Sep 28, 2017 I decided to try to use my local library more, and have read a couple of horror books so far. Scott Smith's The Ruins was okay, but the movie was more appropriate. The book just kind of stretched things out and felt a little repetitive. Not the best writing in the world either. This right here is a brisk little read. A brutal camp slasher that doesn't shy away from having the little kids be targets. It reads like a classic in the same vein as The Burning or Sleepaway Camp. Despite how dark it's willing to get, it never feels like some dirty pervert's fantasy. It's a real story with real characters and the balls to go there. It's like RL Stine for people who like midnight movies. This one kinda reminds me of Flowers for Algernon in that it's written from the perspective of an atypical mind. Oates chillingly captures the innerworkings of a sociopath. She gives him little quirks and ticks that make it feel so authentic. Just an ice cold account. Pretty short read as well.
Sep 28, 2017 You guys ever seen Black Christmas (1974) and Salem’s Lot (1979)? Two underrated classics in my book. Also recommend The Wicker Man (1973) even though it’s not really a horror film.
Sep 28, 2017 So after eight years I finally gave in and watched Rob Zombie’s Halloween 2. The people that like this, are you being sarcastic when you say you like it? Or is there some kind of redeeming factor I’m missing? Is it so bad it’s good to some people?
Sep 29, 2017 You're not going to understand if you really think it's that worthless. I was there once too.
Sep 29, 2017 Okay well it’s unintentionally funny at various moments. Like when he’s stabbing the nurse like fifty times and when he keeps smashing the strippers face into the mirror over and over. Every character in the film is unlikable as all h--- and that includes Laurie and Dr. Loomis. Like I didn’t even care what happened to either of them. I cared about Annie though and was genuinely sad when she died. But that’s only because Danielle Harris is awesome. The white horse subplot is weird as f---. I don’t recall Michael in the original first two films needing this and I don’t see why he does now. Wasn’t him being pure evil explanation enough? Plus is he Jason Vorhees now with his mom telling him to k--- people? Also isn’t the whole point for him to k--- Laurie to reunite their family? So how does this explain him killing everyone that crosses his path? Exactly why they never should’ve given him a motive. The only thing Ill admit was good was the cinematography and editing. Some parts felt like some crazy music video. So that’s all I liked about it. Also I found Michael speaking at the end weird and out of place. “Die!” Okay so he goes that long without speaking and that’s what he says? Sorry but this film won’t grow on me. I felt like I was watching garbage. His first Halloween film I can at least see the appeal. Don’t get this one at all.
Sep 29, 2017 I've watched the first one, his 2nd one myers dies right, I think I was in my living room or something when someone was watching it. Haven't watched it in full tho just remember the beginning and the end.
Sep 29, 2017 Two of the most potent, awesome kills in slasher history, same with Annie's murder. Unlikable characters isn't a real complaint. The white horse subplot (not a subplot) being "weird" isn't one either. Your issues with motive are typical fanboy hangups. I have a summary on it ready to CTRL+V from another board but ehhhhhhh. You're looking at the movie with a completely different philosophy on cinema. You're never gonna see it when you're that high on your pedestal. It's not that I'm calling you a sheep, but you and others like you have been conditioned to only accept things at a surface level without trying to see the intent behind them, and the overwhelmingly negative response is just confirmation bias. When you see a film like H2 that's so radically different from its predecessors and contemporaries, the easy thing to do is s--- on it by comparing it with known classics and known ways of telling stories. Unintentionally funny? So bad its good? I can't work with that. They're excuses and its nonsense. Like I said, I was right there with you at one point.
Sep 29, 2017 The intercutting of Michael eating a dog and the family having dinner is one of the most profound sequences in all of cinema. Zombie working in god mode.
Sep 29, 2017 Black Christmas was really rough imo. A lot of humor that falls really flat. The glass sculpture k--- is beautiful though.
Sep 29, 2017 I would LOVE for you to copy and paste your opinion on the movie. I’m not going to s--- on your opinion as long as you accept mine. Especially when you felt the same way about the movie the first time you watched it. I’m definitely not high on my pedestal just because I didn’t like it either. Plenty to of remakes I like better than the original. Also, I think H2 is better than Curse and Resurrection so there’s that in case you think I’m just shi--ing on the movie for no reason. I also admitted the cinematography and editing were nice. Oh and seeing as how I think Babadook is phenomenal explain to me how I look at things on a surface level. Because the only way to appreciate that film is if you DONT just look at things at a surface level. I especially loved the ending to that movie which everyone blindly s----s on. Let me also point out I love The Devils Rejects so I’m not just shi--ing on Rob Zombie either.
Sep 29, 2017 I don't have a problem with the opinion itself, just your arguments and where that opinion comes from. Spoiler What probably changed the most for me is my acceptance, acknowledgement, and understanding of what it was that Zombie was trying to do. The overt, immediate trashiness that litters the original Zombieween now comes across more natural than hollow, and the ugliness filtered through both the characters and environment sells the internal darkness that everyone effected by Michael is dealing with. Its desaturated color palette magnifies our view of Laurie's state of mind as much as it augments the more surrealistic, colorful scenes when they pop up, and masking Michael in fog, grass, trees, and light (or lack thereof) returns the character to a phantomic presence for the first time since Carpenter's Halloween. The dream sequences carry this even further, toying with concepts of bloodline consciousness and the effects of violence on the subconscious mind, even filling in logic gaps with Michael's motives. Zombie stays true to the original in this sense, only with visualization over implication, and he uses Michael as a vessel for one's own demons, internal or external. There's a feeling that it's not going to end well for the Brackett household BEFORE Michael shows up, and that impending dread present from the first frame never lets up once he does. Another thing that caught me was how much of a focus Zombie puts in the details of the kills. It's not so much the stabs or acts that make them effective, but the characters reactions to them - Octavia Spencer's scream when we see her throat is slit, the yelps of the strip club owner, and Dourif after he finds Annie are prime examples of scenes that exceed at making us feel the pain without necessarily exposing us to what caused it (see also: the scars on Laurie and Annie, Laurie stumbling down the hospital stairs in a cast). I do have some issues with the Loomis arc and some filler, but H2 is unquestionably Zombie's best film. It shows a refined, purposeful approach to techniques that he's been using throughout his career (a hundred million smash cuts, the super impositions) and Zombie's affinity for white trash culture only benefits him here. Halloween II may not reinvent the slasher, but it certainly does the slasher villain, all while making it work in genre, work with character. I can't stop thinking about it. One of the best horror films of this generation, easily. Props for helping encourage me to give it another look. My love has only grown for it since. Apparently wrote this in February. I was 12-13 and had about 1500 less movies in the brain. I parroted the exact same s--- that you and others here have said about it. Lol? The Babadook isn't exactly subtle and you can absolutely enjoy it just as your average haunted house film. It wouldn't be as popular as it is if you couldn't.
Sep 29, 2017 Obviously Babadook is acclaimed. But plenty of the general public s--- on it and their main reasoning was “I wasn’t scared by it so it sucks” or “the kid was annoying” or “the ending sucks”. Trust me. Plenty of people don’t get the film at all. I’ll read your summary of H2 when I get home. Thanks for posting it.
Sep 29, 2017 That scene still haunts me. I’ll never forget that shot of his face where all you can see is his one eye.
Sep 29, 2017 Anyone seen the movie 'mother!'? I'm gonna go see it tonight, heard it's real messed up and not at all what people expect.
