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<blockquote data-quote="Crimson" data-source="post: 375040" data-attributes="member: 5079">Likely the reason I have never watched THE OTHERS.&nbsp; I&#039;ve enjoyed Nicole&#039;s work occasionally, but I lean towards being ambivalent about her.&nbsp; &nbsp; I&#039;m now intrigued enough by THE OTHERS to add it to the Halloween viewing this year.I rarely, if ever, watch horror movies for 11 months out of the year but then watch basically nothing but horror(-ish) in October.&nbsp; &nbsp; Over the past week, I&#039;ve been watching one or two per night.&nbsp;&nbsp; In no particular order:FRIGHT NIGHT (1985)&nbsp; Long one of my favorite horror films and, I think, one of the two or three best vampire movies.&nbsp; This one is nearly an annual tradition for me.&nbsp; My only real quibble about movie through the years is Amanda Bearse, who I&#039;ve always found a somewhat irksome actress.&nbsp; It hardly seemed worth the effort of saving her character from the vampire.CRIMSON PEAK (2015)&nbsp; I had not seen this one before and now I know why; my instincts to avoid it were keen.&nbsp; I love a movie with visual flair but too much can be too much.&nbsp; The visuals in the film are so overdone, the (very thin) story was swamped.&nbsp; I could never forget I was watching overly costumed actors performing on overly decorated sets.&nbsp; At no point did the movie &quot;pull me in&quot;.&nbsp; I fell asleep at around the 75% mark and, until then, nothing remotely interesting or spooky had occurred.&nbsp; THE LAST VOYAGE OF THE DEMETER (2023)&nbsp;&nbsp; I was mildly optimistic for this one, based on the lone chapter of the original DRACULA novel on shipboard.&nbsp; Even a rudimentary version of this story should have been easy to pull off, essentially a Victorian era ALIEN -- a group of people trapped in a confined space being hunted by an unseen force.&nbsp; But Hollywood, in 2023, no longer knows how to make movies.&nbsp; Too much CGI, frantic action and silly gore ruined any tension or atmosphere that might have built.&nbsp; Also, the worst vampire design ever.BRAM STROKERS&#039; DRACULA&nbsp; (1992)&nbsp;&nbsp; After the last film, I thought perhaps I&#039;d make my way backwards through the more notable Dracula movies.&nbsp; I finished Coppola&#039;s version, although I find myself disliking it a bit more each time I watch it.&nbsp;&nbsp; Unlike CRIMSON PEAK, the over-the-top style adds to the movie here.&nbsp; It&#039;s the actors who sink it: ranging from preposterously hammy to weirdly awkward, this may be the worst acted film I&#039;ve ever seen.&nbsp; I tried watching the 1979 version with Frank Langella and the 1974 version with Jack Palance.&nbsp; My patience broke early on both.&nbsp; I barely lasted 30 minutes into the later, but found it too sluggish and dry in the 1970s TV kind of way.&nbsp; Speaking of which ...SALEM&#039;S LOT (1979)&nbsp; No movie of my childhood haunted me more than this one; I don&#039;t think I&#039;ve ever walked into a dark room without half expecting there to be a vampire with glowing eyes sitting in a rocking chair.&nbsp; It&#039;s remarkable just how creepily effective several sequences are in this production; and, therefore, also&nbsp; remarkable how flat and devoid of atmosphere the rest of the movie is in comparison.&nbsp; Typical TV stuff of the era: glacial pacing and thick-headed characters responding to events too slowly for apparently no reason than the writers needed to drag it out.&nbsp;&nbsp; But, man, when it&#039;s good it&#039;s really good.BEETLEJUICE (1988)&nbsp; Weird and humorously macabre, this one is always a delight.&nbsp; There is only one part of the movie I dislike: Beetlejuice himself.&nbsp; A character who&#039;s meant to be obnoxious and annoying is still obnoxious and annoying.&nbsp; Fortunately he&#039;s not on screen as much as one might expected as the title character, and when he&#039;s not around the movie is a blast.ELVIRA MISTRESS OF THE DARK (1988)&nbsp;&nbsp; This one needed Tim Burton.&nbsp; It seemed heavily inspired by Burton&#039;s PEE WEE&#039;S BIG ADVENTURE and the aforementioned BEETLEJUICE,&nbsp; but it&#039;s not nearly as funny or as well executed.&nbsp; Still, Elvira&#039;s Mae West filtered through Morticia Addams routine was (and is) fun.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Crimson, post: 375040, member: 5079"] Likely the reason I have never watched THE OTHERS. I've enjoyed Nicole's work occasionally, but I lean towards being ambivalent about her. I'm now intrigued enough by THE OTHERS to add it to the Halloween viewing this year. I rarely, if ever, watch horror movies for 11 months out of the year but then watch basically nothing but horror(-ish) in October. Over the past week, I've been watching one or two per night. In no particular order: FRIGHT NIGHT (1985) Long one of my favorite horror films and, I think, one of the two or three best vampire movies. This one is nearly an annual tradition for me. My only real quibble about movie through the years is Amanda Bearse, who I've always found a somewhat irksome actress. It hardly seemed worth the effort of saving her character from the vampire. CRIMSON PEAK (2015) I had not seen this one before and now I know why; my instincts to avoid it were keen. I love a movie with visual flair but too much can be too much. The visuals in the film are so overdone, the (very thin) story was swamped. I could never forget I was watching overly costumed actors performing on overly decorated sets. At no point did the movie "pull me in". I fell asleep at around the 75% mark and, until then, nothing remotely interesting or spooky had occurred. THE LAST VOYAGE OF THE DEMETER (2023) I was mildly optimistic for this one, based on the lone chapter of the original DRACULA novel on shipboard. Even a rudimentary version of this story should have been easy to pull off, essentially a Victorian era ALIEN -- a group of people trapped in a confined space being hunted by an unseen force. But Hollywood, in 2023, no longer knows how to make movies. Too much CGI, frantic action and silly gore ruined any tension or atmosphere that might have built. Also, the worst vampire design ever. BRAM STROKERS' DRACULA (1992) After the last film, I thought perhaps I'd make my way backwards through the more notable Dracula movies. I finished Coppola's version, although I find myself disliking it a bit more each time I watch it. Unlike CRIMSON PEAK, the over-the-top style adds to the movie here. It's the actors who sink it: ranging from preposterously hammy to weirdly awkward, this may be the worst acted film I've ever seen. I tried watching the 1979 version with Frank Langella and the 1974 version with Jack Palance. My patience broke early on both. I barely lasted 30 minutes into the later, but found it too sluggish and dry in the 1970s TV kind of way. Speaking of which ... SALEM'S LOT (1979) No movie of my childhood haunted me more than this one; I don't think I've ever walked into a dark room without half expecting there to be a vampire with glowing eyes sitting in a rocking chair. It's remarkable just how creepily effective several sequences are in this production; and, therefore, also remarkable how flat and devoid of atmosphere the rest of the movie is in comparison. Typical TV stuff of the era: glacial pacing and thick-headed characters responding to events too slowly for apparently no reason than the writers needed to drag it out. But, man, when it's good it's really good. BEETLEJUICE (1988) Weird and humorously macabre, this one is always a delight. There is only one part of the movie I dislike: Beetlejuice himself. A character who's meant to be obnoxious and annoying is still obnoxious and annoying. Fortunately he's not on screen as much as one might expected as the title character, and when he's not around the movie is a blast. ELVIRA MISTRESS OF THE DARK (1988) This one needed Tim Burton. It seemed heavily inspired by Burton's PEE WEE'S BIG ADVENTURE and the aforementioned BEETLEJUICE, but it's not nearly as funny or as well executed. Still, Elvira's Mae West filtered through Morticia Addams routine was (and is) fun. [/QUOTE]

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