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Re-Animator (1985)
Surprised me in a good way
So I for a long time I refused to watch this movie because I assumed it would be another generic zombie movie. I couldn't be more wrong than that.
Re-animator, loosely based on H. P Lovecraft's novelette of the same name, is very unique in how it treats the undead monster genre.
I like that the dead seem less like an apocalyptic threat as in TWD, but are more of a nuisance in this film, which makes sense given that they're not pathogen vectors, but merely corpses that are back to life. And yes, although they're dangerous like a rabid dog would be, they can be dealt with reasonably easy.
That being said, I feel like this movie is a mixture of Frankenstein with Pet Sematary in a way of sorts. And despite the comedy, makes you actually think about how bad the idea of reviving the dead would be, wouldn't it just be better to let people rest instead of bringing them back in agony and angry simply for our selfish reasons?
Africa addio (1966)
A Shockumentary that manages to do much more
The viewer may be prejudiced at first because it is a Mondo Film, famous for its Shockumentary style. But as this is one of the first four, made in 1966, it still has a message to convey.
The film is in a documentary style, but at a time when documentaries used real footage instead of recreations.
The film is about the end of colonialism in Africa and the narrator takes us to several important events such as the Mau Mau rebellion in Kenya, the destruction of white farms, the War in Rhodesia and Mozambique, violent protests in South Africa, terrorism in Zanzibar and a part that I think is a historical relic: a recording of Mercenaries going to save the priests and nuns who were being taken hostage in Stanleyville, Congo; I find this part really cool, the narrator initially shows them how mercenaries really are, basically ordinary people, laughing, having fun, throwing themselves into the river, etc.. and then suddenly they are in the middle of the shooting, counting money and looting, basically the the two faces of the human being, innocence and violence.
So, depending on the person, this doc is a bit gruesome because it really wants to show the disgrace that was the disorderly withdrawal of colonialism in Africa, which resulted in clan wars, assassinated presidents, guerrillas, communist dictatorships or generic military dictatorships being established in the countries.
So if you want to see it, know that there are often bodies, dead people, exploded people, mass graves, corpses, skeletons and more on the screen. In fact, the film has a part where the mercenaries arrest a terrorist who had burned down a daycare center with 27 children inside, they summarily execute him, then there are this and other execution scenes, for those who think it's too strong, I don't recommend it.
However, as the narrator himself explains, this was so common that people already thought it was normal to have a body in the middle of the sidewalk, so no one even bothered to remove the dead.
Despite the amount of violence and horrible things, I think that it shows the scope of the film and the absurdity that is mankind, like, there were so many dead people that everyone simply starts to treat them as part of the scenery;
In conclusion, like, yeah, obviously this film ends up doing a collection of horrible things and it's important to remember that Africa isn't just that, even more so today. But unfortunately it had and, in some countries, there still is a lot of it, colonialism was not an 8 or 80 phenomenon; it was good in parts but it was bad, there was apartheid, there was torture, slavery, castes and all kinds of nonsense, but ironically, when the whites were gone, the natives and their governments became as cruel or even more than those of white people.
I think this just goes to show that yes, we live in a Dog's World, where human beings will take the first opportunity to go from victim to aggressor; and that the argument that "Africa's problem is the white man"; fell to the ground a long time ago, wherever there are human beings, there will be cruelty!
Curtains (1983)
Rather interesting Underground 80s Slasher
The film is better than what I had imagined. B
====Spoilers=======================
Basically a woman has a brilliant idea (contains irony) and decides to enter a psychiatric hospital to train and get the role of a crazy woman in a theater play (she likes the director romantically).
She talks about this idea directly with the director, thinking that this way the role would be guaranteed. They agreed that she would be hospitalized and the director would be responsible for signing the documents and removing her from the asylum after a certain time.
However, the director takes advantage of her being in the asylum and decides that it would be funny if he didn't take her out of the hospital and, in the meantime, he invites several young women, aged 20 or over, to replace her in the role and, to train for the play. , he takes the girls to a country house in the middle of nowhere; Guess what, the old lady discovers that her crazy plan went wrong and escapes from the asylum pissed off and thirsty for blood, the rest can be imagined... Until you can see the ending, there's a plotwist that has a bit of nothing to do with it. But acceptable.
Dracula (1958)
A Classic of Hammer Films Horror
The work features illustrious figures from British cinema such as Peter Cushing (Van Helsing), famous for his role as Tarkin in Star Wars IV; Christopher Lee (Dracula), also well known for his role in Star Wars as Count Dooku; and Michael Gough (Arthur Holmwood), best remembered for playing Batman's butler Alfred.
Like other adaptations from Hammer Films, the work follows an adapted version of the original story, so for those who want something faithful to Bram Stoker's Dracula, they will probably be uncomfortable with certain changes. For me, they were welcome and mean that this story can be told again without being tiring and the same as the other versions.
In conclusion, I thought the film was really cool, but I think some people might be bothered by the amount of expository dialogue in the film, something very typical of films from the late 50s to the 70s. It seems a bit slow when there is no action on the screen.
Black Christmas (1974)
The OG Holiday Slasher Movie
My current rating is more than an 8.5/10 tho.
This movie is short, but Jesus Christ, the existential dread it gives you makes 5 minutes seem like 30.
The film is completely creepy, the shots are crazy; and the cool thing about this film is its pioneering in the slasher genre, so some movie tropes (clichés) don't seem saturated for the simple fact that it's not an imitation, but it's the director using these tropes; for the first time.
It's been a while since I watched a film that literally left me having a heart attack, like, the film has practically no jumpscares, but often the camera slowly passes through the house and sometimes focuses for about 2 minutes on a dark room or hallway, like long enough for you to look and see that, in theory, there is nothing, but, regardless of that, you are completely horrified, after all, why the hell is the camera pointing there if there is nothing?
And then the camera changes angle and you expect a jumpscare thanks to current films, but then nothing happens.
It took me 500 years to watch this work of art, but it was worth it, what a good film!
Africa addio (1966)
A Shockumentary that manages to do much more
The viewer may be prejudiced at first because it is a Mondo Film, famous for its Shockumentary style. But as this is one of the first four, made in 1966, it still has a message to convey.
The film is in a documentary style, but at a time when documentaries used real footage instead of recreations.
The film is about the end of colonialism in Africa and the narrator takes us to several important events such as the Mau Mau rebellion in Kenya, the destruction of white farms, the War in Rhodesia and Mozambique, violent protests in South Africa, terrorism in Zanzibar and a part that I think is a historical relic: a recording of Mercenaries going to save the priests and nuns who were being taken hostage in Stanleyville, Congo; I find this part really cool, the narrator initially shows them how mercenaries really are, basically ordinary people, laughing, having fun, throwing themselves into the river, etc.. and then suddenly they are in the middle of the shooting, counting money and looting, basically the the two faces of the human being, innocence and violence.
So, depending on the person, this doc is a bit gruesome because it really wants to show the disgrace that was the disorderly withdrawal of colonialism in Africa, which resulted in clan wars, assassinated presidents, guerrillas, communist dictatorships or generic military dictatorships being established in the countries.
So if you want to see it, know that there are often bodies, dead people, exploded people, mass graves, corpses, skeletons and more on the screen. In fact, the film has a part where the mercenaries arrest a terrorist who had burned down a daycare center with 27 children inside, they summarily execute him, then there are this and other execution scenes, for those who think it's too strong, I don't recommend it.
However, as the narrator himself explains, this was so common that people already thought it was normal to have a body in the middle of the sidewalk, so no one even bothered to remove the dead.
Despite the amount of violence and horrible things, I think that it shows the scope of the film and the absurdity that is mankind, like, there were so many dead people that everyone simply starts to treat them as part of the scenery;
In conclusion, like, yeah, obviously this film ends up doing a collection of horrible things and it's important to remember that Africa isn't just that, even more so today. But unfortunately it had and, in some countries, there still is a lot of it, colonialism was not an 8 or 80 phenomenon; it was good in parts but it was bad, there was apartheid, there was torture, slavery, castes and all kinds of nonsense, but ironically, when the whites were gone, the natives and their governments became as cruel or even more than those of white people.
I think this just goes to show that yes, we live in a Dog's World, where human beings will take the first opportunity to go from victim to aggressor; and that the argument that "Africa's problem is the white man"; fell to the ground a long time ago, wherever there are human beings, there will be cruelty!
An American Werewolf in London (1981)
Morbidly Entertaining
I took way too long to watch this movie. I love how at the beginning it gives some creepy middle of nowhere vibes which reminded me of Dracula 1958, when Van Helsing goes to a small Transylvanian inn in search for clues.
Another thing I like about this movie is the morbid jokes and how it addresses them, making you laugh on one side but at the same time giving you a sense of dread and making you understand the scope of our main character's predicament.
Of course, I couldn't forget the famous werewolf transformation because it's just really cool. It's gruesome and the movie manages to convey the pain that person is going through. If werewolves were real, I suppose this transformation would be the closest representation of one.
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
A Comedy about things humanity still hasn't Learned
Since the end of World War 2, from to time Humanity has always managed to put itself in a position where world war 3 could break out and unfortunately because of our passion for destruction, this next great war would be fought with nuclear weapons and thus hypothetically result in our annihilation.
Dr. Strangelove is a great satire of the geopolitical picture of the cold war, but it's message still rings strong today with new conflicts appearing around the globe after a few months. I guess the main theme of the movie is about how at the end of the day we're being governed by a bunch o morons, looney toones if you will; And that our imminent destruction is on the hands of people who could "get a little silly and do a funny", using President Merkin's own words about the disaster.
Alone in the Dark (1982)
Kinda "Meh"
So I was in a slasher movie binge at the time and I watched this one right after "Tourist Trap" and "Alice, Sweet Alice".
I felt like this one was kinda "meh" but It had to be higher than Tourist Trap® because at least there was a lot of gore and people dying© which is expected for a slasher flick. (although I gave both movies a rating of 6 on IMDB, my personal rating would be 6.25 for Tourist trap and 6.75 for Alone in the Dark).
The story was reasonable but didn't get me caught up. I've spend basically the entire movie wondering if I should stop watching and go do something else like drawing, reading, etc...
Communion (1976)
Honestly don't get why people like it, sorry boss
This one I didn't really like tbh
I know a lot of people who say that this flick is good, criminally underrated, seriously underrated and what not;
I mean, honestly, if the movie calls itself a "slasher" but is extremely slow to the point of being boring and is 90% composed of dialogues, then I feel like this isn't the best one of them. (if you can even call this a real slasher movie).
Nonetheless, the plot is rather interesting and kind of makes you wonder who is really killing who, but, even with this suspense added, the movie still felt boring for almost the entire runtime. I felt like I lost my time watching it. If you like it, props to you chief! You managed to see whatever I couldn't in this flick.
American Psycho (2000)
The Psychopath Metaphor
So the movie is an adaptation of the novel, Bret Easton Ellis wrote the book as satire. It's a parody, and social critique of Yuppie America using Cleckley's Mask of Sanity as an allegory for consumerism, vanity, and ego-driven monetarism. There are several quotes directly from the book throughout, and nods to it in dialogue (especially the mirror monologue). Bateman isn't meant to be an accurate depiction of anything. He's a self-created caricature of himself in avoidance of his existential crisis because he creates/produces nothing and only consumes.
The movie is equally satire, and plays on that final point by putting forward the question if it was real or just fantasy. The 'mask' that has entered popular language and in-group terminology is because of the movie and book--again lifted directly from Cleckley's analogy for "moral insanity" and the impression of normality that such individuals use in order to pass. Cleckley coined it because he didn't want to use the old adage of wolf in sheep's clothing.
Patrick Bateman is essentially the punchline to a joke that goes over most people's head.
He point is he isn't psychopathic. He wants to be. The reason it bends off into delusion is because there are 3 distinct versions of Patrick Bateman:
1- mirror Bateman, callous, disaffected, calm, collected, in control of everything; this version narrates and monologues
2- the actor Bateman, turbulent, emotionally fragile, weak, and obsessive; this version enacts the story
3- public Bateman, inconsequential, insignificant, boring, useless; the version that everyone else sees, the real Patrick Bateman (that we never see)
The mirror version is what he wants to be, but the harder he tries to be it, the more he becomes the 2nd version, but it doesn't ever really matter, because no matter what he does, nobody cares or even notices; he's always as insignificant as ever, because everyone else is caught up in their own version of that same triadic psyche. Psychopathy is a metaphor in the story that is far from unilateral in the case of Bateman. It's not a literal depiction, but it's a spoof, a spoof with a reason that unfortunately got over many people's head.
Great White Death (1981)
It's not the greatest shark documentary around...
Not the sharpest tool in the shed when it comes to Mondo style movies. I admit the 4 stars I gave are due to the fact that I like historical curiosities and it kinda of is interesting to watch the movie to see how people saw sharks in the 70s, to see the footage of older diving equipment, cages, and anti-shark tecnologies.
That being said, the movie is just bad because they try to push the idea that sharks are "born pirates of the sea" and that they're killing machines and that they all are maneaters. Sometimes the footage even tries to conjure a supernatural line of thinking saying how it might be true the belief of certain tribes that sharks can be manipulated to kill using voodoo rituals or by saying that sharks sometimes "play dead" so that divers will get close enough to meet their demise. In short, if you're bored, watch it. If you're searching to learn about sharks, just don't.
Mondo cane (1962)
Not my favorite Mondo Film, but does make you think
The movie is made of vignettes and as a true Mondo Film it's objevtive is to shock the viewer, I feel like what is often overlooked is that the vignettes are certainly not randomly put together and that they ha ve a certain discourse behind them. For Instance:
====CONTAINS SPOILERS-======
"At a Hong Kong market, exotic animals are sold for food.
At the New York restaurant The Colony, canned exotic animals are served for rich Americans.
At a Singapore snake store, a snake is chosen and butchered for consumption."
I mean, certainly these vignettes have the common theme of "exotic foods" but what I think it tries to show us is the absurdity of some of the things humans do and the irony in them.
For instance, in China, the reason why these food markets started selling cockroaches, snakes, rats, spiders and the alike was because of the famine they had and the millions of deaths under the collectivization of agriculture, which lasted until Deng Xiaoping came into power and reformed the economy.
So, while the Chinese only ate these critters because they literally couldn't eat anything else, it was eat or starve; rich new yorkers, who can buy anything they want and eat as much as they wish, pay hundreds of dollars in a gourmet restaurant to eat the same animals as delicacies.
Don't get me wrong, if you have money, you can pay as much as you want to eat as many cockroaches as you desire. But the idea here is to see how weird these to situations look when side by side: "eating bugs because of starvation x eating bugs for fun".
Le samouraï (1967)
An existentialist master piece.
Ok, i managed to watch a kino
I thought this was a film, but after the catch in the end, jesus, it's a kino, it all started to connect and make sense
So this is a french neo noir movie, set in 60s paris
Jef Costelo is what I thought was a detective, but in reality he's a hit man.
And the movie begins with him doing his job and apparently he's one of the best available.
So this movie is very silent, and Jef almost never talks, but it turns out to be a good thing since we can actually pay attention to the scenes.
Like the fact that Jef has a pet bird in a cage;
And the shots make it clear that Jefs apartment clearly is supposed to be compared to the bird cage.
Jefs bird also keeps losing his feathers throughout the movie, just like Jef starts to get tired of his life
His life is miserable.
Jef kills people and still leaves in an old apartment, everyday, he has to check for wiretapping
When he's out on the street, he has to worry if one of the pedestrians isnt a policeman
When he enters a metro, he gets in and out 3 times just to get to the same metro he first went in
And his friends start to get bothered by police and mafia alike, even though they have nothing to do with his business;
Jef starts the movie doing just another job, but as the movie progresses, clearly he can't take this life anymore
A life that, as we learned from movies like Scarface, there is no way out alive;
You don't just get to enter crime life, kill a lot o people, spread misery and grief and then say "ok, im retiring"
But unlike Tony, Jef doesn't learn this the hard way, he learns it by himself, everyday, when he wakes up, when he buys a newspaper, when he goes to the job, fakes an alibi, everyday it's the same thing over and over.
Then get paid what I assume is nothing (2 million french francs, 80% which is used to pay for new documents everytime he kills someone)
And go to sleep with a gun on one hand because you don't know if you'll wake up
Once more, unlike tony, Jef actualy has a code of honour, he doesnt see himself as invincible and let demise come at any cost, no, he knows this has to end for good
finally the title Samourai comes to play
Jef takes the decision to makes things right by himself, not only because of him, but because his friends started to get involved
One last contract, "to make things right"