strangenstein's Replies


Stitch, your points are all valid and well-taken, but I still believe the movie has a certain power. Writer/Director Barden has his heart in the right place, and even with the shortcomings, the film he created is well-intentioned. During the time period The Judas Project was being filmed, it was leagues ahead of most other low budget Christian films. Christian filmmaking has come a long way since then, but The Judas Project is still a decent effort. My wife and I saw this on its second weekend back in ‘99. We’d heard it was scary, but had no idea about the twist. We were both blown away. It’s since become fashionable to claim, “Oh, I figured it out right away”, but I think most people are full of beans. They just don’t want to admit they were outsmarted by a movie. They both have a lot of unneeded carnage, but Halloween II flows so much better. Laurie is likable, unlike her drunken, broke down version in the new one. I still believe Halloween II is the only sequel where The Shape FEELS like The Shape. Agreed regarding Kevin. When I watched it again last night I was appalled at how he speaks to his parents. If I’d ever spoken that way to my mom and dad, well, I probably wouldn’t here today. It’ll be 5 or 6 years before I watch it again, but when I do I’ll keep your words in mind about liking Kevin. Oh good grief. This movie is already full of pretentious teen angst, just imagine adding modern snowflakes who always got participation trophies. The Leopard Man has several frightening scenes, including the walk under the bridge and the famous door scene. Oh, and let’s not forget the wonderful “stuck in the cemetery” scenes. It’s not the best of the Lewton films, but it’s certainly worth a viewing. You lost me when you said the climax would be better with CGI. The final destruction of Dracula is amazing and holds up extremely well. I’d put it up against any of today’s bloated CGI-fests. I was 16 and saw it in the theater with a girlfriend. There was A LOT of screaming! I especially remember how the audience reacted when Laurie encountered The Shape. That entire chase sequence was so intense and it had the desired effect on the audience, with plenty of screaming, hollering, etc. There have been several Halloween sequels, but Halloween II, in my opinion, is the only one where The Shape feels like The Shape. OhmsLaw, I was thinking the exact same thing. I enjoy the Hallmark and Netflix Christmas movies, but none of them can hold a candle to the raw emotion The House Without a Christmas Tree touches on. This post has been deleted because I have to eat so I can take my back pill. There are no surprises here, but it is well made and the leads have a solid chemistry. I even laughed a few times. Good chemistry, a few laughs, and a tug or two on the heartstrings make for an enjoyable 90 minutes. Several years ago, when my daughters were about 15 and 12, we went to Universal Studios in Florida. We did all of the rides and attractions, but our favorite was the JAWS ride. (I’d ridden it back in 1983, bit it was quite different then.) After the ride was over I said to my girls, “Imagine if we were on that ride and something went wrong. The boat would sink and we’d have to swim to shore, knowing there are several of those monsters down there on rails, and we’d never know quite where they were until it was too late.” Both my girls thought that was really, really scary...as did I. That just goes to show you the continued power of JAWS. My wife and I saw this on a sunny Sunday afternoon in Bakersfield, California. We both walked out of the theater scared silly. The hallway scene got a huge scream, but other scenes were also quite effective. I do remember applause when Father Mourning arrived for the exorcism. There have only been a handful of movies that really frightened me, and this was one of them. Scary, smart and well made. 80s movies, particularly horror movies, may offend snowflakes, Social Justice Warriors, safe spacers, and anyone who ever received a participation trophy. Forgive my laughter, but you’re disturbed by a statue and a flag? I’d think people being knifed to death would warrant a little concern. The score was the best thing about the movie. That was my first thought, too. Her “nasty woman” diatribe completely turned me off on her. ALIENS is my favorite of the series, followed closely by the first one. Cameron’s take here was not only perfect, but genius. He stayed true to the rules laid down in the first film, then logically expanded the story. If one was scary, imagine what hundreds/thousands will be like? Cameron also played (and preyed) on the audience having that knowledge — then gave us characters who didn’t take the threat seriously. That ramped up the dread and fear tenfold. Great, great movie. I saw it in ‘86 in Sherman, Texas. It was amazing! Probably the most tense/intense movie-going experience (for me) since JAWS. I was 7 in 1972 and remember to this day how much that scene scared me. The bit with the lady in her photo darkroom also terrified me. I didn’t see the movie again until I was almost 30, and both those scenes (particularly the morgue scene) were still powerful. The sequel scared me, too. I saw Frogs in 1972 at the age of seven. It was a Sunday afternoon. I’ll never forget the next morning, my mom calling down the hall to “wake up and get ready for school”. I was terrified to get out of bed! I was sure there were thousands of frogs under my bed, and as soon as I stepped on the floor they’d all jump on me! That was in 1972. It’s now 2019 and I haven’t touched a frog in all those years.