Trevor

I am so not what you describe there. I typically agree that remakes suck, especially American ones. I'm not saying that I actually enjoyed the awful Bay remake or the next generation oddity, just that I found them slightly more likable.

I'll definitely be revisiting the original, bought the Blu Ray actually. Perhaps I let the 30 years of hype affect me. I usually don't do that though, and really expected to enjoy it. But the pacing was horrible, the character annoying, and the scares too few.

And btw, I am not alone in thinking that America got one right in their The Ring remake. It soundly beats the Japanese original.

poster mayhem

It took me quite a while to get into the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre. When I first saw it I was annoyed and couldn't figure out how such annoying characters and zero production values could have made it considered a classic.

However, for various reasons (usually hanging out with other people who had never seen it) I watched it again a few more times through the years and it began to really grow on me.

Now Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a film I enjoy a lot and part 2 with thick doses of black comedy is also a fun viewing. I imagine now that the hype of it is gone you'll go into it with a different viewpoint later and might enjoy it more. However, I'm still annoyed as hell with Franklin.

Friday the 13th on the other hand has never gotten much better to me. It was mediocre at best the first time I saw it and remains that way today.

poster mayhem

The theme you're referring to for The Shining and The Return of Dracula has been used in quite a few films, mostly horror movies. It's based on a hymn called Dies Irae.

I remember it being in Roger Corman's The Undead and I know it appears in one or more of the later Amicus anthology horror films. It's a striking and an effective piece.

Pizza

I'll be in the minority and state that I love this series. The Creature is my favorite Universal monster design. I've seen the 3D version of the first film several times at a local theater. I really love "Revenge" and having the monster attack mainland and marineland. When I was kid I hated "The Creature Walks Among Us" because he only appears as himself in the beginning. Watching the DVD a few years back I was surprised at how good the story really was. Again, I realize I'm alone in this but I am a fan for the gil-man.

edwardnortonfan

You're not alone. I've loved Creature from the Black Lagoon since I was a kid.

poster mayhem

I'm afraid that I might have been misunderstood, the reason I feel that it is a weak series is simply because it was ended too soon, and that the third film destroyed the best thing the films had going for it - the creatures incredible costume itself.

Trevor

Never noticed before that this is set in Wales. My grandfather immigrated from Wales, and I was able take my father there a few years ago to track down some of our ancestral heritage; visiting record offices, cemeteries, and distant cousins. No werewolves found.

Also never knew that there was an earlier Universal werewolf movie, Werewolf of London. It's on the legacy set, perhaps I'll watch it later this month.

Trevor

Ok Mister Peepers, you wanted us all to watch this. Please explain yourself.

caligulathegod

When I was a kid, I didn't realize that Wolf Man was in Wales, either. I always thought it was odd that everyone in Transylvania was English. Now, of course, it all makes sense. Still don't know why Larry is so American, though. He couldn't have been gone that long.

Trevor

Fusion X, since you chose this film for us all to watch and comment on, do you have anything?

Trevor

Yeah, I think I've seen film makers use that trick before. Film set in foreign land, but lead actor is American? He had just been there on extended holiday!

I loved these films as a kid, and love it when they put the various monsters together. Some, heck most, of the sequels combining them were quite cheesy, but fun cheese. There are still a few I need to track down on DVD.

There have been a couple more modern tales combining old classics that I quite enjoy, The Monster Squad and the Alan Moore League of Extraordinary Gentlemen graphic novels (not the abomination of a movie w/ Sean Connery).

Numes

I did not watch a movie last night for the first time this challenge (I had to catch up on some DVR overflow), but I will be watching the typical Friday night Manos-Exorcist combo.

I'm not sure which one to watch first. Do I want to get Manos out of the way first? I think so. I think I'm going to pull the trigger on the non-MST3K version. My buddy bought me the DVD as a gag gift and at least I can knock it off my unwatched movie pile.

Side question -> Why aren't some of the people who chose the movies discussing them after the assigned viewing day is over?

Trevor

I'd watch The Exorcist first, a film that genuinely scares the crap out of me and leaves me sleeping with the lights on and hopefully not alone. Watching Manos afterwards would take the edge off and enable me to recover from the possession experience.

Pizza

"Werewolf of London" is great, especially for its time.

NoirFan

It's a good thing WB included English subs on Freaks, as Harry Earles is basically unintelligible. Fans of his should track down Tod Browning's silent The Unholy Three, in which Earles plays a jewel thief disguised as a baby. Quite bizarre. What happened to the fat black guy at the end of Texas Chainsaw Massacre? He just waddled slowly off into the distance. Nice aim with the wrench though. I'll check out Claw of Terror tomorrow, though I don't think I can endure another viewing of Manos - once is enough for any lifetime.

Mondo Kane

I agree. Didn't even know he spoke German at times. But I was aware of this thanks to the closed-captioning when TCM would show the movie (Before the DVD arrived)

But sadly, both the subtitles and the captions have no idea what Schlitzie is saying aside from "So What?".

steelpotato

The internet has been down on my street the last week
Watching Manos solo for the first time in years was pretty painful; it actually goes really well with a crowd and a few beers.

Numes

Re: "Manos" the hands of fate... a.k.a. "Attack of the Moths"

The tagline for this movie is "It's Shocking! It's Beyond Your Imagination!"

Truer words have never been spoken. This movie is (a) shocking (shockingly horrible) and (b) beyond my imagination (I never thought a movie could possibly be this bad.)

I did, however, feel for Torgo. This guy had some nasty arthritis in his knees, and he was obviously addicted to Meth. I'm guessing that he was a former NFL player and the players union wouldn't pay for his knee replacement surgery after he retired. Poor guy, all he wanted was a nice gal. I've tried the "shaky hand on the shoulder and hair slapping" move when I was out at the bars in in college. It usually worked when I combined it with the "say everything twice and have unusually long pauses between dialogue" maneuver. It was a killer one-two punch.

They must have hired a big gun for the screenplay. The dialogue and pacing was impeccable. Who could forget the famous line "They'll never think of looking for us in the house!" And who was the costume designer? The dual hand garment was all the rage in the late 60's / early 70's. Finally, the music was ahead of it's time. It's an amazing trick to play the clarinet out of an orifice other than one's mouth for a movie soundtrack. Excellent job...you!

P.S. Bravo to steelpotato for re-introducing me to this....uh...movie? I think I'll go start my hand on fire, cut it off, and then go running into the darkness now... in 32 second increments, of course.

The Man with the Golden Doujinshi

The first time I caught it was at work. I got hooked on the beginning when he had the accident.

Then I just couldn't stop watching claw man.

As bad as it was, I just couldn't turn it off.

Would've responded sooner but I just now got some free time and I also had some problems when I switched from DSL to cable this week.

Trevor

Speaking of theme songs, I just noticed that John Carpenter must have been inspired by the theme of The Exorcist when he wrote the one for Halloween.

Are there any better themes than these two (one)?

Trevor

Agree with you on all points there. NOTLD really is incredible, even without considering the budget.


But must admit that I haven't watched Day and Dawn yet, maybe this month. Not sure how I've managed to put them off this long, part of my "safe the best for last" thing I sometimes do.

Trevor

I doubt if I could even do one viewing sober, kudos to you that did. Now the MST3K version, that I could do every year at least! Great riff, perhaps my favorite so far. Joel and the bots are great, and Mike as Torgo is hilarious.

Trevor

Nice pun, the beginning was great, easy to get hooked into it.

Was that The Tall Man we saw early in this film? It was!

Congrats on upgrading (I imagine) to cable.

Numes

I viewed "The Version You've Never Seen Before" version of the movie. I had seen the VHS version (I'm assuming it was the theatrical version) about 10 years ago.

It was a little hard to remember what was new. IMDB helped me out a bit on that. The most obvious change was the ending. I really didn't like the ending on this version, I thought the theatrical ending was much better. The whole idea about the detective asking if they wanted to go to the movies was very odd and to end the movie on that note was pretty lame.

For those of you who have seen the two versions, what are your thoughts?

As for the movie, in general, it is really a classic. In general, if I have seen a movie before, it becomes much less scary the subsequent times I see the movie. That was the case for The Exorcist. It definitely had me on the edge of my seat during the movie, but it would have been so awesome to view this in the theater when it first came out.

Numes

Ok, first off. Why doesn't he use THE CLAW to kill everyone? Hello?

This movie was bad, but not Manos bad. I actually though the main character was a pretty creepy guy. I'm kind of with Mister Peepers in the fact that it was in intriguing start to the movie, in a weird-cheesy sort of way. Why would they rename the movie "Scream Bloody Murder"? How could they not go with "Claw of Terror"?? "Scream Bloody Murder" is such a lame/generic title for a movie and doesn't distinguish it at all.

I think this quote sums up the movie:
"I get groceries, and clothes, and art stuff, and kill people and do you appreciate it? NO! N-O!"