Big disappointment!

[_pi_]

I really hate it when, after years or months of hearing that some "classic" movie is great and brilliant, you finally see the film (or in my case buy it for a fortune) and discover that the film was actually crap.

Today I spent like 45$ on Fulci's Zombi 2 from Media Blasters. A great package with some cool special features, sure. But the film is awful. AWFUL. I mean, I'm ok with the laughable dialoge and atrocious performances - I like stuff like that, and more often than not it totally fits into these old italian horror films - but in the film ... NOTHING HAPPENS! Nothing at all. This film is almost unbearably boring.

I was expecting more. I mean, I did the same thing with The Beyond - bought it without having seen it because everybody was raving about it - and loved it. It had style and was cheesy fun. Zombi has style, ok, but apart from a few scenes, is completely lame. And that shark-sequence. My god. Stunningly awful.

Other big disappointments:

Cannibal Holocaust: Hate that film. Despise it. I think it's repulsive and disgusting in all the worst ways imaginable. And keep in mind I think Last House on the Left has beautiful and poetic moments.

Prince of Darkness: Bought this one because I love Carpenter and this was supposedly one of his most "underrated" works. Now, while I haven't totally given up on PoD and will grant it a 2nd chance, I truly didn't find anything worthwhile on my first viewing. I can promise you I will never ever watch Cannibal Holocaust again.

Dellamorte Dellamore: Yes, I thought this was really disappointing. It was beautiful, but personally I don't think it's appropriate mixing cinematic beauty with dumb, stupid humor. And I felt it went on for too long without actually going anywhere. Personally I feel Soavi just doesn't have what it takes to be a good filmmaker. He's too unbalanced. Traded it after first viewing and haven't regretted it since.

I've also bought terrible films when I should have known better, like Wes Craven's Shocker, which was garbage, but I'd like to know which films you've bought and were then dissapointed with! :)

[dwatts]

Well, I love Zombie. "Prince if Darkness" though, and "Dellamorte Dellamore" I agree with. But then, I've always felt a half step out of touch with most fans on this board. It's just an opinion though, and we all like different things.

For sure, marginal films get a lot more attention these days. Even complete trash can find ten fans on a message board, and this can seem to imply it's a much loved classic. It doesn't.

I guess you just have to listen to people you trust, whomever that is.

[Deus Ex Machina]

a friend of mine feels that Argento is horribly over rated and a bad film maker...but he spent 20 years of hearing Argento fans talk about his films and they (of course) just weren't what he heard they were...

trust no one...judge every film by yourself and trust no one's opinion

[Demon]

I've never seen Dellamorte Dellamore but I disagree with ya on the others, we just watched the Shriek Show version of Zombi 2 last night.....thats an all time classic in my book.

[Skull Hunter]

I've been disappointed on more than one occasion also because of hearing praise for a movie for so long and then finally seeing and wondering if it was all a joke. I first read about Argento and every horror book said his movies were great and classic, many people said Susperia was a masterpiece. I finally saw Trauma and liked it quite a bit and then when I finally got to see Suspiria it was like I was punched in the head. Utter crap. I went on to rent several of his other films to give him a chance and everything else was utter crap. I agree Zombie is a terrible movie but the old AB release is cheap enough to get to just flip through once in awhile, at least for the gore scenes. There isn't much more to that movie, although I think it's amazing compared to Dawn of the Dead which is another movie I totally despise. There are movies that are good and movies that are bad. It depends on the individual and on their tastes. Some people will recognize that a movie is terrible but still like it for some other reason. I can look at just the eye splinter scene and the throat rip and give Zombie the tongue in cheek thumbs up, but in Suspiria I can't find a single thing good about it. Some people say the colors or the cinematography is what makes it good but if I just wanted to look at something pretty I'd buy a great looking painting and hang it in my room.

[Andrew]

Don't get rid of it right away, unless you need the money. No movie has grown on me like ZOMBIE has, so I'd suggest waiting a while and trying it again.

[Mok]

I totally know what you mean, but didn't you like the ending showdown with the Zombies? For me, the hardest parts of Zombi 2 to watch are the lame-ass dialogue scenes before they get to the island. It doesn't help that the film was dubbed with shitty 70's style "I'm a handsom salesman" voice-overs. Fulci is so terribly overrated, but there are sparatic moments throughout his films that have interesting ideas or special effects. I have no shame in that I skipped the SE's and bought some of his stuff at the lowest price available.

[Mok]

I've been disappointed on more than one occasion also because of hearing praise for a movie for so long and then finally seeing and wondering if it was all a joke. I first read about Argento and every horror book said his movies were great and classic, many people said Susperia was a masterpiece. I finally saw Trauma and liked it quite a bit and then when I finally got to see Suspiria it was like I was punched in the head. Utter crap. I went on to rent several of his other films to give him a chance and everything else was utter crap. I agree Zombie is a terrible movie but the old AB release is cheap enough to get to just flip through once in awhile, at least for the gore scenes. There isn't much more to that movie, although I think it's amazing compared to Dawn of the Dead which is another movie I totally despise. There are movies that are good and movies that are bad. It depends on the individual and on their tastes. Some people will recognize that a movie is terrible but still like it for some other reason. I can look at just the eye splinter scene and the throat rip and give Zombie the tongue in cheek thumbs up, but in Suspiria I can't find a single thing good about it. Some people say the colors or the cinematography is what makes it good but if I just wanted to look at something pretty I'd buy a great looking painting and hang it in my room.

:lol: :lol: :lol:

[Paff]

For the record, I didn't much care for Zombie either, and sold my copy immediately. Yet it kind of grew on me, and I've since re-purchased. I too hate zombie vs. shark (I can't believe so many people love that scene), but it's worth it for the final scene alone.

Dellamorte Dellamore is ok, but not a great flick in my book.
Bay of Blood (Twitch of the Death Nerve) was immediately E-bayed after I watched it.

[walkingdude]

I really hate it when, after years or months of hearing that some "classic" movie is great and brilliant, you finally see the film (or in my case buy it for a fortune) and discover that the film was actually crap.

Today I spent like 45$ on Fulci's Zombi 2 from Media Blasters. A great package with some cool special features, sure. But the film is awful. AWFUL. I mean, I'm ok with the laughable dialoge and atrocious performances - I like stuff like that, and more often than not it totally fits into these old italian horror films - but in the film ... NOTHING HAPPENS! Nothing at all. This film is almost unbearably boring.

I was expecting more. I mean, I did the same thing with The Beyond - bought it without having seen it because everybody was raving about it - and loved it. It had style and was cheesy fun. Zombi has style, ok, but apart from a few scenes, is completely lame. And that shark-sequence. My god. Stunningly awful.

Other big disappointments:

Cannibal Holocaust: Hate that film. Despise it. I think it's repulsive and disgusting in all the worst ways imaginable. And keep in mind I think Last House on the Left has beautiful and poetic moments.

Prince of Darkness: Bought this one because I love Carpenter and this was supposedly one of his most "underrated" works. Now, while I haven't totally given up on PoD and will grant it a 2nd chance, I truly didn't find anything worthwhile on my first viewing. I can promise you I will never ever watch Cannibal Holocaust again.

Dellamorte Dellamore: Yes, I thought this was really disappointing. It was beautiful, but personally I don't think it's appropriate mixing cinematic beauty with dumb, stupid humor. And I felt it went on for too long without actually going anywhere. Personally I feel Soavi just doesn't have what it takes to be a good filmmaker. He's too unbalanced. Traded it after first viewing and haven't regretted it since.

I've also bought terrible films when I should have known better, like Wes Craven's Shocker, which was garbage, but I'd like to know which films you've bought and were then dissapointed with! :)
Zombie isn't my favorite Fulci movie but it does have it's moments.Have you seen City of the Living Dead(Gates of Hell)?That is my personal favorite with House By The Cemetery close behind.
Prince of Darkness is crap!

[BloodMan]

Stacy is the worst thing ever made... stay away from it.
I love Zombi... first time I saw that was a vhs dub back in like 1996. The nice widescreen dvd stuff just gave it more life. :) (that shark scene is pretty dull tho)
Dellamorte Dellamore started off really good. I like the film overall but the last chunk just fades and fades and then the final 2 or 3 minutes kicks so much ass. :)

[dwatts]

Okay, I ave to speak up for the Shark scene. Personally, i think it's a lot of fun. It was unique at the time, and frankly, to my knowledge no-one tried to do it again. I guess I just like the idea that Zombis are dead, and that other than the pressure of the water, they could in fact infect the world by simply walking to where the meat is. It's a great touch, to me, for that very reason. The zombies are not trapped on the island at all, they simply can walk to the edge and wander ito the ocean, going from island to island.

The attack itself, given the age of the film and the budget, is quite fun. And as a jump out scare, who'd have thought a zombie would jump out under water? I don't know, I dig it. Maybe it was just an excuse to get the chick topless. Don't know, don't care, I dig it. :D

I intend on buying Stacy once I see it as a decent price. I've heard nothing but bad things, but feel compelled.

[Silent Noize]

Don't get rid of it right away, unless you need the money. No movie has grown on me like ZOMBIE has, so I'd suggest waiting a while and trying it again.
Agreed. When i first saw this film i though it was a piece of boring crap. But after a few more viewing's it grew on me. Now it's one of my favorite horror films.

Oh, and for the record, the special features on that DVD arent as hot as everyone says. :sleepy:

[Criswell]

PRINCE OF DARKNESS: Agreed......Perhaps the most pointless film I have ever seen. Just terrible.

ZOMBIE: To appreciate Zombie you have to put it into an historical context. It was the first of the Italian Zombie films and to me the best. But it is an ITALIAN film and all that goes with it (dubbing etc) must be taken into account.

DELLAMORE..........Again a terrible and pointless effort.

CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST however is perhaps the ONE SINGLE FILM that shocked me even after all the hype. People who got suckered in by Blair Witch must have been terrible embarrassed when they found out about this film.......

[Damage]

"I'm a handsome salesman"???

That was beautiful, man!

[_pi_]

I will hold on to Zombie, if only because it looks good on my shelf. I tried getting rid of Cannibal Holocaust a while ago, but no one would take it (surprise, surprise).

Actually, the bad dialogue and performances are probably the reason why I'll end up keeping it. There is one priceless moment when the lead-lady is "stealthily" trying to pass by a police officer into her father's boat at night and hides behind a trash-can. It's one of the funniest moments I've seen on film in a very long time! :D

I was already so bored at the end that I can't really say I liked the showdown. Perhaps later ... perhaps not ... I think I'm going to let this film marinate. For a few years. :P

[Grim]

Zombie is entertaining cheese for me, but not a film that I hold as highly as others. Cannibal Holocaust I was disappointed with, though. After hearing all the great things I was completely let down by what I saw.

[moogong]

Today I spent like 45$ on Fulci's Zombi 2 from Media Blasters. A great package with some cool special features, sure. But the film is awful. AWFUL.


This is why I try my best to limit blind buys. Especially anything over $20. A $5 rental fee has saved me tons of money on dvds.
Although I have yet to sell them, I regret every buying the AB Argento discs. I still can't understand what people see in him. To me, he is the Ashton Kutcher of Italian horror. His only real accomplishment was punkin' people to think he is some great director.

[MorallySound]

Movies I found to be big dissapointments:

Lake Placid
Return To Horror High
Teenage Caveman
Zombi (I too found this boring.)

That's all I can think of off the top of my head.

[walkingdude]

This is why I try my best to limit blind buys. Especially anything over $20. A $5 rental fee has saved me tons of money on dvds.
Although I have yet to sell them, I regret every buying the AB Argento discs. I still can't understand what people see in him. To me, he is the Ashton Kutcher of Italian horror. His only real accomplishment was punkin' people to think he is some great director.
For some of us who live in the boonies we have no choice but to buy blind because a lot of the video stores don't rent these horror titles.I think for the money I spent on it Blue Sunshine was one of my biggest disappointments.

[moogong]

For some of us who live in the boonies we have no choice but to buy blind because a lot of the video stores don't rent these horror titles.I think for the money I spent on it Blue Sunshine was one of my biggest disappointments.


Shit man, I live the boonies too. It dont get more "boonies" then where I live. Thankfully, the local video store has always been good at getting some good horror flicks. In high school, I used to trade horror video tapes with other fans that suscribed to a small horror fanzine.

[walkingdude]

Shit man, I live the boonies too. It dont get more "boonies" then where I live. Thankfully, the local video store has always been good at getting some good horror flicks. In high school, I used to trade horror video tapes with other fans that suscribed to a small horror fanzine.
It wasn't bad here for VHS although a lot of movies were released cut here(Day of the Dead,Class of Nuke 'em High even.We used to do a lot of trading too but once DVD kicked in the video stores didn't stock up on the Horror or obscure titles.

[Damage]

...he is the Ashton Kutcher of Italian horror.

The Ashton Kutcher of Italian horror??? That's beautiful, man! :lol:

I think I might juxtapose two phrases from this thread and make myself a new sidnature: "I'm a handsome salesman and the Ashton Kutcher of Italian horror." Yeah, that'll work.

[badnewsbrown]

I really hate it when, after years or months of hearing that some "classic" movie is great and brilliant, you finally see the film (or in my case buy it for a fortune) and discover that the film was actually crap.

Today I spent like 45$ on Fulci's Zombi 2 from Media Blasters. A great package with some cool special features, sure. But the film is awful. AWFUL. I mean, I'm ok with the laughable dialoge and atrocious performances - I like stuff like that, and more often than not it totally fits into these old italian horror films - but in the film ... NOTHING HAPPENS! Nothing at all. This film is almost unbearably boring.

I was expecting more. I mean, I did the same thing with The Beyond - bought it without having seen it because everybody was raving about it - and loved it. It had style and was cheesy fun. Zombi has style, ok, but apart from a few scenes, is completely lame. And that shark-sequence. My god. Stunningly awful.

Other big disappointments:

Cannibal Holocaust: Hate that film. Despise it. I think it's repulsive and disgusting in all the worst ways imaginable. And keep in mind I think Last House on the Left has beautiful and poetic moments.

Prince of Darkness: Bought this one because I love Carpenter and this was supposedly one of his most "underrated" works. Now, while I haven't totally given up on PoD and will grant it a 2nd chance, I truly didn't find anything worthwhile on my first viewing. I can promise you I will never ever watch Cannibal Holocaust again.

Dellamorte Dellamore: Yes, I thought this was really disappointing. It was beautiful, but personally I don't think it's appropriate mixing cinematic beauty with dumb, stupid humor. And I felt it went on for too long without actually going anywhere. Personally I feel Soavi just doesn't have what it takes to be a good filmmaker. He's too unbalanced. Traded it after first viewing and haven't regretted it since.

I've also bought terrible films when I should have known better, like Wes Craven's Shocker, which was garbage, but I'd like to know which films you've bought and were then dissapointed with! :)
The only one that sucked you mentioned is Dellamorte Dellamore. :evil:

[saveyourservant]

First of all, the Media Blasters Zombi 2 DVD is available all over the internet for around $20. I'm not sure how you could have paid so much for it.

For all of you who mention not being able to rent things -- check out www.greencine.com. It's like Netflix only they specialize in cult/horror films. I was a member for a while at it was well worth the money. This company actually LOWERED their monthly fee while I was a member. They have just about anything you could ever want. Go to their site and search for Fulci as a director and see how much it pulls up. It might take a while for a film to be available, but if you're patient, it will save you a lot of money.

I thought Zombi 2 was laughably bad the first time I saw it. Then I saw things like Oasis of the Zombies, Hell fo the Living Dead, Zombie Lake, etc... Then you realize the comparitive entertainment value. For those of you who described Zombi 2 as 'boring' try enduring any of the above mentioned films. None of Fulci's films are remotely scary to me, but they are entertaining in a silly way. As many have mentioned, Zombi 2 has grown on me with repeated viewings - the acting, the squishy sound effects, the music. . . the poor zombie who keeps trying to get in through that window at the end...

I've never understood the serious appeal of the Beyond. It makes little to no sense and the none of the effects look especially believable to me. The tarantula scene is so ridiculous that I don't see how anyone can take the movie seriously. That being said, I sold the Beyond on ebay, and found myself buying it again a few months later. Again, it does have it's silly charms.

I admit to being disappointed with Suspiria the first time I saw it. It is definitely slow and not for everyone. But after repeated viewings, it is a very beautiful film, if such can be said of the horror genre. The soundtrack is excellent, and Argento has taken Bava's primary hues to the extreme.

Again, I highly recommend greencine for casual viewers not wanting to get burned.

[The Chaostar]

- The only one that sucked you mentioned is Dellamorte Dellamore

- I regret every buying the AB Argento discs. I still can't understand what people see in him. To me, he is the Ashton Kutcher of Italian horror. His only real accomplishment was punkin' people to think he is some great director.

- I think Last House on the Left has beautiful and poetic moments.

- Zombie is entertaining cheese

- I will hold on to Zombie, if only because it looks good on my shelf.

- To appreciate Zombie you have to put it into an historical context.

- Stacy is the worst thing ever made... stay away from it.


And the meaning of this?
Trust none but your insticts and THEN read some reviews and exchange thoughts, keeping in mind that what you liked could be crap for others and vice versa...

[_pi_]

First of all, the Media Blasters Zombi 2 DVD is available all over the internet for around $20. I'm not sure how you could have paid so much for it.

Try living in Iceland for a while and then see if you can't spend 40+$ on otherwise cheap films ;)

[x666x]

The rule of thumb is to not buy into hype. Do not go see SAW expecting an amazing film. It is a disappointment in contrast to its hype. Remarkable idea, mind you.

With films like Zombie and Cannibal Holocaust, maybe it would have helped to see them in your youth (or are you young, anyway?).

As slow moving as they are, I seem to enjoy the older zombie flicks more than the likes of Undead and Versus. These newer films are technically superior, but I guess I am just used to the older stuff. And there was no one to hype these older films to me considering I was around 10 years old when I saw them. If you can remember what a Betamax is, then you should have seen these older films a long time ago :)

If you live far away in a place like Iceland, then I feel for you. The postage on these dvds are probably the same price as the movies themselves.

[_pi_]

I'm 20 ... guess that's young, huh? :)

I'm ok with the films being slow, it's just that nothing happens in Zombie. Herzog's Nosferatu is also very slow, but for a reason other than complete lack of plot.

[Ash28M]

I really can't understand how people give such blanket statements about films. To each his own. For those people who say that Fulci or Argento are garbage. I bet if you listed the films you love there would be allot of people on this board that would list half of them as crap. Everyone on here thinks there taste is the best it's kind of ridiculous when you think about it, when half the film you think are crap, i would wager if you watch them again you would like them allot more.

[_pi_]

But that's the point of having discussions on forums, isn't it? To discuss our different opinions?

[allmessedup]

I was never too big on DELLAMORTE DELLAMORTE or PRINCE OF DARKNESS either--I didn't think they were bad, they just didn't work for me the way they seemed to with other fans.

The only movie I can think of that I was really disappointed by and strongly disliked would be DEAD ALIVE. I was expecting a gory zombie epic like other ones I'd seen, only moreso, and wound up getting an extended Python sketch.

There are also things that I've never seemed to really enjoy that much, like Argento flicks [some are good, some aren't, none are as great as the fans make them out to be], the EVIL DEAD series, and GINGER SNAPS.

[shift]

I liked it alot

[Ash28M]

But that's the point of having discussions on forums, isn't it? To discuss our different opinions?

Fair enough

[Mok]

Movies I found to be big dissapointments:

Lake Placid
Return To Horror High
Teenage Caveman
Zombi (I too found this boring.)

That's all I can think of off the top of my head.

Didn't we all have high hopes for Teenage Caveman? :hum:

[Alan Smithee]

Some of my blind buys are: The Beyond, The Wicker Man, Let Sleeping Corpses Lie, Bay of Blood, Bubba Ho-Tep, Street Fighter/Return of the Street Fighter, Suspiria, Opera, and many more. My most pleasant suprise was Bubba Ho-Tep. I thought Bay of Blood was kind of stupid and like Paff, I sold it immediately after buying it off ebay. The Beyond is a different story altogether. In my opinion, mere words can not describe what a piece of shit this movie was. I think I paid $30 for the tin and I would gladly fork over another 30 if I could get those 90 minutes of my life back.

[_pi_]

Well, I guess I didn't learn ...

I've already ordered Dead and Buried and have decided to buy Exorcist III tomorrow, neither of which I've seen ... Hope I'll like them :p

[MrKateB]

I enjoyed Dead and Buried...I've always liked that movie, for the willies it gives me having lived near a coastal fishing town much like the one depicted in that film--if not for anything else...I thought Exorcist III had a couple of downright creepy scenes, but am not a huge fan of it..>Hope you got it cheap.

[MorallySound]

Didn't we all have high hopes for Teenage Caveman?

Hahaha. Yeah. I thought Larry Clark could have done a decent horror movie, considering his drama work is pretty disturbing. But Teenage Caveman was basically Ken Park set in the future with a 'caveman' disease.

[Damage]

..

[Damage]

..

[Damage]

Hahaha. Yeah. I thought Larry Clark could have done a decent horror movie, considering his drama work is pretty disturbing. But Teenage Caveman was basically Ken Park set in the future with a 'caveman' disease.

Larry Clark?? I didn't realize there was a more recent movie called Teenage Cave Man. I thought you guys were talking about the old 1958 flick starring Robert Vaughn, which is fun in a cheeseball sort of way. Nevermind, I'll go back to sleep now.

[saveyourservant]

My apologies about the price you paid for the DVD. I didn't realize shipping would be that much in another country. I've ordered plenty of imports here in the US and the shipping has never been that outlandish (unless you're buying from eBay or Columbia House).

[_pi_]

We have to pay shipping costs + toll costs, which are amazingly high.

[bschulte]

Speaking of all of us having our own opinions, I don't know why but I've always hated the Evil Dead series of movies. I don't have a really elegant explanation or anything. I rented Evil Dead in college about 5 years ago, and maybe I went into it with my expectations too high. Whatever it was, I was really disappointed in it. I can stand Eveil Dead 2, but I also thought Army of Darkness was crap.

[dwatts]

Yeah, "Army of Darkness" is probably a very good example, one of the best, of this type of thing. I bought the bomstick edition, and boy - it's a real stinker. As I've noted before, Pythons stole all the best gags years before. But then, that's the worst of it - it's a not vry funny comedy. The three film series took a serious nose dive after the first. The second one was still a bit fresh, so it gets by. The third though, utter and complete twaddle.

Good call I say.

[allmessedup]

For years I didn't like the second and third EVIL DEAD films, especially ARMY OF DARKNESS, but thought the first one was okay. So last weekend my wife and I rented EVIL DEAD and were really let down. One of the Evil Dead laughs just like the granny from the Warner Bros. cartoons. It just seemed a little too amateurish though at least it had a relatively serious tone. And claymation effects? C'mon.

So yep, now I say that I don't like any of the EVIL DEAD films, period.