I've been exercising more lately because I'm out-of-shape and, uh, want to be healthy, and damn am I ever sore today. I guess it will take a bit of time for my lazy ass to get used to this. :p
Horror of Dracula (1958): The first of the famous Hammer Horror features starring Christopher Lee as Count Dracula and Peter Cushing as Dr. Van Helsing. You know, vampires themselves might be kind of cool when done right, but vampire stories are kind of lame. The best parts of Dracula, for example, are all in the beginning and have everything to do with Bela Lugosi, the atmosphere and the set design, and nothing to do with the story. It's the same with this movie. All the best parts are Christopher Lee (who is in the movie for maybe 15-20 minutes at most) facing off against Peter Cushing. Otherwise, the story is kind of dull and facepalm-worthy. Definitely bloody for the time, but pretty tame today.
The Brood (1979): REALLY disappointing movie. I knew David Cronenberg was capable of making bad movies, but I didn't think he could make a boring one; alas, this is quite the dull movie. How could a movie about psychically-created killer children be boring? By making literally the first 80 minutes be about nothing but empty, angsty bullshit, that's how. It highlights everything bad about early Cronenberg movies (awful acting; awful, bullshit dialogue; and a story that makes zero sense) without any of his good traits. The end is only interesting because Cronenberg goes, "Fuck it" and does crazy Cronenberg things. But ugh ... terrible movie, and terribly boring. Only a Cronenberg completist like myself could watch this.
Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter (2001): After stumbling upon the existence of this movie via Alla, I found to my delight that it is available on Netflix streaming. It's about as good as you'd expect a movie called Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter to be. The movie is made in the grungy style of the '70s (MST3K fans will feel right at home), and the story is all super ridiculous horror nonsense. Most of the time it works and is endearingly goofy, but some stuff, like the musical numbers (which I'm pretty sure are supposed to be riffing on Jesus Christ Superstar), didn't work for me. Ah well. Not a bad way to waste 80 minutes.
Rabid (1977): Now this is pure Cronenberg through and through. I can't really say it's a good movie (it's often too pointless to be really good), but it's never boring, that's for sure. Basically it's a David Cronenberg zombie movie -- when getting experimental skin grafts after a motorcycle accident, a woman's internal structure changes to the extent that she thirsts for blood (no, it never really makes sense). Her victims turn into rabid creatures; she is the only one whose personality remains intact. This movie is REALLY bleak and depressing, and I don't think it's saying anything that wasn't handled in a more interesting way in Shivers, so I couldn't enjoy it that much. But it's way better than The Brood, that's for sure.
On the queue for this week: Alphaville (1965), other stuff
Total Movies: 64 (The Taking of Pelham 123, The Station Agent, The Final Destination, Silent Movie, The African Queen, Departures, Moon, Bound, Solaris, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Rifftrax), Wristcutters: A Love Story, In the Loop, Public Enemies, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (Rifftrax), Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann: Lagann-Hen, District 9, The Magnificent Seven, Night Moves, My Name is Bruce, Big Fan, Almost Famous, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Nosferatu, Drag Me to Hell, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, Kara no Kyoukai 1-7, 9, Zombieland, Ninja Scroll, Primer, Re-Animator, Summer Wars, The Changeling, The Men Who Stare at Goats, Ponyo, Eden of the East: The King of Eden, Porco Rosso, Something Something Something Dark Side, Castle in the Sky, Robot Carnival, Halloweentown, Whisper of the Heart, The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya, Fiddler on the Roof, Kiki's Delivery Service, Genius Party, Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters, The Sky Crawlers, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, My Neighbors the Yamadas, THX 1138, The Stepfather, Winning Time: Reggie Miller vs. The New York Knicks, Tremors, Horror of Dracula, The Brood, Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter, Rabid)
