Topic: The Movie Thread

@RogerRoger I've seen it happen a few times when the antagonist of a horror film gets his just desserts. Not usually multiple times in the same movie, though!

I do have some experience with the phenomenon, though. There's an anime adaptation of the horror video game Corpse Party, and it's also super gory. A local convention a friend and I used to go to before covid would air a midnight showing of it every year and, almost without exception, someone would always run out during the grossest part. It became a rather enjoyable game scanning the crowd to see who the runner would be.

Movies I watched a couple weeks ago. Just got a PS5 in so my movie intake will probably slow down a bit from now on.

Lupin III: Mystery of Mamo (Blu-Ray)

Very first film in the Lupin III franchise, which sees the the thief's gang mixed up in the machinations of a seemingly immortal wealthy eccentric (the titular Mamo) who aims to burn down & restart civilization with a hand selected group of "superior" individuals.

It's definitely rough around the edges, especially narratively, but I still had a lot of fun with it. It's not as lusciously animated as it's followup (Castle of Cagliostro), however it does do a lot of interesting things with a lot of surreal imagery that really only works in animation, and I think the cast has a bit more personality than they did in the more famous follow up.

I've recently heard that Cagliostro is the best Lupin film for those who don't like Lupin, while Mamo is the best amongst the fan base, but as someone who has only recently watched them both, I enjoy what each of them brings to the table.

Trailer:

Slumber Party Massacre II (Tubi)

Follow up to "the Slumber Party Massacre" that sees the Courtney, the younger sister of that film's MC (Valerie) trying to survive her own, well, slumber party massacre.

I'll give it props for being a much more disturbing film than the first (at least in the buildup to the climax, whether or not there is really a threat or if she's just paranoid) with some really greusome imagery. Plus, the killer's guitar drill is a pretty cool prop.

However I think there's a simplicity to the first film that just works in a way this one doesn't. The very supernatural nature of the threat is completely at odds with the world the first movie seemed to take place in, & there's not even a token reason as to why (he's not the vengeful spirit of the first film's killer, & it's not indicated that her friend's new house is haunted, he just exists, and seems fixated on Courtney for no specific reason). Heck, even the cheesecake on display before stuff goes down is vastly inferior to what the first film offered.

There is a potential twist at the end that makes a lot of this make more sense, although also a lot more pointless.

Trailer:

Just watched that Red Notice on netflix. Not bad actually despite the poor reviews I heard it had. I enjoyed it, reminded me a bit of National Treasure

watched Critters earlier

Now Im watching Critters 2.

So I haven't watched any movies from the Halloween, Friday the 13th and Saw franchises but I recently discovered that Netflix has the 2007 remake of the first Halloween, the 2009 reboot of Friday the 13th and the first Saw movie. For those who have seen these movies, would you say that it's fine to watch Halloween (2007) and Friday the 13th (2009) as my first movie in each respective series? And is Saw worth watching?

@ltsarge for me id watch the originals where possible. i think too that saw is worth a watch. its not a huge blockbuster type, but i enjoyed it

@RogerRoger i watched Batman last night. was worth the 1.50. was a solid film, enjoyed it more than i thought.

agree with you that as bruce he was weaker. i didnt really like Alfred either. Selene, Jim, Penguin and riddler all good casting for me.

had a few minor gripes at certain scenes. overall 8/10

@stvevan Well that's the thing, I haven't seen the originals available anywhere. I've been wanting to watch these movies for a long time and I just can't find a streaming service that has them.

@LtSarge It sounds like the decision has already been made for you due to the availability of the original films, but for me most of the time the original will be the better film. But if you have no way of watching them on any of the streaming services, what are you gonna do? I say watch the remakes/reboots, and then get round to the originals when you can, as it can be fun comparing them.

I watched Saw again quite recently on 4K blu ray, and I thought it still held up really well. The sequels get steadily worse though.

@LtSarge
Yes for the Halloween reboot. I watched it for the first time earlier this month and it was fine. I don't think it will be considered anywhere close to the film classic that the original is. But it was an interesting take and I thought quite an enjoyable watch... Don't bother with the sequel to it though, that was terrible!

I was thinking about re-watching the original Saw film myself. It's definitely worth a go if you haven't seen it.

@JohnnyShoulder Well I mean, the other option would be to not watch these movies and wait for the originals to be potentially added to a streaming service in the future. But if it's not that big of a deal then I'll watch the remakes/reboots.

Ah that's good to know. I think I'll watch Saw as well then!

@sorteddan Nice, I'll watch Halloween then! It sounded fine to be because it's a remake of the original but with added story. I'll avoid the sequel to the remake, thanks!

Great, I'll add Saw to my watchlist as well!

Damn. I now I feel really old.

https://twitter.com/LWhannell/status/1586392106662141952?t=-Y...

@Kairu I remember watching it at the cinema when it first came out, and not knowing too much about I came away mightily impressed!

If I were to binge watch the series it would be over after the first film! 😂

Just got back from the pictures & was a bit disappointed tbh. Myself & my wife love horror & it’s one of the few days of the year I get to torment my brother but nothing good was on. Had to choose between Pray for the devil, Halloween ends & smile. We went with the latter but it really wasn’t that great. I’ve been excited for Pray for the Devil for a while but got talked off based on the reviews.
It surely can’t be as bad as Smile...

If anyone has Netflix I recommend ''The Ritual'' its a netflix original horror bro-flick with more of a focus on psychological and mythical horror but still has the gore moments . I gotta itch to rewatch when i have time later . last time i watched it was 2 years ago , its a really good movie that'll have you interested all the way through.

my only issue with it that i can remember was towards the end it can get...cheesy ? with the CGI ...

Got the 90's Fatal Fury OVAs on Blu-Ray recently.

Fatal Fury: Legend of the Hungry Wolf (Blu-Ray)

First saw this online sometime about 10 years ago, and decided to pick up the OVA double pack on Blu-Ray once I noticed it was available.

Based upon the fighting video game of the same name (a big competitor of Street Fighter in it's time), it very much feels like the standard martial arts flick of the time (although anime'd up a bit, obviously). Not that that's a bad thing, as while it's not the deepest story, it's good cheesy fun (I especially liked the faux "Arnie" German accent the big bad had, a theme that carries over to the followup as well). Only thing holding it up is that there's no Mai yet, lol.

Fatal Fury 2: the New Battle (Blu-Ray)

Watched on the Blu-Ray double pack (with the first OVA).

I feel about this one a lot like how I felt about the first. It's no masterpiece, but good cheesy anime martial arts fun. I don't think the core story is quite as tight as it was in it's predecessor (though that's not terribly important for a film like this), however I'll rate it a tad higher as I believe the art/animation seems to be slightly improved (and because Mai makes her appearance, naturally).

Trailer for both (couldn't find a remastered one):

@RogerRoger What's your thoughts on JP3? I rarely see it discussed. I didn't think it was that forgettable personally but did suffer from a case of sequelitus in terms of having to raise the stakes (Spinosaurus and how Alan Grant could all of a sudden speak Raptor language).

Also the Fifth Element I totally agree. All over the place but I'd say it's a fun and daft movie.

@RogerRoger Your discussion of The Fifth Element brings back some memories. It’s a movie I’ve only seen once many years ago, I was pretty young at the time and so I only have vague impressions in my mind, mostly of the art design and style. I barely remember any story beats other than the big reveal about what ‘the fifth element’ actually was. And I remember Bruce Willis of course, given his knack for stealing a scene.

I’ve often been tempted to rewatch it as an adult but for some reason have never pulled the trigger when I’ve seen it scroll across whatever streaming service it happens to be on during a random browse. In my mind, it’s a little step-sister to Blade Runner and when I rewatched that as an adult a couple years ago, I came away with similar mixed feelings that you just described. Your thoughts are much appreciated, as I think I’ll probably continue to just leave it alone and preserve the jumbled nostalgia in my mind, since it looks like a second viewing of it would only complicate my opinion further. 😄