A scary thing happened on the way to the Movie Forums - Horrorcrammers

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Haha, I was actually going to float that idea as penance. We'll definitely ride it because it's the best one there!

Last time we rode it, the ride got stuck, so we were sitting still in the blacklit darkness for ten minutes. It was awesome.
I've only been once, and I left wishing it wasn't a "ride" but instead a place where you could roam around at your own pace.

So getting stuck in it sounds like a fun time to me.
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Captain's Log
My Collection



Victim of The Night
Deschain, you're right. This is the most wonderful time of the year!

Except...I'm vacationing in Orlando next week. I'm excited about it, but I feel bad that I won't get to see as much horror this month. Priorities, huh?
Go to The Haunted Mansion to make up for it.



Willy's Wonderland -


Life is like a Nicolas Cage performance as much as it's like a box of chocolates: you never know what you're gonna get. You probably didn't expect him to be an energy drink addict, a pinball wizard, a gearhead and nonverbal when you chose to watch this, did you? Whether you did or not, Cage is just who he needs to be in this silly and bloody curiosity. Does his choice to make the janitor never speak lead to awkward moments, even for him? Sure, but since our Five Nights at Freddy's adjacent/knockoffs/what have you denizens' home is in the title and not his, it makes sense in its own way. While none of the villains are exactly original creations, they are distinctive, have unique abilities, and most importantly, each one made me laugh. In other words, if I had to boil this movie down to four words, it would be Demons meets Mortal Kombat. The claustrophobia in the former is a reason why it's a favorite and it's a main draw here as well. It's also nice to see Beth Grant, who plays a not so honest police officer, especially since she's at her funniest. Emoi's driving soundtrack is also killer and helps to keep things moving at just the right pace.

Even though our hero does not say anything, I don't think it's wrong to complain about this movie not having much quotable dialogue. Only Beth Grant's cop is allowed a few zingers. It would have been a lot cooler if the writer granted the janitor's teenage allies some memorable lines as well, not to mention more personality. Despite these drawbacks, the movie practically reeks of Halloween - well, that and rotting pizza - and it's an ideal choice to kick off a horror marathon or movie portion of a Halloween party. If that's all you are looking for, it will check your boxes, but don't expect it to do more than that.

What I was expecting from Willie's Wonderland was Nic Cage fighting murderous animatronics and when I got Nic Cage fighting murderous animatronics, it was good. Every time someone else was on screen and usually talking, I was disappointed (by the quality). The screenwriter wrote Cage's silent dialogue the best. (Sorry. I always groan when I remember the line, "you don't understand. He's not stuck in there with them. They're stuck in there with him," or whatever she said to that effect.


Still would recommend. Enough scenes of Nic Cage doing his character and doing it well.



Willy's Wonderland -


Life is like a Nicolas Cage performance as much as it's like a box of chocolates: you never know what you're gonna get. You probably didn't expect him to be an energy drink addict, a pinball wizard, a gearhead and nonverbal when you chose to watch this, did you? Whether you did or not, Cage is just who he needs to be in this silly and bloody curiosity. Does his choice to make the janitor never speak lead to awkward moments, even for him? Sure, but since our Five Nights at Freddy's adjacent/knockoffs/what have you denizens' home is in the title and not his, it makes sense in its own way.
I have watched this movie three times. It is very enjoyable and mostly just the right brand of dumb.



What I was expecting from Willie's Wonderland was Nic Cage fighting murderous animatronics and when I got Nic Cage fighting murderous animatronics, it was good. Every time someone else was on screen and usually talking, I was disappointed (by the quality). The screenwriter wrote Cage's silent dialogue the best. (Sorry. I always groan when I remember the line, "you don't understand. He's not stuck in there with them. They're stuck in there with him," or whatever she said to that effect.


Still would recommend. Enough scenes of Nic Cage doing his character and doing it well.
That line was a cheap knockoff of the one from Watchmen. It made me imagine Jackie Earle Haley rolling his eyes.

But yeah, Cage doing his thing makes it worth seeing alone, although I like Beth Grant more than you did, especially whenever she gave her poor deputy a hard time ("grow some balls, Evan!")



That line was a cheap knockoff of the one from Watchmen. It made me imagine Jackie Earle Haley rolling his eyes.

But yeah, Cage doing his thing makes it worth seeing alone, although I like Beth Grant more than you did, especially whenever she gave her poor deputy a hard time ("grow some balls, Evan!")

It's been a couple years since I've seen it, so it's possible those interactions worked (did they also include the background story/exposition? I think would have preferred no exposition. I actually think they should have dropped the teens from the movie and did the kills as: Nic Cage discovers remaining body part, cut to flashback to person of how it got there). As alluded to in that parenthetical, the dialogue with the teens did not work.


And, "ug," is that where that line is coming from? I had a feeling it was coming from somewhere. Doesn't make it any less bad, and possibly even worse (I actually never say Snyder's adaptation. Everything I heard about it made me think I'd hate it. Plus actually seeing another Zach Snyder movie... that also made me think I'd hate it).



VHS Beyond. A whopping 6 shorts in just under 2 hours make up the latest anthology, this time with a sci-fi bent. Aside from one with a cool concept these were all pretty terrible. It was like watching the same thing over and over. And then I saw in the end credits the one I kinda liked was written by Mike Flanagan, so that tracks. I always think of VHS as a new series but it’s been around for 12 years now. And despite most of them not leaving much of an impression I gotta appreciate a franchise dedicated to the anthology format that consistently puts out new entries.



It's been a couple years since I've seen it, so it's possible those interactions worked (did they also include the background story/exposition? I think would have preferred no exposition. I actually think they should have dropped the teens from the movie and did the kills as: Nic Cage discovers remaining body part, cut to flashback to person of how it got there). As alluded to in that parenthetical, the dialogue with the teens did not work.



And, "ug," is that where that line is coming from? I had a feeling it was coming from somewhere. Doesn't make it any less bad, and possibly even worse (I actually never say Snyder's adaptation. Everything I heard about it made me think I'd hate it. Plus actually seeing another Zach Snyder movie... that also made me think I'd hate it).

Willie's Wonderland was strange. There were parts that made zero sense even if we accept Nic Cage's character as crazy. The biggest one was
WARNING: spoilers below
The kids planned to burn the place down, but they had no plan on how to get out, didn't bring any tools to help break into the ground floor, didn't bring any weapons, and one character went on the mission dressed like a stripper.


Even worse was the couple going off to have sex in a room with animatronics in it, even though they know for a fact that the animatronics are alive and killing people. It felt like half the movie was filmed during a time when the script was different, where the teens didn't know the animatronics were alive and killing people.



I liked the style of the evil animatronics though, the bizarre habits of Cage's character, and Willie's song. It was fun enough to be worthwhile, but the Banana Splits movie was better.



I just watched The Apparition, 2012, again today, and I learned something new about it.

I was looking around to see what people were saying about it, as I sometimes do, and I found out that this is a movie that had a troubled production. Everyone seemed to be on the same page, from the studio all the way down to the actors, except someone or someones who insisted on micromanaging the project towards something that was not intended.

The movie itself is sparse in terms of scares. Only one creature is actually seen, and itself is not the thing it was meant to be. There were full practical creatures built by the special effects team. Those were entirely pulled from the final product, and the movie is instead a light, moody piece that gets darker quick towards the end. Personally I don't mind, because I love slow-ass movies where nothing happens, but I'm curious about what the final product was intended to be.

These were fully built too!: https://i.imgur.com/iZEqDp8.jpeg
https://i.imgur.com/vmo4IKm.jpeg

I still love this movie, but this puts a cloud over the whole thing indeed.



My friend was at a convention and texted me to be like "I met a person that I'd like to connect you with."

Anyway, 5 minutes into our conversation she was like "Lesbian vampires," and I was like "Fascination", and then she revealed that she has a tattoo of the Fascination poster on her back.

So, yeah, I am going to cultivate this relationship like a little horror garden.



Willie's Wonderland was strange. There were parts that made zero sense even if we accept Nic Cage's character as crazy. The biggest one was
WARNING: spoilers below
The kids planned to burn the place down, but they had no plan on how to get out, didn't bring any tools to help break into the ground floor, didn't bring any weapons, and one character went on the mission dressed like a stripper.


Even worse was the couple going off to have sex in a room with animatronics in it, even though they know for a fact that the animatronics are alive and killing people. It felt like half the movie was filmed during a time when the script was different, where the teens didn't know the animatronics were alive and killing people.



I liked the style of the evil animatronics though, the bizarre habits of Cage's character, and Willie's song. It was fun enough to be worthwhile, but the Banana Splits movie was better.

I got the sense that they had the high concept of the movie in their head, somehow got Nic Cage, and the song, but then just struggled to fill out the rest of the movie. (Writing coherent and consistent stories is hard.)



My friend was at a convention and texted me to be like "I met a person that I'd like to connect you with."

Anyway, 5 minutes into our conversation she was like "Lesbian vampires," and I was like "Fascination", and then she revealed that she has a tattoo of the Fascination poster on her back.

So, yeah, I am going to cultivate this relationship like a little horror garden.
The poster really is the most iconic image of the movie. I don't recall what your opinion was on other Rollin films. I'm guessing The Living Dead Girl was up your alley, but I can't recall the stuff his other famous vampire movies (Requiem, Shivers, The Naked, The Violation).



A Quiet Place Day One. I always have a hard time buying into the world of A Quiet Place, but Lupita Nyong’o plays such an empathetic character that I thought I might have finally found the right movie for me. Unfortunately watching her stumble from set piece to set piece had me zoning out and the attempt to create an emotional third act didn’t quite make up for the lackluster majority of the runtime. I’ll keep trying them as they keep making them but not getting my hopes up.



Well, we're not going to Disney World for obvious reasons. Our fallback is Huntsville, which has a NASA museum. Space is scary, right?

Anyway, I watched a favorite of this thread and I'm glad I did.



Spider Baby -


This delightfully strange and darkly funny horror reminds us that nothing is more important than family. That applies even if everyone in it is regressive and violent...right? Anyway, if you love a good one-location movie as much as I do, especially when the location is like a character in and of itself, have I got a movie for you. The Merrye family has a lot of reasons to hide - that goes for their prey and themselves - so it's fitting that their residence has so many nooks and crannies. If Sid Haig's Ralph and his penchant for voyeurism doesn't make you wonder if you should laugh or shudder, every shot of the dumb waiter and the reactions to its contents - guardian Bruno’s (Lon Chaney) in particular - surely will. Speaking of him, as effective as Banner, Washburn and Haig are at letting their siblings get under your skin, Chaney is this movie's secret weapon. As misplaced as Bruno's concern may be, his commitment to them and to his promise to their late father to protect the heirs adds legitimacy to everything. Apparently, the cast and crew were in tears during his big speech about what to do about the house and its usurpers, which is not surprising at all. Also deserving of credit are Quinn Redeker's narrator and most open-minded usurper - not exactly to his benefit, I hesitate to possibly spoil - and for lack of better words, one heck of a family meal. If the one in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, which this one likely inspired, turned your stomach, it would be best to have Pepto Bismol handy while watching this.

So, what do you think is more evil: protecting a family of known miscreants from justice or attempting to disband them and divulge their property solely for profit's sake? You may not be able to answer this question after the movie ends, but you are bound to have a wonderful time while doing so. Again, this is a must-see for one-location fans as well as those who love horror like Dead & Buried that raise a middle finger to the status quo. Now, back to finding out if the flora and fauna in my yard will let me pull off the so-called "austere diet."



Well, we're not going to Disney World for obvious reasons. Our fallback is Huntsville, which has a NASA museum. Space is scary, right?

Anyway, I watched a favorite of this thread and I'm glad I did.
Sorry that happened, but relieved to hear you're not going. I even debated PM-ing you to warn you.
If you can manage to get yourself trapped in a space capsule or something, that should be good for some scares



Victim of The Night
Haha, I was actually going to float that idea as penance. We'll definitely ride it because it's the best one there!

Last time we rode it, the ride got stuck, so we were sitting still in the blacklit darkness for ten minutes. It was awesome.
Ha! This also happened to me. Got stuck over by the giant-spider.



The poster really is the most iconic image of the movie. I don't recall what your opinion was on other Rollin films. I'm guessing The Living Dead Girl was up your alley, but I can't recall the stuff his other famous vampire movies (Requiem, Shivers, The Naked, The Violation).
I liked The Living Dead Girl, but felt it lacked the punch and characterization of Fascination. I haven't found myself very drawn to his other films.

Spider Baby -


This delightfully strange and darkly funny horror reminds us that nothing is more important than family. That applies even if everyone in it is regressive and violent...right? Anyway, if you love a good one-location movie as much as I do, especially when the location is like a character in and of itself, have I got a movie for you.
Literally watched this last night. It is a lot of fun, and has much more emotional depth and character work than you'd assume going in.

Despite multiple viewings, I had forgotten (or maybe repressed, lol) that it contains that odious trope of
WARNING: spoilers below
the woman who is raped but discovers that she likes it and later flies into a jealous rage when she finds her rapist trying to rape another woman. SIGH!
.

That blemish aside, a good time. Uncle Peter is one of my favorite characters ever, especially with his facial expressions.



Victim of The Night
Spider Baby -


This delightfully strange and darkly funny horror reminds us that nothing is more important than family. That applies even if everyone in it is regressive and violent...right? Anyway, if you love a good one-location movie as much as I do, especially when the location is like a character in and of itself, have I got a movie for you. The Merrye family has a lot of reasons to hide - that goes for their prey and themselves - so it's fitting that their residence has so many nooks and crannies. If Sid Haig's Ralph and his penchant for voyeurism doesn't make you wonder if you should laugh or shudder, every shot of the dumb waiter and the reactions to its contents - guardian Bruno’s (Lon Chaney) in particular - surely will. Speaking of him, as effective as Banner, Washburn and Haig are at letting their siblings get under your skin, Chaney is this movie's secret weapon. As misplaced as Bruno's concern may be, his commitment to them and to his promise to their late father to protect the heirs adds legitimacy to everything. Apparently, the cast and crew were in tears during his big speech about what to do about the house and its usurpers, which is not surprising at all. Also deserving of credit are Quinn Redeker's narrator and most open-minded usurper - not exactly to his benefit, I hesitate to possibly spoil - and for lack of better words, one heck of a family meal. If the one in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, which this one likely inspired, turned your stomach, it would be best to have Pepto Bismol handy while watching this.

So, what do you think is more evil: protecting a family of known miscreants from justice or attempting to disband them and divulge their property solely for profit's sake? You may not be able to answer this question after the movie ends, but you are bound to have a wonderful time while doing so. Again, this is a must-see for one-location fans as well as those who love horror like Dead & Buried that raise a middle finger to the status quo. Now, back to finding out if the flora and fauna in my yard will let me pull off the so-called "austere diet."
Oh, this pleases me so much.
(And I also felt, after seeing it, that there was no way Tobe Hooper hadn't seen it.)