Horror Movies Thread

[Brian G.]

Sure. Obvious spoilers Spoiler: Spoiler to anyone else reading...but I don't think Alice was the only victim of abuse in the family. If we're talking about the rest of the family, I felt, even though it wasn't as overt as with the eldest son, that it was pretty much implied that the abuse started with the father in the family (could also go further with the mother's father being neglectful too...), hence the cycle of generational abuse. You can see it in the behaviors in the dinner scene, obviously the dad is possessed by a Deadite at this point but at least in the beginning it seemed like nobody was all that shocked by some of his aggressive behaviors like they'd sort of been there before to an extent..and it would also explain why the wife felt compelled to let him back in via her denial/enabling plus the whole "without my family, I am nothing" mindset. This could also explain why the youngest son was so paralyzed to do anything when you'd expect him to take action when his girlfriend was being hurt because you could argue he had a freeze (trauma) response.

IMO, I don't think the film develops those ideas enough for them to support some of the characters' actions. There are moments when I can genuinely believe the trauma influenced a decision, and other times when it still feels like the plot requires characters to behave a certain way.

Also, is not one phone line available?

I just wish the movie had spent more time exploring those family dynamics because I think that's the most interesting part of the film. Instead, it seems to rush to the next gore scene.

I can't fathom being a horror fan and being bored by Burn when I was literally grinning ear to ear at the madness ensuing.

More for me then!

I'm glad it worked for you.

I just need more than gore and kills to stay invested, and the characters never really clicked for me.

 

[Bigskinny0310]

The dinner scene I think gave a full depiction of each character in the movie.

 

[AvoidTIMtation]

We watched Backrooms last night. I can confidently say its a movie that was made, it had actors and a director and some crew members setting up everything and holding cameras and whatnot

 

[rageofthegods]

Based on the novel Incidents Around the House. Trailer was playing before The Odyssey.

Looks good!

 

[Cwoolboy]

It's Ti West, so I'm assuming this will lean more into the horror aspects of the classic tale. Most excited to see Depp back on the big screen. He's done his time in actor jail, time to set him free !

 

[rageofthegods]

I'm sorry, I've liked West's movies in the past but this looks terrible.

 

[Brian G.]

I'm late, but Obsession was great. Fantastic acting, especially with facial expressions, by Inde Navarrette.

 

[pumpkinbot343]

The rest of the songs of the Freddy’s Greatest Hits album is more hokey and so bad it’s good, but this song is an honestly lit piece of moody 80s synth.

 

[Cwoolboy]

I saw Ice Cream Man. Here are my thoughts.

Let’s address the AI controversy first. There is indeed a moderate amount of AI used throughout the movie, both in animated sequences and live-action ones. I counted at least 15 shots that might have used AI (I only counted 2 kills that might have used AI. Most of the kills seem to rely on practical effects. It has been confirmed AI was used for the animated sequences and for a flashback scene, so the rest is speculation) . When the AI is there, it’s there for literally seconds at a time, but it sticks out like a sore thumb. This flick was clearly made on a very low budget, but that’s still not an excuse.

As for the quality of the film itself… it’s pretty bad. Eli Roth’s Ice Cream Man plays like an uninspired riff on The Crazies, but with homicidal ice cream crazed kids murdering all the adults in their town. It feels like one of those fake trailers that played before Grindhouse. There is no story or character development and the acting sucks across the board.

Eli Roth gets a supporting role as the dad of our main kid. He’s mostly featured in a needless dinner scene that exists solely for padding. Charles Zeltzer is Jared, our lead. Like the rest of the actors, he’s not a great but is likable enough. Dylan Hawco plays Chris, our dime-store dim-witted Zach Effron who isn’t given much to do but be a romantic interest for one of our leads.

Ari Millen as the mute Ice Cream Man (and no, we are never given a reason for why he doesn’t speak) is one of the only actors/characters with some presence. He is given a lame and weird backstory, but it’s never explained what he does to the ice cream to curse it (yes, the ice cream is literally cursed or demonic. The characters say this out right in the third act). It also doesn’t help that he isn’t given much to do. Charlie Storey as Piper, one of the Ice Cream kids is the only other character/actor with a bit of presence.

The kills are entertaining enough, but that’s really all the film has going for it. The screenplay by Eli Roth and Noah Belson is painfully sub-par as well (I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if AI helped with the screenplay too). There’s an uncomfortable joke about a 12 year old with Bulemia. One semi-positive is one scene where Roth attempts to pay homage to the famous playground scene from The Birds, but even that fails to nail the landing.

Complete with an insulting and stupid non-ending, Ice Cream Man is the kind of horror film people who hate horror films think horror films are. Eli Roth’s Ice Cream Man literally just exists for mindless kills and gore. A shame, considering the core idea is actually pretty great. Ice Cream Man is basically just a visual effects sizzle reel. I don’t think Eli Roth will be able to bounce back after this. I did not scream, you might not scream, we all won’t scream for Ice Cream Man.

1 STAR

 

[Jerroddragon]

I canceled my ticket

Good idea but I hear it’s terrible, so hopefully Buddy doesn’t suck

 

[belloq87]

It's disappointing to see Eli Roth go backwards after THANKSGIVING, which I think is easily his best movie.

 

[pumpkinbot343]

I strangely find this creature to the most sympathetic monster of the film. First of all, this Mummy goes out like a chump as seen in this clip. Poor Mummy! Also he’s the monster who has the least to do in anything of the Monster Squad. At least GillMan got to kill some guys, Mummy just wanders out of his own for some reason, then goes out like that. Although the biggest problem of this film is that, like Van Helsing, for what’s supposedly a monster mash movie Dracula is the most omnipresent character in the story, with all the other monsters save Frankenstein not important really.

 

[Jerroddragon]

Watched Obsession, its one of those films where I get why people love it and can also say its just not for me. Its a great film and not saying I would rate it low by any means but for someone reason didn't like peak my interest like The Backrooms did.

Inde Navarrette is amazing and glad this will be something that gets here into more things.

Very interested to see how Freaky Nikki is at HHN, very interested to see how her interactions are, since this next part might be a spoiler putting it below

Spoiler

Like Bear is the bad guy for making the wish but Freaky Nikki is still a Villain as well. Like Nikki is innocent but the wish that made this person inside Nikki is also evil. So really wondering how this will work, like is it Freaky Nikki at HHN and then moments where Nikki is trying to break free

I saw a very very very small amount of people upset Nikki is coming to HHN because she is a victim but also I guess they didn't want the movie and see that this thing inside Nikki is...its not the real Nikki coming to HHN and hopefully most people get that

 

[pumpkinbot343]

Watched Obsession, its one of those films where I get why people love it and can also say its just not for me. Its a great film and not saying I would rate it low by any means but for someone reason didn't like peak my interest like The Backrooms did.

Inde Navarrette is amazing and glad this will be something that gets here into more things.

Very interested to see how Freaky Nikki is at HHN, very interested to see how her interactions are, since this next part might be a spoiler putting it below

Spoiler

Like Bear is the bad guy for making the wish but Freaky Nikki is still a Villain as well. Like Nikki is innocent but the wish that made this person inside Nikki is also evil. So really wondering how this will work, like is it Freaky Nikki at HHN and then moments where Nikki is trying to break free

I saw a very very very small amount of people upset Nikki is coming to HHN because she is a victim but also I guess they didn't want the movie and see that this thing inside Nikki is...its not the real Nikki coming to HHN and hopefully most people get that

The HHN discourse is just Twitter BS, nothing real.

 

[Jerroddragon]

The HHN discourse is just Twitter BS, nothing real.

I know, thats why I said small small small amount of people. I know its just a few people and 99% of the people going to HHN are excited

 

[Clive]

The HHN discourse is just Twitter BS, nothing real.

And that's why The Hollywood Reporter, IGN, Cosmo, and other major outlets have opined on the subject?

There's nuance here, guys. I'm not really into the dismissive "any criticism of or concern about this is BS" takes.

 

[Jerroddragon]

And that's why The Hollywood Reporter, IGN, Cosmo, and other major outlets have opined on the subject?

There's nuance here, guys. I'm not really into the dismissive "any criticism of or concern about this is BS" takes.

I mean, after watching the movie....I just think its clear that

Spoiler

There are two Nikki's. The normal Nikki and the Wish/Freaky Nikki who is coming to HHN.

We've had possessed characters before, I maybe there was discourse behind the exerciser characters and just not big enough to have mainstream talking points about it

 

[Clive]

I mean, after watching the movie....I just think its clear that

Spoiler

There are two Nikki's. The normal Nikki and the Wish/Freaky Nikki who is coming to HHN.

We've had possessed characters before, I maybe there was discourse behind the exerciser characters and just not big enough to have mainstream talking points about it

Right. I agree with you.

The challenge/problem that many are bringing up is 1) how does this work without Bear/the context of the wish? and 2) given how the roaming characters have been mobbed (and the specific history of female characters getting assaulted and otherwise abused by guests), have they thought through how this offering is going to be executed in a manner that's reasonably safe for the performer(s)?

 

[Andysol]

The Hollywood Reporter, IGN, Cosmo

Ah yes, the stalwarts of culture and objectivity.

They just copy twitter nonsense. It’s blue sky/twitter nonsense.

We’re fine with all other possession. We’re fine with murder. We’re fine with disemboweling. We’re fine with everything. But this is the line we draw!

It’s a movie. The thematic complexity around the movie should stay around the movie.

This is a character who is possessed against her will which has turned her into a villainous and murderous character. Like many many other innocently possessed characters we’ve had in HHN for years and years.

It’s absolutely a non issue gin’d up by bored and performative Blue Sky/X users.

If people mob her, boot their ass from universal indefinitely. Zero tolerance.

This is also the movie thread, so conversation surrounding that should probably be directed to the USH thread. Feel free to move this response if that makes things cleaner and more on track.

 

[pumpkinbot343]

Right. I agree with you.

The challenge/problem that many are bringing up is 1) how does this work without Bear/the context of the wish? and 2) given how the roaming characters have been mobbed (and the specific history of female characters getting assaulted and otherwise abused by guests), have they thought through how this offering is going to be executed in a manner that's reasonably safe for the performer(s)?

I mean 2 is a fair point, I was going more into the ridiculous notion that Obsession shouldn’t be represented at HHN in any way. Exorcist featuring the possessed Raegan was shown in Orlando and Hollywood a few times.

Who would want to see Bear at HHN though? His type of character you could see in an average guest. I think I remember reading comments at Reddit where they could have Evil Nikki searching for Bear and asking/threatening guests where he is.