Another Round of Horror Movies
Jul. 14th, 2020 11:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
singedsunQuick review style.
Apparently I've tried to watch The Lodge already (Richard Armitage, Riley Keough & Alicia Silverstone) but I'd forgotten I watched it and hadn't even written down that I'd watched it because I fell asleep less than 10 minutes in. So I'm going to try again, despite some of the reviews I've seen. Someday I'll let you know how this second viewing goes.
First of all - to the writers of the original list of horror movies on Prime that are worth watching? First Reformed DOES NOT belong on this list. It doesn't belong on any list. I kept waiting for...something interesting to happen. It never did. Despite Amanda Seyfreid and Ethan Hawke doing their darndest to make this Catholic priest has an intimate friendship with a lady from his church movie into something, it lacked depth and emotion.
The Taking of Deborah Logan
I'm not sure why I never watched this before. I just missed it somehow. This is a shakey-cam documentary style movie that starts out trying to tell one story and what we watch is this older woman's struggle with alzheimer's lead to demonic possession. If you don't mind the documentary style, it's okay I guess. To be honest, I found it kind of a struggle to connect. I liked the woman's daughter a lot but that was about it. None of the filmmakers seemed particularly interesting or unique. And the old woman was just kind of there to be a pawn, while she's the focal point I only really found her interesting at the end.
Witch Hunt
Maybe my favorite in the last batch I watched. It's a strange little movie with an all female cast of friends who get together for a birthday party. For the birthday girl, the rest of them agree to play the woman's favorite game "Witch Hunt". It's a Mafia or Werewolf styled game (which are referenced in the movie) loosely based on the Salem trials. There's a meta-narrative to this movie where outside the scenes we're watching, two women are talking about the women that are going to play the game analyzing the kinds of people they are. And there's a fourth-wall break in the main narrative as each woman accepts her role at the table too. Most of the women at the party have a past together which plays a part in how they interact both in and out of the game. It's a really interesting, different kind of movie. Not really scary, but unique and I think worth the watch if horror is your thing.
Nesting Dolls
A tale of three college girls away for a vacation at a house on a lake. I'm not sure I recommend this movie. Nor do I think I'd really call it a horror movie. Two of the three girls play a prank on the third which is meant to be harmless (like a jump scare) but the third girl is injured in the process. The movie quickly spirals out from there and what we're left is, is this unhinged look at what feels almost like a hazing ritual. Given that the girls are sorority girls made me keep waiting on some kind of reveal in that regard that wasn't coming. Instead it's just trauma meted out on this poor girl over the case of a few days. I'm not sure I recommend it, especially if you have lived abusive or PTSD related to physical abuse in anyway.
The Dwelling
This movie is almost laughable, except for that it's taking itself real serious. Four people/two couples go to what we're meant to assume is a sex club. They inhabit this room that's long out of repair, uncovering this giant, ancient four-poster bed we know was originally carved from the wood of a hanging tree. The bed itself is "the dwelling". The four main characters here who are meant to be having a little fun, a night of swinging between friends for a birthday, quickly learn they can't leave the bed. There's something waiting to kill them. Listen, the "plot" if you could call it that is EXTREMELY loose here. But if you're looking for something different, they're at least trying for something interesting here. It's definitely strayed into the supernatural side of horror over the realistic, but it's better than some of the stinkers I've watched.
Even the stinkers in this watch list have been somewhat enjoyable. I didn't hate any of them, they weren't overly obtuse, they (for the most part) were unique.
However, as part of this horror movie binge I continue to live inside, I've given up on one more movie, Dog Soldiers. I do not like war movies, and you cannot convince me that this low-budget werewolf soldier war movie is worth watching. The first 15ish minutes that I watched turned me off and I don't think I'll go back to it anytime soon.
I've also been diving into some horror movie and video critique and essays that've been really interesting. I'll share some of the interesting ones I come across as I find them if people continue to be curious about that kind of thing. The one below is from a new channel I've started following based on watching this video. His commentary is a little dry but I did get some interesting bits out of this exploration of queer coding in horror movies. Maybe a few of you might like it too.
Apparently I've tried to watch The Lodge already (Richard Armitage, Riley Keough & Alicia Silverstone) but I'd forgotten I watched it and hadn't even written down that I'd watched it because I fell asleep less than 10 minutes in. So I'm going to try again, despite some of the reviews I've seen. Someday I'll let you know how this second viewing goes.
First of all - to the writers of the original list of horror movies on Prime that are worth watching? First Reformed DOES NOT belong on this list. It doesn't belong on any list. I kept waiting for...something interesting to happen. It never did. Despite Amanda Seyfreid and Ethan Hawke doing their darndest to make this Catholic priest has an intimate friendship with a lady from his church movie into something, it lacked depth and emotion.
The Taking of Deborah Logan
I'm not sure why I never watched this before. I just missed it somehow. This is a shakey-cam documentary style movie that starts out trying to tell one story and what we watch is this older woman's struggle with alzheimer's lead to demonic possession. If you don't mind the documentary style, it's okay I guess. To be honest, I found it kind of a struggle to connect. I liked the woman's daughter a lot but that was about it. None of the filmmakers seemed particularly interesting or unique. And the old woman was just kind of there to be a pawn, while she's the focal point I only really found her interesting at the end.
Witch Hunt
Maybe my favorite in the last batch I watched. It's a strange little movie with an all female cast of friends who get together for a birthday party. For the birthday girl, the rest of them agree to play the woman's favorite game "Witch Hunt". It's a Mafia or Werewolf styled game (which are referenced in the movie) loosely based on the Salem trials. There's a meta-narrative to this movie where outside the scenes we're watching, two women are talking about the women that are going to play the game analyzing the kinds of people they are. And there's a fourth-wall break in the main narrative as each woman accepts her role at the table too. Most of the women at the party have a past together which plays a part in how they interact both in and out of the game. It's a really interesting, different kind of movie. Not really scary, but unique and I think worth the watch if horror is your thing.
Nesting Dolls
A tale of three college girls away for a vacation at a house on a lake. I'm not sure I recommend this movie. Nor do I think I'd really call it a horror movie. Two of the three girls play a prank on the third which is meant to be harmless (like a jump scare) but the third girl is injured in the process. The movie quickly spirals out from there and what we're left is, is this unhinged look at what feels almost like a hazing ritual. Given that the girls are sorority girls made me keep waiting on some kind of reveal in that regard that wasn't coming. Instead it's just trauma meted out on this poor girl over the case of a few days. I'm not sure I recommend it, especially if you have lived abusive or PTSD related to physical abuse in anyway.
The Dwelling
This movie is almost laughable, except for that it's taking itself real serious. Four people/two couples go to what we're meant to assume is a sex club. They inhabit this room that's long out of repair, uncovering this giant, ancient four-poster bed we know was originally carved from the wood of a hanging tree. The bed itself is "the dwelling". The four main characters here who are meant to be having a little fun, a night of swinging between friends for a birthday, quickly learn they can't leave the bed. There's something waiting to kill them. Listen, the "plot" if you could call it that is EXTREMELY loose here. But if you're looking for something different, they're at least trying for something interesting here. It's definitely strayed into the supernatural side of horror over the realistic, but it's better than some of the stinkers I've watched.
Even the stinkers in this watch list have been somewhat enjoyable. I didn't hate any of them, they weren't overly obtuse, they (for the most part) were unique.
However, as part of this horror movie binge I continue to live inside, I've given up on one more movie, Dog Soldiers. I do not like war movies, and you cannot convince me that this low-budget werewolf soldier war movie is worth watching. The first 15ish minutes that I watched turned me off and I don't think I'll go back to it anytime soon.
I've also been diving into some horror movie and video critique and essays that've been really interesting. I'll share some of the interesting ones I come across as I find them if people continue to be curious about that kind of thing. The one below is from a new channel I've started following based on watching this video. His commentary is a little dry but I did get some interesting bits out of this exploration of queer coding in horror movies. Maybe a few of you might like it too.
