TODAY I WATCHED... (Movies, TV) 2019

The Walking Dead

The Srangers:Prey At Night (2018)



Ridiculous sequel to the earlier surprise hit in which a family in a cross country trek stops off at an oddly vacant trailer resort park owned by relatives. Unfortunately for them, it is inhabited by the three masked assailants who kill for no reason. Man this thing had everything in it that makes modern horror so schlocky. Actually come to think of it, this played out almost like a Friday the 13th film-stupid decisions by the victims, the killers being able to appear out of nowhere and a ludicrously drawn out finale.

Today I finished the third episode of the trilogy of episodes that start the final season of Star Trek: Enterprise.  These three episodes star Brent Spiner ("Data" in SNG) as a rogue genius geneticist who's created "augmented" humans (side note:  Big Show plays an alien slave trader in the first episode of this trilogy).  Anyway, the cool part was after Spiner escapes prison, helps his "augments", turns on his "augments" after they turn murderous and is recaptured, he says he's done with experimenting with the human genome and is going to turn his genius toward "artificial lifeforms", noting that he won't be able to finish the project in his lifetime; it might take "generations".  Nice way to sort of dovetail this series into TNG.  BTW an earlier episode from season 2 also featured a nod to The Borg.

Eaten Alive (1976)



Neville Brand stars as an unhinged owner of a sleazy dilapidated hotel who has a "pet" crocodile in the swamp adjacent to the hotel. Anyone that angers the owner ends up dead and fed to the croc.
Also has a young Robert Englund (Freddy Krueger) in the cast. I was reading an article that had the 30 craziest horror/sci fi movies of the 70s and this one was on it. I had never seen it before so I decided to check it out. Pretty wild flick with some weird moments in it.

^^^^

That's Tobe Hoope flick isn't it?

It is. I believe it's the first film he did after Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

Insidious

The Goldbergs
Schooled
American Horror Story:1984

In the Bedroom

I Spit On Your Grave 2 (2013)

This was much better than it had any right to be.  Instead of the cut and dried "male=bad, female=good" formula these revenge flicks usually follow, this one is not as clear-cut.  And the acting is pretty good for the most part, there's more plot than I expected for a movie of this ilk, and the revenge scenes are satisfyingly appropriate, gory and graphic (at least in the unrated version I watched, YIKES!).

What happens to the protagonist is hard to watch but it makes what should be the even harder to watch revenge she wreaks easier to take because the bastards clearly deserve it.

Supernatural
Creepshow

"Elvira, Mistress of the Dark" (1988)

The slinky horror hostess is summoned to a stuffy, uptight town in Massachusetts, where she has inherited a creepy, crumbling old house from her long lost aunt. Naturally, her unconventional personality and 'tude makes her popular with the local teens (especially the boys) but also draws the attention of some witch-hunting yokels.
This corny gag-a-minute horror comedy isn't a great movie by any means, but it's watchable enough thanks to the charms of its leading lady (in other words, they focus on Elvira's cleavage a lot). Silly Halloween season fun.

Smackdown

"House of 1000 Corpses" (2003)

It's Halloween Eve, 1977, and four twenty-somethings on a cross-country tour of roadside weirdness get more than they bargained for when they pick up a lovely hitchhiker who takes them home to meet her demented family.
Rob Zombie's directorial debut is a loving tribute to 70s grindhouse faves like "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and "The Hills Have Eyes." It's short on plot, but it makes up for that with loads of bizarre visuals and gooey FX. Cheap, cheesy sicko fun.

^^^^^^

That's still my favorite Rob Zombie film.  And your short review nailed it; yeah, there's not a lot of plot but there sure are a TON of creepy visuals that will stay with you long after the film ends.

"Hack-o-Lantern" (aka "Halloween Night," 1988)


An awesomely awful '80s horror flick about a Satanic cult causing murder and mayhem during a small town's Halloween celebrations. There's a few good gory bits, a healthy amount of T&A, and an unexpected Metal Moment (a full music video by the forgotten hair band DC LaCroix is randomly shoehorned into a dream sequence) which almost make up for this flick's cardboard sets, wooden acting and ridiculous plot. "Hack-O-Lantern" is terrible, which means it's perfect Schlock-tober entertainment.

(Thanx to ZombieHavoc, who put this on my radar when he mentioned it in this thread earlier this month.)

Devil Times Five (1974)



Five mentally unbalanced pre teens (including Leif Garrett) survive a bus crash in the California mountains and make their way to a chalet where 6 adults are on a winter retreat. The adults promise to get the kids back to where they belong which doesn't sit too well with the murderous psychos. Light on blood but effective nonetheless.

Ben (1972)



The villainous rat from Willard survived that picture to get a sequel in which it ends up befriending a lonely boy in the neighborhood. All the while multiplying its horde into the thousands and terrorizes the community.

Haunt (2019)



A group of college aged people stumble across an extreme haunted house out in the middle of nowhere. They soon discover that this haunted house is far too real. As far as new horror stories go, this one was pretty good to me.

Body Bags (1993)



An anthology film by John Carpenter (who stars as the storyteller) that contains 3 stories. The first about a woman working in an overnight gas station with a serial killer on the loose (in Haddonfield no less), the second with Stacy Keach as a man obsessed over his thinning hair and tries a new radical treatment, with unexpected results, and the third that stars Mark Hamill as an up and coming minor league ball player who loses his eye in a car accident and receives an eye transplant. He soon starts experiencing strange visions and becomes more surly. All three are rather run of the mill takes but what sets this one apart are all the cameos, including Sam Raimi, Tobe Hooper, Greg Nicotero and Tom Arnold, not to mention a great main cast.

Coach
Wings

The Walking Dead

Badsville. Documentary type movie of the Hollywood Strip scene in the early 2000's.

Nightmare Cinema (2019)



Fun little anthology film with five stories, each done by different noted horror directors. My favorite is the first film The Thing In The Woods.

"The Purge" (2013)


In a near-future America, one night a year is set aside for the annual nationwide "Purge," in which all crime is legal for 12 hours. A wealthy family settles in for a long night behind locked doors in their gated community, but they soon learn that even their state of the art home security system is no match for a particularly determined batch of home invaders.

The political subtext of "haves vs. have-nots" in this suspense thriller is about as subtle as a sledgehammer to the forehead, but if you can get past that, you're in for some quality ultra-violence and mayhem. Followed by three sequels and a TV series

Murder Party(2007)-quirky horror/comedy about a lonely man who finds an invitation to a "Murder Party" on Halloween lying in the streets. Once he shows up, he is soon tied up and discovers that the other party guests are art students who plan on killing him as part of an art project that they hope will help get them grant money. However as the party goes on, the killers start turning on one another while the man tries to find a way to escape. This was a pretty decent little indie flick with a fairly original idea with some chuckles and light gore. I give it 2.5 out of 5.

The Goldbergs
Schooled
Modern Family

Creepshow
American Horror Story:1984