My Own List of Shame

I was reading a great article over at "Movies At Dog Farm" (go read, I'll be here waiting....) where Brandon posts his "List of Shame". To be fair to him his list is obscure and there's no shame in not having seen the movies he cites... unless your us. Yep a horror geek that feel the need to see the classics, the cheesy, the rare and mysterious.

This made me go look at what I'd watched this month so far... and yes we are 3 days in, but that's 3 days of Movie Geekness... and what had I watched... oh nothing but movies I'd never seen before.

Shadow People

Recent movie, sure and not even sure how I stumbled upon it on youtube. I've watched strange creepypasta-esque vids on youtube before but it was middle of the AM's on the 1st and I can't honestly remember how I found this. I saw Dallas Roberts was in it and he's cute so I gave it a go on that alone. I kinda liked it for the most part but its nothing I'd be all "YOU HAVE TO SEE THIS!!" about. If you're interested in fake documentaries, cause they try to in the style of The Fourth Kind splice scenes in with the "actual" people its "based on" then give it a go, it's worth the one watch.

The Town That Dreaded Sundown (1976)

I guess I first remember hearing this referenced by Sidney and Dewey in Scream, and ever since wanted to see it. I thought I had years earlier saw it but that turned out to be 'Near Dark'... yeah I dunno how I could have ever confused the two either.

After having watched it... I wasn't exactly blown away by anything but its effects. I can see how this one had passed me by, but still so glad I can say I've seen it.

The Thing From Another World (1951)

Now this one I was ashamed to not remembering much of, sure I'd caught bits on the TV as a child but being on in the wee hours I remember falling asleep so I could never say I'd seen it.

I can't believe with my love of John Carpenters remake (yes I have the Fright Rags T-Shirt) that it took me until I'm 25 to see this.

Invasion of the Saucer Men (1957)

I had known of this movie purely by the poster for years and I love cheesy old sci-fi so I was glad to check this off the "Never Seen" list.

The Prowler (1981)

I scarcely knew of this movie, I'd seen a T-Shirt of it on Fright Rags, and knew little beyond that. I'm always interested in seeing old slashers that never got the sequels or infamy that the likes of Jason, Freddy or Michael got. So for being an old slasher I was glad for that alone to tick it off.

V/H/S/2 (2013)

I liked the first one and I really liked this one too. Sure some parts look so bad, like amateurs with camcorders bad but as a whole I like the anthology concept which hasn't seen the light of popularity in forever and if you are not enjoying one segment, don't worry another will be up in a few.

First up is "Phase I Clinical Trials" which is creepy but not creepy enough once they show you way too much but good use of an eye-camera I guess?

I think I liked the "A Ride in the Park" segment the best, because of my love of zombies. I liked the way that was filmed with the dudes helmet cam, and so we get to see part of the segment from the zombies perspective.

"Slumber Party Alien Abduction" was cool if a tad obvious in their alien design, maybe coulda came up with something original but still that poor dog.

"Safe Haven" was a whole load of awesome, and what-the-fuck!?! I'd recommend watching that segment alone if you're determined to skip the rest of the movie, not my favourite but perhaps the best.

Y'know even if you were a hater of the first one, just skip to the segments to give them a go in this one, the wrap around story is bad so FFW'd that if ya like but watch the end of it, that's kinda ok.



So I'm gonna try a week of it, movies I've never seen. So far I've got lined up... thanks to Brandon "Something Wicked This Way Comes", which I've wanted to see since I saw Reece Sheersmith mention it on some TV show... maybe one of those countdown 100 Best shows, I'm not sure since Mark Gatiss has done a few horror specials for BBC4 maybe it crept up amongst one of those. I remember Reece saying that he took inspiration for the circus coming to town in "The League of Gentlemen" with Papa Lazarou.

"Eyes Without a Face", always knew the poster and that it was "good" but never got my arse round to seeing it, oh but that will change... I hope.

I'm also gonna get my ass to see John Carpenters "In the Mouth of Madness". It crept up on some horror list, perhaps on BloodyDisgusting of "how many of these horror movies have you seen equals how much of a horror fan you are" and this was one of the few I hadn't seen. Again I've known of it since I was young but it never became a rental. Let's add "Lifeforce" to the list of movies from horror directors I've never seen too.

I also also want to see "Ice Cream Man", another poster I remember but my mother wouldn't let me rent it, and we rented lots of horrors... heck mostly horrors in my youth but she thought it looked bad, and yeah it does but I like bad. So I'm gonna get my ass to see that in the next few days too. And yes I use that tagline any time I have Ice Cream "I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream" with friends, even though I've never seen the movie... shame on me. But more seriously, look at that poster, doesn't that scream awesome bad movie...? Well I hope so.

Oh and 'The Conjuring' came out this weekend here so I've got to go see that, really rather excited about that one.

What is on your own personal list of shame? Be it big block busters or genre obscurities that you know you should watch but somehow have managed to put off all your life... and any recommendations for me that I have to see, bring them forth and I will watch.




Hasta Luego
@Fake_Shemp

Mother's Day (2010)

It's Mothers Day here in the UK, and to celebrate I am watching the 2010 remake, Mothers Day.

Yeah I'm sentimental like that.

I watch Independence Day on July 4th, Die Hard at Christmastime, and Planes, Trains and Automobiles at Thanksgiving.

This viewing is only my second viewing, the first being at the cinema. I missed the opening of the movie the first time due to the projectionist being crappy at their job. The cinema was packed and it seemed only me and my friends could tell that the ratio was all wrong. We nipped out, talked to staff, got it fixed and came back to the movie looking correct.

I wonder how long it would have taken any of the rest of the audience to notice or realize it was wrong.

So back to the movie itself.

This home invasion movie is intense. Really fraking intense.

So a bunch of friends are having a small party, and boom, their home is invaded by the Koffin family, the previous owners of the home.



It's got quite the horror sci-fi geeky cast...

In the title role of Mother is Rebecca De Mornay.

She's the quietly psychotic head of the Koffin family. She has pushed her neurosis and troubles onto her children, each one an extension of her. I wouldn't call her or her family "evil" because as the movie unfolds people on both sides of this hostage situation do things of questionable morality.


The Koffin children

Patrick John Flueger as the eldest son, Ike.

He assumes the role of leader. He ends up taking Beth, the new owner of his childhood home, to her shop to pick up cash from the safe. 

Along the way they encounter two girls, played by horror alum A.J Cook and Alexa Vega. Whilst threatening the two girls with his gun, he says he will let one go. 

He will let the girl who will stab the other girl go. Scenarios like this play out a lot in this movie, the family forcing the hand of those "innocent" people they encounter. 

The middle brother, Addley,  is played by Warren Kole

Addley is the unprectable, unhinged classic middle child. He seems to be playing up and acting out to get attention, but always on the heels of his older brother Ike. Trying to live up to his older brother, become the leader.

Next is the baby of the Koffin family, Johnny, played by Matt O'Leary.

I'm gonna call him careless and clumsy because he's the youngest, and because he gets injured and needs to be cared for by one of the Ashmore twins.

As he lays dying he's crying in pain to his mother about how he's never had a woman. Mother goes ahead and gets her boys to get her youngest a woman. How they go about this? Have two of the men they have hostage battle it out, loser has his woman raped by the dying Johnny.

Then there is the fourth sibling, the only girl, Lydia played by Deborah Ann Woll

She is quiet, and hides away literally behind her hair, in her clothes. Her interactions with one of the hostages, a doctor who is caring for her dying brother brings her out of her shell. But was she better left in it? 

She, along with the rest of her siblings, have been brought up in a confined and closed off world. Everything bad that may have happened to her mother is channelled into her. Every bad thing that her mother thinks could happen to her only daughter is what makes her build up these walls around herself, making her a scared insecure woman.

Now we have the woman who bought the house. Jaime King as Beth.

 Arguments could be put forward that every shitty thing that happens to her friends... she could have prevented from the start... but then her actions serve her. She puts her own survival, and the survival of her unborn baby ahead of everyone else. But then what would you do in her situation?

Beth had been stashing the money that the family is looking for from her cheating husband and wants to use it to start a new life.

Her husband, Daniel, is played by Frank Grillo.

When he and his wife Beth are questioned about the money by Mother, she believes Beth when she says she knows nothing about it, but she does not believe Daniel. And neither did I.

You can tell something is off about this guy, but it wasn't the money he was hiding, it was his affair.

To try and get information about the money out of Daniel, Mother gets her sons to break his hand with a pool ball. This is the scene where on first viewing I thought he was cheating. Beth screams out for their captors to stop smashing in his hand, and the only other woman at the party to cry out is Julie.

The other friends consist of two couples. The Jacksons, played by Lyriq Bent and Kandyse McClure.

Treshawn fights for her to not be raped, smashing in a man's face who before hand he was calling a friend and once the scenario is put to the two men, to fight for which of their women won't get raped, they say they are not even friends.

Treshawn is accused of not learning his lesson, and told he never listens to Mother. His punishment, to have boiling water poured into his ears. Later as he's trying to escape he accidentally shoots his wife. It's so sad, not only cause it's obviously sad but because she had escaped but Daniel made her come back otherwise everyone else would get shot.

The other couple are not married but he is planning on proposing to his girlfriend. Dave Lowe, played by Tony Nappo, and Annette Langston played by Briana Evigan.

He winds up with his head blown off, the effect looks amazing.

Anywhos this certainly gets a recommendation from me, as long as you can stomach it, and are willing to face some harsh scenes and question everyones morality in this movie, then have fun!




Rating - 4





Hasta Luego
@Fake_Shemp