| Board List | |
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| Topic | Board 8 Watches and Ranks 80s Horror - The Rankings |
| Snake5555555555 04/15/24 3:30:31 PM #385 | Fright Night won the tie breaker 186 adjusted against Phenomena's 190 adjusted (determined by removing the highest and lowest rankings for each film)
--- I've decided to put my fears behind me. I'm not going back. If you're gonna scream, scream with me |
| Topic | Board 8 Watches and Ranks 80s Horror - The Rankings |
| Snake5555555555 04/15/24 3:18:36 PM #383 | Outlier
Fortybelowsummer - 136 Karo - 119 Jcgamer107 - 118 Evilordexdeath - 104 Inviso - 100 Seginustemple - 95 Johnbobb - 88 Snake - 86 Mythiot - 76 Bitto - 75 Plasmabeam - 70 Rockus - 70 Lightning - 57 Karo grows bat wings and makes a big flight to the top of the board --- I've decided to put my fears behind me. I'm not going back. If you're gonna scream, scream with me |
| Topic | Board 8 Watches and Ranks 80s Horror - The Rankings |
| Snake5555555555 04/15/24 3:12:35 PM #382 | Bitto - Rating: C+
I've seen many movies stumble the third act, but rarely the first one. This one does and it really painted my view of this movie in a bad light. The characters were nonsensical, the pacing felt entirely off, the murder plot being so obvious was baffling, and I couldn't tell where this movie was poking fun at silly horror movies or was a silly horror movie. I was ready to have this be in the bottom tier. Once Peter Vincent really comes into the fray, the movie really finds its identity. Vincent is a really fun character and, honestly, the only good acting in the movie. That said, all the other main characters begin to find their identity too. Evil Ed, a complete nothing of a character, actually becomes somewhat compelling after he becomes a vampire and dies to Peter Vincent. The premise and the plot really start to click in, too. Johnbobb - This was much better than expected! Seriously, the movie opens with its teen protagonist trying to pressure his girlfriend into sex. Not a great way to introduce your hero! But this is honestly a pretty fantastic Rear Window meets Buffy type of movie. It has pretty much everything I'd look for in a vampire movie: seduction, paranoia, intimate violence, heavy religious symbolism, goofy prosthetics... ok, scratch the last one, but I've seen worse! Lightning - Youre so cool, Brewster! Fright Night is a bit of an odd one in that while the film was always well received and successful, it is not that talked about in the modern day despite also being subtly one of the most influential horror movies ever made. At its core this is a fun modern vampire story that mostly keeps to classic tropes with some great practical effects, especially when the vampires die. That bat looked bad though. What really makes it work however is that it is one of the first to have characters truly aware of the horror genre and its tropes. This is one of the first of a number of the meta-horror films that are so common now. You can see its influence perhaps most notably in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, both the movie and more importantly the TV series, which clearly views this as a seminal text. We as audiences are so used to horror tropes, we always complain whenever a character does something stupid like going up those stairs or splitting off from the group, and what Fright Night does is reflect this audience, if people are aware then the characters should be too. This makes it a more effective horror film, it feels like there is more threat when the characters are smart and know what theyre doing. Even despite the knowing meta aspects the film still does all of the traditional vampire elements well, there is a charming vampire, a fun twist on the idea of a wise old vampire, and a romance you want to see succeed. The vampires are scary and there is some good tension and laughs. It is effective at just about everything it tries even if it is somewhat lacking in narrative depth. 4/5 Snake - Fright Night is a fun blend of horror and comedy that mainly shines with its charismatic performances, though its not a huge favorite of mine or anything. Roddy McDowall steals the show as Peter Vincent, perfectly walking the line between cheesy and charming, delivering some of the movie's most quotable lines like Peter Vincent's not even my real name!", slays me every time. Chris Sarandon is equally captivating as the suave yet menacing Jerry Dandridge of course. William Ragsdale though I must say isnt really that compelling of a protagonist. The plot can be predictable at times, relying on some familiar horror tropes, and the pacing can also feel uneven, with some stretches dragging a bit. Additionally, some of the humor is dated and only really funny to someone familiar with classic horror media (which I am but it doesnt change the point). Plasmabeam - An all-too-familiar story with all-too-underwhelming comedy. Karo - So this teenager has a vampire move in next door to him, something he finds out about because the bloodsucker in question fails to take even the most basic steps to safeguard his identity. I mean seriously you just lug your fucking coffin across the yard right out in the open what the hell is wrong with you. Basically theres all these awful kids who do stupid high school shit and one of them sees all this dracula stuff and nobody will believe him ha ha ha. It's the one joke of the movie that is quickly beaten into the ground. They enlist the services of a TV actor who plays a famous monster hunter because everyone knows that TV shows are real and a lot of inconsistent vampire lore later the others find out the truth and Bitey McFangerson comes after everyone to keep the news from getting out. The vampire is so intent to silence those who know his secret that he just up and murders a couple of bouncers in full view of hundreds of people. Nobody seems to really notice this or calls in the army or anything. I honestly think it would have been better if it all turned out to be a hilarious misunderstanding, rather than just being a generic monster flick featuring a bunch of unconvincing performances as a bunch of forgettable characters but that was probably hoping for too much. It is a mess that doesnt work on any level, and while it is indeed a very dumb movie, it suffers a fate far far worse than being merely stupid - it is boring, and incredibly so. It is less a fright night, and more a shite night. Fortybelowsummer - First off, I have to ask: why the hell did the kid whos a horror fanatic have to go to his obnoxious friend to tell him how to defeat a vampire? Garlic, holy water, dont invite him into your house? Yeah no shit, Charley, I know you werent necking with young Marcy Darcy during all of those shows. Anyway, maybe its partly having watched Lost Boys just before this, but Fright Night didnt really do it for me. The aforementioned does almost everything better; the main character is more likeable (I actually hate Charley), the sidekicks are more likable, the mom is less annoying, the vampires are cooler and scarier, and its funnier and more exciting to watch. That about covers it, but it wouldnt be fair to judge it just on comparison to another movie alone. On its own it has very little suspense, Dandrige isnt the least bit scary (maybe a little in his final form), and I actively rooted against the whiney, pleading main character (but hes a vaaaaaampire! cant you just hear his stupid voice). I will say the last 20 minutes were pretty good with some killer special effects and makeup that were enough to keep it out of my 30 spot. Seginustemple - Chris Sarandon makes a charming villain, the sfx are great, but the core idea of a meta vampire/werewolf movie has way more potential than what this delivers. The protagonist is so lame and spends half the movie with a bad case of "I know it sounds crazy but you gotta believe me" just spinning his wheels. I take it his lameness is intentional, hence "you're sooo cooooool Brewster", but in any case the guy doesn't work for me. And then his buddy Evil Ed is just aggressively awful. Every scene with that ham is grating, his delivery is like nails on chalkboard. There's a scene towards the end where he gets gored in wolf form and tries transforming back to human to garner sympathy from Roddy McDowall, and I'm thinking dude, just stay as a wolf because you are way less likable as Evil Ed. Good transformation sequence, though. My favorite bit is Sarandon prowling around a neon nightclub in a Wesley Crusher turtleneck, just basking in the seductive vampire role. I mean, vampires are cool people, are they not? --- I've decided to put my fears behind me. I'm not going back. If you're gonna scream, scream with me |
| Topic | Board 8 Watches and Ranks 80s Horror - The Rankings |
| Snake5555555555 04/15/24 3:12:26 PM #381 | 16. Fright Night (1985, 221 points)
Directed / Written by: Tom Holland https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/5/525bf376.jpg Why Its Significant - Like many classic monster movies of the 80s, Fright Night (along with The Lost Boys) helped revitalize the played out vampire genre. With a teenage angle and a healthy dose of comedy, the film switched up the vampire mythos. Jerry Dandrige, the charismatic vampire, was sophisticated, seductive, and held a dark sense of humor like the vampires before him, but he didnt reside in some stuffy old castle - he was your next door neighbor. This simple but effective twist along with Charley's fight against the vampire is met with skepticism, mirroring the anxieties of teenagers often dismissed by adults. Fright Night was followed by a sequel, remake, sequel to the remake, stage play, documentary film, video game, novelizations, & comic book series. The Rankers Evilordexdeath - 5 Jcgamer107 - 6 Inviso - 10 Rockus - 10 Bitto - 13 Mythiot - 13 Johnbobb - 14 Lightning - 16 Snake - 22 Plasmabeam - 25 Karo - 28 Fortybelowsummer - 29 Seginustemple - 30 Evilordexdeath - Ostensibly, this is the story of a guy who gets a new next-door neighbor and instantly realizes that he's a vampire. It feels like an opposite to Christine - in that film the protagonist mentally unravels as everyone around him tries to help. By contrast, one message you could take from this movie is that everyone will let you down - bro's friend becomes a thrall of the vampire, his girlfriend gets seduced by the creature right in front of him, the police think he's a lunatic, and even his mom goes out and invites the vampire over so he can get around the whole clause that vampires can't enter a house uninvited and attack the kid. Everyone will disappoint you, that is, except maybe out of work T.V. actors, because this film is really the story of Peter Vincent, a hammy faux-vampire hunter who the kids enlist to help with the monster, who reveals himself to be a complete coward but then spends the entire film gradually transforming into the character he's used to playing in movies. It's him who kills the vampire's thralls, him who saves the much more static protagonist Charley Brewster, and his character arc that the film centers around - at one point he fails to wield a crucifix against the vampire because "you need faith for it to work," only to manage it successfully in the climax. I was absolutely onboard for every moment of it, and his character made this movie one of the big pleasant surprises of the list. Jcgamer107 - 7/10 Inviso - This is a really fun concept for a film, particularly one that feels like its a few full-frontal nudity scenes away (cutting, not adding) from being a Disney Channel original movie. You have a kid whos obsessed with this late-night horror anthology show, and then he happens to glance outside and realize that theres a new neighbor next door who sure does have a coffin, and then several women going to his house who are later discovered to be murdered. Why, its almost like theres something about this next door neighbor thats unsavory. But yeah, Charley catches the neighbor about to bite his victim, revealing himself to be a vampire, and suddenly he finds himself in Jerrys (yes, the big bad vampire is named Jerry) crosshairs. I think the first half of the movie does a decent job of setting the stakes by introducing Charley as this dorky guy who somehow has a girlfriend willing to round home base with him (despite him getting distracted from sex by goings on outside his house). Evil Ed is his douchey loser of afriend? Nah, acquaintance. And then of course theres Jerry. I love how they set him up with Charley going to learn vampire lore, specifically the lore about how vampires cant enter your house without permission, only for a scene later, his mom invites Jerry over for drinks. Jerrys not even subtle about his sinister behavior, and it really works well to sell this guy as a smarmy, dangerous douchebag. Its actually funny to see Fright Night on the 80s list, because Jerry comes across as a total 80s businessman in terms of how he acts throughout this film. Anyway, the movie is fine in that first half, with Charley trying to get ANYONE to listen to him, and his friends just humor him and eventually rope in Peter Vincent, the vampire hunting movie star from Charleys favorite show. But it turns out hes a non-believer and a coward at that, and when he discovers that, oh shit, Peter actually IS a vampire, he just wants to hide out and avoid this situation entirely. Watching Roddy McDowall have to play a reluctant hero instead of the brave, bold, conquering vampire hunter is pretty amazing, and hes the best part of the film as a result. The final act, with the battle in Jerrys house, is great. Jerrys SO cocky and just toying with Charley and Peter (having kidnapped Charleys girlfriend and turned her into a vampire spawn herself), and we get some great stuff with Peter killing Ed (just generally fucking Ed up with a cross burn to the forehead before the endgame, and then killing him when he turns into a wolf for some reason), and then Peter and Charley teaming up on Jerrys thrall to kill him. But the best part is when Peter tries using a cross and Jerry rebuffs him, saying you have to believe in the cross for it to work, and this comes back later when Peter has Jerrys back against a window with the rising sun, and he truly starts to believe and empower the cross. And then of course we end on the heroes breaking all the windows in Jerrys basement to get him overwhelmed by raw sunlight and save the day. It's a FUN movie; not the BEST, but I think Jerry plays the sinister villain well, and Peter plays the washed-up phony well. And the concept of facing down your new neighbor when he turns out to be an evil vampire is a fun one, especially when its one of those situations where NO ONE is going to believe you, so it falls on you to save your own ass. Seems to happen a lot when leads in these movies are teens, but I guess that makes sense, with the old children should be seen and not heard mantra. Rockus - Initially I was thinking the first thirty minutes of this was like a suburban Rear Window, but with vampires. But really its probably more like a teenage version of The Burbs, but with vampires. But after that it gets really good with the first real glimpse of Chris Sarandons true vampire form, the introduction of Roddy McDowalls Peter Vincent as a major character rather than just a B-horror personality on television, and we get ESCALATION. The movie is in its bag with a wolf transformation, a green goopy death, a slimy bat transformation and all of it delivered with some great practical effects and detailed makeup. They just dont make them like this anymore and its a real shame. Vincent even gets to have his own little mini-character arc about regaining some of his faith and, I presume, satisfaction with his career. Great premise, great effects, just a great picture. --- I've decided to put my fears behind me. I'm not going back. If you're gonna scream, scream with me |
| Topic | Video Game Characters of the 2010s - Madeline vs. Bridges / Clementine vs. Goose |
| Snake5555555555 04/15/24 1:50:22 PM #34 | up
--- I've decided to put my fears behind me. I'm not going back. If you're gonna scream, scream with me |
| Topic | Fill in the Blank 255: ___ In |
| Snake5555555555 04/15/24 3:55:41 AM #25 | Steal
--- I've decided to put my fears behind me. I'm not going back. If you're gonna scream, scream with me |
| Topic | Board 8 Watches and Ranks 80s Horror - The Rankings |
| Snake5555555555 04/14/24 11:01:10 PM #367 | Lightning - Look at her - the Lady of the Flies!
In the 1970s Dario Argento came to prominence with his giallo films which combined horror with his unique style, bright colours and overpowering sound. Most of these were fairly tight thrillers with minimal plot, but here he goes completely over the top and throws all he can at the wall. Frankly this is an absurd film with murders, a girl who can talk to insects, a helpful chimp, speed metal, a lake catching fire, an ominous boarding school. It is an absolutely bonkers film and yet it works. There are a lot of flaws here. A young Jennifer Connolly and the great Donald Pleasance give really good performances here, but the rest are not as strong. The dubbing that Argento typically employs for his films can be really grating here. The dialogue is silly and the story makes no sense. There is another bad portrayal of physical differences. It is a film that on paper should not work at all. Despite that, the film simply goes for it so much you cannot help but enjoy it. You really have to just go with it but it is a lot of fun if you can get on its wavelength. And since it is an Argento film there is some great imagery here, in particular the arms emerging from the darkness was terrifying. There is also Argentos usual use of intense sound, here through the use of metal in key moments including Iron Maiden which gives them a unique twist. That really is the word for this film, unique. There are better movies here but none quite like this. 3/5 Plasmabeam - Not for me. Too slow, and not enough edge to keep me engaged. --- I've decided to put my fears behind me. I'm not going back. If you're gonna scream, scream with me |
| Topic | Board 8 Watches and Ranks 80s Horror - The Rankings |
| Snake5555555555 04/14/24 11:00:29 PM #366 | Fortybelowsummer - Starring Jennifer Lord of the Flies Connelly, Phenomena comes to us courtesy of 70s/80s Argento who was dropping giallo classics left and right. While its not, in my opinion, top tier (Deep Red, Opera) its still one of the best examples of the notorious Italian film genre. The main thing I want to touch on is how good the soundtrack is. The music actually feels out of place at times, but its an intentional technique that leaves you feeling unsettled and on edge. Do you expect to hear Motorhead in a somber moment when the corpse of a pivotal character is being wheeled out? Nope, but I find that choice fascinating along with the Judas Priest utilization. Interwoven with more atmospheric and operatic melodies it really lends to the whole jarring experience. Visually, its super interesting as well even if it is more toned down in terms of blasts of color or explicit drawn-out violence. You still get the bright red blood, rolling heads, and weird camera positions not to mention the decidedly un-giallo supernatural fly hordes (that they actually hatched for the movie). Some consider this an Argento effort that shows a decline in quality but its still very good and the last 20 minutes are, wait for itphenomenal.
Inviso - This movie could have been great. On paper, the concept of a serial killer in Europe (Europe being an inherently terrifying region for Americans, if later horror films would prove anything), and then you introduce this girl with strange, psychic powers to control insects, which allow her to investigate the murders like a paranormal Gil Grissom. Thats pretty interesting and unique, and some of the imagery in the film (like when her whole school is bullying her and she just summons a swarm of bees to envelope the school building) is pretty solid. The problem is that the film doesnt know how to pick a fucking lane. You have the serial killer, but youre already stretching the concept by adding the insect control X-Men character to the mix. But then the movie just decides to add more shit for dumb reasons. Long story short, Jennifer Connolley is sent to a European boarding school, and in her first scene, shes shown driving with this uptight semi-headmistress. And several students from the school get killed while Jennifer has premonitions or visions of the killings. So, she goes to see Donald Pleasance, whos playing an entomologist that is trying to solve the case, and thats perfect because she has bug powers. Also, Pleasance has a chimpanzee helperwhich feels completely out of place given the tone of the film, but its somehow important to the ending. Anyway, Jennifer investigates and finds the house where the murdered used to live, but meanwhile, the murderer kills Pleasance to keep him from getting too close. Jennifer, at this point, is in over her head and just wants to go home, so she tries AGAIN to contact her rich movie star dad (or his manager) to get her back to America. This gets relayed to the headmistress, who says Fine, fine, you can go. But your plane isnt leaving until tomorrow, so you can stay in my house. And its at this point that Jennifer realizes Oh shit, this woman is the murderer because of all the bug larva crawling around her house. And she gets captured. In a way, its a very horror clich where you get brought to the house of someone who you think you can trust, and then they turn out to be the killer all alongbut sometimes cliches work for a reason. And all of this would be fine if it was just Jennifer has to outwit and escape her captor. But its not. Once Pleasance dies, a new character is introduced: Detective Geiger, who I guess was needed after the 75% mark of the film. Hes investigating the murders and finds the house Jennifer found, and he goes to interview the headmistress, because he learns she was raped in an insane asylum fifteen years prior. This is all exposition delivered as the film should be reaching its climax, via a character who doesnt need to be in the movie. His investigation serves no purpose and hes just there to make Jennifers eventual triumph feel even less valid. Seriously, he talks to the headmistress, she captures him, and then when Jennifer tries to escape, this guy is the one who stymies the headmistress efforts. Its not like Jennifer tries to help him, or they even really interact at all (beyond him INTERRUPTING HER WHEN SHES TRYING TO CALL THE POLICE, FOR A CHEAP JUMP SCARE)so why did he need to be in this film? Anyway, Jennifer discovers the headmistress deformed child is also murdering people, so she runs off and winds up burning him alive after he tries to kill her on a motorboat. In a HILARIOUS scene, the actor dads manager shows up looking for Jennifer, after having been off-screen all film, and he goes to collect her, only to get decapitated in a single shot, because it turns out Geiger failed to finish the job of overpowering a physically weaker woman who he definitely beat the shit out of. And then again, Jennifer doesnt even proactively save herselfbut rather the HELPER MONKEY SHOWS UP and kills the headmistress with a goddamn razor! This movie goes off the rails SO HARD at the end, and it completely removes all agency from Jennifer as a character (aside from her summoning bees to attack the mutant child when hes trying to kill her) in favor of characters that dont add anything else to the plot. Its BIZARRE. Also bizarre? The random heavy music that plays inappropriately over numerous scenes in the film. Ill give it creditI was never bored, but what the fuck WAS this? Jcgamer107 - 4/10 Bitto - Rating: C- It's a fun movie concept. A girl who is a connection with insects uses her connection to figure out a serial killer. She also sleepwalks, which...doesn't really play into the movie at all. It may have isolated her from her schoolmates, but maybe the fact that she can control insects might be a bigger reason for that. The serial killer is...fine, but I have a bit of difficulty understanding the motives here. I can't tell if it's because her son being so deformed caused her to go mad, if she's killing due to influence of the son, or if the son is abused from her, or...yeah. They just really don't give enough time. Also, that scene of Jennifer trying to console the son and she literally takes one look at his face and runs away screaming is wild. That must have been comedic, right? Like, how else are you supposed to read that scene? And it's kinda fucked up! --- I've decided to put my fears behind me. I'm not going back. If you're gonna scream, scream with me |
| Topic | Board 8 Watches and Ranks 80s Horror - The Rankings |
| Snake5555555555 04/14/24 11:00:02 PM #365 | 17. Phenomena (1985 / 221 points)
Directed by: Dario Argento / Written by: Franco Ferrini, Dario Argento https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/3/38d3183c.jpg Why Its Significant - No list of the most influential horror movies ever made is complete without a Dario Argento film. While not his most mainstream offering (though few of his films are), Phenomena is another stunning example of a specific type of slasher film Argento perfected - giallo, complete with his young woman protagonist and beautiful yet disturbing aesthetic mixed with a supernatural element, all prominent hallmarks of Argento filmmaking. Now I will be fully transparent here and say I dont think this film is THAT influential in the grand scheme of things compared to other films on this list, but I still found it worthy of inclusion (other than being an Argento film) for being the main inspiration behind the Clock Tower series of survival horror games, with the original Clock Tower featuring a protagonist named Jennifer and design lifted straight from Jennifer Connellys character, plus a few plot similarities. The Rankers Johnbobb - 5 Snake - 8 Karo - 10 Evilordexdeath - 13 Rockus - 14 Seginustemple - 16 Fortybelowsummer - 20 Inviso - 21 Jcgamer107 - 21 Bitto - 22 Lightning - 22 Mythiot - 23 Plasmabeam - 26 Johnbobb - Obviously the Final Girl is a big horror trope, but is there a name for the girl at the beginning that inevitably gets killed off to introduce the movie? The First Girl? Because this is a top tier first girl. I mean, wondering into a stranger's house calling out "Is anybody there? I'm a foreigner and I'm lost!" pretty much just locks down the standard for First Girls. This movie is absolutely ridiculous and just filled with memorable lines. "With this we can determine the date of death." "Or MURDER." "My name is Sophie. I'm freench." Jennifer Connelly is eating baby food, then says it tastes like cat food, and continues eating it. What is happening? "If I thought about your father, I'd never fall asleep!" fucking DAMN girl "Do you take something, like - do you understand - drugs?" "WE WORSHIP YOU. WE WORSHIP YOU." "I love you. I love you all." Why is her hair blowing in the wind when she's inside Legitimately the bugs swarming the building shot was great. What is this soundtrack? I mean, I like it, I think, but it's all over the place and almost never matches the tone of the scene Snake - Enigmatic murders, stylish cinematography, and a focus on suspense. I am very biased here since Clock Tower is one of my favorite game series, and I watched this film after learning where Clock Tower got its inspiration from, and yes it probably made me love it more than I reasonably should. But, but, it still stands out well on its own! This movie is WILD. Dario Argento throws everything at the wall in this gloriously insane giallo. Jennifers telepathic connection to insects, an outcast, ostracized by her peers, lush Swiss landscapes and the opulent boarding school setting juxtaposed with brutal murders and grotesque insect swarms, and a razor-wielding chimpanzee for some reason. Theres technically a Goblin score here that throbs with suspense yet the film also has tons of heavy metal songs with bizarre usages and hell I aint complaining. I dont know, it just all works for me and sometimes I wish more horror movies could be this wild and fun all in one package more often. Karo - A young girl goes to a swiss boarding school plagued by a mysterious killer. She can also control insects for some reason that isnt explained. I give the movie props for seeming fresh and different, and full to the brim with an air of genuine mystery. Red herrings are everywhere, scenes are set with daring music picks that seem the choices of a madman yet somehow work. I just wish everyone would talk like real people, rather than speaking with this off putting weirdness that seems like it was generated by an AI algorithm rather than a real human mouth hole. But where the movie truly falls apart is the very end, where it degrades too much into sensationalist shlock - the most egregious of which was everything involving Brukner's son, all of which was unnecessary, exploitative and ableist. Just because someone has a deformed face doesnt mean they should have less humanity than a fucking chimpanzee. All in all it is original and complex film with a tone of all its own to help it stand out from the pack, yet unfortunately also saddled with deep flaws that prevent it from being fully engaging. Evilordexdeath - From what I understand having not seen it, Suspiria would've been an auto-include if we were doing 70s horror, and this is kind of the Dario Argento film we get in its place since it's 80s. I was hoping I'd like it more than I did but would end up comparing it to goofy slasher films like Sleepaway Camp more readily than the, let's say, art horror films I was hoping it would resemble. The central idea that the main character can communicate with and control insects is fun, and makes for some of the coolest imagery in the film, but this and the murder mystery plot feel generally unconnected except one instance where main character Jennifer (who, fun fact, was the main inspiration for the main character in the SNES classic Clock Tower, which resembles this movie in a few other ways as well,) uses a corpse fly to try and track down the killer. This is also one of those horror movies where the climax drags on for way too long, where the hero seemingly reaches safety like 5 times only for the antagonist, or some new antagonist that's barely even been alluded to before, to pop up once again and threaten her for like 20 seconds before getting clocked. I'm ranking this above some other similarly weak films mainly for the occasionally amusing bit of eccentricity, most particularly how a major part of the plot is the murderer being tracked down by a vengeful chimpanzee. Rockus - This might be a little overstuffed and some of the elements come off as kind of silly, the monkey butler especially, but Argentos direction is still assured and somehow it all comes together in the end. A part of me still wishes it was as bold and colorful as Suspiria but theres still a dreamlike quality to a lot of the night sequences that looks great. Its both parts absurd and gruesome and has like three finales packed into the last 20 minutes and theyre all bangers. Also, even with the supernatural ability to talk to and control insects Argento still manages to dedicate a lot of screen time to a bunch of stabbings. Seginustemple - "Monkey Butler" could be the tagline for this. I don't quite understand it, but boy does it have flavor. Gloomy boarding school, insect powers, random metal song, necrotic fleshpit, mutant pig-boy, it's like Lord of the Flies as a proto-Saw movie. It takes a while to get going but that final act goes nuts. Gold Star to Donald Pleasance as the entomologist for delivering this line: "What is this association between insects and the human soul...is it because of the multifarious mystery of them both?". Yeah man, that's gotta be it, it's the multifarious mystery! --- I've decided to put my fears behind me. I'm not going back. If you're gonna scream, scream with me |
| Topic | What is the most difficult accomplishment in a video game you've achieved? |
| Snake5555555555 04/14/24 7:37:36 PM #10 | GranzonEx posted...
I also managed this. I did not realize this was a hard feat! I thought it was extremely hard! Especially that last section with those huge doors before Wesker, HOLY SHIT --- I've decided to put my fears behind me. I'm not going back. If you're gonna scream, scream with me |
| Topic | What is the most difficult accomplishment in a video game you've achieved? |
| Snake5555555555 04/14/24 7:28:44 PM #2 | Two that spring to mind for me are Batman: Arkham Asylum 100% All Achievements or Resident Evil 5 Professional Solo. Two torturous but somehow enjoyable experiences I never want to go through again! Those challenge maps on AA especially had me pulling my god damn hair out.
--- I've decided to put my fears behind me. I'm not going back. If you're gonna scream, scream with me |
| Topic | Board 8 Watches and Ranks 80s Horror - The Rankings |
| Snake5555555555 04/14/24 7:19:41 PM #364 | Again ranking will be later tonight. (Just how weekends are for me!)
--- I've decided to put my fears behind me. I'm not going back. If you're gonna scream, scream with me |
| Topic | Video Game Characters of the 2010s - Madeline vs. Bridges / Clementine vs. Goose |
| Snake5555555555 04/14/24 7:16:02 PM #2 | Madeline
Clemetine --- I've decided to put my fears behind me. I'm not going back. If you're gonna scream, scream with me |
| Topic | Video Game Characters of the 2010s - Madeline vs. Bridges / Clementine vs. Goose |
| Snake5555555555 04/14/24 7:15:12 PM #1 |
Welcome to the best video game character of the 2010s, a continuation of an ongoing contest series dedicated to finding who is the best video game character introduced in each decade. The 2010s saw the amazing tail-end of the 7th generation & the rise of the 8th generation with incredible games and amazing characters from said games. Bracket - https://challonge.com/1e9oonm5 Previous Results: Sans / Jesse (13 / 12) 5-Volt / Kitsuragi (3 / 16) A near upset and a blowout in the same day. Madeline (Celeste) https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/6/60615ea8.jpg vs. Sam Porter Bridges (Death Stranding) https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/a/a5574199.jpg Clementine (The Walking Dead) https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/b/b5e015d6.jpg vs. Goose (Untitled Goose Game) https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/b/ba0ef487.jpg Easy Vote Madeline / Bridges Clementine / Goose --- I've decided to put my fears behind me. I'm not going back. If you're gonna scream, scream with me |
| Topic | Video Game Character of the 2010s - Sans vs. Jesse Faden / 5-Volt vs. Kitsurugi |
| Snake5555555555 04/14/24 7:14:03 PM #30 | BSkullX posted...
Jesse I'm sorry I have to deny this vote since it was past 24 hours --- I've decided to put my fears behind me. I'm not going back. If you're gonna scream, scream with me |
| Topic | Video Game Character of the 2010s - Sans vs. Jesse Faden / 5-Volt vs. Kitsurugi |
| Snake5555555555 04/14/24 5:36:18 PM #26 | up
--- I've decided to put my fears behind me. I'm not going back. If you're gonna scream, scream with me |
| Topic | Board 8 Watches and Ranks 80s Horror - The Rankings |
| Snake5555555555 04/14/24 3:43:16 PM #354 | Same here though I can understand some of the criticism put forth here by the lower rankers.
--- I've decided to put my fears behind me. I'm not going back. If you're gonna scream, scream with me |
| Topic | What's the most technically impressive GBA game? (Day 10) + Saturn final |
| Snake5555555555 04/14/24 3:10:28 PM #17 | UF8 posted...
Iridion 3D --- I've decided to put my fears behind me. I'm not going back. If you're gonna scream, scream with me |
| Topic | Board 8 Watches and Ranks 80s Horror - The Rankings |
| Snake5555555555 04/14/24 2:57:13 PM #351 | Outlier
Fortybelowsummer - 120 Jcgamer107 - 104 Karo - 100 Inviso - 90 Evilordexdeath - 89 Seginustemple - 80 Johnbobb - 74 Snake - 71 Bitto - 67 Mythiot - 67 Rockus - 67 Lightning - 52 Plasmabeam - 52 JC haunts up a big boost here closing in on Forty's lead --- I've decided to put my fears behind me. I'm not going back. If you're gonna scream, scream with me |
| Topic | Video Game Character of the 2010s - Sans vs. Jesse Faden / 5-Volt vs. Kitsurugi |
| Snake5555555555 04/14/24 2:31:25 PM #25 | up
--- I've decided to put my fears behind me. I'm not going back. If you're gonna scream, scream with me |
| Topic | Board 8 Watches and Ranks 80s Horror - The Rankings |
| Snake5555555555 04/14/24 2:05:23 PM #348 | Evilordexdeath - I saw this one once before, with family, and we all thought it was really cheesy and hard to take seriously, but that was years ago and a lot of my family is like that with every movie so I knew I had to rewatch. I was worried if I didn't I would underrate a well-known classic, but the second viewing mostly just solidified all the reasons I don't like this movie. The early family scenes are kind of cute, providing a decent buildup for a horror flick, and JoBeth Williams' and especially Zelda Rubenstein's performances are compelling, but once the plot begins to unfold everything just becomes so overdone. So many scenes are just every character screaming at the same time for like 10 minutes, every "scare" prior to the stupid paper mach skeleton monster at the end is just this visual clutter of flashing lights and objects flying around, and if all that isn't enough the score will make damn sure you know that what's happening is scary. I hate the music in this movie, it's always either overstating how spooky events are or just sounding likeStar Wars when it's completely out of place. This also has one of those false horror movie endings that annoys me so much when I'm not enjoying a film. They get their daughter back and the funny little medium lady says "this house is clean," great, give me a couple minutes of falling action and take me to the credits. Instead the haunting starts up again for another 20 minutes of the most visually and auditorily noisy action of all. It really feels like a precursor to the kind of CGI-fueled Hollywood mediocrity that defines so much of cinema today.
Fortybelowsummer - Is Poltergeist the best haunted house movie ever? Probably so, but I have to admit I think its kind of overrated. It seems like youll hear nary a bad word spoken about this movie, but for me its just tooSpielberg-y. I know its Tobe Hooper, but it has Spielbergs fingerprints all over it, to the point where he was accused of secretly directing it. Dont get me wrong, I like Spielberg as a director and producer, but I just dont care for his style in muh horror. There are things to like, mainly the idea of taking the haunting out of the traditional old creaky mansion and putting in a modern home right in the middle of idyllic suburbia. That idea does have a lot of appeal, and coupled with the believable performances and script make it scarier because its something that could take over the very home youre sitting in. The last twenty minutes or so are actually amazing and right up my alley, the chaos and dread ratcheted up, presumably more under Hoopers influence. Poltergeist is definitely not bad, but as far as haunted house stories go, there are a number of others that resonate more with me. Rockus - Now this is a modern (for its time) haunted house film with its 1980s suburban setting and the way it utilizes modern (for its time) technology by using a television as a means of interacting with its paranormal entities. The film is a little tame by Tobe Hooper standards but is still ultimately pretty solid. A handful of iconic moments give it a bit of a kick, mostly involving the little girl. Who could forget the theyre here moment? Good movie, but maybe not great. Karo - Greedy real estate developers build a subdivision over a cemetery and nothing bad happens. The story is kind of slow to start, focusing on the day to day life of an ordinary suburban family with some of the most questionable parenting practices ever, I mean who buys this horrifying clown doll and then sits it up in a chair so it can watch their children sleep, jesus fucking christ. Anyway the furniture starts moving of its own accord so they have to call the ghostbusters to deal with the titular poltergeist. Except that's not what it is. The medium clearly states that a poltergeist is a spirit tied to a specific person, as opposed to a haunting being based on a location. This is clearly the latter, so good job giving a your movie an inaccurate title? Also. the desecration of burial ground narrative does not even match up with the mythology presented, where all the people at rest would have long since 'gone into the light' before the graveyard was bulldozed. This film is a prime example of nothing but cinematic fluff, most things happen without rhyme or reason and seem more just a vehicle to showcase a lot of stupid looking special effects, while the tone is inoffensively commercialized to the point of being completely soulless and lacking any bite. Bitto - Rating: D+ This is an interesting family-friendly horror movie. I dunno if child abduction is family-friendly, but most of the scares here are minor, the main cast is generally likable, and there's no on-screen or even off-screen murder. I appreciate the horror of losing a child and the parents sell that pain really well. I feel like most movies would make the paranormal investigators some degree of comical, but again, there's an earnestness to them. I feel like I should like this more, considering I really appreciate sincerity, but this movies feels too.......Christian. The plot also feels really thin, like...there's a lot of scenes about really nothing. Every character introduced afterwards feels like they could inject something in the plot and they just...don't. Seginustemple - Competently made but relatively tame, with scares ranging from bright light/large fan to Ghostbusters fare - I get the sense this has been defanged by parody over the years, and if I had been around to see it in '82 I'd have probably been blown away. But once the paranormal crew shows up dressed in tan the rest of the movie goes down tasting like ecto cooler. You what really resonates though, is the underlying conflict about real estate. Naturally, the developer built the house on a former cemetary and the haunting merely indicates the entitlement of the dead to the land, skeletons popping out of fancy luxury coffins to protest new occupants. Nothing better to do in death than covet property, so lame. --- I've decided to put my fears behind me. I'm not going back. If you're gonna scream, scream with me |
| Topic | Board 8 Watches and Ranks 80s Horror - The Rankings |
| Snake5555555555 04/14/24 2:05:11 PM #347 | 18. Poltergeist (1982, 222 points)
Directed by: Tobe Hooper / Screenplay by: Steven Spielberg, Michael Grais, Mark Victor https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/b/b6f5d718.png Why Its Significant - A box office smash and critical darling, Poltergeist was a collaborative effort between two legends who need no introduction - Tobe Hooper & Steven Spielberg. Poltergeist innovated and redefined the haunted house genre. Poltergeist steered away from gothic mansions and placed the horror within the idyllic confines of a California suburb. Another distinctive feature of Poltergeist was its melding of the supernatural with the technological age. The television, a symbol of connection and entertainment, became a conduit between the real world and the spectral realm. Poltergeist was also lauded for its special effects, produced by Industrial Light and Magic, utilizing a mix of practical and innovative techniques that received an Academy Award nomination for their efforts. It ushered in a new era of suburban horror and explored the anxieties of a changing world. It received two sequels, a remake, a TV series, Italian imitation (Ghosthouse), amusement park attractions, and potentially a new remake & TV series in the works, as well as being parodied by countless pieces of media over the decades. The Rankers Jcgamer107 - 3 Mythiot - 6 Inviso - 7 Lightning - 11 Snake - 16 Johnbobb - 17 Plasmabeam - 18 Evilordexdeath - 23 Fortybelowsummer - 23 Rockus - 23 Karo - 24 Bitto - 25 Seginustemple - 26 Jcgamer107 - 8/10 Inviso - The one was legitimately unsettling in the best possible way. No one actually dies in the entire film, which is kinda crazy for a horror movie. I was worried at first that having an almost two-hour long movie kick off the demonic stuff and literal abduction of a child around thirty minutes in would make the rest of the movie feel like it was dragging, but it didnt. If anything, thats where the movie really got interesting for me. Like, you start things off by setting the stage in a quiet suburb of cookie cutter houses (even emphasizing the formulaic design with two remotes operating on the same frequency in different houses), but even in those early scenes, with get the general creepiness of Carol Anne hearing voices in the static on TV. Hell, the earliest haunting scenes, as quick as they are to show up, set things up as well maybe youre not EVIL ghosts, right before flipping the switch and hitting the family with the abduction. Anyway, Carol Anne gets ghostnapped (and her brother Robbie is nearly eaten by a demonic tree), and you see the toll it takes on the family. How are they supposed to explain that their daughter is in some weird ghost realm? The introduction of the paranormal investigators is both campy, yet also played completely straight, and it really sells the setting when theyre caught completely off-guard by how intense the haunting is. These are people legitimately terrified to have been brought into the house, and its only with the introduction of the creepy spirit medium that it feels like the tables are turning. Everything gets super intense, with the family trying to rescue Carol Anne and cleanse the spirits, and it SEEMS like this is where the movie is coming to its happy conclusionbut I LOVE that theres one final snag, as the Beast spirit is not ready to give up so easily. The burial ground twist is funny too, especially once the entire neighborhood starts getting overwhelmed by the demonic power of the house. Its also just so weird to watch a house implode into a vortex of demonic energy. It just gives the movie a sense of weirdness and wackiness without diminishing the horror aspect of it, and I think that sells the film really well. Lightning - Theyre here! This is one of the biggest horror hits of the 1980s, defining a whole new wave of fun horror movies with almost a family friendly edge to them. Through all that it still manages to be effectively scary. You can feel the influence of Spielberg throughout this film, which makes sense as he purportedly ghost directed it. This really is just a lot of fun throughout, from the early suggestions of a haunting to the scenes with the ghost hunters to the scares in the climax to the gag at the very end. It does feel a little predictable, though films like this are so influential you have to wonder if the reason for that is that this just affected so many other films. Overall Poltergeist is a warm hearted yet still pretty frightening rollercoaster ride of a horror film that set the stage for a lot of modern, thrill ride style horror movies that we see today. Its far from the deepest film on the list, but it is one of the most enjoyable of them all. 4/5 Snake - Poltergeist is a chilling yet thrilling ride that takes the classic haunted house trope and infuses it with Spielbergian wonder. The film excels at building suspense. What starts with flickering television screens and furniture moving on their own escalates to clown doll attacks (TERRIFYING) and assaults from tree appendages. What really elevates the film are the performances though. The Freelings are a relatable family, and the actors breathe life into their characters in a way that makes you care deeply about their fate. JoBeth Williams, as the concerned mother who fiercely protects her children, shows a masterclass in conveying escalating terror, from initial disbelief to raw maternal desperation. Craig T. Nelsons transition from denial to action is believable and adds depth to the narrative. And of course, Heather O'Rourke is simply unforgettable as Carol Anne, her wide eyes and unwavering chilling line delivery in "They're here..." are both parts endearing and deeply unsettling. And even Zelda Rubinstein as the quintessential horror film medium with her quirky charm and unexpected fierceness. All these combinations make Poltergeist a genuinely unsettling and emotionally resonant experience and theres a reason its one of the most famous horror films of all time. Johnbobb - For the most part, I enjoy Poltergeist. In many ways, it's kind of ahead of it's time in terms of special effects. However, I'm at a loss for things to really say about it. It's better than most 80s horror, and has a handful of very memorable and legitimately terrifying moments, even if it ultimately doesn't stick with me all that much as a whole. Plasmabeam - Like most stories about domestic hauntings, it didnt move the needle for me. --- I've decided to put my fears behind me. I'm not going back. If you're gonna scream, scream with me |
| Topic | Fill in the Blank 255: ___out |
| Snake5555555555 04/14/24 3:44:26 AM #31 | Strike
--- I've decided to put my fears behind me. I'm not going back. If you're gonna scream, scream with me |
| Topic | Board 8 Watches and Ranks 80s Horror - The Rankings |
| Snake5555555555 04/13/24 10:20:40 PM #335 | Outlier
Fortybelowsummer - 115 Karo - 94 Jcgamer107 - 86 Evilordexdeath - 84 Inviso - 78 Johnbobb - 73 Seginustemple - 72 Snake - 69 Rockus - 62 Bitto - 60 Mythiot - 55 Plasmabeam - 52 Lightning - 45 Very few shifts now as we enters the teens --- I've decided to put my fears behind me. I'm not going back. If you're gonna scream, scream with me |
| Topic | Board 8 Watches and Ranks 80s Horror - The Rankings |
| Snake5555555555 04/13/24 10:10:48 PM #333 | Inviso - Before I forget, the ending credit scroll with Congratulations to Princess Diana and Prince Charles on their weddingdid not end well. Just wanted to throw that out there. But as for the movies content, I wanted to like it more than I did, but the pacing screwed everything up. You get the opening with two guys wandering around the countryside, sure. And then theres the werewolf attack, and then up until around the fifty-minute mark, its just foreshadowing. David has nightmares about being a wolf or a werewolf, but theres zero suspense thereobviously hes becoming a werewolf, and conveniently enough, he was in a coma for three weeks, so the movie doesnt have to waste a whole lot of plot time on waiting for the next full moon.
I guess the problem is that the movie is very slow until it suddenly becomes TOO fast. There are a lot of plodding scenes (like David dicking around Alexs apartment the whole day hes waiting for his first full moon), and then we get the cool werewolf transformation and subsequent kill scenes, and thats where the movie actually starts to get interesting. Unfortunately, the vast majority of the film is over by that point, so everything after that point feels rushed. But that last third or so is actually compelled. The aftermath of waking up naked in a wolf enclosure is funny (as is him stealing a ladies overcoat to cover up). The realization that hes a murderer and TRYING to do whats right (turning himself in to the police, who dont take him seriously; calling his family to say goodbye; TRYING to kill himself) is interesting. And then we get the porno theater scene, which is hilariously camp. Just watching a badly-acted porno while chatting with your dead and decaying friend, as well as six other victims (including the most amazingly cheerful undead couple youll ever meet)its ACTUALLY amusing. And then he transforms again (which feels wrong, since shouldnt the full moon only happen once a month, not two nights in a row) and goes on another killing frenzy, which somehow leads to the cops getting involved, a decapitation, and a WAY over-the-top car crash sequence. Its all greatand then the ending happens, and its disappointing. I dont knowI think I knew David had to die, but then the ending is an anti-climax. They try to inject emotion by having Alex make an emotional plea, but that fails and David just gets shot. Even one last lingering scene of someoneANYONE carrying on the werewolf bloodline wouldve been better than David is shot and killed, end of movie. As a result, its another okay film that shouldve been better than it was. Lightning - A naked American man stole my balloons. This is without a doubt one of the most popular and influential horror comedies of all time, that set a new standard for werewolves, makeup, effects, and tone in horror movies. Watching through the list chronologically, this film felt like a real turning point for the genre, where the films truly started to feel of their moment. Unfortunately, that also makes it one of the most dated feeling films on the list. Huge parts of this movie work. The setup is moody, funny, and effective all at once. The makeup and effects are truly stunning (this was the first recipient of the Best Makeup Oscar), especially in the big transformation sequence at the heart of the film. The chases we see in the last act are quite thrilling, and you do really root for David by the end despite knowing that he is doomed. Its all very entertaining, and keeping the werewolf aspects to the side until the transformation sequence most of the way through the film was an inspired choice. Where the movie comes up short is the dated comedic aspects. These days a lot of the jokes no longer land, and being an 80s comedy of course it has some frankly weird sexual and gender politics to it. Also, Ive been to local pubs in the North of England and none of them are like that. The portrayal of London is okay but the portrayal of the North is stereotypical and frankly a bit offensive. In the version I watched at least there was a dedication at the end congratulating Charles and Diana on their wedding which about sums it up. This is still an entertaining watch but absolutely showing its age. 3/5 Karo - This two kids are vising backwater English villages for some reason and one gets turned into a werewolf, but there's a conspiracy to gaslight him into believing everything is all right because these country hicks are apparently the Illuminati and so nobody asks any questions about the giant claw marks across his chest or anything. His 'friend' shows up as ghost to warn him, but then almost immediately jumps right to a suggestion of suicide right off the bat so fuck that guy. What follows is standard werewolf fare, and although the transformation scene is impressive for pre-cgi era there is nothing really remarkable about the story. The serious and comedic elements are fused poorly and just feel incredibly off, like at the end where we go straight from the shot of the grieving girlfriend right into bow chicka wow bop a dop doo wop a bang dang a ding dong. This is really what you want the audience to take out of the theater? For fucks sake. The characters all feel weird and unbelievable, none moreso then than the incredibly thirsty nurse who shows zero concern that the random guy she invited into her house is hearing voices in his head and claims to have just been bitten by a monster. It's not really scary, nor is it really funny. It really needed to pick a lane rather than smashing though every traffic cone on the center divide and leaving us with a movie that is not only half cooked, but is completely bloody raw. Seginustemple - Ayy, its the transformation sequence from all the monster movie highlight reels! It really is quite a spectacle. Rick Baker's effects still hold up. Overall, I was lukewarm on this one. David Naughton is a charming lead and there's some decent pathos in his story, but I'm not into the comedic correspondence with undead Griffin Dunne. I really bought into their rapport in that first scene when they're alive/human, but everything after the death has a certain type of corny self-aware goofiness that just doesn't work for me, even if the corpse makeup is excellent. The romance with the nurse is saucy though, esp. the makeout scene with the Van Morrison song. I do love that you can tell this is by the same creative team that made the Thriller video, it has that same tone throughout. Fortybelowsummer - There are some things to like about Werewolf. The beginning sets an ominous tone in a setting that lends well to a sense of dread. It sprinkles in some funny moments, and the characters, particularly the main, are enjoyable enough to watch. The makeup is really good (academy award winning in fact!) and, of course, the transformation scene is legendary and still fascinating to watch. However, most of the first hour is slow and boring and even when David does transform, his rampages are underwhelming. I assume the close-up shots of the wolf face were done out of necessity to avoid the logistical problems of a full wolf body, but I didnt care for them. Aside from some pretty decent post-mauling gore, the attacks werent as terrifying as they could be. And then theres the ending, which is unforgivably inconsequential. I was actually pissed off that he went on an anticlimactic killing spree, got backed into a dead-end alley, had a half assed I love you moment, and then went down helplessly in a hail of gunfire. I respect how important Werewolf is in the genre but its just too flawed for me. --- I've decided to put my fears behind me. I'm not going back. If you're gonna scream, scream with me |
| Topic | Board 8 Watches and Ranks 80s Horror - The Rankings |
| Snake5555555555 04/13/24 10:10:37 PM #332 | 19. An American Werewolf in London (1981 / 230 points)
Directed / Written by: John Landis https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/3/308daf22.jpg Why Its Significant - It's not just a werewolf movie with one of the most memorable transformation scenes in the entire genre (one that also earned Rick Baker the first-ever Oscar for Best Makeup), but John Landis (who was previously most known for directing screwball comedy films) combined horror & comedy that directly paved the way for films like The Lost Boys, Fright Night, Scream, Shaun of the Dead, and countless others. Despite the comedy leanings though, An American Werewolf proved something The Wolf Man tried to all those decades ago - that becoming a werewolf is agonizingly painful and grotesquely physical, the psychological toll and isolation of being a monster arguably on the forefront more than even the comedy aspects. An American Werewolf in Londons success led directly to John Landis and Rick Baker being chosen by Michael Jackson to create the iconic Thriller music video, and the film received a sequel, radio adaptation, documentary film, is alluded to in John Landis Masters of Horror film Deer Woman, and an unauthorized Bollywood loose remake. The Rankers Evilordexdeath - 9 Snake - 11 Rockus - 12 Plasmabeam - 13 Bitto - 15 Jcgamer107 - 16 Johnbobb - 16 Inviso - 18 Lightning - 21 Karo - 23 Mythiot - 24 Seginustemple - 24 Fortybelowsummer - 28 Evilordexdeath - I watched this film in my teens for reasons other than its status as a horror film. What I remembered, before watching it again for this list, were the transformation scenes, the sex scenes which were way more explicit than I was used to at the time, the downer ending, and, for me the most representative of the movie: the sequence where the werewolf main character, after having transformed and rampaged the night before, wakes up naked in a wolf pit at the zoo and has to streak back home covering his balls with funny objects and camera angles. Sometimes when a film is labeled as a horror-comedy it comes off like Tommy Wiseau retroactively dubbing The Room a Black Comedy - that's to say the movie is just an attempt a horror so awkward and stilted it's kind of funny. This is definitely not that kind of movie. There are parts in here that are clearly supposed to be horror and a lot of parts that are obviously intended as comedy. The clearest examples of this are the aforementioned nude running sequence and a part near the end where David talks to the ghosts of his victims in a porno theater about how he should kill himself to end the werewolf curse keeping them undead, with repeated cuts to a porn parody movie where things like someone calling the lead actress with the wrong number and a man walking in on two lovers as if one of them is cheating on them, them responding that neither of them has ever seen him before, and him simply apologizing and leaving the room take place. In the end, I'd say it ends up being more of a comedy than a horror with the climactic sequence having a big silly chain car-crash caused by people panicking at seeing the werewolf ragdoll more bodies around than the beast itself actually mauls. On the horror side, the most tense scenes are the ones set in Northern England where distrustful Yorkshiremen issue vague and creepy warnings to the boys and later the doctor. They have a definite sense of social anxiety to them. While the werewolf rampages don't really chill me to the bone, the special effects in this are damned impressive, both for the TF sequence and the ghostly visits from the main character's dead friend, who becomes more and more decayed with each appearance. It's a fun, straightforward movie, but werewolves are still waiting for a truly iconic depiction to define them the way Dracula did for vampires. Snake - An absolute gem of a werewolf movie, a genre-bending masterpiece that blends scares with side-splitting humor. Landis script is perfect, capturing the youthful energy and camaraderie of an adventure between David and Jack, making their brutal encounter with a werewolf all the more shocking. The special effects that depict David's transformations are truly groundbreaking, even by today's standards. Rick Baker's innovative techniques create a nightmarishly realistic werewolf that's both terrifying and awe-inspiring. Its my second favorite werewolf transformation EVER only second to The Howling. Landis masterfully walks the tightrope between horror and comedy, with hilarious dream sequences and witty dialogue providing laugh-out-loud moments that land every single time for me. Despite the laughs though, even more impressive for me is the films surprisingly graceful exploration of isolation, loss, and the burden of transformation illustrating just how much of a nightmare it is to become such a monstrous creature. Rockus - After the first gruesome attack the movie leans into some psychological turmoil with a series of nightmares and visions, some of which are kind of campy to the point of Davids friend Jack showing up and being like KYS. Like a lot of monster films from the time period it features some amazing practical effects and makeup work that is mostly lost today. The transformation scene is an all-timer. Its self-awareness and sly winks over its own tropes are almost like a way of catching the viewer off guard so the movie can gut you. Great picture. Plasmabeam - Never been a big horror-comedy guy, but this one works because the characters are relatable and fun to be around. Also, the practical effects remain jaw-dropping. Bitto - Rating: C Lots of small things I like, but the overall product isn't really memorable to me. I love the intro to this movie. Having played and DMed multiple TTRPGs, I'm always looking for inspiration and everything leading to the werewolf bite has a strong TTRPG feeling in it. The werewolf transformation is, of course, great. I like Jack constantly coming back to haunt David and how he progressively gets worse over time. The suicide plot being the main tension pull is pretty interesting. I just don't really like how it develops or how it ends. Jcgamer107 - 6/10 Johnbobb - This nurse did not wait a single moment to hook up with her bizarre patient that keeps telling her to her face that he's full on crazy. The real monster here is the absolute annihilation of ethical standards. Also it was real gross when he turned into the werewolf --- I've decided to put my fears behind me. I'm not going back. If you're gonna scream, scream with me |
| Topic | Board 8 Watches and Ranks 80s Horror - The Rankings |
| Snake5555555555 04/13/24 7:56:10 PM #331 | Ranking #2 will be a little later than usual tonight
--- I've decided to put my fears behind me. I'm not going back. If you're gonna scream, scream with me |
| Topic | Video Game Character of the 2010s - Sans vs. Jesse Faden / 5-Volt vs. Kitsurugi |
| Snake5555555555 04/13/24 7:10:33 PM #2 | Jesse
Kitsurugi --- I've decided to put my fears behind me. I'm not going back. If you're gonna scream, scream with me |
| Topic | Video Game Character of the 2010s - Sans vs. Jesse Faden / 5-Volt vs. Kitsurugi |
| Snake5555555555 04/13/24 7:10:12 PM #1 | Beatrice (Umineko) vs. Camilla (Fire Emblem Fates) / The Bard (Wandersong) vs. 9S (NieR: Automata) - Results (20 votes)
Beatrice / The Bard
15% (3 votes)
3
Beatrice / 9S
30% (6 votes)
6
Camilla / The Bard
5% (1 vote)
1
Camilla / 9S
15% (3 votes)
3
*abstain* / The Bard
10% (2 votes)
2
*abstain* / 9S
10% (2 votes)
2
Beatrice / *abstain*
10% (2 votes)
2
Camilla / *abstain*
5% (1 vote)
1
This poll is now closed.
Bracket - https://challonge.com/1e9oonm5 Previous Results: Shovel / Atreus - (16 / 7) Chloe / Sissel - (14 / 11) Sans (Undertale) https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/f/f89979c2.jpg vs. Jesse Faden (Control) https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/1/16557b67.jpg 5-Volt (WarioWare) https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/8/890697e1.jpg vs. Kim Kitsuragi (Disco Elysium) https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/f/fcfc3375.jpg Easy Vote Sans / Jesse 5-Volt / Kitsurugi --- I've decided to put my fears behind me. I'm not going back. If you're gonna scream, scream with me |
| Topic | Video Game Character of the 2010s - Shovel vs. Atreus / Chloe Price vs. Sissel |
| Snake5555555555 04/13/24 5:09:03 PM #30 | bump
--- I've decided to put my fears behind me. I'm not going back. If you're gonna scream, scream with me |
| Topic | Video Game Character of the 2010s - Shovel vs. Atreus / Chloe Price vs. Sissel |
| Snake5555555555 04/13/24 2:44:13 PM #28 | up
--- I've decided to put my fears behind me. I'm not going back. If you're gonna scream, scream with me |
| Topic | Board 8 Watches and Ranks 80s Horror - The Rankings |
| Snake5555555555 04/13/24 2:00:26 PM #321 | Outlier
Fortybelowsummer - 106 Karo - 90 Jcgamer107 - 83 Inviso - 77 Evilordexdeath - 74 Johnbobb - 70 Seginustemple - 67 Snake - 61 Bitto - 56 Rockus - 55 Mythiot - 50 Plasmabeam - 46 Lightning - 43 I didn't forget the outlier for Creepshow I was just doing an anthology thing. Yeah that's it. Karo's been going through the ringer with the rankings lately! --- I've decided to put my fears behind me. I'm not going back. If you're gonna scream, scream with me |
| Topic | Board 8 Watches and Ranks 80s Horror - The Rankings |
| Snake5555555555 04/13/24 1:46:59 PM #319 | I know! Like I said in my write-up, I was looking forward to this one so much! And I do genuinely love slow-burn films a lot. Some of my favorite horror ever is like that. But I felt like was watching a checklist of haunted house tropes more than anything.
--- I've decided to put my fears behind me. I'm not going back. If you're gonna scream, scream with me |
| Topic | Board 8 Watches and Ranks 80s Horror - The Rankings |
| Snake5555555555 04/13/24 1:42:38 PM #317 | Nice prediction!
--- I've decided to put my fears behind me. I'm not going back. If you're gonna scream, scream with me |
| Topic | Board 8 Watches and Ranks 80s Horror - The Rankings |
| Snake5555555555 04/13/24 1:32:05 PM #315 | Inviso - This was an okay movie. It started slow (other than the REALLY cheesy with the almost comical opening scene of a guy watching his family get run over by a snow plow while hes trapped in a phone booth in the middle of nowhere), but around the middle of the movie, I started to get interested. Ive seen enough haunting or exorcism films to be intrigued by a movie where the ghost doesnt seem inherently maliciousat least at the start. This is just a murdered child that seeks justice for his death, and the general investigative aspect of the film was really interesting to me. From the sance to the library, to the map records, I liked watching our main character trying to piece together the events that led to his house becoming haunted. And its all great, right up until he finds the medallion. Thats when the film kinda loses me a little bit.
The third act of the film revolves around the revelation that Joseph was the son of a wealthy industrialist in the early 1900s, but he was also sickly and unlikely to live to adulthoodso his father killed him and adopted an orphan boy as his replacement. That orphan grew up to be a powerful senator, so theres this whole subplot about the senator abusing his power out of fear of being blackmailed, complete with a cop getting killed supernaturally, and the ghost of child Joseph suddenly turns more classically evil for a haunting ghost, and winds up attacking the main character, his partner, and killing the senator while burning the house down. The movie just shifts direction far too aggressively at the end, and it led to a less enjoyable finale for me. Rockus - A pretty traditional haunted house film, almost stubbornly old fashioned. But there are some nice moments that spice things up like a neat little stop motion shot after they dig up the remains in the spot of the old well and some big pyrotechnics in the finale. It mostly unfolds like a pretty solid drama. There are some dense plot exposition dumps at one point but theyre thankfully delivered right before the climax to get them out of the way as not to clutter things up in the final twenty minutes or so. George C. Scott is rather good in it and it ended up being a pretty solid ghost movie. A satisfying watch. Seginustemple - I appreciate the old-school nature of this one, straightforward haunted house fare that isn't meta or tongue-in-cheek, no cheap scares or dazzling with effects. It's all very stately and serious...maybe a little stale. George C. Scott is a pro, almost too cool in the lead role. I wonder if someone who comes off a little more vulnerable could be more effective. The first half is promising and includes a fantastic seance the movie can hang its hat on, but the last half gets bogged down trying to get to the bottom of the ghost child's story...which leads to an adopted surrogate, and wrong kid died, but ultimately I just don't care that the rich old guy turns out to be a false heir because he already lived his life and none of this was really his fault anyway. What was the point of punishing him at the end? The drama of that is lost on me. Johnbobb - You know, the moment this movie started, I saw the happy family and thought "this is gonna be one of those horror movies that kills off the kid, huh? They did not miss a beat. The Changeling builds a little slowly and dryly at times, but when the creepiness hits, it hits hard. Russell screaming up at the empty house while the doors slam that he's done all he could really cements how effective it is as a haunted house Fortybelowsummer - Gah, why couldnt this have been made in 1979. Just kidding, I had seen it before anyway and its not that bad although I anticipate it staying in my bottom five. You cant go wrong with a big ol haunted house, and this one comes complete with a creepy kiddy wheelchair in the attic. Theres a decent amount of suspense and scary imagery as its revealed what the deal is with the ominous goings-on at the house. I watched this and Exorcist III in the same week and it made me realize that George C. Scott is the man. He has a presence that elevates whatever hes in. The thing is though, here hes so somber, subdued, and matter of fact in his investigation that it kind of takes away any real sense of peril. I never felt that worried for him, that he faced any danger that was a true mortal threat. The way the mystery unravels is also pretty outlandish and the whole thing left me feeling underwhelmed overall. This is one of those movies that seems to have overwhelming positive reactions, but I just dont see it. Snake - So, fake horror fanatic alert here, but I had never actually seen this film before this project. And well - it was underwhelming after hyping it up in my head for so long. The Changeling aspires to be a classic haunted house horror, but ultimately fumbles the scares with a slow pace and a strangely detached protagonist. The pacing here is glacial, and many of the events are extremely mundane. Slow burn films have to be executed to perfection otherwise they just end up being bore-fests like The Changeling. I never felt like John Russell was in peril, which lessens the film's impact, as he never feels truly scared, approaching the ghostly activity with a professorial curiosity that undermines all the tension that gets set up at every turn. This is probably scary if this is the first haunted house movie youve ever seen in your life, but otherwise, I rather think this is a film better left in the dusty attic of the 80s. --- I've decided to put my fears behind me. I'm not going back. If you're gonna scream, scream with me |
| Topic | Board 8 Watches and Ranks 80s Horror - The Rankings |
| Snake5555555555 04/13/24 1:31:53 PM #314 | 20. The Changeling (1980 / 233 points)
Directed by: Peter Medak / Screenplay by: William Gray, Diana Maddox https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/d/d7d66960.jpg Why Its Significant - I couldnt think of a better film to bridge the 70s & 80s decades than The Changeling. Wildly influential, I best describe The Changeling as your favorite directors favorite horror movie. Haunted house movies were a staple of the 70s but became less prevalent in the 80s. So, The Changeling at once feels like a relic but also a stand-out of the 80s canon, opposite of the graphic violence seen in slashers and body horror. The film delves into the psychological impact of grief, showcasing how the lines between reality and the supernatural can blur for someone consumed by sorrow, all while suggestion-heavy framing and a masterful use of sound design creates an intense, unsettling atmosphere. This focus on psychological horror by way of family agony paved the way for future films like Hereditary, Mike Flanagans (who is on record saying this is the scariest film of all time) Haunting series, Crimson Peak, and even The Babadook. Even directors who have only flirted with the horror genre like Martin Scorsese acknowledge its unique terrifying influence on his work in films like Cape Fear and Shutter Island. Its an unexpected monolith of horror, a film that continues to inspire and terrify audiences decades after its release. The Changeling never received an official sequel, but Until Death, a 1988 made-for-TV horror film directed by Italian cult filmmaker Lamberto Bava, was marketed as such for some reason! The Rankers Karo - 8 Evilordexdeath - 11 Plasmabeam - 12 Bitto - 14 Lightning - 14 Mythiot - 14 Jcgamer107 - 15 Inviso - 20 Rockus - 20 Seginustemple - 23 Johnbobb - 24 Fortybelowsummer - 27 Snake - 30 Karo - A grieving composer rents a gigantic old mansion that nobody wants and of course it doesn't come with a vengeful spirit of a murdered child or anything like that. It is a fairly standard haunted house tale, but is presented in a way that provides some good atmosphere and resists the urge to blow its load too early. It's a great example of tell, don't show. Too quick to reveal your monster and it will lose a lot of its scariness. Although I feel the title is misleading at best, committing fraud and living off someone else's fortune doesnt make you a 'changeling', it just makes you Donald Trump. Still it is a sold suspense movie that avoids most of the pratfalls of todays horror, and I have to say they just dont make em like they used to. Evilordexdeath - Pretty solid flick with not too much to complain about, besides a slightly cheesy overdone ending (especially that wheelchair chase scene) that also doesn't resolve the story in a very satisfying way. It was well-paced, there was a nice little intrigue in the middle section, and I liked the detail of the main character being a composer and how the musical elements added specificity to the story. It maybe suffers a little from trying to balance a spooky ghost story and an investigation about an old murder that was covered up, preventing either aspect from getting enough focus to really stand out. There are some rather gripping scenes brought through by solid acting, particularly the seance scene and the medium lady. Overall I enjoyed watching it and could probably see it again, but it isn't a film that excited passion in me, either positive or negative. Plasmabeam - A slow burn for sure, but I found this one to be engaging for the most part. Satisfying journey with the grieving protagonist trying to find peace by revealing the truth about another childs death. Bitto - Rating: C Really more of a mystery than a horror, but that's fine. I like mysteries way more. I really like the idea of solving the mystery of a haunted house and the mystery is fine. All the characters are grounded (except for the random part where John feels the best idea of confronting Carmichael is by screaming at him at the airport lmao). I like that Carmichael isn't some comical villain and deals with John's confrontation with confusion, anger, but also curiosity. I like that Joseph isn't calmed by the effects of Carmichael and still gets upset. I just...don't like the full product, I guess? The plot isn't super memorable, the characters aren't either, and neither are the shots. Lightning - None of this belongs to you! The Changeling stands out among 1980s horror films as something from a different era, it is very much in the style of older ghost films and stories such as the work of M R James, and lacks most of the gloss and style that would come to be associated with 80s horror. There are no final girls, exciting chases, or witty quips, it is more creeping dread, a mystery to be solved, and decidedly middle aged, more academic protagonists. The aesthetics too have more in common with the horror of the 1970s than the decade this released at the very start of. All of this works in the films favour as it leverages this slightly stuffy style to create an intriguing slow burn mystery with elements of a morality play to it. This is a film without much in the way of big scares but a firm sense of creeping unease throughout. There are several frightening moments, such as the initial contact with the ghost or the ball coming down the stairs but most of the tension and atmosphere instead comes from the tragic mystery being revealed, interleaved with George C Scotts John Russells own tragedy in his recent past. Although the film rarely mentions the tragedy that opens it after the first act, you can feel it motivating its lead throughout. Overall this is an enjoyable, very classically styled ghost story. It does unfortunately fall into a few of the pitfalls common of earlier films in the ghost subgenre, for instance the female lead is mostly just there to be a hysterical shrieking woman, and the ending ultimately feels fairly anticlimactic. Despite these shortcomings this film represents a classic style of slow burn movie about a haunting that mixes mystery and horror that you rarely see anymore. 4/5 Jcgamer107 - 6/10 --- I've decided to put my fears behind me. I'm not going back. If you're gonna scream, scream with me |
| Topic | Do you like this character? Day 1538: Wakko Warner (Animaniacs) |
| Snake5555555555 04/13/24 12:18:32 PM #22 | Yes I guess
--- I've decided to put my fears behind me. I'm not going back. If you're gonna scream, scream with me |
| Topic | Video Game Character of the 2010s - Shovel vs. Atreus / Chloe Price vs. Sissel |
| Snake5555555555 04/13/24 4:00:36 AM #25 | up
--- I've decided to put my fears behind me. I'm not going back. If you're gonna scream, scream with me |
| Topic | What's the most technically impressive Sega Saturn game? (Day 9) + PS1 final |
| Snake5555555555 04/13/24 12:13:23 AM #2 | Panzer Dragoon Saga
--- I've decided to put my fears behind me. I'm not going back. If you're gonna scream, scream with me |
| Topic | Fill in the Blank 254: ___ Park |
| Snake5555555555 04/13/24 12:11:52 AM #2 | Linkin
--- I've decided to put my fears behind me. I'm not going back. If you're gonna scream, scream with me |
| Topic | Board 8 Watches and Ranks 80s Horror - The Rankings |
| Snake5555555555 04/12/24 11:48:08 PM #293 | Evilordexdeath - My mom used to sometimes quote "Where's my cake Bedelia?" at random and I never knew before today that it was from this. I think I've seen parts of the middle segment with the two people's heads sticking out of the sand, too. This movie sucks, but I suppose the popularity of its screenwriter has given it some presence in pop culture. This is an anthology film paying homage to old horror comic magazines using five of Stephen King's more half-baked stories. To be fair, there is a certain authenticity to that format, where the limited print space and the authors being less experienced often leads to some pretty silly, insubstantial narratives. The first two in particular don't work even beyond how cheesy they are because you just don't get enough time to know the characters for the "spooky" death scenes to have any kind of meaning. I actually thought the third and fourth stories were alright. The third one, where Leslie Nielsen murders two people by burying them up to their heads in sand and waiting for the tide to come in, is probably the closest the collection comes to being scary because the situation has a bit more reality to it - though it is in my opinion let down a little by and ending where, like the other parts, some dumb horror thing happens for no good reason. The fourth part has a weak-willed academic murder his wife using an abominable snowman his friend accidentally unleashes from an old box in the school basement, and the wife is sufficiently obnoxious that you kind of get where he's coming from. This interests me more as a story because it's built around the choices the characters make while most other parts are driven by the random spooky stuff that happens. Some of the practical effects are cool, particularly the ending of the last story where a man's corpse bursts from the seams with cockroaches, and I liked the stylistic choices like the animated intro and the comic book pages turning between stories, and sometimes it's mildly amusing in a dumb way but I'm just really not into this kind of goofy ultra-cheesy horror themed comedy and was waiting for this one to end.
Plasmabeam - Being a Stephen King fan, I know all about how he was influenced by the Tales from the Crypt comic books as a kid. Sadly this Crypt-inspired collection of stories falls flat for me. The only remotely interesting tale here is the one where people get buried up to their necks at the beach, and thats not enough to elevate the rest. Johnbobb - This is listed as a horror comedy but so far it's been less funny than most of the non-comedies on this list. This really could've benefitted from some more time in the editing room; I like Leslie Nielsen but the process of "he kills a guy, guy comes back and kills him" didn't need to take half on hour. Weirdly the first story felt the shortest, despite having the most happen; it decided to end on an amiguous freeze frame while other stories spent just so long on obvious conclusions. It's just a shame the stuff happening there was stupid and poorly executed. Biggest surprise here was Stephen King; I've seen him appear in movies based on his works in cameo roles a couple times, but never in a main role like this. Jordy's story is the one that most feels like a horror comedy short story and he's not a great actor but he was at least entertaining. Lonesome Death of Jordy > The Crate > Something to Tide You Over > Father's Day Rockus - Horror anthology films are often a crapshoot and Creepshow is no different. It starts out pretty rough with the first two shorts being pretty bad. The second one with Stephen King turning into some kind of alien plant is the low point. Its dull and Stephen King gives one of the worst performances Ive seen in ages. It picks up a little with the Ted Danson and Leslie Nielson short, the characters feel kind of thin but Danson and Nielsons performances fill them out and it has a memorable climax. The next section is also okay. It has some campy monster fun. The last short isnt really that exciting or interesting as a horror, though the final shot is pretty strong, but E. G. Marshall is so good as a mean selfish rich germaphobe that it still ends up being pretty enjoyable. --- I've decided to put my fears behind me. I'm not going back. If you're gonna scream, scream with me |
| Topic | Board 8 Watches and Ranks 80s Horror - The Rankings |
| Snake5555555555 04/12/24 11:46:57 PM #292 | Fortybelowsummer - Yo dawg, I heard you like rankings so
5. Something to Tide you Over: I kind of have an issue with 2 out of 5 stories having the same premise of revenge from beyond the grave when there are so many other possibilities. Leslie Nielsen is great as the villain in this one, but it has a more serious tone that makes me like it less than Fathers Day. The idea of being buried in the sand with the tide coming in is intriguing, and the dead couple are sufficiently creepy when they come looking for payback. I dont even dislike it, but it is my least favorite of the stories. 4. Theyre Creeping Up on You!: This one hits different if youve ever dealt with cockroaches. Needless to say, they are, as Upson Pratt likes to say, bastards. I had them briefly in an old apartment and they can produce anxiety even if you arent a pathological entomophobe. Crawling all over you and eventually inside you, blech. This one is short, sweet, and effective and if that ending doesnt make your skin crawl at least a little bit then I dont know what to tell you. 3. Fathers Day: Good ol revenge from beyond the grave story. The reanimated old man corpse is definitely scary (wheres his cake?) and the music, atmosphere, and special effects are cool. The birthday cake head is a nice ending, even if it feels a bit abrupt and unsatisfactory not knowing if Richard and Cass get their candles blown out (its implied they do). The introduction of the comic book effects is a fun addition that carries throughout. 2. The Crate: I think its hilarious that the guys reaction to hearing about the crate monster is Perfect! Just the thing Ive been looking for to conveniently kill my bitch wife. The performances in this one are really good, but the star is obviously Fluffy the crate beast. The ape-like creature with fangs and claws that can devour a person whole is exactly the type that you picture lurking under your bed. Or yknow, in a mysterious crate under the stairs or something. Good, gory fun, and I like to think Fluffy was out for more blood after surviving his fall into the quarry. 1. The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill: Despite his numerous cameos, I always think about this role when I think about Stephen King movie appearances. I dont know why I like this story so much, but the overly exaggerated dimwit yokel character is funny, and the plot is both silly and unsettling. Honestly, imagine that stuff growing on you and all around you, to the point of knowing you have to kill yourself as it marches ever onward. Pretty messed up. Like most anthologies, Creepshow has its ups and downs, and it certainly feels like the combo of King, Romero, and Savini could have produced something a bit better, but overall, it really is some of the most fun youll have being scared. Lightning - Its showtime! This is a collection of Stephen King stories (with a VERY loose bit of connecting tissue) that includes both short story adaptations and adaptations of a comic he wrote for this film. The whole thing is framed as EC Comics style horror stories and the comicbook styling gives it an aesthetic of pulpy fun. The first short, Fathers Day, is extremely basic with one of the simplest stories you can imagine. While it is fine theres really no substance to it other than a zombie coming back and killing some people. However, the camp visuals give it a bit of a jolt. The second, The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill, just didnt work for me. In this Stephen King plays a truly stereotypical hick character that is just too cartoonish for either the horror or the comedy to work. The third short, Something to Tide You Over, was my favourite, with a young Ted Danson and a surprisingly quite chilling performance from Leslie Neilsen. The setup is effective and the twisted justice is exciting to see unfold. The fourth short, The Crate, is nearly as good, working as a pulpy and effective creature feature. The creature itself works and the lead is suitably loathsome. Lastly Theyre Creeping Up on You is again very simple but it works as a nasty bit of grossout horror that King sometimes enjoys. Overall, this is a very light collection of stories that vary in quality, and the framing device is so minor it may as well not exist. However they are all in good fun, making this an enjoyable watch. 3/5 Seginustemple - Five vignettes with a pulpy comic-book vibe, I think the one with Leslie Neilson torturing Ted Dansen is head and shoulders above the rest because it's treated seriously. Those burial/drowning scenes get pretty intense. Then I would go Stephen King vs. the Kudzu Comet > Birthday Cake Zombie (featuring Ed Harris dancing) > Dr. Cockroach > Crate Monster, with the last one being the only real stinker as it drags on too long. Bitto - Rating: C- I generally really like short stories and especially horror short stories. So I'm a little shocked that I didn't rank this very high. It's definitely due to The Crate. This is the longest of the stories and the worst by a pretty significant margin. Even outside of its very questionable premise, it just functionally isn't a good story. I feel like the story would be so much better if you cut out basically every character except the Crate and the two chess-playing professors. One of them knows about the Crate and is horrified; the other heard about the Crate and wants to use it nefariously. But whatever, we gotta kill the wifey, am I right??? Anyways, the other short stories are fine. I think my favorite is actually the farmer and the meteor, with an incredible performance by Stephen King. I remember watching this and was like "holy shit, this guy is terrible" but then I learned it was King and I was like "holy shit, this is hilarious". Anyways, it hits the right angle of memorable, horrifying, and funny. I also like the beach one and the cockroach one. They do their job well. The beach one is a little long, but it justifies its length because the rich guy does feel a little unstoppable at first. The cake one is......fine, but feels way too long for what it's going for. --- I've decided to put my fears behind me. I'm not going back. If you're gonna scream, scream with me |
| Topic | Board 8 Watches and Ranks 80s Horror - The Rankings |
| Snake5555555555 04/12/24 11:46:32 PM #291 | 21. Creepshow (1982 / 242 points)
Directed by: George A. Romero / Written by: Stephen King https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/a/a035dfd0.jpg Why Its Significant - A pure & loving tribute to the horror comics of yesteryear, particularly EC Comics like Tales from the Crypt or The Vault of Horror, Creepshow was about celebrating a brand of horror that reveled in the dark and the strange before censorship took over, and was rife with vibrant comic book colors and campy narration perfectly capturing the tone of said comics. Of course - the creators are important here too. George A. Romero, famed zombie popularizer, and Stephen King, master of horror, uniting in one film with three of the stories here being totally original King works, making it essential viewing for any Stephen King completionist, and Romeros directing with heavy use of practical effects and innovative camerawork creating a visually stunning anthology piece throughout. And sure, while anthology formats have always been popular when it comes to horror in any medium, it just feels like Creepshow changed the game and certainly inspired a whole new wave of films and off-shoots deeply indebted to the film. It received two sequels (though the third may as well be unofficial), inspired the film Cats Eye (another collection of Stephen King tales), Tales from the Darkside TV spin-off (which itself had a spin-off called Monsters), 2018 Shudder TV series, & Halloween Horror Nights attraction. The Rankers Karo - 7 Snake - 9 Jcgamer107 - 11 Inviso - 13 Fortybelowsummer - 17 Mythiot - 19 Lightning - 20 Seginustemple - 20 Bitto - 23 Evilordexdeath - 24 Plasmabeam - 24 Johnbobb - 26 Rockus - 29 Karo - A horror anthology presented in the style of a cheesy pulp comic is separated into five shorts that get better as they go along, which are linked together with cool animated scenes that show pages from the magazine (complete with silly ads) in the transition. Father's Day: This is a standard zombie tale that is highly unremarkable and uninspired, full of questionable costume work and is the very definition of the wrong kind of bad. The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verril: A bumpkin who has clearly been sampling lead paint chips off the side of his barn fucks around with a meteor and turns into Swamp Thing. It is rather boring. Something to Tide You Over: A graduate of the Bond School of Overcomplicated Villainy kills two people by drowning them in the high tide and so they come back as zombies and my god please stop with the zombies already that is so passe. The Crate: A box is found under the stairs and there are bad things inside! This is the first one with any kind of complexity to it (the box goblin could represent evil in the heart of man), and it avoids the predictability of most of the other shorts. They're Creeping Up on You!: The movie ends with this tale of a neurotic millionaire battling a roach infestation that turns into something truly horrifying. None of the other shorts are really that scary, but this one, oh lord. The bed. The motherfucking bed. It is an uneven collection of short tales that embraces its stupidity as stylistic choice and it works for the most part. The film is somewhat carried by the latter half, but other than the misadventures of zombie grandpa none could really be considered bad. Snake - Love, love, love this one! Probably the film that made me fall in love with anthology films my whole life after. Im not sure how many times I watched this as a kid but it was a lot. I love the films aesthetic, the vibrant panels and transitions that seamlessly blend illustration with live action tickling my tastes perfectly. Theres so much to love in each story, from macabre family drama, to goofy almost slapstick-style comedy mixed with body horror, Twilight Zone type cruelty, a creature feature, and my favorite of the bunch (and the one that always freaked me out the most), the creepy and disgusting bug-fest that preys on all sorts of fears. Of course, one throughline is dark comedy, and yeah I pretty much crack-up every time I give this film a watch. The performances are all over the top fantastic, perfectly matching the tone of each short. Its just so much fun every time and sometimes horror truly works best in quick bursts like these. Jcgamer107 - 6/10 Inviso - This was just a fun movie. Its not the BEST movie, but its a horror film that knows its trying to be camp and knows its trying to tell a bunch of goofy little stories, and none of them really overstay their welcome because theyre not MEANT to be feature-length plots. I dont mind glaring plot holes in a film like this, because youre not supposed to take it seriously; its JUST meant to be creepy and offputting, but there are also some hilariously hammy acting choices that make it enjoyable to watch overall. Of the segments, I would say it goes: Something to Tide You Over > Theyre Creeping Up On You > The Crate > Fathers Day > The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill. Jordy Verrill is dumb fun, and its just a chance for Stephen King (who is not an actorand this movie proves that) hams it up as this over-the-top redneck who gets infected by an alien plant. Its hilariously stupid. Fathers Day isstrange, but it has a fun kill count where this zombie just kills all his shitty relatives (after he gets killed first for being a shithead). Crate is very standard monster movie stuff, but Adrian Barbeau is AMAZING heinous in this, and youre kinda rooting for her henpecked husband to succeed. Creeping Up is an even MORE horrible character who LOVES being fucking horrible to people, and then he gets his absolute comeuppance at the hand of roaches. And Tide is easily my favorite, because Leslie Neilsen is having the time of his life as a charming psychopath, and the premise is so bizarre that it becomes funny in and of itself. The end result is every vignette carries a little bit of weight, and theyre all able to come together into a decent whole. --- I've decided to put my fears behind me. I'm not going back. If you're gonna scream, scream with me |
| Topic | Board 8 Watches and Ranks 80s Horror - The Rankings |
| Snake5555555555 04/12/24 10:28:01 PM #288 | Outlier
Fortybelowsummer - 95 Inviso - 69 Jcgamer107 - 68 Karo - 64 Seginustemple - 63 Evilordexdeath - 62 Johnbobb - 61 Bitto - 48 Rockus - 47 Mythiot - 42 Snake - 39 Lightning - 36 Plasmabeam - 35 You don't have to try and beat forty, you just gotta try and keep up. --- I've decided to put my fears behind me. I'm not going back. If you're gonna scream, scream with me |
| Topic | Board 8 Watches and Ranks 80s Horror - The Rankings |
| Snake5555555555 04/12/24 10:19:33 PM #286 | I might do a third ranking tonight to get us started with #20 tomorrow
--- I've decided to put my fears behind me. I'm not going back. If you're gonna scream, scream with me |
| Topic | Board 8 Watches and Ranks 80s Horror - The Rankings |
| Snake5555555555 04/12/24 8:47:19 PM #277 | Yeah despite my own personal low-ranking of it I definitely expected this film to do better
--- I've decided to put my fears behind me. I'm not going back. If you're gonna scream, scream with me |
| Topic | Board 8 Watches and Ranks 80s Horror - The Rankings |
| Snake5555555555 04/12/24 8:35:00 PM #275 | That being said, like a lot of the movies on this list, I do appreciate a fun climax. Granted, the Lost Boys climax comes on pretty quickly when the Coreys and their hit squad take out Bill S. Preston, Esquire, and then have to Home Alone their house to defend against vampires. But still, it is fun to watch a vampire get shoved into a bathtub full of garlic and holy water, and another vampire gets shot via arrow into a stereo system. Plus, Keifer Sutherland is a smug douche, so seeing him get impaled on taxidermy horns was satisfying as well. And also, to be completely fair, I like the concept of a half-vampire struggling not to lose himself, and to fight back against the peer pressure of his alleged sire. It adds a little more complexity than if Haim was just trying to fight back against vampires like a spunky pre-teen. Ultimately though, this is a middling film for me, and I think this placement reflects that.
Plasmabeam - I had a college professor who said this was her all-time favorite movie. Never understood the hype then, and I still dont understand it now. Karo - So two teenage boys move to this fictional beachfront town in California that to put it mildly, is fucking ridiculous. It seems to be part ghetto, part circus, part hillbilly village, and all stupid. But you see, this town has a small problem. It is terrorized by a biker gang made out of the absolute worst kind of bikers - vampire bikers! The older boy gets turned into a vampire thanks to being stupid enough to drink vampire blood from people who already tried to feed him maggots and worms, and his brother gets the help of these stupid teen vampire hunters who are annoying and impossible to take seriously and they all confront the undead horde in a climax featuring a lot of stupidity and AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. There is an almost forced sense of cheesiness that permeates the entire film. For such things to work they need to develop organically, here it just feels like they are trying too hard to create a bad cult movie and only succeeding at the bad part. Regardless, it is a forgettable piece of dreck that should have stayed as lost as these boys. Seginustemple - All style and no story, but how about that style? Not much of a horror but certainly 80's, it remains engaging as a pop culture time-capsule. You got the two Coreys hamming it up, the garish colors vs. black leather fashion statements, the iconic bodybuilder saxophonist (I still believe!) There's one scene in a neon video store that's like pure, uncut nostalgia. I think where it runs into problems is in trying to straddle two lanes, the kid-friendly Goonies adventure and the more adult wrong-side-of-the-tracks story, and it comes across as tonally at odds with itself. Jason Patric strikes me as a weak link as well, someone more compelling in that lead role would go a long way. Rockus - I was never a big fan of The Lost Boys and I always preferred Near Dark as my 80s vampire film of choice in which a young man searching for a place to belong gets wrapped up with a gang of counterculture vampire delinquents. But revisiting this its better than I remembered. The first hour of it has a nice 80s music video soft looking fog machine heavy aesthetic that carries a lot of its visuals and makes it look a lot better than I remembered. The Coreys stuff is not great though, and Feldman trying to put on a deep voice the whole time is kind of embarrassing. The twist climax is a bit of a cop-out but I suppose it works if you dont think about it too much. The bathroom vampire kill is the best part of that final sequence, gnarly stuff, almost makes up for how lame the Coreys were in the rest of the movie. Snake - Eh, I dont know, this one just never really clicked for me. If I was ranking it on the soundtrack alone, its a 10. But unfortunately, the rest of the movie is there. Okay, thats a bit harsh - the initial set-up is promising, but the plot quickly gets bogged down in teenage angst and goofy antics. All the characters are the annoying side of campy and the two protagonists are so stereotypical and one-note. When Kiefer Sutherland is on screen though, then the film suddenly comes alive with his delightful blend of menace and charm. Maybe you had to be there but The Lost Boys just doesnt really resonate with me much at all. Jcgamer107 - 2/10 --- I've decided to put my fears behind me. I'm not going back. If you're gonna scream, scream with me |
| Topic | Board 8 Watches and Ranks 80s Horror - The Rankings |
| Snake5555555555 04/12/24 8:34:49 PM #274 | 22. The Lost Boys (1987 / 242 points)
Directed by: Joel Schumacher / Screenplay by: Janice Fischer, James Jeremias, and Jeffrey Boam https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/f/fe8898c7.jpg Why Its Significant - Prior to The Lost Boys, vampires were typically depicted as aristocratic, brooding figures shrouded in mystery with very rare exceptions. However, David and his gang of young, punk rock bloodsuckers resulted in a cooler take on the classic stock monster, and the rest of the film followed this youthful reimagining, with a soundtrack lead by INXS and Cry Little Sister by Gerard McMann, a brooding goth-rock staple thats been covered by dozens of artists since its release and remains a yearly Halloween anthem. What resulted was something that almost wasn't even horror anymore - it was trendy, it was slick, it was hip, it resembled high-concept movies produced by Jerry Bruckheimer & Don Simpson. Placing teenage brothers as the protagonists only enhanced this feeling, their struggles with adolescence, peer pressure, and family drama resonating perfectly with young viewers at the time. The influence of The Lost Boys can be seen in countless horror properties that followed - mostly teen-focused, pseudo-horror, shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer or the books & films of Twilight taking inspiration from the film's portrayal of alluring, yet dangerous vampires and a trend towards teenage audiences. So yes, its safe to say you can blame The Lost Boys for Twilight. The Lost Boys received two sequels and multiple comic book series. The Rankers Bitto - 5 Johnbobb - 10 Fortybelowsummer - 13 Lightning - 13 Evilordexdeath - 15 Inviso - 17 Mythiot - 17 Plasmabeam - 19 Karo - 25 Seginustemple - 25 Rockus - 26 Snake - 28 Jcgamer107 - 29 Bitto - Rating: B+ Excellent premise for a movie. I especially like that there's two really strong tones: a brooding movie about transformation and peer pressure for the older brother and a lighthearted, more heroic movie for the younger brother. I also like that the younger brother refused to kill the older brother and instead look for a way to change him back to normal. I wish there were a few more characters so that there's more suspicion on who the head vampire is, but this is a pretty big cast already. The humor and jokes are spot on too. Though, as someone who lived very close to Santa Cruz, it was jarring to hear everyone call it "Santa Carla" when it's obviously Santa Cruz. Johnbobb - sorry don't have time to do a write-up, too busy listening to Cry Little Sister on repeat Fortybelowsummer - No 80s-centric list would be complete without the two Coreys! The Lost Boys was largely (perhaps single-handedly) responsible for how vampires were depicted in popular culture. It ushered in the new era of young, cool, and sexy vampires as a modern alternative to the traditional (some would say dated) Dracula types of old. Vampires have always been sexy and cool, but never before did they ride motorcycles, sneering and smirking with beautiful mullets and rad dangly earrings. The movie itself is definitely more style than substance, but thats ok. The plot is pretty thin, but its funny, the cinematography is great, and most importantly its just very watchable. Also, theres no way Im ending this writeup without mentioning that the soundtrack, especially the theme song, Cry Little Sister, absolutely slaps. For a good portion of an entire generation, Lost Boys is the best vampire movie that there is, and while Im not in that portion myself, it is definitely up there. Lightning - One thing about living in Santa Carla I never could stomach, all the damn vampires. Among each and every movie on this list, The Lost Boys may be the most quintessentially 80s. From the hair to the style to the themes to the increasing self awareness, it almost feels like it learned from the seven previous years of horror movies and combined them into one film. Of course along with Fright Night this is also a key influence on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, giving it a lot of the setting as well as the romantic and teenage elements. This film was both very influenced by its era and very influential on the next era and its easy to see why. This is just a really enjoyable, really stylish film that sets a unique tone and atmosphere while also being a lot of fun. I think one of my favourite moments is the montage right at the beginning where you see the sundrenched seaside town and people living it up intercut with missing persons posters showing us that something is definitely not right here. Joel Schumacher (of Batman and Robin fame) really uses his exaggerated, neon drenched style to full effect here, creating a world that seems both alluring and threatening. Keifer Sutherland gives a great villain performance too, with some truly remarkable hair. The jokes also still land today, it might be the funniest film on this list and its not even one of the comedies. This is not a perfect film, you can see the twist coming a mile away (also the film gets very flimsy with its own rules there), it does sag a bit in the middle and the addiction metaphor is tremendously obvious. However, it really is a film you can just let wash over you and soak it in like the Santa Carla sun those vampires are avoiding. Also, saxophone guy the best 4/5 Evilordexdeath - Years before I ever saw this movie, when my mother introduced me to online piracy by downloading songs on Bearshare, I heard the song Cry Little Sister and knew that it was from a movie about vampires. I distinctly remember finding the song kind of scary as a kid - it made me think of the idea of an older brother who had become a vampire and was about to kill and feed on his own sister. This is not a scary movie and there are no little sisters in it. It's a goofy movie about four boys, one of whom is a teenage Corey Feldman putting on a deeper voice to try and sound mysterious and tough, who have to fight some vampires. There's also an incredibly cheesy sex scene with funny music, even though the guy involved has more romantic chemistry with Keifer Sutherlands character. The whole thing maintains enough self awareness and a deliberate enough aesthetic that it works. Inviso - This movies lives or dies on whether you can tolerate Corey Haims annoying, high-pitched pre-teen antics throughout the film. I cantI found him unbearable (and by association, Corey Feldman and Jamison Newlander), and the fact that half the movie is that trio trying to do the standard We know vampires exist and we need to defeat them thing you get in any teen/pre-teen monster movieit wasnt enjoyable. And the other half of the movie with Jason Patric falling in with the wrong crowd and getting inducted into a vampire cultit could have worked, but it came across as a little melodramatic and it made what could have been a comedic vampire movie feel far too much like a teen drama. Eh. --- I've decided to put my fears behind me. I'm not going back. If you're gonna scream, scream with me |
| Topic | Board 8 Watches and Ranks 80s Horror - The Rankings |
| Snake5555555555 04/12/24 7:20:01 PM #268 | I honestly think people would've liked Cannibal Holocaust better or at least comparably so
--- I've decided to put my fears behind me. I'm not going back. If you're gonna scream, scream with me |
| Topic | Video Game Character of the 2010s - Shovel vs. Atreus / Chloe Price vs. Sissel |
| Snake5555555555 04/12/24 7:13:40 PM #2 | Atreus
Chloe --- I've decided to put my fears behind me. I'm not going back. If you're gonna scream, scream with me |
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