Army of Darkness - A puzzling question

I was watching Army of Darkness again and a thought occurred to me whilst doing so. Skeletons don't have dicks. So why are they rounding up naked girls?

Paul Kersey - Talk about your bad luck.

What are the odds of the same guy having his loved ones wiped out by gangs on five separate occasions? I think I would have given up on starting relationships after the second time. Forget it, dude. You're cursed. Everyone you will ever love is doomed.

Re-Animator's Score: Homage or Rip-off?

I love Re-Animator. The original is one of my favorite movies, and both sequels are solid. The first time I saw it, one of the things that really jumped out at me was the score. I was disappointed to later learn that the film's score bears more than a passing resemblance to Bernard Herrmann's score for Psycho. I had already seen Psycho when I saw Re-Animator, but it had been many years and I didn't remember the score.

In interviews, composer Richard Band's attitude toward being called out on the major similarities seems to be basically "Duh. That's the joke, don't you get it?" Is it really? I have to admit, I don't get it. I might understand if the movie had a lot of similarities to Psycho, like if it was a spoof or something, but they are absolutely nothing alike. So how is that a joke?

I guess I might be able to forgive him if he was some great composer. But I have seen at least 45 movies that Richard Band has scored, and the only one that is in any way memorable is the one that's a rip-off. It seems to me that the only reason he even has a career is because his brother produces every movie he works on.

Do you think Re-Animator's score is justifiable?

Rank Daniel-san's bitches

Ali Mills (Elisabeth Shue)


Kumiko (Tamlyn Tomita)
https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/p__/images/b/b9/Kumiko.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20131217013943&path-prefix=protagonist

Jessica Andrews (Robyn Lively)


My pick back then:
1-Tamlyn
2-Elisabeth
3-Robyn

Masked Killers

Slashers are one thing, but a killer who wears a mask? Are they trying to get away with it? Are they ugly as sin? Or are they wearing it simply as a joke?

I'm watching "Valentine" at the moment, and this killer acts like a Michael Myers rip-off, only his nose bleeds. It's all about the mannerisms of characters like these. Still. Calm. Focused. I guess Michael Myers set a precedent, but Jason kinda ran with it. He wears a mask because he's ashamed of how goddamn ugly he is. He could chase you without a mask and it would be just as frightening, but the mask is iconic. It's how you market the Crystal Lake killer.

Mannerisms have gotten pretty important to his character, because you can tell a Kane Hodder Jason from a regular guy's Jason. He's angry, and it's great how much he can convey without sound and facial expressions.

Leatherface's portrayals tend to be radically different in some of his sequels. I basically view them each as different characters, because they don't seem like the same guy ever.



What are your Favorite Killer Masks?

Ever since the slasher genre started, movies have been trying to find a great new mask for a killer, but nothing quite works as well as the few that happened in the dawn of this subgenre. I think most killer masks are stupid, like this movie I'm watching (Valentine), and The Hills Run Red, Chromeskull, and definitely Happy Death Day (but that was more intentionally stupid, I think). And so is Terror Train. Prom Night is too dark for me to ever see what he looks like clearly. Maybe that was the point/solution for not having a good mask? And don't get me started on The Prowler... wtf is he even wearing?

I like the potato-sack-that-dreaded-sundown look of Jason-2/Malevolence, I love Michael Myers masks (H1 & H2 only), and the Miner from My Bloody Valentine is great.

What else is there? Who wears a great mask that creeps you out?

Shitty (or underwhelming) movies with potential

Ever watch anything that you really didn't like, but almost liked or wanted to like? Movies that maybe had the wrong director or could have used some extra money thrown into it. What had the potential to be great, or at least not a piece of shit?

I saw this one movie from Sub Rosa that was almost kinda sweet, but mostly annoying, Called Ice From The Sun (1999), which was directed by Eric Stanze, who did Scrapbook and I Spit On Your Corpse, I Piss On Your Grave. Ice From The Sun was actually the first Super-8-shot film to get a dvd release. A gory, Horror-Fantasy would-be epic that could have used an extra 100 grand and maybe a better script with some more creative ideas, improving it with more substance. It's still mildly fascinating and a good example of what one can do with a small budget, but all I see is wasted potential with this one.

The Crime Challenge Progress Thread

Welcome to the Crime Challenge! If you like movies and TV shows about cops, private detectives, or vigilantes and the criminals they chase, this is the challenge for you. Make your spot here.



What Counts

Any movie, TV show, and whatever else you can watch that features either someone fighting crime or someone committing crime. Any genre is acceptable, but crime should be an important part of the plot. This includes shows that examine true crime such as Forensic Files.

Points

Let's keep it simple: one point per minute watched. People seem to like that scoring system. Please include your total points at the bottom or top of your spot.

Since we're already into February, this challenge starts now and ends when February's over in your timezone.

Questions or comments? Discussion thread: https://trashepics.com/post/8/39/

Sacred Riana

Was watching YouTube videos, and Sacred Riana was on the recommended video. She is the 2017 Asia's Got Talent winner.
She does magic with a horror twist to the stage show.



(Just out of curiosity, how do you embed the video here?)

The Spectacular Love Challenge

Mark your spot for this love-making extravaganza, from Sunday, February 11th to 17th. The criteria is based on this post https://trashepics.com/post/128/7/ , since I'm sooooo clever and can't think of my own spin on it.

1 Points) Movie with the word "Love" or other romance related words in title
2 Points) Individual killed while "making love" (not combined with #3 below)
3 Points) Two or more killed at the same time while "making love"
4 Points) Each person killed by a loved one (husband/wife, father/daughter,boyfriend/girlfriend. Basically immediate family or dating)

Edit, in case anyone's overlooking my contribution to the challenge:

0.5 Points) Two people getting laid
1 Point) Three or more getting laid

This is kind of a tough one to get good points for, unless you know movies that have scenes for those points. I'll probably default to movies with love words in the title. "Valentine" is a love word, and so is "kiss", "romance", "love", and many pornographic titles.

I will add a new option to this, not covered in the basic point setup. You'll can get half a point for every time two people are getting laid. If there's a threesome, go ahead and give yourself a full point. A lot of this challenge relies on people getting killed while going at it, so I figured I'd throw in some traditional love-making points as well.

The winner of this challenge will get an assortment of wonderful prizes, such as 1.) a boosted self-esteem, 2.) bragging rights among friends, and most importantly, 3.) the winner will never see that annoying floating heart ever again!

Passing Judgement, a lament reconfigured

So I watched the new Hellraiser movie last night, was probably a bit too drunk as immediately afterward i began writing a review here on TE and subsequently deleted the post by accident after a fairly lengthy alcohol iduced ramble on the Hellraiser series as a whole.

This morning i gave the film another go, sober, and may as well give the review another go. •••contains spoilers for Hellraiser Judgement & other films from the franchise•••

I love me some Hellriaser. The movies, the stories, the comics, the art, everything. I mention this so you have an idea of bias, or maybe more predisposition, in my writing about these films. I know the vast majority of them are bad, even terrible. I just don't care.

Anyway, we don't need a recap of the 9 films spanning 30 years leading up to this latest installment, everyone knows about Pinhead & co, but i'm gonna do a brief one all the same.

The Theatrical Years
Clive Barker adapts his own short story The Hellbound Heart into a movie, Hellraiser (1987). Given a decent amount of control for a first time director he delivers a twisted tale of lust, greed, obsession, madness and blood. And introduces us to the Cenobites.

Successful enough to spawn a sequel a year later we get Hellbound (1988), which is also well received. In '92 Pinhead becomes the focus of the franchise with Hell on Earth, one of the weaker entries with some needless backstory. Finally (as far as the cinematic releases go) Bloodline comes out in 96, part slasher in space, part origin story this movie is undeniably a mess (it has an Alan Smithee credit for director), but kinda entertaining nonetheless.

The DTV Years
After the relative disaster of HIV (ha!) the studio took to adapting original screenplays into Hellraiser flicks and blasting em out on video, mainly just so's Dimension could keep the rights.

Inferno (2000) is my favourite of the sequels, maybe the entire franchise. A psychological thriller in the vein of Angel Heart with Pinhead stuck on, or in, via a couple of cameos. There's also a Barker link as the film stars Nightbreed's own Craig Sheffer

Next up comes Hellseeker (2002), basically a poor repeat of the previous movie that brings Ashley Laurence back and heralds the start of the Rick Bota era. in 2005 Bota made back to back 'Raisers with Deader (awful) and Hellword (Lance!)

The Wilderness Years
Much like Henriksen's Host, Hellworld buries the franchise and almost kills it off entirely. Many mooted reboots and sequels are rumoured, including Clive's return, or Pascal Laugier lending some French extremity to the nightmare realm of the Cenobites, but nothing surfaces.

Until 2011 & Revelations. Ugh. Even i found this hard to stomach, not just for the total lack of budget (not necassarily a bad thing) the shoddy script, clunky acting, all this could be overlooked, but the betrayal of Doug Bradley was the straw that broke this donkey.

Englund is Freddy, Hodder is Jason, Bradley is Pinhead. Simple. Apparently not, the story goes 'they' refuses to let Doug read the script before signing on, and he was worried (correctly as it turns out) the new film might further tarnish an already battered series. One thing I will say about Revs is that it at least tries to be faithful to the original Hellraiser movie and universe, which is the least you'd expect when it's the first one written specifically to be a H movie since 1996.

Anyway, sorry that was meant to be brief, did ok for the first eight...

Hellraiser Judgement 2018
We open with Pinhead and what I presume to be The Auditor, a Cenobite or just Pinheads lackey, chatting about how to lure human souls in for the torturing. They flipping love that stuff.
This leads us to the Ludivico house of interrogation - immediately warning bells go off. Is writer/director/star Gary J Tunnicliffe suggesting I may have to clamp open my eyelids to endure the next 80mins? Surely this is better than Revelations, which he also wrote. And, thankfully, it is.

The Auditor presides over a sort of courthouse where he type up victim's confessions. These are then fed to a fat dude, who pukes up some blood into a funnel which syphons through to three topless top heavy blood honeys who deliver a verdict. Usually guilty is the impression that i get.

After which the victims are 'cleansed' then killed horrifically by a surgeon, or butcher, or both i dunno. The Jury (for that is what the semi nekkid ladies are) reminded me of Odd Nerdum's painting 'Dawn', which is pretty cool and was also referenced in another horror movie, Tarsem's The Cell. Fun fact: David Bowie owned the original painting.


All this is the ten min intro to the main story, a cop/serial killer one that we've all seen before. Once in this very franchise... Dude Bro Dets Carter & Carter, along with Token Lady Det Edgerton, are hunting for the Preceptor a violent serial killer who's murders have ritualistic elements.

We get a one scene cameo from Nancy, plenty of blood thrown around & some strange expansion of the Pinhead mythos with the introduction of Jophiel, who may be a fallen angel, or may not.

Meanwhile The Sheff is still chasing the Engineer (wrong one) Ahem. Meanwhile Dets Carters & Edgerton are still chasing the Prolapser and the religious Carter Jr is developing some nasty nightmares, where's this going? Yeah, there.

The finale sees some old friends return (flying chains, Jesus weeping) and a silly twist to presumably, er, justify the title.

Ultimately i enjoyed this 10th installment to the canon, but then i more or less like the other 9 too, making my opinion redundant and your reading this a waste of time...