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An error has ocurred. Please try againThe list is prioritized from 'least likely to have be seen', 'level of weirdness' then the essential 'horror theme' element. I recommend not reading any of the reviews prior to watching any of these movies as they will almost always contain spoilers which is a killer for many weird movies.
Reviews
Crimson Peak (2015)
Hilarious bad B grader
A 55 million dollar joke of a movie with incredibly bad special fx and horrible characters. Yes the props and wardrobe are beautiful and there's some very nice musical scores that fail to make up for a lame story that contains nothing resembling a horror or mystery.
You need actual clues embedded in a movie to be able to proclaim its a mystery, without these proofs all you end up with a secret that gets revealed at the end and that's it which is exactly what we get from Crimson Peak. There is no mystery, just a family secret and a twist at the end which you can happily just fast forward to and skip the complete waste of time that this movie amounts to.
Angel (1999)
The Perfect continuation of Buffy
I really liked the idea of taking everything that's Buffy and making for an older audience, its a really good idea and Joss implemented it perfectly with Angel. I've watched the series numerous times now and my favourite is probably the last season. Angel should have gone on for another season, I can understand the concept that the actors were aging which kind of kills the whole vampires don't age thing but it felt like it was really just picking up when it ended.
The show as a whole builds very nicely from season to season, in this respect its better than Buffy but without as good a characters. At least to begin with anyhow. Excellent show, thank you Joss!
Late Night with the Devil (2023)
Too slow and didn't go anywhere
For a movie that is simply horror and not horror, drama or horror, thriller it really didn't do much that you would call horror like. Like others here have said the character development went on too long, I clearly remember looking at the clock at around the 52min mark wondering if it was going to go somewhere with all this build up and it seemed like a decent movie until the CGI arrived.
Secondly there could have been some vulgarities or at least some attempt to create a sense of unease but alas there really was little to no courage put into this aspect of the movie which ultimately leaves it open for just the most timid of horror movie viewers to really enjoy. I like the idea just not the execution. Not bad but a bit weak for my liking.
Santet (1988)
Pretty good horror comedy from the 80's
After the brutal murder of her husband by the village gangsters Katami (played by Suzzanna) takes off into the nearby jungle and encounters a witch who takes Katami on as her apprentice. Meanwhile, Bisman (the ugliest gang leader you'll ever see) who falsely accused her husband of black magic plans to become village leader but never failing at looking like the village idiot.
At some point the movie breaks into a musical around the middle with some security guarding singing about what good guys they are. For real.
Then the black magic begins. Don't expect to much blood or gore in this horror, yes there is some but its pretty light. A lot of the humour is clearly meant to be derived from the movie not taking its too seriously as a horror.
As a witch Katami does some pretty nasty acts of vengeance against the village thugs/pimps. Exploding crotches, snake swallowing and stomach explosions but there level of gore isn't really all that great in detail just simple flesh colored balloons filled with red liquid. Very cheap.
The Premonition (1975)
Very slow burn drama
The script killed this movie, it must have been half as long of most movies of its time. It made the film really drag on when scene after scene the characters barely say a word. I don't know why its called a horror either as The Premonition is definitely not one.
It's really about a couple of women losing their minds over a kidnapping. What I couldn't understand as the motivation for the man who was behind it. Richard Lynch largely carries the movie as a man possessed into doing the kidnapping. At the end of the movie the only character you can feel any sympathy for is the child at the center of the drama and yet not any horror involved.
Blood & Donuts (1995)
Moody humerous dark vampire story
Weird and romantic story about a the vampire Boya living in the 90's who is struggling to disobey his instincts as a vampire and trying to mix into a world that hates itself.
Interestingly, they rewrite a lot of vampire lore in this movie. They even used the clique Don't Believe everything you read. Blood & Donuts often feels like it would have been better as a mini-series or even a tv show.
David Cronenberg's appearance as crime boss is more cameo, he's a good actor. I liked him in Nightbreed too where he was a more central figure to the movie. It's a pity Helen Clarkson doesn't make more movies in particular horrors she plays a beautiful and awkward crush for Boya.
I really liked the musical scores through the movie, it really help carry the 90's vibe through out the entire movie. Also the directing is creative in the Rami Evil Dead kind of way.
The Haunting of Morella (1990)
Lusty melodramatic romance with horror elements
You could be mistaken that The Haunting of Morella was a Charles Band movie because it follows a very similar formula of his movies. The acting wasn't very good, often it sounds like they are reading their lines off the page. The movie itself was well directed and storyboarded.
It's not quite soft core porn but it wasn't far from it, very fleshy which really pushed the romance angle of the movie about as far as you can.
There was a bit of an Edgar Allen Poe spirit left in the story but again this movie would be more appreciated by the Band fans. Ultimately it was the script that lacked depth and continuously killed off any development of suspension of disbelief.
Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)
A Good retelling of a Classic love story
Most of us horror movie buffs know the story, Bram Stoker's Dracula was a very satisfying version of it to watch which was accompanied by great performances all round. I am admittedly a big Anthony Hopkins fan and watching and listening to him portray Van Helsing was a very rare pleasure.
The musical scores maybe felt a bit too canned and repetitive which let the movie down numerous times if I am to be totally honest. For everything else that went into it for comparison sake anyhow.
Dracula himself as portrayed by the very talented Gary Oldman is the reason anyone watches this movie and I thought he did a very good job with the script he was given. Often the set seemed over populated with extra's though which caused nuisance to many of the scene's he was in which I didn't like. But what can you do, its still a very good movie that stands head and shoulders above most other highly rated vampire movies easily. A must see, that took me way to long to get around to seeing and I am very glad I did eventually see it.
Get Out (2017)
Overrated - full of holes
The whole premise of the movie I think was terribly flawed which makes it hard to review without giving everything away which also highlights how shallow the movie is really. Spoiler alert, its the brain surgery part that doesn't work at all for me. Like how do you have your brain chopped out and be still in possession of all your memories.
If the subjects don't have their memories then nothing in the movie could have happened to begin with. There is also the stupidity with the mobile phone, like how easy it would have been for the whole conspiracy to fall apart if his mobile phone didn't run out of power. A critical flaw that just shows what pass as a highly rated movie these days.
Diabel (1972)
Jakob in revenge land
I wouldn't call this horror at least not in the traditional sense. Jakob freed from jail tries to return to his previous life with a aid who has his own agenda. The Devil is in the details indeed as you the viewer are forced to play catch up with a series of events that must be interpreted to understand the craziness and violence this movie portrays.
There is in impatience that plagues every event along with musical scores that tries as it does to build tempo and rhythm to the maniacal. Does it really matter who Jacob was? Butchery to betrayal, the nun and a whole lot of death and suffering all wrapped up in a wacky 70's score. Best not to leave out that almost every character is full of self loathing.
Not sure if I'd watch it twice though, the dialog isn't very captivating and the story isn't really what you are here for. You watch it because someone didn't want you to see something with a powerful political message. Like having your world turned upside down. So you'll watch it like I did, hoping to find something everyone else missed.
The Unnamable (1988)
Unremarkable
There's not much in this movie to enjoy because it takes itself too seriously, at best its laughably bad. I know it was rushed being made in 3 weeks which probably went along way to robbing it of having any character or soul if you will. I wasn't all that impressed with the acting either by anyone in it, even the monster was bad.
Ultimately turning a short story into a movie length feature was probably always going to end up feeling way drawn out too but the chopping and changing music scores killed off any suspense or horror the movie/story was ever going to have. Apart from that there's is a cool demon in it make upwise, and gore wasn't too bad but again there's no suspense at all. It's flat all the way.
The Nature of the Beast (1995)
A Mystery with good acting
Eric Roberts was awesome, I always love these unstable hitchhiker type movies. My only gripe was not enough Brion James, he was just in it as a cameo which was good none the less. I would not say this movie is under-rated at all, it's at worst not talked about enough as I've never heard about it until now but its definitely rated appropriately.
Nature of the Beast isn't a horror, there's brief scene's of dripping or running blood nothing else so if you are in it expecting terror, violence or gore this isn't it. It really a thriller mystery crime. Anyhow, it definitely has a daytime mystery vibe to it and its definitely a must see for Eric Roberts fans as he carries the movie.
La tumba de los muertos vivientes (1982)
Zombies in Jeep world
I watched this because I'll watch almost any zombie movie once, for the love of zombies you might say. Apart from the torturous use of a synthesizer I didn't mind it. You've got to have some music, its just a shame they couldn't get someone will at least a little talent for music.
Directing wise everything seemed passable although the zooms certainly became over-bearing quickly enough. The script certainly should have been more fleshed out. This I think its a tell tale sign that Oasis of the Zombies was never intended to be anything more than a cheap and quick whack it together kind of movie production. Watch it for the scenery and t&a at course, pity it had no horror element I could find. The zombies are so bad.
After Midnight (1989)
I wanted to rate it higher
Being a big fan of 80's and 70's horror I knew I would like this movie and for the larger part I did. The non-anthology story, the wrap around story was easily far more interesting than any of the brief segments. It was no match for Creepshow 1 or 2 or similar really good anthologies.
The last 2 segments were good as this is where the movie picks up its thriller component, especially the last one with the Telephonist Alex being played by Marg Helenberger. The first segment was more horror and seemed too rushed production wise.
There were actually some pretty neat special fx at the end as the wrap around story concludes the movies narrative and its definitely worth the wait. This is the main problem I have with anthologies, its trying to rate mixed content especially in the case of After Midnight. The stories needed to be a lot better I think because the wrapper seemed much better.
Busanhaeng (2016)
Tedious and filled with unlikables.
Okay, its worth some stars for the excellent setting and special fx but that's about as far as you can stretch it. The narrative is very boring, the idea of keeping the suspense going by having to jump trains. That's it, that's the whole story right there. Apart from that no one is interested in how the whole thing started, there is no depth to the story at all.
Character development is about some boring office worker who has to take his bored daughter to her mum's house because she can't stand being around him. What to like right? No one talks like they have a brain of their own. World War Z is much better as is the much lower rated Flight of the Living Dead which stand head and shoulders above this garbage.
Halloween Ends (2022)
Worst of the lot
I only watched this movie really as a completionist activity since many of the earlier movies in the series were so good. It was lame and had no heart neither did it have a pulse or anything reminiscent of a soul. Halloween Ends is an abortion like act basically and I think it was meant to be like that.
I think it actually died a good few movies back, you could go back as far as H20 maybe where it felt like it really ended. Why drag out an aging Shape is beyond me, why not put Myres in a nursing home and have him chase everyone around strapped into a wheelchair. This is the one you'll never watch twice. It bored everyone I watched it with and most of them are not even horror fans so there you go.
Leprechaun (1992)
Warwick carried this movie.
It could have had much better supporting actors because every good scene in the movie definitely wasn't them. The music was good and fitted well as did the directing. One of the annoying things that bothered me was the unnecessary need to put a mobile phone in the movie when the phone that they put in had just been released that year and it would have been highly unlikely to have had any coverage in the area they were in anyhow. It just felt so stupid and pointless and had no impact on what was going on anyhow. One thing that was funny for sure was watching the way the actors were almost always tripping over their own feet, hilarious.
Evil Dead Rise (2023)
A pretty good horror
Evil Dead in the city, it kind of felt more like the TV series than anything based on the original. I mean what is The Evil Dead if its their no moldy cabin in the sticks. The best elements would probably have been the music, a lot of the scares were dependent on it.
When the scares start its becomes very dark which is really necessary. I also really liked the record element in this movie. Much like the tape from the original. So there's some nice continuity there. The acting was on par too. Lots of blood and special effects and gore. I think the only thing really missing was pacing. It felt, empty as if they didn't know what to do next. Kind of messy in that regard. More like an Evil Dead remix.
Histoires extraordinaires (1968)
Garbage
I was attracted to this movie by the big names and the anthology format plus being a horror. Horror it isn't, a bit of corn syrup and someone hanging and its meant to pass as horror. The performances were terrible with boring direction. It's a poor attempt at arty and its bad because its dead from start to finish.
The only story worth watch was the second one in the series which is where 4 of the 4 stars come from. The last story was easily the worst of the lot and didn't help with a lack of subtitles as half of it was in Italian. There is nothing in the characters that makes them interesting in any way.
The Menu (2022)
Dry and lacking surprise
Food and horror is a pretty cool angle, it reminded me of The Platform which is a far better movie than this but scores worse. I think a lot of people just vote movies down if they don't have their favourite actors in them regardless of everything else.
To me a good horror at least has you wondering if it might have a bad ending at around the point where you are meant to start caring for the protagonist. I never got that feeling from this movie unfortunately which shows that this movie is really meant for the sensitive viewer and not your regular horror movie buff. This eliminates the thrill completely which is really needed for a movie like this. Zero sense of danger, everything was under control.
The characters were very two dimensional never showing any sign of life outside of their prescribed cartoon like fixations. Lacking in violence for the most part I found myself looking at the clock by the 30 minute mark which is never a good sign. I can understand why many found it underwhelming, unsatisfying or bland. Because it was. It's just another overrated horror because it has actor x or y in it.
Troll (1986)
Great daytime fantasy horror
Okay, firstly don't go taking the horror side of it too seriously I think that's where a lot of reviewers went wrong here. If you enjoyed Ghoulies then you're probably going to enjoy this one because its basically just Ghoulies in an inner city apartment building with some added fantasy.
Produced by Charles Band Troll comes with good acting and musical scores. You won't find a movie this good being made today which is a shame because if they can't do it with cgi these days then they don't even try anymore.
If you are looking for something similar I recommend Warlock (1989), TerrorVision (1986), Blue Monkey (1986), Nightwish (1989) or The Alchemist (1983). They have similar special fx and sound fx and budgets. Either enjoy or stay clear of these movies, depends on your tastes. I think they are beautifully crafted.
Metamorphosis (1990)
Cheese fest late 80's sub-horror
If you are reading this then the chances are you've also read some of the other reviews here and might get the idea that the gore towards the end is worth the wait. The problem is that the monster effects are extremely low budget which kills off anything remotely gruesome in this movie. It's also a very long wait.
There is little else in this movie, many of the actors don't really get into their roles either which I thought was a bit disappointing. The music has to be the worst though, a lot of the suspense is built upon a couple of keys being played over and over on a synth. At least they had the kind of ending that was the norm for movies of its time just a shame about the first half.
Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker (1981)
Well directed Incestorous bloody horror/thriller
As a horror movie buff this was the first time I had really noticed Susan Tyrrell. I had seen her before in Flesh + Blood and now I realize what an all star cast that movie had. She's an incredibly confident and charismatic thespian that really new how to make a role her own and seeing her go full Cathy Bates in this movie was fantastic.
Nightmare Maker has a clear edge over horrors made around the same time in that the directing was so good. William Asher really got the most out of the locations and actors which was great and gave the movies setting an immense amount of atmosphere with a storm in the climax to boot. Also a very young Bill Paxton shows up in cameo as a jealous jock, he was so lean it took me a while to spot him.
All in all it was an unnerving ride and I was glad it didn't go over the 1 1/2 hr mark by much this is what I think of as the sweet spot for most horrors. Thank you Susan for such a great performance, rest in peace.
Doctor Who: The Power of the Doctor (2022)
Either you like these characters or you don't
I'm going to get straight to the point. I have found all of the characters in this doctors rein to be either unlikable or irritating. As much as I love the new doctor she is a complete simpleton and a bumbling one at that. The stories in this doctors run have been such as stretch from the main that I find myself wanting to exclude it from the shows cannon in its entirety.
This isn't to say that some of the episodes have not been good or that I am incapable of appreciating the additional emotion content generated in these new episodes. This is the reason why I think it deserves at least 3. However, stripping down the doctor to the point of being wiped out of existence is clutching at straws and its always a poor mans method of drumming up a connection to the characters by using vulnerability, period. There are far better ways to do this and Chibs has really gone all out to prove to us how creatively bankrupt he is when it comes to story telling. Good bye Chibs and please please don't come back anytime soon.
The Vampire Lovers (1970)
Great horror from the 60's
George Cole in a horror was a wonderful touch in this movie, not easily out shined. Seeing Ingrid in a more sinister role was great, she's a wonderful addition to the world of horror's and thrillers especially in these sorts of roles. On that note it didn't go unnoticed that Vampire Lovers has a lot of attractive female cast members which will easily appease the fan base of T&A. Peter Cushing was maybe under used but the story isn't about his character but you can't help but want just a bit more of him.
Add on to the a spectacular score, directing, sets and setting and you are looking at what could be the best hammer movie ever made. The seven golden vampires is close but it just doesn't have the continuity this one has nor does it have the directing. This movie was meant to be great and it feels like it. Wonderful.