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.