Scream Factory Blu-ray Discussion Thread

[Mr. Thomsen]

Originally Posted by Monroville

In the end, the concept is much better than the execution. The idea of green gooey liquid posing a threat just isn't very threatening.. especially when you have characters do things like dramatically look up at the ceiling with their mouths open so the liquid can conveniently zip in.

Haha, yeah, you got a point.

As I said earlier, I have always liked it and found it entertaining, but it never really got to me until a couple of years ago. I think what made the difference was a simple thing like watching it with the volume turned up high. The soundtrack has a certain beat to it, almost like a pulse, that just made the doom seem more and more inevitable as the movie progressed. For some reason that really worked for me. I am apparently easy like that.

[cakefactory]

Originally Posted by Monroville

While I still consider POD to be a second tier Carpenter movie, I do like it more than I used to. While I like the 2 asian guys from BIG TROUBLE, I think they are completely out of place in this movie. Same thing with the moustache who should have been Tom Atkins. Having Tom play that guy other than the actor they went with would have immensely improved the movie alone.

In the end, the concept is much better than the execution. The idea of green gooey liquid posing a threat just isn't very threatening.. especially when you have characters do things like dramatically look up at the ceiling with their mouths open so the liquid can conveniently zip in.

The green liquid is stupid, but the stuff like the tachyon pulse imagery of the figure coming out of the front of the building is pretty creepy. The whole concept of the movie is also pretty awesome in an out-there way. They really threw everything and the kitchen sink in there, from alice cooper heading a group of zombies and stabbing a man with a bicycle, to third-grade level descriptions of schoedinger's cat, to some insane metaphysics-inspired explanation for the anti-christ as the son of the "anti-god." The script has one of the highest levels of mumbo-jumbo ever. I love the quasi-philosophical attempts to explain quantum physics.

[demonknight]

Originally Posted by StingingVelvet

Most directors/writers/actors have a 15-20 year run where they're good and everything before and after is suspect. That's extremely common. People have a voice that resonates in a certain time.

Correct.
Tim Burton (Pee-Wee to Ed Wood)
Wes Craven (The Hills Have Eyes to Scream
John Carpenter (Assault on Precinct 13 to In the Mouth of Madness)
Joe Dante (The Howling to Small Soldiers)
Tobe Hooper (Texas Chain Saw Massacre to Spontaneous Combustion)
Rob Zombie (House of 1000 Corpses to El Superbeasto)

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by cakefactory

The green liquid is stupid, but the stuff like the tachyon pulse imagery of the figure coming out of the front of the building is pretty creepy. The whole concept of the movie is also pretty awesome in an out-there way. They really threw everything and the kitchen sink in there, from alice cooper heading a group of zombies and stabbing a man with a bicycle, to third-grade level descriptions of schoedinger's cat, to some insane metaphysics-inspired explanation for the anti-christ as the son of the "anti-god." The script has one of the highest levels of mumbo-jumbo ever. I love the quasi-philosophical attempts to explain quantum physics.

Although the key to it--for those Halloween III fans in on the joke--is Carpenter pseudonyming himself on the writing credits as "Martin Quatermass".
(Described in the press material as "Brother to the famous British rocket scientist", no less.)

Anyone who IS in on the Halloween III joke knows about Nigel Kneale writing that original uncredited story, since Carpenter is a geek fan of the Dr. Quatermass series, and (rightfully) considers "Quatermass & the Pit/Five Million Years to Earth" one of his favorite films of all time.
Kneale's Quatermass series was a sort of earthbound Doctor Who (even inspiring the Jon Pertwee UNIT season), about a scientist called in to investigate strange phenomena, and whose "crackpot" doom warnings about ancient alien-origin mumbo-jumbo were usually unheeded until too late, when situations started getting downright world-apocalyptic.
PoD was Carpenter's own attempt at an original Quatermass fan-fiction--with the Donald Pleasance priest as the Dr.--even though, being Carpenter, he just couldn't stay away from the Michael Myers zombies.

[cakefactory]

Originally Posted by demonknight

Correct.
Tim Burton (Pee-Wee to Ed Wood)
Wes Craven (The Hills Have Eyes to Scream
John Carpenter (Assault on Precinct 13 to In the Mouth of Madness)
Joe Dante (The Howling to Small Soldiers)
Tobe Hooper (Texas Chain Saw Massacre to Spontaneous Combustion)
Rob Zombie (House of 1000 Corpses to El Superbeasto)

That's certainly being generous! Most people would argue Tobe Hooper had a 1 movie stretch of being great, unless you count Poltergeist as being his. I think everything he directed himself sucked, besides Lifeforce, Salem's Lot and TCSM, and I'm in the minority that likes Lifeforce.

Tim Burton has been releasing some tired junk but I definitely think Big Fish, Corpse Bride, Frankenweenie and Sleepy Hollow are post-Ed Wood movies that are at least "good." I would call Sweeney Todd very good, and probably his third best movie. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory wasn't half bad, either, it just didn't come close to the original. I think Alice in Wonderland and Mars Attacks and Planet of the Apes and Dark Shadows are his only real misfires, and I know a lot of people love Mars Attacks!

Wes Craven's LHOTL is considered one of the most important horror movies of the 70s so it's kind of odd you cut that one off of there. Love it or hate it, it's definitely considered one of his best movies. I think he "lost it" a bit less than Carpenter, Scream 4 at least got decent reviews for a horror movie. I haven't personally liked anything of his since Wes Craven's New Nightmare, though.

Also, Piranha is just as good as all of Dante's later stuff, man I love that movie! And Looney Tunes Back in Action was good, and The Hole was fine! He definitely fell less than many of his contemporaries. I'm looking forward to his vampires vs werewolves movie.

Seems a bit early to write Rob Zombie off, when he's only released one movie since El Superbeasto, one which (IIRC) got plenty of good reviews, or at least more than some of his earlier ones. I haven't seen any of his stuff since Halloween II.

[cakefactory]

I just watched Terrorvision and The Video Dead. Terrorvision is actually quite amusing. It's one of those 80s comedies that's trying WAY too hard to be wacky, with everyone mugging at the camera and stuff, but the cast is amazing for fans of 70s/80s cult movies (Mary Woronov, Gerritt Graham, Diane Franklin) and it's all just so goofy it's hard not to get a kick out of it. The really weird, super-artificial sets (the sky behind the bushes looks like the painted backdrop on children's shows) and the silly monster FX just add to the charm. It's no lost classic or anything, but it's definitely an amusing flick. It's one of those weird 80s movies where it's got nudity and gruesome deaths but has a little kid for the hero, which I guess is about the tone of the movie. It seems like something I would have gone nuts for in about 6th grade.

The Video Dead, on the other hand, is just terrible. You can tell almost immediately that it was not made by professionals, with the awful camerawork and wretched acting. There are tons of those standard low-budget "shove the camera exactly in everyone's face as they look awkwardly off to the side and deliver dialogue" shots. The special effects are better than I was expecting for something this bad, I guess that's where all their budget went. It is notable for being the only movie I can remember where a zombie in a wedding dress chases after someone with a chainsaw, but blech.

Terrorvision definitely made it worth the cost, IMO. I was surprised to find there was a solid little making-of doc with interviews with most of the principles (Diane Franklin and Mary Woronov among them). I had been under the false impression these were bare-bones.

[SuperFlyHighGuy]

Originally Posted by cakefactory

That's certainly being generous! Most people would argue Tobe Hooper had a 1 movie stretch of being great, unless you count Poltergeist as being his. I think everything he directed himself sucked, besides Lifeforce, Salem's Lot and TCSM, and I'm in the minority that likes Lifeforce.

I just watched Salems Lot last week and thought it was a complete bore until the last 30 minutes, kind of a disappointment. I think besides Chainsaw, his best movie is Eaten Alive, truly some scary moments in that one. I also enjoy The Funhouse and Lifeforce, though I think the "horror" elements of that come off as somewhat contrived compared to his earlier films.

[Goldensuitcase]

Can anyone direct me to that link where there's a poll to which titles people want most from SCREAM?

Thank you

[zbinks]

Originally Posted by Goldensuitcase

Can anyone direct me to that link where there's a poll to which titles people want most from SCREAM?

Thank you

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.p...ostcount=30375

In the signature line.

[RyGuy1496]

Originally Posted by demonknight

Correct.
Tim Burton (Pee-Wee to Ed Wood)
Wes Craven (The Hills Have Eyes to Scream
John Carpenter (Assault on Precinct 13 to In the Mouth of Madness)
Joe Dante (The Howling to Small Soldiers)
Tobe Hooper (Texas Chain Saw Massacre to Spontaneous Combustion)
Rob Zombie (House of 1000 Corpses to El Superbeasto)

I think Big Fish is one of Tim's best films!

[zbinks]

Originally Posted by RyGuy1496

I think Big Fish is one of Tim's best films!

Me too.

[Goldensuitcase]

Originally Posted by zbinks

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.p...ostcount=30375

In the signature line.

Thank you

[AKORIS]

Originally Posted by SuperFlyHighGuy

I just watched Salems Lot last week and thought it was a complete bore until the last 30 minutes, kind of a disappointment. I think besides Chainsaw, his best movie is Eaten Alive, truly some scary moments in that one. I also enjoy The Funhouse and Lifeforce, though I think the "horror" elements of that come off as somewhat contrived compared to his earlier films.

I find your opinion a huge disappointment..... (my favorite Tv movie of all time)
and Eaten Alive is low grade trash....


oh well, I don't know why anything surprises me around here anymore.....

at least I can agree on The Funhouse....

[MTRodaba2468]

Originally Posted by cakefactory

I just watched Terrorvision and The Video Dead. Terrorvision is actually quite amusing. It's one of those 80s comedies that's trying WAY too hard to be wacky, with everyone mugging at the camera and stuff, but the cast is amazing for fans of 70s/80s cult movies (Mary Woronov, Gerritt Graham, Diane Franklin) and it's all just so goofy it's hard not to get a kick out of it. The really weird, super-artificial sets (the sky behind the bushes looks like the painted backdrop on children's shows) and the silly monster FX just add to the charm. It's no lost classic or anything, but it's definitely an amusing flick. It's one of those weird 80s movies where it's got nudity and gruesome deaths but has a little kid for the hero, which I guess is about the tone of the movie. It seems like something I would have gone nuts for in about 6th grade.

The Video Dead, on the other hand, is just terrible. You can tell almost immediately that it was not made by professionals, with the awful camerawork and wretched acting. There are tons of those standard low-budget "shove the camera exactly in everyone's face as they look awkwardly off to the side and deliver dialogue" shots. The special effects are better than I was expecting for something this bad, I guess that's where all their budget went. It is notable for being the only movie I can remember where a zombie in a wedding dress chases after someone with a chainsaw, but blech.

Terrorvision definitely made it worth the cost, IMO. I was surprised to find there was a solid little making-of doc with interviews with most of the principles (Diane Franklin and Mary Woronov among them). I had been under the false impression these were bare-bones.

Honestly, I agree. I ended up checking out the double feature set being moreso interested in The Video Dead (with TerrorVision just being an afterthought), and I ended up really enjoying TerrorVision, and not liking The Video Dead much at all...

[demonknight]

I love Big Fish, Sweeney Todd, and Corpse Bride, but they came after Burton's relative prime.

As for Zombie, I thought Superbeasto came before H2, so two poorly reviewed ones.

Dante: I thought The Hole was a huge disappointment, as was Looney Toons.

For Craven, LHOTL is often regarded as not for all tastes, because of it's odd tonal shifts. Scream 2&4 sucked. I do like Red Eye and Scream 3 though.

To get down to point, I was going with relative prime.

[RyGuy1496]

Originally Posted by demonknight

I love Big Fish, Sweeney Todd, and Corpse Bride, but they came after Burton's relative prime.

As for Zombie, I thought Superbeasto came before H2, so two poorly reviewed ones.

Dante: I thought The Hole was a huge disappointment, as was Looney Toons.

For Craven, LHOTL is often regarded as not for all tastes, because of it's odd tonal shifts. Scream 2&4 sucked. I do like Red Eye and Scream 3 though.

To get down to point, I was going with relative prime.

Come on man Scream 2 & 4 rocked!

[RandyK]

Originally Posted by RyGuy1496

Come on man Scream 2 & 4 rocked!

I think 3 is the worst of them. 4 is only slightly better. The first is a classic and 2 is a few steps behind it. I think the series as a whole is pretty good.

[demonknight]

Originally Posted by RyGuy1496

Come on man Scream 2 & 4 rocked!

I thought 2 was way too long, and 4 was just too unnecessary. 3 wrapped it up just fine. Why need a fourth?

[AKORIS]

Originally Posted by demonknight

I thought 2 was way too long, and 4 was just too unnecessary. 3 wrapped it up just fine. Why need a fourth?

$$$

[madmod20061]

I was pre-ordering the complete Facts of Life (don't judge me) and I decided to check out the October Scream Factory sale. I ended up pre-ordering Dolls (I loved that when I was a kid) and blind bought Final Cut with the magnet set. I like 80s horror so I'll probably like it.