Sangre, cuchillos, y tetas --- Horror Film Discussion [Archive] - Page 12

Ezee E

05-09-2010, 01:34 AM

Right. I think it's totally appropriate, and necessary really, to judge films based on the context of where and when they were made. I can accept that Charlton Heston played a Mexican in 1958, but I would expect people to respond differently if a white actor put on makeup to play one today, unless there was some specific reason for it.
http://scrapetv.com/News/News%20Pages/Science/images-2/scarface.jpg

Qrazy

05-09-2010, 05:22 AM

Meg is right. D talking about eating dog has nothing to do with anything.

Winston*

05-09-2010, 11:38 AM

Grouchy

05-09-2010, 07:45 PM

Really? You'll entitle me to a thought? Thank you kind sir!
D, just to clarify, I think your opinion is risible goofy and wrong, but it's really nothing personal otherwise. I just see you're far too passionate about it for me to keep going.

D_Davis

05-10-2010, 09:47 PM

D, just to clarify, I think your opinion is risible goofy and wrong, but it's really nothing personal otherwise. I just see you're far too passionate about it for me to keep going.

Actually I'm not - no big deal, man. Really.

:)

bac0n

05-11-2010, 01:31 AM

Saw the original Godzilla. Genuinely good movie. Kind of comically on the nose in its allegory but it works it. The girl in it is pretty much the worst actress I've ever seen though, she keeps smiling in all the dramatic scenes.

Yeah, she is pretty much standard cry at everything window dressing, but the film is so wonderfully shot, and Takashi Shimura & Akihiko Hirata give such powerful, understated performances that I'm willing to overlook her shortcomings.

BuffaloWilder

05-11-2010, 02:25 AM

It's a great film, but I love the one or two more obvious goofs - they're so strange, even for a film from fifty years ago or more, that they just can't help being mentioned.

When Odo Island is under siege, and it cuts to a wideshot of the island from afar, and we're given a pretty plain, obvious view of what looks like a plastic helicopter being batted about by the wind resting against a pretty damned realistic model island. Then, later on when the fire trucks are raising through Tokyo, and Godzilla sends them spiralling into a wall, the camera suddenly and abruptly cuts to an amazingly obvious shot of what are basically dolls in firemen's uniforms in a plastic fire truck being rammed into a wall - this one's strange because we'd seen before in the movie they'd had the means to film a car going end over end, and had done so pretty well. So, what happened here?

Winston*

05-11-2010, 02:33 AM

The toy-esque imagery in those sequences was a conscious choice to thematically illustrate the fragility of our lives and accomplishments in the face of a such overwhelming force. In the face of a nuclear attack, we are mere dolls for fate to play with.

BuffaloWilder

05-11-2010, 02:36 AM

I had that train of thought, too - and then I said naaaah, probably just a bum effects shot.

Derek

05-11-2010, 02:39 AM

Not to sidetrack, but this is consistent with your review of Pixar's Cars as well (a review I've always had some issues with -- but I still haven't seen it, so what the fuck can I say? :)).

Yeah, I tend to always take issue with films, especially modern films, that harken back to the glory days of America when things moved slower, you could walk the streets at night without any fear and the gays and blacks knew their place. It's an ultra-conservative sentiment that whitewashes history.

Obviously not in this thread, but I'd be curious to hear what issues you had with it, especially because I find it hard to believe you wouldn't find the 50s montage anything short of repulsive.

http://scrapetv.com/News/News%20Pages/Science/images-2/scarface.jpg

Well, early 80s is still quite a ways away from where we are today, but I believe some people were upset with the way Pacino/Scarface portrayed Cubans.

megladon8

05-11-2010, 02:52 AM

I do often wish life moved a little slower.

bac0n

05-11-2010, 03:09 AM

my guess is it's nothing so high art. More likely that they ran out of budget. Director Ishiro Honda had a mere fraction of what the folks who made King Kong had to work with, which was, among other reasons, why they went with a guy in a rubber suit for the monster.

Boner M

05-11-2010, 03:23 AM

Anyone seen the British TV movie Ghostwatch? I remember some people raving about it as 'the scariest film ever' on the IMDb horror boards when I posted there back in the day, and though I can see how one would hold that view, I gotta say that time (and the flurry of faux-reportage supernatural films made since) has not been kind to it... it's got some spooky moments and good performances, but overall its impact has been considerably dulled.

Winston*

05-11-2010, 03:37 AM

Dead & Messed Up

05-15-2010, 12:50 AM

Personal victory: facilitating an enormous conversation/argument in my work bullpen about The Descent.

balmakboor

05-16-2010, 01:50 PM

balmakboor

05-16-2010, 02:01 PM

Personal victory: facilitating an enormous conversation/argument in my work bullpen about The Descent.

Checked out your review of Under the Dome, the first King I've wanted to read in a while. Nice blog btw.

Dead & Messed Up

05-16-2010, 05:36 PM

Checked out your review of Under the Dome, the first King I've wanted to read in a while. Nice blog btw.

Thank you! It's a great read, especially the first two-thirds or so.

megladon8

05-17-2010, 06:57 PM

Jen and I watched the first half of Triangle last night.

This movie better pull a total U-turn soon, because so far it's one of the most predictable movies I've ever seen.

Every single twist in plot that has occurred so far, Jen and I called in the first 5 minutes of the movie.

I feel like I have the whole thing figured out already.

megladon8

05-19-2010, 02:47 AM

So yeah, Triangle was horrid.

I could go into lots of detail, but it would all pretty much come down to this - it makes no sense, and its attempts at twists and mind-fuckery are incredibly stupid, constantly betraying itself.

Very bad.

Rowland

05-20-2010, 04:06 AM

I'll be returning Maniac (spectacularly grungy and immersive serial killer opus) to Netflix tomorrow, and shall hopefully receive Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932), The Black Cat (1934), and The Raven (1935) in time for the weekend, all on the same disk! All first-time viewings, so I'm pumped.

megladon8

05-24-2010, 06:52 PM

I freaking love Prince of Darkness.

I mean LOVE it. Like, it's probably in my top 15 of 20 horrors of all time.

Absolutely masterful.

Raiders

05-24-2010, 06:58 PM

I freaking love Prince of Darkness.

I mean LOVE it. Like, it's probably in my top 15 of 20 horrors of all time.

Absolutely masterful.

You should be proud of your correctness.

megladon8

05-24-2010, 07:05 PM

You should be proud of your correctness.

One of the coolest looks at science vs. religion I've ever seen. I think I've seen it more than a dozen times and I could watch it again right now.

Sure, there are flaws. The mustache being one of the larger ones. But none of them bother me enough to detract from the movie.

Spun Lepton

05-24-2010, 08:10 PM

I consider Prince of Darkness one of Carpenter's lesser successes. I don't think it completely fulfilled its potential, but was still tense and entertaining. It's also grown on me over the years.

My favorite scene has always been, "I have something to tell you, and you're not going to like it."

Spun Lepton

05-24-2010, 08:10 PM

Sure, there are flaws. The mustache being one of the larger ones. But none of them bother me enough to detract from the movie.

The mustache?

megladon8

05-24-2010, 08:14 PM

The mustache?

http://img692.imageshack.us/img692/9329/c6bfpuzgw12t6cf1.jpg

megladon8

05-24-2010, 09:55 PM

Grace was incredibly unpleasant.

Spun Lepton

05-24-2010, 10:28 PM

http://img692.imageshack.us/img692/9329/c6bfpuzgw12t6cf1.jpg

I give this look a few more years before it becomes popular again. No, I'm not kidding.

megladon8

05-24-2010, 10:30 PM

I give this look a few more years before it becomes popular again. No, I'm not kidding.

I just noticed that he (Jameson Parker) was already 40 when he made this film. And he was supposed to be a college student.

D_Davis

05-24-2010, 11:50 PM

I give this look a few more years before it becomes popular again. No, I'm not kidding.

It already is in Seattle. Lots of un-ironic mustaches being worn.

Philosophe_rouge

05-24-2010, 11:52 PM

Grace was unpleasant, the ending was sooo terrible too. I still think it had enough good in it though, that I'd see the director's follow-up effort if it ever comes.

Derek

05-25-2010, 12:02 AM

It already is in Seattle. Lots of un-ironic mustaches being worn.

I think you should grow one. It would only build your mystique as the tucked-in-shirt ambient musician who plays for stoners in the forest. At the very least, you'd be getting calls to play all over the Pacific Northwest. :)

megladon8

05-25-2010, 12:19 AM

Grace was unpleasant, the ending was sooo terrible too. I still think it had enough good in it though, that I'd see the director's follow-up effort if it ever comes.

The ending was terrible, and I found the acting from just about everyone to be equally bad. Particularly the woman who played the midwife/ex-lesbian-lover. She was just horrid.

I saw some potential in the visuals, but mostly in terms of composition. I really did not like the washed-out look of the film. It felt very TV-movie.

Rowland

05-25-2010, 01:23 AM

I used to be lukewarm towards Prince of Darkness, but a reassessment last year confirmed it as something pretty special, certainly undervalued by most viewers. It's probably the last borderline-great movie Carpenter made, though I do really like many of his later, similarly underrated efforts. Except Ghosts of Mars, that still blows.

Scar

05-25-2010, 01:26 AM

Spun Lepton

05-25-2010, 02:20 AM

I can't blame Twilight for the pussification of the vampire myth, but I sure as hell will blame them for the pussification of werewolves. :evil:

Teen Werewolves Roam the Shopping Malls of San Antonio
http://gawker.com/5546467/teen-werewolves-roam-the-shopping-malls-of-san-antonio

Russ

05-25-2010, 02:34 AM

Boy Meets Girl (Ray Brady, 1994) is a very nasty and effective entry in the torture porn genre (certainly one of the first) that is talky and, at times, philosophical, yet it remains intensely disturbing until the very end. The acting is especially good; that, along with a sharp script make Brady's debut film an impressive and grueling experience. Brady made this film to specifically challenge Britain's censorship laws and audience perception of the type of violence that is generally deemed acceptable. Features a very creative use of intertitles to introduce segments. ***/****

megladon8

05-25-2010, 02:41 AM

I like Ghosts of Mars but yes, it is balls.

MadMan

05-25-2010, 05:24 AM

Prince of Darkness is pretty damn good. Hurray for demonic Alice Cooper, green Satantic slime, and zombie creatures. Plus many of the set pieces are fairly creepy. I'd consider it to be rather underrated, although considering many of the folks here who seem to value it more than I thought, perhaps not. Carpenter to me is just like John Hughes: they had the most success in the 1980s, although granted Carpenter's first and third best movies were made in the 70s. Halloween being the former, and Assault on Precinct 13 the latter. The Thing being his second best, of course. I still want to see Dark Star, and I really should finally watch that copy I have of In The Mouth of Madness.

Spun Lepton

05-29-2010, 07:54 AM

Survival of the Dead is ham-fisted and clumsy. All of Romero's characters are theme-spouters, every one of them has to remind the audience of every little nuance and convention of Romero's universe. Also, there's a lot I'll let Romero get away with, but a zombie riding a horse is too much. The acting seemed capable, and there were a few glimmers of the old Romero here and there, but, oof.

4/10

Bosco B Thug

05-31-2010, 03:11 AM

Okay, Survival of the Dead is REALLY really pedestrian filmmaking-wise. Where's the decree that 70s horror auteurs have to turn senile by the 00s?

But, I think I kinda loved the story/screenplay. It's slow going at first, but by the halfway point, I was suddenly having tremendous fun, and, not only that, but Romero can still write some really rich scenarios and dialogue (in between his groaners).

Spun - I read your post and agreed a horse-riding zombie must be stupid... but that was one of the film's best and most evocative plot elements. A marked improvement over the Bub nonsense of Day of the Dead (I am prepared to retract that statement - I haven't seen 'Day' since I was an adolescent, but I've always hated the idea of the "intelligent zombie" - which is one reason I got such a kick out of 'Survival').

Those who are going to give it a chance, be prepared to be embarrassed for the film a lot, but on the other hand, it should irk you less than Diary of the Dead. Reviewers calling it a "zombie western" (except eastern...) are pretty accurate.

MadMan

05-31-2010, 11:04 PM

I rather liked Diary of the Dead, but I'm not sure if Survival of the Dead is something I will actually like. But if it comes to my local theater, I will go see it regardless.

Dead & Messed Up

06-01-2010, 07:30 AM

Stuart Gordon's King of the Ants was watched by me. I will post in detail tomorrow. For now, the following should suffice:

Uh, what?

Winston*

06-01-2010, 11:34 PM

Cure was kind of fantastic. It's rare a horror movie improves in retrospect.

Sycophant

06-01-2010, 11:49 PM

Cure is pretty wonderful. Have you seen any other K. Kurosawa's, W*?

Winston*

06-01-2010, 11:53 PM

Seen Kairo which I loved and Retribution which I didn't get.

megladon8

06-03-2010, 01:31 AM

If I watched a Hellraiser movie at before bed (or even worse, put it on repeat while I go to sleep) I WILL have nightmares about Cenobites. Regardless of which entry it is.

They may be one of the most terrifying creations - at least the idea of them - I've ever come across in movies.

Dead & Messed Up

06-03-2010, 02:02 AM

megladon8

06-03-2010, 02:20 AM

I had a nightmare the other night that Judith O'Dea died and her death-moment involved her going back to the old house from Night of the Living Dead, and all the zombies were standing still, welcoming her. It was terrifying and sad to me.

That is terrifying and sad.

That could make a great meta-bio type movie, like JCVD.

MadMan

06-03-2010, 04:23 AM

I had a nightmare the other night that Judith O'Dea died and her death-moment involved her going back to the old house from Night of the Living Dead, and all the zombies were standing still, welcoming her. It was terrifying and sad to me.That just reminds me of Carnival of Souls, and the insanely creepy scene where she gets on the bus. Of course the freaky ass ghoul people are sitting there, grinning and waiting to receive her. Yikes.

megladon8

06-03-2010, 04:13 PM

The Strangers was surprisingly good, but not a very pleasant movie to watch.

Certainly had some big problems, but it was beautifully shot, and I really liked both Speedman and Tyler in their roles.

Ezee E

06-03-2010, 06:32 PM

The Strangers was surprisingly good, but not a very pleasant movie to watch.

Certainly had some big problems, but it was beautifully shot, and I really liked both Speedman and Tyler in their roles.
It is good. The sound design is what did it for me.

megladon8

06-04-2010, 12:53 AM

It is good. The sound design is what did it for me.

The strangers disappearing was starting to piss me off. It worked a couple of times, but there were times where it was NOT HUMANLY POSSIBLE for them to get in and out of the house as fast as they did.

Also, the Michael Myers head-tilt was way overused.

Scar

06-04-2010, 01:10 AM

The strangers disappearing was starting to piss me off. It worked a couple of times, but there were times where it was NOT HUMANLY POSSIBLE for them to get in and out of the house as fast as they did.

Also, the Michael Myers head-tilt was way overused.

Its been awhile, but I'm pretty sure they weren't all in or all outside at the same time, except for maybe the end.

balmakboor

06-04-2010, 01:36 AM

Anyone seen Messiah of Evil by Huyck and Katz? It is featured in the new Film Comment and sounds really interesting, possibly great. Netflix doesn't carry it, but I can buy it for $16.00. Is it worth it?

Man, I had really hoped someone around here had seen this. I thought you guys, collectively, had seen everything.

dmk

06-04-2010, 01:56 AM

I freaking love Prince of Darkness.

I mean LOVE it. Like, it's probably in my top 15 of 20 horrors of all time.

Absolutely masterful.
:pritch:

The dreams being distorted by video is one of the most breathtaking things you could see on DVD. Beautiful.

Anyone seen Messiah of Evil by Huyck and Katz? It is featured in the new Film Comment and sounds really interesting, possibly great. Netflix doesn't carry it, but I can buy it for $16.00. Is it worth it? I've been waiting for the library to get their copy in, but I've heard really great things.

megladon8

06-04-2010, 01:57 AM

Its been awhile, but I'm pretty sure they weren't all in or all outside at the same time, except for maybe the end.

I know, but there are scenes that just don't make sense.

For example, when Speedman is in the car, you see one of the girls touch the back of his neck with her hand. He turns around and in a split second, she has completely disappeared. And there are no trees or cover for at least 20 feet in all directions.

There's no way in hell she could have gotten away that fast.

Scar

06-04-2010, 02:26 AM

I know, but there are scenes that just don't make sense.

For example, when Speedman is in the car, you see one of the girls touch the back of his neck with her hand. He turns around and in a split second, she has completely disappeared. And there are no trees or cover for at least 20 feet in all directions.

There's no way in hell she could have gotten away that fast.

I need to rewatch it.

If she touched the back of his neck from outside the car, could she simply have hidden on the opposite side of the car?

megladon8

06-04-2010, 02:29 AM

I need to rewatch it.

If she touched the back of his neck from outside the car, could she simply have hidden on the opposite side of the car?

No, it shows all around the car. She's gone.

EDIT: And I totally understand the reason why they did this in the movie. They wanted the audience to show that Speedman and Tyler are completely at the mercy of the strangers.

But it kind of clashes with the movie's uber-realism and authenticity.

Dead & Messed Up

06-04-2010, 02:32 AM

No, it shows all around the car. She's gone.

EDIT: And I totally understand the reason why they did this in the movie. They wanted the audience to show that Speedman and Tyler are completely at the mercy of the strangers.

But it kind of clashes with the movie's uber-realism and authenticity.

See, this is when the film started to lose me. And then they split up, and all hope was lost. The first half hour, though, is kinda magnificent.

megladon8

06-04-2010, 02:33 AM

See, this is when the film started to lose me. And then they split up, and all hope was lost. The first half hour, though, is kinda magnificent.

And Scott Speedman is great, too. I was really surprised. He played it so well.

Raiders

06-04-2010, 02:16 PM

Meh. (http://www.match-cut.org/showpost.php?p=115040&postcount=21700)

megladon8

06-04-2010, 04:19 PM

The Strangers > Funny Games

Rowland

06-04-2010, 07:19 PM

megladon8

06-04-2010, 11:49 PM

Yeah, The Strangers was okay, but it makes lots of stupid choices as it progresses. Another was the introduction of the friend, whose fate is utterly predictable and reeks of padding.

Funny Games > The Strangers

All those flaws pale in comparison to the condescending pretension of Haneke's film, which in the end is utterly hilarious in how brilliant it thinks it is.

Dead & Messed Up

06-05-2010, 12:29 AM

All those flaws pale in comparison to the condescending pretension of Haneke's film, which in the end is utterly hilarious in how brilliant it thinks it is.

Complete agreement. Haneke's film is a self-defeating mess.

megladon8

06-05-2010, 12:34 AM

Complete agreement. Haneke's film is a self-defeating mess.

"If you watch this movie, you're exactly the type of person who needs to watch this movie."

Here's a spoon. Eat my ass, Mr. Haneke.

MadMan

06-05-2010, 01:38 AM

Funny Games is one of those movies that I keep hearing is controversial, and that people discuss, and yet I know out of laziness and or figuring it won't live up to the hype I will probably never watch it.

Spun Lepton

06-05-2010, 01:42 AM

Anybody planning to see Splice this weekend?

Dead & Messed Up

06-05-2010, 01:46 AM

"__________" is one of those movies that I keep hearing is controversial, and that people discuss, and yet I know out of laziness and or figuring it won't live up to the hype I will probably never watch it.

Your new sig.

Winston*

06-05-2010, 01:50 AM

Anybody planning to see Splice this weekend?

Not out here yet but I'd like to see it. Natali's last film was terrible, but I dug his first two.

MadMan

06-05-2010, 01:54 AM

Your new sig.I don't think I have room :P

megladon8

06-05-2010, 02:38 AM

Anybody planning to see Splice this weekend?

Jen and I are planning to go on Sunday.

Spun Lepton

06-05-2010, 02:49 AM

Jen and I are planning to go on Sunday.

I've been interested, but the fact that I can't goddamn escape advertisements for it now is souring me on the whole fucking thing. I am curious if it's worthwhile, though.

Philosophe_rouge

06-05-2010, 03:33 AM

Anybody planning to see Splice this weekend?

I'm probably seeing it tuesday.

Grouchy

06-09-2010, 06:13 PM

Completely forgot I've been going to Tuesdays of Horror! The last two weeks were pretty good.

First came La Saga de los Dracula [The Dracula Saga], which was bizarre to say the least. The film stars Narciso Ibáñez Menta in another great performance as the Count, and focuses on this character's attempts to have a worthy succesor (as an audience we are forced to forget vampires are inmortal for the sake of the story), seeing as his biological son has turned out to be a monstrosity. When we finally see that son, it's really something to behold. The film is actually pretty good, and Ibáñez Menta creates a confident, foreboding Dracula with ease. It's directed by León Klimovsky, more famous for his Paul Naschy movies.

And yesterday we saw Zombi Holocaust. Not as good - a little too much exposition and the storyline is beyond silly. But it has its moments. In fact, it has a lot of them. Breasts, jungle traps, a zombie that looks like the Creature of the Black Lagoon, etc.

Spun Lepton

06-09-2010, 08:49 PM

And yesterday we saw Zombi Holocaust. Not as good - a little too much exposition and the storyline is beyond silly. But it has its moments. In fact, it has a lot of them. Breasts, jungle traps, a zombie that looks like the Creature of the Black Lagoon, etc.

This is a gem of a bad movie. They wanted so badly to offend and disgust, but they didn't have the guts (*rimshot*) nor the budget nor the talent to do so.

It features on of my favorite bad lines of all time: "I could easily kill you now, but I'm determined to have your brain!!"

Dead & Messed Up

06-09-2010, 08:58 PM

Stuart Gordon's King of the Ants was watched by me. I will post in detail tomorrow. For now, the following should suffice:

Uh, what?

I never followed up on this.

The story's awfully wacky, with the main character running through a film noir, a torture horror, a domestic drama, and ultimately a revenge tale. The first half proves more interesting, as Sean Crawley (Chris McKenna) is played a sap by criminals slightly more competent than he. Example: he stupidly says he has evidence against them, and their solution is to keep him in a shed and beat him for kicks. The latter decision is especially haunting; Crawley becomes so used to the torture - blows to his head, dampened with a piece of mattress - that he starts tying on the padding before his torturers do. The second half plays like fantasy, as he not only gets the woman he dreams of (Kari Wuhrer, grounded and affecting), but also pursues the men who betrayed him. As a precursor to the more assured Edmond and Stuck, King of the Ants is interesting. On its own, though, it's little more than a curiosity.

B-

jenniferofthejungle

06-09-2010, 09:13 PM

I've been interested, but the fact that I can't goddamn escape advertisements for it now is souring me on the whole fucking thing. I am curious if it's worthwhile, though.

I'd say it was an interesting failure.

I am glad I went to see it (I love movie dates), but it was nothing like I thought it would be. I thought it would be smarter,I thought it would be scarier, and I also thought it would make sense, but it was all over the place, really.

There was a good movie in there somewhere.

jenniferofthejungle

06-09-2010, 09:15 PM

The Last House on the Left remake is fucking brutal. I didn't make it to the hour point, but I hope to finish it this evening.

I almost regret asking Braden to buy it for me.

D_Davis

06-09-2010, 09:25 PM

King of the Ants was definitely a turning point for Gordon; it was the film that ushered him forth into this new era he's in.

Dead & Messed Up

06-09-2010, 09:39 PM

King of the Ants was definitely a turning point for Gordon; it was the film that ushered him forth into this new era he's in.

I did hear that he's trying to secure financing for a Thing on the Doorstep picture. He's claimed that it's very disturbing and erotic. Not sure how that will work, but, then again, he managed to turn a seven page tale about interdimensional fish into a S&M odyssey, so there you go.

D_Davis

06-09-2010, 10:30 PM

I'll take a Gordon HPL flick over a Del Toro one any old day. Gordon has proved that he knows how to capture the essence of HPL better than any other director. Del Toro gets the "pulp" attitude of weird tales era fiction, but he doesn't understand the pathos of the human drama typical to the genre. Del Toro would be better off doing a Conan film; leave the HPL and Clarke Ashton Smith stuff to Gordon.

I really want to see Stuck again. I only saw it once - at the theater - and I absolutely loved it. I hope it's as good as I remember.

Dead & Messed Up

06-09-2010, 10:39 PM

I'll take a Gordon HPL flick over a Del Toro one any old day. Gordon has proved that he knows how to capture the essence of HPL better than any other director. Del Toro gets the "pulp" attitude of weird tales era fiction, but he doesn't understand the pathos of the human drama typical to the genre.

How do you mean? Apart from Hellboy's set design and big bad, I can't think of a Del Toro film invested in the heritage of weird tales. Most of them are inspired by the Gothic tradition, especially Cronos and Backbone, and I thought both of them had fascinating personalities and moral dilemmas.

D_Davis

06-09-2010, 11:08 PM

Del Toro desperately wants to do HPL (pretty much all he talks about), but so far I don't think he's demonstrated that he knows what it takes beyond the pulp nature of things like Blade II and Hellboy. If I had to pick a director to trust with an HPL movie, I'd put my faith in Gordon because he's proven that he knows what its all about.

Spun Lepton

06-09-2010, 11:12 PM

D_Davis

06-09-2010, 11:14 PM

So, you haven't seen Pan's Labyrinth, The Devil's Backbone, or Cronos? Or The Orphanage, which he produced?

I've seen them all. They're more gothic, romantic-ghost story, not later weird tale influenced. Don't really care for any of them either. He'd be better off adapting a Robert W. Chambers or MR James story than an HPL story.

Spun Lepton

06-09-2010, 11:32 PM

I've seen them all. They're more gothic, romantic-ghost story, not later weird tale influenced. Don't really care for any of them either.

:|

Dead & Messed Up

06-09-2010, 11:50 PM

I've seen them all. They're more gothic, romantic-ghost story, not later weird tale influenced. Don't really care for any of them either. He'd be better off adapting a Robert W. Chambers or MR James story than an HPL story.

Okay, here's where I agree - certainly his more personal projects owe more to the Gothic tradition than the weird tale. But that doesn't mean he couldn't pull off an awesome adaptation. I loved his nods to the Cthulhu Mythos in Hellboy.

You not caring for them, however, merits condemnation and scorn. The most violent scorn.

I scorn thee.

jenniferofthejungle

06-10-2010, 04:23 AM

Last House on the Left (2009) was a very tough viewing for me. I don't know what others thought of it because I avoid any and all threads for movies I haven't seen yet, but I was mentally exhausted by the 50 minute mark, and put off watching the rest for a few days.

I finished it up today, and while I can't say I loved it it was definitely better than the original. I wanted to write more, but I can't think about the things that bothered me without getting a bit upset.

I'm trying to figure out how a movie (which cleaned up a lot of the violence and grossness of the original) could still make me feel so dirty.

Grouchy

06-10-2010, 09:29 PM

This is a gem of a bad movie. They wanted so badly to offend and disgust, but they didn't have the guts (*rimshot*) nor the budget nor the talent to do so.

It features on of my favorite bad lines of all time: "I could easily kill you now, but I'm determined to have your brain!!"
At one point a body falls from a window and when it hits the ground, the arm just flies off the doll. They didn't even bother to fucking cut it.

Spun Lepton

06-10-2010, 10:30 PM

At one point a body falls from a window and when it hits the ground, the arm just flies off the doll. They didn't even bother to fucking cut it.

Yep! Another reason I adore the movie so. They JUST! DIDN'T! CARE!!

Bosco B Thug

06-11-2010, 06:53 AM

A critic criticized 'Survival' for being the DEAD film in which the zombies have lost all the dread and terror they once inspired, and in which they could be replaced with any old "Other." I think that more accurately describes 'Land,' in which the smart zombie is front and center and could stand in for any marginalized class. Ehhhhhhh.

But the film works well enough, despite my smart zombie aversion. I think Romero's a fine screenwriter, even in cheeky pulp fiction dialogue mode. 'Land' is like a historical epic disguised as a zombie film - it's a work of conjectural history involving nations not currently in circulation, depicting an entire social upheaval by a mere swarming of the gates. It's also a Capra film with zombies.

Romero's filmmaking remains pretty blah. If not for the much much much more extensive production values here, I can't imagine this being much more impressive than Survival of the Dead. It is, but not by much.

But what's with Romero pandering to gorehounds so shamelessly in 'Land' and 'Survival,' and with horrendous, horrendous CGI?? 'Survival' is the worst offender, with the embarrassing shots of 100% CGI HEADS being blown in half.

Buuuut eh I think I prefer Survival. It's not as slick, but its allegory is more esoteric and existentially evocative, and its fun is more infectious ('Land' is pretty fun and likable, though - 'Survival' could have done with some A-listers).

MadMan

06-11-2010, 06:57 AM

I haven't seen Land of the Dead, or Survival of the Dead, and even though I liked Diary of the Dead I have that sad feeling that Romero is about done as a truly interesting and intriguing film maker. I'll reserve final judgement after seeing both movies, but Romero may be better off finally retiring, although part of me wouldn't mind him directing until he dies. It'll be a sad day when one of the masters of horror passes away.

Bosco B Thug

06-11-2010, 07:13 AM

I haven't seen Land of the Dead, or Survival of the Dead, and even though I liked Diary of the Dead I have that sad feeling that Romero is about done as a truly interesting and intriguing film maker. I'll reserve final judgement after seeing both movies, but Romero may be better off finally retiring Nah, I've liked all his films he's made in the 20th century. It's just, yes, 'Survival' (and Mother of Tears, or Cursed, or the worst of Vampires and Mortuary, etc.) feels like a poorly made sitcom sometimes.

D_Davis

06-11-2010, 12:29 PM

Raiders

06-11-2010, 04:46 PM

I loved Land of the Dead. Haven't seen the last two.

Bosco B Thug

06-11-2010, 07:54 PM

Land of the Dead might just be on my top 10 worst films I've paid to see list. Absolutely dreadful, embarrassingly so. Why is that? and Have you seen 'Diary'?

Bosco B Thug

06-12-2010, 07:23 AM

Monkey Shines is an intriguing and risky film, with odd, perverse psychology being rooted at and a knowing cheekiness in support of that (Fernando Croce: it's a film "expressed in satirical Hitchcockisms" - and it is pretty Romero-gone-De Palma), but ultimately, I don't think it's too successful. It's a little stiff, a little dry, and that psychological study is a little simplistic sometimes. Good, watchable effort, though.

Day of the Dead this weekend.

Bosco B Thug

06-13-2010, 06:37 AM

Day of the Dead is fantastic. Why does it have any sort of bad reputation? ... Best of the trilogy?

Dawn is the most consistently artful, but I just sensed too many nagging deficiencies when I last re-watched it. Day is streamlined - without Dawn's currency in melancholic and contemplative passages - but in being so, it's simple and thorough with its portrait, and really powerful.

Derek

06-13-2010, 06:53 AM

B-side

06-13-2010, 06:56 AM

I like Martin.

That is my contribution to the Romero discussion. Thank you, and good night.

MadMan

06-13-2010, 07:33 AM

Day of the Dead is one of the best horror movies of the 1980s, and a fine sequel. However the characters are among the weakest in the series, and that somewhat hurts the films. Dawn and Night are far superior, and I think that Dawn had the best cast of characters-a small group of main actors was a smart move, and worked the best.

balmakboor

06-13-2010, 01:54 PM

Day of the Dead is great, probably my favorite zombie film. Land of the Dead is easily the weakest of the series, but still delivers plenty of great zombie moments and has my favorite scene in the series where a character consciously chooses to become a zombie. I love Diary, but have grown tired of arguing its merits. I haven't seen Survival yet.

Dead & Messed Up

06-13-2010, 06:26 PM

megladon8

06-13-2010, 07:04 PM

While Romero was never a master at writing natural, believable dialogue, I found Day of the Dead to be the beginning of his painfully bad on-the-nose dialogue. I also thought Joseph Pilato's performance was way too over-the-top, becoming laughably cartoonish in his freak-outs.

Despite all that, though, I do agree with those who say Day of the Dead is overly maligned by critics and horror lovers. It's an undisputed classic, just not as masterful as Romero's two previous entries in the ...of the Dead series.

Raiders

06-13-2010, 07:28 PM

megladon8

06-13-2010, 07:30 PM

I don't really have a favorite of the first three Dead films, loving all equally, and yeah I guess I would say Land is a step down but it is a very small step. Despite their rep, I'm very much looking forward to seeing the last two.

I quite liked Diary, actually. It's nowhere near the quality of the original trilogy, with some stuff being flat out bad, but there were a few scenes that actually creeped me out, which a zombie film hasn't done for me in quite some time.

Spun Lepton

06-13-2010, 07:40 PM

Everybody in Day of the Dead is at their ultimate wit's end. Living in a cave underground for years (decades?), underneath a hopeless world has driven everybody to the extremes, and a number of people in the cave have, for sake of a better word, broken. Rhodes's explosive performance seems nicely on-par with Frankenstein's "mad doctor" performance and blends well with the pulpy nature of all of Romero's work.

I wasn't too impressed with it when it first came out. It's the weakest of the original trilogy, easily. But after multiple viewings it's really grown on me. I also think it's Savini's best work. He nor anybody from his team has EVER been able to replicate what he did with practical effects. (And rotten animal guts from the slaughterhouse, erruuugh.)

Bosco B Thug

06-13-2010, 07:41 PM

Day has some killer claustrophobia, and it's probably the most artful of Romero's first three zombie pictures, but I never gave much of a damn about what was happening. People say both sides are supposed to be stupid, but that left me untethered to the ostensible drama of the picture. I only start digging it once they let the zombies in. I only praised Dawn for artfulness, but Day is pretty artful. Or whatever adjective would best describe how the film achieves its greatly measured dramatic affect.

I felt it was needed that we have a scientist as unreliable as the soldiers. As Spun suggests in his post, Day is the trilogy's bluntest realization of human beings spinning their wheels in an existential void, so having even ostensible successes (i.e. Bub) ultimately represent a cracked, borderline-insanity-driven hopelessness is necessary.

Ah, and that brings me to Bub. I take back my hating, I <3 Bub. He's an exception, not the rule, and he's a perfect consolidation of humanity's affirmation and surrender.

Land = Survival < Diary < Night < Dawn < Day

'Night' and 'Dawn' may switch with further investigation.

Dead & Messed Up

06-13-2010, 10:29 PM

Land = Survival < Diary < Night < Dawn < Day

'Night' and 'Dawn' may switch with further investigation.

01. Dawn - A+
02. Night - A+
03. Day - B
04. Land - B-
05. Diary - C

The slide has been slow but unavoidable. I plan on skipping Survival.

megladon8

06-13-2010, 10:31 PM

Night - 10
Dawn - 10
Day - 7
Diary - 6
Land - 5

D_Davis

06-14-2010, 02:06 AM

Night - 10
Dawn - 6
Day - 8
Diary - didn't finish
Land - 1

Bosco B Thug

06-14-2010, 02:16 AM

The ... OF THE DEAD film series the greatest film series?

Six films. That's a lot, and each and every one of them are of real merit.

Oh wait, there's also Kieslowski's DEKALOGUE.

Grouchy

06-14-2010, 02:17 AM

Day is very good and, like someone else said, it has some of Savini's best work. Only two things conspire against it: the awful synth music and the lack of at least one good actor other than Bub.

Bosco B Thug

06-14-2010, 02:26 AM

Day is very good and, like someone else said, it has some of Savini's best work. Only two things conspire against it: the awful synth music and the lack of at least one good actor other than Bub. Fair enough. Although I really had no problems with either.

MacGuffin

06-14-2010, 06:48 AM

And as for Paranormal Activity, for me it's a very amateurish movie even if you don't consider the film school approach the filmmaker has taken. For one, it feels formative in how Peli unfortunately has some really good basic ideas or concepts floating about but never really unleashes their true potential to create any genuinely frightening moments. Like for example, I wonder why a filmmaker never has the balls to actually show the ghosts? Surely, it couldn't be too difficult. No, this is a movie that isn't as creative as the masses would want you to believe.

The major problem lies in how they fail to exhibit any understanding of how to work with atmosphere and tone. Basically Paranormal Activity works on one type of level where the movie is basically thrilling on a scene-by-scene basis (as oppose to say Jack Clayton's The Innocents where the whole movie is just this brilliant moody and haunted atmospheric wonderland—in other words, the sort of "moody horror" I prefer) and the problem with that is that the filmmaker does not have enough imagination to work outside simply having his actors do something other than walking downstairs and screaming off camera. Hell, I could walk downstairs at night and go into the garage where it's all dark and silent and surely it's more atmospheric than this crap!

MadMan

06-14-2010, 08:32 AM

Night-100
Dawn-100
Day-90
Diary-83

I haven't seen Land yet.

Grouchy

06-14-2010, 07:07 PM

Preach it, Clipper.

megladon8

06-14-2010, 11:02 PM

I'm going to laugh hard if MatchCut becomes a please where people say "showing the monster/ghost/villain is always better".

MacGuffin

06-14-2010, 11:55 PM

I'm going to laugh hard if MatchCut becomes a please where people say "showing the monster/ghost/villain is always better".

It's not, but with Paranormal Activity it's not necessarily a problem of it not showing a ghost so much as it is a problem of the movie not doing anything under the basis of an unseen ghost being in the home.

Winston*

06-15-2010, 12:17 AM

D_Davis

06-15-2010, 12:29 AM

megladon8

06-15-2010, 12:29 AM

My problem with Paranormal Activity is that the attempt to feel 'real' with the found footage style had the opposite effect on me. Early on my brain just said "well, this isn't real' and I couldn't get involved in the film after that.

Do all "found footage" type movies have this same problem? Did you feel the same detachment with, say, Cloverfield? Or The Blair Witch Project?

megladon8

06-15-2010, 12:30 AM

It's not, but with Paranormal Activity it's not necessarily a problem of it not showing a ghost so much as it is a problem of the movie not doing anything under the basis of an unseen ghost being in the home.

Eh, I guess we just disagree then.

I thought it was quite inventive with its mciro-budget, and scared me quite deeply.

I also though Micah and Katie were played very well.

MacGuffin

06-15-2010, 12:31 AM

Paranormal Activity robbed of sleep for almost 2 weeks. It scared the hell out of me. That, my friends, is a successful horror film, aesthetics and technical merits be damned. It scared me when so very few horror films rarely do.

And I'm shocked, because as I watched the movie, at points, I wasn't even sure what I was supposed to be frightened about...

MacGuffin

06-15-2010, 12:32 AM

Eh, I guess we just disagree then.

I thought it was quite inventive with its mciro-budget, and scared me quite deeply.

I also though Micah and Katie were played very well.

I won't deny that it is a very ambitious movie, which is where I see merit.

Winston*

06-15-2010, 12:34 AM

Do all "found footage" type movies have this same problem? Did you feel the same detachment with, say, Cloverfield? Or The Blair Witch Project?

I did have that problem with Cloverfield. Haven't seen Blair Witch in over 10 years. Didn't have that problem with [REC] though, oddly enough

D_Davis

06-15-2010, 12:37 AM

And I'm shocked, because as I watched the movie, at points, I wasn't even sure what I was supposed to be frightened about...

Well horror, like comedy, is entirely subjective.

megladon8

06-15-2010, 12:40 AM

And I'm shocked, because as I watched the movie, at points, I wasn't even sure what I was supposed to be frightened about...

I find hauntings (whether it be ghost, poltergeist, demon, whatever) to be the most terrifying subject for horror films. If I were to list the 5 films that have scared me the most in my life, at least three of them would be in this sub-genre of horror.

I thought Paranormal Activity was a great minimalist addition to this sub-genre. Even the positioning of the camera, with our focus always on "what is down the hall, in those rooms?"

Maybe the fact that I am still afraid of the dark adds to this predisposed fear of dark rooms and hallways.

MacGuffin

06-15-2010, 01:01 AM

I find hauntings (whether it be ghost, poltergeist, demon, whatever) to be the most terrifying subject for horror films. If I were to list the 5 films that have scared me the most in my life, at least three of them would be in this sub-genre of horror.

I thought Paranormal Activity was a great minimalist addition to this sub-genre. Even the positioning of the camera, with our focus always on "what is down the hall, in those rooms?"

Maybe the fact that I am still afraid of the dark adds to this predisposed fear of dark rooms and hallways.

I also find the subgenre to be very intriguing, so naturally I'd be curious to hear some other suggestions. As for the camerawork in the film, as I was implying earlier, it's really one of the instances for me where the movie works on a superficial level. The compositions definitely do evoke that sense of foreboding darkness, but I'm not entirely convinced the movie did very much with these instances. For example,
is the best they can come up with—what the film is leading up to supposedly—be the sound of a woman screaming downstairs? Compare that with a more effective ending in a similarly approached movie The Blair Witch Project in which the filmmakers confront what has been generating the tension throughout the movie. For me, I guess Paranormal Activity felt a bit like a beginners guide to parapsychology. A lot of interesting ideas, but the mythology and history is hardly ever examined and I feel like exposition and atmosphere are two important elements to supernatural horror movies.

megladon8

06-15-2010, 01:04 AM

What did you think of Robert Wise's original The Haunting?

MacGuffin

06-15-2010, 01:05 AM

What did you think of Robert Wise's original The Haunting?

Honestly, I want to see it again, because I recently came to the conclusion that horror movies can only effectively be watched alone in dark rooms, and I didn't watch that one in such a state.

Dead & Messed Up

06-15-2010, 02:54 AM

I think I see where Clipper is coming from. Paranormal Activity's "scare" scenes are buttressed by interstitials that don't feel all that compelling. Certainly they lack the drama and subtexts of classic ghost stories like The Haunting and The Innocents, which maintain their foreboding and mystery even if not in suspense-mode.

Then again, it is supposed to be a document of reality, so a constant narrative pull might be dishonest.

Then again, Cloverfield managed to be consistently propulsive for most of its runtime.

Then again, Paranormal Activity did have that co-dependency angle to it, so I guess it's not completely bereft of meaning.

Then again, that angle resulted in me hating the protags to such a degree that I felt little sympathy for their plight.

Hell, I don't know. I should probably watch the flick again.

But I'll probably hit The House of the Devil first.

MacGuffin

06-15-2010, 05:00 AM

But I'll probably hit The House of the Devil first.

Well, it's not quite that good in my opinion, but it's a step in the right direction. Certainly far more accomplished as a single film, the director has a good eye for visuals, even with the retro-stock film. I'm glad Ti West doesn't simply succumb to making a Quentin Tarantino/Robert Rodriguez-style farce where it's more of a styleless, redundant appreciation than it is an important film. The whole outburst in the house then toward the end was very well pulled off, but I'm still left feeling pretty empty.

We get a big old house inhabited by a fucked-up looking Satanist woman (who we don't see until a particularly creepy Gothic-style Satanist ritual montage) and all we get is some 80s-song montage, some wandering around the house with pretty worthless framing that doesn't bother capturing the architecture of the house itself and then a few scenes leading to the conclusion. For me, there's just not enough here to really rally about.

Derek

06-15-2010, 05:06 AM

Heh, of all the complaints about Tarantino, "styleless" may be the most incorrect of them all.

EDIT: I was going to point out other wrong things in your post, but it's easier just to say I disagree with it all.

MacGuffin

06-15-2010, 05:14 AM

Heh, of all the complaints about Tarantino, "styleless" may be the most incorrect of them all.

I'm not sure why. I'm referring more to all of these Grindhouse things they're doing, not movies like Inglorious Basterds. "Styleless" seems to be the first thing one might notice when they watch Grindhouse. It clearly feels like a throwback and I'm not sure how anyone could watch it and claim Quentin Tarantino has any style, at least of his own. Not saying it's true overall, I'm saying it's the case with Grindhouse.

For me The House of the Devil is stylish in how it's sort of a "hyper-period piece". But it is lacking in offering any substantial atmosphere and for me, the final scenes aren't enough of a good thing to justify all the screwing around in the film.

Derek

06-15-2010, 05:31 AM

I'm not sure why. I'm referring more to all of these Grindhouse things they're doing, not movies like Inglorious Basterds. "Styleless" seems to be the first thing one might notice when they watch Grindhouse. It clearly feels like a throwback and I'm not sure how anyone could watch it and claim Quentin Tarantino has any style, at least of his own. Not saying it's true overall, I'm saying it's the case with Grindhouse.

I realize that's what you mean. You seem to equate "throwback" with "styleless" which is very silly.

For me The House of the Devil is stylish in how it's sort of a "hyper-period piece". But it is lacking in offering any substantial atmosphere and for me, the final scenes aren't enough of a good thing to justify all the screwing around in the film.

I actually prefer the 70 minutes of screwing around to the 20 minutes of more deliberate horror. I thought the wandering around the house made great use of framing (not sure how framing can be useless, especially in a film as well-shot as House of the Devil) and the build-up devoid of a lot of cheap scares was very well done.

I dunno, you just seem to be trashing films you don't like without actually substantiating your complaints, so I'll bow out for now.

MacGuffin

06-15-2010, 05:33 AM

I realize that's what you mean. You seem to equate "throwback" with "styleless" which is very silly.

I actually prefer the 70 minutes of screwing around to the 20 minutes of more deliberate horror. I thought the wandering around the house made great use of framing (not sure how framing can be useless, especially in a film as well-shot as House of the Devil) and the build-up devoid of a lot of cheap scares was very well done.

I dunno, you just seem to be trashing films you don't like without actually substantiating your complaints, so I'll bow out for now.

It's not that I didn't like the movie, I just didn't think it was very exciting.

Derek

06-15-2010, 05:35 AM

It's not that I didn't like the movie, I just didn't think it was very exciting.

I'm not even a huge fan myself, but I can't imagine how anyone could think it had pretty worthless framing and no atmosphere. At least for the former, I'd need to hear/see some examples.

MacGuffin

06-15-2010, 05:45 AM

I'm not even a huge fan myself, but I can't imagine how anyone could think it had pretty worthless framing and no atmosphere. At least for the former, I'd need to hear/see some examples.

Take for example the scene where she is listening to her headphones - that is when the camera zooms in on her specifically as she wanders around the house. The camera is more interested in her than it is of her surroundings. I can't go back and rewind since I watched it on Netflix on my PS3 and that'd be a bitch to do, but there are never any shots of the house itself that are especially chilling. Never any dark shadows or murky hallways. Never any dark rooms covered in cobwebs. I guess the movie just felt a bit rushed to me in this respect. Not enough time was spent surveying the house itself. Instead, the filmmaker just watch Samantha wander about.

As for atmosphere, same thing really. The establishing shots did not really convey anything too threatening to me. The house felt less frightening than the setting of one of those ghost hunter TV shows. None of the shots where she is exploring the house contain any reason to feel too frightened. Up until shit hits the fan, we're not really given anything to be frightened by. I guess certain things are creepy like Mr. Ullman, but I wasn't convinced.

I think situations where characters slowly discover the hell that awaits them is better. The moment with Samantha realizing that the coat wasn't in the basement was genuinely chilling and if the filmmakers did more creative stuff like that, I'd like the movie more.

Ezee E

06-15-2010, 06:42 AM

I've seen enough of this discussion of The House of the Devil. Gonna watch that sometime this week.

Scar

06-15-2010, 11:17 AM

I've seen enough of this discussion of The House of the Devil. Gonna watch that sometime this week.

Just added it to the instant queue.

In regards to Paranormal Activity, I found it creepy at times, and a touch scary. Blair Witch creeped me the hell out, as I've mentioned before. Cloverfield was a fucking blast to watch w/ bac0n and Spun. I was giggling like a school girl during the bug attack.

Scar

06-15-2010, 04:10 PM

I've seen enough of this discussion of The House of the Devil. Gonna watch that sometime this week.

Just finished it. I certainly wouldn't prioritize it.

Raiders

06-15-2010, 04:13 PM

'Salright. I'll be the board's biggest fan of House of the Devil. I love both the first 60 minutes and the last 20 minutes.

megladon8

06-16-2010, 01:22 AM

'Salright. I'll be the board's biggest fan of House of the Devil. I love both the first 60 minutes and the last 20 minutes.

I'm right with you.

Winston*

06-16-2010, 02:00 AM

Those whales in Thirst were glorious.

MadMan

06-16-2010, 05:04 AM

The Haunting(1963) and Paranormal Activity both get the same rating from me. Each is creepy/freaky in their own ways, although I'm not sure why the two are being compared considering that they are each different films, and The Haunting is a ghost story while Activity is demon possession. I still haven't seen The Innocents, though.

Cloverfield is as much as horror movie as it is a monster movie, but aside from the goddamn bug creatures I wasn't really scared by it at all. Good movie, though, one that catches way too much flak.

The Blair Witch Project is quite good, and one of the most original horror movies to come out in the past 15 years. The ending is frightening/WTF creepiness to the max, but the movie is really more creepy than scary. I liked it alot, however.

I rented House of the Devil from my local library, and never got around to watching it for some reason. I'll try again later since its on Netflix Instant Viewing.

Dead & Messed Up

06-16-2010, 05:11 AM

The Haunting(1963) and Paranormal Activity both get the same rating from me. Each is creepy/freaky in their own ways, although I'm not sure why the two are being compared considering that they are each different films, and The Haunting is a ghost story while Activity is demon possession. I still haven't seen The Innocents, though.

Well, they both operate in the mode of "fantastic" cinema, where the events could either be ghostly or simply bizarre, and they both operate with minimal reveals - we never get a good look at the threats. Both situations focus on exploring a single location. Both are about women with a potential supernatural connection to the events.

The more I think about it, the more the two are actually quite similar.

MadMan

06-16-2010, 06:29 AM

Well, they both operate in the mode of "fantastic" cinema, where the events could either be ghostly or simply bizarre, and they both operate with minimal reveals - we never get a good look at the threats. Both situations focus on exploring a single location. Both are about women with a potential supernatural connection to the events.Fair enough, but I feel that The Haunting is even more atmospheric. Plus the fact that Paranomal Activity aims to be "First person camera" style realistic.

The more I think about it, the more the two are actually quite similar.There are some similiarities, sure. I'd say that each one adds something new in their own way to the genre.

Winston*

06-16-2010, 06:50 AM

Paranormal Activity seemed pretty unambiguously supernatural from my recollection, with the ouija board scene etc. The Haunting is less clear cut.

Dead & Messed Up

06-16-2010, 07:19 AM

Paranormal Activity seemed pretty unambiguously supernatural from my recollection, with the ouija board scene etc. The Haunting is less clear cut.

Up to then, I thought it was less clear-cut. But you're right, it doesn't embrace that idea the same way The Haunting does, and especially not the way The Innocents does.

I should watch The Innocents again. Mebbe this weekend.

Bosco B Thug

06-16-2010, 05:24 PM

Tourist Trap is a nifty little slash trash freaky hidden gem. Anyone seen it?

Spun Lepton

06-16-2010, 08:19 PM

Tourist Trap is a nifty little slash trash freaky hidden gem. Anyone seen it?

Yep! If it hadn't been so tongue-in-cheek it never would've worked. It's been a while since I've seen it, so the details have been lost, but I do recall enjoying it.

Bosco B Thug

06-16-2010, 11:24 PM

Yep! If it hadn't been so tongue-in-cheek it never would've worked. It's been a while since I've seen it, so the details have been lost, but I do recall enjoying it. It's about time I saw a horror movie chock full of animated mannequins.

It also had one of the most reasonable final girls I've ever seen. She actually acted how someone reasonable would act in such situations!

Rowland

06-17-2010, 04:03 AM

Tourist Trap is the shit. Only a 4.5? Contrary to Spun, I admired how straight it was played, and how effective it is as a result. Love that last freeze frame.

Schmoeller also wrote/directed the insane Crawlspace, starring Klaus Kinski as (courtesy IMDB) "A man who runs an apartment house for women is the demented son of a Nazi surgeon who has the house equipped with secret passageways, hidden rooms and torture and murder devices." It's even more demented than it sounds. Here's a delightful trailer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__ySsCuZPMM), and here's the movie (http://www.hulu.com/watch/105629/crawlspace) on Hulu!

Bosco B Thug

06-17-2010, 09:00 AM

Tourist Trap is the shit. Only a 4.5? Contrary to Spun, I admired how straight it was played, and how effective it is as a result. Love that last freeze frame. Yeah, 4.5 does seem kinda low, although I still don't believe the film is particularly "well-made," in any lofty sense... It really screamed "hackwork!" to me in the beginning, and I guess the prejudice just stuck even as it got more delightful and intense. It does build a straight intensity that I do quite admire. There's a lot of feverish dread in the last act, despite any superficial camp. The final girl's nightmarish mental breakdown here actually approaches rivaling that of Amy's from The Funhouse.

The film has a lot to owe to Texas Chain Saw Massacre, though. Oh, and House of Wax '05 anyone?

Schmoeller also wrote/directed the insane Crawlspace, starring Klaus Kinski as (courtesy IMDB) "A man who runs an apartment house for women is the demented son of a Nazi surgeon who has the house equipped with secret passageways, hidden rooms and torture and murder devices." It's even more demented than it sounds. Here's a delightful trailer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__ySsCuZPMM), and here's the movie (http://www.hulu.com/watch/105629/crawlspace) on Hulu! I always hear about this one. I'm into it now, now that I've got the director in my mental file.

Raiders

06-17-2010, 12:56 PM

Schmoeller also made this hilarious short where he "discusses" making Crawlspace with Kinski...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1zWDiLTvZs

Dukefrukem

06-17-2010, 01:40 PM

Well, in my absence i have't been watching many movies lately. Applied to grad school and was taking certification test for work. This is my first weekend off in months and I hope to sit down with some horror movies.

Shrooms and a retwatch of Repo the Genetic Opera . I can't wait to sit on my couch this Friday night.

Heidi

06-17-2010, 11:25 PM

k so im a total zombie movie slut yet i have never seen zombie holocaust. just started it right now and the cheesy credits and music are already giving me a hole-on.
more to come.
please stay tuned.

Heidi

06-17-2010, 11:43 PM

LOL the faggy english journalist from zombi 2 is in this. and who is the doc with glasses? he looks familiar too. k i officially love this movie.

megladon8

06-18-2010, 02:15 AM

Bosco B Thug

06-18-2010, 06:34 AM

Schmoeller also made this hilarious short where he "discusses" making Crawlspace with Kinski...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1zWDiLTvZs I watched a minute or two of his interview on the Tourist Trap DVD, conclusion: "Well isn't he kinda adowable now?" And confirmed!

Still don't feel like rushing to Crawlspace just yet, but haha looks promising.

Qrazy

06-18-2010, 12:37 PM

k so im a total zombie movie slut yet i have never seen zombie holocaust. just started it right now and the cheesy credits and music are already giving me a hole-on.
more to come.
please stay tuned.

A hole-on? ...

(rhetorical)

Dukefrukem

06-18-2010, 01:04 PM

Actually I've never seen zombie holocaust either. What the heck?

Russ

06-18-2010, 02:41 PM

*** FREE TO GOOD HOME ***

Back in the 80's, I was the manager of one of those new-fangled video stores. We used to get tons of promotional material, and once we were finished using it in-store, I always kept the best stuff.

Last year, I started cleaning out my attic (as I had become a bit of a packrat). I gave away a lot of posters, kept a few classics, and threw away an awful lot (yeah, it was painful, but I was too lazy to e-bay the stuff).

Anyway, I've almost got the attic emptied, and I can across a few cool items. These are really neat plastic 3-D, or sculptured, posters of some horror movie icons. I only have three: Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, and the Lovecraft film, From Beyond.

I will give these away on a first-come, first-serve basis. I don't know if they're rare, or valuable, but they definetely are very, very cool. Size is approximately 18"x24" (or thereabouts). They are in their original boxes, and all I ask is that you pay for shipping.

Here are the images (the plastic mold of each face/body has been sculpted to "pop out" like a 3D image):

http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/9707/nightmareelmstreet.jpg__http://img685.imageshack.us/img685/3420/frombeyond.jpg

I could not find the exact image of Leatherface, but the pose was very similar to this sketch, and it is in color:

http://img707.imageshack.us/img707/1954/texaschainsaw.jpg

megladon8

06-18-2010, 04:28 PM

I'll take all of them! :D

Seriously.

Russ

06-18-2010, 04:37 PM

I'll take all of them! :D

Seriously.
pm me the ship-to address

jenniferofthejungle

06-19-2010, 09:30 PM

I am really hating Brain Damage (1988)

megladon8

06-19-2010, 09:40 PM

I am really hating Brain Damage (1988)

I kind of am too, now.

Which is too bad because the first 15 or 20 minutes were giving me a very Dead Alive feel - just total, unapologetic zaniness.

But it got gratingly stupid, unfortunately.

jenniferofthejungle

06-19-2010, 09:42 PM

I kind of am too, now.

Which is too bad because the first 15 or 20 minutes were giving me a very Dead Alive feel - just total, unapologetic zaniness.

But it got gratingly stupid, unfortunately.

I want to finish it tonight so that I can ignore it for a year or two before my ridiculous sense of curiosity makes me wonder if it was really as bad as I thought it was, and I watch it again.

Grouchy

06-19-2010, 10:03 PM

I have awesome recollections of Brain Damage.

jenniferofthejungle

06-19-2010, 10:34 PM

I have awesome recollections of Brain Damage.

Did you like it for the camp?

Spun Lepton

06-19-2010, 10:35 PM

I also enjoy Brain Damage. I own the DVD. :D

megladon8

06-19-2010, 10:36 PM

I also enjoy Brain Damage. I own the DVD. :D

You are seriously the last person I thought would come to this movie's defense :lol:

Heidi

06-20-2010, 09:05 AM

Aylmer is one of my fav movie monsters of all time. Brain Damage is a dope film. I'm a firm beleiver that they should show it to drug rhabilitation patients so they can see how stupid they look for being addicted custy's. Dead Alive was good, but Bad Taste was WAY better.

Have not finished Zombie holocaust yet. I suck.

Bosco B Thug

06-20-2010, 10:11 PM

MacGuffin

06-20-2010, 10:25 PM

Deep Red re-watch. It's stylish, rife with technique, and always engaging, dramatically and otherwise (and in spite of the plot that calls for loong passages of looking and looking and even more looking around). But despite its one-of-a-kind Argento personality and formalism, it's... still a pretty schlocky, silly, and gratuitous slasher flick, with a mystery story that amounts to little of meaning. Am I wrong?

I started rewatching a little of this a while back and sadly, I basically agree with you (edit: that said, I still think it's amazing). I'll also add that Suspiria is probably the better—his best?—film.

Bosco B Thug

06-20-2010, 10:57 PM

I started rewatching a little of this a while back and sadly, I basically agree with you (edit: that said, I still think it's amazing). I'll also add that Suspiria is probably the better—his best?—film. Maybe. I'm not a fan of Suspiria's campier elements, but its surreality just inherently carries a greater emotional undertow than DR's detached procedural.

Deep Red is his least campy film, which is something to greatly admire about it. Marcus and Carlo are good main characters... I don't really know what to think of Nicoladi's female journalist character, who is completely unnecessary but not a bad character/addition. But even Tenebre I recall dealing with graver psychologies and a less flippant treatment of them.

MacGuffin

06-21-2010, 01:06 AM

Maybe. I'm not a fan of Suspiria's campier elements, but its surreality just inherently carries a greater emotional undertow than DR's detached procedural.

Deep Red is his least campy film, which is something to greatly admire about it. Marcus and Carlo are good main characters... I don't really know what to think of Nicoladi's female journalist character, who is completely unnecessary but not a bad character/addition. But even Tenebre I recall dealing with graver psychologies and a less flippant treatment of them.

Yeah, Nicoladi is definitely the worst part about the movie. Tenebrae comes third for me.

Raiders

06-21-2010, 01:57 AM

D_Davis

06-21-2010, 03:57 AM

Opera is my favorite, too.

MacGuffin

06-21-2010, 03:57 AM

For me, Opera is my personal favorite for Argento. Can't really say anything in particular it holds above Deep Red, but I have the fondest memories of it. Really though, it has been years since I have seen any of his films. I saw them all around the same time and haven't returned despite loving them. Think I need to have a marathon soon.

Opera has some nice set-pieces and I also like how by the end of the movie, we somehow end up in the countryside. That said, I consider it second tier Argento and just below Phenomena (which come to think of it, I really should try to see again soon).

Rowland

06-21-2010, 08:06 AM

Deep Red is his least campy film
I'd say The Bird With the Crystal Plumage and The Cat o' Nine Tails are his least campy. Neither has a scene as absurd as the one in Deep Red where the lead character hangs from a ledge for literally two minutes while the Goblin score goes full-scale ridiculous.

Tenebre is my favorite Argento joint, while Phenomena is the one with the largest disparity between the fondness of my memories with how dull a viewing experience it is.

Has anyone else seen his Phantom of the Opera? Holy shit, what a piece of unholy shit that was.

Bosco B Thug

06-21-2010, 09:42 AM

Yeah, Nicoladi is definitely the worst part about the movie. Tenebrae comes third for me - a definite masterpiece and a brilliant score by Goblin. Someone else here also thought she was the worst part of the movie. Okay, that's what I'll think of her then.

As for the Opera support, that's the Argento flick I've watched most recently before this one. Deep Red's probably the superior flick, yes, but Opera I'd say is less distracted and more tonally, emotionally whole than Deep Red. It's a feverish Argento nightmare flick, while Deep Red takes its less campy, straight-shooting approach (and fails to say much with it, being my main problem with the film).

I'd say The Bird With the Crystal Plumage and The Cat o' Nine Tails are his least campy. Neither has a scene as absurd as the one in Deep Red where the lead character hangs from a ledge for literally two minutes while the Goblin score goes full-scale ridiculous. Don't really remember those two, so I left them out of the equation.

That extended moment of hanging/climbing is pretty awk, although I'd reserve the "campy" label for Argento's insistence on the gratuitous money shot, like SPOILER giving a close-up of Martha the clairvoyant hawking up a giant glob of saliva as she's dying on the floor, or poor Carlo's end.

I think a big part of DR's un-campiness is Marcus Daly, one of Argento's least reservedly written, more own-to-earth protagonists.

Has anyone else seen his Phantom of the Opera? Holy shit, what a piece of unholy shit that was. I'm constantly wondering what the next unseen Argento film is I'm going to give a rent. Trauma, prob. But then the rest: alleged no-one-even-bothers-to-rank-them POS.

Grouchy

06-21-2010, 10:38 AM

Did you like it for the camp?
No. It's a great LSD metaphor and it's a well-made film.

Also, this happens:

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_bihYUyukOcQ/SojyF7uM_wI/AAAAAAAAAO0/-YKCEwVTEtU/%5BUNSET%5D.jpg

Rowland

06-21-2010, 10:40 AM

I'm constantly wondering what the next unseen Argento film is I'm going to give a rent. Trauma, prob. But then the rest: alleged no-one-even-bothers-to-rank-them POS.Both Trauma and The Stendhal Syndrome are significantly flawed but contain worthy elements, enough so that I consider both minor successes. Sleepless isn't as bad as its reputation suggests, more mediocre than outright bad, ditto The Card Player. The only two Argento features I really dislike are Do You Like Hitchcock and Phantom of the Opera, the latter occupying its own distinct plane of badness, albeit being almost fascinating for that very reason.

Grouchy

06-21-2010, 10:41 AM

Phantom of the Opera, the latter occupying its own distinct plane of badness, albeit being almost fascinating for that very reason.
No shit. Very random movie.

Heidi

06-21-2010, 04:26 PM

Finshed Z. Haulocaust. It's a keeper. Not as funny as some other films i've seen, but the cannibalistic natives thoughroughly activated my gag reflex. The doctor is awesome, prob my fav character. I like how he's a discount verrsion of Harvey Keitel. He could easily star in the zellers remake of Sister Act.

Bosco B Thug

06-21-2010, 07:42 PM

Both Trauma and The Stendhal Syndrome are significantly flawed but contain worthy elements, enough so that I consider both minor successes. Sleepless isn't as bad as its reputation suggests, more mediocre than outright bad, ditto The Card Player. The only two Argento features I really dislike are Do You Like Hitchcock and Phantom of the Opera, the latter occupying its own distinct plane of badness, albeit being almost fascinating for that very reason. So the handy list: 1. Trauma
2. Sleepless
3. The Card Player
4. Do You Like Hitchcock?
5. Phantom of the Opera

Someday.

Heidi

06-21-2010, 08:15 PM

'the bird with the crystal plumage' = fav Argento

megladon8

06-21-2010, 08:45 PM

Argento listing again? Sure...

1.) Suspiria - 10
2.) Deep Red - 10
3.) Four Flies on Grey Velvet - 8
4.) Opera - 8
5.) Tenebre - 7.5
6.) Phenomena - 7
7.) The Bird With the Crystal Plumage - 6.5
8.) "Masters of Horror: Jenifer" - 6
9.) Inferno - 5.5
10.) Do You Like Hitchcock? - 4.5
11.) Mother of Tears - 1

MacGuffin

06-21-2010, 08:50 PM

Suspiria - ****
Deep Red - ****
Tenebrae - ***1/2
Phenomena - ***
The Stendhal Syndrome - ***
Opera - **1/2
Masters of Horror: Pelts - **

Heidi

06-21-2010, 09:28 PM

susperia circle jerk

Winston*

06-21-2010, 09:31 PM

I liked the parts in Suspiria where people aren't talking.

D_Davis

06-21-2010, 10:20 PM

I liked the parts in Suspiria where people aren't talking.

I can say this for just about every single Italian horror film I've seen that I've liked.

Grouchy

06-21-2010, 10:27 PM

The Bird with the Crystal Plumage - 8
Deep Red - 9
Suspiria - 10
Phenomena - 7
Two Evil Eyes: The Black Cat - 5
Phantom of the Opera - 4
Masters of Horror: Jenifer - 8
The Mother of Tears - 6
Giallo - 5

Spun Lepton

06-21-2010, 10:28 PM

Tenebre -- 8/10
Suspiria -- 8/10
Phenomena -- 7/10
Deep Red -- 7/10
Opera -- 7/10
Jenifer -- 6/10
Trauma -- 5/10
Bird with the Crystal Plummage -- 5/10
Pelts -- 3/10

Dead & Messed Up

06-22-2010, 03:19 AM

Suspiria - A
Deep Red - B+
Tenebrae - B
Pelts - B
Jenifer - C+

I'd check out more of his stuff, but I'm really super busy right now, guys. Super busy.

jenniferofthejungle

06-22-2010, 09:11 PM

jenniferofthejungle

06-22-2010, 09:20 PM

Argento

I have a love/hate relationship with his movies. I think I'm in a loving mood today so:

The Bird with the Crystal Plumage - 7 (called it because of the attack scene)
Four Flies on Grey Velvet - 6
Deep Red - 9
Suspiria - 8
Inferno - 5 (love the underwater scene)
Tenebre - 7
Phenomena - 7
Opera - 6
Trauma - 4
Phantom of the Opera - 1
Jenifer - 5
Mother of Tears - 3

It's been too long since I've seen Two Evil Eyes so I couldn't judge that one.

jenniferofthejungle

06-22-2010, 09:22 PM

No. It's a great LSD metaphor and it's a well-made film.

Also, this happens:

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_bihYUyukOcQ/SojyF7uM_wI/AAAAAAAAAO0/-YKCEwVTEtU/%5BUNSET%5D.jpg

Yeah, I was a little open-mouthed at that scene, too, though not for similar reasons. I was honestly shocked by it.

megladon8

06-23-2010, 12:21 AM

Revisited Dagon last night and it's really growing on me. It's too bad their budget was crap because if they'd had some better effects I am sure the film would have been a little more successful.

Some of the humor bugged me at first, but I got over it.

I agree, Jen, though I definitely like the movie more than you. I actually, well, kind of love it.

I thought it was a great quality translation of Lovecraft mythos onto film, and being the Lovecraft/Cthulhu nerd that I am, I really appreciated that.

Poor effects be damned. I think it's a great movie.

Spun Lepton

06-23-2010, 01:13 AM

Spun Lepton

06-23-2010, 01:14 AM

Yeah, I was a little open-mouthed at that scene, too, though not for similar reasons. I was honestly shocked by it.

That scene is missing from the original R-rated cut.

megladon8

06-23-2010, 01:38 AM

I own Argento's Inferno and I have yet to sit through it without falling asleep. I figured it would be a slam-dunk, given that Mario Bava was involved in photography and Argento claimed it was his favorite. But, man ... it's just a crushing bore.

Agreed.

I find it easily the most flat-out boring of the Argento movies I've seen. Even Mother of Tears (which is on all other fronts an absolutely useless pile of crap brought forth from the bowels of Satan) was more exciting.

Rowland

06-23-2010, 06:31 AM

I think Inferno is pretty awesome. Of his peak period (The Bird with the Crystal Plumage through Opera), Phenomena is the most boring for me, which is odd because it's also the goofiest. Mother of Tears is less technically competent, but it's one of Argento's most propulsively paced efforts.

Grouchy

06-23-2010, 08:27 PM

Yeah, I was a little open-mouthed at that scene
Very poor choice of words. Please don't hit me, meg.

http://www.fantaterror.com/Pelis/R/Retorno%20del%20hombre%20lobo, %20el%201.jpg

El Retorno del Hombre Lobo (a.k.a. Night of the Werewolf) continues the Paul Naschy string of awesomeness. This time, Naschy's idea of a good time is to have Valdemar Daninsky fight Countess Bathory (continuity be fucked) and a bunch of 20-year-old female archeologists turned into vampires. This is the best film I've seen from Naschy - the plot makes a lot of sense and the visuals are really inspired, including a resurrection scene in a crypt that's genuinely absorbing and moody. It's a convention to assume these Spanish films to be lesser versions of the Hammer output, but this is a good example that sometimes they overshadowed their British colleagues both in ambition and execution.

Bosco B Thug

06-25-2010, 12:15 AM

Spun Lepton

06-25-2010, 12:26 AM

Bosco B Thug

06-25-2010, 12:37 AM

It gives a whole new meaning to the term "motorboat." Yup, that's another thing that can be said regarding I Spit On Your Grave. :)

Aaand I think we've exhausted the topic. Oh, it was fun reading about Siskel & Ebert's bloviating effort against the movie in the DVD extras.

jenniferofthejungle

06-25-2010, 12:58 AM

I Spit On Your Grave is pretty dumb and uninspired, but it does more than critics make out. It's exploitative, but it's sensitive. You get the feeling that its intentions came from a true place and the execution shows an attempt to see it through. It actually throws some kinks in a simple story that show they put some thought into how the story plays out. Its graphic scenes are restrained and attempt some sorrowful expressionism - more, to this film's credit, than can be said about the (superior) Irreversible.

Hardly recommendable, and a mostly empty experience, but not a completely empty film.

I don't know about the restraint in the graphic rape scenes, Bosco. I barely made it through this film once, and I don't think I could go back and explain what exactly made it so horrific for me.

I really didn't buy the "empowering woman" aspect of the film because it just felt like another rape-exploitation film. It was also one of the worst and most expensive blind buys I ever made. A friend who knew I was into horror recommended it to me and I stupidly bought it for about $30-35. I literally had no idea what it was really about and assumed the grave part had to do with zombies. Lesson learned. The movie has been banished to the back of my dvd shelf.

I'd love to read about Siskel and Ebert's opinions on the film.

Bosco B Thug

06-25-2010, 02:01 AM

I don't know about the restraint in the graphic rape scenes, Bosco. I barely made it through this film once, and I don't think I could go back and explain what exactly made it so horrific for me. Maybe my previous way of describing the scene is totally off. It is a horrific, revolting scene, with little notion of taste. Now is there a respect there for its completely shattered female victim? I don't know, that's the tricky part with all films depicting the despicable act, even if they have the arguably moral intention to expose it. I felt the film overall made good effort to communicate the absolute destruction she feels, during and after, but I suppose the film (or any film) doesn't have much of an excuse for putting the audience through it, and showing/flaunting aggressors' power over victims.

I really didn't buy the "empowering woman" aspect of the film because it just felt like another rape-exploitation film. It was also one of the worst and most expensive blind buys I ever made. A friend who knew I was into horror recommended it to me and I stupidly bought it for about $30-35. I literally had no idea what it was really about and assumed the grave part had to do with zombies. Lesson learned. The movie has been banished to the back of my dvd shelf. Well hopefully your friend had to live with a stigma for a while. :P

I'd love to read about Siskel and Ebert's opinions on the film. Ebert's review, awash with disgust. (http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19800716/REVIEWS/7160301/1023)

Dude, a guy sounding out encouragements during the assault sequence??? A theater-going patron like that existed?? Fuuuck that, I'd call the police on him.

MadMan

06-25-2010, 03:07 AM

I Spit On Your Grave is morally repulsive and the second worst movie I've ever seen. Ebert's review is too kind, really.

As for Argento, Suspiria is one of the best horror movies I've ever seen, and its gorgeous to boot. Inferno is more straightforward and thus strangely enough it suffers from that, but its still a solid effort. I'll be checking out of his earlier 1970s efforts next.

Dead & Messed Up

06-26-2010, 07:29 PM

I will happily admit that Killer Klowns from Outer Space makes full use of its premise, finding every twist on popular clown tropes that it can. Balloon animals, carnival popcorn, and cotton candy take on horrific new dimensions in the story. But the clowns themselves lack personality, and the townspeople fighting them have even less. Worst of all, that lack of personality doesn't keep the Chiodo brothers from spending way too much time with winners like Mike and Debbie. As a result, the film never reaches the headlong comedic energy marked by superior contemporaries like Evil Dead II and Gremlins 2: The New Batch. The filmmakers here did eventually go on to help produce Alex Winter's Freaked, which is a much better dark carnival of grotesquerie.

C+

A rewatch of The Signal dampened my original enthusiasm for the film, but not precipitously so. The first third of the film still impresses, with its slick fusion of J-horror tech fears and Western neo-zombie scares. Anessa Ramsey radiates as the sympathetic Mya, and AJ Bowen makes for a great heavy, one of those Romero types who won't let apocalypse get in the way of his own desires. The other two-thirds of the picture vary enough in tone that The Signal sometimes veers into horror omnibus territory. The rapid first third, the darkly comic middle, and the haunting finale. But the middle segment is too uneven, and the last third fails to recapture the energy of the beginning - it's more concerned with the romantic triangle at the center of the film, and its resolutions prove maddening. Of course, the film's about "crazy," so my reaction may not be the wrong one. It may be what the filmmakers hoped for.

Was: B. Now: B-

jenniferofthejungle

06-26-2010, 09:27 PM

I agree with what you're saying about Killer Klowns, but dammit I just cannot dislike it, stupid moments and all.

The Signal was crap.

Dead & Messed Up

06-26-2010, 11:39 PM

The Signal was crap.

Shaddup. ::shakes fist::

megladon8

06-26-2010, 11:39 PM

I LOVE Killer Klowns From Outer Space. I'm sorry, but I do.

I still think it has incredible costumes and prosthetic work.

Raiders

06-27-2010, 02:18 AM

I LOVE Killer Klowns From Outer Space. I'm sorry, but I do.

That's because it is awesome. I'm not sure I understand the gripe about the clowns lacking personality. They are aliens after all so they aren't going to start cracking deadly jokes on their victims. I love that they are essentially the creepiest fucking things ever for those of us with an aversion to clowns. No personality, just the grotesque appearance magnified. I'm getting queasy just thinking about it.

Dead & Messed Up

06-27-2010, 03:42 AM

That's because it is awesome. I'm not sure I understand the gripe about the clowns lacking personality. They are aliens after all so they aren't going to start cracking deadly jokes on their victims. I love that they are essentially the creepiest fucking things ever for those of us with an aversion to clowns. No personality, just the grotesque appearance magnified. I'm getting queasy just thinking about it.

I was thinking more along the lines of how Dante's gremlin characters always had distinctive traits and a heirarchy, so that there was more to them than a faceless crowd. Stripe in the first one, even more distinctive "personalities" in the second. And he did that mostly through appearance and small bits of behavior, not through overwrought dialogue.

Comparatively, all the clowns in this film behave like each other, apart from the occasionally different methods of dispatching their prey (I got a kick out of the shadow puppetry). And even the "klownzilla" at the end behaves the same as all the other clowns. He moves more slowly, but that's it.

Also, I'm terrified of clowns on principle, and these klowns don't hold a frigging kandle to Pennywise or Gacy.

Rowland

06-27-2010, 08:43 AM

I haven't seen Killer Klowns in eight years, but I largely recall it being... unmemorable.

I hated The Signal.

Grouchy

06-27-2010, 09:06 AM

Yeah, Killer Klowns is awesome fun. Great movie to watch with a crowd, too.

Russ

06-27-2010, 12:48 PM

I've always wondered what effect Killer Clowns has/has had on viewers with coulrophobia.

Yxklyx

06-28-2010, 06:05 PM

Anything like this:

http://www.altereddimensions.net/images/crime/JohnWayneGacy/PogoTheClown.jpg

Dukefrukem

06-29-2010, 04:12 PM

I could never get into Killer Clowns. Dunno why but I also found it pretty bland. Even the cheese. And yes I think it's cheese rather than camp.

D_Davis

06-29-2010, 06:28 PM

I like Killer Klowns and I cannot lie

Spun Lepton

06-29-2010, 09:54 PM

I saw Killer Klowns in the theater and loved it. These days the bad acting grates on me a bit, but overall I still enjoy it.

Dead & Messed Up

07-01-2010, 02:18 AM

I posted extended thoughts for Killer Klowns at my blog, but they're much the same as what I said here.

jenniferofthejungle

07-01-2010, 02:31 PM

Speaking of cheese I finally got to see The Omega Man a few days ago. I did not like it at all.

I don't think it's because my love for the story has me prepared to dislike any adaptation I find unworthy (I liked the Smith film in spite of the stupid CG monsters and the cheesy moments), nor is it because I think Heston is a hammy ham full of ham, no, I think I dislike it simply because it is very bad.

The mutants were lame (and I am not really bitching because they never use vampires as villains yada yada yada...), and when one of them said "honky," well, it was pretty much over.

Ugh, and that 1970s movie music is so inappropriate at times.

Heston could not carry this movie. The character uses soliloquies for the first third of the film, and Heston is so stiff (yet hammy) and unconvincing you don't believe it for a second. When his character goes to a theater and watched Woodstock, saying "They don't make movies like that anymore" I could only think "Yeah right, like Charlton Heston would ever watch Woodstock! He'd want to shoot every hippie he saw!" This felt like a TV movie...a bad one.

On to Soylent Green, which was spoiled for me before I even knew what spoiling was.

jenniferofthejungle

07-01-2010, 02:37 PM

http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/4846/16026084.jpg (http://img23.imageshack.us/i/16026084.jpg/)

For a few years I'd planned to be a KKFOS for Halloween. They never made the girl masks so I was going to be "Slim," (the tall one) wear some big clown buttocks under my clown suit, and carry helium balloons around with me, hopefully terrifying clown-haters everywhere.

It never happened because the masks were over $100 and my mom would have stepped on my neck for doing that.

megladon8

07-01-2010, 05:48 PM

jenniferofthejungle

07-01-2010, 05:53 PM

I probably would have liked it a bit if I had seen it earlier, but I have been irreparably damaged by years of bad movies, ham actors, and bad music.

I bet my mom would love it. She is mad about the Heston Ham.

balmakboor

07-02-2010, 03:09 AM

MacGuffin

07-02-2010, 03:10 AM

So anyone seen anything from the "Vomit Gore Trilogy" such as Slow Torture Puke Chamber? Sounds yummy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3ou1uJrBNw

Sometimes, exploitation can go too far, even for me.

If you want to rent Slaughtered Vomit Dolls, it's on Netflix. Frankly, I don't need a 90-minute version of 2Girls1Cup with vomit though.

megladon8

07-02-2010, 04:03 AM

If you want to rent Slaughtered Vomit Dolls, it's on Netflix. Frankly, I don't need a 90-minute version of 2Girls1Cup with vomit though.

...so I gather you're one of the fortunate few who have never actually seen the video?

MacGuffin

07-02-2010, 04:06 AM

...so I gather you're one of the fortunate few who have never actually seen the video?

That, or maybe I haven't seen Slaughtered Vomit Dolls and was going for a cheap joke? :cool:

Yxklyx

07-02-2010, 03:27 PM

BTW, that clown painting I posted was painted by John Wayne Gacy.

Bosco B Thug

07-02-2010, 06:42 PM

BTW, that clown painting I posted was painted by John Wayne Gacy.
Oh. God. Retrospective creep. I stared at that thing for a while.

Okay, so Maniac has got SOMETHING going on, I'll give it that. Lustig's not the hack filmmaker - he's got a knack for powerful editing rhythms (the doomed foreplay of the first scene's hooker), lush and potent imagery (e.g. the modeling session, the female photographer's walls of imagery), and the film has a number of elegant (sometimes even stunning) tracking shots that jar with the seediness around them (like those patterned shots of Spinell returning to his apartment). But while it's a skilled (you get the feeling Lustig is schooled in horror and the masters) and atmospheric approximating of the mind of a maniac, it's an exploitation picture through and through that's sensationalistic and morbid and high on victim-fear. The movie does a lot of interesting things, things that suggest the film as more darkly comic than just an abject excercise in fear-preying (Croce calls the film's odd fog-filled climax a sly "trompe l'oeill"), but yeah, not my thing.

MadMan

07-03-2010, 05:22 AM

I've always been a big fan of The Omega Man. Its gloriously entertaining camp, although I certainly think that within that movie is a half-hearted commentary on the fears of biological and chemical warfare. Especially after the 1960s and 1970s, when the US government's experiments with both types actually got exposed. Besides, the stadium scene flat out rules, really. Don't get me wrong, though: as far as I Am Legend adaptions go, the Will Smith and Vincent Price versions are much better.

jenniferofthejungle

07-03-2010, 06:25 AM

Okay, so Maniac has got SOMETHING going on, I'll give it that. Lustig's not the hack filmmaker - he's got a knack for powerful editing rhythms (the doomed foreplay of the first scene's hooker), lush and potent imagery (e.g. the modeling session, the female photographer's walls of imagery), and the film has a number of elegant (sometimes even stunning) tracking shots that jar with the seediness around them (like those patterned shots of Spinell returning to his apartment). But while it's a skilled (you get the feeling Lustig is schooled in horror and the masters) and atmospheric approximating of the mind of a maniac, it's an exploitation picture through and through that's sensationalistic and morbid and high on victim-fear. The movie does a lot of interesting things, things that suggest the film as more darkly comic than just an abject excercise in fear-preying (Croce calls the film's odd fog-filled climax a sly "trompe l'oeill"), but yeah, not my thing.

Ahhhh! RT flashback to one of my "I hate this movie" rants.

So great to read other opinions on it, but it's been so long since I've seen it that I can't properly respond to your criticism.

Ezee E

07-03-2010, 06:29 AM

Dead & Messed Up

07-03-2010, 08:09 AM

Alright. I've seen The House of the Devil, and you can put me in as a big fan of it. In fact, I'd even say the first hour is nearly masterful in a buildup of suspense with some incredibly effective jumping scenes as well. The bloodsoaked finale leaves me a little to be desired, but the final shot brings it all back.

Effective in its setup, similar to some of the better 70's movies. Noteffective in its 90s execution of blood-soaked torture. What the heck is the point of Zack Galifinakis' lookalike being there anyway? Just seems out of place.

Good stuff though.

Nice. I just got done watching it about fifteen minutes ago, and I'd agree with damn near everything you said. It's mostly an excuse for Ti West to play around with setting and suspense, and he does a great job.

As for A. J. Bowen, I enjoyed him as the heavy in The Signal, I wish he had more to do here, and I pray that someone casts him as John "Torgo" Reynolds in a doc about Manos. The guy's perfect.

http://subtlebluntness.files.wordpres s.com/2008/07/torgo.gif

http://images.fandango.com/r82.2/ImageRenderer/375/375/nox.jpg/83258/images/masterrepository/tms/83258/83258_be.jpg

Rowland

07-03-2010, 08:34 AM

What the heck is the point of Zack Galifinakis' lookalike being there anyway? Just seems out of place.Yeah, I noted earlier in the thread that his presence was one of my main criticisms of the film. It would have been so much more effective if the lead girl was the only character presence we're aware of for that entire middle act. His introductory scene was fucking badass though, if a bit illogical if you consider the logistics of it.

Ezee E

07-03-2010, 12:17 PM

Yeah, I noted earlier in the thread that his presence was one of my main criticisms of the film. It would have been so much more effective if the lead girl was the only character presence we're aware of for that entire middle act. His introductory scene was fucking badass though, if a bit illogical if you consider the logistics of it.
Completely illogical, but that's what made the jump tactic work so well. Great use of it there. I didn't mind that scene at all.

Movie geography. It's like in Leone's films how someone could pop out of nowhere in a desert.

Bosco B Thug

07-03-2010, 04:38 PM

Ahhhh! RT flashback to one of my "I hate this movie" rants.

So great to read other opinions on it, but it's been so long since I've seen it that I can't properly respond to your criticism. Yeah, this one's definitely in the "I Spit On Your Grave" vein of horror films!

It doesn't get name-dropped a lot, does it? I get the feeling that (other than being little seen) there's equal number advocates and equal number people who'd drop the "morally bankrupt" bomb on it, and they've quietly accepted stalemate on the issue.

Pop Trash

07-03-2010, 07:42 PM

I Spit On Your Grave is pretty dumb and uninspired, but it does more than critics make out. It's exploitative, but it's sensitive. You get the feeling that its intentions came from a true place and the execution shows an attempt to see it through. It actually throws some kinks in a simple story that show they put some thought into how the story plays out. Its graphic scenes are restrained and attempt some sorrowful expressionism - more, to this film's credit, than can be said about the (superior) Irreversible.

Hardly recommendable, and a mostly empty experience, but not a completely empty film.

I have some vivid memories of this film. In high school I went through a phase where I was renting all the more graphic horror movies my parents would never let me watch when I was a kid and watching them with my GF at the time. Most of them were like Friday the 13th sequels or whatever and didn't have that much of an effect on us.

But maaan I Spit on Your Grave was a whole 'nother story. We thought it was going to be another run-of-the-mill slasher movie or something and I don't think I had even seen anything close to a 'rape-revenge' movie (unless The Accused with Jodie Foster counts). My GF had a complete meltdown after the long, graphic, and painful rape scene and insisted we turn it off. She proceeded to cry for half an hour and acted like I had made the damn movie myself or something. Anyways, the lesson is: avoid watching this one with your GF gentlemen.

D_Davis

07-03-2010, 07:52 PM

Anyways, the lesson is: avoid watching this one with your GF gentlemen.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_NDc0-akUurk/S1s6w64GfCI/AAAAAAAAAWA/10qAsC3P6jw/s200/ric_romero_plain.jpg

Bosco B Thug

07-03-2010, 09:53 PM

I have some vivid memories of this film. In high school I went through a phase where I was renting all the more graphic horror movies my parents would never let me watch when I was a kid and watching them with my GF at the time. Most of them were like Friday the 13th sequels or whatever and didn't have that much of an effect on us.

But maaan I Spit on Your Grave was a whole 'nother story. We thought it was going to be another run-of-the-mill slasher movie or something and I don't think I had even seen anything close to a 'rape-revenge' movie (unless The Accused with Jodie Foster counts). My GF had a complete meltdown after the long, graphic, and painful rape scene and insisted we turn it off. She proceeded to cry for half an hour and acted like I had made the damn movie myself or something. Anyways, the lesson is: avoid watching this one with your GF gentlemen. Haha, yeah, ISoYG's snuff video aesthetic could totally provoke that.

Oh, and I know that. This is like when my girlfriend made me sit down and watch 300 with her. [/only kinda-joking]

Scar

07-05-2010, 01:10 AM

'The Wolfman remake wasn't horrendous, I enjoyed it at times, but its definitely not something to write home about.

Silly nit pick:

"I took the powder out of those shells years ago." Well what about the primers, did you remove those two? And if the guy who owned the shells was worth two shits when it comes to shooting/ammuniton, he would've fucking known that there was no FUCKING powder in the shells. Plus, the primers would've 'caused at least some of a detonation not just a click, and its pretty obvious if the primers would've been removed.

I'm sure there's plenty of other things to say about that movie, but, hey, you know me....

Back to drinking.