The Horror Movie Thread

IncantatioN said:
Thanks for that. To me, the way you put it sounds a lot more rewarding of an experience to have had than a casual or the run of the mill horror movie. IT Follows is great too because as much as it's newly made, it's very retro in both soundtrack and plot (back in the day things used to be a lot simpler like the plot in this one). I loved it and re-watched with my brother (who hadn't seen it) just last month.

Man the sound track is so good. I bought it as soon as I left the theater! lol
 
Bone Tomahawk had one of the most insanely brutal death scenes ever made. Pretty awesome movie too.

Also props for It Follows. I watched it a few times last year. Pretty original horror movie, but the style and soundtrack (as said above) were really friggin awesome. Not a perfect horror film, but a damn good one.
 
Greetings boys and ghouls! I've got a new group of horror movie reviews to share with you so grab your crotches because I'm going to scare your balls off.

So there's a new Annabelle movie coming out soon. Since I had only seen the first Conjuring film way back when (thought it was meh), I decided to dive back into the series by watching The Conjuring 2 and the first Annabelle.

The Conjuring 2 was pretty bad. The characters were stupid, and there wasn't any weight to anything happening. A ghost literally threatens to kill one of the characters, and there wasn't a single part of me that felt like the character was in danger. There was one cool thing about the first part of the film (the Nun, who's getting its own spinoff movie), but they even ruin that by the end of the film. The scariest part of the film was the limp dick plot twist. And that was only terrifying because it meant the film was going to drag on even longer.

I'm currently watching Annabelle so I guess I shouldn't review it yet, but so far so suck.

I also watched The Midnight Meat Train which I actually really liked. The girlfriend bits were completely unnecessary, but the rest was cool. I liked how, sans one scene, the film is just as gory as the Saw films, but they do it in a more unrealistic (or stylistic) way so it blunts the disgusting aspects. It's a fun popcorn flick.

Yesterday I watched Lights Out which I thought was good and creepy as fuck. Finding out every single detail of the creature's backstory made my horror bone a little flaccid though. I wish they had revealed just enough for us to connect the dots.

So at this point you're probably thinking these reviews really suck. First off, fuck you. And secondly, you're right. All of this was just an excuse to mention the following. . .

It Follows. If you haven't seen it then stop whatever you're doing and go get it right now. I'm dead serious. Drop the lotion, pull up your pants, and watch this film. It's got like a 97% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It's incredible. The plot sucked me in, but the film pulled me out four or five times because I'd think things like "wow this directing is great" and "holy shit this soundtrack is amazing." That's how good it is. Seriously, why the hell are you still reading this?! GO WATCH IT!
 
Skeleton said:
Greetings boys and ghouls! I've got a new group of horror movie reviews to share with you so grab your crotches because I'm going to scare your balls off.
:ganishka: That's awesome!

The Conjuring 2 was pretty bad.

I'm currently watching Annabelle so I guess I shouldn't review it yet, but so far so suck.

I also watched The Midnight Meat Train which I actually really liked.

Yesterday I watched Lights Out which I thought was good and creepy as fuck.

It Follows. It's incredible.
Agree with everything you said above.

Skeleton, I recommend you check out The Void (saw this last weekend and was meaning to write about it), Raw, The Wailing (stick till the end), The Eyes Of My Mother, and if you're a Kiyoshi Kurosawa fan - Creepy (to me, it marks his return to form and I finally got to watch it earlier this year ... more of a Thriller though). IT Follows came out last year ... so I'd also recommend Green Room if you haven't seen it yet.
 
IncantatioN said:
Skeleton, I recommend you check out The Void (saw this last weekend and was meaning to write about it), Raw, The Wailing (stick till the end), The Eyes Of My Mother, and if you're a Kiyoshi Kurosawa fan - Creepy (to me, it marks his return to form and I finally got to watch it earlier this year ... more of a Thriller though). IT Follows came out last year ... so I'd also recommend Green Room if you haven't seen it yet.

Thank you for the recommendations, my friend! I haven't heard of any of those so I'm excited to hunt them down and watch them. Expect a full report once my mission is complete! :)
 
Really appreciating this thread.

My friends and myself are huge horror fiends. We tend to hunt for the worst, laughably terrible horror and the legitimately unnerving and creepy horror we can find. Few in this thread I've never heard of and will have to check out.

Awesome ~
 
Tabris said:
Really appreciating this thread.

My friends and myself are huge horror fiends. We tend to hunt for the worst, laughably terrible horror and the legitimately unnerving and creepy horror we can find. Few in this thread I've never heard of and will have to check out.

Awesome ~

Feel free to post in this thread when you watch one you haven't seen yet or just want to talk about one you have! I'd love to see this thread come to life like Frankenstein's monster! :)

So Netflix finally (FINALLY!) added the original A Nightmare On Elm Street to their online service. Man I love that film. I'm not a big fan of the ending because it doesn't make much sense. I would've preferred the first alternate ending they filmed where the entire film really was just one big dream.

ANoES is a girl's nightmare influenced by the Freddy children's rhyme. And it blows me away how Wes Craven subtly weaved the rhyme into the film. Take the rhyme's third line (5, 6, grab your crucifix) as an example. Nancy's friend's crucifix is focused on and interacted with a handful of times by Nancy. I really like stuff like that.
 
I definitely will be contributing to this thread in the future hah.

I'll probably be going over to my friends place this weekend or the next and I'll bring up a few movies I've seen in this thread.
 
October's here and I'm trying to find decent to good horror movies to watch, movies I haven't watched before.

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The Devil's Candy is decent, predictable but it didn't feel like a complete waste of time. I liked the fact that it revolved around a metalhead dad with his metalhead daughter and evil lurking around. So metal! Jokes aside, the soundtrack's decent and it's well filmed, acted and atmospheric enough to appreciate it. It's a story done so many times - family moves into a new home, shit happens. That's the basic plot but there's a bit of suspense and underlying terror that pulls the movie, making it watchable, enjoyable. Solid 7/10.
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
My wife and I recently watched the 1990 IT miniseries and the new movie. Her on IT via the 90s version, "It was less scary parts than I thought and more about nostalgia." I told her she basically just nailed Stephen King. The new one had kind of an awkward first half but came together well enough in the second. It was ok, nothing embarassing, but I don't really see what the box office fuss is about either. I kind of thought the cheesy 90's version was better, at least its rendition of the kids' story. They actually seemed like kids in that one while here Bill, Bev, and Richie are already like adult characters, and the rest of the kids are marginalized, Eddie and Ben aren't critical (despite Ben basically getting Mike's role too), and Mike and Stan might as well have not been in the movie. Anyway, Tim Curry was also a better Pennywise obviously, like an actual scary child predator, wheras Skarsgard's version is over the top and a bit cliche with all the frantic quavering and warbling. I didn't buy those kids overcoming him either; the 90's version cheese scares, yes, but this version is so big and bad it would be like pretending not to be scared of a real monster, or like an attacking bear. Those kids would be pissing their pants, and it actually seemed more physical than anything, like seven kids is all it takes just to physically kick Pennywise's ass.

We also saw Get Out, which actually lived up to the hype because it had all the sharp social satire as advertised but at its heart a horror premise and twist that would work in any scenario, and it was elegantly constructed to present and deconstruct both simultaneously. Very cool.
 
I'm going to go see the new IT movie sometime this weekend with a few buddies of mine. Hopefully it lives up to the hype.

I saw the original one quite a long time ago, and liked what I saw.
 
Griffith said:
It was ok, nothing embarassing, but I don't really see what the box office fuss is about either.

This is exactly what I thought. I won't deny that some of the jump scares worked very well on me, but beyond that I found the movie to be nothing spectacular (and the CGI in some parts really took me out of the movie)
 
Hereditary comes out next week, here's a trailer for it - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6wWKNij_1M

Looks promising and I'm going to have to check it out cos it's made by the folks who did The Witch - a movie I liked through and through.

There were 2 fun movies I hit up that were on Netflix - The Ritual and Creep 2. The Ritual was a bit of a slow burn horror in the woods film following a group of good, old friends. Of course, there's a bit of a disagreement among the group members but that's just surface level of what's going on in the background. The outcome isn't exceptional or surprising but it didn't feel like a waste of time because of some of the visuals and atmospheric moments. Definitely check it out if you can. Creepy 2 was a step up from Creepy ... it's all about jumpscares like the first movie and this takes it up a notch in the weird area. What scared me with the first one was not knowing what the character was capable of or what he'd do or how far he'd go. Knowing all of that and going into the sequel I was afraid it might not click but the movie still managed to connect thematically and up the ante a bit.

Also hit up The Endless in April which was a lot of fun - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DTbx7c7ez8

The protagonist's are two brothers who go back to a UFO death cult when they receive a video from the cult. They'd left the cult about 10 years ago and the younger brother really wants to go back and check it out - for closure. They go back to find some old friends and things get weird as time passes on. If you're interested, there's an easter egg if you're familiar with the writer/ director's other movies ; )

EDIT - got tickets for Hereditary for next Tuesday, should be fun.
 
Whoa ... it's been a while. I think I've been posting movies in the normal Movies Watched thread. We're on the cusp of October, so I'll kick off the month (early) with some movies I watched recently.

Malignant - it's about a woman who gets gruesome visions of murders often to find out that they really happened and it's like she was right there to witness it. Glad I watched the trailer AFTER seeing the film because it does such a bad job of telling you what it's about. Complete misdirection. I was also personally burnt out on James Wan and his typical style, but he surprises in the 3rd act. The first act is a bit jarring and boring, but get past it. The 2nd will also feel very familiar, get past it. This was A LOT of fun if you like camp, and I'd highly recommend it.

Possessor - set in the future, a group uses brain implant technology to control people and use them for assassinations. As Brandon Cronenberg's second film, I think this was a lot more accessible and commercial than his first - Antiviral. The concept was cool, and the execution wasn't too bad. I wish he spent more time to heighten the stakes of this body horror/ thriller. I liked it because it's not a plot you often watch. And yet, it left me wishing it could be more ... a bit unsatisfying. Solid cast. I don't want to talk much about the ending without spoiling it.

A Quiet Place Part 2 - good follow up from the first movie. It doesn't have the same emotional angle as the first one, but as sequels go - I dug it. I'd recommend you guys to watch the first movie.

Blood Red Sky - the movie opens with a mother trying to shield herself from direct sunlight, medicating herself at the airport and trying to board a flight with her son to come to America for medical treatment. And of course, things don't go as planned. Thought it was decent because it was a lazy Saturday afternoon, and I had no expectations. I guess Netflix's budget helped with decent special effects, and it's got that emotional depth when it comes to the relationship between the mother and her son.

My goal for October will be to try to watch 7 or 10 horror movies that I haven't seen before. I've learned it's more realistic than aiming for 31 movies in the month.
 

Vampire_Hunter_Bob

Cats are great
Whoa ... it's been a while. I think I've been posting movies in the normal Movies Watched thread. We're on the cusp of October, so I'll kick off the month (early) with some movies I watched recently.

Malignant - it's about a woman who gets gruesome visions of murders often to find out that they really happened and it's like she was right there to witness it. Glad I watched the trailer AFTER seeing the film because it does such a bad job of telling you what it's about. Complete misdirection. I was also personally burnt out on James Wan and his typical style, but he surprises in the 3rd act. The first act is a bit jarring and boring, but get past it. The 2nd will also feel very familiar, get past it. This was A LOT of fun if you like camp, and I'd highly recommend it.
I watched the Malignant trailer first and I am (at best) lukewarm on James Wan, so I still haven't seen it yet. I do like that consistently everyone says the movie is fun.

My goal for October will be to try to watch 7 or 10 horror movies that I haven't seen before. I've learned it's more realistic than aiming for 31 movies in the month.
Do you have a list of horror movies to watch?

So far I plan on watching Sleepaway Camp and a Korean horror my coworker pointed me toward called Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum.
 
Do you have a list of horror movies to watch?

So far I plan on watching Sleepaway Camp and a Korean horror my coworker pointed me toward called Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum.
Hi Bob! Sorry I just saw your message and it's late to share a list for October. I generally browse through the usual apps I'm subscribed to - Netflix, Hulu, HBO Max, Amazon - and just filtered through their horror selection. Completely randomly. And recently I started to use Letterboxd to catalog the films I watch. The good thing about the app is that I can follow friends, and see what they've recently watched. It helps sometimes when I can't keep up with movies or can't decide what to see. If I see a movie that a bud rated poorly, I try to watch it too, so we can discuss how good/ bad it really was!

Devil Story - this was a real test of patience. I wouldn't recommend watching it by yourself, and please have a few drinks before/ during or something! Oh, the horror!

The Innocents - The 1961 version in B&W - if you can find the Criterion version, please check this one out. This is an absolute masterpiece.

The Haunting - The 1963 version in B&W - this was my first time seeing it, and it's visually stunning - highly recommended watch. The good thing about B&W films is the depth in some of the shadows or darker areas, it's somehow more mysterious/ menacing if it's done right. It can get pretty tense in some moments and everything about the house captures this menacing tone. What I didn't know was that it's directed by Robert Wise who also directed The Sound of Music.
 
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Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
Halloween Kills is not a good movie, it's not even a good Halloween movie, but it does contain a lot of worthwhile things: Michael Myers destroying everything, a good soundtrack, good cinematography (I know that sounds dumb but it is a good looking movie), and, speaking of which, flashbacks that are so great and convincing I kind of wish they'd done their own retro take on a sequel instead of these modern ones where everyone acts like they're aware of Michael Myers bloody 40 year film history even though in this continuity he just killed a few people in the 70's before being locked up again safely for decades.:shrug:

Again, they should have just included Halloween II where he kills half the town, gets blinded, blown up and burned (explains the 40 year rest =) and just downplayed the sibling angle if they don't like it (make it a quick reveal to the family and otherwise everyone still just hates Michael, etc). Also, after making him more realistic again in the last one, just a pure evil human, he's back to being some explicitly acknowledged supernatural force of nature, like a demi-god. I thought the point was to undo that and just make him a motiveless killer again. Of course, they never get the sex part right; this guy murdered his naked sister after watching her bone and then the same for a bunch of high school girls, all while excitedly heavy breathing and grunting like a total perv; now THAT'S scary, not some dumb devil shit.

Anyway, if you can overlook or ignore everything that isn't those good things I mentioned (Myers, music, movie making, and memories); namely, the plot and all the characters, which are awful, then this is a movie for you!
 
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Vampire_Hunter_Bob

Cats are great
So far I plan on watching Sleepaway Camp and a Korean horror my coworker pointed me toward called Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum.
First, I love Sleepaway Camp.

Second, Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum was the best horror I've seen in a while. I was sitting on the edge of my couch once things started rolling. Highly recommend if you like horror and fun.

Halloween Kills is not a good movie, it's not even a good Halloween movie, but it does contain a lot of worthwhile things: Michael Myers destroying everything, a good soundtrack, good cinematography (I know that sounds dumb but it is a good looking movie), and, speaking of which, flashbacks that are so great and convincing I kind of wish they'd done their own retro take on a sequel instead of these modern ones where everyone acts like they're aware of Michael Myers bloody 40 year film history even though in this continuity he just killed a few people in the 70's before being locked up again safely for decades.:shrug:
What really got me was the 50+ chants of "Evil dies tonight!" and the weird Jan. 6 vibes. I didn't absolutely hate it but it is low on the list for Halloween movies.
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
What really got me was the 50+ chants of "Evil dies tonight!" and the weird Jan. 6 vibes.

It's really... trick or treat. :badbone: The flashbacks and Myers scenes are great, the rest is like... what? Yeah, the mob thing is just desperately trying to say something while shoehorning in as many legacy characters as possible. It's also weird how it sort of rehashes elements of Halloween II after dumping it for narrative purposes, and they even resort to some soft supernatural talk after going out of their way to make him "normal" again (they might as well make him Laurie's brother again). Anyway, Michael is the only thing that's any good, and your most well drawn character probably shouldn't be a mute serial killer, but this is like Michael's movie; you're actually rooting for him given the lack of desirable alternatives! That's probably the best way to enjoy this.

You could take those flashbacks and random kills and stick them back into Halloween 2018 for a truly monster cut though. Firefighters scene after-credits. =)

I didn't absolutely hate it but it is low on the list for Halloween movies.

I don't know, III doesn't count in the Myers canon, people rate IV highly for Michael's return but it's really 80's schlocky, V and VI are trash, H20 is the 90's equivalent of IV, Ressurection is the nadir, the Rob Zombie versions are redundant and disposable, and that leaves the original, one of the most significant films ever, II, and 2018 in that order. So, I'd put this as high as 4th depending on how you feel about IV, H20 and the Zombies. It's basically by default though; having Carpenter, Curtis and Myers all involved helps. Maybe that's just my basic criteria for a Halloween movie. =)
 
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Vampire_Hunter_Bob

Cats are great
It's really... trick or treat. :badbone: The flashbacks and Myers scenes are great, the rest is like... what? Yeah, the mob thing is just desperately trying to say something while shoehorning in as many legacy characters as possible. It's also weird how it sort of rehashes elements of Halloween II after dumping it for narrative purposes, and they even resort to some soft supernatural talk after going out of their way to make him "normal" again (they might as well make him Laurie's brother again). Anyway, Michael is the only thing that's any good, and your most well drawn character probably shouldn't be a mute serial killer, but this is like Michael's movie; you're actually rooting for him given the lack of desirable alternatives! That's probably the best way to enjoy this.

You could take those flashbacks and random kills and stick them back into Halloween 2018 for a truly monster cut though. Firefighters scene after-credits. =)
I was there solely based on that firefighter scene and it did NOT disappoint me.

I like Laurie's daughter in the movie. I'm glad there's more going on with her in the movie, but... The things that I liked in the movie I really enjoyed, which makes it more disappointing that the movie wasn't better.

I don't know, III doesn't count in the Myers canon, people rate IV highly for Michael's return but it's really 80's schlocky, V and VI are trash, H20 is the 90's equivalent of IV, Ressurection is the nadir, the Rob Zombie versions are redundant and disposable, and that leaves the original, one of the most significant films ever, II, and 2018 in that order. So, I'd put this as high as 4th depending on how you feel about IV, H20 and the Zombies. It's basically by default though; having Carpenter, Curtis and Myers all involved helps. Maybe that's just my basic criteria for a Halloween movie. =)
You're right. It's hard to remember how much stinks with this series.

Also, I'm not a Season of the Witch hater. It's basically a Bond movie with a horror twist. My biggest complaint with it is that it looks ugly.

The Prowler (1981) - Known internationally as Rosemary's Killer. It apparently bombed in the box office (domestic) back when it released because of bad marketing. The villain of the movie is a WWII veteran pissed about the Dear John letter he received while deployed. The movie has some great kills and good gore effects (this is one of Tom Savini's early movies) and definitely now has one of my favorite villain deaths. It does have it's issues (What is the killer's motive?), I think the movie is worth checking out.
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
I was there solely based on that firefighter scene and it did NOT disappoint me.

Real firefighters too, apparently. I like how they were just game from the moment he appeared, like they see the obviously evil masked maniac emerge from the burning house on Halloween and instinctively understand it's go time.

I like Laurie's daughter in the movie. I'm glad there's more going on with her in the movie, but...

She's probably the best of the lot despite doing a crap job with the other escaped mental patient and, well, not aiming for the head. I guess you need to be a psychiatrist to be that smart. Still, her and her daughter probably had the best moments with Michael.

The things that I liked in the movie I really enjoyed, which makes it more disappointing that the movie wasn't better.

Yep, it's like an ultimate watch the good parts, fast-forward the bad parts movie; the 1978 flashback, the firefighters, Michael "sharpening up" on the old couple, the fight inside Michael's house, and that Rocky-like comeback at the end were all highly entertaining and rewatchable (plus the rad score). Everything else with the hospital or townies, including the SUV attack (even Michael couldn't save every scene he was in) was pretty indefensible... except, like I said, those people are portrayed so bad because Michael's actually the protagonist in this movie. He's a lone non-conformist standing up to an idiotic mob mentality! :rakshas:

You're right. It's hard to remember how much stinks with this series.

Also, I'm not a Season of the Witch hater. It's basically a Bond movie with a horror twist. My biggest complaint with it is that it looks ugly.

It was the right idea for the direction of the series too. It would much cooler to have a new, unique Halloween-themed anthology movie every few years instead of watching the next guy that's trying to fix Michael Myers inevitably screw him up for the umpteenth time.
 
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Vampire_Hunter_Bob

Cats are great
@IncantatioN and @Griffith - What horror movies are you most excited to watch this October, the most haunting time of year?

New movies on my radar...

Smile (2022, directed by Parker Finn). The trailer is a little horror cliché but I'm still excited for this one. Also, I kind of like the interesting yet assholish promotional stunt for this movie at baseball games: https://www.cbr.com/smile-movie-creepy-viral-promo-major-league-baseball/

Halloween Ends (2022, directed by David Gordon Green). I am going to watch this but I think the lack of publicity (as far as I've seen) says something about Universal's opinion of the film. I could also be wrong.

Older movies

The Prowler (1981, directed by Joseph Zito). I watched this earlier this year and loved it. Now I am looking to make my wife watch this.

Cat People (1942, directed by Jacques Tourneur). This was mentioned in a book called Nightmare Fuel and in Shudder's 101 movies to watch. I know very little, but I am a cat person so I'll watch it.
 
I recently watched a movie called Martyrs (2008) it's unlike any horror movie I've seen and it's really damn good although it's definitely not for everyone and it's possible it could really scar you, it's the only movie in recent memory to actually scare me because of how real it feels and how real the characters are. It's really horrifying so watch at your own peril. For some reason i purchased the blu ray though:iva:. It got me down a dark road watching other french horror movies and I have to say french horror movies are very strange and very dark. Western horror movies are like a children's cartoons to me now
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
@IncantatioN and @Griffith - What horror movies are you most excited to watch this October, the most haunting time of year?

Because zombies are my go-to fictional phobia, though this is less engaging when you're going on forty and are more scared of your kids damaging their brains than anything eating yours, my Halloween tradition was to barricade myself in my room and watch Night of the Living Dead as if it were really happening. What an imagination! :ganishka:

I should probably just catch my wife up on all the recent, more phycological or emotionally disturbing, horror from the past few years like Heredity, Midsommer, or even The VVitch (damn, that movies almost 10 years old now). But again, we're probably not going to watch anything because of the aforementioned real little monsters in our house. It took us like three days to watch that stupid Elvis movie (speaking of scares, Tom Hanks' performance was certainly perturbing. I keep thinking about him: are we sure he's still good? =)

Halloween Ends (2022, directed by David Gordon Green). I am going to watch this but I think the lack of publicity (as far as I've seen) says something about Universal's opinion of the film. I could also be wrong.

I'll watch it too, but probably via Peacock! I actually liked the last one because in my mind it was really Michael Myers' own superhero movie: he was the main character, the awful townies were the villains, and he gets his revenge on them and Laurie, kills the shit out of everything and basically fuckin' wins in the end. Pretty cool from that POV, but by the same token, since I don't believe those were the filmmakers actual intentions, what the fuck were they doing!? The 2018 movie fit a lot better with the previous tone of the good Halloween movies (uh, basically 1 & 2?), but this one was certainly more unique and out there doing its own creative thing for better or worse.

This new "last" one feels like a step back, probably a literal budgetary step back after the second one was less profitable with COVID etc, and constrained by its place, having to wrap up this trilogy with all the previous narrative weight and baggage of the franchise on it. I mean, after the last two I don't even really care if Laurie and Michael have yet another "ultimate showdown" in a scary house or whatever. The only thing potentially interesting was Gordon Green saying it was actually going to be much larger in scope and pay greater tribute to Carpenter's entire oeuvre, but you sure wouldn't know it from the trailers. So, probably bullshit.:shrug:

As for other contemporary stuff... uh, is Nope any good? I could probably swing it with the wife even though Us was nothing special, but I thought Get Out was legit even with all the hype. Like, it was just a good B horror movie premise they saw through properly in addition to all the satire and social commentary that got all the attention (that's how you do it, folks). Us, on the other hand, basically cheated and didn't actually make sense. It was also pretty silly, complete with Tim Heidecker doing shit that was basically indistinguishable from his comedy.
 
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