Ten Instruments Of Evil: Popshifter‘s Horror Movie Picks (And Five To Avoid)
Published on September 29th, 2008 in: Halloween, Horror, Issues, Movies, Popcasts, Top Five Lists, Top Ten Lists |Five To Avoid
1. Creep: Christopher Smith, 2004 (UK)
This movie starts off well (woman trapped in subway after hours with a murderous creature) but then falls apart when the director tries to make us sympathize with the monster. There is also some unnecessary misogynist torture that totally derails things. The final scene is quite good, but it’s a shame that the third section of the movie goes so far off track.
2. The Hills Have Eyes: Wes Craven, 1977 (United States)
This movie is considered a horror classic, but in truth, it stinks. This is not the way to do low-budget. The viewer actually must have some investment in the characters and pitting hillbilly stereotypes against unsympathetic racists doesn’t cut it. This is another overrated mess from an equally overrated director.
3. The House With Laughing Windows: Pupi Avati, 1976 (Italy)
For a film with such a graphically disturbing (and promising) opening, it sure does disappoint. One might forgive poor dubbing or even bad translation, but the characters wander in and out of scenes with no apparent motivations and the story line (a sculptor is hired to restore a fresco of St. Sebastian that may have been painted from a real life murderous orgy) isn’t revealed until at least a half an hour into this snoozefest.
2. It Waits: Steven R. Monroe, 2005 (United States)
It seems like all the IMDB reviewers who praised this movie for not revealing the monster until the end must have missed the first three minutes of it when they were getting popcorn and soda. Showing it so early on in the film ruins the suspense, but what truly destroys this movie are excessive flash edits and a shallow, self-absorbed main character that doesn’t inspire one ounce of sympathy.
1. Nightmare City: Umberto Lenzi, 1980 (Spain/Italy)
Based on this movie’s reputation and cool poster art, it should have been a winner. However, ten minutes were enough time to be convinced that it wasn’t. Low-budget can be scary, but not when zombie make-up wipes off on a victim’s skin or when jazzy, car chase music is supposed to evoke terror. These failings could have been the result of some post-production mishaps and as a result, this is the only movie on the “Five To Avoid” list that deserves a second chance.
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Movies one through five
Movies six through ten
4 Responses to “Ten Instruments Of Evil: Popshifter‘s Horror Movie Picks (And Five To Avoid)”
September 30th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
Fuckin’ hell, Ms. Lee. We musta drunk from the same Kool-Aide as kids . . .
My older bro and I actually convinced my folks to take us to see both Magic and Zombie 2 in the cinema at Del Amo Fashion Mall in Torrance back then. All that repressed sexual tension in Magic scared me away from serious relationships for years after (ok so I was 7 when I saw it) . . . and man, Zombie 2? It was in a double-feature with Steve McQueen in The Hunter), and it had me nightmaring about splinters through eyeballs for weeks after. I remember somebody yelled “what the hell is that?” when that squiggly bit of brain pops out of one the body-bagged corpse; and then, some clever teen yelled back “it’s oatmeal!” It was almost too much for my 9 year old mind at the time.
September 30th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
Haha, oh man. I actually saw Magic when I was in my 20s because that was the first time I was brave enough to take the chance. Most of these movies would have had me in a padded cell as a kid. Whew!
-LLM
November 23rd, 2009 at 1:30 pm
[…] Ten Instruments Of Evil: Popshifter’s Horror Movie Picks (And Five To Avoid) […]
August 19th, 2010 at 12:23 pm
[…] me just thinking about it. I can’t even remember if I actually ever saw it, but like I said a few years back, I always remembered it as “the movie with the things in the fireplace.” I was lucky […]
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