Watched a cool little movie today, called The Cursed. It is kinda of like a modern take on a Hammer Horror film (but it isn't camp or silly). It seems to be one-part Covid-19 metaphor, but it also makes use of a lot of classic werewolf mythology and a bunch of their own unique ideas to really make a werewolf movie quite unlike anything I've really seen before. And while the werewolf stuff does mostly deliver (albeit with some slightly unpolished effects work in places), the real standout sequence for me is the sort of trigger sequence where a static camera is positioned at a distance, and we watch in full, unbroken, real time as mercenaries slaughter a Roma camp and burn it to the ground. Like not good stuff in the conventional sense of the word, but truly powerful horror filmmaking.
Since we last spoke, I've read "Who Goes There?", both the original and expanded versions (published as Frozen Hell), and I've watched the original, The Thing From Another World. The novella, particularly as originally published, is super good. Highly recommend. This adaptation is less good, I think, but still quality film-making, plenty enjoyable, and educational from a film studies perspective.
I gasped when I saw them use the Geiger counter to track the alien. And, later, when they funneled the alien into a corridor to light it on fire. Even masterpieces have influences. In fact, masterpieces are likely the most likely to have inspiration from their predecessors.
The fire scene is freaking crazy. According to one unverified source on the grid, stuntmen ran in to replace the cast while rolling, and, this was the first time a stuntman had been set on fire for a film. But I don't know, isn't that the actual actress behind the pillow? There's no way some of them weren't burned. Regardless, super exciting scene and technically very impressive.
This movie has an staggering amount of cross-talk. Characters are constantly talking over, around, and past one another. I'd say it's pretty realistic, as a depiction of real life human dialogue. Everyone has their agenda and their piece to say and goes about doing so regardless of everyone else.
In the scene when they're preparing to alight the alien, they're discussing kerosene, jerry cans and buckets, stray cigarettes, guns, Gary Cooper, and strategy, and all the while the extremely charismatic Margaret Sheridan counting down the tension. The dialogue can definitely be hard to follow, and actually I found it easier with the subtitles off. If it's giving you trouble, try the same.
I really like all of the characters. The hero, Captain Hendry, has a perfect mixture of gravitas and humor; the reporter is brazenly self-centered and delivers innumerable hilarious lines; and the villain is cold and calculating, and with sufficient motivation and reason, as villains should be. The heroine, as mentioned earlier, could not be more charming. I love how the Captain's friends openly chide him about his crush, and he just says cut it outtttt and flicks them in the balls. It's adorable.
If you're into The Thing, and why wouldn't you be, you might enjoy seeing the original adaptation. Completely different, but good cinema too. And definitely read "Who Goes There?".
@Rambler Cool, I just looked up the show's Wikipedia article, and episode 3 makes note that it inspired Shaun of the Dead. I also recognize Simon Pegg is involved with it too. Actually, I just found out it's on in the US via Tubi, which I have. Thanks for the heads up.
@Gryffin I agree, I really enjoyed the game too. I also have it on PC, IIRC, Origin gave it out when they had the old "On The House" program that gave away the occasional free game.
The resident Trolls superfan! Saw Trolls Band Together via early access and absolutely loved it!
watching Nightmare on Elm Street 4 from the Elm Street 1-4 DVD Collection. Sometime pretty soon im going to buy the blu ray collection since that has some cool bonus features
@Rambler I thought Lenny was into H though? I remember hearing the story about how he took the wrong drugs so he was thrown out of Hawkwind and got revenge by sleeping with their old ladies. It worked out for the best though as there would be no Motörhead otherwise.
I’m surprised there’s so much fuss over the Need For Speed movie, I vaguely remember watching it and being underwhelmed. I just looked it up and the cast is pretty strong with Michael Keaton, Dominic Cooper, Rami Malek and Imogen Poots but I think some of these are playing henchman number 4 type deals.
I remember enjoying Need for Speed in like a "So bad it is good" kinda way. I remember it having genuinely pretty fun racing sequences but being really tonally muddled with loads of stock narrative and character arcs just sorta jumbled together regardless of whether they make a cohesive whole. What I remember the most though was how awful Aaron Paul was. Although from what I remember, his character was ludicrously written, so I am not sure how much of it was him actually being bad or just the writing, but still, his ***** himself expression and silly Batman like voice he used here stuck in memory.
I like to think of myself as a big Slasher fan, and I actually lived through the late 90s/early 00s attempt to revive the Slasher genre, but I was sorta born a decade too late to really appreciate a lot of these movies. The odd one might somehow have slipped into our 12-year-old hands, but I missed a lot of the pillar Slashers where I was actually alive at the height of their popularity.
I can't really say in any conscious sense why I have since gone back and ticked off almost every Slasher from the 70s/80s I could get my hands on, while mostly leaving those films I was alive for untouched, but I am slowly ticking them off.
I've now ticked off both 'I know what you did last summer' and 'Urban Legend' and while I am sure I would have loved both of these back in Secondary School, now I am in my 30s and with so many Slashers under my belt, these films do nothing for me whatsoever.
@Heroofthenexus Why? It sounds like grumpy old man talk about how things were better back in my days.
@Eagly I watched OG Hellraiser fairly recently and quite liked it. It's not to say it's not a mess as the cinematography jumps from having the camera just sit still to some cool looking shots, the book's writer decided he wanted to direct so it has typical first director problems, it's clearly a British film but tries (and fails) to be ambiguous to pass off as American and the characters are flat but its two core things of a messed up romance story and showing off the Cenobites who are just a really cool concept work well enough to forgive the rough edges for me.
On a side note I listened to a podcast with Clive Barker the director/book author of Hellraiser, despite getting toxic shoch syndrome from going to the dentist with resulted in him going into a coma and having multiple strokes he's still really passionate about his work.
I watched Hellraiser for the first time like a year or two ago, I just remember it being really long and really dated. Like even at the time I am pretty sure this was made on a super low budget, and the effects set pieces are definitely well designed, so you can certainly give it some slack, but I've watched plenty of films from around the same time or earlier that held up far better.
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