Basket Case or Brain Damage?

Which Frank Henenlotter classic is better?

The dilemma of sequels, in comparison to the first in the series

Say if someone asks you your favorite film of the [random franchise] series. The first film is usually always the best. Even if you enjoy the sequels, they still owe too much to the original entry. Obviously, they wouldn't exist without the original, but the story of the sequels tends to always be very derivative of the original.

Do you concur with this, or can you think of examples to contradict it?

For example, I'm here thinking which Planet of the Apes is my favorite. Sure, I voted the first one the highest, but that's just respecting of its impact on film in general. I might very well prefer one of the sequels, but damnit... I'm just not sure.

Have You Ever Received a Letter From Jesus?

I just received a letter in the mail from Jesus H. Christ, dated June 4, 2017, from Palestine, TX. According to his letter, Mr. Christ lifted a truck and trailer with "heavy bomb" from the close vicinity of the prison where "Keyholder Mouthpiece Warren Jeffs is held in Texas illegal order by bribe judge labor..." and hurled it into space where it did explode producing a bright light seen in Canada and the United States. This was "...a nuclear tractor bomb that I, Jesus Christ, saw Putin of Russia give code to blow up the Powledge Prison in Texas." There were other details that were only vaguely understandable since Mr. Christ has not fully learned how to express himself in English yet, something about "...comet land covering nuclear debris order, with mountain death of new land reserved to do this labor of no radioactive material... yea, I, Jesus Christ, did cover nuclear waste."

So, where was Mr. C at the end of Beneath the Planet of the Apes and have you ever received a letter from him?

Challenge of the Apes - Midway Recap

As we approach the midway point I wanted to alert everyone that I've been monkeying around with the Kong Bonus by adding more films to watch and there are now two 50 point Kong bonuses possible. See Progress Thread for complete details.

Now, here's how the apes stand so far:
beatnik - 2615 points puts me in Caesar's spot but even Caesar had his downfall - beware the Ides of Smerd!
Box_A_Hair - 1808 points & first & only to complete the live POTA show so far.
Smerd - 1783 points - Smerdy is reading his way to the top.
JohanWoW - 1311 points sees Johan sampling both universes with a smattering of sexplo.
India - 1303 points - taking a classical approach with only one post 60's film so far.
peeptoad - 1273 points - give peeps a couple more Scooby Snacks and she could win this thing.
Foz - 1180 points - deserves a bonus for including one of my favorite docos, The King of Kong.
Troma - 648 points with complete disloyalty to Pota & Kong!
Ballz - 633 points with complete loyalty to POTA!
Gymnopedie - 91 points & lost in Boggy Creek...

EDIT: More monkey business - these guys posted too late to be included in the recap but here's their scores so far:
sethyeah - a whopping 1732 points jumps him to 4th place.
BarkingBaphomat - 651 points from six films.
NoseOfNicko - 253 points catapults him to second place.... from the last.

Now, get up and fight like apes!

Has anyone watched A Dark Song (2016)?

https://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRxwkH4yvxy_HhoYezG4GgdJo-Owpe65CpOYJqEqjcuE_Z94v9-

I guess i belong to the minority of people but i actually prefer slow burn/atmospheric horror films over the more conventional ones. Now with this one definitely qualifies for slow burn and i was really enjoying it up until the final act which was anticlimactic and even borderline cheesy, but the overall impact of the movie was so great that i didn't let the ending ruin it for me. Definitely one of my best horror watches of 2017 and i am curious if anyone else watched it to know how they felt about the ending.

Top 10 Lists are Bullshit

Every time I try to sit down and formulate one, I can't do it! I always feel guilty for leaving out this or that, and then I just give up after several, several minutes.

However, I know people fucking LOVE reading Top 10 lists, but I guess people just love reading bullshit.

#Rant

George A. Romero, 1940-2017

The king of zombies has fallen to the hands of lung cancer. He was in the middle of developing some more zombie stuff too. As the years went on, his movies were noticably less awesome than they were pre-90s, but he was a great director, an even greater writer, and when he made a movie, he went all out. Just imagine how insane it was back to employ so many extras, to play walking corpses! He also starred in his movies, edited them, and had his own style of filmmaking. Directors these days? You can substitute anybody for the director, and the movie would probably feel the same. Filmmakers today don't have the passion that this guy did, and you can tell that from the behind the scenes stuff.

TOP 5:
Martin (1977) - I'd read that Romero considers this his best film. It's certainly the one that stuck with me the most.
Dawn of the Dead (1978) - This movie was cool as fuck. The characters, the plot, the progression, the music, everything.
Night of the Living Dead (1968) - The one that started it all. It's a perfect (public domain) movie to put on for any horror occasion.
Creepshow (1982) - The perfect horror anthology, with a star studded cast.
Day of the Dead (1985) - More moody zombie shit with wonderful gore.

Too bad I didn't meet him at the conventions. I probably should've bit the bullet and paid the big bucks and waited the long lines, but oh well. My late teen years were dedicated to finding more George Romero movies to watch.

I never understood why he included his middle initial A in his name. When someone says "George Romero", we all know they're talking about this guy, because he's the only one that counts.

RIP - George A. Romero

Without googling it, do you know what the A. stands for? Answer: Andrew

What is/are your favorite horror TV show(s) ?

What is/are your favorite horror TV show(s) ? This includes horror TV shows that are currently still on and finished. Anything that falls under the horror umbrella such as anthology, horror dramas, science fiction, documentaries etc..anything.

Here is what I consider some of my favorites:

(in order)

The X Files
A Haunting
UFO Hunters
Masters of Horror
The Twilight Zone (original)
Angel
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Dark Skies
My Ghost Story

Well, they are some of mine. What are some of your favorites?

The Current State of Forums

Perhaps we're in a drought, but to me, it seems particularly dry in the forum/message community. Here I am, stalking other IMDB replacements ImdbArchive, MovieChat, and Imdb2, and none of them are bustling with activity. Tis a shame, really. I was hoping at least one of these places would take off.

This leads to the burning question of what people yearn for. What is the desire? What do people want? Are we not doing our jobs enough to prompt user interaction, or is the market just a fad that's fading away? Is facebook stealing all the glory?

Complete list of horror franchises

Let's see if we can compile the definitive list (ill be missing a few titles and by few i mean a lot) :

Guinea Pig
Wrong Turn
Final Destination
Scream
I know what you did last summer
Urban Legends
Halloween
Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Friday the 13th
Pupper Master
Child's Play
Hellraiser
Tremors
Hostel
Feast
Alien
A Nightmare on Elm Street
Saw
Evil Dead
Jaws
Amityvile
Resident Evil