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That's interesting. From the get-go, I find the movie awfully captivating. Generally, I've almost always heard positive things about it from the horror community.

Perhaps once you're in the right frame of mind to give it a shot, you might come out liking it.

The Fog is fantastic. Great score, great actors, fun story, beautifully haunting imagery (the fog slowly rolling into town, as seen from the lighthouse, always gets me), and damn fine pacing. A few of the characters have little to add to the story, but the atmosphere more than makes up for it.

What did you think about this undeniable classic directed by Carpenter?

Well, if you didn't like the story or the characters, I doubt a better quality version would really impact your score much. *shrugs*

The fact you reviewed this movie took me by surprise, for some reason.

I saw this movie years and years ago for one of the October Challenges on HMF, and I rather liked it, but of course it's one of the 1,600+ movies I need to rewatch. To me, it felt like a decent precursor to The Stepfather. Not amazing, but I liked it.

I sort of wonder if it'll stand up when I rewatch it, now.

I think I saw about the first five minutes of this film, and was deeply disheartened. After another thirty seconds, I turned it off and never looked back.

Most likely, it's not as bad as I remember it being, but I certainly have little interest in watching this one.

While this sequel is marginally better than the original, it doesn't really have a lot of additional story to offer. We occasionally get good gore (though not as much as you might think) and some pretty disgusting scenes, but the story's pretty meh throughout, and the last ten minutes or so struck me as completely unnecessary.

Do you have feelings one way or another regarding this sequel?

Saw the first episode, and rather liked it despite it's highly unsettling premise.

Somewhat amusingly, given it's not a science-fictiony episode, I probably like it more than I'll like other episodes, even more so because it involved politics.

I threw Life is Strange onto my buy list. Haven't bought it yet, but will before the sale ends.

I'm a pretty casual gamer (Minecraft, Hearthstone, and Civ are what I mostly play on the PC), so I probably wouldn't spend much more than 25 dollars total.

Indeed. and The Bat (one version from 1926, the remake from 1930), was partly the inspiration for Batman's design, if I recall.

That's all fair.

I've not gotten around to rewatching and reviewing movies like The Shining (1980), Carrie, or The Exorcist, but when I do, none of them are getting an above average rating, despite their high popularity in the horror community. Even if a movie is well-respected, you're right, you have to be honest with your review. So when the new site is up, you write out your thoughts and put up a 4/10 on it. Don't let a movie's stature make you feel you can't criticize it. Believe me, when I get to Carrie, I will not be kind.

The Man Who Laughs isn't my favorite silent film, and I can't see myself watching it again for fun (Maciste in Hell, though...). It's a classic for a reason, but I entirely understand that most silent films don't appeal to horror fans, which I think is a shame (avoiding a silent movie, avoiding black-and-white movies, both limit you to what you might otherwise enjoy), but I do understand it.

Your wife should be a mod, so she can write another positive review, then. 

I seriously do appreciate you giving it a chance, though, if only to make your wife happy.

Hope you didn't hate it, as I know anything pre-1970's doesn't really jingle your bells.

A few thoughts on some upcoming horror flicks.

1) The Predator (release date: September 14, 2018)

I didn't love the trailer, but I sort of liked the vibe. Still, there hasn't been a great Predator movie since 1987, so I'm rather lukewarm toward this.


2) Suspiria (release date: November 2, 2018)

The trailer has a bit of a surreal vibe to it, but you can't compete, nor beat, the original, which is a 70's classic.


3) The First Purge (release date: July 4, 2018)

I will not lie, I adore the idea of the movie. Showing the USA government as the murderous entity that they are appeals to my leftist point-of-view. But come on, the trailer gives far too much away. I've not seen the second or third Purge (Anarchy and Election Night), but this one sort of interests me. I just wish they had tried a more subtle approach.


4) The New Mutants (release date: August 2, 2019)

Haven't been following the X-Men movies at all, but a horror take on the New Mutants? Ever since this trailer first came out, I was interested. It's been pushed back a few times, but the trailer still fundamentally looking interesting.


5) The Little Stranger (release date: August 31, 2018)

Didn't hear about this until today (which sort of prompted this post), but I really like the trailer and the sort of style it looks like it's going for. Not sure if the movie will go a supernatural route or not (I'm hoping for not), but this may well be one I go out to see.

Wanted to resurrect this, and give my top five horror films from 2012 through 2017 (I've not seen any horror flicks from 2018 as of yet), which covers nicely a moderately newer range of horror flicks.

2012:

1) Barricade
2) Sinister
3) The Woman in Black
4) Silent Night
5) The Cabin in the Woods

Honorable mentions: Dead Souls, Ghoul, and Truth or Dare


2013:

1) Curse of Chucky
2) Mischief Night
3) Wolf Creek 2
4) Don't Go to the Reunion
5) The Den

Honorable mentions: Evidence, Hatchet III, and Wer


2014:

1) As Above, So Below
2) It Follows
3) The Babadook
4) Ravana's Game
5) Deep in the Darkness

Honorable mentions: None - I was stretching to make a top five.


2015:

1) Most Likely to Die
2) The Devil's Candy
3) Almost Mercy
4) Hell House LLC
5) The Unspoken

Honorable mentions: The VVitch: A New-England Folktale and The Visit


2016:

1) Hush
2) House of Purgatory
3) A Cure for Wellness
4) Ozark Sharks
5) The Void

Honorable mentions: The Autopsy of Jane Doe and Miles Before Sleep


2017:

1) Kill Game
2) It
3) Neverknock
4) Night Howl
5) Get Out

Honorable mention: House of the Witch

I heard another likewise positive review of this from a friend of mine, so I may well check it out when it's leaked onto the internet in good quality. 

Seriously, though, the plot sounds interesting, and actually reminds me of what you might find in movies from the 50's and 60's (The Maze from 1953 and The Haunted Palace from 1963 are all that's coming to mind, but I know there are others out there).

Interestingly enough, it looks like Happy Death Day grossed $31,097,137 (domestically) more than Prey at Night did. Even with Happy Death Day coming out five months before, that still seems significant.

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=main&id=strangers2.htm
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=blumhousehorror2018.htm

I hope that Halloween does well, and I think it will (at least better than both Prey at Night and Happy Death Day, just for the hype alone), but I sort of doubt it can re-ignite the trend toward slashers, as much as I wish otherwise.