ok let's all shit our pants to some spooky tiktoks: horror film thread 2026-til-infinity

sorry for the horrible thread title

evil dead burn was INCREDIBLE

just sooo over-the-top anti-family in its bones. when you get married you not only get married to a person but you get embedded in all the toxic dynamics of your in-laws, and i thought of that a lot when the main character was just sort of an ancillary witness to all the (genuinely war movie-like) violence happening in the house (until, of course, they remembered she was there, the interloper!!!)

i think my favorite thing about the evil dead franchise is that the deadites somehow lock into both of the worst thoughts someone has of you and the worst thoughts you imagine someone has of you. they prey on insecurity, and idk there's no locus of insecurity more radioactive than the family

also, it's not like it did anything remarkably original or nuanced with the main character's experience of domestic abuse, but idk, after all the graham platner shit last week, i sort of needed to see an obvious movie about someone literally tearing their abuser's face apart

cathartic experience! better than evil dead rise imo bc i didn't have to contend with someone's weird idea of life beginning at conception, but also the camerawork was more creatively unhinged and unhingedly creative

Thanks for starting this new thread, Ivy.

I hate the new Evil Dead movies, the two that I have mostly seen (walked out of the first one for reasons unrelated to the film, but didn't like what I saw of the film, either, so never finished it). But I did like this guy's spider movie just fine.

evil dead 2013 is one of my favorite movies of all time but it's definitely one i don't expect anyone to like

tho i do think its last 20 minutes are extremely crucial to developing any sort of appreciation of it

They should have put that stuff at the beginning then, lol.

Don't watch much horror but liked Obsession.l, which I saw last night (bar the first five mins) and just evidently commenting on from the discussion in the previous thread.

Didn't think Bear was a "villain" or anything. They are all in their early 20s on a curve of life and making the mistakes, and building capacity to process whatever emotional upheaval are going on.

I liked Sarah a lot so having her killed was effective.

I liked that Nikki didn't die, just in the sense that there's like a small chance she could rebuild her life (even if it's a 1% chance it's not nothing)

Enjoyed how "I love you" was so emptied of all meaning throughout.

*ambiently commenting

It's insane that these studios seem to be spending so much on acquiring these meme IPs for feature adaptations, because many of them are no more than a minimal elevator pitch in the first place. That two minute "Open Door" youtube short from a couple of years ago earned the creator a six figure development deal, which ... good for him? (It's literally an elevator pitch, lol). But there is so little there to bid on they might as well go the AI route. It's very:

Step 1: Make short film about two people riding in a mysterious elevator
Step 2: Sign development deal for feature film based on two people riding an elevator
Step 3: ????
Step 4: Profit!

Related, and echoing the thread title:

After Siren Head sold to Warner Bros in a massive bidding war, another viral internet sensation from Trevor Henderson has found a home. In a pre-emptive deal, Sony’s TriStar Pictures has swooped in to acquire feature film rights to Henderson’s Cartoon Cat following. This sale marks the second feature deal for Henderson in as many weeks following the five-way studio bidding war for his Siren Head creature, which landed at WB with Zach Cregger and Brian Duffield co-writing and Duffield directing.

And

Upcoming YouTube creators set to helm features include “Portrait of God” director Dylan Clark and “Mora” director Sam Evenson.

And so on, there have been lots of these news stories the past few weeks. There's nothing wrong at all with youtube creators making their way to the big screen, it's an awesome platform for good ideas and experiments, especially for those with a modicum of creativity and ingenuity. "Blair Witch Project" totally would have been a youtube short. But a lot of these meme-movies-to-be, the whole gist is that they are essentially *not* fully fleshed out ideas, just more or less broad stroke templates that can be reused and appropriated. That's the whole creepypasta deal, isn't it? But the horror strategy for decades has been to spend less to make more. That's for sure what b-movie studios have long done, up to and including Blumhouse. One Marvel movie is, what, 30 $10 million dollar films or literally 300 "Obsession"s. But they clearly need a good idea first if they want to mint blockbusters, and a pitch that doesn't go far beyond "spooky monster" or "spooky room" isn't a magic bullet.

Scott Stuber’s United Artists, Steven Spielberg & Amazon MGM Studios Land Next Big YouTube Horror Franchise For Big Screen: ‘The Mandela Catalogue’

Jeff Barker, a screenwriter who is also the father of Obsession director Curry Barker, is set to write and direct his own psychological horror short film, Medium Rare, starring Dane Cook and Lesley Ann Warren. The film follows a man trapped inside a bar, where reality begins to unravel in increasingly disturbing ways. Production is expected to begin in Los Angeles later this summer.

I am cautiously optimistic about all of this. I’m all for lower budget movies that start as an original premise that gives the director enough wiggle room to make it their movie, as opposed to an existing franchise with established lore and whatnot.

As long as there is a good script, for sure!

The Trevor Henderson stuff is interesting if only because it will add to the list of films based on existing paintings:

Val Lewton's Isle of the Dead
The Girl with Pearl Earring
If a stage musical filmed for television counts, Sunday in the Park with George

There must be more

Mike Flanagan is rebooting "Carrie," again, as a mini series, but I am intrigued by this a bit:

Of particular note, Mike Flanagan teases in his chat with Entertainment Weekly that the series will spotlight additional characters who have their own telekinetic abilities.

Each of the show’s episodes will apparently open with the introduction of “a different, unique story of a different woman, somewhere else in the world and in time, coming to terms with their own abilities.” Flanagan teases, “Carrie’s specific place among that group of women is part of the real joy that we get to discover over the course of the season.”

I'm excited because it's going to be on Amazon Prime (since all of his TV work has been on Netflix, which I ditched a couple years back).

That sounds closer to The Power (which was already an Amazon Prime series) than Carrie, but whatever.

A Mike Flanagan Carrie sounds absolutely terrifying, but not for the reasons he'd hope. Can only imagine how bad the monologues are going to be, one of the worst writers around.

just sooo over-the-top anti-family in its bones

well, you just said the magic words and now i want to see this _significantly_ more than i did before

also really like the 2013 one. hits hard.

I preferred Rise to Burn but I thought Burn actually managed to encapsulate the cycle of abuse well.

So many bits like how in Edgar's meltdown where he begins verbally abusing everyone at the table, there's a noticeable lack of surprise, like it's expected behavior. The shock doesn't set in until he kills the dog, and yet despite doing that and breaking a wine bottle over his son's head, Susan's immediate concern is Edgar's wellbeing.

And of course the obvious bit of misogyny that Thya calls out, that Joe couldn't shoot his Deadite father when his own girlfriend's life is at risk, but he easily finds the strength to physically fight Deadite Thya. Or how, after being told that Edgar killed Thya, Susan still refers to him as "sweetie" and appears happy to see him return. Even Joseph doesn't have the expected rage at his father - he seems terrified of him like he's been his whole life.

The parallels are telling too: Will tells Thya "You're nothing without me", both in alive and dead form, whereas Susan frequently says "I'm nothing without my family". Susan actually is portrayed as someone who deeply cares about her family, who actually has been hard done by the men in her life. Her father abandoned her to deal with her sister's illness/death and her mother's dementia all alone, and it's pretty obvious Edgar isn't interested in helping due to the contempt he shows his mother-in-law at the funeral

Alice points out that it's a shame that she had to give up her artistic dreams, but Susan dismisses this, suggesting her family was more important, even though minutes ago, she expresses resentment for her father abandoning her to deal with it all. She's so programmed to believe her wants and dreams come last because she's been let down by the men in her life. She's still a cold, terrible person to everyone outside her family, and she excuses and ignores abuse committed by Will and Edgar - but she's definitely a more complicated character than you typically get in these movies.

Agree with you ivy that the movie is anti-family. And it's a fitting choice that the director somewhat downplayed the physical transformations of each character compared to previous movies as it symbolized a toxic family tearing itself apart organically, with only marginal intervention needed from the Deadites.

The last two movies really reignited my love for the whole franchise, sans the Alvarez remake which I hated.

I was a fan of the original trilogy as a teen, but I'd more or less drifted from them more in my 30s. I've rewatched all many times in the last 4 years and finally got around to Ash vs Evil Dead.

This series is basically horrors Mad Max

I’ve tried with the newer Evil Deads and I miss the cartoony vibe. I think it’s cool that different directors are making it their own thing, but I need my evil campy.

I think Rise still preserved a little camp/one-liners but definitely darker tone. This one has funny moments but is mostly a dark ride.

Nothing will beat Deadite Henrietta for me ever though

I wonder if Army of Darkness shenanigans will ever be brought back.

Somehow missed this trailer. Looks intense, haven't read the book:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67ho3OxCmmM

Bond getting weird

“No One Will Save You”, streaming on Tubi. Hard to search for it, so figure it’s been mentioned before. Thought it’d be a one-set ‘girl fights alien’ movie but it’s so much better than expected. Acting, story, effects, all fantastic.

“No One Will Save You”, streaming on Tubi. Hard to search for it, so figure it’s been mentioned before. Thought it’d be a one-set ‘girl fights alien’ movie but it’s so much better than expected. Acting, story, effects, all fantastic.

Whoops. Stupid phone lag…

I liked that one.

This looks pretty good. Directed by Rob Savage, who did Dashcam and The Boogeyman, neither of which I've seen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEpTgowZ1dI

Wow, they wasted no time putting both Backrooms *and* Obsession on there ...

the book that this is based on, "Incidents Around the House", is pretty creepy. Although it gains much of its effectiveness from how ambiguous and unsettling the descriptions of the "Other Mommy" are - which seems to be completely out the window in this adaptation

the book that this is based on, "Incidents Around the House", is pretty creepy. Although it gains much of its effectiveness from how ambiguous and unsettling the descriptions of the "Other Mommy" are - which seems to be completely out the window in this adaptation

Didn't Coraline have an Other Mommy?

Other Mother was apparently too clever of a title

Looks goofy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNd1gb19A-c

Also, lol at "From the Mind of Zach Cregger."

I mean, I liked Barbarian and Weapons as they both had some fun goofy shit going on.... so i'm all for this one. The 2000s Resident Evil films aren't even camp fun, just pretty boring.

Speaking of Resi, Evil Dead Burn (which i thought was fantastic and maybe enjoyed more than The Odyssey which i saw on same weekend) felt a lot like Resident Evil 7... horrible dirty family in a horrible dirty house chasing you about.

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwallpapercave.com%2Fwp%2Fwp2074015.jpg&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=872ffec66a2619823fa8729f91139d9d4f541508a1dedd1a5ba6ca4e093a7663

The 2000s Resident Evil films aren't even camp fun, just pretty boring.

no!!!!! wrong!!!!!

i should nominate them for the action poll and then just submit a ballot of them in a shuffled order and nothing else

rewatched the first one recently and found it a total bore. It's definitely no Jason X. If they get any better after that one, i'm willing to give them a go...

i love the first one, think it's one of the best cameron-indebted action movies that isn't named "the matrix," so ymmv, but they do get incredibly gonzo as they go, especially when pwsa returns after 2 and 3

(2 is imo the only objectively bad one (i still like it, it has its charms) and if you were bored by the first you'll be like "wtf is this shit" but worth persevering beyond it)

Yeah, the Resident Evil movies are pretty great, especially the third (my favorite) and the fifth.

apparently Cregger's Resident Evil is essentially a 90-minute chase movie

which sounds alright to me

90-minute

5 stars

Yeah, could be fun, and 90 minutes is the way to go. The games themselves (like a lot of monster movies) vacillate between siege, haunted house and action, so one big chase probably works, too.

Hmm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMLCbpM1fRQ

It's apparently a sorta-sequel to "The Guest." Looks cool enough. Wingard's been on a run of shitty films, maybe now that he has that "Godzilla" money he will turn things around.

I thought "Backrooms" was pretty good. I really hope they don't make a sequel, but I guess it already sort of is a sequel to internet stuff? Anyway, not interested in the lore, I thought the what-is-going-ony-ness of it was its most appealing aspect, and a mystery box and happy to have stay sealed. Vibes of Lynch, a dinner table sequence oddly reminiscent of "Texas Chainsaw," good acting, and a novel/original/memorable/sure to be Halloween costume threat. And an obnoxious red shirt character that seems to have wandered off the set of "Obsession" and mostly walked around muttering "what the fuck?"

Backrooms, hmmm. I spent ages wanting to see this and when I finally did yesterday I was a bit…whelmed? I like a lot of modern horror but I admit I am tired of the “the REAL horror is intergenerational trauma” trope that a lot of new stuff seems to build in. Smile, for example, did this kind of origin story for its female lead better than the one Backrooms gives Mary. Is a shame because when the film is going well I really liked it - the first exploratory trip with the staff that ends awfully is great (the room full of discarded clothes! The rope that ended just as badly as in the intro scene!). It feels flimsy in parts, maybe because of its origins as a creepypasta though that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I loved Channel Zero which was entirely based on that premise. Ultimately a bit disappointing just based on how many people seemed to really like it and I generally do like really stripped-down concepts so it’s a shame this one wasn’t more effective.

Yeah I liked the setting, including using the furniture store as the base source for all the backroom iterations, but wanted a better story for it.

Maybe because I had no expectations I really had no problem with it. As opposed to Obsession, which I had heard such good things about but absolutely hated.

Onslaught wants to be a John Carpenter movie so bad. It does get the soundtrack right!

Speaking of JC, I read the Cathedral comic via Hoopla. Pieces of Graveyard Shift, Prince of Darkness, mixed with bits of mythology and religion. Will buy his accompanying soundtrack soon.

okay so Resident Evil 2 was far FAR more fun than Resi 1. some really dumb shit in that film; my major flaw with it? If you've got a Nu-metal area soundtrack - why the hell are you not using it during the film itself?

Cregger's Resident Evil is getting raves

not from me! haha

it's fine I guess but the comedy really grated on me and it felt like a pretty long 90mins as a result

also healthy amount of the netflix movie thing where something is visually indicated and then someone just says what's happening just in case anyone watching happens to be looking at their phone, which is a huge pet peeve, eg big shot of an empty shotgun from the character's pov and then the annoying main guy saying "I need bullets"

This one looks good to me... Netherlands folk horror

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhO4iC30hok

new Resident Evil is a fun communal view in the cinema, but little to no substance to make it rewatchable at home. what it actually did was make me think "hmm maybe I should replay The Evil Within games - they were pretty fun!"

Saw Heresy at Mayhem last year - I liked it! It's got a real sense of grounded muddy grimness coontrasting with forest folk horror. I will say that I think the effects will split a lot of people... it does kinda turn into a new-age Enya video somewhere in there. Worked for me, though.

Had an unexpectedly great time seeing Resident Evil, feels much more like a comedy/meta commentary on video games than a horror movie (as someone who doesn't watch horror movies anymore).

I loved that the big joke is that you're just getting the backstory of a random mini-boss and audio log character in the game, not a protagonist who has any effect on the world.

pretty good write up about this phenomenon (maybe?) here:

https://substack.com/home/post/p-216183500

the general schlubification, eg bro podcasts where everyone is slouching in their sweatpants

grr some of my post got eaten but -

*could see this being a thing given the general schlubification, eg bro podcasts where everyone is slouching in their sweatpants

some people like being comfortable

oh, I have no problem with sweatpants or being comfortable wearing them and happen to be wearing them right now. but I thought that article was picking at something interesting re: the general public perhaps wanting NPC types prominently in their media. liked the mr beast comparison via the excerpted max read quote:

“(MrBeast) has an easygoing manner and a charming, goofy enthusiasm,” Read writes, “but no immediate televisual charisma. He is not particularly funny or well spoken or physically striking: If you created an average of the faces of all 25-year-old white North Carolinians, you would probably end up with something like (MrBeast’s).”

for sure.

I don't watch a lot of contemporary horror movies, and thus don't usually hang out in these threads, which means I really don't know if this is the place to talk about a sort-of horror movie from 2019, but the Guatemalan film La Llorona, currently on the Criterion Channel for two more days, is really fantastic. Beautiful, subtle use of supernatural tropes, and a great slow burn (maybe too slow for some?). Highly recommended.

Hokum - great atmosphere, good Ron Swanson impression from Adam Scott

Evil Dead Burn - Rise was okay (the family gave it some heart) but this is just unpleasant in a very torture porn way.

Lee Cronin’s Mummy - Evilish Dead

This year's Mayhem scene report that nobody asked for:

Mārama - the best of the new films by a country mile. Beautiful gothic horror mixed with intensely upsetting British colonialist entitlement. It also had some good deaths if you're just looking for fun horror bloodiness but I may have had a little cry about the British empire during it. Ariāna Osborne is incredible in it, too.

Gaua - not reinventing the wheel but a very enjoyable witchy horror from the Basque country. Starts off as a bit of a folk tale anthology with the strands all meeting as one story, culminating in an excellent chanty coven orgy (hopefully that is not too much of a spoiler? I can edit it into spoiler tags if so.)

Never After Dark - solid Japanese ghost film. Some interesting bits (I loved the trance-inducing zoetrope) and a sympathetic lead but never really breaks out into being more than just good.

Imposters - not particularly original but imo surprisingly tight grief-driven parallel universes horror/thriller/sci-fi about toxic heterosexuality (okay okay, that might just be my interpretation).

Crawlers - going for the 'so bad it's good' ticket, this spider horror is possibly the stupidest thing I've ever seen. Everyone is obnoxious, the script and acting are shit, it's just... stupid. It's also nowhere near off-the-rails enough to be a proper The Room style outsider film. But seeing as it was the last film of a 4-day festival, turning my brain off and just enjoying a bunch of squelchy spider attacks honestly kind of worked. Would not recommend outside of that sort of specific braindead scenario, though.

There were a bunch of other films but I'd have to go through my programme to remember them - it finished on Sunday and I'm still fucking exhausted, I feel like death. Can't wait for next year.

Yeah i liked Never After Dark

Glad to see i wasn't wrong to avoid Crawlers.

not sure why this is a 2024 trailer, I think the film is just coming out this month.. I wanna check it out

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYbj4sl5uDQ

GAUA is freaking wonderful. Thanks for the recommendation, emil.y

Watched Hokum last night, thoroughly enjoyed it

I liked Resident Evil, fwiw— it was very stupid but also had some nice jump scares, which is fine by me. not everything has to be slow burn folk horror, tho that is fine too

The Goldhaber / Mazzei Faces of Death is fine. You can see what they were going for but it ends up being more generic than it should. Barbie Ferreira is good, Charli XCX genuinely appalling, though thankfully in not much more than a cameo.