The beauty of movies is they can take you on a journey to places far and wide, some of which don't even exist. George Lucas showed us this by gifting the world characters who hop across a galaxy far, far away, a long time ago. On the other hand, movies can also incite claustrophobia by locking us in a confined space and daring us to attempt an escape. That's where I'm going for this week's edition of Thursday Movie Picks hosted by Wanderer at Wandering Through the Shelves. The topic for us bloggers to play with? Single location movies.
Feast
(2005)
The first that actually popped into my head when thinking about this topic was George A. Romero's classic Night of the Living Dead. I figured you've either seen it, or at least know enough about it that I wouldn't exactly be enlightening you. So, let's take that movie and move it from a secluded house to a bar literally sitting in the middle of nowhere serving a group of unsuspecting patrons. Now switch out zombies for some very hungry man-eating monsters with really, really sharp teeth. Keep the horror, but give it lots of self-aware humor. And gore. Can't forget gore. That's Feast.
Silent House
(2012)
A young lady has gone back to her family's old summer house to help her dad and uncle clean it up and get it ready for sale. Before long, she's hearing and seeing all kinds of stuff. It's an intense little film that gives us a terrific twist. If you're a TMP regular, you may recall me picking this one before. Had to go with it again because A) it fits so well, and B) not enough of you have seen it, yet.
Hush
(2016)
Here, we have a young woman who lives alone in a fairly secluded house. She is also deaf. This gives a homicidal intruder the upper hand. He uses that advantage to toy with his prey while she tries to figure a way out of this extremely dangerous situation. I saw this for the first time just recently, and haven't posted my full review yet. However, it is a match and a very solid horror flick. Check it out on Netflix.
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I haven't seen any of these films. Then again, I'm not much of a horror aficionado.
ReplyDeleteHorror is not everyone's thing. Even so, you might still enjoy Hush. It's definitely horror, but not so nasty as Feast nor dealing with a haunting like Silent House.
DeleteI haven't seen any of these, but I've had Silent House in my Netlix queue for years. Literally, it went off Instant for awhile then came back and fell back into my queue automatically. I really need to get to that. I've been hearing great things about Hush, I'm going to check that one out too.
ReplyDeleteWould love to hear your thoughts on both. Hush is ripe for Indie Gems.
DeleteMmmm...scary stuff.
ReplyDeleteHere are a few other single-location (or nearly so), lesser-known horror movies that I really like. (I should really get around to Feast one of these days)
Pontypool
Housebound
Haunter
As much as I love Pontypool because of it's strange spin on zombie-like creatures (we can argue about whether or not they really are zombies), Housebound is the one I really wish more people knew about. Such a great idea for a movie, and handled with a few really fun scares and a lot of humor.
And hey--all three are streaming on NetFlix at the moment!
I have seen Housebound and reviewed it last October. Very solid flick. Pontypool is already on my list on Netflix Instant since I've been hearing good things about it for a while. Just need to get around to watching it. Haven't heard of Haunter, but I might give it a go. Thanks for the recommendations!
DeleteWell you stumped me! Haven't seen any of these but then I'm not a horror guy. I might consider Hush because it sounds more like suspense, which I do like, than flat out horror.
ReplyDeleteI'm bending the rules just a tiny bit with my first this week since it has an opening scene that is elsewhere but the primary bulk of the film is in one locale and I really like the film.
Albino Alligator (1997)-Starting with a trio of bungling thieves running from a robbery gone wrong they quickly take refuge in an underground bar in New Orleans. Suddenly the joint is surrounded by police but who the cops are pursuing is a murky issue. While the standoff endures emotions run high and dangers escalate. Kevin Spacey directed this stylish throwback with outstanding performances from Matt Dillon, Gary Sinise, William Fichtner, Viggo Mortensen and a wonderfully tough Faye Dunaway.
Ten Little Indians (1965)-Ten guests arrive at a remote mountaintop mansion only to discover they don’t know each other nor their missing host. Before too long they start being killed off one by one in the fashion of the poem Ten Little Indians. Can any of them solve the mystery before it’s their turn? Second screen version of Agatha Christie’s “And Then There Were None” updated to the swingin’ sixties with more hep identities for most of the characters, i.e. Fabian as a rock star and the former spinster now a movie star!
Rope (1948)-Two men murder a third, a friend of theirs, just to see what it feels like than throw a party while his body resides in a trunk in the middle of the room. Alfred Hitchcock directed this version of the Loeb/Leopold murder. An interesting experiment, the entire film was shot in sequence in extremely long takes, but very stagy. Good performances by James Stewart as the professor who innocently plants the idea in the men’s minds and Farley Granger & John Dall as the murderous lead pair. For a film released in the 50’s the leads are surprisingly obviously gay though it is never explicitly mentioned.
Oddball Extra:
“Can Heironymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness?” (1969)-Superstar Heironymus Merkin (Anthony Newley) is filming a movie of his life surrounded by piles of junk and a bed on a ribbon of beach as his mother and children bear witness. While the Greek chorus of devil’s advocate Goodtime Eddie Filth (Milton Berle) and The Presence (Georgie Jessel) battle for his soul Merkin works his way to the top of show biz becoming a drug loving sex addict along the way. Yet he longs for his lost true love, Mercy Humppe (Connie Kreski) despite his marriage to Polyester Poontang (Joan Collins-Newley’s wife at the time, their real life children play their kids in the film-Thaxted and Thumbelina!). Watching the uncompleted footage in a parallel time the producers of this opus scream for him to come up with an ending. Merkin shuffles through his memories to find some value in his life while singing a couple songs and screwing like a rabbit.
Confused? What with a title like that you were expecting coherence? Watching the film won’t clear anything up for you! Newley directed, produced, wrote & composed the music (all badly) for this exercise in vanity which was originally rated X. This one’s a stretch but in the bizarro world in which it exists it fits, even though it seems to take place in multiple locations it all turns out to really happen at different spots on that damn beach!!
We've stumped each other. I really should have seen Rope, by now. Shame on me for that one.
DeleteHush is more suspense-thriller than straight up horror, so you might like that one.
I think I am in a state of shock after reading about your last pick. Never heard of it before, and it sounds like a bizarre porn flick. The names Mercy Humppe and Polyester Poontang do nothing, but enforce that notion. Reconciling that with the names Milton Berle and Joan Collins is difficult, though less so in the case of Collins who has done some other raunchy stuff. It sounds like something I absolutely have to see.
Here's a little factoid that I didn't include but adds into the adults only vibe of the film, Connie Kreski who plays Mercy Humppe was the 1969 Playboy Playmate of the Year! Unsurprisingly she has a nude scene in this.
DeleteI was surprised to see Berle turn up but I guess he was trying to stay relevant but this thing did no one any favors. According her autobiography Joan's career was actually going pretty good at this point and she participated because she was trying to be a supportive spouse. It ended up driving a wedge between she and Newley though and they divorced shortly afterwards.
Of course a movie like that would star a Playmate of the Year! The Joan Collins stuff makes me want to see it even more.
DeleteI haven't seen any of these, but I've always been a bit horror-averse. The genre fascinates me, but I just do NOT do well with gore. That said, I've heard good stuff about Silent House and it's been in my Netflix queue for a while. Hush also sounds like it might be good - plus its sort of an inverse of one of my picks this week, which is about a blind woman being terrorized in her apartment!
ReplyDeleteStay far away from Feast. The other two are pretty much gore-free so go for it on those. If I'm not mistaken, Hush is inspired by your choice.
DeleteI've been kind of in the mood for some horror flicks. Maybe as a distraction from all the real-life horrors in the news. :-( I may check these out. Since you say Feast is gory, I'll be sure not to venture into that movie sober. :-P
ReplyDeleteThe news is depressing. Sigh. Feast is gory, but also funny, so there's that.
DeleteI'm not into horror at all...I get too freaked out. In fact, that first poste is freaky to me and I can see myself have a nightmare about it. Too freaky.
ReplyDeleteMy wife is the same way, so she never watches horror with me. It's not for everyone, that's for sure.
DeleteSorry to disappoint but I'm not a horror fan at all - get too scared and have bad dreams for years - no joke. I like my horror in AHS form or in comedy which I can just about handle.
ReplyDeleteI could just copy and paste my response to Birgit. I completely understand. Feast is funny, if that helps.
DeleteOkay, I'll trust you on Hush and I'll watch it soon.
ReplyDeleteCool. Can't wait to hear what you think.
DeleteNot a coincidence that these are all kind of horror-y!
ReplyDeleteNope, not at all.
DeleteHiya Wendell, this is Anna from Film Grimoire, hope all is going well! Thanks heaps for expressing your interest in joining our Timely Blogathon! I don't think we've received your review yet.. I'm wondering when you'll be able to get it to us?
ReplyDeleteLet us know!
Cheers
Anna and Rob from Movierob :)
Haven't forgot about it. I plan on getting it done this week.
DeleteI've only seen one from your list (Silent House) but the other two have me intrigued.
ReplyDeleteHope you get to watch them. I enjoyed them both a great deal. Not sure about Feast. but Hush is streaming on Netflix.
DeleteHey Dell, it's cool that you always pick films that I haven't heard before, let alone seen. Can't say I'm interested in any of these however, as they all look too scary for my taste.
ReplyDeleteI try. No fun in suggesting the same thing everyone else does.
DeleteI like what you did here. I haven't seen any of them, since I never see horror movies. Anyway... I almost did a theme within the theme myself but ended up just going with three I love. Nice job!
ReplyDeleteThanks! Themes within a theme are fun.
DeleteI think Silent House has like a really bad rating on IMDB. I don't think it was too bad. It certainly is a very claustrophobic movie and went an unexpected direction with its ending.
ReplyDeleteI dont get it, at all. Makes me feel like I watched a different movie.
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