What Horror and Sc-Fi films have you seen lately?

[JackFavell]

It's not really a horror film, per se, but an excellent movie about childhood and imagination and emotional baggage. Though there are a couple of frightening scenes involving Julia Dean and Elizabeth Russell.

[MikeBSG]

I wouldn't say "Curse of the Cat People" surpasses "Cat People," but it is a wonderful movie that has some very scary scenes. Definitely worth seeing. It is one of the best from the Lewton unit.

[Bronxgirl48]

Wendy, I love Vincent's dancing partner in your avatar, lol. Needs to gain some weight. Looks like there were fun times on the set of THE HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL.

Anybody catch 1966's THE DEVIL'S OWN aka THE WITCHES, with Joan Fontaine? Intriguing first half, shaky middle, then falls apart risibly at the end. Good British supporting cast. I had a hard time figuring out if Fontaine's unnaturally tight face was the result of uplifting tape to the temples in the style of an aging Marlene Dietrich, or if she was just terribly upset at Kay Walsh upstaging her at every turn.

As if Joan wasn't embarrassed enough, in one scene she nearly gets run over by a flock of English village sheep.

[moira finnie]

Wendy, I love Vincent's dancing partner in your avatar, lol. Needs to gain some weight. Looks like there were fun times on the set of THE HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL.

Anybody catch 1966's THE DEVIL'S OWN aka THE WITCHES, with Joan Fontaine? Intriguing first half, shaky middle, then falls apart risibly at the end. Good British supporting cast. I had a hard time figuring out if Fontaine's unnaturally tight face was the result of uplifting tape to the temples in the style of an aging Marlene Dietrich, or if she was just terribly upset at Kay Walsh upstaging her at every turn.

As if Joan wasn't embarrassed enough, in one scene she nearly gets run over by a flock of English village sheep.

I have seen The Devil's Own Playground for Witches (better title, no?) and think that the tape trick might have been part of Joan's trouble in this movie, though this last career foray onto the silver screen was certainly, um...memorable. Was it me or did it sounded as though her plummy accent was being dubbed by someone else during this movie? The script did more to defeat her than the devilish shenanigans in the village. I love Kay Walsh in everything, but especially here, when she gets to play dress-up.

[knitwit45]

Catching up after some vacation time...
I saw The Tingler at a small theater, when it first came out. I was dragged to the movie by a new "friend", who was a whole year older than me (14 to my 13). Unbeknownst to me, some of the seats in the theater were rigged to "tingle" when the beastie showed up on screen. Guess who was sitting in one of those seats??? Yup, the Wuss of all Wusses...me. At that point, I didn't care if I impressed my older and more worldly friend or not...I screamed like the little girl I was!!!

[JackFavell]

Ha! You were pretty brave, knitty. I would have peed my pants!

[Rita Hayworth]

Thanks for sharing that tidbits of information about the The Tingler - Knitty and I was stunned that you went to a theatre that actually had "seats" rigged when the beastie showed up on screen. This is the first time that anyone I know that actually experienced this ... man this is something else!

[Bronxgirl48]

Wendy, I love Vincent's dancing partner in your avatar, lol. Needs to gain some weight. Looks like there were fun times on the set of THE HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL.

Anybody catch 1966's THE DEVIL'S OWN aka THE WITCHES, with Joan Fontaine? Intriguing first half, shaky middle, then falls apart risibly at the end. Good British supporting cast. I had a hard time figuring out if Fontaine's unnaturally tight face was the result of uplifting tape to the temples in the style of an aging Marlene Dietrich, or if she was just terribly upset at Kay Walsh upstaging her at every turn.

As if Joan wasn't embarrassed enough, in one scene she nearly gets run over by a flock of English village sheep.

I have seen The Devil's Own Playground for Witches (better title, no?) and think that the tape trick might have been part of Joan's trouble in this movie, though this last career foray onto the silver screen was certainly, um...memorable. Was it me or did it sounded as though her plummy accent was being dubbed by someone else during this movie? The script did more to defeat her than the devilish shenanigans in the village. I love Kay Walsh in everything, but especially here, when she gets to play dress-up.

It sounded like Joan's own voice to me, but just barely, since it seemed the tape was wound so tightly that she was physically unable to open her mouth to get the words out in any fulsome way; hence she sometimes sounded like a Joan Fontaine impersonator from a galaxy far, far away. Joan was constantly pursing those lips and also sucking in her cheeks, which really nailed the Marlene comparison for me. However, Joan's signature passive-aggressive eyebrows seemed relatively mobile and still able to occasionally arch in ivory-tower bemusement. Yes, the script was really her enemy -- this could have been an effective exercise in paranoia and psychological suspense, (also given that a memorable Hitchcock actress was the heroine); instead, it just gets bogged down in its own protracted picturesque humdrum-ness, if that makes any sense. Joan also seems to be performing in slow motion, as if recovering from a bout of flu or something. But I envy how she can still effortlessly carry off that manor-house tweedy casual cardigan look like she does in REBECCA and SUSPICION. As she walked along the cobblestoned streets of the village in THE DEVIL'S OWN PLAYGROUND FOR WITCHES, lol, I almost expected her to veer off into a lane and stop at Isobel's cottage for a strategic chat about the author's latest crime novel.

Apparently the villagers keep a supply of methodically ripped clothing on hand for these messy pagan countryside satanic rituals. These people are not the stylish urban Black Mass crowd from 1934's THE BLACK CAT, let me tell you. I barely recognized Martin Stephens in this movie. The eerie pre-teen preternatural charisma he so chillingly displays in VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED and THE INNOCENTS is not only gone in this film, but Martin unfortunately takes on the appearance and personality of a drowned rat.

Does Joan Fontaine ever dig into a good meal in any of her films? She eats like a bird in everything I've ever seen her in.

I'm a Kay Walsh fan, too, and she certainly steals every scene she's in here.

I just love the little zombie feather duster.

[RedRiver]

I screamed like the little girl I was!!!

At CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN, a house full of male teenagers SHRIEKED at the first shot of Christopher Lee's face!

[MikeBSG]

Today I watched "The Monk" (2011) directed by Dominik Moll.

This is a very good adaptation of a scandalous 1798 Gothic novel by M. G. Lewis. The movie avoids/plays down the sensationalism of the novel, and what emerges is the tragedy of people destroyed by pride. (This was the first time I sensed a relationship between "the Monk" and "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.") Vincent Cassell is Ambrosio, the title character, a monk of renowned piety. He has a past he is unaware of, and that, combined with pressures both physical and supernatural, lead him to a ghastly end.

It was interesting to compare this to "Bram Stoker's Dracula." "The Monk" avoids flashy stylistics and focuses on story. It doesn't try to include any humor. It takes itself seriously but is not self-important. Consequently, the viewer really feels sympathy for Ambrosio when he starts to come apart.

The musical score was priceless as well.

I think fans of Hammer horror would enjoy this film.

[MikeBSG]

Yesterday I took my son to see "Thor: The Dark World."

It was good. Maybe not as good as the first "Thor" movie, but it was still very enjoyable. For all the talk about Tom HIddleston as Loki, I was more impressed with Chris Hemsworth as Thor. Hemsworth gives the movie its core, its center. (And this movie needed one. It was trying to touch base with stuff from the first movie as well as introduce new characters.)

I thought the villains, "Dark Elves," were rather so-so this time. Still, the attack on Asgard was very good and Thor's escape from Asgard was terrific. The attack on London was okay, if only because we've seen San Francisco attacked in "Star Trek Into Darkness" and Metropolis leveled in "Man of Steel" and I'm getting a little bored of all the mayhem.

However, the attack on London in "Thor" was accompanied by a sense of zaniness that did make it different from the earlier movies this year. And in a nose-to-nose comparison, "Thor the Dark World" beats "Man of Steel" to pieces. The hero is more appealing, the Asgard scenes fit more organically into "Thor" than the Krypton scenes do in "Man of Steel" (where they just seemed like a distraction) and "Thor" enjoys a real romantic chemistry between Hemsworth and Natalie Portman. Ultimately, while I liked the first film better, "Thor: The Dark World" is very enjoyable.

[RedRiver]

I used to like super hero movies. The format lends itself so well. But in recent years, I've been dissapointed. Didn't like THOR (enjoyed the comic books). GHOST RIDER is terrible. GREEN LANTERN is a different franchise, but at any rate, it's not good. And sue me, but I'm the only person in America who didn't like THE AVENGERS. Is there plenty of action? Oh, yes. Is there anything else? Not really! The genre is heading (at super speed) in a detrimental direction. The focus should be on who these people are; what made them this way. Not on things bursting into flame and spinning around in circles.

[Rita Hayworth]

The focus should be on who these people are; what made them this way. Not on things bursting into flame and spinning around in circles.

Right On the Money ... Red River! ... 100% Agreement!!!

[mrsl]

.
Erik and Red River:

Perhaps you're finding out what I've been saying for years especially when sci-fi is concerned. A movie is supposed to tell a story, it isn't just "people bursting into flame and spinning around in circles. Today's writers and directors seem to forget there is more to a movie than just action, if that was all we wanted, we could just watch cartoons.

[Rita Hayworth]

Point Taken ... Anne!