Wednesday, October 23, 2013

F This Movie! - The Horror Chick Returns!

Patrick welcomes Heather Wixson back to the podcast for another free-form discussion on horror movies. Spoilers: Someone dies on this episode.

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Follow Heather Wixson at @thehorrorchick

Download this episode here. (41.1 MB)

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21 comments:

  1. This episode was great. A high octane adreniline rush of a roller coaster ride. Epic in size and scope. It reminded me of Charlotte's Web. Maybe it was from the same studio? Like how the ads for Stand Up Guys reassured me that it was from the same producer as Million Dollar Baby.

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  2. This podcast might break the movie rule of the sequel being inferior to the original. A great episode even though I think most of Heather’s opinions are batcrap crazy. As an old school 80’s up to 2001 WWF Attitude wrestling fan, I would really want Heather to do a podcast just talking about “rasslers” in movies.

    As much as I hate Bromley’s politics, I have to agree with him on Valentine. How could Heather defend that piece of crap? An R-Rated horror flick with no bite. To this day, I still don’t know how Valentine got an R Rating. David Boreanz & Denise Richards couldn’t be more wooden. Don’t even get me started on the twist ending on the discovery of the “True” nose bleeding killer.

    I’m so happy that Machete Kills bombed because, just like Machete, it was promoting the “if you’re against illegal immigration you must be a racist” angle with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer & it ended Lady Gaga’s movie career before it even started.

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    1. What do my politics have to do with my feelings -- or anyone's feelings -- about Valentine?

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    2. I think Lady Gaga will be okay

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  3. Great podcast, my knuckles were definitely whitened.

    Totally agree with Patrick in regards to All the Boys Love Mandy Lane. I do not get the love that film gets. It was neither funny nor clever enough for me to enjoy spending an hour and a half with awful characters. Cabin in the Woods wasn't just a cliched film with a twist, the tropes were used as jokes. Mandy Lane just points out cliches by using them and that's it. To point out a trope as if that is enough just makes for a cliched-ass film. Then the end feels like it's on the cusp of saying something but is ultimately saying nothing.

    Man, No One Lives is a blast. While I agree most of the performances aren't great, that just added to the campy charm. I wish that Evans got to chew the scenery more though. When a film has the exchange, "You're out of your mind!" - "No, I'm very much in my mind", I can't not like it. I was glad to see the Midnight Meat Train dude go from horrible cg gore effects to practical stuff. That guy has made two bonkers-but-fun films, If he can get a slightly better script I think he could make something great.

    Right, I'm a bit mixed on Eli Roth. I love to hear the guy talk about horror movies. His 24 Hour Horror Movie Marathon interview at the AV Club is still one of my favourites of those. I haven't seen Cabin Fever in years but all I remember is pancakes and I found Hostel pretty tiresome. Should I give any of his films another chance? I want to like the guy, I feel like he has an amazing film inside him it's just not been made yet.

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  4. Might just be me and my iphone but Im having difficulty downloading from Itunes. Just fyi

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    1. Not just you. Something is wrong but I can't figure out what. Anyone who understands these things, feel free to chime in.

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    2. Anytime apple updates podcasts (which they just did), this has become an issue (& not just F this pod). Usually corrects itself in a few days

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    3. Cool. Thanks for the tip. Hopefully it gets fixed.

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    4. Patrick, just throw more money at it. That solves everything in this world

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  5. I'm only halfway through this podcast, since I listen on my way to work, but I really enjoy these free flowing conversations. It would be fun to have F This Movie revisit this format with Heather throughout the year!

    This is the second podcast in a week where Patrick has discussed the Hellraiser franchise. I agree the first two are the best. Three has its charms, but isn't very good. Number four could have been epic but studio interference successfully made it become an Alan Smithee Film.

    I never saw the others until last year. Yes, I actually sat down and forced myself to watch all the Dimension sequels. They are exactly what you think they are.

    Scripts that Dimension bought that were independently written, and then tweaked to bring in Pinhead in the middle and end for about six minutes.

    In one sense, I can buy this since the original film is a family tragedy with the Cenobites popping in and out. On the other hand, these sequels are badly written, acted and directed. Lame.

    And don't get me started on part 9, when Dimension basically shot it in a weekend just to keep the rights and refused to cast Doug Bradley.

    I once asked Doug Bradley about why Pinhead's voice changed sound wise after part 2 and he said the people in charge of post production sound at Dimension just didn't give a crap about what New World Pictures had done prior. It's sad because the lead Cenobite's voice in the first two films had this amazing general vibe to it.

    I will say Part 7 in the franchise, while not entirely successful, is the best of the latter films (5-9).

    But all the films after part 4 lost the Christopher Young Music which is reason enough to skip them.

    Patrick, if you like Clive Barker films, there is a DVD (as well as on Netflix) of his student films: Salome and The Forbidden.

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    1. Sweet! I'll check it out. Thanks for the suggestion. And the more you talk about the Hellraiser sequels, the more I feel like I did the right thing in not really pursuing the franchise.

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    2. I actually did the same last year. Watched 'em back-to-back. 3 is crazy, but the sermon with pinhead (yes sermon), is acutally quite good. And no the movie itself, not good. 4 is bananas. Just plain bananas. The history sounds good on paper, but just doesn't fly w/ the bad acting. However, there are some moments. And Adam Scott is the devil, cause he looks the same now as he did then

      5 is not a hellraiser movie. It'd probably work if it wasnt (starring Nightbreed alumnus Craig Sheffer). I have some affection for 6. Don't ask me why. Can't be Kristy (she's a horrible forced cameo). Perhaps that it is totally that feeling of limbo. Makes you feel like you're in hell.

      7 works cause it kinda gets back to the point. 5-6 are not hellraiser movies, but afterlife movies. Almost a cross between silent hill & saw.

      I gave up after 8. Couldn't take anymore.

      But yes, Cameron put it well.

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    3. Yeah, gotta agree here for the most part. Hellraiser was one of the franchises I watched last year. But unlike the common consensus I didnt mind 4, but after that it just became annoying how Pinhead and the Cenobites went from a "be careful what you wish for" message for the sick and depraved, to just a demon waiting for you when you do bad things. Really dumbed down the concept.

      But I have to say that I also didnt mind number 9, Hellraiser: Revelations. While it is clearly a very cheap cash grab and exercise in license retaining, I liked that it kinda went back to the original idea of the Cenobites.
      One of the more interesting aspects of the original concept that never got properly explored was the Uncle's journey from the first film prior to opening the box. What would someone be like and what would they go through that they would search out the highest pleasure as pain idea. Thats what I kept wanting the sequels to explore, and thats what Revelations did to an extent. So I give it a major pass for going in that direction. But it is cheap and partly found footage, and these two Hellraiser faves of mine are much more in the guilty pleasures column than the recommendations column.

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    4. Don't get me wrong. The part of 4 I like, I actually love.

      It is def a guilty pleasure. I do like every time Pinhead pontificates.

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  6. Patrick, I completely understand your hesitation in seeing "Martyrs", but I assure you it is not just another brutal, horrific film asking you to wallow in the muck for kicks.

    It has a pretty strong story, with sympathetic characters and a truly evil villain in the mix.

    I remember my sister didn't want to see Saving Private Ryan because she had built in her mind the most terrifying opening war sequence ever put onto film. However, once she saw it, she acknowledged it was nowhere near what she had imagined it would be.

    I'm not going to pretend that I know what images truly affect you, but if you can stomach Possession, Oldboy or films of that nature, then Martyrs is a notch or two above those in visual intensity.

    Give it a try sometime and you'll see that it is simply not a form of nonsense posing as substance, but a film that actually wants to be about something and, in my mind, actually succeeds.

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    1. Yes, yes, yes to this! I beseeched Patrick to watch Martyrs after the first Heathercast because, like you say, it is actually about something (far from just torture porn) and I think it succeeds too. C'mon Patrick, DO IT. We could Twitter-watch it together and I'll tweet-hold-your-hand if that helps!

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  7. Great news! Clive Barker announced on his Facebook page that he's writing the Hellraiser remake. Doug Bradley is returning. Barker is also writing a novel pitting Harry D'Amour against Pinhead and the Cenobites. And finally, if that wasn't enough, Clive promises he will be directing another original film.

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    1. Do you think he listened to our show? I mean, he MUST have.

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    2. On top of all that he's apparently getting a Weaveworld miniseries off the ground. Now if this leads to an adaptation of Imajica that would be fantastic! Oh, and the title of that upcoming Harry D'Amour novel is The Scarlet Gospels.

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  8. I love the enthusiasm 'Horror Chick' Heather, it made me revisit Valentine. But I have to recommend nobody does the same. Only a truly masochistic horror fan could find worth within it's 96 minutes. Maybe the worst example of post Scream era studio horror product I can think of.

    It did however have me consider my own relationship to the horror genre. Horror was one of the genres that sparked my lifelong love of film, and, thinking of it now, remains the genre that most excites me for new films. If I hear of a new horror film coming out that excites or has good buzz or whatnot the chances are I will watch it before any other genre of film in my to-watch pile.

    Yet, the hit ratio of good horror films to bad is astoundingly low, moreso than any other genre i would argue. Regardless we horror fans keep trying, seeking out the next hit, trying to find the gold amidst the dirt. I guess horror fans are masochistic by default.

    I am not sure what my point is in saying this.. I guess I am just trying to come to terms with my ceaseless passion for horror that engenders more disappointment than reward volume-wise. That I, and others, keep trying must (beyond the psychological implications of such a devotee) testify to the fact that when a horror film truly hits, it's effect is beyond compare to any other film genre. It truly can cast a spell on a viewer like nothing else.

    Anyway, ill stop rambling... I would just like to add that this was a great edition of a great podcast with a great discussion of an infinitely interesting genre. I've never commented before but I felt i should show my support for the work you guys put in.

    I was going to make my first comment last week with a gentle suggestion of letting the 'what have you been watching' segment of the podcast breathe a bit more, giving the podcast a greater breadth of films to deal with within a single episode. That this episode was like a giant 'what have you been watching' segment was the tipping point of me actually commenting. So i thank you for unknowingly acting upon my silent request.

    Keep up the great work, it does not go unappreciated.

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