200 Items Or Less: Tales From The Crypt (1972)

A few thoughts: As much as I love Dr. Terror's House Of Horrors, I think this one has to be my favorite of Amicus' horror anthologies. With a very simple but effective wraparound story (complete with a cloaked "crypt keeper", not to be mistaken with the TV show's host), this one wastes no time getting straight into twisted stories that manage to get under your skin and elicit strong emotional reactions. Definitely the most effective of the bunch has to be the one with (are you ready to be surprised?) Peter Cushing, whose performance as a sad old man is totally heartbreaking. The opening Christmas-themed segment is wonderfully twisted as well, and their take on the Monkey's Paw is probably my favorite ever put on film. As a whole, this movie is violent and unsettling on an existential level, the stories are more emotionally charged than their previous anthology films, and even the fifth segment (which is easily my least favorite in the film) has enough going for it to keep me entertained throughout. A top-tier anthology film.

200 Items Or Less: The Caller (1987)

A few thoughts: Wow, what a total 180 this movie took. The set-up is simple: a woman is interrupted in her house in the woods by a passerby whose car has broken down and needs a phone to call for a tow. But beyond this and for the entire runtime there is something much more bizarre and sinister to it. These people act like they know each other and are playing some bizarre game. Without spoiling anything beyond this, I was told this movie had a totally unpredictable twist (the poster itself even mentions the "surprise twist"), but even with the constant guessing I still never would have predicted the finale. That being said, this isn't a movie that requires a huge ending, since the journey there is very interesting. The Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf dynamic between the two leads is terrific, and Malcolm McDowell gives one of his best performances, more than making up for the failures of the female lead (an over-emoting Madolyn Smith), who plays it frazzled, but never quite believable. All-in-all, I enjoyed this a lot.

200 Items Or Less: Asylum (1972)

A few thoughts: In the surprise of the century, this movie is framed within an...asylum. One of Amicus' 7 anthology films, this one fits somewhere near the middle for me (and release date-wise), which means it floats somewhere in between great and pretty good. This is one of their anthologies that allows the framework to play into the stories being told (somewhat), but the segments are very much still individual. As is always the case with these movies, I love the way this film looks, using slick cinematography and cool lighting in pretty interesting ways, but that's nothing to be surprised about. As could also be expected, the story segment centered around Peter Cushing is particularly good, and features some of the most creative visuals and lighting in the entire film. These 7 anthologies are all so consistently good, it becomes hard to find new things to say about them individually. There's a solid wraparound story holding this one together, and the variety within the stories is pretty perfect. Yet another really enjoyable portmanteau from Amicus.

5 Favorite performances: Danny Trejo

Danny Trejo

It's generally accepted that the best variety of acting is the kind that feels true. With that being said, Danny Trejo is one of the truest actors who has ever lived, a real-life ex-criminal who wears every bad decision and violent act on his grizzled face that has clearly seen (and done) more than his fair share of...let's say disreputable acts. Often cast as badasses, criminals, etc. Trejo feels like a stunt casting choice that somehow bled into more and more projects until he eventually became a real actor. And I'm so glad he did. He's a rare breed of actor who can say more by just existing than most others can with a script full of dialogue.

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200 Items Or Less: The Woman In Black (2012)

A few thoughts: In spite of an upsetting over-reliance on jump-scares and terror chords, there is a lot to like about this modern Hammer horror film. For one, the setting is great. I love the dreary town, foggy moors, and decrepit old mansion it's set in. I like the paranoid townsfolk delivering all the "don't go up to that house!" dialogue straight out of a classic horror film. I like the cinematography and period-appropriate attention to detail throughout. But beyond these surface things, the movie starts to fall apart. The jump-scares and things popping out to scare the cameraman become tedious -- let the creepy images be scary on their own, you don't need to throw in explosively loud banging noises to shock people into thinking they're creepy. All it does is disrupt the atmosphere and come across as cheap. The music is derivative, but identifiable enough to work, I just wish they'd done more with the orchestral music and less with the "Blaaaah!!! Krpshhh!!!" crap. It's a solid horror movie that could have been much better just by a few omissions and some toned-down audio.

A look back at 2017 in film

With easily the least number of movies I've seen from a modern year, 2017 (based on my limited sample size) was also the most mediocre for me in terms of the greatest and the worst that I saw. Most everything fell into the 6/10 to 7/10 range, which is possibly the worst kind of movie to see in great excess. Without a ton of garbage to complain about or brilliant art to praise, a good chunk of my moviegoing experiences from 2017 were pretty forgettable and barely worth the effort. That being said, I still have a dozen or so films I plan on watching before I start doing any top 10s, but that isn't going to keep me from working on this little retrospective. So buckle in, this is going to be a pretty lengthy post, methinks -- Iwas lying when I used the word "little" just a moment ago. HOWEVER, I will include this alphabetized list of all the movies included here, where you can click on the titles you're interested in and go straight to my segment on that particular film. Easy peasy, lemon febreezy. Here's the list:

5 Favorite performances: Clancy Brown

Clancy Brown

An uncommonly versatile actor, Clancy Brown is one of relatively few who has managed to be both a successful (and prolific) voice actor as well as a familiar face to people who generally avoid animation/video games. With key roles in movies like The Shawshank Redemption, he's not the kind of guy most people will recognize by name but are more than familiar with: par for the course for a character actor. He's got good comedic timing, dramatic whatchamacallit, and the ability to be as over-the-top or reserved as the material he's given calls for without being a distraction. You don't always have to be the lead actor to stand out, and Brown is proof of that.

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200 Items Or Less: The House That Dripped Blood (1971)

A few thoughts: The third of the Amicus anthology horrors, this Peter Duffell-directed collection of stories is never quite able to grab ahold due to a forgettable wraparound story, but still does several things really well. One thing I particularly enjoyed about this one was how they allowed the wraparound and one of the stories to actually collide, making the whole thing feel less like a random selection of tales and more of a cohesive whole. They would later do this in their other films as well. Sadly, the stories themselves are just less interesting here than in the previous two films, even if they are well shot and adequately executed; the segment titled "Waxworks" with Peter Cushing, in particular, has a really cool look. There are four stories here, one involving a literary killer, one about a possibly-evil child, the aforementioned wax one, and the story of a cloak that turns its wearer into a vampire. Some are creepy, others are silly, but they all have their own appeals. Not as good as 'Dr. Terror' or 'Torture Garden', but still very solid.

200 Items Or Less: Torture Garden (1967)

A few thoughts: Following in the tradition of their first portmanteau anthology film, Amicus gave Freddie Francis the director's chair yet again and the result, while not quite as good as 'Dr. Terror', was still a lot of fun. With a similar framework (this time with Burgess Meredith in the Dr. Terror-esque role) this movie takes less conventional horror stories than its predecessor, instead telling tales of man-eating cats, evil pianos, and other crazy things. With four main stories and a wraparound framework, this movie proves yet again that even when some individual segments are weaker than others, with one director in charge of filming the project, a consistent tone elevates the material. Because they figured this out, these movies never feel like a mishmash of incohesive non-sequiturs. Much more similar to Dr. Terror than any of the other anthologies, this movie still stands on its own and it does a great job telling some weird and cool stories. While I obviously prefer Peter Cushing as the host, Burgess Meredith does an excellent job and really helps tie the segments together.

200 Items Or Less: The Fall Of The House Of Usher (1928)

A few thoughts: One of the first things I noticed about this movie is the vast emptiness in which it all takes place. This giant mansion with large open spaces makes up the backdrop, while the bizarre and experimental editing often fills up the foreground, slowly building g up until it eventually bombards you with twisted imagery and supernatural hallucinations. This was written by Luis Bunuel, after all, so I would expect nothing less. Instead of adapting the Poe source material in a more conventional way, this movie works mostly as an experiment in tone and atmosphere. Instead of recalling plot points, you'll most likely look back on images, or the way you felt while watching it. This is by no means a conventional film, horror or otherwise. I honestly found myself feeling uncomfortable enough while watching it that I had trouble continually looking at the screen, the atmosphere clinging to me even when I'd look away. It's clichéd to say, but this isn't just a movie you watch, you experience it. And considering how much it accomplishes in just over an hour, it becomes all the more impressive.

200 Items Or Less: Dracula Has Risen From The Grave (1968)

A few thoughts: The Brides Of Dracula and Dracula: Prince Of Darkness are superior Dracula sequels in pretty much every way, yet still this is somehow a pretty awesome movie. Christopher Lee speaks again, for the first time since the early scenes in Horror Of Dracula from '58, but they still keep his dialogue minimal. I don't fully understand how they make it work, but Dracula is back to "life" again, and he set his sights on a woman -- relative of a devout christian, and girlfriend to an atheist. The way they handle these two clashing religious ideals works surprisingly well, never forcing either to change their outlooks, just allowing them to develop and play off each other believably. The lens/filters they use give many of the scenes a warped look, particularly those centered around Dracula. Lee still brings a lot of daunting physicality to his role, seducing and menacing characters throughout. It never feels like they forced him to appear more frightening than he actually is. The story is simple, the acting is solid, and I love the aesthetic. Solid Hammer horror.

200 Items Or Less: Night Of The Eagle (1962)

A few thoughts: I have a bit of a soft spot for movies about witchcraft and the occult -- I just find these to be a very intriguing subject. So when I came across well-received but still overlooked older horror movies about those things, you know I have to give them a look. And even with the high expectations I had going into it, this movie did not disappoint. I found myself reminded of Jacques Tournier's 1957 classic 'Night of the Demon' while watching this, a statement that can only be seen as a compliment, considering that films masterful tone and understated sense of dread. This is a very similar style of movie, letting the drama build and unwind naturally around a central character who wants to believe what's happening couldn't possibly be caused by the dark arts. The film doesn't waste any time getting to the point, but it never feels rushed. The production is wonderful, and the few effects shots there are are suitably unsettling and bizarre. The acting is great and I honestly have trouble finding any problems with the rest of the movie. I really dug it.