Horror Movies Thread

[AlexanderMBush]

 

[belloq87]

If you're a fan of the franchise, EVIL DEAD RISE absolutely delivers.

 

[CoryLevy91]

Evil Dead Rise is an absolute blast and one hell of a ride through the world of deadite hack and slash! It tows a great line between the unrelenting brutal terror of Fede Alverez's vision and the more overtly slapstick style of Raimi's more influential Evil Dead 2.

Rise is just so well crafted with true love and passion for the lore and iconography of Evil Dead. I love that world so much I'm absolutely biased but what Lee Cronin, Alyssa Sutherland, Lilly Sullivan and the rest of the cast and crew bring in Rise is a fresh, full-throated, full of heart trip into blood soaked glee. Switching the story up from young adults in a cabin in the woods to a pair of sisters fighting for their own lives and the lives of their children in a soon to be demolished apartment high rise brings fresh themes of motherhood and guardianship as well as new environments for the deadites to play in.

As of now my only major complaint is the 'bookends' of the film:

Spoiler: Spoilers For Beggining and Ending of Evil Dead Rise

The unattached beginning and ending of the film, which features... a group of young adults at a cabin in the woods being undone by the Evil Dead is wholly unnecessary and screams like a studio exec note that we needed to see some horror action within the first five minutes of the film. I enjoyed the twist of the POV forces shot to start the film and that main title splash is pretty damn glorious but those are the only saving graces of that detached opening and ending.

The weirdest part is they have a built in prologue they could have shown that connects to the rest of the film: they could have easily shown a few minutes of the priests who produced the records Danny plays to unleash the forces fighting amongst each other. Even just the one priest hiding in the basement while we hear the carnage being wrought above him would have made for a solid opener.

That small blemish aside Rise is a great addition to the franchise that proves there are plenty of stories to tell with deadites that don't revolve around the cabin or Ash. I'm hoping it'll be less than 10 years before we see another entry and as long as they give the reigns to talented, passionate filmmakers and keep the blood running, there's no reason why this franchise can't be super successful.

 

[TheCodeMan95]

Saw EDR on Saturday night. It was an absolute blast.

Perfect blend of terror and humor - there were some moments that had the ENTIRE theater cringing and groaning. Can't wait to see what Cronin could bring to the franchise again!

 

[Allison]

Now that Scream 6 is streaming I finally got to watch it and I really enjoyed it! I did miss the original characters, but it definitely wasn’t my least favorite of the franchise.

 

[TheCodeMan95]

Now that Scream 6 is streaming I finally got to watch it and I really enjoyed it! I did miss the original characters, but it definitely wasn’t my least favorite of the franchise.

It's funny - I actually didn't miss Sidney nearly as much as I thought I would.

I'd honestly be perfectly fine with them moving forward with the Core 4!

 

[CoryLevy91]

Since seeing Rise I've been grappling with how I'd rank the franchise overall since I love each and every one of the films. As it stands I think my ranking would probably go:

1. Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn
2. Evil Dead (2013)
3. The Evil Dead (1981)
4. Evil Dead Rise
5. Army of Darkness

Likely going to catch Rise again this coming weekend and it honestly has a chance of surpassing the original for #3. EDII and the re-imagining are perfect films for me. I can never not appreciate the grueling terror the cast and crew actually went through making the original and what a landmark in horror history it is. Rise and AoD are just super fun rides and I think Army probably comes last just because it has the least amount of horror in it, though it never skimps on the style at all.

 

[Allison]

It's funny - I actually didn't miss Sidney nearly as much as I thought I would.

I'd honestly be perfectly fine with them moving forward with the Core 4!

I agree, I think they did a good job building up those characters as opposed to in 5 where they didn’t really feel that important to the story, like glorified background characters. I just have a soft spot for the original cast.

 

[belloq87]

Since seeing Rise I've been grappling with how I'd rank the franchise overall since I love each and every one of the films. As it stands I think my ranking would probably go:

1. Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn
2. Evil Dead (2013)
3. The Evil Dead (1981)
4. Evil Dead Rise
5. Army of Darkness

Likely going to catch Rise again this coming weekend and it honestly has a chance of surpassing the original for #3. EDII and the re-imagining are perfect films for me. I can never not appreciate the grueling terror the cast and crew actually went through making the original and what a landmark in horror history it is. Rise and AoD are just super fun rides and I think Army probably comes last just because it has the least amount of horror in it, though it never skimps on the style at all.

I rank them like this:

THE EVIL DEAD
EVIL DEAD 2
EVIL DEAD
EVIL DEAD RISE
ARMY OF DARKNESS

It's a testament to the strength of the series that even the one I rank fifth is a movie I like a lot.

 

[TheCodeMan95]

I agree, I think they did a good job building up those characters as opposed to in 5 where they didn’t really feel that important to the story, like glorified background characters. I just have a soft spot for the original cast.

Oh, I do too - I get it! I have a Ghostface tattoo so I have a similar love for the franchise!

 

[CoryLevy91]

I rank them like this:

THE EVIL DEAD
EVIL DEAD 2
EVIL DEAD
EVIL DEAD RISE
ARMY OF DARKNESS

It's a testament to the strength of the series that even the one I rank fifth is a movie I like a lot.

They're all just damn good at the least and they're all full of heart and passion behind the cameras. It's something so radically different from almost every other horror franchise out there. You can put Evil Dead up against any other and it can go toe to toe in terms of quality over the entire span of the franchise.

 

[belloq87]

They're all just damn good at the least and they're all full of heart and passion behind the cameras.

That's part of the reason that I put the first at the top. While the rest are more technically advanced, the pure willpower and ingenuity on display in that first movie is tremendously inspiring.

 

[belloq87]

THE POPE'S EXORCIST is not very good... but Russell Crowe is kind of a blast to watch in it. Fun performance, mediocre movie.

 

[Allison]

I stumbled upon a movie last night, on Prime, called The House on Mansfield Street. As predictable as it was I was pleasantly surprised by how creepy it turned out to be, too. If you’re into found footage, I’d give it a watch.

 

[Rideguy70]

The 2011 French film Livid (which has been notoriusly hard to find) is finally available on Shudder. While made by the same people as Inside, it's way more on the atmospheric ghost story side. In terms of plot, it's pretty problematic (there's a lot of really dumb character decisions that make no sense, and the ending is pretty nonsensical as well), but the mood, style, look, and feel of the film still make it worthwhile to me. Also, who doesn't like a scary ballet teacher and possessed ballet students?

 

[Tobias]

They're all just damn good at the least and they're all full of heart and passion behind the cameras. It's something so radically different from almost every other horror franchise out there. You can put Evil Dead up against any other and it can go toe to toe in terms of quality over the entire span of the franchise.

Honestly, agreed! For any horror franchise it can be rather hard keeping a solid quality throughout its span, but Evil Dead has held up incredibly well. Just look at Army of Darkness, while it's the most light-hearted and the PG-13 one of the bunch, it's still a very fun watch and at least for me and several others, it's been a gateway film for the series!

And something that I feel has helped the series is the sheer fact it's absolutely bonkers. Through carnage, silliness, "SplatStick", the films have a nice bit of freedom to lean in whatever direction and it still fits with the series. Not many horror franchises have succeeded with that kind of variability.

 

[belloq87]

Deep cut recommendation for everyone: THE HAUNTING OF JULIA aka FULL CIRCLE, from 1977. Recently released on 4K by Scream Factory (it never had DVD or Blu-ray releases prior).

Equally frightening and sad, it's an intensely chilling ghost story fixated -- like many such tales -- on what grief, loss, and guilt can do to people. It would be a particularly good companion piece to THE CHANGELING and DON’T LOOK NOW in that regard. It’s not all just metaphorical, though; there is a strong amount of proper spookiness in here, and when it’s finally revealed just what the source and motive of the paranormal menace is, the answer is deeply unsettling.

Mia Farrow turns in what is possibly her finest performance (it’s an extremely sensitive and sympathetic piece of work from her), and Richard Loncraine’s direction effectively conjures a strong mood. There’s also a melancholy, beautiful score from Colin Towns that is the perfect pairing for the particular tone of the picture.

It’s a very dark, grim story that unfolds at a methodical pace, so one needs to be in the proper mindset for it, but if you are... you’ll be rewarded with a memorable gut-punch of a finale. It’s one of those genre gems that fell through the cracks for a while, but it will hopefully be rediscovered now that it’s been restored in 4K, because it deserves a bigger following.

Just look at Army of Darkness, while it's the most light-hearted and the PG-13 one of the bunch, it's still a very fun watch

It's genuinely funny to me that the MPAA initially slapped ARMY OF DARKNESS with an NC-17 rating (presumably as petty retribution for EVIL DEAD 2 not being submitted for a rating; it was released unrated) when it's easily the most kid-friendly of the series.

 

[TheCodeMan95]

Since we're doing deep cut recommendations..

You all need to watch Summer of '84. I went into it thinking it was just going to be a Stranger Things ripoff, but is it not... at all.

Imagine Stranger Things, Stand By Me, and Disturbia all had a .. really messed up baby.

 

[Allison]

I did a rewatch of Horror in the High Desert and then went on to Horror in the High Desert 2 and I liked them, but I didn’t love them. The second one I felt kinda “…that’s it?” at the end of and the first I felt like the part I found most intriguing, to me, was the final tape.

 

[belloq87]

I did a rewatch of Horror in the High Desert and then went on to Horror in the High Desert 2 and I liked them, but I didn’t love them. The second one I felt kinda “…that’s it?” at the end of and the first I felt like the part I found most intriguing, to me, was the final tape.

There's a third film that's already completed, so I suspect that's the reason 2 sort of just ends. It's the middle movie.