31 Days of Halloween (2022)

[Caldwin]

I think it started with Aliens or Terminator 2. At least, that's when I took notice.

I see it a couple different ways. If it's a Director's cut where things are being added back in that simply couldn't be in the theatrical cut for whatever reason (time constraints, aiming for a particular rating, studio interference)... I absolutely love it.

When it comes to studios putting slop out because, hey, we found this on the cutting room floor. Lets just slap it back into the movie and make some money off of it...I mean, it's a case by case basis rather it's good or bad. But a lot of times, things were cut for a reason. In those cases, alt takes are better as an extra.

In summery, I like alt takes and deleted scenes, but it's case by case basis rather a movie really needs to be rereleased just to add them into the run time.

 

[Caldwin]

Okay, so now I'm moving on to Saw III. Soooo, yeah, let's just see how bad this gets.

I've watched a lot of violent movies in my life. So I've developed a bit of a tolerance for these kinds of things. The first Saw I was fine with. I had no problems. Saw II had me turning away quite a few times making me squeamish in places. So I'm not sure just how bad it's going to get from here on out and how much I'll be able to stomach.
But I paid for this set of ten films, and...you know, I'm beginning to think I can't let that be the deciding factor of how far I go down this rabbit hole. If it becomes too much, it becomes too much. But for now...here goes Saw III.

-----

After the movie:

The beginning was the worst part. I had to look away for most of the beginning. These traps are getting more and more hugged up. Like, the first movie was about teaching a lesson. But these sequels are getting more and more into simply torture porn. I really don't know how many more of these I want to go through. The trick is, each one so far is ending on a cliff hanger. And I...hate...cliffhangers.

I'm beginning to wish I never started this rabbit hole.

 

[CoffeeHorse]

If Universal ever found a workprint of Jaws 2 I would pay stupid money for it. Unfortunately, I've had it confirmed to me that there's not a trace of it left in their archive. Unless it was mistakenly filed in some wrong location they haven't checked yet, it is gone.

 

[Caldwin]

I think I'm just going to call it here as far as the Saw franchise. I got through the first three movies. I like the first one. It was actually pretty good and had a point. Then it just seemed to devolve Into torture porn and made me feel way too squeamish. And I've watched some pretty brutal movies before. So...yeah. I can watch brutal movies. But when you start going down to simple torture porn...I just couldn't stomach it.

So, yeah, three and done. First one is brutal but pretty good if you can stomach the brutality. But I do not suggest going any further than that. It gets pretty gruesome.

 

[Caldwin]

Let me preface this by saying I have seen a version of the Nosferatu silent film. I only saw it once before, so my memories were faded at best. I mostly remembered it as a silent film version of Dracula.

I just saw the 2024 version of Nosferatu. It was...yikes!

Overall Impression:

Let me just say, one thing I really like about Dracula...the good guys win! Sure, there are some casualties along the way (the crew of the Demeter, Luci and Quincy Morris). But Mina lives. The hero's are triumphant. The survivors get to live happily ever after.

Nosferatu...well...let's just say this ending is dark. Like, let's say there are three levels of happy endings. You have your Happy Ending (sunshine and rainbows). You have your bittersweet (there's a cost to victory, but there's consolation and happiness to be had). Then you have Pyrrhic Victory (yeah, the heroes win...but was it really worth the cost).

Dracula I'd put in the bittersweet rating...honestly leaning more towards sweet given how few casualties there really are when you think about it. Nosferatu...ugh! I'm putting it straight down to easily being the most pyrrhic victory movie I've seen in a while. So.V..you know...be warned.

The "WTF did I just watch" warnings:

Also, there are quite a few old Victorian gothic horror rituals. Some things made absolutely no sense to me. I had to pause the movie a few times and ask my Copilot AI "what the hell did I just watch." And, you know, once it's explained, it's kinda like "cool, I just learned something new and now it makes sense."

But just to watch it...there's quite a few things that culturally...most people today just aren't going to get...and it's kind of a baffling "know your audience" type of incongruity that just kinda left me wondering.

Over all? Eh...just too brutal and pyrrhic for me. I have the Bluray if I ever get the urge to see it again...but I kinda doubt it.

I mostly got it today because I went to Walmart and I saw quite a few decent deals. I was able to get Nosferatu on Bluray for $20. I was able to get Van Helsing on Bluray for $10 (I only had it on DVD before). I was able to get a 3-movie set of Lost Boys on DVD for $10. So it seemed like a good opportunity to get a few movies for cheap.

But as far as Nosferatu...this will probably be a movie I watch scarcely, if ever, again.

 

[Caldwin]

I was wondering what I was going to do for this October. I was considering Lost Boys...but it just hasn't been that long since I've seen it. And with the new Castevania game coming out soon, I just don't want to commit to a franchise marathon. So have this instead. In this merry month of October, I gift to you this bump in the thread and these two videos that I made specifically for you guys. Yes, I know I'm not exactly the most skilled player. The boss fight in IV is downright embarrassing. But hey! It's a little something you guys can enjoy.

 

[Fero McPigletron]

Play Belmont's Curse!

 

[The Predaking]

This year we wanted to watch some scary movies with our oldest. So, we started to watch a KPOP zombie limited series on Netflix called "Happiness". It's a 12-episode limited series with each episode being over an hour long. The basic plot is that a high school baseball star injuries his knee during his senior year, and a girl befriends him in an unusual way. Flash forward five to ten years where the guy is now a cop in their midsize Korean town and she is in a military counter terrorist unit. A new drug called 'Next' causes what is called Mad Human Disease, where they basically turn into blood thirsty zombies for about 15 minutes or so. Anyone that survives the attack is also infected if they get scratched or bit. It's a very slow-pace show, and the stakes are low and local instead of it being a global crisis. We still have 4 more episodes to go, but I can say that I am really enjoying it and would recommend it.

 

[Caldwin]

Play Belmont's Curse!

Well, I don't really want to make this a Castlevania thread since we already have it. But since I don't have anything else to post...

 

[Princess Viola]

well for my first halloween movie of the year, i watched the phantom of the opera (1925)

honestly? still holds up amazingly for being over 100 years old. lon chaney was a master class actor

 

[Videomaster21XX]

My roommate and I ended up watching that RL Stine's Pumpkinhead movie on Tubi. For a kids horror movie it does pretty well and the creature in it is legit creepy looking.

The ending is something. Seen people online saying it actually really got to their kids.

And hey the sequel comes out this Friday, so gonna watch it then.

 

[Caldwin]

A coworker told me about the Marvel Midnight comics. Theres a Fantastic Four, Spiderman and X-Men.

it's an alt-universe thing with Vampires. I just finished the first issue of X-Men. It was actually pretty interesting.

Seemed Halloween themed to me!

 

[Fero McPigletron]

Oooooh that's interesting. One shots or minis? Bloodstorm was in Mutant X and I recall Jubilee turning into a vampire recently.

I liked the Midnight Sons in the 90s. And the Blade movie actually kick started the X-Men movie which kick started the Iron Man to MCU.

 

[Caldwin]

I honestly don't know. My coworker says they're supposed to be ongoing. But I'd have to hear official word. It seems awesome for a mini series, but an odd wwy to go for an ongoing.

 

[Platypus Prime]

But the real monsters were the ones we became along the way.

On an interesting note, there's now gasoline additives that let you make your exhaust smell like pumpkin spice, and the gelling agent for flamethrowers is surprisingly easy to get too, so Pumpkin Spice Napalm is actually a possibility.

 

[The Predaking]

Why would anyone want to smell car exhaust?

 

[Platypus Prime]

Beats me, but the fact that you can buy scents for it just struck me as the last thread of sanity in the world now gone. Maybe with the price of gas, you add it to a gallon of it and give it to your girlfriend as a really expensive perfume?

https://www.jegs.com/i/jegs-555-63665-pumpkin-spice-fuel-fragrance-4-oz-bottle

 

[Caldwin]

People huff stranger things, I guess. I mean, Meth exists...so I don't think staying alive rates very high in the priority list of these people.

 

[Platypus Prime]

Well, I did recently see that a carton of cigarettes in the store could be up to $120. And I know my state is not the worst with the tobacco taxes, so there are probably even worse examples. Since cigarette smoke contains carbon monoxide, in theory sucking on an exhaust pipe might be a money saving move even with the recent gas prices.

 

[Haywire]

Why would anyone want to smell car exhaust?

Car show cars. When you don't drive them much more than on and off a trailer to shows, and then fire up the engine occasionally to show off. I know at least one person who adds scent to his show car fuel, and I'm certain he's not just huffing the exhaust. It's just one way to stand out in a crowd of show cars.