What Emmanuelle Movie Did You Just Watch?

[Abraham Smashington]

#4 of 31 days of Halloween - Talk to Me

It's perfectly fine. Some decent gore that comes off pretty realistic which makes it worse to look at, but the hype for this was a bit too much. Ending saved it from being a waste of time. Also, that group of friends are all a bunch of dummies.

outta 5.

  Spoiler: spoilers 

I would be killing that cunt and her brother in a heartbeat. The main girl being selfish as fuck and fucking over the little bro was shitty. Their relationship was fucking weird. But the ending of her jumping into traffic, to her nightmare, to being the one let in was nice.

Too bad most of the stuff before made me yell at the tv "WHY?" and again based on the hype, had me bummed.

Oh well, they can't all be winners.

[Abraham Smashington]

#5 of 31 days of Halloween - The Boogeyman

This one was pretty fun all things considered such as the rating, some terrible FX in the beginning which more than make up for themselves by the end but another flick that was able to get some goosebumps outta me. Also shocked that the little girl who was in Obi-Wan (you know who) actually has acting skills now. One scene in particular got me fucking good so I would assume it's in the trailer, so go in blind if possible. outta

Also, I need one of those moon lights.

[Matt]

we did HAUNTED MANSION (2023) on D+ last night.
Not bad! Not scary in the slightest but pretty fun if you're familiar with the Disney ride. Indeed, the way that a lot of ride elements (scenes, lines of dialog, etc) were incorporated into the plot was pretty clever.
Not essential viewing by any means but entertaining enough if you set your bar low.

[Matt]

TOTALLY KILLER on Prime.
Pretty fun. Kiernan Shipka is a teenager from 2023 who accidentally gets sent back in time to 1987 where a serial killer is about to go on a killing spree. Can she stop the killer in the past and protect the future?

The film absolutely riffs on the BTTF films, both indirectly and self-referentially. To the film's credit, Shipka's character totally understands and accepts the fact that she's now in 1987 quickly and gets right to it in terms of stopping the killer. There's no 'OH MY GOD, I'M IN 1987 WHAT DO I DO' bullshit to get through. There's some good fish out of water stuff to be had, some good deaths to observe, and some decent plot twists. It has a satisfying ending too.

Don't set your bar really high and you should have a good time.

[Abraham Smashington]

#6 of 31 days of Halloween - The Nun
Another new one... I was not a fan of this character when she showed up in second Conjuring flick. In fact that's the exact moment I gave up on the enjoying anything after the original. The Warren Universe is dumb. This movie SUCKED so bad. This was the least scary movie thus far. There was a SINGLE jumpscare in a movie that is NOTHING but jumpscares. This wanted to be scary but came off lazy as fuck.


#7 of 31 days of Halloween - V/H/S/ 85
Another new flick in a series that I've dug for the most part, or at least more of the segments hit than miss. I had NO idea I missed one (V/H/S/ 99) which is apparently the WORST in the bunch but this one had the BEST wraparound in my opinion. 2-3 awesome segments and 2 completely worthless ones. The opening, VII, and the Dreamkiller was neat. On Shudder.

#8 of 31 days of Halloween - Happy Death Day
Lesley's first pick from her 5 picks and it's a great one still. Hoping we get that third one still.

Looking forward to Totally Killer, and it's on my list as another new one.

[Captain Russ]

Killer Behind the Wheel Two-fer:

The Car and Duel.

Vaguely remember seeing The Car as a kid but a lot of it was new to me--especially the end sequence and its implications being so opaque. Takes itself seriously even as the premise goes full tilt. More entertaining than I expected, and with a few old guard character actors giving solid (if brief) cameo performances. James Brolin at times has an uncanny resemblance to Christian Bale here. It's fucking weird--but not nearly as weird as Ronny Cox's sideburns.

Duel was a first for me as well. Never watched it before, always heard about it in generally high praise. It makes total sense why it occupies a bit of both areas in people's collective memory of it, as it is astounding how impressive the shot calls/camerawork/editing/stunt work are all so crystal clear and confidently captured, while also having some small drawbacks to those incredible strengths in terms of the internal monologue of the main character coming in as well as pushing for the everyman casting in Dennis Weaver. Don't get me wrong, I generally found the casting of Weaver here to be a strength in terms of story, but I can see others making a case for it being a little weak.

Entertaining in their own ways, but both are worth a look if you've never seen either or if you wanted to go back and needed a flimsy reason to do so.

On to Hyams night with The Relic and Outland.

[Timothy225]

#7 of 31 days of Halloween - V/H/S/ 85
Another new flick in a series that I've dug for the most part, or at least more of the segments hit than miss. I had NO idea I missed one (V/H/S/ 99) which is apparently the WORST in the bunch but this one had the BEST wraparound in my opinion. 2-3 awesome segments and 2 completely worthless ones. The opening, VII, and the Dreamkiller was neat. On Shudder

Watched V/H/S 99 a week or two ago, and yeah, it was AWFUL. You aren't missing anything by not watching it. Came off as a very cheap knockoff, which makes it worse, considering the story segments had some great ideas, but failed to stick the landing.


Becky (2020) - Gave this a rewatch over the weekend, as I DVR'ed the sequel which I didn't even realize was a thing. Dug this movie a bunch, performances were great, Lulu Wilson steals every scene she's in, and Kevin James was all but unrecognizable as Dominick.

  Spoiler: Seriously, Kevin James was SO good... 

He sold the shit out of his character, so much so, that when he got his final comeuppance, I was kind of hoping Becky would've fucked him up some more. One pass with the lawn mower wasn't enough.)

That this film has a sequel has was a happy discovery and has me stoked.

The Fog (1980) and Christine (1983) - quite a few John Carpenter flicks have been popping up in my TV feed, and since it's been awhile since I rewatched 'em, I figured, what the hell. Love both flicks, warts and all.

Currently have Lords of Salem (yeah, I know. I know) and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994) on the DVR hit list for this weekend.

[Matt]

we did THE FOG last night as well. It's...ok. Some good moments here and there but the plot is paper thin and the characters are even thinner. One of Carpenter's best soundtracks, though.

May tackle CHRISTINE again.

[Abraham Smashington]

Killer Behind the Wheel Two-fer:

The Car and Duel.

Vaguely remember seeing The Car as a kid but a lot of it was new to me--especially the end sequence and its implications being so opaque. Takes itself seriously even as the premise goes full tilt. More entertaining than I expected, and with a few old guard character actors giving solid (if brief) cameo performances. James Brolin at times has an uncanny resemblance to Christian Bale here. It's fucking weird--but not nearly as weird as Ronny Cox's sideburns.

Duel was a first for me as well. Never watched it before, always heard about it in generally high praise. It makes total sense why it occupies a bit of both areas in people's collective memory of it, as it is astounding how impressive the shot calls/camerawork/editing/stunt work are all so crystal clear and confidently captured, while also having some small drawbacks to those incredible strengths in terms of the internal monologue of the main character coming in as well as pushing for the everyman casting in Dennis Weaver. Don't get me wrong, I generally found the casting of Weaver here to be a strength in terms of story, but I can see others making a case for it being a little weak.

Entertaining in their own ways, but both are worth a look if you've never seen either or if you wanted to go back and needed a flimsy reason to do so.

On to Hyams night with The Relic and Outland.

Nice choices. I need to watch Duel all of the way through at some point. I remember digging what I saw of it.

[Abraham Smashington]

Movie #9: Totally Killer

Yet another brand new horror flick from our list. It's exactly what you think it is based on the trailer and if you haven't watched the trailer, skip it and just go in blind. Fun

  Spoiler: mild spoilers, shown in trailer  

Back to the Future/Bill and Ted riff

on the slasher pic. We guessed the identity of the killer right away but thankfully the killer is the weakest link in the flick. I did like the fact that they made the

  Spoiler: again, mild spoilers in trailer 

late 80s and to an extension the 90s

feel real and the main girl acted exactly how I would picture my bro's girlfriend would act in the same situation. Fun stuff.
Doesn't try to overextend and sticks the landing for the most part. Solid outta


Movie #10: 28 Weeks Later

Loved the first movie and remember hating the idea of the sequel to the point I skipped it. So, another new flick! Considering how old this is, it was crazy to see this packed with stars....now but not then. The opening is the best part overall which is a tad of a shame but the biggest shame was the terrible "day for night" shit near the end. Also, Jeremy Renner's character arc would have been something had he'd been given an actual story prior. Not the worst, not nearly the best.
outta

[Captain Russ]

28 Weeks Later really does fall apart rapidly after the initial sequence.

A lot of really strained story beats that just don't quite work regarding the new outbreak's setup and the military characters are all pretty stock--even with the cast playing them all.

But that opening is a great short film.

[Matt]

NO ONE WILL SAVE YOU.
Great first 95% of the film, terrible final 5%. We hated hated hated HATED the ending to the point that all of the good will that was earned in the prior 95% was shot out the window.

[Abraham Smashington]

Yep. Ending for me both worked (but only if the movie had explained just a biiiiiiiiiit) and was dumb. BUT I'd still watch that movie again next Halloween with no problems.

Movie # 11 for our 31 days of Halloween: PET SEMETARY - BLOODLINES

I hated the remake, the original has its moments (mostly Herman Munster) and this had me going "okayyyy, I can work with this", and then the last 20 mins of the movie happened where as soon as Spooky Mulder and the gang go into the basement and there is a giant hole and Mulder goers

  Spoiler: fucking dumb 

"I dunno, Timmy must have dug that"

it went completely, I mean COMPLETELY, down the shitter in my opinion. Never held this shit in high regard, but I was on board until that. It legit felt like they had a ton of reshoots and studio notes or something. You can tell entire plots were cut out almost completely (flashback to them as kids, but never with dialogue and only super quick), the "mud scene", etc...

and a half outta

[Abraham Smashington]

Movie #12 - The Wolfman (2010) - OOOOF. I should have stuck with my gut instinct on this one. Ooooof. Some decent FX and gore but nothing else. Benecio was miscast, Anthony Hopkins doesn't care at all, and Emily Blunt has nothing to do. Hugo Weaving is British John Mulaney. The best wolfman is still from The Monster Squad.
outta if only because I was laughing at how bad this movie is.

#13 - Friday the 13th VI: Jason Lives - Still one of the best entries and the quintessential F13 flick overall (sorry Mr. Felddog). Fun editing, stupid and fun dialogue, KIDS ARE AT THE CAMP FOR ONCE, and the beginning of "ZOMBIE" Jason which is either awesome or terrible depending on your view point. I'm in the middle overall as it should have ended with part 4 but it didn't.
outta

#14 - Stake Land - This was filled with some fun ideas and some decent setups but felt like the budget held it back. After an opening involving a family with small child I was on board instantly. Then, the sound designer decided to use a tiger growl and other random sounds that brought me out of the movie every time I heard it going forward.

15 mins before the end I turned to Lesley and said "I know you're not into this one but I'm digging it enough to give it 2.5 spookies UNLESS *REDACTED* does *REDACTED* and then it get 1.5"
No less than 10 mins later what I didn't want to happen happened BUT then one simple thing brought the movie back up a bit.
Overall outta

#15 - Dark Harvest - This flick was great. The trailer sucks compared to what this ends up being in my opinion. Go into this blind and enjoy where this goes.
Some really great visuals, characters I cared about, characters I was glad to see offed in ridiculous gory ways (and some that didn't deserve it), and has one of those great bleak horror movie endings. I've read and seen enough movies in this space where within the first 15 mins

  Spoiler: major spoilers/ending 

I knew who Sawtooth Jack was and of course it's the winners of the previous year

but there were scenes that completely CAUGHT me off guard in a great way especially one involving a lady... In a lesser director's hands, I'm pretty sure this would have been on the level of an Asylum film, visually at the very least. Some strange character choices (the cop's voice according to my wife was ridiculous), Jeremy Davies was underused unfortunately but did well with the scenes that mattered, and last I night was I ready to give this 4 spookies but I feel 3.5 is right as of this morning.

.5 outta

[Timothy225]

The Wrath of Becky - watched this over the weekend, didn't disappoint. They went a bit more comedic with this sequel, and there's a twist with the second to last kill that's a standard horror trope that really wasn't necessary, but still kind of worked. The final bits set up a potential sequel or two, which has me a stoked for more from this franchise. Lulu Wilson's somebody to watch - kid's got moxie, I tells ya!

Also, they went more professional with the way this film was shot - steadicam over hand-held like in the first film. Also learned they shot this in Scotch Plains, New Jersey (!), just over an hour from my house!