What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

[Markgway]

The Prowler (1981-USA) *½
By-the-numbers slasher pic save for Savini's explicitly gory 'kills'.

[Shingster]

The Friday the 13th films didn't get better imo, you basically have 1,4 & 6 as the only "classic" Friday films that are worth bothering with, then you have the latter reinventions like Jason X & Freddy vs Jason that are fun but disposable. Everything else is pure tosh. Oh and Bay of Blood is pretty good and this coming from someone who find's many of Bavas films to be a bit of a chore!

I detest this lazy 'well we'll leave it up to the viewer to fill in the blanks' trend which neatly gets the writers out of making sense of their plot.

Leaving things unexplained is the bread & Butter of horror filmmaking, or are you one of these people who thinks Alien is a pile of shit because it doesn't explain the origins of the Xenomorph? I agree that Kill List could have done with a bit more detail, but it treats its audience like they have an imagination, which at least puts it on a higher plane than most of the horror dreck that comes out of Hollywood these days.

It's been too long since I last watched it, so can't answer those questions in spoiler tags, don't even remember if they can be answered.

You can never truly predict what someone will like.

And yet if you'd have let us know you were going to watch Thriller, I would have predicted you wouldn't like it!

[Markgway]

Valkyrie (2008-USA-Germany) ***

Gripping thriller about a German plot to blow up Hitler.

Shame they didn't succeed.

[Markgway]

The Friday the 13th films didn't get better imo, you basically have 1,4 & 6 as the only "classic" Friday films that are worth bothering with, then you have the latter reinventions like Jason X & Freddy vs Jason that are fun but disposable. Everything else is pure tosh. Oh and Bay of Blood is pretty good and this coming from someone who find's many of Bavas films to be a bit of a chore!

It's been a while since I've seen some of the FRIDAYs...
1 and 2 are flat out boring. The Savini effects (on 1) are typically realistic, but 2 was butchered by the MPAA.
3 is novel only in that it was filmed in 3D and widescreen. Otherwise meh.
4 was slightly better because Joseph Zito is a competent suspense and gore director. Still by the numbers sequential slaughter though.
5 is much maligned, but I appreciated the new setting and attempt to stray from the formula
6 is by far the best, slickly directed with a real tongue-in-cheek sensibility. This is currently the only entry I own on DVD.
7 was average, I think... I remember bits of it but not so much how I felt overall.
8 the most ambitious, though fans didn't take to it and only the last 15 mins live up to the title tease.
9 (Jason Goes to Hell) I only saw once when it first came out and thought was crap. Might need to revist some time.
10 (Jason X) did nothing for me and was silly even by this series' standards. Jason in space!!

Leaving things unexplained is the bread & Butter of horror filmmaking, or are you one of these people who thinks Alien is a pile of shit because it doesn't explain the origins of the Xenomorph?

Nah, that's not important. Who cares why the aliens exist - they're aliens!?!
Kill List is ill-thought-out and the more you think about it complete nonsense.
I really don't understand the support for this film.
There's a huge difference between mystery in origin and failure to coherently explain your plot.
In that regard Alien and Kill List are poles apart.

I agree that Kill List could have done with a bit more detail, but it treats its audience like they have an imagination, which at least puts it on a higher plane than most of the horror dreck that comes out of Hollywood these days.

Totally disagree.

It's been too long since I last watched it, so can't answer those questions in spoiler tags, don't even remember if they can be answered.

...and you don't think that's a problem?

And yet if you'd have let us know you were going to watch Thriller, I would have predicted you wouldn't like it!

How could you know? My reasons for not liking the film might be different from your reasons for assuming I might not like it. Tell me why you thought I wouldn't like it and I'll be honest and tell you if you're right.

[gasteropod]

Friday the 13th V: A New Beginning - 2/5

Meh. One girl had great breasts, and I liked Violet's body-popping scene hah.

Friday the 13th VI: Jason Lives - 3/5

I preferred part 4, but this one is fun and zombie Jason looks great.

[gasteropod]

A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors - 3.5/5
A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: Dream Master - 3/5

I had no idea this series was so imaginative, the fourth one got crazy, was like one big fever dream.

[Shingster]

...and you don't think that's a problem?

I watch a lot of films (just got through 65 films this halloween), sometimes the minor plot details descend into the fog of my mind over the course of a couple of years. I remember the main details of Kill List so it was memorable enough.

How could you know? My reasons for not liking the film might be different from your reasons for assuming I might not like it. Tell me why you thought I wouldn't like it and I'll be honest and tell you if you're right.

Because from your posts in the past it's clear that often when a film has particularly graphic scenes and/or extreme themes you completely disengage and either refuse or fail to see any artistic/intellectual merit in it. A guy who moralises over films like Martyrs is hardly going to impressed by the likes of Thriller with its hardcore sex inserts and infamous "eye slice", which used a real dead body. In some ways it's quite a grubby film.

[Markgway]

Because from your posts in the past it's clear that often when a film has particularly graphic scenes and/or extreme themes you completely disengage and either refuse or fail to see any artistic/intellectual merit in it. A guy who moralises over films like Martyrs is hardly going to impressed by the likes of Thriller with its hardcore sex inserts and infamous "eye slice", which used a real dead body. In some ways it's quite a grubby film.

I like how you use the term 'moralise' as though it left a nasty taste. At which point is it OK to judge something you deem irredeemable? I take it no film has ever went beyond the pale in your eyes? I've said it before, but for those in the cheap seats, MARTYRS is, in my most humble of opinions, a rancid excuse for gross depictions of misogynistic torture and extreme suffering 'justified' by an absurdly pretentious coda. THRILLER is nowhere near that bad. My distaste for THRILLER is less to do with gratuitous hardcore inserts - I mean, how offensive can a cock sliding into a vagina be? - and more to do with it being appallingly directed. Inept would be an understatement. Yet these examples prove that no matter how repellent a film is, no matter how crushingly terrible it is, there will always be a band of loyalists determined to defend it's artistic value.

[Markgway]

Octane (2003-UK-Luxembourg) *½

What starts out promisingly as a female variation on BREAKDOWN turns off road into the highway of the absurd (vampirism, cultism, autoeroticism, AND abortion in one nonsensical movie). The script is full of holes and WTF moments straight out of bad horror screenwriting 101.

[gasteropod]

Friday the 13th VII: The New Blood - 2.5/5

It was OK, the psychic girl brought something new to it, otherwise it was just the same again. Jason looked great though, loved his unmasked face haha.

[gasteropod]

Friday the 13th VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan - 3/5

Possibly the most entertaining of the series.

[Markgway]

Told you the series picked up (a bit).

[gasteropod]

Told you the series picked up (a bit).

Yeah it was just the first three that were boring as hell.

Lovely Molly - 2.5/5

Gloomy and not particularly worthwhile, a pretty good performance from the main actress though. Also the shot of the demon was pretty cool.

[Shingster]

I like how you use the term 'moralise' as though it left a nasty taste.

I didn't intend it to mean anything, I consider you to be fairly moralistic film fan, more so than me anyway, and there's far worse things to be than that. It just means I wouldn't be recommending films like Thriller or the infamous Cannibal films of the 70s to a fan like you.

[Markgway]

I like how you use the term 'moralise' as though it left a nasty taste.

I didn't intend it to mean anything, I consider you to be fairly moralistic film fan, more so than me anyway, and there's far worse things to be than that. It just means I wouldn't be recommending films like Thriller or the infamous Cannibal films of the 70s to a fan like you.

Fair enough, we're cool.

[gasteropod]

A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child - 2/5

Oh dear, weak all-round, but has enough creativity to make it watchable.

[gasteropod]

Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday - 3/5

LOL.

[gasteropod]

Wes Craven's New Nightmare - 3/5
Hellraiser 2 - 4/5
Hellraiser 3 - 1.5/5
Hellraiser 4 - 2.5/5

[luckystars]

Wes Craven's New Nightmare - 3/5
Hellraiser 2 - 4/5
Hellraiser 3 - 1.5/5
Hellraiser 4 - 2.5/5

How much more can you stomach lol

[gasteropod]

How much more can you stomach lol

Hehehe, I've been off work this week so just decided to tackle the old horror series that I hadn't bothered with before

[Markgway]

Blink (1994-USA) **½
Quite good thriller about a blind woman whose sight is partially restored in time to witness a murder. Cleverly plotted, suspenseful, but sometimes characters are more annoying than they should be (Madeleine Stowe's victim and Aidan Quinn's 'dick' are frustrating and abrasive throughout).

What Have They Done to Your Daughters? (1974-Italy) **½
Well directed giallo/poliziesco makes sordid subject matter (a schoolgirl prostitution ring) modestly engrossing even though plot is a bit clunky and the killer's motivation goes unexplained. Special mention must go to the melodic music score.

[grim_tales]

Hotel Transylvania: 3.5/5

I wasnt expecting much but... I rather enjoyed it Animated comedy about a hotel for monsters with some amusing dialogue (and digs at Twilight)

[Markgway]

Fear City (1984-USA) **½

Sleazy crime thriller from Abel Ferrara is actually pretty good.

[grim_tales]

Lord of the Rings: FOTR EE: 5/5

Just amazing, hard to believe it was made 11 years ago. The scope is epic, love the music, the performances and action are brilliant

[Markgway]

The Big Kahuna (1999-USA) ***
It's a pleasure to watch Kevin Spacey and Danny DeVito act their socks off in this filmed stage play.

The Contractor (2006-UK-Bulgaria) **½
Better than average DTV vehicle for Wesley Snipes, but story is let down by poor technical aspects.