Welcome, everyone, to my new Blog Topic: “Movies we love that everyone else hates!”
My good friend and regular contributor, Michael Thomas-Knight from “Parlor of Horror” has answered my call for contributions (Like he always does) and delivered another great piece for Vic’s Movie Den. He gives us not just one movie but 5! 5 movies that he loves but just about everyone else hates.
You can head on over to his great Horror Blog here: http://parlorofhorror.wordpress.com/ and check out some of his wonderful posts, reviews and pics. You won’t be disappointed if you need a Horror themed fix or need some recommendations for a scary movie night. Tell him Victor sent you!
So, on to his great post for Vic’s Movie Den. Enjoy, gang!
5 Horror Films that I Love… But everyone else seems to hate!
Guest post by Parlor of Horror
Case 39 (2009)
Directed by Christian Alvart
When a social worker (Renee Zellweger) saves a nine-year-old girl from an abusive foster home, she has no idea the girl is the devil’s spawn. Not much special-FX for horror buffs, but I love the dialogue and verbal assaults this young lady delivers.
The Cell (2000)
Directed by Tarsem Singh
A young psychiatrist, Catherine (Jennifer Lopez), uses a machine that allows her consciousness to enter a comatose killer’s dreams. Somewhere in this nightmare world are clues to where he has hidden a young woman he had kidnapped. Lush, beautiful, horror images dominate this visually magnificent film.
Grave Dancers (2006)
Directed by Mike Mendez
After dancing on graves in potter’s field, a group of friends is cursed by the spirits buried there, which consist of psychopaths and sadistic murderers. The ghost characters in this film are outstanding and creepy as hell. Many complain about the CGI ending in last 5 minutes. But the rest of the film is all practical make-up and mechanical effects and worth a watch, especially around Halloween.
Pulse (2006)
Directed by Jim Sonzero
This is an American remake of the J-Horror original. Souls of the damned find a path to the living using the boosted frequencies of modern media. Since they are coming through electronic devices, the CG effects work well here. People hate this film. I love it. I bought it and watched it probably 20 times.
Signs (2002)
Directed by M. Night Shyamalan
A farmer in rural Pennsylvania finds crop circles have appeared in his field overnight. He tries to dismiss it as the work of local hooligan’s but something is closing in on his farmhouse. He fights to protect his family from the invasion in this suspenseful alien encounter film. Sure, Shyamalan beats us over the head with the ‘message’ in this one but I find it entertaining nevertheless.
Thanks very much for this incredible post, Michael. I am very happy to have had you kick off this new post topic for me. Please, feel free to come back very soon. Your posts always rock!
Vic’s Note:
I NEED YOU!
If anyone is interested in submitting a guest post with a Movie (Or Movies) you LOVE that everyone else HATES, please send me an e mail at: vicsmovieden1@yahoo.com and let me hear your ideas! I’d love to hear from you all!
Many Thanks,
– Victor @ Vic’s Movie Den
VIC'S MOVIE DEN 
I like Signs too! I can’t say I know the others though.
@echidnabot
Hi Kerry! I rather enjoyed Signs as well. I really didn’t realize that in some circles it is pretty despised. Oh well. But the rest are all a bit obscure. I caught Case 39 on Netflix but I never finished it even though my wife enjoyed it.
I have never seen The Cell or Pulse but The Gravedancers was fun. I also caught that one on Netflix. Thanks for stopping by, Kerry. Much appreciated! And thanks for the Re-tweet! 🙂
I am also a big fan of Signs. I think a lot of people liked it when it came out, and then everyone jumped on a hate bandwagon for Shyamalan, so they don’t want to admit it, lol.
Haha! That’s a good observation because I thought I was imagining that. I recall so many people really liking it and now those same very people now despise it because of M. Night’s later efforts being very lackluster.
They seem to dump on it now just to dump on it without realizing that it is a decent sci fi entry. Is it Close Encounters? Not by a mile but is it horrible? Not at all. Thanks for stopping in! I appreciate it. 🙂
The same thing happened with Raimi’s Spider-Man. Every one thought it was a great movie, but then, when the new Amazing Spider-Man came out, they were all dumping on Raimi’s film.
Exactly! I remember everyone felt that Raimi’s first film had set the bar so high. So many (not all) people feel that when something they perceive as new and “hip” that they have to, by default, dislike everything that came before. Now, that is not the case for everyone, mind you. Just wanted to clarify that. Thanks for your comments, guys!
The Cell sounds pretty interesting!
“The Cell” appears to have some fantastic imagery and the story and concept sound pretty cool. I really don’t recall seeing the film as it would have stood out to me but if Michael thinks it’s worth a shot then I will give it a watch. Thanks for stopping by and for your comment. I appreciate it!
[…] here: 5 Horror Movies – A very BIG thanks to Vic for the invitation to guest blog on his site, and for another great […]
Hey Vic, thanks for the post looks great as always. I watched all of the trailers. It makes me want to watch The Cell again – you should see that one. Since we seem to like a lot of the same films you may really enjoy it. I always watch Gravedancers around Halloween, it has the right mood and fun scares. My wife liked Case 39 a lot also, she got me into it 🙂 Posted a link from my blog, thanks again, Mike.
I actually found my copy of “The Cell.” I guess I had the dvd for a while but it was put away for some reason. I recall getting it at a pawn shop. So, I will check it out for sure.
The Gravedancers has been yanked from Netflix but I think I have a copy somewhere. I need to revisit that one. Case 39 isn’t available either on Netflix. Ugh. I’m bombing out over here, lol. I’ll get a copy somehow.
I’m glad you liked the post. You are always welcome to contribute anytime, Michael! Thanks for submitting another cool Top 5!
Nice work, fellas!
Vic, I can’t do email where I’m at but I’d be down for a throw with this topic. Let me know if you’re ever interested: ei@theipc.me
I’d love to have you join in! Thanks for the offer. I appreciate it! I will e mail you asap!
Thanks for the kind words and for stopping by, btw, lol! 🙂
Great post I actually don’t mind Signs.
“Signs” was a cool flick and I agree with some what my readers have been saying that everyone just wanted to absolutely hate all of M.Night’s films based on his recent and lousy track record. Too bad. Thanks for stopping by!
I haven’t seen all of those films, I quite liked Signs though, that was good. I remember seeing Case 39, think I was on of the few people who liked it. It was really creepy. Pulse was also quite good, I really like the original best though, that was such a bizarre film. Great idea for a blog post, with the top 5 movies you like but what other people hate. Will be sure to check out your friends blog on horror films as well. Cheers!
Hi Paul! Thank you for stopping by and please do check out Michael’s blog! He has some really great content on there. I have lined up The Cell and Pulse to watch myself very soon.
I am looking forward to seeing both of those films. I am very glad you like the topic. If you ever want to participate just send me an e mail and remember, you can do one film as opposed to 5! Take care!
You’re welcome. Cheers, will check out Michael’s blog, had a quick look. Some great horror film reviews!
I think its a great topic, sure, I will give it some thought and maybe have a go myself. Cheers.
That would be great, Paul! If you like you can contact me at the e mail address at the bottom of the post or even on Twitter. Thanks, buddy! 🙂
What?! I love Signs! Lol, awesome job guys :).
Glad you liked the post! Signs seems to be getting all the attention on this thread, lol. Michael knocked this post out of the park. An amazing top 5. Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment. I appreciate it! 🙂
Thanks for the follow, btw, Joseph! I appreciate it! 🙂
I know! I’m so sorry! I thought I was following you, but then when I stopped by today, I saw that I wasn’t. Needless to say I immediately followed. Sorry again :).
No worries, man! I’ve done the same thing, lol. 🙂
You rock! I love Pulse! 🙂 Scared the hell out of me. Glad to know I’m not the only one!
I am so excited to finally get around to watching Pulse. So many people are saying some great things about it. I may have overlooked it had not Michael put it on his list. It’s good to know it may scare the hell out of me, lol. Thanks so much for stopping by and commenting and of course for the follow! I appreciate it, very much! 😀
I easily get scared so maybe I’m not the best person to refer to. Makes almost all horrors relating to paranormal and spirits extremely creepy. LOL! But this one is one of the scariest..maybe about a week of keeping lights on/ insomnia 🙂
Ha! Oh, I can relate. I think I slept with my Grandparents for a week after they actually took me to see The Exorcist. I know…what were thinking? They must of thought it was a Disney film or something.
I think the only movie (that was a bit later than The Exorcist) that I lost sleep over was “Salem’s Lot.” Those damn Glick brothers floating around really freaked me out.
I will make sure to not see those two then :p
The Japanese version of Pulse is also very good, although I reviewed the US version here 🙂
I have never seen the original. Maybe I’ll check it out eventually (when I can avoid maybe 2 weeks of sleepless nights) 😛 I already have my October Halloween horror month set up and this one might take some time to find…But in time, I will see it.
I like The Cell – it’s hardly a perfect film, but Tarsem knows how to make movies look purrrty.
It does indeed look trippy, doesn’t it?. I won’t even care if the story is half assed as long as it looks freaky deaky. Thanks for stopping in!
Another Thumbs Up for The Cell, thanks Dave!
Does everyone really hate The Cell? They are all jerks. I love that film. That said, I am a bit of a Tarsem apologist. I am a fan of all his films… yes even Mirror Mirror.
Mirror Mirror? That sounds familiar. Is that the one with K. Sutherland?
The one with Keifer Sutherland… I think you’re thinking of Flatliners. That would have been another good choice for this post – if not hated, it is at least totally ignored by the horror community. From what I remember it was a decent flick.
Mirror Mirror (directed by Tarsem Singh) was a take on Snow White that came out last year – I only know this because my daughter watched it about a dozen times 🙂 I think there was another Mirror Mirror horror movie from many years ago….(?)
Flatliners was cool! I think that one was by Joel Schumacher. It is indeed ignored by many. Good flick with Julia Roberts and Oliver Platt, I believe.
The movie with Sutherland that I was thinking about was Mirrors from 2008. That one was also a remake of a Korean movie. It was done by Aja. I’ll check out Singh’s movie, thanks!
Oh yeah, forgot about that one. It didn’t hold my interest. Maybe I had just seen too many J-horror films at the time for it to be effective.
I wouldn’t be surprised. So many of them, no? Good and bad. I believe “Shutter” was another.
Nope, it’s the Snow White adaptation with Julia Roberts.
Ah! Thanks!
All my friends and I love Signs, but we were maybe twelve when it came out, so part of our love might be childhood nostalgia.
Yeah, that could be it. I watched it recently and I still felt it held up ok. A bit melodramatic in parts but it is still a cool sci if flick with a killer score from JNH and great performances. Thanks for stopping by!
And the little girl was hilarious. Actually there were a lot of funny parts in the movie. Shyamalan is always so serious in his films – the comedic parts in this always cracked me up. My favorite lines were, “Why don’t they have girlfreind’s?” and “It has ameoba’s in it.”
BTW, I may have just been speaking to a different group of movie viewers… consensus here seems to feel Signs is still a good flick 🙂 Its down to a 64% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, I think at one time it was higher.
Wow, 64% Hmm…that seems low, no? Yeah, you may be right. I remember it being higher too. That would mean more reviews were submitted that were negative, I think. Not too sure how that works.
Oh and Abigail Breslin was too funny in Signs. I loved how she was always taking everything in stride and nothing really bothered her. She was brilliant. “There’s a monster outside my window. Can I have a glass of water?”
Nice post!
Thanks. Glad you enjoyed it! Michael never disappoints.
This is a great idea. Yeah, I never had a problem with Signs either!
Thanks Henry! Glad you liked the topic. There will be many more to come. Thanks for the follow, also. I appreciate it!
Good post! Have to agree about not liking what I’ve seen of these. 😉 Although Signs wasn’t horrible at the time – his recent films have just tainted his older ones!
I hate all of them on the list, except GRAVEDANCERS, which is under-appreciated on a grand scale. Regardless, a great list – because we all have one of our own!
I actually like Signs but totally agree about The Gravedancers from Mendez. So overlooked and for a horror flick of it’s competent simplicity, you would think more people would have heard of it and praise it more.
Thanks for checking in, like always, I really appreciate it, man!