My Recently Watched (and Honourable Mentions)

My Recently Watched (and Honourable Mentions)

 WARNING: IM TALKING ABOUT HORROR AND SENSITIVE TOPICS!!

A couple of these were a rewatch, being Brain Damage and Fallen Angels. I love both very deeply but being totally honest,  I do pick favourites and it's fallen angels lol. 

Fallen Angels: 4/5

One thing is I forgot how much of the movie is just floaty shots and monologues; not complaining though. The action is good but I think where the movie really shines is the sections with Ho Chi-mo (my favourite) where he forcefully serves a man and his family ice cream or hangs out with his obsessive girlfriend-who's-not-his-girlfriend-and-loves-someone-else and they beat up a blow up doll together. More than that though, I like the relationships in the movie, the neurotic Blondie who just wants her lover to remember her, or the cat and mouse chase between the Killer and his Agent, or the friend zoned shoulder to cry on. The music is really great too, specifically Karmacoma by Massive Attack, 忘记他 (Forget Him) by Shirley Kwan and Speak my Language by Laurie Anderson  one of which ill hopefully add to the blog to play :D (fingers crossed). (kinda) SPOILER I forgot about the ending until it was literally happening and it really affected me lol, I love Ho and his dad's relationship, very simple but strange and sweet.

In retrospect I'll probably bump up the mark to 5/5 idk why it was 4. 

Secretary: 4/5 (content warning S/H)

This movie had been rotting in my watchlist for like a couple years I think. I kept putting it off for some reason, maybe because I was a little shy about putting it on my page and being outed as a FREAK. No but, I was really pleasantly surprised but also shocked since the movie is marketed only as a romantic comedy yet it opens with her leaving a mental institution and not long after shows her self harming after an interaction with her dad. This wasn't a downside for me, I was honestly glad it had that extra dimension other than just James Spader spanking lmao. Seriously though, it made Lee dimensional, vulnerable and relatable, seeing her spiral and fall into obviously age-old habits, with her sewing kit being childish looking,  and her mum locking away sharp utensils in a cupboard as a 'precaution'. I liked Lee alot but my main complaint is I really didn't like James Spader's character that much (E Edward Grey) and he's supposed to be the main love interest. Peter, who's supposed to be the lame boring boyfriend was actually more likeable to me, their little "TESTICLES!" bit in the dry cleaners? place was cute. He's clingy and a little neurotic (having had a previous nervous breakdown), but so is Lee and he's likeable, CLINGY IS GOOD!! lol. His neediness that creeps over in the moments where he picks at her shirt like a chimp grooming it's partner while she talks to her parents is sweet. Spader is just kind of a grandiose loser, and the relationship didn't really have me rooting for it like at all. I LOVE PETER. Overall, I really enjoyed the movie and I wish I watched it earlier. 

Brain Damage: 4/5 (content warning addiction)

Brain Damage is always going to be good, made by Frank Henenlotter it's weird and pretty phallic. No but seriously, Brain Damage is great an allegory for Drug Addiction exemplified in one of  the opening scenes where a older mild mannered couple turn completely primal trying to search for Aylmer (the brain worm). This complete destruction of their apartment and their later frantic search throughout the complex signify the all possible transition from a 'functioning addict' to someone owned by their need to indulge. You can't lock it in a room to be fed and used when you want, you cant 'quit whenever you want', addiction is ever present, even when it's dormant and ignored. The visuals are really great, the room filling with blue water? as he becomes engulfed is one of the most memorable shots from the whole movie. The design of Aylmer is unique and most definitely phallic, resembling the mutant penis from Henenlotter's other movie 'Bad Biology' (would recommend but I think it's kind of for a niche audience). Some people have made the connection to the movie being about homosexuality which could definitely be argued, I could see it. Aylmer is a smooth talking worm, the embodiment of peer pressure with his little eyes, purpley-black volcanic rock looking skin and injector-fang?stinger? Brian is also cute. 

Video Violence 2: 1½ (content warning graphic violence) 

This movie was a major let down, MAJORLY. I found it via a little youtube account, where the guy (he seemed really sweet so im not mad... just disappointed) recommended this as a movie alike to Late Night with the Devil. Maybe it was his description, he said it was a show getting hacked by two killers, like a Max Headroom type deal with more blood. It was really low quality when I watched it, with no captions so it made it pretty indecipherable so that didn't help my experience/enjoyment. It's just mostly a girl getting tortured, with a moment where they pull on her wrist tendons to make her do a middle finger, and then interspliced with silly little shorts like one where a furby-knock off bites a piece out of a kid's neck. I could probably rewatch it and give it higher but I was VERY bored. I would probably recommend, just as another 80s schlocky horror. I'm most probably gonna watch the first one and see if it's any better.

Honourable Mentions: (content warning graphic violence) 

Doom Asylum is GREAT, very campy and troma humour. Good kills, and silly characters. I loved the beginning in which our killer wakes up in a morgue mid-dissection and kills the coroners. I definitely recommend a watch. 4/5

Slaughter High's kills are so good, one being via an electrified bed, another with an acid bath and another being a busted stomach from slamming a beer too fast. My favourite character, Skipper, gets killed off after surviving his initial execution which sucks hence why I deducted a half-point. He was my final boy </3. Definitely recommend. 3½/5