What monster movie are you currently watching?

[JAGzilla]

I kicked off this year's October horrorthon with Son of Frankenstein (1939) and Cat People (1942), via the Blu-ray and HBO Max, respectively. First viewings of both.

SoF was decent. Not quite up there with its two predecessors, but a fun time. Bela Lugosi gave a good performance as Ygor, and the inspector had a lot of great lines. Wolf's examination of the Monster was interesting; I don't know if I like the idea of spelling out that Frankenstein created something beyond his own understanding and that the Monster has superpowers. It kind of cheapens him, really. It was kind of a cool scene all the same, though. I wish that long staircase they focused on so much would actually have featured in a Monster action scene.

Cat People was legitimately good. Very tragic and emotional, with sympathetic characters you actually get attached to. The acting and writing were a bit mixed, but great at times and overall plenty good enough to keep me invested. I loved the slow burn pace and less-is-more approach; they made the fear and tension of the stalking scenes all the more powerful and gripping once they finally came.

The tentative plan for the rest of the month:

The Zombies of Mora-Tau (1957)
Friday the 13th (1980)
Dark Water (2002)
The Witch (2015)

So a different type of monster/horror figure and a different decade for each movie.

[eabaker]

I kicked off this year's October horrorthon with Son of Frankenstein (1939) and Cat People (1942), via the Blu-ray and HBO Max, respectively. First viewings of both.

SoF was decent. Not quite up there with its two predecessors, but a fun time. Bela Lugosi gave a good performance as Ygor, and the inspector had a lot of great lines. Wolf's examination of the Monster was interesting; I don't know if I like the idea of spelling out that Frankenstein created something beyond his own understanding and that the Monster has superpowers. It kind of cheapens him, really. It was kind of a cool scene all the same, though. I wish that long staircase they focused on so much would actually have featured in a Monster action scene.

Cat People was legitimately good. Very tragic and emotional, with sympathetic characters you actually get attached to. The acting and writing were a bit mixed, but great at times and overall plenty good enough to keep me invested. I loved the slow burn pace and less-is-more approach; they made the fear and tension of the stalking scenes all the more powerful and gripping once they finally came.

Yeah, the importance of Cat People (and the other Lewton productions that followed) really can't be understated. At a time when Universal was dominating the horror market with fairly straight-forward monster films, Lewton's unit at RKO took the genre in a more literary, atmospheric, and challenging direction, and the influence of those films still resonates throughout the genre, these days most evidently in what is (smugly) referred to as "elevated horror." As magnificent as Cat People is, I think my favorites from the Lewton team are I Walked with a Zombie and The Seventh Victim.

I have a ton of affection for Son of Frankenstein, too (though, of course, I grew up with it, so there's an element of nostalgia there). No, it is certainly not as sophisticated or groundbreaking a work as the Whale films; but the stark, expressionistic production design has its own unique appeal, and it's wonderful to watch the ensemble of beloved horror/thriller actors play off of each other. Bela Lugosi gives arguably the best performance of his career, Lionel Atwill shines as Inspector Krogh, and Basil Rathbone is an over-the-top, scenery-chewing delight as Wolf.

[JAGzilla]

As magnificent as Cat People is, I think my favorites from the Lewton team are I Walked with a Zombie and The Seventh Victim.

Well, my interest in these two just got a lot higher, then. I wasn't even aware of The Seventh Victim, but looking it up, it sounds promising. Will definitely check both of them out.

[JAGzilla]

Friday the 13th (1980). Ehhh... not exactly a masterpiece. Bad dialogue, bad acting, cardboard characters, ineffective pacing, and an underwhelming killer. It's a decently fun, schlocky kind of bad, though. Kind of the next step up from a SyFy Original. It mostly held my attention, and had its moments of nice tension or spookiness. It looked good, too, very clear and colorful. The cameraman did a good job oppressively looming over people.

[eabaker]

Friday the 13th (1980). Ehhh... not exactly a masterpiece. Bad dialogue, bad acting, cardboard characters, ineffective pacing, and an underwhelming killer. It's a decently fun, schlocky kind of bad, though. Kind of the next step up from a SyFy Original. It mostly held my attention, and had its moments of nice tension or spookiness. It looked good, too, very clear and colorful. The cameraman did a good job oppressively looming over people.

I think the first F13 gets by on a kind of rough-hewn, almost vérité atmosphere. It lends the whole thing a sense of earnestness that the slasher genre has largely lacked since.

Part 2 is the stronger film in terms of pretty much all the aspects you describe, and while it's definitely slicker, it doesn't feel insincere.

Starting with Part 3, things start to feel more cynical and mechanical, though there's still a spirit of... good humor about the third movie, which goes out the window with the more polished and more cruel fourth and (especially) fifth entries. It's notable that 4 is the first time that none of the main storytellers involved had been associated with the original production.

I just re-watched Part II the other night, by the way. It's easily my favorite in the series, and I love the little acknowledgments they give to the influence of Mario Bava's A Bay of Blood on the F13 template.

[JAGzilla]

Good to know Part II is an improvement. I was hoping Jason had at least one decent movie to justify his popularity.

[edgaguirus]

I watched 5 Million Years to Earth. This one starts off slow, but the film really takes off once the insect men are found. It's an interesting alien threat in that it's not an actual alien causing the chaos, but a psychic force. The climax is probably the most chilling of the Quatermass trilogy.

[JAGzilla]

The original Child's Play. I don't know what I expected, but it surprised me. Really fantastic. It has a completely goofy premise and knows that, but plays it straight and works shockingly well. Chucky is portrayed amazingly, both in terms of effects and Brad Dourif's lunatic screaming and babbling. The characters are solid and you want to see them pull through. The music, camera work, and other technical aspects all clicked for me. The old apartment building was a cool setting; I love that vintage elevator, and the loop of connected rooms with two doors to cover made for a great final showdown sequence. Just a top notch movie all around.

[Tyrant_Lizard_King]

Just started watching the original The Mummy for the first time. Outside Creature I haven't seen a single Universal monster movie. With Halloween tomorrow and the originals streaming in 4K I figured today was as good a time as any to start.

[Tyrant_Lizard_King]

It was alright. Karloff was great of course but it was kinda slow and honestly it really didn't seem like all that much happened. Karloff is the primary reason to recommend it.

[H-Man]

Did an October Horror Movie Marathon called "31 Days, 31 Years of Horror (starting in '31)"--I missed a few days, but in general did a good job.

Murder by the Clock (1931)
Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932)
The Vampire Bat (1933)
The Ninth Guest (1934)
The Werewolf of London (1935)
The Rogues Tavern (1936)
Sh! The Octopus (1937)
Chamber of Horrors (1940)
The Wolfman (1941)
The Cat People (1942)
Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman (1943)
The Mummy's Ghost (1944)
The Mummy's Curse (1944)
Fog Island (1945)
The Spiral Staircase (1946)
Scared to Death (1947)
The Creeper (1948)
Destination Moon (1950)
Son of Dr. Jekyll (1951)
The Black Castle (1952)
The Maze (1953)
Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)
The Creeping Unknown (1955)
Curuçu, Beast of the Amazon (1956)
Daughter of Dr. Jekyll (1957)
The Snorkel (1958)
House on Haunted Hill (1958)
Monster of Piedras Blancas (1959)
Black Sunday (1960)
The Innocents (1961)

Plus, extra credit: The Wolfman (2010) and Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022)

[edgaguirus]

I love House on Haunted Hill. One of Vincent Price's best roles.

I saw another ghost story called 13 Ghost. The visual effects were the highlight of the film, but the film itself was alright. At moments the movie was almost comical, but there were enough chill and fright elements to keep it interesting.

[Tyrant_Lizard_King]

Both are William Castle films. 13 Ghosts is a bit more of a comedy and seems a bit more geared towards younger audiences than many of his films. Fun fact that was the Wicked Witch of the West as the housekeeper.

[Gojira 41mk11]

I’ve just finished the Sharktopus trilogy and it’s worse than I ever imagined.

[Tyrant_Lizard_King]

Finally watched NOPE yesterday. It was good, I definitely liked it, but it's not something I really feel inclined to ever watch again. An interesting take on the UFO concept if nothing else.

[edgaguirus]

I saw an odd take on Jekyll and Hyde called Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde. The actress playing Ms. Hyde had enough of a resemblance to Jekyll to make it convincing, and I loved how they incorporated the characters of Burke and Hare as well as an alternate theory for Jack the Ripper. It was an entertaining variation on the tale.

[Gojira 41mk11]

Finally got around to continuing my SyFy original binge with Dinoshark. It’s bad. The most stand out part to me was when someone called the monster a Pliosaur. I’m by no means an expert of Plesiosaurs, but I know enough to know there is nothing remotely Pliosaur about that creature. Literally nothing. Everything else was boring. I’d rank it slightly below the first Sharktopus.

[edgaguirus]

I saw an episode of MST3K that showed a bad action sci fi flick called Future War. It is partly a monster film as the cyborgs use dinosaurs to hunt people, and they pose the majority of the danger to the characters. The dinosaur effects are on the same level as Carnosaur. It's a forgettable movie.

[Tyrant_Lizard_King]

Jean Claude Van Damnit

[Angilasman]

The Furture War star, Daniel Bernhardt, has built up quite a reputation as a stuntman/trainer/all-around action guy in movies. He's an Agent in the Matrix films and he trained Bob Odenkirk for that movie Nobody.