What movie did you watch today?

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Comedy Quaddafi
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Post by Comedy Quaddafi »

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Drive Angry (2011) - To me it feels like they went for the same sort of atmosphere a lot of 80's action has and that's cool. It's pretty funny and there's enough inventive ideas and scenes to keep you entertained. It's a bit longer than it needs to be and Amber Heard is a fairly poor actress, other than that there's not much to complain about. The effects are terrible at times, I believe it has something to do with watching the movie in 2D. There are several goofs and problems with continuity but who cares.

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Good Neighbours (2010) - I didn't really like this Canadian serialkiller-comedy, it's ridiculous and poorly crafted in some ways. The characters are pretty flat and their personalities are revealed in a very lazy way. "Hey, this is a single lady, shes gay for her cats and lonely and bitter" and "here's awkward Jewy guy wants to make friends." Nothing is really believeable because the story tries to be more clever than it is, it attempts to blend genres and more or less fails. There's no real suspense but there's a gory gross-out scene which was probably added to raise some controversy and gain attention, I guess it worked.
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Post by Reason »

kings speech

dope flick. rush is a genius
Nets 2022

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Post by Comedy Quaddafi »

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The Tunnel (2011) - Found-footage horror is a mixed bag but this movie employs the gimmick right, it excels in creating an ominous and claustrophobic atmosphere and makes great use of the location. The actors are all natural enough and that really helps since there aren't a lot of special effects in here to fall back on. It's partly made to look like a documentary with interviews in between some of the scenes, that works decently except for the fact that you know who will survive. The producers encourage you to download the movie and I would not advise against it as it is sold.

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Revenge: A Love Story (2011) - Might be in the running for best hardcore movie of the year, the bar for sheer terror was raised last year making this look somewhat mild in comparison but it is no picnic. Josie Ho produced this, the lovely lady who brought us Dream Home. This is quite different, I would categorize it as a sombre arthouse rape-revenge thriller. It's about a serialkiller who likes to do manual abortions on pregnant women, as the story unfolds you gradually learn why and it's a fairly rough ride. There's not really enough "deep" content for it to appeal to the art-crowd and at the same time, it's a bit too pretentious for some exploitation fans, I would imagine. I respect the experiment and I enjoyed the movie however. It features an adult-star as the female lead, she does allrite.

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The Last Circus (2010) - Latest film from Alex de la Iglesia and it doesn't disappoint. I'm surprised to read a lot of negative reviews, you have a good story (it's very "human") and two psychotic clowns fighting for a woman, lots of break-neck action and craziness, high production values, what's not to love? It's rather dark and our protagonist takes a lot of abuse as the sad clown who falls in love with the funny clown's girl, who is devoted to her man despite his agressiveness. He is sexually dominant while the fluffy clown is anything but, and he slowly goes crazy as a result of the woman toying with his feelings. It's an excellent premise in my opinion and the director makes the most of it. Another thing, a lot of poeple criticize it for exploiting Spanish history without reason, sorry, but it's pretty clear to me that there is a purpose behind all of it, not sure if it went over everyone's head. Either way it doesn't matter, there's more than enough going on for it to be enjoyed as pure entertainment.

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Fuck yeah!
Whether to Jason of Philaflava or John Podesta, I will speak my fucking perspective openly
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Post by Spartan »

link for The Tunnel would be much appreciated.

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Post by Comedy Quaddafi »

Whether to Jason of Philaflava or John Podesta, I will speak my fucking perspective openly
- MB

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Post by drizzle »

cant' fucking wait to see that clown movie, been anticipating it for like a year + now
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Post by Spartan »

:cheers:

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Post by Tommy Bunz »

Catching up again on the last couple weeks of movies...

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My Own Private Idaho (Gus Van Sant, 1991) - I normally like Van Sant movies even though he has a tendency to make everything gay, but this was pretty gay. Some of the surreal moments are pretty cool, and Keanu is surprisingly really great in this but goddamn this shit was gay.

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Shutter Island (Martin Scorsese, 2010) - Love this more and more every time I rewatch this...I honestly think its as good if not better than any other Scorsese movie the past decade. Too many people are turned off by the "twist" ending but its not really supposed to be that at all, the movie makes it very obvious whats really going on very early and the whole reveal is basically there just for the people who are so dumb they need everything laid out for them. What's really great though is how all the surreal elements all perfectly fit into DiCaprio's psychosis....plus just a really beautifully shot film with an enchanting, brooding score (reminds me of The Shining a lot at times, the opening sequence almost seeming to be an homage of sorts), really great acting performances all around....even Mark Ruffalo needs to be given more credit because he perfectly plays a non-actor/civilian trying his best to convincingly play a role. And kudos for Scorsese here really trimming the fat out of this one which was a bit of a problem in all of his other recent films.

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Revanche (Gotz Spielmann, 2008) - Don't have a whole lot to say about this except that this was really excellent. Deserves all the praise its gotten and then some. Low-key humanistic shit. Regret leaving it sit unwatched on my shelf for almost a year.

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Deathsport (Allan Arkush & Henry Suso, 1978) - This is, in every real sense of the word is just a terrible movie. Completely non-sensical cheap attempt by Roger Corman to cash in on the success of Death Race 2000. David Carradine jumping around in fur underpants swinging a plastic sword. And yet somehow this shit is pretty entertaining. Some truly bizarre naked girl torture scenes and lots of dirtbike chases. I have no fucking clue what this movie was supposed to be about though.

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Nightmare City (Umberto Lenzi, 1980) - fucking awesome, had a ball watching this. Its a zombie movie, only they aren't really zombies, they aren't the dead come back to life but people infected with infectious radiation problem of some sort that have a thirst for blood. They run, use weapons and guns and have an affection for titties. The zombies attacking a live disco tv show and tearing apart the dancers is one of the greatest things I've seen in quite some time.

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The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (John Huston, 1948) - shocking how great this movie looks on blu-ray. One of Bogart's best roles...if Casablanca is 1A this is 1B. Such a convincing portrayal of one's decent into madness and paranoia.

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Post by Comedy Quaddafi »

Tommy: this essay really puts the microscope on Revanche, check it out if you like

http://www.offscreen.com/index.php/page ... nche_2008/
Spartan wrote:
:cheers:

EDIT: password protected
The PW is in the file description when you click the link.
Whether to Jason of Philaflava or John Podesta, I will speak my fucking perspective openly
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Post by Spartan »

Comedy Quaddafi wrote:
Spartan wrote:
:cheers:

EDIT: password protected
The PW is in the file description when you click the link.
D'oh! Cheers for that.

And Nightmare City is a hilarious movie. Check out Burial Ground: Nights of Terror when you get a chance.

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Post by Comedy Quaddafi »

60's horror

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Black Sabbath (1964) - Cool Bava horror-anthology
The Telephone - This short anticipates Bava's next movie, the classic and gorgeous Blood and Black Lace. There's the sexual themes, blunt object fetishism and style which became iconic for gialli. Really interesting to see, even if the story isn't all that.
The Wurdulak - Very atmospheric little vampire story. It's fairly creepy and Boris K is a great villain.
The Drop of Water - Easily the scariest of the three and probably the best. That old woman is intensely frightening, I see shades of the grandmother from Amer.

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Hour of the Wolf (1968) - It's difficult for me to speak about this.I was terrified at times and sliightly bored at times, Bergmann didn't seem to know where he was going with this, so it's mostly a nice collection of ideas pasted together in a surreal and nightmarish plot. An artist is haunted by nightmares and his faithful wife suffers because of it as well. Some of the dialog is just excellent, whether it's philosophical or just unsettling. There's a scene where the artist shows his wife drawings of the monsters he sees in his nightmares, we don't get too see them but it's incredibly scary. It reminds me a bit of The Shining done in the style of Eraserhead, very interesting but Bergmann conceded he should have made the wife the focus of the movie, in an interview I read, that would probably have been a whole lot better but it's still a great effort.
Whether to Jason of Philaflava or John Podesta, I will speak my fucking perspective openly
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Post by siLLy KiD »

heavy metal! :rockout:

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Post by Spartan »

Love Black Sabbath, definitely up there with some of my favorite horror portmanteaus.

The Visitor (aka Stridulum) (1978)
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Bonkers sci-fi hybrid that rips off some obvious classic movies like The Omen and Rosemary's Baby. The sci-fi elements don't work as well with it's horror counterpart, the ridiculous plot and the film's bad pacing really bog the film down and make it a struggle to sit through which is a shame, not to mention some spectacularly awful dialogue. There's a thoroughly recognizable cast in this otherwise obscurity such as John Huston, Mel Ferrer, Glen Ford, Shelly Winters, Lance Henriksen and Sam Peckinpah posing in front of the camera. The biggest surprise however is Franco Nero looking a lot like Jesus Christ and chatting to bald kids in a conservatory. Visually, this looked like a big budget movie and quite striking at times even when John Huston was just standing on a rooftop and staring at fucking spotlights in the sky. The film's finale and a few scenes here and there were pretty good, but the film felt very boring overall. The real highlight for me was the awesome soundtrack which was a hundred times better than the film, I could imagine MOP rhyming over that awesome theme. Produced by Ovidio Assonitis, the same guy behind the utterly shite Exorcist rip-off, Beyond The Darkness, this is a significantly better film but still below average. Really wanted to like this film but it just didn't click for me.

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Post by Dan »

Here's what I watched this week:

Beautiful Girls (1996) - Pretty good portrayal of group of friends encountering their 20 year high school reunion.
I wanted to make fun of this film because with a name like that, how can you cast Rosie Oג€™Donnell? I lked her in this though.
Natalie Portman was great, although I thought she acted too mature for her age.

Les enfants du paradis aka The Children of Paradise (1945) - Told in 2 parts, this epic French film is about several men in a theater group all vying for the love of the same woman.
It was enjoyable, though long.

El esp

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Pirates of the Caribbean: Estrange Days - 19 Gender-Switch conceits/10 - After the last one, I swore that I wouldn't do this to myself again. Yet here we are, it's May something something and I got my ticket to Pirates of the Caribbean 4: Estrange Brew. The whole gang is back! Wait, only Johnny Depp and Geoffry Rush and that one dude with the mutton chops are back. I know what all of you are saying, "What?! No Kiera Knightinger or Key West Bloom? Where ever will I get my ham-fisted, clumsy and unbelievable romance subplot?" Don't worry, Pirates 4: When an Estranger Call has you covered! Romance subplots that grind pacing down to a fucking blood curddling hault, now with mermaids! This series has always been fantastical, but now it's silly. I couldn't stop laughing about those stupid mermaids (though more accurate than most depictions of mermaids), it just was too much. This entire film seemed like a by the numbers attempt to recreate the magic of the first movie, but instead of remembering what made the first one surprising and charming, they decided, "Fuck it! Throw in more sword fights and escape plots". It also is shitty that they've tried to make Jack Sparrow seemed clever and cunning, when his character never was, he was just a lucky coward. There are so many moments where the plot points happen all very reminiscent of Fast F5VE (This decade's Citizen Kane) where one character would shrug and wink at the camera then tell another character, "I had a life before I met you". Oh man, the only redeeming factor were Rush and McShane, but god damn this was hard to get through. Although, points for the accurate portrayal of the Spaniards (Those guys always sucked, amirite?). So, if you have 2 hours to kill and want to feel something desperately try to make you love it then see Pirates 4: Estrange Wilderness. On the bright side, it's almost SUMMAH!

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Post by Spartan »

The Dorm That Dripped Blood (aka Pranks, Death Dorm) (1982)
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Far better than it has any right to be. Other than it's unique finale, this movie revolving around a group of college students overseeing the closing of a dorm before it's demolition during the Christmas holidays, are killed one by one in this formulaic and clich

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Post by Comedy Quaddafi »

I remember seeing the Wrestlemaniac trailer on youtube, I thought it looked pretty funny. The idea is great.

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Three... Extremes (2004) - Three directors from three different countries in Asia both contribute a 45-minute horror to showcase their skills.
Dumplings - I'm not familiar with Fruit Chan and this also turned out to be my least favorite, not that it's bad in anyway. We've seen this a few times now, meat of suspicious origins finding it's way in an insane woman's cooking, only this one takes the whole idea a bit further. This one is rather disgusting although it isn't very explicit (thankfully), depending on what you're used to. I made the mistake of eating a pizza I had just ordered while I was watching this, 3/4 of it went cold.
Cut - Park Chan-Wook's segment is very good. I like the idea of a villain who hates his victim because he is a rich man, but also a good man. That sort of shatters his self-belief as he always took pride in the proletariot being better people than the rich, at the very least. The ending is rather confusing. I'd say the strongest aspect was the dialogue between the two main characters.
The Box - Miike's part is more sombre and abstract. It's a tale of revenge and regret, sort of. One particular image was incredibly haunting. The idea is very novel and Miike fans should give this a look for sure.

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Noriko's Dinner Table (2005) - This is the third Sono film I have seen and Cold Fish really affirmed that this guy is a special talent. This is a downbeat drama with lots of existential and philosophical implication, the concept is scary to say the least. We follow multiple characters but at the center of the story there is a young girls who has made a company, shes selling families for a fixed amount of time. Do you miss your dead wife? Never had chldren? Are you simply lonely? Rent a family and experience wholesome family happiness for a nominal fee. At the core of this there is a deeply nihilist outlook on life, which implies that we are all poor actors uncomfortable in the roles we are given. So we might as well let go of our self-perceptions and embrace the emptiness of existence, fake memories are as good as real ones and assumed joy is no worse than spontaneous joy. It's hard to decipher what the movie itself thinks of this issue, I guess it's up to the viewer and I think thatwas a wise way to set it up. At almost three hours it never goes stale because it's endlessly interesting and made with real intelligence and ingenuity. The only thing that bothered me is the overwhelming amount of internal monologue but it would've been difficult to do it any other way. This one will stay with me for a long while and it was therapeutic to watch, other's are very likely to find it a depressing excercise in miserability-porn - I think the response is dependent on your own experiences but I can't say for sure.
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Post by Spartan »

You really need to see Ebola Syndrome btw.

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Post by Comedy Quaddafi »

It was made in to a full-length movie later, as I understand it. Pass. Meatgrinder is my food-horror of choice, at least until I come around to Ebola Syndrome.
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Post by Spartan »

i was referring to the feature film before my swift ice edit.

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Post by A Kid »

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this flick kinda fucked with my head a little. if you watch the trailer it looks like the cheesiest shit and it truly is, on the surface. but once you get to a certain point in the movie it just gets a little rawer than i like a flick to get.

the first 40 minutes or so is just kids talking back and forth, lots of sex talk, random drug use and Larry Clark-esque situations. Doesnt really lead you to believe they'll tackle the movies subject too head-on.

the last half hour or so jumpes face first into the whole missing scenario and just takes it a bit too far. its not a violent or bloody movie by any means, but it also leaves very little to be implied.

most hollywood movies about things of this nature leave so much to be implied but this movie isnt about implications at all. some of the images in it will be hard to erase from your memory if you dont tend to watch twisted things like this.

if you're into seeing sick shit just for the fuck of it, i recommend it. otherwise its a crappy movie with a somewhat good "twist" towards the end.

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Post by Comedy Quaddafi »

I think we'll see a lot of internet-related horror in the coming years. I can do without, personally.

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Onibaba (1964) - A scary and poetic tale of a woman and her daughter-in-law, who'se only means of survival is killing samurais to pawn their equipment. The reeds is the central visual theme and they set the atmosphere nicely. The story unfolds slowly and it draws you in marvellously well. The ending is truly frightening and it can be interpreted in numerous ways, first and foremost it's just a good tale with true visual flair. Not to be missed by fans of horror or classic cinema in general. That mask...

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The House That Screamed (1969) - By the director of the excellent Who Can Kill A Child? this is a forerunner of sorts to the slasher-genre, but more than anything else it's most likely the inspiration behind Suspiria. The movie is set at a boardingschool full of sexually repressed women ruled by a wicked warden. The characters are somewhat stereotypical so all of the character development bored me slightly. The setpieces are done in the best possible fashion, emphasizing style ahead of gore, it's truly a chilling piece of art at times. Mostly recommended for the historical interest some may have in the subject, but it is no less than a decent film regardless.
Whether to Jason of Philaflava or John Podesta, I will speak my fucking perspective openly
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Post by drizzle »

i think u just saved me some money wiht that la residencia review, doesn't seem like something i should go out of my way for. i've been meaning to dig into more of the 'who can kill a child' guy's work, cause that movie is fucking incredible
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Post by Spartan »

I wanna watch it, largely because of what I've highlighted in bold:

The House That Screamed (1969) - By the director of the excellent Who Can Kill A Child? this is a forerunner of sorts to the slasher-genre, but more than anything else it's most likely the inspiration behind Suspiria. The movie is set at a boardingschool full of sexually repressed women ruled by a wicked warden. The characters are somewhat stereotypical so all of the character development bored me slightly. The setpieces are done in the best possible fashion, emphasizing style ahead of gore, it's truly a chilling piece of art at times. Mostly recommended for the historical interest some may have in the subject, but it is no less than a decent film regardless.

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Post by drizzle »

thing is, and this will probably catch me some shit, i'm not a big suspiria fan. it's very pretty but otherwise kinda boring to me. i understand the appeal and why people hold it in such high regard, but just not my cupotea
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Post by Spartan »

..so anyway.

The Black Windmill (1974)
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Don Siegel's attempt at a British espionage thriller starring Michael Caine as a secret agent forced by gunrunners who have abducted his son to steal a bunch of diamonds. Very restrained film, almost in the vein as the Harry Palmer series, much of the film is largely focused on subtlety rather than action and it works for much of the film. Very recognizable British supporting cast too including Donald Pleasance who was a great scene stealer as Caine's OCD boss. The pacing was largely slow, but as mentioned earlier action wasn't exactly the main objective here, but it did still drag in places. Very good film and a bit of surprise for me as I didn't even know about this until recently.

May (2002)
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Off-beat chick flick territory for much of it's running time before the bloody final act. Has that retro 50's / 60's retro chic you would associate with John Waters and a pre-whore Tim Burton. Essentially, it's a tale of a social outcast borne from her lazy eye and sheltered upbringing and is desperate to belong in the world, she's too far gone however as she even freaks out other weirdos. Can't really go into detail too much as it's too much of a spoiler and an obvious homage to a very well known classic novel. The performances are pretty good in this, even Anna Faris is refreshingly decent in a serious role. Well executed movie, the twist in the end is completely predictable although entirely forgivable as I couldn't envision a better ending for this.

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Post by drizzle »

:ohsh: don seigel + michale cane in anti-bond mode, now we're talking. must own immediately
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Post by LilLeftBrain »

None killed that Estrange Fruit up above, just to say.

Point Break -- had never seen before, there are many things that make more sense now.
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Post by None »

LilLeftBrain wrote:None killed that Estrange Fruit up above, just to say.
:cheers:

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Post by Comedy Quaddafi »

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Memories of Murder (2003) - I'm very late on this and although I enjoyed it I'm not sure why it's considered a Korean classic ahead of other movies. It's a serial-killer procedural with some humorous elements when a Seoul cop comes to help the peasant-police on the case. It's very devoid of the lurid elements of the genre but there's hardly any suspense which irked me a bit, but I guess the director was going for someting different. Bong's Mother had better characters and a better story in my opinion. Still, it's compelling to see the case unfold and the rivalry between the city cop and the rural cop is funny. It reminds me of Zodiac in more than a few ways.

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Imprint (2006) - Miike's MoH entry is a disturbing and graphic one. It's miserability-porn and shovels heaps of doom and gloom on the viewer, though not without a pretty clever narrative. Some of the scenes are really tough viewing and I had to look away a few times, not only is it gruesome but also borderline offensive. Like I said it is redeemed by very carefully staged abstract settings and a purposeful story about regret and loss. One of the special effects was just a bit too comical and threw me off a bit, if you've seen it I think you know what I mean. The acting is deliberately terrible which actually does help to further the surreal mood.

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Noroi (2005) - The ultimate reality-horror, more or less. REC is more fun but this is different and just as scary in it's own right, if not more. It's a documentary about a ghost-hunter who sinks deep in to a case involving an abduction, ESP, demons, rituals, angry Asian ghosts and ghosts in the machines. It's quite ambitious but it doesn't fail to live up to it's own promise. Really gets under your skin if you let it, meaning you have to try not to be cynical when viewing it as it incorporates a lot of Japanese folklore which obviously can seem a bit silly for us who didn't grow up with these tales.
Whether to Jason of Philaflava or John Podesta, I will speak my fucking perspective openly
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