#LOVED corpses. loved devil's rejects even more. wants to watch 3 from hell but i won't let him but like he is down to watch it

[ambreiiigns]

brother's top almost-10 slasher-esque movies that i made him watch coming to you live except we feel like we're forgetting something

[rivetgoth]

Okay, the verdict is out, I finally got to watch THREE FROM HELL after anticipating it for ages and I got some thoughtz.

First, some full disclosure, so y’all know where my biases are:

1. I genuinely adore House of 1000 Corpses and I consider The Devil’s Rejects one of my favorite movies of all time. In general I really adore a lot of Rob Zombie’s work — I also loved 31. That being said, he’s been hit or miss in the past and there’s some stuff of his I really detested too, but overall he’s not only impressed me but stood out as the creator of some of my absolutely favorite films. I wanna clarify this because I’ve seen a lot of people write up scathing reviews for this film that literally start with “I HATE ROB ZOMBIE’S MOVIES!!!!!” and that just seems like a really unfair way to approach a review specifically for a sequel. Idk what you’re expecting to get out of it.

2. Speaking of that, I love good horror sequels and some of my favorite movies of all time are specifically sequels. I fall in love with characters and concepts and I love seeing them expanded on in fun ways. I have no inherent negative feelings towards sequels at all.

I say all this to point out that I was genuinely looking forward to this movie without any unfair biases, it didn’t have to change my mind on anything larger than itself, like “convince me that Rob Zombie is a capable film director after all” or “convince me that sequels have artistic merit” or anything like that.

My overall thought, before I explain anything else, is pretty much that I feel like the first half of the film is extremely promising and fun, and the second half of the movie is so bad that I more or less wish I’d just turned it off halfway through and pretended that was the whole film. And, given the fact that so many of the developmental issues with the film that led to its shakiness came from Sid Haig’s declining health, I almost feel like this wasn’t a movie that had to be made at all — at least in this form.

I read one review that pretty much said that for Rob Zombie to revive this series he needed a damn good reason, and he never managed to make that reason clear. And I feel like that’s exactly what my overall takeaway was here. The ending of Devil’s Rejects is pretty much perfect. In order for that to be retconned and expanded upon, something really mind blowing had to happen. In general, even when you’re not taking the risk of retconning an ending of such epic proportions, if a sequel is made to something I want to see it do something new and uniquely memorable in its own right. Devil’s Rejects itself is a perfect example of this; one of the things I completely adore about it is the fact that it expanded upon the very classic retro slasher feel of 1000 Corpses to center the attention on the killers and recreate them as antiheroes with an entirely different tone. Similarly, Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 stands out to me as one of the great horror sequels, partly in the way it so fearlessly completely shifts it’s tone away from the total frenzied isolation horror of TCM 1 and does something entirely different. Other series try less for “perspective/atmosphere shift” and more for “just go bigger” and that can work too — I think the increasing extremity of gore and complexity of the traps in the Saw series (which I love) is a good example, especially through the first three films which are by far the best as a coherent trilogy.

The WEIRD thing about Three From Hell is that Rob Zombie has clearly proven that he 1) understands the idea of sequels that build upon original films in unique new ways 2) has no qualms being increasingly and shamelessly extreme and shocking and horrific. But instead, I felt like Three From Hell is... jarringly tame, actually, compared to what we got from Rejects. And I mean, in some ways that’s fine, I didn’t necessarily miss the way-too-long graphic rape scene in Rejects, which is a miserable chore to get through in just how sickening it is. But there’s no moment where I felt that we get anything more extreme or intense than what’s seen in Rejects. It all feels like it’s been toned way down, which is bizarre to me. The victims aren’t people we’re sympathetic towards like the traveling musicians we meet in Rejects, and their deaths aren’t particularly gruesome - The majority of the deaths in this movie are “shot in the head” or “stabbed.” That’s it. The climax of the film is extremely similar to the opening shootout of Rejects, with significantly lower stakes and less memorable artistic direction, meaning that one film’s introductory scene is able to create a more intense moment than this one’s entire two hour duration.

The thing is, I feel like the first half of the movie really has potential. There are things I could nitpick — for example I love Richard Brake and I feel like Foxy is fun but flat — but the majority of my complaints would be things that, if the movie had a stronger second half, could easily have been further developed and solved. In fact, the first half of the movie feels like it’s gearing up to pretty much be exactly what I’d want out of a Rejects sequel. It’s weird and engaging and markedly different from its predecessors. It focuses on Otis, Spaulding, and Baby’s survival and arrest after the ending of Rejects, the subsequent trial, and then Otis’ escape and attempt to save Baby (after Spaulding is given the death penalty; more on that later). There’s a ton I love here, mostly Otis and Baby’s relationship being given more time in a really interesting way. The stakes are high and Otis clearly cares about his sister to a degree that feels like a fitting continuation of Rejects’ attempts at showing sympathetic or relatable aspects to these characters that makes them very three dimensional and complex. Bill Moseley is the fucking greatest and his ability to make Otis so completely depraved and unrestrained while also clearly caring about his family is one of my favorite things about the series and this played it up really well. You get the feeling that Otis is genuinely concerned for Baby, even after she’s freed, although it mostly comes out in yelling and deadpan snarking. Baby, meanwhile, gets the beginning of a completely fascinating character arc that included my favorite dialogue and scenes through the entire film as we’re shown that after a decade in prison she’s gone completely off the deep end. She rambles on about being Snow White and saving kittens and cries while hallucinating ballerinas with cat heads. By the time she’s free even Otis is expressing vocal concern for her. We get to meet the first half of the film’s main antagonist, Warden Virgil Harper, who was memorable and fun and felt right at home in the Rejects canon. We got the chance to see him developed into a character you almost start to feel sorry for; he’s cocky, but he clearly has no idea how in over his head he really is. On top of this, the scene when the clown shows up at Harper’s house while Otis and Foxy are torturing him and his friends and family is the best torture scene in the film in the complete absurd awfulness of the clown trying to put on a funny show while everyone is sobbing and a man is bleeding out.

At this point, the movie is going in a direction I totally dig. By the time Baby is finally free and able to reunite with Otis and he’s picking up on how fucked up she’s become, I’m genuinely excited to see how things will develop. It feels like Rob Zombie was setting up a film where we get to explore the siblings’ dynamic in a way that’s new and intriguing but developing from the things people loved in Rejects, which is that perfect blend of “utterly irredeemably despicable people” and “genuinely likable, oddly human characters.” Baby and Otis only really have each other at this point (Foxy is there, but even in the movie itself they allude to the fact that he really barely matters — a bit of a copout of a running gag, but whatever), and Baby actually voices this. It hit me at that moment how all of their family has died, and considering how much family has been a driving force for these characters, they were literally initially introduced in 1000 Corpses as the classic murder family and that’s all been taken from them, it’s genuinely sad. Spaulding’s death feels like it could be the final catalyst for... something to come from this, as that was Baby’s father and such a hugely important member of the Firefly family. We have Otis and Baby, alone (well, accompanied by Foxy) in the late 1980s (also a COMPLETELY not utilized detail), on the run as the country’s most wanted serial killers and trying to cope with the weird scenario of being merciless murderers who’ve had their entire family taken from them.

But we don’t get any of that in the second half. At all. Instead, we have Baby suggesting they all run away to Mexico. They do, winding up in a little hotel in the middle of nowhere full of prostitutes and alcohol. Baby wins a knife throwing contest against some big misogynistic guys. Then Danny Trejo’s character’s unmentioned son shows up (oh yeah; Danny Trejo was here for about 5 seconds, he died early on), has about 3 lines of dialogue, sends in 20 masked luchadors to kill Baby and Otis, they have an extremely long low stakes shootout, and with the help of the second half’s most interesting but still underdeveloped and shockingly unironically sympathetic character they burn Danny Trejo’s son alive and the movie ends. And that’s it. The characters regress even further backwards than their Rejects counterparts. They don’t really do... anything, actually. Otis fucks some women and then lays in bed flirting with them until the luchadors show up with their machine guns. My favorite moment was Otis’ attempts at saving Baby’s life by telling Aquarius (Danny Trejo’s character’s son) to let her go because he was the only one responsible for his father’s death, and they share a brief exchange about family. But that was one interesting moment amidst an extremely stale and low stakes plot separate from anything I care about after the intensity and high stakes present in the previous movie’s climax, and even this movie’s first half. A lot of things are recycled here, like the revenge plot driving the antagonist, but Sheriff Wydell’s descent into righteous insanity in Rejects was given way more time to develop, or a character betraying the Fireflys’ trust, but instead of the extremely memorably shocking, selfish betrayal from Charlie who was a longtime acquaintance clearly considered family (plus he actually attempts to “redeem” himself in the end), this is betrayal from a random hotel owner we do not know or care about. When the credits roll and we see Otis and Baby and Foxy driving away to... somewhere, I don’t even know where they’re going, I’m not even really sure what I’m supposed to feel. I chuckled a little at Baby being allowed to drive after an earlier argument where Otis asserted she shouldn’t, but that was it.

I hadn’t read anything about this movie before watching it, because I didn’t want anything to be spoiled for me. I was really excited for it! I learned that Sid Haig, who of course passed on only very recently (RIP), was dealing with very serious health issues that made him unable to film the movie, when originally the film had been written with the original infamous three - Otis, Baby, Spaulding - as the leads for the whole thing. Rob Zombie wanted to honor him with at least a cameo, knowing that the movie wouldn’t be the same without the Captain, but aside from a brief few minutes of screen time he had to rewrite the whole rest of the film with Spaulding removed. I feel like that’s where a majority of the problems with the movie lie. It’s why Foxy is as flat as he is and it’s why there’s an awkward uncertainty in how to deal with the loss of the Captain as the patriarch and why the whole idea of Otis and Baby’s aloneness is so awkwardly glossed over, like Mr. Zombie noticed the elephant in the room enough to address the turmoil but didn’t want to rewrite the entire movie from scratch to account for one of the most important characters in the franchise (maybe THE most important) being unexpectedly killed off.

Now, I LOVE some films that have been to developmental hell and back and came out as solid movies. In fact, there’s an extremely special place in my heart for films that fought tooth and nail to be made. It inspires me as a creator myself and it’s why indie low budget horror is my favorite genre of movie. I absolutely love seeing creators fight to bring their artistic visions to life against the odds. There are fantastic sequels out there where major actors either died or refused to/were unable to return and the stories were reworked or the actors replaced. I feel like something went wrong here. The moment he realized that Sid Haig would be unable to return, Rob Zombie should have set the whole thing aside and done a total rewrite. Right now, the knowledge of what was going on with Sid Haig behind the scenes makes the movie’s shortcomings go from “poor writing and storytelling decisions” to “genuinely extremely sad.”

One of the things I totally love about the writing of Devil’s Rejects is the way Rob Zombie inserts seemingly random moments that do nothing but add to the overall atmosphere and tone of his world. Random arguments, random character quirks, random shots of random things that simultaneously add a gritty “anything goes” realism as well as a surreal absurd humor. I’m also ALL for disjointed, nonlinear, or otherwise experimental and strange plots with a lot going on in them, I don’t think a big genre shift halfway through a movie is inherently bad. In the past, it’s been Rob Zombie’s fearlessness with experimenting with strange, often shameless storytelling decisions that have made his films so memorable and enjoyable and even inspiring to me. But in Three From Hell, there’s just a sense that everything feels kind of... disconnected and unfinished. It feels like two different movies were trying to be made and neither were fully developed. It just ends up sort of feeling like a kind of sad mess.

[moonlightmadnessreviews]

Rob Zombie’s 3 From Hell, or The Fear of Spoiling a Good Thing

It’s high noon and we watch as the sun shines down harshly on a dusty blue Cadillac. The camera flys over the long hood, the topless car giving us a good view inside the car. We look down on a bloody, dirt covered family as Free Bird by Lynyrd Skynyrd begins to play over shots of home videos, the family appearing happy and worry free. The scene pulls at your heart string as we see the car drive down the road towards a police blockade. You root for them as they load up shot guns and six shooters, and your heart breaks as you see them riddled with bullets. The movie ends, the room is black, and when the lights come on you remember this family was responsible for the death of multiple people in a hotel room and they’d been hunted for most of the movie by a sheriff driven mad after they murdered his brother!

This is the climax of Rob Zombie’s The Devil’s Rejects, released on this date in 2005. It is a ripe cherry atop the “Tutti Fuckin’ Fruity” masterpiece Zombie helmed as the follow-up to his first full length film, House of 1,000 Corpses (2003). When it was announced there would be a follow up this year, I didn’t understand where the story of the Firefly Family could even go from here. I felt the ending I’d watched time and time again, the one I’d discussed with friends countless times, one I’ve praised and screamed about to anyone who’d listen was going to be torn apart. In some ways, 3 From Hell will ruin that ending and rather than greeting their return with fanfare, I’ve been driving myself mad trying to deal with the sudden and shocking retcon to the end of the Firefly Family. But would Zombie allow this installment to slap fans of the original films in the face?

We’ve seen this happen time and time again: A studio or film maker goes into a movie for the wrong reasons and what they serve up the fans is not only disappointing but a complete mess of half finished ideas, studio interference and often times it’s even insulting. The most recent examples I can think of are The Cloverfield Padadox and Jeepers Creepers 3. I was excited for the former, following the recurring ARG for a few weeks before it’s Netflix release (the original ARG and movie hold a special place in my spooky little heart) and, though I’ve come to appreciate it as much as I can for what it is, it was a disappointment for most of the fandom. The latter was shrouded in controversy, much of it stemming from director Victor Salva’s disgusting past, and was a sorry excuse for an installment. The movie stomped along directionless, wedging itself in an awkward spot in the timeline, and answering NONE of the questions it promised to address.

As a series thus far, the story of the Firefly Family couldn’t be more different from one installment to another. Much like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, one film is a flashy neon light show with characters who buzz just as bright, and the other is a dusty Western of sorts, dark and unforgiving yet beautifully shot. Sid Haig, Sheri Moon Zombie and Bill Moseley will return as Captain Spaulding, Baby and Otis Firefly respectively. The movie seems to answer the question of their resurrection by saying “Well, we never actually saw them die.” It’s the simplest of retcons, and helps to give them an air of supernatural force, one that was somewhat hinted at in House of 1,000 Corpses by their involvement with Dr. Satan. A jailbreak plays out and it looks like we’ll be following Spaulding, Baby and Otis as they get help from fans and other “family members”, much in the way Ken Foree (as Charlie Altamont) played a part in their ill fated escape in The Devil’s Rejects.

Since 3 From Hell was announced, I’ve been nervous to get my hopes up at all. I’ll admit, the first time I watched House of 1,000 Corpses, it flew clear over my head. I knew I loved how wacky it was, but it was like looking through a kaleidoscope of gore and characters who were larger than life. With a few more watches, and more appreciation for the grind-house type films Zombie was paying tribute to, it became a favorite of mine. The Devil’s Rejects floored me in the way it made such a shift in style, yet managed to retain its brutality. Zombie pulled his characters out of the funhouse and into the light and somehow managed to make them even more terrifying. How could he possibly improve upon what is already such an iconic series?

Much of my fear comes from my feelings towards Rob Zombie’s last outing, 31. I felt the film lacked much of what made his previous efforts click for me. The outlandish characters, brash dialogue and violence was all there, but with the exception of Doom-Head (Richard Brake), there was really nothing that made me want to rewatch it. It almost felt like the film was trying too hard to be a Rob Zombie film. In fact, I’d jokingly commented to my wife that maybe I’d outgrown Rob Zombie’s style of film making. This along with my aversion to what this new movie means for the end of the story painted in The Devil’s Rejects has made it a somewhat sour lead up.

At the end of he day, the only way I was able to calm my nerves was by reminding myself who I was talking about. This is Rob Fuckin’ Zombie! The man has garnered both praise and ridicule for his films (Halloween vs H2) and he’s faced them both with the same punk, Could Care Less attitude. This is not a director that a studio can dig their claws into in hopes of making a film THEY want to see. Zombie is going to make the film he wants to make, he’s is going to be unapologetic in his sincerity and the film will be completely genuine to who he is as a film maker. The Firefly Family are classic characters from the mind of a madman and I’m confident that his passion for them will result in one of his best films to date. 3 From Hell hits theaters September 16th through the 18th, and I cant wait to stare down this next installment with the same bravado as the Firefly Family had when driving headfirst into a hail of gunfire!

[tlbodine]

A Decade of Horror Recommendations: Millennium Edition

After my 2010s horror recs post, @comicreliefmorlock asked me to do some for older films. So I figured I’d just work my way backward. 

The lists might get a bit shorter and less diverse as I go back in time as I’m not as well-versed in older horror films, but I’ll toss out some recommendations for what I’ve seen and maybe some will be new to you anyway :)

Long post under the cut! 

2000: A Surprisingly Good Year for Horror 

Maybe we don’t think of the Y2K year as a big one for the horror genre, but it was still riding the tail end of the slasher/teen horror revival. Some must-sees:

Final Destination: I’ve written pretty extensively about this movie and it’s no surprise that I like it a lot, even if the sequels get downright ridiculous. The original still stands on its own feet. 

Ginger Snaps: Maybe one of the best werewolf movies, period. Smart writing and a strong female cast as an added bonus. 

American Psycho: Did you know this came out in 2000? I honestly always thought it was older, somehow, maybe because by the time I watched it in college it seemed like everyone had seen it. Fun fact: did you know it was directed by a woman? 

What Lies Beneath: Part psychological horror, part drama-thriller, and sporting a surprisingly A-list cast. It has some well-worn tropes, but it’s a solid watch. 

Battle Royale: Speaking of movies that seem like they’re way older than they are, did you know Battle Royale only came out in the year 2000? 

There were a smattering of Asian imports in 2000 but none of them quite got their feet under them. I will make a shout-out/honorable mention here for Blood: The Last Vampire, an anime film that’s pretty well-known and gets referenced a lot. 

2001: The Beginning of the End (for a little while)

Some solid stand-alone titles came out this year, but it also was the start of when the 90s revival started to dwindle down, I feel, with plenty of disappointments to go around. Scary Movie didn’t help much (and it also launched a whole trend of really awful spoof movies, which tried real hard to kill the comedy genre for a long time, imo). Anyway, some recs! 

Jeepers Creepers: The director is an unfortunate sack of shit, but the movie is quite good. The first part, which draws heavily from a true story, is especially chilling. 

Thirteen Ghosts: An underrated gem. The plot twists too much for my liking, but the ghost designs are super cool and the whole concept of the house is neat. A+ for originality. 

The Devil’s Backbone: Maybe my favorite Guillermo Del Toro film, and a damn good ghost story to boot. 

Suicide Club: A Japanese import that feels a bit ahead of its time in terms of pop culture (and internet culture especially). Features a couple of squick-heavy scenes I still struggle to watch (but, like, in a good way). 

Ichi the Killer: Another Japanese import and my introduction to Takashi Miike, who makes me more viscerally uncomfortable than just about anyone. 

It’s also probably worth mentioning From Hell, the Johnny Depp movie about Jack the Ripper, which many people enjoyed. I personally strongly dislike the film for reasons I can’t fully explain. 

2002: Wait, That’s When That Movie Came Out? 

I feel like 2002 was a big year for me in the “movies I enjoy but didn’t watch until years later” department, probably because I was a teenager with minimal access to decent cinema. It was also a rocking good year for Japanese horror. 

28 Days Later: A movie that brought about the return of zombies in a big way, and also introduced (or at least popularized) fast zombies. Also it’s super scary. 

May: I don’t even know if May counts as horror, but it’s a dark, quirky movie that I try to make everyone watch because I love it so much. 

Ghost Ship: Honestly the bulk of the movie is pretty forgettable, but the opening scene is one of my favorite moments in gory cinematic history. 

Signs: M. Night Shyamalan’s last decent movie or his first shitty one, depending on who you ask. I liked it a lot when I first watched it, and it started to fall apart more and more as I got older. 

Ju-On: The Grudge: One of the better-known Japanese horrors and one whose tropes still get referenced and re-used. Skip the 2004 remake and watch the original trilogy. 

The Ring: Probably the best-known Japanese horrors and maybe the import that put “Japanese horror” into public consciousness. 

There was a lot of shlocky dreck in 2002, some of it decent (Cabin Fever) and some of it downright awful (Pinata: Survival Island/Demon Island). I should also mention Red Dragon, based on Thomas Harris’s novel of the same name, which quite a few people liked (I’ve only seen it once but I recall being underwhelmed). Also an honorable mention to Dog Soldiers, which I have not seen but which I hear frequently recommended as an A+ werewolf film. 

2003: Wow that’s a lot of dreck 

Look fam nobody said these film recs would be objective. There were a ton of horror movies that came out in 2003, I just didn’t really like hardly any of them. Some exceptions: 

Willard: The movie that made me want to start keeping rats as pets, which says more about me than it does the film. It’s a great movie, though, the first thing I ever saw Crispin Glover in (and god, he’s amazing), and one of the few films that I think is better than the book. 

Identity: A pretty decent psychological horror starring John Cusack. Watch this and 1408 together as a double-feature for maximum fun factor. 

House of 1000 Corpses: Look, if you’re reading this blog, you probably already have an opinion one way or another of Rob Zombie. The movie’s on the list because it’s arguably historically important, not because it’s objectively good. 

A few other notable moments from 2003 included a Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake (just watch the original, but if you insist on a remake, this is one of the better ones), the second Final Destination film (the last good one in the franchise), the Jeepers Creepers sequel, Freddy vs Jason, Darkness Falls, and Dreamcatcher. Like I said, there were lots of movies that came out this year, I just don’t think they were very good. 

2004: Oops we created torture porn 

I was in college at this point, which meant I was watching less horror than at any other moment in my life (I had a roommate who really hated scary movies) so maybe that’s why I haven’t heard of the majority of movies that came out that year. Or maybe they were all just really bad, hence why I still haven’t seen them. Hmmm. But! A few shining stars: 

Saw: Obviously a classic. I’m lukewarm about the franchise, but the original is an excellent film and well worth watching, especially given the impact it would have on the next many years of horror cinema. 

Shaun of the Dead: Hilarious, and honestly one of my favorite zombie films of all time. 

Dumplings: A Korean important you likely missed in 2004 but may have seen in a Three Extremes compilation. Well worth the watch if you’re not squeamish. 

Otherwise 2004 was pretty lackluster. Some forgettable franchise installments, some shlocky creature features, some unnecessary remakes. Lots of titles I’m unfamiliar with, though, too, so somebody tell me if I missed a big one that year! 

2005: Ehhhh

Just a couple important titles this year too: 

Hostel: Not a great movie. In fact, pretty damn campy. But an important one to watch to understand the torture porn genre. 

The Devil’s Rejects: See above re: House of 1000 Corpses. Hit or miss but a well-liked film by Rob Zombie fans. 

And  you know what, I think that’s actually it. I mean there were other movies -- a remake of The Fog,  the infinitely predictable Hide and Seek, the second Saw installment, and of course Doom. But it just wasn’t a great year for horror, imo. One shout-out here though for Wolf Creek, which is on my to-watch list; I haven’t seen it so I can’t vouch for it, but it does get recommended to me a lot. 

2006: Mostly more of the same 

Did we seriously have a Saw movie every year in the 2000s or what? No wonder everybody got sick of them and thought all horror was torture porn for a while. Talk about market saturation. 

Anyway, some shout-outs: 

Stay Alive: This movie is ridiculous, but I love it a lot. It’s about a video game that kills you in real life, and is a more successful video game movie than most actual adaptations. 

ReCycle: An Asian import. I missed this one entirely when it came out, but it’s one of my favorites to have discovered in later years. It’s a seriously cool movie, both fanciful and deeply uncomfortable. Content warning for abortion, but it’s not what you think. 

Otherwise, just some mostly soulless remakes (The Omen, The Hills Have Eyes, The Wicker Man), some franchise installments (Saw III, Final Destination 3, The Grudge 2). I will give an honorable mention to Black Sheep, which is so-bad-it’s-good ridiculous, and to that cult favorite Slither. 

2007: Wait, is horror getting good again?

Well, not quite, but we’re back on the map with some promising additions in a year where the genre seemed to be struggling to rediscover its identity: 

The Mist: One of the better Stephen King adaptations. 

30 Days of Night: A divisive entry in the canon, but a pretty interesting piece to study for anyone interested in vampires. 

28 Weeks Later: Not exactly a direct sequel to the earlier 28 Days Later, and probably not as good of a film, but pretty good in its own right. 

1408: Watch this one with Identity (see above) and enjoy a night of John Cusack going crazy in hotel rooms. 

The Orphanage: One of my favorite horror films of all time, both deeply unsettling and agonizingly sad. 

Paranormal Activity: The highest-grossing film of all time thanks to its low budget. Also what we can blame for the burst of popularity in the “found footage” style. 

Dead Silence: A movie that still frequently gets recommended and delivers some solid spooks. I’m not as fond of it as a lot of people, but it deserves a mention for how often it gets referenced (and for playing “killer ventriloquist dummies” straight as a trope). 

Trick r Treat: A Halloween classic. 

Of course the year brought us another Saw and another Hostel, a contentious Halloween reboot, another stab at I Am Legend (often adapted, rarely well), and a smattering of other sequels. I have not seen The Girl Next Door but based on how rarely I hear it recommended compared to the book, I imagine I’m not missing much. Borderlands was OK but, for my money, forgettable. Oh, there was also Grindhouse, a double feature which I quite enjoyed (I saw it in theaters, where it came with a warning for length, which I found amusing) but which history does not seem to have remembered positively. 

2008: Did Somebody Order a Recession? 

Back to slim pickings, although I admittedly have not seen most of the films released that year (I was pretty damn broke in 2008, so maybe that’s why). Still: 

Let the Right One In: Skip the later English remake, you cowards, and watch this with subtitles. It’s so good. SO GOOD. An unexpected twist on the vampire story, and kind of a romance to boot. Sort of. In a really messed up way. 

Cloverfield: A couple things are neat about Cloverfield. One, it was an early adopter and trope-setter for found-footage movies. Two, it successfully spawned a franchise where none of the movies feel related at all. Three, it launched with some really cool viral marketing that was utterly ahead of its time. On the downside, the shaky cam may in fact make you vomit if you get seasick easily. 

Repo! The Genetic Opera: A classic. Also may in fact be the only film of its kind, or at least the only rock-opera scifi-horror that comes to mind. 

I haven’t seen Pontypool, though it’s on my watch-list -- I’ve heard it’s quite good. Ditto Tokyo Gore Police which delivers, to my understanding, exactly what it says on the tin. Speaking of movies I didn’t see, can we take a moment to appreciate that a film called “Sauna” with the tagline “cleanse your sins” came out this year? Jfk 2008, are you OK? 

2009: Why are all the best horrors comedies this year 

It really does become obvious just how much the genre was floundering to figure out what it was doing the latter half of the decade, because the movies are so weirdly hit-or-miss. I do have some favorite hidden gems, though, alongside a couple well-known recs: 

Zombieland: A genuinely funny feel-good zombie comedy-horror, feeding right into a growing cultural fascination with zombies. 

Jennifer’s Body: Is this a comedy? Is this a horror? What is this? I’m not sure how to classify it but I sure do like it. 

Antichrist: Ok I don’t know if this is a recommendation per se, but if I had to watch this with my own eyes, I’m making y’all watch it too. Have you ever wondered what it might look like to watch a filmmaker have a psychotic break while making a movie? That’s almost literally what this film is. 

The Human Centipede: This is a cop-out because I have not watched these movies and I in fact refuse to watch these movies because the premise is fucking stupid, but I will acknowledge the historical, ah, importance? of this film in the greater scheme of 21st century horror. 

Dread: One of my favorite movies, and the film I recommend to anyone who wants to watch a torture film done right. I love the shit out of this movie. Please go watch this movie. 

Grace: Deeply disturbing and pulling approximately zero punches. It’s one of the best films to tread the “horrors of motherhood” territory, which is saying something because that’s very fertile (ha, ha) ground. 

I actually have not seen Drag Me to Hell or The Last House on the Left, although people have recommended both to me. Anyone want to chime in with how good they might be? I also want to make a shout-out to Daybreakers, which I feel like nobody ever talks about but which actually has one of the most fascinating vampire concepts I’ve ever seen on film. The movie itself is kind of boring and forgettable, but the idea is really neat. 

And that wraps up my journey through the 2000s in horror. Next decade: The 90s, coming right up! 

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Every artist has a vision and concept that they go through when they write or direct a film, Rob Zombie is absolutely no exception to that rule. His films are gritty, disturbing, with dark humor and dark atmospheric visuals. Hes had a large selection of movies he has written, directed and produced in the past few years. So here is my list of Rob Zombie films from the best to, the least popular. I may miss a couple but these are my favorites from best to worst.

House of a 1000 Corpses-2003-   

Rob Zombies first feature film that caused so much debate as well a unbridled excitement for Rob Zombie fans and horror fans. This film in my opinon has a superior genius to it, it has the atmospheric touch of a 90s grind film with just enough modern day representation.

We are introduced to so many amusing characters such as Captain Spaulding (Sid Haig) Otis Driftwood (Bill Mosely) Baby (Sheri Moon) and so many other characters. With some amazing cameos from other actors and actresses as well. I truly enjoyed this film and I still watch it alot. With amazing one liners and torture scenes with gruesome brutality it is honestly my favorite film. Not to mention the funny little lessons that come along with the film. Dont mess with things you know nothing about, and NEVER pick up hitch hikers that are bat bomb crazy.

2. Devils Rejects- 2005-

In this sequel to House of a 1000 Corpses we get a different kind of atmosphere. Same characters just a little older and less 80s atmosphere and more granular. Repraising the original cast with Bill Mosely in his brilliant role of Otis Driftwood and Sheri Moon Zombie (she ended marrying Rob Zombie hence the last name change) and Sid Haig; you get a more mature, less pragmatic sequel to House of 1000 Corpses.

Finally busted for their horrific deeds the Firefly end fleeing and end up being on the road hunted by authorities including Sherrif Wydells’ brother who has a insane taste for vile revenge due to his brothers demise. With still some dark humor and psychopathic tendencies the group end up in a motel and take a small christian band hostage. Bill Mosely as his role of Otis Driftwood is one of my favorite characters in this film. Nothing can beat his one liner

This film holds so much general appeal to me. The visual is fantastic and the ending scene is magnificent and well done. After everything they have all been through together and the climax of the film I found myself feeling bad for the insane family. Just like every other fan out there, I am truly looking forward to Three From Hell.

3. Halloween-  2007

Many people in the horror community have a love hate relationship with this film. Unlike the original film it gives me what I personally always wanted to know. Why is Micheal the way he is, what happened to make him this way? For someone like me it was great to see a new fresh take on it and watch the whole cascade of events that eventually led to Micheal Myers’s killing spree. You get to see the transformation from child that cant remember what he did, to a quiet discerning, tortured child and then finally to a adult. There is so much more inbetween but that would be a spoiler. With Scout Taylore Compton as Laurie Strode we get a very interesting cameo from Brad Douriff as well as Danielle Harris (Who played Jaimy in the original film) and the eccentric Malcolm McDowell. It is safe to say that it really is a hit and miss with some people but everyone has their own vision of the movie.

4. 31- 2016

31, what is there to say about a film that is basically just a slaughter fest? ITS GREAT! Although slightly weird and strange it is quite amusing. Once again you get Sheri Moon Zombie, Jeff Daniel Philips and my ultimate favorite Richard Brake as the mean, insane, vile Doom Head. The whole entire premise is about a group of travelers who end up getting trapped in a literal game of cat and mouse with a tyrant of murders and psychos. All of it is amusing and its effects as usual are amazing.

Richard Brake as Doom Head and honestly hes the absolute best killer I have come across in a movie.

31 is a enjoyable amusing movie and it is absolutely worth the watch.

5. Halloween 2- 2009-

Not to many people enjoyed this film but I must be one of those odd ones out because even though people found it ridiculous I found it brilliant. It delves into the mental status of both characters Laurie Strode and Micheal Myers, two tortured souls. People didn’t like alot of the aspects in the film and hated the white horse. They just didn’t get it. But the very fact that it has so many psychological aspects is why I respect this film. It goes into the mental torture that Laurie (Scout Taylor Compton) goes through daily and the repercussions that its had on her friends. I understand its a often times a tedious film, especially if your set in your ways about the old one. But I couldn’t help but be fascinated by the white horse concept. It is a agree to disagree film.

halloween_2_rob_zombie_michael_myers_scout_taylor-compton_01

  6. Lords of Salem- 

Lords of Salem is my least liked Rob Zombie film. It isn’t terrible but it is not something that appealed too me. I did love the visual aspect and the cinematography was excellently executed. That and i truly enjoyed seeing Patricia Quinn on film again (She is Magenta from The Rocky Horror Picture Show), I do agree that it isn’t great it is confusing and you have to watch it many times to grasp the actual story and concept and it is filled with comparisons and hidden aspects behind darker visual aspects.

HONORABLE MENTION – Three From Hell 

The new Rob Zombie film is set to hit theaters in 2019 and I know this is something that I am so excited to see. In their twisted roles Bill Mosely, Sheri Moon Zombie, and Sid Haig repraise Otis Driftwood, Baby/ Vera Ellen, and Captain Spaulding/ Cutter/ Johnny Lee Johns. What is going to happen in this film is going to monumental to the recurring story line. How can we not be excited for this film?

That concludes my list of how I rate The Rob Zombie films. From best to worst no matter what we will always be in love with his films in some form or another.

  Disturbing,Amusing, Fantastic a list of Rob Zombies Films from best to worst. Every artist has a vision and concept that they go through when they write or direct a film, Rob Zombie is absolutely no exception to that rule.

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hey ì know someone asked a rec list for non slasher horrors (which i can't find anymore help??) but i also wanted to ask for a rec list of slasher movies? mostly cuz i don't wanna scroll down your blog everytime i wanna watch a movie and want recs, i'd like a list that i can save somewhere and look at if you don't mind

hello you should be able to find the ask you're talking abt in my ask tag ?!?!? i just made sure i didn't forget to tag it or that it didn't disappear and it is there so. ye just check the ask tag it's in there :^)

i imagine that. if you're asking this. you're not bothered by like gore and shit but still u might wanna be careful w some of these ... just in case ..... always good to check up yk .... u can always shoot me another ask if you don't wanna google the movy lest you get spoilered but ye. just saying

also i'll be doing this 1. assuming that you have never seen a slasher movy ever so sorry if i rec some classics u might have seen and 2. the order is done Vaguely according to which slasher as a character i like more. so u might get something in the top 5 that has a cool character but is a shite movy. doubt it'll happen but i am warning you <3 also ideally i am putting EVERYTHING i have watched so far in this list so BUCKLE UP

texas chainsaw massacre my fucking beloved the mother of slasher movies everything to me bubba leatherface sawyer my fucking BABY coolest character ever if u think abt him for a second. i beg you to not take the movies Or the character at face value even tho it is fine and fun and valid to do that. you don't have to watch the whole franchise bc some of them. are absolute shit. but the first two are a MUST and the two-parts reboot from the 2000s is fine too

black christmas 1974 i do suggest you skip the other two but if you Really want more of it there's a real cool novelization on the internet that i ate up in one sitting. billy's the coolest character bc he's by nature unknowable but if you listen to him & pick up on the implications you actually know virtually anything there is to know abt him and he's interesting as hell. also maybe one of the two or three movies that kinda disturbed me bc some phonecalls just make my stomach turn <3

nightmare on elm street BOOOO FREDDY KRUEGER STINKIEST GUY IN THE WORLD I ADORE HIM SOOOOOO MUCH FUUUUCK REVOLUTIONARY ICONIC FRANCHISE. I LOVE A SUPERNATURAL ELEMENT IN A SLASHER. GOT MY SECOND FAVORITE FINAL GIRL. I CANNOT SAY ENOUGH WORDS ABT HOW GOOD THE MOVIES ARE BUT FREDDY'S ALSO SUCH AN ICONIC SHOW STEALING CHARACTER OBVIOUSLY like he is the worst he's the fuckin. my god. he's. what can you even SAY ABT HIM HE'S THE BEST!!!! you know what i mean he just is unparalleled. fuckin great concept fuckin funniest bitch on the block WHILE SCARY AS HELL like he has got everything and i love him

we're getting close to february so my heart is telling me to put my bloody valentine high on the list. the canadians always put something special in their slashers idk. it might feel slow and unassuming but i actually love it and i love how much it focuses on the characters. i beg you try to find the longer version that didn't cut out the kills bc it's got some of the most fun kills i've seen. there's a bit of a mystery.. a bit of a twist... that i love so much.... and harry warden is like the ONE bitch who has never done anything wrong i support him forever working class ICON HARRY WARDEN I LOVE YOU!!!!!

the firefly trilogy and by this i mean house of 1000 corpses and the devil's rejects you Can ignore three from hell. i know technically rejects is the superior movy but there is nothing to me that compares to the bullshit and fuckery of corpses. it feels like what i imagine an acid trip is like and it's the perfect effect. it was supposed to be a haunted house attraction on some amusement park and it RETAINS that energy of just walking in fucked up room after fucked up room. yea it's just. the best to me. and it's got the BALLS to treat the slashers as the main characters and i LOVE them so MUCH the firefly family is EVERYTHING TO ME you might be fooled into thinking otis is the main guy but i'm only kept alive by the infinite love i hold in my heart for baby firefly my beloved

carrie NOT QUITE A SLASHER I KNOW BUT SHE DID KILL LIKE. 70 PEOPLE OR SOMETHING SO I WOULD ARGUE SHE DESERVES A SPOT?? obviously ICONIC MOVIE ICONIC CHARACTER THERE IS NOTHING I NEED TO SAY ABT IT. we support her rights and her wrongs IF there were any wrongs. she's my beloved she's a great character and we've all been there innit. no one needs me to elaborate on why carrie's cool she just is. she's got magic powers. she's got mommy issues and religious trauma. period will unlock something otherworldly and evil inside of you. everyone loves a good sympathetic ""villain"" which i hesitate to call her. carrie's just the best thing

friday the 13th had to be up high innit. if the chainsaw is the mother the friday is the poster child i truly think nothing else embodies slasher as a genre more than ft13th. it sucks so bad. it was so cheap for so long even tho it was instantly iconic. it LOOKS cheap and iconic. i love pam i love jason i love violence motivated by love and revenge i have no notes it's just thee perfect slasher franchise not the best not my favorite but the quintessence of the genre

the boy 2016 it's BARELY a slasher i just include it as a treat and uhh. actually i can't say anything else bc i risk spoiling it but. brahms' cool. pls watch the movie without looking up anything. and if you've seen me post abt it already and i already spoiled it for you i am so sorry

behind the mask: the rise of leslie vernon everyone should watch behind the mask it deserves the world it deserves a sequel i love it so much leslie is one of the most fun slashers ever if only bc w the nature of the movie you get to know him so well and he's so fun and likeable and charming but when he gets into it he's pretty convincing. it's insane. he's great and the movie's so fun and original i cannot recommend it enough

creep is insaaaane insane insane insane once again barely a slasher but it's one of the most. movies of all time. an Experience. especially the first one. in some ways the slasher here is kinda like billy in that he's unknowable but you love him anyway. it's creative and original and reminds me of behind the mask and it's just honestly Honestly one of my favorites and i love this fuckin guy too

candyman god god god god. in the same vein of nightmare i love a slasher w some supernatural fuckery goin on. also congrats on being one of the very few franchises that got a sequel late in the 2010s that was GREAT. the other sequels aren't bad either tbh they just get weird but they're all a good watch. and the character mr candyman himself he's the beeeest he's in the never did anything wrong category he hashtag saves the bees he's charming and romantic he's got magic powers he's the most stunning man in the history of horror movies easily everything abt candyman's great and he's a great character w a slapping origin story

uhhh scream. sure. you know how uhhh i don't know if it's a spoiler but. the nature of ghostface. makes it hard to care abt him as a character. ifyky. so. i can't put it any higher if i'm ranking based on character. but obviously syd's the focus and she's great and the movies are worth watching forever and always they're wonderful and i think they're holding up well even w the recent sequels

martin 1977 this movy. not Quite a slasher but close enough. the movie's been described as a long character study so you can imagine the main character's enjoyable and you spend a lot of time w him and you get to know him but at the same time you're not really sure you understand what's going on??? he's just a little guy. he's just a scared lonely little vampire guy. i love him and the movie's so underrated it makes me boil w rage

slumber party massacre. don't judge the franchise based on the first movy bc while that's just Fine on its own shit really picks up from the second one. you will never see something like spm2 in your life and you will never find a slasher guy more fun or more iconic or more cunty than the driller killer the love of my fuckin life he's got EASILY the coolest weapon out of ANY of these guys YES. BEATS FREDDY'S GLOVE TOO. and he SINGS AND PUTS HIS WHOLE PUSSY INTO THE PERFORMANCE I JUST CAN'T EVEN PUT INTO WORDS HOW INSANE THIS MOVIE IS

prom night. oh my god. Similarly to slumber party massacre. the first movie's fine if not a bit forgettable. but the second one is what really Matters. prom night 2 has been perfectly described as a mix of nightmare and carrie and it just slaps so so hard. mary lou is incredibly fun and i think she deserved to do everything she did i support her rights and most importantly her wrongs

sleepaway camp it's insane how much i love sleepaway camp but it's one of those movies that you might uh. wanna be careful with? the twist ending to the first movie is kinda infamous and idk some might be a bit. upset by it. feel free to ask for details but. ye i think all four movies are great even tho 2&3 kinda go off the trail and 4 has Nothing to do w them. i love. both versions of The Slasher who i won't name to avoid spoiling it but i love love love love this slasher so so much once again i support the rights And wrongs (which do not exist) of this slasher and it's got some of the most Fun kills you'll ever see w STELLAR bad special effects which are the love of my life

silent night deadly night SLAAAAY this movie's fucked up. it's so brave. look up some cws the inciting incident might be upsetting. it's the second christmas slasher w a killer named billy. this billy has (sing along if you know it) Done Nothing Wrong! he's my little baby have you seen him little face!! he's doing his best! he's my poor little meow meow! he does some super fun kills! i only watched the first two so far and the second's kinda shitty and the others seem to be Weird (derogatory) and i'm not sure abt the 2000s remake i'll update you when i get there but the first one's a fun time

house of wax 2005 boyfriend type of movie i love when the bad guy is a Family i wish we got another movy abt those guys or smth it's a. a fun movie. it's very 2000s. helena's in the end credits. sam supernatural is there. it's one of those movies you can't say too much abt without spoiling who the slashers are even tho it's not good enough to make it worth keeping the secretsbfjakfk JK but i Love them and how they operate <3 real creative artistic activity going on in there! slay!

freaky 2020. instant fave instant classic a very successful recent slasher that keeps the charm of vintage ones imo. i'm down bad for the butcher but i can't rank him higher om account of we don't actually see much Of him due to. the whole Thing abt the movie. the main plot point. he seems like he's a pretty standard slasher big quiet scary dude type so whatever. points for being middle aged and kinda hot

the collector. ummm. really interesting movies. more of a home invasion (first one at least) but it's gorey enough. i like it a lot. the slasher guy is the only one who Kinda scares me simply on account of his mask is absolutely fucked up i hate it i hate it gets under my skin but he's such a creecher i love him. his eyes shine for NO reason. he likes bugs. he's very creative and committed. my bestie

laid to rest Insane Fucking Movies What On Earth. What The Fuck. so bad. shitty ass movies. love them to death. would never watch them again. maybe i'm repetitive but i really mean it this time the kills in this movies???? easily my favorite thing abt them but also easily some of the best kills in this list tbh they're worth watching just for the kills. the slasher guy here is.. confusing... i don't understand him i don't know what's going on... but his mask is cool his name is cool he works on his brand and his Image and i can respect that. reblog to slap his bald head

halloween. yeah. fuck the halloween franchise all my homies don't care for it the movies AND most importantly the killer do next to nothing for me michael myers is thee embodiment of go girl give us nothing not even rob zombie could do anything for her i always love laurie and jamie more than any other thing that happens but like i guess you could watch it if u got nothing else to do lol. lmao. but whatever you do. skip the 6th one

i know what you did last summer OK LISTEN. I LOVE IT ACTUALLY. not the third one i don't know what that its but I LOVE THE FIRST TWO THEY ABSOLUTELY SLAY AND SERVE BUT NAME ONE. I SAY ONE (1) MORE IRRELEVANT AND FORGETTABLE SLASHER THAN THE FISHER GUY. they're a super fun watch that no one should miss out on but they really didn't do SHIT for the slasher guy

honorable mention for chucky the short king i'd place him like right next to freddy but unfort i haven't watched child's play yet on account of having seen so many of them growing up and remembering them well enough that i don't feel like i'm missing out by procrastinating. who does it like chucky. but even more importantly. who does it like tiffany the show stealer tiffany valentine

other honorable mention just bc she's so new to the gang but PEARL????? i THINK she should be added to everyone's slasher list. she's a queen an icon a legend i always need more slashers who are girls i love a good origin story she's got a fuckin pet gator she's so talented i love love love her so much SO MUCH

third honorable mention bc saw is not a slasher but it requires to be mentioned. cool franchise but i'd place it like right after halloween in a ranking based on main slasher bc IF we consider john jigsaw kramer A Slasher then he'd be low bc i fucking hate him so much. light yagami kinda bitch. who do you think you are. i don't hate him for The Crimes obviously i love the crimes! i respect the crimes! i HATE the. arrogance and entitlement of thinking You Know Better and you deserve to choose who deserves to live or die bc what? you had a bad time once? boohoo. suck my dick forever. amanda on the other hand? in this house we love amanda young more than anything else in the world

alright i'm done this is the end i think i have gathered together All the slashers i've ever watched or close. you're welcome i hope this is useful i hope it's like. at least fun to read since i went off the rails. it was fun to write ! so thank you for giving me the chance Lmao. lowkey blushing and kicking my feet thinking someone goes thru my blog just to pick a movie to watch twirls hair in fingers