lot of the feeling of the original, but is not a rehash other than like, there is an exorcism. Some really cool deaths too. It's not as perfect as The Exorcist, and there's a few things that I don't love, but like... to even kinda measure up as a sequel to such a highly regarded movie is amazing.
Def by Temptation (1990) - Another from the Criterion 90s Horror collection. I was very scared when the Troma logo came up (even though I've only seen two Toxic Avengers and I didn't hate them I wasn't in the mood for Troma) but it is like, a normal horror...there's some good comedic relief but it's definitely just a horror movie. Sexy vampire lady who is killing dudes (there's sort of an STI-ish allegory that doesn't really work out in the end) she picks up at a nightclub. The all black cast and black director/writer is what sets it apart and there's some cool visuals. You can tell their budget was limited and they used it well.
Witness to Murder (1954) - Starts right off the bat with the crux of the film, like, while credits are appearing: a woman looks out her apartment window and witnesses a murder. I didn't even think about it because it's been too long since I've seen it, but many people point out that this is Rear Window before that came out, with the major difference being that the protagonist being a woman absolutely changes how people treat her. George Sanders plays the really kinda sexy villain with his sexy voice but unfortunately he's a nazi so I couldn't fully love him. I also actually really liked the love interest in this movie, he and the main character make a good couple.
Salomé (1922) paired with Salome’s Last Dance (1988) - Gotta recommend because 1922 attempts to recreate some of Beardsley's art and is a nice stage-like depiction, and then Last Dance is just, I love it. Movies within movies are normal, plays within movies are cool. For something else like this, I'd recc 52's The Golden Coach.
Mr. Vampire III (1987) - More hopping vampire fun! The first Mr. Vampire was alright, it felt like a rehash of Spooky Kind, but not quite as funny, but the second one included a little kid jiangshi and it was like E.T. kid shit (I hate that movie) and I almost decided to just skip the rest. Thankfully I didn't because 3 is a return to form with more slapstick, more martial arts fights, more fun... Taoism (??). There is a little kid jiangshi again and it's a little cutesy but not to an annoying level, and there's also like a sorceress and unkillable warriors and stuff, so the story is more memorable.
The Devil’s Rain (1975) - I went "seventy-five??!!" after looking up the year. I was SURE this was mid-60s based on the acting, direction, and overall dourness. Wow. Well ok this is absolutely not a recommend other than the ending, where a whole congregation of satanists melts for like, 10 minutes. I mostly wanted to bring it up because I think Ernest Borgnine deserves to be revered in the same way as other ugly cute actors are. I'm probably really alone in this but this is my blog hahaha >:). Anyway he summons satan into him like Maya Fey, and he gets goatman prosthetics and I loved it. It's really short too so I recommend it to all other Borgheads, but like, have something to do if you put this on. Have a deep conversation for the first hour.
Dragonwyck (1946) - Sort of a wanna-be Rebecca, but not as good (and Rebecca the movie isn't as good as the book, so I wonder if the book of Dragonwyck is better). The 1840s setting is nice though; you can tell they actually tried to stick to that and did it well, if you wanna look at ~gowns~ it's a good time. Also a good time is pretty much the reason I'd recommend it: Vincent Price is so evil and sexy in this he's like a ojou-sama or a menacing yaoi seme and I love seeing it in real life. I think this would've been improved if the ending was more like Rebecca, though I won't spoil it.
A Bay of Blood (1971) - Reminder to me to watch more Bava. This is awesome, it's pretty much just a murderfest with a sorta? mystery plot? but best of all is the ending, which simply has to be experienced. I was like no way is that going to happen! and then it happened and that is always so fulfilling. There is a cool house in this one too. Sunken fireplace seating... plenty of rooms to have sex and be murdered in...
There was going to be one more but this group already has a few non-recommends, but I watched a movie about a racist horse, and now I wanna see more movies with this (possibly first) horse movie star. Rereading this I talked too much about long dead old men who I think are attractive, but that's probably just where I am in life. Weirder stuff I thought was sexy has been omitted.
So my lazy choice is movie talkin from the last little while.
The Loreley’s Grasp (1973) - Not like a super recommend, but I'm a sucker for an unusual mythological monster being featured (in this case the Lorelei, which I'm familiar with spelled this way but I guess both are correct). Lady is lizard and kills people, with some decent imagery for a schlocky little thing. Spanish movies from this time can be just as if not more wild than Italian ones but they're not as popular.
Deep Red (1975) - Argento does it again!! I'm glad this subgenre has picked up a lot of fans but it seems like a lot of people will like... just see Suspiria and there's a LOT of good stuff just, everywhere. Not that Deep Red is some obscure choice LOL. Classic like, digging through weird family history and a scary house (actually a fucking beautiful art nouveau mansion, the movie is worth it just for that) and great kills. I'll have to watch this one again.
The Uncanny (1977) - (I promise I did not intentionally pick 3 that are 2 years apart) A HIGH recommend. An anthology of cat-themed horror stories where even though the cats are like, killing people they like. Mostly kinda deserve it in one way or another? The second story is my favorite, mostly because the end fucking rules and is exactly what you want, instead of pussying out (I said that to be a cat pun) and trying to be all nice. I have a dream of seeing every killer cat movie and this put me closer in the best way.
Encounter of the Spooky Kind (1980) - From the Criterion hopping vampire collection--another subsubgenre I always wanted to get into, so I'm at least trying to get through the ones they put together for ease of access. This movie's hilarious; I love comedy martial arts movies and even better, it has a spooooky scary twist because there are jiangshi! And honestly, despite the comedy I think it's a surprisingly threatening spirit. I think it's the sudden, quick movements that are pretty offputting despite sounding like they'd be limited by it. I knew someone from Macau who was scared of jiangshi and I was like that's so sillyyyy but if I was a kid and saw this or the Mr. Vampire movies, I think I would've been scared too.
The Exorcist III (1990) - George C Scott!! I will watch anything with him!!! I was surprised this was good, I've mostly only heard about the second one being bad and so assumed that held true for the rest (and I am the kind of person who believes in the first movies often being best. yeah I will never see Terminator 2 you can't make me) and I was wrong. It maintains a lot of the feeling of the original, but is not a rehash other than like, there is an exorcism. Some really cool deaths too. It's not as perfect as The Exorcist, and there's a few things that I don't love, but like... to even kinda measure up as a sequel to such a highly regarded movie is amazing.
Def by Temptation (1990) - Another from the Criterion 90s Horror collection. I was very scared when the Troma logo came up (even though I've only seen two Toxic Avengers and I didn't hate them I wasn't in the mood for Troma) but it is like, a normal horror...there's some good comedic relief but it's definitely just a horror movie. Sexy vampire lady who is killing dudes (there's sort of an STI-ish allegory that doesn't really work out in the end) she picks up at a nightclub. The all black cast and black director/writer is what sets it apart and there's some cool visuals. You can tell their budget was limited and they used it well.
Witness to Murder (1954) - Starts right off the bat with the crux of the film, like, while credits are appearing: a woman looks out her apartment window and witnesses a murder. I didn't even think about it because it's been too long since I've seen it, but many people point out that this is Rear Window before that came out, with the major difference being that the protagonist being a woman absolutely changes how people treat her. George Sanders plays the really kinda sexy villain with his sexy voice but unfortunately he's a nazi so I couldn't fully love him. I also actually really liked the love interest in this movie, he and the main character make a good couple.
Salomé (1922) paired with Salome’s Last Dance (1988) - Gotta recommend because 1922 attempts to recreate some of Beardsley's art and is a nice stage-like depiction, and then Last Dance is just, I love it. Movies within movies are normal, plays within movies are cool. For something else like this, I'd recc 52's The Golden Coach.
Mr. Vampire III (1987) - More hopping vampire fun! The first Mr. Vampire was alright, it felt like a rehash of Spooky Kind, but not quite as funny, but the second one included a little kid jiangshi and it was like E.T. kid shit (I hate that movie) and I almost decided to just skip the rest. Thankfully I didn't because 3 is a return to form with more slapstick, more martial arts fights, more fun... Taoism (??). There is a little kid jiangshi again and it's a little cutesy but not to an annoying level, and there's also like a sorceress and unkillable warriors and stuff, so the story is more memorable.
The Devil’s Rain (1975) - I went "seventy-five??!!" after looking up the year. I was SURE this was mid-60s based on the acting, direction, and overall dourness. Wow. Well ok this is absolutely not a recommend other than the ending, where a whole congregation of satanists melts for like, 10 minutes. I mostly wanted to bring it up because I think Ernest Borgnine deserves to be revered in the same way as other ugly cute actors are. I'm probably really alone in this but this is my blog hahaha >:). Anyway he summons satan into him like Maya Fey, and he gets goatman prosthetics and I loved it. It's really short too so I recommend it to all other Borgheads, but like, have something to do if you put this on. Have a deep conversation for the first hour.
Dragonwyck (1946) - Sort of a wanna-be Rebecca, but not as good (and Rebecca the movie isn't as good as the book, so I wonder if the book of Dragonwyck is better). The 1840s setting is nice though; you can tell they actually tried to stick to that and did it well, if you wanna look at ~gowns~ it's a good time. Also a good time is pretty much the reason I'd recommend it: Vincent Price is so evil and sexy in this he's like a ojou-sama or a menacing yaoi seme and I love seeing it in real life. I think this would've been improved if the ending was more like Rebecca, though I won't spoil it.
A Bay of Blood (1971) - Reminder to me to watch more Bava. This is awesome, it's pretty much just a murderfest with a sorta? mystery plot? but best of all is the ending, which simply has to be experienced. I was like no way is that going to happen! and then it happened and that is always so fulfilling. There is a cool house in this one too. Sunken fireplace seating... plenty of rooms to have sex and be murdered in...
There was going to be one more but this group already has a few non-recommends, but I watched a movie about a racist horse, and now I wanna see more movies with this (possibly first) horse movie star. Rereading this I talked too much about long dead old men who I think are attractive, but that's probably just where I am in life. Weirder stuff I thought was sexy has been omitted.