As regular readers of this blog can imagine, I’m both anticipating and dreading the sequel to Hostel. The first one was my favourite horror movie of the past few years, and the last thing I want to see is some hastily assembled follow-up that doesn’t come close to matching the quality of the original.

Due to potential spoilers, I’m treading carefully when it comes to advance reviews, but I did find a few that revealed very little in the way of surprises. Please be warned that my tolerance for slight spoilers may be greater then your own. Twitch is especially interesting in revealing some of the influences they feel Roth shows in this outing, particularly concerning gialli.

“Whereas while he was toying with Hostel 2 and writing the sequel, Roth went to Rome where he met such great Italian directors as Sergio Martino, who made the amazing I Corpi presentano tracce di violenza carnale (Torso, 1973). Roth also saw other films like Avere vent’anni (To Be Twenty, 1978) by Fernando Di Leo—”Which was just so fucking sick; the ending of this movie I just couldn’t fucking believe it”—and L’ultimo treno della notte (Night Train Murders, 1975) by Aldo Lado. These were all early 70’s giallo films; not the operatic Argento-style giallo but the realistic-style giallo.”

What I’m finding most surprising about the reviews so far is how many people admit to enjoying the first film, when at the time I felt as if I were in a definite minority. It’s those reviews that I’m most interested in, largely because many of the negative reviews seemed to have missed the point to the extent that they had watched an entirely different film and I somehow doubt I can trust their judgement.

Where there are Wintles, there are Nagys. Goat Lord and occassional Horror Roundtable contributor Doug Nagy has been burning up The Movie Blog recently with his own unique take on cinema. A few days ago he asked the question, Robert Forster: What Is He Thinking About?

“Consider his face. Look into his eyes. What is he thinking about?”

I became a huge Forster fan based on Alligator alone. It’s been awhile. I should watch that again.

The guests for Rue Morgue Magazine’s Festival of Fear have been announced, and they’ve certainly outdone themselves this time around.

Dario Argento – Rare public appearance by Legendary Horror Director of Suspiria
Malcolm McDowell – Alex in Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange
George A. Romero – Honoured Horror Director of Dawn of the Dead
H.G. Lewis – Acclaimed Horror Film Producer
Michael Biehn – Star of Terminator, Aliens and Grindhouse
Angela Bettis- Star of upcoming films, Red and Scar
Adrienne Barbeau – Revered actress and “Scream Queen”
Greg Nicotero – Award winning Special Effects and Make Up Artist
Basil Gogos – Award winning Horror Artist and Illustrator

The Festival of Fear is the only horror convention I have had the opportunity to attend, so I’m not really in any position to compare, but that looks incredibly kick ass to this guy. Usually I’m interested in a handful of people, but this time around they’ve really stacked the deck. In fact, my only real complaint is that there don’t seem to be any real interesting B-listers. And I mean B-listers in terms of mainstream popularity, not quantity. People like Jack Ketchum, Jeff Lieberman and David Hess, all of whom were announced as guests in years previous (even if some of them couldn’t attend). There are still a few names to be announced, so hopefully my need for sleaze will be satiated. Cough, Henenlotter, ahem.

Speaking of Rue Morgue, one of my favourite writers for that magazine got hitched over the weekend. Congratulations Paul and Alex! Now I know why you haven’t been able to contribute as often to the Horror Roundtable!

Finally, Rock ‘N Roll Nightmare was right. Toronto is happening, man. Here’s a sample of what’s coming up in June alone.

1 - Trash Palace, Toronto’s Classiest Theatre, presents Schizo.
4 - Cinematheque Ontario presents The Unholy Three.
15 - Friday Night Frights presents Andy Warhol’s Dracula.
21 - Rue Morgue Magazine’s Cinemacabre presents Deathdream.
22 - Friday Night Frights presents Death Race 2000.
22 - Trash Palace, Toronto’s Classiest Theatre, presents Frankenstein’s Daughter.
29 - Friday Night Frights presents C.H.U.D.

And now I only live an hour away. Take that, losers!

Unlike some people, I can count all my celebrity crushes on one hand. One of those lucky ladies would be the gorgeous Christina Lindberg, star of They Call Her One Eye. David Z. of Tomb It May Concern has cracked open the vaults concerning that film, and is showcasing what may very well be the greatest collection of They Call Her One Eye material gathered in one place (NSFW!). It’s an astonishing amount of memorbilia and rarities, and if you have any interest in cult cinema I strongly suggest you take a look.

Name a horror movie that you liked but everyone else seemed to despise.

Jeff O’Brien

Ummm… Insecticidal?

Paul Corupe - Canuxploitation

I’m going to go with The Horror of Party Beach (1964), which rests comfortably in the IMDB bottom 100, mostly thanks to its lambasting on Mystery Science Theatre 3000. Now don’t get me wrong, I enjoy MST3K as much as the next guy, but there seems to be some generally accepted assumption that the concept of “camp” wasn’t invented until the 1970s, and that every early horror movie was made with grim-faced seriousness no matter how ludicrous the monster or effects were. Well, The Horror of Party Beach is a straight-up blast, perhaps the ultimate teen drive-in movie with bikers, bikini babes, romance, fist fights, a garage rock soundtrack, and a slumber party. Sure the monster has floppy teeth and the sodium attack at the end is laughable–but they were supposed to be! I don’t know how anyone could hate such a fun, lighthearted film.

Dave - Rue Morgue’s The Abbatoir

Two films spring to mind. The first is more of one that splits genre fans in general but I pretty much the only one at Rue Morgue that likes it, and I like it a lot: The Dawn of the Dead remake. I think that film’s exactly what it should be, an action-horror flick taking Romero’s basic premise without pointlessly trying to duplicate his socio-political themes. Fast, fun and gory, plus the opening credits are wicked cool.

As far as one that’s more sort-of universally disliked, I’d have to go Jaume Balagueró’s Darkness, which, at least in the cut that made it theatres, is not a great film by any means, but better than it gets credit for. He’s one of those directors who should should stick to making films in his native tongue, as he did with The Nameless, which is creepy as hell, because he’s not so hot with dialogue. Anyhow, despite the Darkness’ flaws, there’s something genuinely transcendent about it. I feel the same way about The Ninth Gate, in that both films seem to have a genuinely tense, evil feeling about them, as if they’re scratching at a hell just off-screen, a madness beyond the celluloid. I saw a DVD of the director’s cut of Darkness at a convention one time, and I’m kicking myself for not snagging it, as I’m dying to see if it fares better. If anyone has a line on it…

JA - My New Plaid Pants

I wouldn’t say everyone despised it, but I’ve found myself in the position of having to defend the merits of Hostel too often… to the point, really, where I’ve begun to wonder if I’m sick in the head for finding any merit within the film. Same goes for Wolf Creek or Audition… and I’ve just listed off three of what I consider to be the finest horror films of the past ten years.

But the whole notion of “torture porn” as the in-vogue catch-all critique, along with the success and subsequent ripping off and franchising of much lesser films (cough Saw cough - yes, two weeks dissing Saw in a row!) means the head of the horror snake is probably about to swallow its own tail again and we’ll be finding something else scary soon. Perhaps “evil bagels from outer space” will satisfy those who don’t want to be disturbed by their horror films.

Warren - 150 Days of Sodom

I’m gonna mention three movies, one recent, one from the bad times of horror (mid 90’s, early 00’s) and one from the early 90’s – also a bad time for horror.

This one sprung to mind first, Blair Witch 2: Books of Shadows (00). This movie was panned by the critics, ignored by crowds, and sunk the Blair Witch franchise, canceling plans for the third movie. Well, I don’t think people wanted a Blair Witch franchise to begin with. That movie was a one trick pony with a lot of hype.

Thank God Blair Witch 2 is not a camcorder follow-up. I swear it makes fun of the original movie and Blair Witch mania. Very funny and scary too, though the scares are no doubt dated now. The movie poster and video box suck, unfortunately.

Recent times, House of Wax (2005), great special FX and I was totally into the wax-town/fantasy world created in this movie. Dismissed by many for being from Dark Castle Entertainment and of course for its inclusion of a certain actress.

1990, this one is topical as it was directed by William Friedkin (The Exorcist) who has a new horror movie coming out today, Bug. I’m talking about the Guardian, where a nanny is sacrificing babies to a killer tree in the suburban Southern California woods. I guess that was a little hard to swallow for mainstream audiences. Yeah, it’s funny, but really well done with awesome effects and beautiful lighting.

Curt - Groovy Age of Horror

WOLFMAN NEVER SLEEPS aka FURY OF THE WOLFMAN. Even hardcore Naschy fans don’t give this much respect, but it’s the first of his werewolf movies I’ve seen, and I love it to this day!

David Z. - Tomb It May Concern

I’m a huge fan of Maniac Killer, the 1987 film from Eurocine-our crazy pals in France that cranked out more wonderfully demented films than I can find good copies of. I’m still trying though. Maniac Killer is a weirdy even for them, with cults and unbelievably bad shoot outs. Hey, it stars Bo Svenson, Robert Ginty, Chuck Connors, Stanley Kapoul (best known as the goofy bald dude from Golden Temple Amazons) and Olivier Mathot. Even though it is directed by Andrea Bianchi of Burial Ground infamy, it isn’t gory…but manages to be more bizarre than that classic.

Every person I’ve shown this masterwork too has not enjoyed it.

Strange.

Casey - Cinema Fromage

Not so much a horror flick, but a post apocalyptic alternate future… I absolutely love The Postman, even if it did star Kevin Costner. With the mix of life after nuke, the rebuilding of society, and the way the various towns built up around pockets of survivors, I eat it up every time I watch it.

Stacie - Final Girl

After last week’s responses, I’m a little afraid to admit that I…uh…*scuffs shoe on ground, bows head*…kinda sorta…umm…liked High Tension.

I knew about the much-lamented ending ahead of time; I wonder if I would’ve liked the film if I DIDN’T know. But as it was, I thought the twist was clunky but ultimately interesting. I put on my Analyzing is Fun! t-shirt and went to town on that movie, y’all!

The second time I saw it I didn’t like it nearly as much and I think I’m pretty much done with it, but I quite liked it the first time around.

Sean T. Collins - Attentiondeficitdisorderly Too Flat

If it’s not too late to add, my choice would be Jeepers Creepers, all though “everyone else” and “despise” are probably too strong–I do know a goodly number of people who liked it. But for me, the radical shifts in the “what kind of horror movie is this?” department are exactly what made the film interesting and scary, while for many others they ruined it.

Kimberly - Cinebeats

Call me crazy, but I like John Boorman’s Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977). Lots of people seem to hate this film and the critics bashed it when it was originally released, but I actually enjoy it. I think it has some really good stuff in it and I like Richard Burton’s performance as the crazy priest. I think all the bug/insect stuff in the film is well done and it has lots of creative camera work. The score Ennio Morricone composed for the movie isn’t half bad either.

Now you know better than to trust these peoples’ opinions on anything ever again. Take advantage of the comments to rassle with this week’s contributors and their choices, or take the time to let us know of a movie you love that everyone else seems to hate. And make sure you check out the various blogs and such of the assorted riff-raff seen above. Excelsior!

Name a horror movie that you disliked but everyone else seemed to enjoy.

Sean T. Collins - Attentiondeficitdisorderly Too Flat

I know it’s blasphemy, but John Carpenter’s Halloween. It’s not so much that I disliked it as that I simply didn’t see what the fuss was about. It’s certainly possible that seeing it relatively late in my horror-watching career diluted its impact given its legion of imitators, but for whatever reason it just didn’t click with me–or scare me, which is the most important thing. (I mean, wearing the glasses on the outside of the sheet?)

Jeff O’Brien

HIGH TENSION - which got raves despite a stupid twist that made no sense and sunk the movie.

Don May, Jr. - Synapse

Well, while it certainly has a few detractors (but more rabid fans than not), I cannot, for the life of me, figure out how ANYONE on God’s green Earth can find anything scary, unsettling or entertaining with THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT.

Bill Cunningham - DisContent

Maybe not so much a particular movie as a genre. I am not a huge fan of zombie movies. After Romero’s original trilogy, or Fulci’s twisted exercises in excess, I’ve found that the genre has little new to say or do. People try to escape the infection, they get eaten, they come back and eat…

End of story.

It would be nice if someone came along and really deconstructed the genre and reassembled it. I have hopes for CELL, but also have my fears that Eli Roth will eliminate some of the more genre-bending elements of the Stephen King’s story for the sake of a cleaner narrative. That, in my mind, would be a mistake. If the zombie movie is to survive it has to be re-thought.

Rony

There is one movie that comes to mind and that is The Devils Rejects. Why people think this movie is good is beyond me. I thought it was a little bit better than the other flop, House of a 1000 Corpses, but it still stank pretty bad. I don’t get why this movie is good in anyone’s eyes. Oh, well. If it wasn’t for people liking crappy movies, what would all the crappy writers/director do with themselves.

Dave - Rue Morgue’s The Abbatoir

Around Rue Morgue there’s a lot of love for Haute Tension, but I think the dumb-ass, logic-raping ending ruins the entire film. Sure, there’s a lot of good, gory stuff in there, but that’s no excuse to treat your audience like a bunch of morons with a cheesy it-was-all-in-your-mind ending.

Stacie - Final Girl

Freddy vs Jason. Most everyone I know really liked it, but man…I hated it. I thought it was mindless, which isn’t exactly shocking, I know, but more than that it felt like a really MEAN film. The premise was ok- by that, I mean I don’t know a more logical way to get Freddy and Jason to fight, anyway- and it had a moment or two that were ok. Is it because it was the last film I watched in my mega-Friday the 13th marathon? Is it because I don’t pop boners over questions like “Who would win- Jason or ASH?” and so the idea simply doesn’t appeal to me? I have no idea. I think I’m in the minority on that film, however, and it’s so lonely here.

T. Van - Tolerated Vandalism

The one horror movie that I disliked is The Exorcist. I’m probably going to get thrown out of the Horror Roundtable for admitting this. I had heard that it was the scariest film ever made but I didn’t see it until I was 18. It was completely uninteresting and not frightening at all.

JA - My New Plaid Pants

Can I say Saw? I know there are loads of other people who thought it sucked, but the thing made loads of money and has turned into a seemingly unstoppable sequel-machine and it has its defenders out there and I just thought it was the biggest heap of garbage and want to take the opportunity once more to say so. Saw is garbage. Thank you.

David Z. - Tomb It May Concern

I’m still befuddled by any positive reaction to Masters Of Horror: Jenifer directed by Dario Argento. I’d rather watch Phantom Of The Opera!!

Casey - Cinema Fromage

While I didn’t necessarily dislike the movie, I still fail to see what makes the US remake of The Ring so scary to everyone. Time and again I hear ‘wow! That was the scariest movie I’ve seen in ages!’ While it did have some creepiness, I don’t think I managed to even flinch once throughout the entire flick. But, maybe I’m jaded.

Kimberly - Cinebeats

The Descent - I was really excited to see it because I thought a horror movie featuring an all-female cast would probably be really interesting and the reviews were really positive. Maybe my expectations were too high, but I thought the movie dragged and not in a good way. When the cave creatures finally showed up I didn’t find them all that scary. But what I really hated about the movie was the the whole stupid Sarah vs. Juno thing. I couldn’t sympathize with Sarah at all and when she killed Juno (the only interesting person in The Descent), I just thought it was ridiculously handled. I could go on and on about why I don’t like this film, but I’ll end this by simply saying that The Descent is terribly overrated.

Louis - Damaged 2.0

THE DESCENT. I know this is going to ruffle a few feathers, but to me, because it was a film about women, who weren’t of the dumb “scream queen” variety, it was like saying you’re going to vote for Obama: it’s the politically correct thing to do. The movie is boring for the most part, with creatures that are pretty needless–you’ve seen this shit before, but slap some sort of political brand on it and all of a sudden it’s the second coming. Give me THE HILLS HAVE EYES 2 anyday of the week–at least that flick has the guts to know exactly what it is.

Warren - 150 Days of Sodom

Funny, I was just writing about this. Great question, there are so many. Most recently Pan’s Labyrinth and 28 Weeks Later. Before that… the Dawn of the Dead remake and the Texas Chainsaw remake, though I am not completely alone on those.

I did not like 28 Days Later either. Again, I found that a few people would agree with me on that one. When House of 1000 Corpses dropped and everyone loved it I was really scratching my head, but as time passed quite a few people popped out of the woodwork to express their dislike for that film.

Not too crazy about Haute Tension/High Tension. Good moments, but a lousy ending.

I absolutely hate the Toolbox Murders remake by Tobe Hooper.

I was really unimpressed by Wolf Creek despite all its accolades. Looking back at my blog I’m finding more examples. Hmmm, the Machinist and Jim Van Bebber’s The Manson Family, both of those are well liked, but not be me. Good directors, but oh well.

As for the classics, I seem to like most of them, so no controversial opinions there. There are some that I have grown to dislike due to over exposure, but those were probably films that I enjoyed at some time in my life.

Please let next weeks question be “Name a horror movie that you enjoyed but everyone else seemed to dislike.”

We’ll see, Warren. We’ll see. Thanks to all the participants of this week’s Horror Roundtable for putting their necks on the line. If you have a movie you’d like to add to the list, or you disagree with one of this week’s choices, let us know in the comments below. Fight!

Good, bad or ugly, describe the last horror movie you’ve watched.

Sean T. Collins - Attentiondeficitdisorderly Too Flat

It was Hostel, and I’ve described it aplenty…

Don May, Jr. - Synapse

THE REAPING… with Hillary Swank.

While watching it, I was so bored I almost wished that God would start the Rapture on Earth and end my pain at the time!

Paul Corupe - Canuxploitation

Monster on Campus (1958): Jack Arnold’s final genre effort for Universal is far better than you might expect for a film with this title, but it still pales in comparison to his earlier work, hampered by some rather poorly executed effects. The film involves a prehistoric fish that accidentally infects a science professor played by Arthur Franz, reverting evolution and changing him into a savage, murderous neanderthal. Worth it just for the unexpectedly violent scene of a ranger getting an axe in the head.

Bill Cunningham - DisContent

Phantom of the Paradise.

As weird and twisted as I remembered it as a kid.

Tim - Mondo Schlocko

SISTERS OF DEATH. At first after watching it I thought it was a great flick, until I realized how much the ending reminded me of what made HAUTE TENSION not work. So now, I would have to say it’s a great flick if you are spared the “twist ending.”

Stacie - Final Girl

Ugh, sadly enough it was Knight Chills, a really terrible
vengeance-from-beyond-the-grave story about people who play role-playing games. Awful, awful. I need to watch a classic to metaphorically wash the metaphorical bad taste out of my mouth!

Dave - Rue Morgue’s The Abbatoir

The last horror movie I watched was Uwe Boll’s original slasher movie Seed (Rue Morgue got a sneak peek at it). I didn’t necessarily expect it to be good, but I was hoping that it was an improvement over previous efforts. Unfortunately, it’s bad, it’s ugly and in no way is it so-bad-its-good. I don’t want to bash his stuff for the sake of it (really!) but this movie is so nonsensical, illogical, uninteresting and poorly put together that the most positive thing I can say about it is “at least it’s not House of the Dead.” To give you an idea of just how ludicrous it is, the horrible killings take place in the town of…wait for it…wait for it…”Sufferton.”

Warren - 150 Days of Sodom

Does the Condemned starring Stone Cold Steve Austin count as a horror movie? I think it does. Yet another twist on the old Most Dangerous Game story. A lot of people are calling The Condemned a remake of “Battle Royale”, mostly because they want to show the world that they are hip enough to have seen Battle Royale, but also because they don’t understand what the term “remake” means. Has anyone else seen people use this term too liberally? Check the imdb message boards.

Ok, The Condemned IS like Battle Royale (timed explosive devices attached to the contestants) but of course the story is nothing new. Lots of hilarious rhetoric here about violence and entertainment and of course it’s so hypocritical coming from the exploitative WWE, not because they produce violent entertainment, it’s pretty tame, let’s face it, but because the company exploits its own talent so badly - those wrestlers give theirall get taken advantage of by Vince McMahon’s only wrestling game in town.

Yet is it hypocrisy or expertise? The villain here is a media mogul, who is far more fun too watch than the action sequences, which reviewers will tell you were not directed all that well. Watch this movie for the dialogue and the speeches and prepare to laugh - hopefully with the movie and maybe even along with Vince McMahon, I don’t know what they had in mind, but I had a blast.

Rony

The last Horror movie I watched was Demons, I love that movie! I only need to say one thing about that movie and that’s when a Pimp is kickin ass then you know you have a winner on your hands. If you haven’t seen it then you should bow your head in shame.

Curt - Groovy Age of Horror

Yesterday my brother and I did our own little grindhouse double-feature: ZOMBIE and VANISHING POINT.

JA - My New Plaid Pants

Vacancy counts, I suppose, with its snuff-film storyline and masked murderers. Decent little aggressive B-flick, I guess; I would’ve probably enjoyed it more if I weren’t in a late showing in Times Square where one raucous asshole decided it was his job to literally run back and forth in front of the screen screaming for minutes at a time every time a single scare happened. Ugh.

David Z. - Tomb It May Concern

Emmanuelle And The Last Cannibals… while surely not an epic cannibal film, the crossing of the two genres (Sex And Cannibals…GoonaHumpasploitation?) and Laura Gemser’s presence make it a treat. Look for Dr. Butcher, Donald O’Brien, in a very silly bisection sequence!

Don’t be an A-Hole! make sure you check out all the fine blogs and assorted sites the Horror Roundtable faithful have to offer. But before you leave pop into the comments and tell us about the last horror movie you’ve watched. No cheating!

Name your favourite no-to-low budget horror movie.

Paul Corupe - Canuxploitation

I’ve been an unabashed fan of Ted V. Mikels’ The Corpse Grinders ever since I first saw it on Off Beat Cinema years ago. Naturally, the film involves a cut-rate cat food company who use an unorthodox source of meat for their products, at least until the human hungry kitties decide to make fancy feasts out of their owners. It’s famously no-budget, featuring a meat grinder fashioned out of a cardboard box and roughly three sets, but it’s also just saturated in an ultra-cheap and sleazy 42nd St feel that takes it beyond the realm of most poverty row horrors.

Jeff O’Brien

The Evil Dead.

Sean T. Collins - Attentiondeficitdisorderly Too Flat

The Blair Witch Project, duh. Scariest movie I’ve ever seen.

Don May, Jr. - Synapse

Well, my first choice, obviously, would be EVIL DEAD… but, lately, of all the “new” filmmakers, etc., I’d have to say the best one I’ve seen is THE REDSIN TOWER.

Bill Cunningham - DisContent

SEX MACHINE written by Christopher Sharpe and John Oak Dalton and directed by Sharpe. Available May 1st at better retail outlets or direct from the distributor www.anthemdvd.com.

I liked the movie so much I decided to represent the producers and get them a distribution deal.

For more info go to www.sexmachinemovie.com.

JA - My New Plaid Pants

I was gonna say Blair Witch - the ultimate - but there’s another one that’s been on my mind the past few days - Wendigo, by Larry Fessenden. The monster turns out to be a little… silly, in the end, honestly… but the sense of dread the film acheives in its first half by exploiting a fear of stray bullets from hunting accidents is impressive… something I, being from a town of good ol’ boys, can appreciate only too well.

Louis - Damaged 2.0

SEX MACHINE, muthafuckers! The low budget tale of a man out to get revenge on the evil scientist that has turned him into a Frankenstein-like freak! It finally came out on DVD last Tuesday and well worth it!

Tim - Mondo Schlocko

My all-time fave would have to be Eric Stanze’s out-of-print THE SCARE GAME, just for the sole reason that it introduced to me the world of indie underground films. Not to mention the idea that I or anybody else could make their own flick.

Casey - Cinema Fromage

For no to low budget, I enjoyed The Red Skulls quite a bit! It’s a long long haul from Hollywood fare, but the story was fairly original, some genuine laughs in there, and if nothing else the crew’s passion for the genre and making movies was great.

David Z. - Tomb It May Concern

So many of the eurohorror films of the 70’s had tiny budgets… I find it hard to nail down what I consider low budget. That said, when I think of good and cheap movies the classic Deadbeat At Dawn comes to mind. Microbudget but long on attitude and action, Jim Van Bebber carved a legacy in cheap action film history with this film and every bit of his energy shows on screen.

Kudos to the cool cats of The Horror Roundtable for plugging such fine low-budget gems. Now you have no excuse! Get out of the sunshine, into a dim room and catch some Z-movie gems.