The Monkees

Well as for Return to Sleepaway Camp, everyone and their mother needs to skip this piece of garbage. I won't ruin it for anyone but let me just say I saw the ending coming a mile away!

riotinmyskull

where is everyone seeing this at? i thought it didn't come out until november.

caligulathegod

That is the title. [REC] is short for Record, as in the label on the LED light on a video camera.



As to Hammer, I prefer the Frankenstein films over the Dracula ones. The Frankenstein films are actually about the doctor (the occasional monster tends to be kind of lame, but the films aren't about the monsters) while the Dracula films are like Godzilla films where they spend all their time on other characters and Dracula shows up for 10 minutes total each movie. This isn't always the case, but more often than not.

Oh, Vampire Circus is a masterpiece.

edwardnortonfan

To answer the questions about [REC], it is the original movie upon which the new horror movie Quarantine is based. It's a Spanish horror flick and it's one of the best I've seen in years. The remake, Quarantine, looks good, but now that I've seen the original I realize that the trailer for Quarantine gives away most of the twists of the movie. I really hate it when trailers do that.

I'm enjoying reading everyone's comments here. If no one minds a shameless plug, the inclusion of the checklist inspired me to watch those early attempts at horror films "The execution of Mary, Queen of Scots" and "Frankenstein (1910)" and I wrote about the experience in my monthly column for the website Cinema Crazed, if anyone wants to read it: http://www.cinema-crazed.com/h-q/longwinded16.htm

Trevor

Nice article! Small typo on the year of Shelley's novel, should be 1818.

Also, you give a lot of credit to Edison personally, but I'm not sure how personally involved he was with the films. It could have been wrong, but I read a couple times over the years that he was more the owner/financier, and not really involved in most of the films his studio produced.

Again, what I read could have been wrong. Great article, thanks for sharing!

wlverinefactor

See I liked the original ones, the first one was great, the other 2 were just there for a good laugh. My question is: Was Angela a decent sized role, or was it just a cameo?

Eh.... she's in it no more than 3 minutes.

And yes the ending was seen coming from near the start. It's just so bad and not even in a good way.

As for the guy asking where we are seeing it, it's on-line... I can't mention where but it's so easy to watch media in your bedroom that anyone could search for it.

---

So, should I see REC before Quarantine then? I can't seem to find a copy and I'm amazed the remake is already coming out, wasn't this released this year?

Giles

regarding [REC] - the UK 2-disc is the version to get, as for Quarentine it's coming out tomorrow - I'm gonna check it out, but know I'm not going to be impressed with the changes.

clckworang

You are right. Not too much credit should actually go to Edison in this regard. He's not even the true inventor of the Edison motion picture camera! He came up with the concept, it was done in his labs, which means he owned the patent, which means that legally he invented it, but the actual work was done by a guy named William Kennedy Laurie Dickson.

Thank you film history class!

Anyway, if anyone is interested:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Kennedy_Dickson

And thanks to everyone for the Hammer recommendations. I did like Curse of Frankenstein, but it was weird seeing the monster played by Christopher Lee! I always knew he played this role and all the other classic movie monsters, but it was just weird after all the other things that I have now seen him in.

But anyway, I'm looking forward to more. How's the Hammer version of The Mummy? I still need a mummy movie for the checklist.

Is Vampire Circus one that I can import?

Edit to Add: It looks like German release is the best one followed by the UK. Anyone vouch for the quality?

The Monkees

Here's a quick spoiler free review of Return to Sleepaway Camp (sorry, it was well after 3am when I got done watching and I was tired).

The movie had such great potential what with having 3 of the original actors from the first film and the writer/director of the first one back as well. But, they spend half the film with this annoyingly bad fat actor kid who does nothing but yell at everyone. He never calms down whatsoever. He has an unhealthy obsession with frogs, doesn't seem to have any other clothes than the ones he wears throughout the movie. It doesn't seem like the writer/director even knew where he was going with this at all. I think he was trying too hard to come up with another surprise ending, but failed so bad it was ridiculous. It's embarassing to see Isaac Hayes in this movie, especially since he's in the movie for a collective of 3 minutes and then his character just disappears just like the fat kid. After half the movie, he just disappears, but believe me I'm not complaining. The fat kid was just so over the top, and annoying. I was very intrigued by this movie especially since Felissa Rose was coming back to play Angela, but the way they worked it out (which is exactly how I figured it was going to work from seeing the trailer) is sad. I heard that they were making a 5th film, but IF they are it better contain Angela a lot more, because the way they played it off was terrible. I'm glad I was able to see this for free instead of buying it like I was going to.

Giles

but were the death as over the top and plentiful as II and III, that was fun about the sequels they were just slay-athons.

The Monkees

As stated by wlverinefactor earlier there really are only 2 good deaths in the film. Some of the deaths like the deep fryer kill and a kill involving rats seemed too much like other kills in the series. I really think this film would have been so much better had they focused more on Angela and the others from the original film.

wlverinefactor

I agree with you on Return to Sleep Away Camp. Not sure if I mentioned it here or on my movieblog but some of the deaths (including one of the better ones) feel to elaborate to have just pulled off on chance. Sure we shouldn't over think the idea, it's a horror film but it isn't like Jason or anyone sets up a giant chain of events that may or may not work within mere moments of it all being presented to them.

On a happier note I finished [REC] and it's easily the best horror film in 8 or so years. Just awesome. I was creeped out, I jumped, ect. The ending left a bit to be desired but all and all it worked well, solid acting and despite an obvious twist I loved it. I'll have the gf bring me back the region 2 dvd in January. I viewed the trailer for the remake and it ruins most of the best parts, too much is shown from the end so I'm hoping they have more to offer after the originals final scenes. I'll either see it tomorrow or pray it's on-line quickly...

Matthew Ackerly

I watched Five across the Eyes last night.

Extremely low-budget, made for around 4000 dollars, with three digital cameras, which never leave the back seat of the van.

To say this was wild would be an understatement, the first 6 minutes you feel like your watching a ridiculous, student film, with atrocious acting, but then it begins to feel so real, its like you are right there with these girls.

It's not for everybody but people wanting to watch something different should give it a shot.

SnapDawg

Lots of great Hammer titles to choose from. A good starting point would be:

Horror of Dracula
Brides of Dracula (my personal favorite)
Curse of Frankenstein

From there I would add The Mummy and the Frankenstein sequels....The quality of Hammer stuff begins to suffer in the early 70's, but there are still some worthwhile titles from that era......

late_but_earnest

I would also like to recommend Brides of Dracula.

My two other favorites are Kiss of the Vampire and the rip roaring kung fu gothic vampire story Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires.

Seriously.

Another fine film that has the look of a Hammer Film but isn't one is The Asphyx.

edwardnortonfan

Oh, there are more typos than that. I almost gouged my eyes out when I was reading it because of all the typos we missed.

Pizza

Thanks! It was driving me crazy and how ironic that it was the actual title.

And I agree about Vampire Circus. I had to import the flick from England. I had always wanted to see it and was thrilled when I finally could.

Pizza

That's how I felt about The Evil Dead the first time I watched it. I had read how Stephen King loved it, blah, blah. So, I rent the VHS with a buddy and we're watching it for 10-15 minutes and thinking this sucks. Then, the cool stuff starts to happen and I could't take my eyes off the screen for the rest of the film.

NoirFan

I enjoyed my first viewing of Daughter of Dracula, which picked up right where Browning's film left off. There is an interesting quasi-lesbian sequence that somehow eluded the censor's grasp. Die! Die! My Darling! wasn't unabashedly campy and lurid enough to fall in the Baby Jane category of trashy guilty pleasures, though it was fun to watch Tallulah as a chaste religious zealot.

Mondo Kane

I really like Gloria Holden's performance here too. After seeing pics of her in this role when I was a kid (In various monster mags/books) I could tell she had the look of Drac's daughter down well. I would always ask myself, "Does she sound like Lugosi?" When I finally saw the movie, she didn't mirror Bela, but her speaking voice did justice in bringing a non-human role to life.

Saw Day of the Triffids earlier for the first time. Again, I always knew about this movie thanks to the monster mags/books, but I went in expecting a schlocky plant-eater flick and got a worthwhile, epic (In the "B" sense) apocalyptic sci-fi horror film. It must be a nightmare to not only surrounded by killer plants, but being blind as well!

TRC

Has anyone else experienced a "I can't believe I used to like this crap" moment?

Like many kids of the '90s I was infatuated with Goosebumps. I liked the books more than the TV series but I did watch it. I caught an episode yesterday and was amazed at how blatantly z-grade it was. People's home movies have bigger budgets than this show. I guess they felt no one would care since the audience is primarily children.

smashthesymbols

Maybe I've just always had that "the book was better" tendency, but when Goosebumps first came on TV I was only 12 and I knew it was crap.

Chad

Done. Although, I'm avoiding it like a plague because it's a bit depressing just watching time go by like that.

I seriously agree. Vampires, Kung Fu, Dracula and Peter Cushing ...'nough said.

And couple of other favs of mine:

Plague of the Zombies - This one pre-dates Night of the Living Dead by a couple of years and was probably influential in form or fashion. It also made Cinefantastique's Top 10 Zombie Films list.

The Vampire Lovers - Aside from the obvious reasons ( ), it really is a great atmospheric vampire flick.

clckworang

All of these suggestions are great; I'll have to add Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires to my Netflix queue.

And Chad is right, it is depressing seeing that time pass by. But on a positive note, I've already met my original goal going into this challenge.

Pizza

It's ironic that one of the best Hammer Dracula movies, "Brides of Dracula," doesn't have Christopher Lee in the title role. I've always loved "Dracula Has Risen from the Grave." It has a spectacular death for the good count.
I was surprised at how good "Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires" turned out to be. I also love "The Vampire Lovers." Another title that I like (but probably shouldn't) is "Twins of Evil." "Hands of the Ripper" is another interesting entry. The Quartermass films are all good, especially "Quartermass and the Pit." "The Lost Continent" is filled with creepy creatures.