What movies did you see last week? (10/22-10/28)

Wolf Creek (2005) — 7/10
Surprisingly decent/effective horror film about being hunted by a serial killer in the Australian Outback, hampered somewhat by John Jarratt's obnoxiously over-the-top performance as the villain. He doesn't really convey menace as much as drunk-uncle horniness. I did like that the movie takes nearly an hour to set up the story, following these three young people on a doomed road trip across the desert. We're given enough time to get to know these people and start caring about them, always a nice touch in a serial killer slasher movie.

High Tension (2003) — 5/10
Honestly 5/10 feels too generous for this one, though I did kinda like how Aja handled the twist ending. Even though he spoils the twist in the first scene of the film with an on-the-nose dream sequence, it was still the most interesting few minutes on display. And once you have to wade through all of Aja's meaningless gross-out gore fantasies, seeing anything resembling narrative cleverness is a breath of fresh air. Still, this movie is trash.

From Beyond (1986) — 7/10
Gotta love that gross 80s body horror. This one's pretty dumb, but I do give it extra points for zaniness. Not as funny (intentionally anyways) as Gordon's earlier Re-Animator and doesn't boast the must-see makeup effects of Hellraiser, so I'm not gonna recommend it but I didn't hate it.

Black Christmas (1974) — 8/10
Really enjoyed this one. Straddles the line between sorority slasher flick and supernatural terror. The best running device in the film are the killer's twisted phone calls. They're obscene, vulgar, and sickening, but as a viewer they're also tantalizing and mysterious, because the calls feature all these distortions and what sounds like multiple voices. Almost like a phone call from hell. This gives the film that extra level of suspense that works so beautifully. We never know who the killer is, and I don't want to know. He's so much scarier as a demon-voiced freak from another dimension.

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) — 8.5/10
Now here's a goddamn brilliant horror film. Short, simple and neat. We never get to know much about our main characters (and to be honest I couldn't make out half of their dialogue in the van), but that doesn't matter, because Tobe Hooper's classic is more about creating an atmosphere of terror. This takes place in a backwater part of Texas where anything is possible, suffusing the film with a sense of inevitable dread and that itch to look over your shoulder. The haunting last scene of the film pushes this home with a shriek. The main character (I don't even remember her name) will never feel safe again. At least not in Texas.

The Blair Witch Project (1999) — 7/10
I loved this movie's set-up. Some might say the first portion of the film is choppy, but I'd say it's fast-paced and fluent. It introduces the characters convincingly, it introduces their motivations, it introduces their project, and through documentary interview footage weaves a compelling mythos about the movie's titular urban legend. This was the part of the film I enjoyed most.

Unfortunately the second and third acts are much slower-paced and quite repetitive. Heather and her crew inevitably get lost and SO. MUCH. TIME. is spent with these characters bickering about it ("What the fuck!!" "We're fucking lost!!" "Fuck you, Heather!!"). It just goes nowhere. It doesn't really escalate and it doesn't even feel convincing within the confines of the film, it's just dead air. A repetitive shtick going through the motions until we can finally get to the bits where shit gets really real. That happens eventually, and mostly just manifests in voices outside the characters' tent. Rinse and repeat until the final 10 minutes, where one of the characters disappears and the movie doesn't let up until the shocking final sequence (cleverly shot with two cameras). I give the movie props for getting the found footage shtick right and for Heather Donahue's fantastic and sadly undervalued performance that ultimately damaged her career (I think she won a Razzie for it, fuck those idiots). It's not as scary as it could have been and there are some insufferable moments and Heather is the only character I care about, but I have a lot of goodwill for this project. It's not my favorite found footage flick, but it does handle the gimmick more effectively and convincingly than most of the films it spawned.

The Addiction (1995) — 5/10
God this was insufferable. Vampires sloping around New York City quoting R.C. Sproul and Nietzsche at each other in straight deadpan as hamfisted metaphor for drug addiction (why was Lili Taylor so awful in this?). Spare me. Let me watch Requiem for a Dream instead.

The Stepford Wives (1975) — 7.5/10
I was going to question this movie's categorization as a horror movie but you know what, never mind. The patriarchy is fucking terrifying.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) — 8/10
Can't believe it's taken me so long to watch this. Wonderful film. Masterclass in suspense-building featuring some excellent performances. It preceded Carpenter's "The Thing" by four years but it's just as effective at conveying paranoia. Everyone looks over their shoulders in this film. Everyone is a potential threat. Unseen and unknown threats lurk around every corner. Every second glance of a coworker, neighbor, lover, complete stranger seems to veil unspeakable menace.

The Stepfather (1987) — 7.5/10
Fairly by-the-numbers serial killer film. What saves it is Terry O'Quinn's masterful performance and the movie's self-awareness and dark humor. I had fun.

The Exorcist III (1990) — 8/10
What a delightfully bonkers film. George C. Scott brings the same fire and fury approach to this film that viewers will remember from projects like Patton and Hardcore. He goes full-throttle in this thing, and at some hilariously inappropriate times. It's almost like a parody of his acting style, and I'd like to think there was some self-awareness on his part or on Blatty's part in how the performance came out. Either way I had a ball. I could listen to George C. Scott raging at bitchy nurses and priests all day long.

As for the horror, boy is this film scary. Colleen Dewhurst (as the voice of Pazazu, the demon from the fist film) goes on a killing spree of priests using the MO of a dead serial killer. Honestly the story was pretty muddled and confusing, and called back to the original film in some surprising ways, but there's enough murder and mayhem to keep you on your toes. While the first Exorcist was primarily a possession/exorcism movie, this one operates as a police procedural following the sickening crimes of an unknown killer through the eyes of a skeptical detective. This opens up the narrative considerably and allows for horror on a much larger scale. Some of these scares are downright brilliant (the infamous long-take in the hospital for example) and it's because Blatty treats them with deadly seriousness. They're almost operatic in quality, suffused with that good old Catholic dread of evil that's ancient and powerful, and it makes for thrilling viewing.

The Hunger (1983) — 7.5/10
Answers that age-old question, "How do immortal vampires handle aging?" Not well apparently. The first half of the film (everything involving David Bowie basically) was muddled and too slow-paced for my taste, but this film gets extra points for stylishness (Stephen Goldblatt's blue-hued cinematography is gorgeous), a haunting story that finally takes form in the final act, immaculate production design, Susan Sarandon's revenge arc, and Catherine Deneuve as a sexy lesbian vampire.

Hell or High Water rewatch (2016) — 8/10
Still so damn solid. This is only my second viewing (long overdue) and my opinion hasn't changed a bit. I still really dug this film. Such a great tense neo-western thriller with slight political undercurrents. My complaints this time around are the same as they were back in 2016. I still think Gil Birmingham and Jeff Bridges' onscreen relationship leaves something to be desired. I get it, they mask their fondness for each other through friendly insults but that's basically all they do. There's one or two breaks from that formula but their screentime together is mostly repetitive banter, which loses its charm like any joke does when you've heard it too many times. Also, I still don't love Foster's performance. He has a tendency to overact and this might be the most egregious example of that. There's something about the performance that doesn't quite feel natural or lived in. It very much feels like Foster is "acting" for most of the film, putting on this over-the-top posturing facade that starts to get old fast. His best performance is The Messenger.

Still, it's wonderful film. I love Chris Pine and I LOVE the ambiguous ending. That last conversation between Pine and Bridges is pure cinema. Fucking love it.