Watch it and tell us how it is.They got Tales From the Hood 3 out now.
Lord Lord Lord.
Essential The Official Coli Horror Film Thread: Discussion, Recommendations And Murder.
- Thread starter Dominic Brehetto
- Start date
storyteller
Superstar
Alright, Monsterland has gotten a few posts in this thread and I'm 6 episodes in. I wanna go in on it a bit as a series and let that inform episodes breakdowns. So let's start with some common threads and themes throughout the series to set up how I'ma evaluate each episode.
Someone compared Monsterland to Black Mirror but with Monsters...Pretty accurate. Black Mirror uses technology to show problems within our society or mindsets at its best. It also stands out for subversion, hitting you with a twist that changes the way you view everything that you watched prior to the revelation. The tech helps magnify problems for the characters or their society but in general; those problems would have existed with or without the tech...
So Monsterland aims for subversion as a big part of its focus. The Monsters replace the tech but by focusing so much on subversion; it can be sloppy or unclear in delivering a cohesive message. What's worse, because they tackle the absolute darkest subject matter you could ask for; the sloppy messaging could easily come across offensive or exploitative. Sometimes we see good characters punished for reasons well beyond their control and other times we see awful acts portrayed through a sympathetic lens.
I wanna stress though, that I think they were sincere with the goals they had. This series plays out like trying to make sense of the desperation which leads people to do bad things. The monsters embody the psychological trauma that would lead someone to rationalize terrible behavior...sometimes effective and sometimes an epic fail. It's an attempt at modern American Gothic horror. Poverty, isolation and desperation are constants in almost every story. That sets it up where the monsters are usually the least of the characters worries; that hurts the horror and entertainment factor while pumping up the drama and sadness.
Last bit on the overall series thoughts: The first couple of episodes were the toughest pills to swallow of the bunch. I'm not sure if it's that I got more used to the themes by episodes 3 and 4 or if they were just especially incohesive, but I'd suggesting picking locales you're familiar with first. Episodes are only loosely connected by some easter eggs that pop up (black mirror style) anyway.
Anyway, I still want to tackle each individual episode to point out where I think there were flashes of serious potential. The casting was super strong, performances are great throughout and the quality of effects is a step up from the Into the Dark type stuff. I could see the writing getting tighter on this stuff and really hitting a stride. So I'll probably get that cracking with some episode by episode breakdowns that include a bit of spoilers and do a power ranking type approach like I've done for some previous series.
Someone compared Monsterland to Black Mirror but with Monsters...Pretty accurate. Black Mirror uses technology to show problems within our society or mindsets at its best. It also stands out for subversion, hitting you with a twist that changes the way you view everything that you watched prior to the revelation. The tech helps magnify problems for the characters or their society but in general; those problems would have existed with or without the tech...
So Monsterland aims for subversion as a big part of its focus. The Monsters replace the tech but by focusing so much on subversion; it can be sloppy or unclear in delivering a cohesive message. What's worse, because they tackle the absolute darkest subject matter you could ask for; the sloppy messaging could easily come across offensive or exploitative. Sometimes we see good characters punished for reasons well beyond their control and other times we see awful acts portrayed through a sympathetic lens.
I wanna stress though, that I think they were sincere with the goals they had. This series plays out like trying to make sense of the desperation which leads people to do bad things. The monsters embody the psychological trauma that would lead someone to rationalize terrible behavior...sometimes effective and sometimes an epic fail. It's an attempt at modern American Gothic horror. Poverty, isolation and desperation are constants in almost every story. That sets it up where the monsters are usually the least of the characters worries; that hurts the horror and entertainment factor while pumping up the drama and sadness.
Last bit on the overall series thoughts: The first couple of episodes were the toughest pills to swallow of the bunch. I'm not sure if it's that I got more used to the themes by episodes 3 and 4 or if they were just especially incohesive, but I'd suggesting picking locales you're familiar with first. Episodes are only loosely connected by some easter eggs that pop up (black mirror style) anyway.
Anyway, I still want to tackle each individual episode to point out where I think there were flashes of serious potential. The casting was super strong, performances are great throughout and the quality of effects is a step up from the Into the Dark type stuff. I could see the writing getting tighter on this stuff and really hitting a stride. So I'll probably get that cracking with some episode by episode breakdowns that include a bit of spoilers and do a power ranking type approach like I've done for some previous series.
Im watching now with one of my homeboys.
Tony Todd is in it. Hes the one telling this little girl the stories.
KingJaffeJoe
Pro
Another tradition for ms is watching Bravo's 100 scariest movie moments. Got the whole special on a hard drive. Watching it now
It's basically a 4 hour horror mixtape
I used to love this. I wished they did an updated version
This is actually pretty good so far.
Had to look the brother up in the 1st story cause i was losing my mind tryna figure out where hes from.
That show Ballers on HBO.
Had to look the brother up in the 1st story cause i was losing my mind tryna figure out where hes from.
That show Ballers on HBO.
Straw Hat Luffy
Veteran
Are we watching as a group
Oh. Tony Todd is always a plus
DosCadenaz
Superstar
I loved it
DosCadenaz
Superstar
Check it out!
DosCadenaz
Superstar
Another tradition for ms is watching Bravo's 100 scariest movie moments. Got the whole special on a hard drive. Watching it now
It's basically a 4 hour horror mixtape
sounds amazing
They did one a few years later. I think it was only 50. Then fear net had their own special which is probably the latest version of this type of thing. We do need more of them
storyteller
Superstar
I watched the Beyond off the strength of some dope cover art and confusing it for From Beyond. It wound up being a pleasant surprise, legitimately enjoyable watch though a bit random feeling.
Watching Blumhouse’s Black Box - horror movies are not supposed to make you cry, when that little girl started crying to her dad - that was hard to take in. bless her little hurt
Tales From the Hood 3 was pretty good if Im being honest.
The one with mama from A Thin Red Line was probably my favorite story.
7/10
The one with mama from A Thin Red Line was probably my favorite story.
7/10
Ava, the daughter - “you forgot about me yesterday”Watching Blumhouse’s Black Box - horror movies are not supposed to make you cry, when that little girl started crying to her dad - that was hard to take in. bless her little hurt
Father- “I’m sick. Things will get better”
Ava- “Thats What you said yesterday, Let me go make dinner”
father: “No, come on, you don’t have to”
ava- “But I do, someone has to, who else will??”
I’m going to be sick if something happens to this little girl in this movie.
There’s no crying in horror, they said.
