Sangre, cuchillos, y tetas --- Horror Film Discussion

[Dukefrukem]

Tales From the Crypt Presents 'Demon Knight' was awesome fun. Even better than I remembered it (having only seen it once about 10 years ago).

I wish William Sadler had developed a stronger career, because he's quite a good leading man, especially for the anti-hero role he has here.

If the "Dark Tower" series had gone into production 10 years ago, I'd say he should have played Roland. Especially with his ties to Stephen King material already strong at that point, it would have given it another bit of the meta-ness that was so integral to the "Dark Tower" books.

I FUCKIN LOVE THIS MOVIE. I seriously do. Billy Zane is great in it! My favorite scene is;

When he punches the officer through the chest and goes on his rant

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0Y5ueBfZ1s

LOVE IT!!!!!



Are we ever gonna see any more Tales from the Crypt?

Was Bordello of Blood the last of it? I didn't think that movie was as good as Demon Knight, but I still love Dennis Miller's wit and I still sit through the whole movie if it's on HBO.

[MadMan]

That Friday the 13th 3D sucks ass, dude. It started to give me a headache after a while. I haven't even been able to sit through the 3D movie front-to-back. The ghosting is terrible. It's embarrassing after you see what they managed to do with Coraline and even My Bloody Valentine.Damn. I may warn him about this. Or, we'll go ahead anyways and find out for ourselves. Either way, I'll take your post into account.

William Sadler is awesome, yes. I haven't seen Demon Knight but he was great in Die Hard 2. He usually plays the heavy in most of his movies.

[megladon8]

Are we ever gonna see any more Tales from the Crypt?



I hope so, but I also doubt it.

Bordello of Blood tanked both financially and critically. That, teamed with the show's cancellation, pretty much spelled out the end for it.

But hey, with the recent resurgence in vampire popularity, maybe we'll get another vampire-themed Tales from the Crypt movie in the next couple of years. Unlikely, but I can always hope...

I still think the HBO show is among the greatest TV shows of all time. Sets the benchmark for the mixture of horror and comedy.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Tales From the Crypt Presents 'Demon Knight' was awesome fun. Even better than I remembered it (having only seen it once about 10 years ago).

I wish William Sadler had developed a stronger career, because he's quite a good leading man, especially for the anti-hero role he has here.

Indeed. He's also got a lot of shades to him, as he can play a clueless twit (Shawshank), a cruel heavy (Die Hard 2), and a Bergman-esque Death (Bogus Journey)...and they all work wonderfully.

Demon Knight is fun, no doubt about it, but I kinda wish it'd stayed a little closer to its inspirations. There's almost nothing there that's similar to the EC Comics of yore, save the Cryptkeeper. Then again, they might've already exhausted that well with the TV show.

Regardless, any film that lets Dick Miller get seduced by a bunch of nubile women gets the a-okay from me.

[megladon8]

Dick Miller will forever be "that old guy from Gremlins" to me.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Dick Miller will forever be "that old guy from Gremlins" to me.

He'll always be Walter Paisley of Bucket of Blood to me.

[megladon8]

IGN's [REC] 2 review is very positive. (http://movies.ign.com/articles/102/1029357p1.html)

Can't wait to see this one.

They mention "...a particularly terrifying shot, which occurs at the very end of the film, is one that [I'll] be trying to shake out of my brain for weeks."

That has my interest peaked, since the first had some similarly chilling imagery near the end.

[The Mike]

Also, a question for Duke -- spoiler the killer in Sorority Row, please. If you have to explain it, please do. :) I will not be seeing it any time soon.

The killer is the "nice" sorority girl who didn't want to hide the accident's boyfriend. He just graduated as valedictorian, which is great because he uses the meaning of that word to explain why he must kill all these awful girls that are so weak (and anyone else who knows about the original accident that could tie it to his girlfriend). I was thinking he would have been the killer because he was the one having an affair with the originally killed girl, but that plot point was left unfinished. But of course, nice girl realizes he's evil and that the bond between her and her sorority sisters is too powerful when he reveals this, which leads to his eventual demise.

[The Mike]

He'll always be Walter Paisley of Bucket of Blood to me.

*high five*

And, from the random trivia front, Miller also played a character named Walter Paisley in five other films, including The Howling, Twilight Zone: The Movie, and Chopping Mall.

[Spun Lepton]

The killer is the "nice" sorority girl who didn't want to hide the accident's boyfriend. He just graduated as valedictorian, which is great because he uses the meaning of that word to explain why he must kill all these awful girls that are so weak (and anyone else who knows about the original accident that could tie it to his girlfriend). I was thinking he would have been the killer because he was the one having an affair with the originally killed girl, but that plot point was left unfinished. But of course, nice girl realizes he's evil and that the bond between her and her sorority sisters is too powerful when he reveals this, which leads to his eventual demise.

Now I'm just confused. :|

[The Mike]

And, Sadler rules. Along with the above mentioned roles, I thought he did a great job with his pivotal role in The Mist. Helped sell the whole movie for me.

[Spun Lepton]

*high five*

And, from the random trivia front, Miller also played a character named Walter Paisley in five other films, including The Howling, Twilight Zone: The Movie, and Chopping Mall.

Chopping Mall? What the hell is -- OH! You mean KILLBOTS!!!

:D

Love that piece of 80s cheese. Glad it doesn't take itself seriously. It never would've worked if it had.

[megladon8]

Now I'm just confused. :|


Me too.

I don't know if Mike mixed up some pronouns there or something, but that didn't make much sense.

[Dead & Messed Up]

And, Sadler rules. Along with the above mentioned roles, I thought he did a great job with his pivotal role in The Mist. Helped sell the whole movie for me.

Oh yeah. It always chills me when he joins the flock and shouts "Expiation!"

[The Mike]

Had a kick-start to my month of October tonight, while compiling all the horrors I hope to watch in October. Re-watched Night of the Demons, which is stupid but kinda fun, and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, which I want to love despite how goddamn over-the-top-dramatic it is, leading to problems in tone and pace. It got close, but I'll stick with Karloff.

[The Mike]

Me too.

I don't know if Mike mixed up some pronouns there or something, but that didn't make much sense.

OK, let me go back and check....

This might make more sense....
Survivor girl is "different" than the other "awful" girls.
Her boyfriend is the killer, because he wants to get rid of their awfulness and get her away from them.
But she decides the bond she has with the sisters is more important.
Then he dies.

[Spun Lepton]

OK, let me go back and check....

This might make more sense....
Survivor girl is "different" than the other "awful" girls.
Her boyfriend is the killer, because he wants to get rid of their awfulness and get her away from them.
But she decides the bond she has with the sisters is more important.
Then he dies.

And the rest of the sorority sisters left alive just up and forgive her?

[megladon8]

OK, let me go back and check....

This might make more sense....
Survivor girl is "different" than the other "awful" girls.
Her boyfriend is the killer, because he wants to get rid of their awfulness and get her away from them.
But she decides the bond she has with the sisters is more important.
Then he dies.



Yep, that makes a lot more sense.

Sounds terrible, too.

[Philosophe_rouge]

Already seen nearly 20 films for the horror season. I'm still so into it. I have sorta reviews for most of these, so I'm willing to give expanded thoughts if asked. With the exception of Caligari, all of these are first time viewings;

When a Stranger Calls (1979) 6.5
Let's Scare Jessica to Death (1971) 6.5
Carrie (1976) 9
Rabid (1977) 6
Sorority Row (2009) 6
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) 7.5
They Came Back (2004) 7
Night of the Demon (1957) 8
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) 8.5
Ju-On (2000) 4
Final Destination (2000) 3
All the Boys Love Mandy Lane (2008) 9.5
Lisa and the Devil (1974) 6
The House on Sorority Row (1983) 6
The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970) 9
Jennifer's Body (2009) 5
Waxworks (1924) 7

[The Mike]

And the rest of the sorority sisters left alive just up and forgive her?

It's just her, the nerdy virgin, and the original accident victim's little sister (who wanted to pledge to the sorority before the killing spree, but then was involved in the killing spree...then during a ONE YEAR LATER epilogue we see that she has in fact STILL joined the sorority....and now her sister's boyfriend, who cut his own wrists and was thrown down a mining shaft appears to be back and stalking her and her sorority sisters.Great script, that one.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Already seen nearly 20 films for the horror season. I'm still so into it. I have sorta reviews for most of these, so I'm willing to give expanded thoughts if asked. With the exception of Caligari, all of these are first time viewings;

Carrie (1976) 9
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) 7.5
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) 8.5

Glad to see you liked these ones. Also, the more I view Caligari, the more I love it.


Final Destination (2000) 3

I'm curious to hear your thoughts about this one. I think it's the best post-Scream "slasher" movie, even if it's not really one.

[Dead & Messed Up]

FRONTIERS

There's a smidge of political subtext in this extreme French thriller, but it otherwise traffics in that most unfortunate of current horror trends: replacing suspense and fright with the nadir of human behavior. The story follows a small group of homophobic, childish assholes out of a rioting French city...and into a nightmare so awful it recalls Texas Chainsaw. Well, in fairness, it doesn't just recall TCM - it plays like a greatest hits version of that film, complete with friend-stuck-on-hook, demented-grandfather, perverse-family-banquet, screaming-female-survivor, and the requisite cannibalism. Even worse is a scene that either doesn't know it's directly ripping off Misery or simply doesn't care. But even ignoring the enormously derivative story, Xavier Gans's picture has little to offer besides yet another slog through the boundless potential of human cruelty. Put it this way - if you like seeing a pregnant woman get her face kicked in three times, punched in four times, and slammed onto a dashboard while a demented neo-Nazi screams at her, spittle flying through the air like machine gun bullets, then hey - this Bud's for you.

C-

PS: After failing to enjoy this film, Martyrs, High Tension, and Them, I've done the prudent thing and removed Inside from my Netflix queue. Crazy Frenchmen.

[Dead & Messed Up]

My next two Netflix are May and Ginger Snaps, both rewatches.

[megladon8]

Tales From the Crypt Presents 'Bordello of Blood' is actually, well, kind of OK.

It's not up to the standards of the show or even the previous movie, but it's certainly not terrible.

I could have done without Corey Feldman, but that goes for anything he's in.

And Angie Everhart is freaking gorgeous, but couldn't act her way out of a wet paper bag. It was kind of painful, actually.

Dennis Miller has some good lines, though. His sarcastic condescension suited the character well.

Some great gore effects, as well.

[Dead & Messed Up]

I just saw the following comment on another board:


PSYCHO remake>>>NOSFERATU remake

And a large part of me died. Violently.

What's so irritating is that this is, like, objectively wrong.

[Bosco B Thug]

PS: After failing to enjoy this film, Martyrs, High Tension, and Them, I've done the prudent thing and removed Inside from my Netflix queue. Crazy Frenchmen. Yeah, I think I too have temporarily deboarded the French New Wave Horror train after three.

Frontier(s) sounds pretty unpleasant, though. I think you've put me off that one for a while.


Audition went slightly, just very slightly, down in my book. Its style is a little too dependent on repetitively composed static shots for my taste (although there is rhyme, reason, and dynamism, which is what is important). I now have some niggling problems with the hallucination sequence, which is the film's highlight sequence: it didn't bug me before, but now I can't helped but be irked by the logical lapses it deliberately takes to make as vague as possible what's real and what's imagined. Also, the insistence to put in every supporting character into the sequence diminished the potency of the secretary and wife's appearance (as the two women he's actually had sexual experiences with).

[Dead & Messed Up]

Yeah, I think I too have temporarily deboarded the French New Wave Horror train after three.

Frontier(s) sounds pretty unpleasant, though. I think you've put me off that one for a while.

I don't want to hate any of those flicks, obviously. Out of them all, Martyrs strikes me as the most worthwhile. But even that one was a mixed bag.

[Bosco B Thug]

I don't want to hate any of those flicks, obviously. Out of them all, Martyrs strikes me as the most worthwhile. But even that one was a mixed bag. Yeah, pretty much agreed with this whole post.

[Rowland]

I like everything I've seen from the French New Wave, careful to steer clear of Frontier[s], which nobody seems to have liked. I really kinda loved Martyrs in particular, which strikes me as one of the most adventurous and uncompromised horror films of the '00s. Aja's The Hills Have Eyes was a fine effort as well.

[Bosco B Thug]

Gaw. The One Missed Call remake has to be the definition of a complete waste of time. It's almost awe-inspiring in its uselessness. Did I just watch an actual movie, really? Did they actually spend time, money, physical and mental effort, to make this? Was this more like a paid vacation for the actors considering they're working with nothing? It's all somewhat fascinating.

[Dukefrukem]

Gaw. The One Missed Call remake has to be the definition of a complete waste of time. It's almost awe-inspiring in its uselessness. Did I just watch an actual movie, really? Did they actually spend time, money, physical and mental effort, to make this? Was this more like a paid vacation for the actors considering they're working with nothing? It's all somewhat fascinating.

Yes It's very very bad. Can't believe it wasn't a straight to DVD release.

[Bosco B Thug]

Yes It's very very bad. Can't believe it wasn't a straight to DVD release. Ch'yah. It was just. soo. laaazy. and. boring! They did CG-animate a Jesus statue, though.

[Dead & Messed Up]

May was as good as I remembered. Not better, not worse. Exactly as good as I remembered. I'd forgotten how goddamn funny it is, and how amazing Bettis plays the lead role. She's enormously sympathetic, even towards the end, when she spirals down the drain of insanity. Sisto and Faris offer credible supporting turns, as people who know May's weird, but they kinda like that. Faris is especially fun with her obvious lesbian come-ons ("Want to come to my place and eat some melons?"). The "slashings" at the end are also admirable, as they're fast, vivid, and - most importantly - awfully sad.

The only misstep is the odd playing of the blind children sequence, where they suddenly begin behaving like brain-dead zombies, all fists and clenching, trying desperately to get their hands on May's friend - and the sound of shattered glass doesn't deter them from sticking their hands on the ground.

A-

Still one of my favorites of the decade.

[Rowland]

Alright, I've rented The Gravedancers, which I've read is believed by many to be the best After Dark release, and The Blair Witch Project, which will be my first viewing of the film in... almost a decade? Damn.

[The Mike]

Gravedancers was supposed to be good? Geez, it looked bad. I'm a fan of The Hamiltons and Dark Ride wasn't bad, but that's about it.

[Spun Lepton]

Alright, I've rented The Gravedancers, which I've read is believed by many to be the best After Dark release...

Don't go into it thinking that being the best entry in a fairly crappy series is going to make it good. It's the only After Dark movie that I didn't feel the need to turn off after 30 minutes. Overrall, it's only OK, and the guy who directed it approached the ghosts in entirely the wrong manner. He wanted to show them as much as possible, only problem is the make-up isn't all THAT great. Certainly not good enough to parade around in front of the camera under full lighting. The movie is not scary in the least, and the whole thing kind of comes crashing down in the CG-saturated ending.

At least you didn't pick up The Hamiltons, which made me want to kick in my television in addition to turning it off after 30 minutes.

[Spun Lepton]

I'm a fan of The Hamiltons ...

Oh, Mike, Mike, Mike. :|

[Scar]

Watching the Friday the 13th remake, again.

Sometime's you just need some of the 'ol ultra violence.

Hmm, maybe Clockwork Orange next.

[Scar]

Slightly (one bottle of wine) inebriated thoughts in regards to the F13 remake:

Zombie's Halloween is far superior to it, the Chainsaw remakes are better, but F13 still is entertaining. I always do enjoy Jason killing people, and, damn, there is quite the set of NATURAL boobies in that flick.

[Philosophe_rouge]

Glad to see you liked these ones. Also, the more I view Caligari, the more I love it.



I'm curious to hear your thoughts about this one. I think it's the best post-Scream "slasher" movie, even if it's not really one.
I was surprised I didn't like Final Destination more, I thought I would at least be entertained by it strange premise and potential laugh factor. I watched it with my sisters, and we just couldn't get into it. Though elaborate, I didn't find the kills shocking or interesting, perhaps because they've been overdone by the time I've got to this film. I just thought it was enormously bland. Then again, I didn't like Scream until about the third viewing.

[MadMan]

Slightly (one bottle of wine) inebriated thoughts in regards to the F13 remake:

Zombie's Halloween is far superior to it, the Chainsaw remakes are better, but F13 still is entertaining. I always do enjoy Jason killing people, and, damn, there is quite the set of NATURAL boobies in that flick.I saw the Friday the 13th remake in the theater this year, and actually enjoyed it. Having booze handly would be an additional plus, btw.

Oh and I asked my friend, and here's our current Halloween lineup:

*The Omen (1976 version, of course)
*Friday the 13th: Part 3 in 3D! (1982)
*Creepshow (1982)
*Children of the Corn (1984)
*Hellraiser (1987)

Its about time I watched more 80s horror, anyways.

[Spun Lepton]

[REC] -- 8/10
Some of the characters' actions were beyond stupid, but overall I really enjoyed it. There was some very clever editing.

[Ivan Drago]

Hellraiser is one of my favorite horror movies. I really need to revisit it.

[megladon8]

[REC] -- 8/10
Some of the characters' actions were beyond stupid, but overall I really enjoyed it. There was some very clever editing.


Did the final 5-10 minutes of night-vision scare the fuck out of you?

Jen and I were gripping each other so hard we left marks on each others' arms.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Did the final 5-10 minutes of night-vision scare the fuck out of you?

Jen and I were gripping each other so hard we left marks on each others' arms.

That was the first time in a long time that I was holding my breath in fear. Fuckin' loved it.

[Scar]

I just beat House of the Dead: Overkill on the first story mode. So, I'm gonna give Planet Terror another shot right now....

[megladon8]

I just beat House of the Dead: Overkill on the first story mode. So, I'm gonna give Planet Terror another shot right now....


:lol: Did you like "Overkill"? That's probably Jen's all-time favorite game. She's become a zombie-blastin' mastah!

[jenniferofthejungle]

I just beat House of the Dead: Overkill on the first story mode. So, I'm gonna give Planet Terror another shot right now....


That is one of the few games I've managed to beat, Scar. I can't believe how much fun that was. My shootin' hand was dead after the first hour or so, but damn if it wasn't fun.

[jenniferofthejungle]

That was the first time in a long time that I was holding my breath in fear. Fuckin' loved it.


Woo hoo, Jim. :D That's how I felt too. It's such a wonderful rush.

[jenniferofthejungle]

[REC] -- 8/10
Some of the characters' actions were beyond stupid, but overall I really enjoyed it. There was some very clever editing.


Which actions bugged you? I'm curious.

[jenniferofthejungle]

[REC] -- 8/10
Some of the characters' actions were beyond stupid, but overall I really enjoyed it. There was some very clever editing.


Which actions bugged you? I'm curious.



May was as good as I remembered. Not better, not worse. Exactly as good as I remembered.

A-

Still one of my favorites of the decade.



I will give this one another chance, Jim. I always meant to, but couldn't get a copy from anyone. The similarities to a few other bad horrors bugged me, as did Faris, but I am really willing to give it another try.

[Scar]

:lol: Did you like "Overkill"? That's probably Jen's all-time favorite game. She's become a zombie-blastin' mastah!

Its a pretty fun game.

[Dead & Messed Up]

I will give this one another chance, Jim. I always meant to, but couldn't get a copy from anyone. The similarities to a few other bad horrors bugged me, as did Faris, but I am really willing to give it another try.

70% of that grade comes from Bettis. I just feel for her as a character so much. I'm not gonna lie - I got a bit of a thing for mousy girls, and she's just incredibly sympathetic to me. And McKee films the murders in such a matter-of-fact way.

As for the similarities to other bad horrors...I will say that the film clearly owes something to the craptacular Pieces, but May takes that film's concept and legitimizes it, makes it resonant and affecting, gives it meaning.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Also, I just finished a re-view of Ginger Snaps, the first one since my original viewing, and I'll be damned - I don't remember it being so much fun. Isabelle's kind of annoying, but Emily Perkins does a slam-dunk with her role, and Mimi Rogers brings the funny. I dig how the movie's so blunt about its "subtext" (which is anything but), and the feminine perspective (the screenwriter's a woman) is awfully refreshing.

I have changed my mind - Dog Soldiers is the second-best werewolf flick of the decade.

[Spun Lepton]

Which actions bugged you? I'm curious.

The one guy who slowly approached the little girl after she'd turned. They should've at least given him a gun.

Wasn't such a big problem after I thought about it, and even when it was a problem, I still liked the movie quite a bit.

[Rowland]

The one action that really bugged me in REC was right at the end, when the attic door bursts open and the cameraman inexplicably sticks his head up there and slowly turns until he predictably sees the demon girl at the end of his 360 pan, which soured the otherwise first-rate climax for me a bit.

[Dead & Messed Up]

The one action that really bugged me in REC was right at the end, when the attic door bursts open and the cameraman inexplicably sticks his head up there and slowly turns until he predictably sees the demon girl at the end of his 360 spin, which soured the otherwise first-rate climax for me a bit.

It reminds me of that story where Tippi Hedren said, "Alfred, why the hell would I go up the stairs, after everything that's happened?" and Alfred said, "...because I tell you to."

[Rowland]

Don't go into it thinking that being the best entry in a fairly crappy series is going to make it good. It's the only After Dark movie that I didn't feel the need to turn off after 30 minutes. Overrall, it's only OK, and the guy who directed it approached the ghosts in entirely the wrong manner. He wanted to show them as much as possible, only problem is the make-up isn't all THAT great. Certainly not good enough to parade around in front of the camera under full lighting. The movie is not scary in the least, and the whole thing kind of comes crashing down in the CG-saturated ending.I was disappointed to discover that all the ghosts had the same face, which was creepy at first but began to look rather silly by the time pyro-boy appeared. Still, I had a pretty good time with it, even if the ending does become flat-out laughable, which isn't helped at all by the lame coda revealing the source of the note. The premise carried this one a long way, some of the set pieces are executed with real flair, and the presence of Tchéky Karyo is always a good thing. It's no great shakes, but I'd recommend it as a rental to those who're interested.

[Rowland]

And while I'm at it, I hate to say this, but Carpenter's Cigarette Burns was a real disappointment. Some of the ideas are inspired, the milieu of cinephilia is immersive, and there are moments that work, but on the whole it's dull, poorly acted, and unconvincing. The footage glimpsed from La fin absolue du monde is pretty ridiculous as well, a very ill-advised creative decision on Carpenter's part.

[Rowland]

The Fair Haired Child readily outshines Carpenter's tepid entry, thanks in large part to William Malone's vivid execution of the material, which grows predictable after a marvelously disorientating beginning but retains immediacy through expressive visual technique, a chilly score, and the compellingly evinced tension of the scenario. Cool monster too, realized with the employment of high-speed photography that recalls Malone's own House on Haunted Hill remake.

[Bosco B Thug]

And while I'm at it, I hate to say this, but Carpenter's Cigarette Burns was a real disappointment. Some of the ideas are inspired, the milieu of cinephilia is immersive, and there are moments that work, but on the whole it's dull, poorly acted, and unconvincing. The footage glimpsed from La fin absolue du monde is pretty ridiculous as well, a very ill-advised creative decision on Carpenter's part. Hmm, have to say I'm surprised. Cigarette Burns is hardly a masterwork in any profound sense - MoH strikes me pretty much essentially as directors slumming it on television, in blatant work-for-hire mode - and it gets really dumb in the same way all MoH episodes do, but I'm pretty convinced CB is the only MoH episode that holds any weight seen against the respective director's best work, or of being considered as anything more than "an MoH episode." With the possible exception of Miike's.

[Dead & Messed Up]

The Fair Haired Child readily outshines Carpenter's tepid entry, thanks in large part to William Malone's vivid execution of the material, which grows predictable after a marvelously disorientating beginning but retains immediacy through expressive visual technique, a chilly score, and the compellingly evinced tension of the scenario. Cool monster too, realized with the employment of high-speed photography that recalls Malone's own House on Haunted Hill remake.

This is one of my very favorite episodes. The understated "fairy tale" angle is well-realized, and there are welcome traces of Seance on a Wet Afternoon with the creepy hospital room. The monster's not terribly frightening, but the stuttering motion and gaping mouth make it memorable and imaginative. Also, I was genuinely surprised and affected when

the boy-monster tears the girl apart.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Hmm, have to say I'm surprised. Cigarette Burns is hardly a masterwork in any profound sense - MoH strikes me pretty much essentially as directors slumming it on television, in blatant work-for-hire mode - and it gets really dumb in the same way all MoH episodes do, but I'm pretty convinced CB is the only MoH episode that holds any weight seen against the respective director's best work, or of being considered as anything more than "an MoH episode." With the possible exception of Miike's.

I don't think they're all slumming it. John Landis puts in very fun work with his two entries, Joe Dante's two episodes are delightful screeds, Stuart Gordon's two are superior literary adaptations, and Mick Garris, while unloved by many, made arguably his best work (and certainly his most uncompromised) with his episodes.

[Rowland]

the boy-monster tears the girl apart.I especially liked how Malone punctuated the tragedy with freeze frames, the first being the two kids hugging before he turns, which Malone lingers on before cutting directly to the midst of his violent attack upon her, a flurry of rapid cuts that ends with another freeze frame, this time of her bloody hand reaching into the air as if her last grasp at life.

[Rowland]

Joe Dante's two episodes are delightful screedsI haven't seen Homecoming, but The Screwfly Solution is the worst episode I've seen so far, a neat concept butchered into incoherent incompetence.

[Dead & Messed Up]

I haven't seen Homecoming, but The Screwfly Solution is the worst episode I've seen so far, a neat concept butchered into incoherent incompetence.

Aw, say it ain't so! I was unsure of the episode on initial viewing, but I've since watched it five or six more times (it's great near-bedtime viewing), and it's now one of my favorites. It's hardly perfect, but I love its ambition and breadth, and Kerry Norton does a great job in the lead. And the misogyny angle works as subtle meta-commentary on the series as a whole, which takes a little too much delight in showcasing boobies.

[Bosco B Thug]

I don't think they're all slumming it. John Landis puts in very fun work with his two entries, Joe Dante's two episodes are delightful screeds, Stuart Gordon's two are superior literary adaptations, and Mick Garris, while unloved by many, made arguably his best work (and certainly his most uncompromised) with his episodes. Yeah... I'm a big fan of the first season of Masters of Horror myself. But none really strive for being more than technically competent, fun, or obligatorily showy and slick. Which is fine, but is what I meant by "slumming."

I remember Carpenter having some nice, delicate touches in his episode that separate it as the series' quality "arthouse" episode. I'd compliment Hooper's yes-somewhat-crappy episode again right now, but I'll refrain...

I haven't commented on it: Landis' Family was very very good. Teleplay is average, and that's another problem with MoH - directors are very much tied down by the series format and material - but yes, Landis overcame the 2nd Season slump. I really need to see Gordon's.

[MadMan]

I've only seen The Screwfly Solution, which I found to be very solid. But then again I'm a huge fan of Dante's work.


The Blair Witch Project/ (Myrick & Sanchez, 1999) 93Whoa, really? I think its a very good movie, but that score is a bit high. Blair Witch manages to be both well regarded by me, and yet also something I find overrated all at the same time.

[Rowland]

Whoa, really? I think its a very good movie, but that score is a bit high. Blair Witch manages to be both well regarded by me, and yet also something I find overrated all at the same time.Congratulations, you've convinced me of the error in my ways. :P

[Raiders]

I gotta get back crackin' on my MOH thread as ya'll are stealing my thunder here.

:P

Oh, and yeah, seriously Rowland. I haven't seen you give that high of a score to anything, and honestly, I am a defender of the film, but that score seems more reactionary to the way it has over time fallen out of favor. I would think you would reserve a score that high for something profoundly moving and if that's the case here, I want to see some splainin'.

[megladon8]

I really found The Blair Witch Project terrifying.

If I were to make a list of the five horror films that have really scared me the most, it would look something like this (going in chronological order according to when I saw them)...

The Haunting (age 8)
Halloween (age 10)
The Exorcist (age 12)
The Blair Witch Project (age 13)
Session 9 (age 15)


EDIT: I remembered The Haunting scared the bejeesus out of me when I first saw it, so I removed [REC] from the end of my list, and placed that at the front.

I still find The Haunting a deeply unsettling film, and maintain that it's the best horror film of all time.

[Dukefrukem]

I really found The Blair Witch Project terrifying.

If I were to make a list of the five horror films that have really scared me the most, it would look something like this (going in chronological order according to when I saw them)...

The Haunting (age 8)
Halloween (age 10)
The Exorcist (age 12)
The Blair Witch Project (age 13)
Session 9 (age 15)


EDIT: I remembered The Haunting scared the bejeesus out of me when I first saw it, so I removed [REC] from the end of my list, and placed that at the front.

I still find The Haunting a deeply unsettling film, and maintain that it's the best horror film of all time.

That's a great list to make. For me the films I remember scaring me the most would be;

Gremlins (age 9)
Nightmare on Elm Street (age 10)
Return of the Living Dead (age 11)
John Capenter's the Thing (age 11)
Event Horizon(Saw in theater) (13)
Phantoms (14)
The Blair Witch Project (Saw in theater)(16)
Drag Me to Hell(Saw in theater) (age 25)

[The Mike]

Hmmmm....

My list would probably start with The Gate, which would be followed by Candyman, The Shining, Halloween, and Prince of Darkness.

[Bosco B Thug]

Has anyone seen Deranged, the oddball black comedy/mocku-journalistic 70s exploitation flick about Ed Gein? This one's mentioned pretty much never, but its got a mild cult following due to its game eccentricity.

To tie it into the current discussion, watched this one years ago at a young age, thought it was one of the most shocking, nastiest, luridly real things I'd ever seen. Now, it's an acceptably interesting curiosity that's in actualty very cartoonish and silly, but that successfully does work with the above three facets my young self sensed and channels them into a competent low-grade shocker.

And the ending just has to be an influence on a similar scene in Rob Zombie's House of 1000 Corpses. If it's not, I'll eat my shoe.

Evil Dead Trap is, coincidentally, another film I watched when I was young and thought was pretty cool. Now, it is pretty interesting and cool and stylish in the beginning, but it gets more boring and less interesting as it goes along. Hideki wasn't as cool an effect as I remember, *sigh*.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Scariest? Night of the Living Dead. No question for me. As for the horror films that truly scared me, I submit the following:

Night of the Living Dead (age 6)
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (age 11?)
Carrie (age 11?)
The Haunting (age 12)
The Evil Dead (age 13)
The Eye (age 23)
The Descent (age 23)
The Mist (age 25)
Rec (age 26)

[Scar]

My age sixer:

Alien

[Philosophe_rouge]

I think the scariest movie I've seen is Black Christmas.

[The Mike]

Everyone needs to get on seeing Trick 'r Treat, right flipping now.

It's marvelous.

[MadMan]

Congratulations, you've convinced me of the error in my ways. :PThat wasn't my intention. However, you are welcome ;)

Scariest movie I've ever seen: Halloween (1978). Hands down. It and the original TCM are the only two movies to scare me after multiple viewings. However, the first and earliest movies to scare me when I was a kid was the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers and Gremlins. Plus Jaws, of course.

Here's what I got from the library:

*The Brood
*Black Christmas
*The Call of Chullu
*Inferno

And Dog Soliders coming in the mail from Netflix.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Here's what I got from the library:

*The Brood
*Black Christmas
*The Call of Chullu

Ooh, can't wait to hear your thoughts on these.

[Adam]

Scariest movie ever is Return to Oz

[The Mike]

On second viewing (in a row), I'm pretty sure Trick 'r Treat indeed rules.

There are a couple small faults I could find, like a goofy actor here or a misplaced song there (Marilyn Manson's Sweet Dreams again? Really?), but I'm certain it's the best horror anthology film since....maybe ever. Or at least Dead of Night.

[Dead & Messed Up]

On second viewing (in a row), I'm pretty sure Trick 'r Treat indeed rules.

There are a couple small faults I could find, like a goofy actor here or a misplaced song there (Marilyn Manson's Sweet Dreams again? Really?), but I'm certain it's the best horror anthology film since....maybe ever. Or at least Dead of Night.

Whoa. Okay, that got my attention.

[The Mike]

Whoa. Okay, that got my attention.

I really think you'd dig it. It's weird because each part itself isn't great, but it's so seamlessly put together that it just flows perfectly (especially on second look when I knew where all the pieces fit together). The tone is perfect for the holiday, it looks phenomenal, and the character that ties everything together is so memorable and distinct that it's bound to haunt my dreams on occasion. Plus, it manages to basically shake multiple horror subgenres together into one film which, again, just seems to fit the horror obsessed perspective of some during this season so perfectly.

It's not quite Drag Me to Hell good, but it's close.

[Dead & Messed Up]

I really think you'd dig it. It's weird because each part itself isn't great, but it's so seamlessly put together that it just flows perfectly (especially on second look when I knew where all the pieces fit together). The tone is perfect for the holiday, it looks phenomenal, and the character that ties everything together is so memorable and distinct that it's bound to haunt my dreams on occasion. Plus, it manages to basically shake multiple horror subgenres together into one film which, again, just seems to fit the horror obsessed perspective of some during this season so perfectly.

It's not quite Drag Me to Hell good, but it's close.

Alright, alright, it's at the top of my queue, along with Jenn's Memories of Murder rec and Rouge's Trouble Every Day rec.

[The Mike]

Alright, alright, it's at the top of my queue, along with Jenn's Memories of Murder rec and Rouge's Trouble Every Day rec.

Every once in a while a movie excites me too much and I try to fit 47 things into one paragraph. This is one of those times. :)

[lovejuice]

the fly, its sequel, and aliens are only three movie ever stole my sleep.

[EyesWideOpen]

I have no idea how The Gate scared me as a kid, their is almost nothing scary in it.

[Philosophe_rouge]

I'm so happy I got to see Trick' R' Treat' in a packed theatre. I couldn't recommend the film enough, and am happy people are loving it.

[MadMan]

Ooh, can't wait to hear your thoughts on these.You shall receive them. In fact, I plan on watching at least a couple of them tonight.

[megladon8]

Scariest movie ever is Return to Oz


Rep.

That movie was made by demons, I swear.

[Spun Lepton]

There was a made-for-TV movie that was on when I was about 6 or 7 called The Mud Monster that scared the ever-living-bejesus outta me. I'm sure if I saw it now, I'd find it comical. But, man, that mud monster scared me good.

Aside from that ...

The Twilight Zone had a bunch of episodes that scared me pretty badly.
Alien (age 12?)
Poltergeist (12)
The Thing (14?)
The Haunting ('62) (17)

Then there was this long, dry period called The 1990s where very few really good horror movies came out, and even fewer scary ones.

Ringu (30)

I'm sure there are more that scared me back when I was a kid, but I can't recall them all. I was a movie-watching machine back then.

[Rowland]

Oh, and yeah, seriously Rowland. I haven't seen you give that high of a score to anything, and honestly, I am a defender of the film, but that score seems more reactionary to the way it has over time fallen out of favor. I would think you would reserve a score that high for something profoundly moving and if that's the case here, I want to see some splainin'.Well, regarding the score, let me explain a bit. For starters, it's worth noting that I will almost never give a film a 90+ score after my first viewing, and though I've been using this scoring system for almost two years, I've only somewhat recently began recording all of my repeat viewings. As for new releases, I simply haven't seen anything since late-2007 that has broken the 90+ barrier, but there are several films released in the remainder of the '00s that have done so.

As for The Blair Witch Project, I happen to think it's one of the scariest films ever made, a masterfully crafted horror narrative that's brilliantly disguised otherwise, a forcefully performed portrait of social and psychological meltdown, a prime model for the elemental power of darkness, sound design, and the withholding of visual information, and moreover, a vital cultural artifact that thematically and aesthetically bridges our transition into the 21st century better than any other film released in the late '90s.

[Ivan Drago]

I'm so happy I got to see Trick' R' Treat' in a packed theatre. I couldn't recommend the film enough, and am happy people are loving it.

That got released in theaters? All I know is that it just came out on DVD.

[Scar]

I fucking love The Blair Witch Project. Movie creeped me out pretty good. I'm sure I mentioned it before, but I watched it for the first time when I was back at college. The dorms were empty for the weekend, (for the most part), and I watched it by myself. When the movie started getting creepy, it started getting dark out. When it was over, I thought it was a pretty good little flick.

Went outside for a smoke, and the woods were maybe 100 yards or so from the back of the dorm. I only had a couple drags, said 'Fuck this', and went back inside. I was creeped the fuck out.

[Philosophe_rouge]

That got released in theaters? All I know is that it just came out on DVD.

Film festival

[MadMan]

Oh yeah, don't get me wrong: I agree that The Blair Witch Project is downright creepy. It also has one of the most disturbing and frightening endings, ever.

So I watched The Call of Cthulhu. Thoughts:

http://janusmuseum.org/panabasis/cthulhu1.jpg

Confession: I've never read any of Lovecraft's works. This partly due to laziness, but mostly becasue after reading the descriptions of what they are about, I get a bit freaked out and lose my nerve. Seriously the thought of ancient monster elder gods slumbering, waiting to be awaken by human idiots that will end up becoming their slave meat puppets is pretty creepy. The movie kind of builds on that idea, if only limiting itself a bit due to its rather short and sweet running time.

Due to being a cool homage/throwback/experiment to silent cinema, the movie thrives largely on pure atmosphere, which is what the early silent horror movies and the Val Lewton films completely feed off of. Since the creators decided to use old school filming techiniques, 1920s style acting (lots of lip reading, of course) they really weren't going to utilize more modern aspects such as the jump scare anyways. Which I actually like a great deal, being as these methods resulted in a truly eerie movie.

My only problem with this otherwise fine movie is the running length-its too goddamn short. Sure I admire the idea of leaving the audience wanting more, but many things could have been further fleshed out and the ending left me a bit unsatisfied. Yet I highly recommend checking this out, if only to enjoy a slice of cinema long since gone and now completely outdated.

My rating (not that it really matters): 90

[Dead & Messed Up]

Really glad you dug Call of Cthulhu. It could be fleshed out more, yes, but I think the length works to its favor - silent films turn so quickly from not enough to too much, at least in my eyes.

I saw a similar film last year, at least in that it's a modern silent film. Prometheus Triumphant. It's not a great movie, but seeing as how you got so much out of this one, it may be worth your time.

[Rowland]

After reading Lovecraft's literature, it's difficult to watch adaptations because his writing style is so dependent upon expressing ineffable, unfathomable visions of horror. He rarely even attempts to go into detail over how his ancient cities/monsters/etc. actually look, instead devoting himself to describing how the sights affect those who bear witness, so seeing filmmakers attempt to render them is rarely satisfying. The best results are either when most of those sights are kept to the imagination, or a schlockier Stuart Gordon approach is taken.

[lovejuice]

Rep.

That movie was made by demons, I swear.
with or without demons, that movie is pure awesomeness. i don't particularly remember being scared by it, but the scene with Dorothy and the witch's heads is superbly tensed.

[Grouchy]

After reading Lovecraft's literature, it's difficult to watch adaptations because his writing style is so dependent upon expressing ineffable, unfathomable visions of horror. He rarely even attempts to go into detail over how his ancient cities/monsters/etc. actually look, instead devoting himself to describing how the sights affect those who bear witness, so seeing filmmakers attempt to render them is rarely satisfying. The best results are either when most of those sights are kept to the imagination, or a schlockier Stuart Gordon approach is taken.
Exactly. The big problem with adapting Lovecraft has always been that the big scares in his work most often come from what's not clearly described. In fact, when he does describe his monsters more thoroughly (as in Pickman's Model), those end up being not all that frightening and a bit commonplace.

I agree with you, Stuart Gordon and Call of Cthulhu are so far the only ones to nail it, and the first one because he takes only the concepts in consideration, not the literary style.

[MadMan]

Really glad you dug Call of Cthulhu. It could be fleshed out more, yes, but I think the length works to its favor - silent films turn so quickly from not enough to too much, at least in my eyes.Well not always, but yes I see your point.


I saw a similar film last year, at least in that it's a modern silent film. Prometheus Triumphant. It's not a great movie, but seeing as how you got so much out of this one, it may be worth your time.Never heard of it. I may have to check that one out.

[Dukefrukem]

Haha... what do you guys think of this Top 50 Scary Movies Of All Time (http://www.boston.com/ae/movies/gallery/top_50_scary_movies/) list? I agree with their number 1 movie, but that's about all I agree with.

[Ezee E]

Trick 'R Treat is alright, but it's a definite watch for Halloween if you want to see something other than Halloween

[Grouchy]

Haha... what do you guys think of this Top 50 Scary Movies Of All Time (http://www.boston.com/ae/movies/gallery/top_50_scary_movies/) list? I agree with their number 1 movie, but that's about all I agree with.
The #50 (Aracnophobia) write-up reminded me of something that happened during my Brazil-Colombia trip. We were on a ship travelling the Amazonas and I was sleeping on my hammock (that's how all of us slept on deck) when a friend of mine got up to pee on the river and suddenly started screaming like a madman. I got up, went to see what had happened, and he was still holding his swinging dick on hand, scared to death. He pointed and I saw a tarantula the size of my hand crawling on the ship's bar. After a small deliberation we decided we couldn't leave it on deck. Since my friend wouldn't approach it I had to grab a plastic chair and start hitting it with the legs to make it fall off. When it fell overboard I peeked and saw it crawling its way to the lower deck. I didn't tell my friend that and we went back to sleep, a little more disturbed than before.

I just wanted to share that experience with you guys.

[Dukefrukem]

The #50 (Aracnophobia) write-up reminded me of something that happened during my Brazil-Colombia trip. We were on a ship travelling the Amazonas and I was sleeping on my hammock (that's how all of us slept on deck) when a friend of mine got up to pee on the river and suddenly started screaming like a madman. I got up, went to see what had happened, and he was still holding his swinging dick on hand, scared to death. He pointed and I saw a tarantula the size of my hand crawling on the ship's bar. After a small deliberation we decided we couldn't leave it on deck. Since my friend wouldn't approach it I had to grab a plastic chair and start hitting it with the legs to make it fall off. When it fell overboard I peeked and saw it crawling its way to the lower deck. I didn't tell my friend that and we went back to sleep, a little more distubed than before.

I just wanted to share that experience with you guys.

Cool story. But what is a ship's bar?

[Grouchy]

Cool story. But what is a ship's bar?
Yeah, I wondered how to write that in English.

Online translation says it's called a "railing". Basically the thing you lean on.

[Dukefrukem]

Yeah, I wondered how to write that in English.

Online translation says it's called a "railing". Basically the thing you lean on.

Gotcha. Yeh i prob would have freaked out too if i saw that thing crawling anywhere NEAR the boat.

[Dead & Messed Up]

After reading Lovecraft's literature, it's difficult to watch adaptations because his writing style is so dependent upon expressing ineffable, unfathomable visions of horror. He rarely even attempts to go into detail over how his ancient cities/monsters/etc. actually look, instead devoting himself to describing how the sights affect those who bear witness, so seeing filmmakers attempt to render them is rarely satisfying. The best results are either when most of those sights are kept to the imagination, or a schlockier Stuart Gordon approach is taken.

I asked Stuart Gordon about this once, because I held your view, and he actually disagreed with that idea very much - he maintained that Lovecraft was a vivid descriptor, and he offered Gordon a lot of cues for his adaptations. That caused me to go back and read over Lovecraft's works some more, and the truth is that, while he tries to place an emphasis on the mental effects, he goes into physical detail a lot. To be honest, I think it's darkly hilarious how often Lovecraft will say something like "The thing cannot be described!"...and then he'll go right ahead and describe it.

From At the Mountains of Madness:


"Objects are eight feet long all over. Six-foot, five-ridged barrel torso three and five-tenths feet central diameter, one foot end diameters. Dark gray, flexible, and infinitely tough. Seven-foot membranous wings of same color, found folded, spread out of furrows between ridges. Wing framework tubular or glandular, of lighter gray, with orifices at wing tips. Spread wings have serrated edge. Around equator, one at central apex of each of the five vertical, stave-like ridges are five systems of light gray flexible arms or tentacles found tightly folded to torso but expansible to maximum length of over three feet. Like arms of primitive crinoid. Single stalks three inches diameter branch after six inches into five substalks, each of which branches after eight inches into small, tapering tentacles or tendrils, giving each stalk a total of twenty-five tentacles

From "The Call of Cthulhu":


If I say that my somewhat extravagant imagination yielded simultaneous pictures of an octopus, a dragon, and a human caricature, I shall not be unfaithful to the spirit of the thing. A pulpy, tentacled head surmounted a grotesque and scaly body with rudimentary wings; but it was the general outline of the whole which made it most shockingly frightful...

...the awful squid-head with writhing feelers came nearly up to the bowsprit of the sturdy yacht.

From "The Music of Erich Zann" (my personal favorite):


It would be useless to describe the playing of Erich Zann on that dreadful night...

...The playing grew fantastic, dehnous, and hysterical, yet kept to the last the qualities of supreme genius which I knew this strange old man possessed. I recognized the air—it was a wild Hungarian dance popular in the theaters, and I reflected for a moment that this was the first time I had ever heard Zann play the work of another composer. Louder and louder, wilder and wilder, mounted the shrieking and whining of that desperate viol. The player was dripping with an uncanny perspiration and twisted like a monkey, always looking frantically at the curtained window.

...And then I thought I heard a shriller, steadier note that was not from the viol; a calm, deliberate, purposeful, mocking note from far away in the West.

From "The Horror at Red Hook":


Somewhere dark sticky water was lapping at onyx piers, and once the shivery tinkle of raucous little bells pealed out to greet the insane titter of a naked phosphorescent thing which swam into sight, scrambled ashore, and climbed up to squat leeringly on a carved golden pedestal in the background...

... the nightmare horde slithered away in quest of the sound - goat, satyr, and Ægypan, incubus, succubus and lemur, twisted toad and shapeless elemental, dog-faced howler and silent strutter in darkness - all led by the abominable naked phosphorescent thing that had squatted on the carved golden throne.

From "Dreams in the Witch-House":


This object was the partly crushed skeleton of a huge diseased rat, whose abnormalities of form are still a topic of debate and source of singular reticence among the members of Miskatonic's department of comparative anatomy...

...the bones of the tiny paws, it is rumoured, imply prehensile characteristics more typical of a diminutive monkey than of a rat, while the small skull with its savage yellow fangs is of the utmost anomalousness, appearing from certain angles like a miniature, monstrously degraded parody of a human skull.

Things to consider, anyway.

[Grouchy]

Gotcha. Yeh i prob would have freaked out too if i saw that thing crawling anywhere NEAR the boat.
Funny thing is, that and some smaller bugs were all of the animals we saw in our entire Amazonas part of the journey. The jungle is so thick you can't see anything from the ship. There was a stretch where the river was so broad we couldn't see any coast and it felt like being on the sea.

That was the craziest, toughest part of the journey. Five days on board from Belen to Manaus, no stops long enough to even set foot on solid ground, and seeing the same 200+ faces of the rest of the passengers every day, eating the same dry, stale food, showering and shitting on a 2x2 square that smelt worse every day... I wondered if that's what being in prison felt like.

[Pop Trash]

So if I am to believe boston.com, Blair Witch 2 and Cloverfield are better/scarier movies than the "gimmicky" Blair Witch Project. Bullshit. Also, fuck [Rec]. That is officially the most overrated horror movie ever.

[Spun Lepton]

Also, fuck [Rec]. That is officially the most overrated horror movie ever.

Now, now, no need to get butthurt just because you don't like something that a lot of other people do.

[megladon8]

DaMU, that is something I've said many times here (mostly in the literature forum) - Lovecraft has this strangely false reputation of being vague with his descriptions, when in fact he writes entire stories that are nothing but description. He often goes a little overboard in this area, actually.

Similarly, I've also said what you said about how funny it is when he says "oh this thing was so grotesque, so unimaginable, I could never describe it!!" followed quickly by a 5-paragraph description :D

I always remember a part from one of his stories where he tries to explain how enormous one of his Elder Gods was. A large sailing ship is in the middle of the ocean, and one of the men thinks he sees something in the water. He leans over the side and sees, several feet under the surface, an enormous EYE blinking. The eye is so huge that it stretches right to the horizon in every direction.

[MadMan]

Boston.com's list wasn't too bad. It had some really cool choices, actually.

[The Mike]

Hmmm, according to that list, 3 of the top 8 SCARIEST! movies are remakes.

No.

[jenniferofthejungle]

I'm watching The Fog.

Again.

I'll be damned if I don't want to shake that movie until something really good comes out of there. The remake was shit, but this one still makes me want to watch it over and over again until I figure out what the hell went wrong with it.

[jenniferofthejungle]

I fucking love The Blair Witch Project. Movie creeped me out pretty good. I'm sure I mentioned it before, but I watched it for the first time when I was back at college. The dorms were empty for the weekend, (for the most part), and I watched it by myself. When the movie started getting creepy, it started getting dark out. When it was over, I thought it was a pretty good little flick.

Went outside for a smoke, and the woods were maybe 100 yards or so from the back of the dorm. I only had a couple drags, said 'Fuck this', and went back inside. I was creeped the fuck out.

I saw it by myself, in my room, on a crappy, yellow, 13 inch TV and it nearly scared the crap out of me. I had trouble leaving my room because I was sure something would grab my feet as I touched the floor. I think I nearly cried that's how much I was into it.

[Spun Lepton]

I saw Blair Witch in the front row at the theater. The ending had me riveted. Nothing has scared me quite like the ending to Ringu, though. I almost fell out of my chair when I saw that,

[megladon8]

It's pretty awesome to see The Mothman Prophecies on there.

One of the most underrated chillers of the decade.

[Rowland]

I'm watching The Fog.

Again.

I'll be damned if I don't want to shake that movie until something really good comes out of there. The remake was shit, but this one still makes me want to watch it over and over again until I figure out what the hell went wrong with it.Hmm. I just like watching it over and over because it's awesome. Given its reputation around here, I'd wager it's his most underrated.

[Rowland]

Things to consider, anyway.Well played. Truth be told, I haven't read any of Lovecraft's literature in ~8 years, so I was going off of memory. Oooops.

[Dukefrukem]

Hmmm, according to that list, 3 of the top 8 SCARIEST! movies are remakes.

No.

exactly. He doesn't even have Blair Witch Project... but he has the sequel????

[The Mike]

Plus that list reminds me of how badly I need to see Quatermass and the Pit. BOOO. :frustrated:

[The Mike]

So, seriously, why doesn't anyone ever talk about how awesome Vamp is? It's not quite Fright Night awesome, but it's definitely awesome.

[Rowland]

It's not quite Fright Night awesome Wow, that bad, huh? :P

[Rowland]

Yeah, that list sucks, especially in regards to the idiotic captions written for most of the entries.

[Bosco B Thug]

I, Madman - A nifty film. One of those "Not too shabby" pictures that you appreciate just for being different. It plays out kind of like a pointless Candyman.

[Dukefrukem]

I'm surprised no one has listed their top 10 yet...

1. John Carpenter’s The Thing
2. the Descent
3. High Tension
4. Evil Dead
5. Ringu
6. Blair Witch Project
7. Alien
8. Jaws
9. Ju-on
10. Texas Chainsaw Massacre

[Grouchy]

So, seriously, why doesn't anyone ever talk about how awesome Vamp is? It's not quite Fright Night awesome, but it's definitely awesome.
Huh, it's really not all that awesome, and I'm a huge Grace Jones fan. Movie's only worthy scenes are 100% her.

[megladon8]

Plus that list reminds me of how badly I need to see Quatermass and the Pit. BOOO. :frustrated:


Same with me.

Sadly it's been OOP for a while. You're lucky if you can find a used DVD copy for less than $100.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Clive Barker's Book of Blood has one nifty sequence towards the end, where the viewer gets a glimpse of the "highways of the dead," but the rest is horror cliche upon horror cliche, further weakened by bad acting and uninteresting dialogue. Those who've read the book may wonder how it could be successfully expanded to feature length. This painfully mediocre film leaves that question open.

[megladon8]

Yeah I kind of guessed as much from the awful trailer.

There are surprisingly few good adaptations of Barker's work.

Though he himself hasn't really written anything great in a long time.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Yeah I kind of guessed as much from the awful trailer.

There are surprisingly few good adaptations of Barker's work.

Though he himself hasn't really written anything great in a long time.

Yeah, there's Candyman and Hellraiser, and then there's all the rest.

Although I have a soft spot for the ridiculous energy of Midnight Meat Train.

[megladon8]

Yeah, there's Candyman and Hellraiser, and then there's all the rest.

Although I have a soft spot for the ridiculous energy of Midnight Meat Train.


Midnight Meat Train is one of the worst movies I saw this year. Ugh...what trash.

It went from horribly done quick-cutting during its "action" scenes, to a pace so slow I nearly fell asleep on more than one occasion.

And that scene where he couldn't photograph his girlfriend was one of the worst attempts at "drama" I think I've ever seen.

What an utter disappointment that was, since the short story is one of my very favorites.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Midnight Meat Train is one of the worst movies I saw this year. Ugh...what trash.

It went from horribly done quick-cutting during its "action" scenes, to a pace so slow I nearly fell asleep on more than one occasion.

And that scene where he couldn't photograph his girlfriend was one of the worst attempts at "drama" I think I've ever seen.

What an utter disappointment that was, since the short story is one of my very favorites.

You and Spun had me look at that photography scene again during a rewatch, and you're right - it's stupid as hell.

But I kinda enjoy the way Kitamura films the gore and action, and I think Cooper does a mostly good job, and Vinnie Jones makes a great villain. I'd say it was a guilty pleasure, but I don't feel guilty about it.

Silly, maybe, but not guilty.

[Spun Lepton]

Same with me.

Sadly it's been OOP for a while. You're lucky if you can find a used DVD copy for less than $100.

I own a copy of the Anchor Bay release. It's a good flick, but if you're not into something like the older Dr. Who episodes, you may not care much for it.

[megladon8]

I own a copy of the Anchor Bay release. It's a good flick, but if you're not into something like the older Dr. Who episodes, you may not care much for it.


I think I'd totally dig it.

The mere fact that it's a Hammer release has my interest at 110%.

[Scar]

Rented Trick R Treat.

Also, Observe and Report followed me home.

[Scar]

Trick R Treat was pretty entertaining, and I'll definitely add it to my collection soon.

I had no problem with the Marilyn Manson tune, and absolutely loved that part of the movie. Laughed my ass off at the reveal.

A couple minor quibbles. One is very minor, something you'd expect from me:

Seriously, if you're gonna have the old timer use an old school hammer shotgun, can you please use a sound effect that actually sounds like hammers being cocked?!

And the other, not as minor quibble, but still nothing that bad:

Shoulda kept the sack cloth on its head for the whole movie.

[Ezee E]

Agreed on the sack cloth and the reveal.

I like it more as I think about it.

[Scar]

Ordered the Blu ray today, along with the Wii Classic Controller.

EDIT: The Trick R Treat Blu Ray, that is.

[Bosco B Thug]

Mystics in Bali is half hilariously ridiculous but also half boringly uninteresting. Not recommended... unless you're really interested in Indonesian culture.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers is feverish, unsettling, and emotionally full. It's my first Kaufman film, and I really like his style. The Altman/Roeg school of filmmaking. But it has a redundant 2nd half that doesn't really build into anything. It's chase after chase, and Kaufman's dreamy style doesn't exactly exude danger and thrills. It needed some potent commentary to come and slap you awake again near the end, but that didn't happen.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Coming from Netflix:

Memories of Murder
Trouble Every Day
The Call of Cthulhu

I've seen the latter before, but I wanted to watch it again.

[Spun Lepton]

Dreamscape has a number of a fun moments and a few relatively creepy dream sequences. But, overall, it takes its silly premise a little too seriously, which drags it down. The soundtrack really dates it, too. I also don't understand how Denis Quaid molesting Kate Capshaw in her dreams is supposed to be romantic. 5/10

[Philosophe_rouge]

Coming from Netflix:

Memories of Murder
Trouble Every Day
The Call of Cthulhu

I've seen the latter before, but I wanted to watch it again.

The first two are incredible

[jenniferofthejungle]

Male relative walked out of Paranormal Activity last week because he was so freaked out. :D


Woot, Jim. I'm happy you're getting to the only recommend I could give you that is a guaranteed winner.

[jenniferofthejungle]

I, Madman - A nifty film. One of those "Not too shabby" pictures that you appreciate just for being different. It plays out kind of like a pointless Candyman.

I wish the creature effects had been better. I love this one.

[Dukefrukem]

Trick R Treat was pretty entertaining, and I'll definitely add it to my collection soon.

I had no problem with the Marilyn Manson tune, and absolutely loved that part of the movie. Laughed my ass off at the reveal.

A couple minor quibbles. One is very minor, something you'd expect from me:

Seriously, if you're gonna have the old timer use an old school hammer shotgun, can you please use a sound effect that actually sounds like hammers being cocked?!

And the other, not as minor quibble, but still nothing that bad:

Shoulda kept the sack cloth on its head for the whole movie.


This movie was great. I LOVED the intertwining between characters. Even the little things, like the car at the beginning, and who walked in front of the car... the trick or treators. Very entertaining movie.


As for your spoiler.

Meh. I dunno about that. I kinda liked the reveal a little.... I agree the monster was a bit unoriginal... but i would have been more upset if he shot it three times and didn't explain why it wasn't dead...

[Dukefrukem]

Anyone hear of a movie called spice?

http://img379.imageshack.us/img379/3329/splice.jpg

[Raiders]

It's Splice. The new movie from Vincenzo Natali, the guy who made the original Cube. Sounds pretty interesting but looking at imdb there is no current scheduled US release date.

[Dukefrukem]

It's Splice. The new movie from Vincenzo Natali, the guy who made the original Cube. Sounds pretty interesting but looking at imdb there is no current scheduled US release date.

Thanks for the correction. Cube is a mind fuck. Love to see this eventually.

[MadMan]

Zombieland ruled, but I wasn't really surprised about that. What did catch me off guard was not only how funny it was, but certain elements, plus the fact that it actually had some scary moments. Plus that cameo featuring a certain famous funnyman is priceless.

[megladon8]

Meh. I dunno about that. I kinda liked the reveal a little.... I agree the monster was a bit unoriginal... but i would have been more upset if he shot it three times and didn't explain why it wasn't dead...


I don't think we needed the reveal to know that it was a supernatural creature he was fighting.

It was, afterall, shown that he was the bus-driver, and it was made pretty clear what the creature's intentions were.

[Rowland]

Natali also directed the immensely entertaining espionage thriller Cypher.

[Winston*]

Natali also directed the immensely entertaining espionage thriller Cypher.

He also directed the godawful Nothing.

[The Mike]

I hope Rowland's as right about Cypher, which I plan to see soon, as Winston is about Nothing. Because I love me some Cube.

[Bosco B Thug]

I wish the creature effects had been better. I love this one. It's got some great art design, and Jenny Wright's certainly a very agreeable heroine (that boyfriend was kinda weenie-ish, tho).

I was surprised by how freaky I found the creature. It worked pretty well for me.


Dude, Kurosawa's Cure is an amazing movie. This recent viewing really catapulted it into the ranks of "masterwork" for me. The effect of watching Japanese horror films each week for a class really puts out Kurosawa as in a league of his own, so much so even Miike's expert Audition really can't give Cure in much of any respect a run for its money. I never thought of the film much as a really energized horror film, but the horror elements were really popping this time. The way the film touches upon occultism and the element of historicity is superb, and from the very first minutes - with the wife blithely deconstructing Bluebeard in the hospital and the jaunty opening credits and murder - are already so excellent and engaging, it's pretty incredible that the film keeps it going with more and more surprises.

[Grouchy]

So I saw two Horror movies.

The first one, The Amytiville Horror, was mediocre at best. I understand that the book probably has a lot of disparate scary elements and that it's "based on true fact", but in adapting it for the screen, the filmmakers couldn't find a good way to cram them all in and so it comes off as confusing and overkill. The red-eyed bear, for example, is more ridiculous than scary. Watching this reminded me how good Kubrick's The Shining is since it takes only the elements from the source material that work on film and that form a coherent whole. Plus, James Brolin doesn't strike me as a very good actor, at least on this particular movie - he looks like a '70s Christian Bale.

http://www.cineol.net/images/noticias/Cameos/QuienPuedeMatar.jpg

The second one and the one I really want to talk about is Who Can Kill a Child? (1976) by Narciso Ibáñez Serrador, the second and last feature film he made before a career in Spanish TV. AMAZING movie. It's been a long time since I'd seen such an effective, creepy, suspenseful movie, with incredibly good characterization, plot, music and a strong message and finale. It doesn't overstay its welcome, which is capital for its creepiness. As you guys probably guessed from the title, it's a movie about killer kids, and it's far more awesome and violent than Children of the Corn or any of the Village of the Damned versions/sequels. Really, this is one of those film discoveries that you really want to champion for the rest of your life for being so underseen and deserving of recognition. I advise all of you to seek it out inmediately.

[The Mike]

http://www.cineol.net/images/noticias/Cameos/QuienPuedeMatar.jpg

The second one and the one I really want to talk about is Who Can Kill a Child? (1976) by Narciso Ibáñez Serrador, the second and last feature film he made before a career in Spanish TV. AMAZING movie. It's been a long time since I'd seen such an effective, creepy, suspenseful movie, with incredibly good characterization, plot, music and a strong message and finale. It doesn't overstay its welcome, which is capital for its creepiness. As you guys probably guessed from the title, it's a movie about killer kids, and it's far more awesome and violent than Children of the Corn or any of the Village of the Damned versions/sequels. Really, this is one of those film discoveries that you really want to champion for the rest of your life for being so underseen and deserving of recognition. I advise all of you to seek it out inmediately.
Hmmm, a copy of this is sitting less than a foot from me. Maybe I'll watch it.

[bac0n]

There was a made-for-TV movie that was on when I was about 6 or 7 called The Mud Monster that scared the ever-living-bejesus outta me. I'm sure if I saw it now, I'd find it comical. But, man, that mud monster scared me good.

I totally remember watching that as a kid! I also remember hiding under my blanket in the living room afterwards. I can still remember the low moan that monster made, all these years later.

[Dukefrukem]

haha. trying too hard at looking like the Descent?

http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/photosizer/timthumb.php?src=/photosizer/upload/anyon101409.jpg&w=600&zc=0

[bac0n]

Found a clip of the Mud Monster episode.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGcWYwUoG50

[Bosco B Thug]

haha. trying too hard at looking like the Descent? If by "The Descent" you mean The Descent and a smoking vagina, then perhaps.

Trick 'R Treat was energetic and cute and fun and irreverent and reverent of Halloween mores and subversions. Not much... else to say... about it...

Horror fans, give it a go, especially pre-Halloween.

On the con side, its melding of happy Halloween irreverence is inevitably just a weird, schitzo, for-fun's-sake mix of bits and pieces of exploitation (puke candy), sexploitation (stripper lycans), Goosebumps-level storytelling (the story with the kids), and straight-up slasher flick (the stories with the bag boy).

[Rowland]

Alright, I've rented Drag Me to Hell, Angel Heart, and Blair Witch 2 (repeat viewing). I'm hoping for the best!

[Spun Lepton]

Alright, I've rented Drag Me to Hell, Angel Heart, and Blair Witch 2 (repeat viewing). I'm hoping for the best!

The best way to enjoy Blair Witch 2 is to drive your car over it.

[Ezee E]

The best way to enjoy Blair Witch 2 is to drive your car over it.
Yeah, it's one of the worst movies I can think of.

[Rowland]

Drag Me to Hell was pretty good, but disappointing in relation to my expectations. It's nowhere near as inventive, visceral, and lawless as The Evil Dead, nor is it even as irreverent and charming as Evil Dead 2, instead coming across as faintly muted in tone and overly reliant upon CGI-dependent gross out gags. Nevertheless, I had a good time with most of it, and Raimi's underlying mean streak was appreciably bracing. Solid work.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Drag Me to Hell was pretty good, but disappointing in relation to my expectations. It's nowhere near as inventive, visceral, and lawless as The Evil Dead, nor is it even as irreverent and charming as Evil Dead 2, instead coming across as faintly muted in tone and overly reliant upon CGI-dependent gross out gags. Nevertheless, I had a good time with most of it, and Raimi's underlying mean streak was appreciably bracing. Solid work.

I just rewatched this, and while it's not quite up to par with his previous efforts, I can't agree with the adjective "muted," and not just because of the voluminous sound mix. The film is packed with set-pieces and suspense sequences that are so assured and effective. While this viewing strengthened my opinion that the film's essentially an excuse for Raimi's dynamic formal play, I'm not complaining at all.

[Rowland]

The film is packed with set-pieces and suspense sequences that are so assured and effective. While this viewing strengthened my opinion that the film's essentially an excuse for Raimi's dynamic formal playSee, I wasn't nearly as impressed on this front. Many of the set-pieces actually struck me as a bit lazy in build-up and/or punchline. Only a few stand out in retrospect, and I just watched the film a few hours ago. If anything, I was impressed by how effectively he stirs up empathy for the characters.

[Dead & Messed Up]

See, I wasn't nearly as impressed on this front. Many of the set-pieces actually struck me as a bit lazy in build-up and/or punchline. Only a few stand out in retrospect, and I just watched the film a few hours ago. If anything, I was impressed by how effectively he stirs up empathy for the characters.

Hrmm. I admired how quickly Christine gains our sympathy, and Clay's final shot is heartbreaking, but I find the parking garage, the seance, the cemetery, and the bedroom sequences to all be superb examples of horror filmmaking. Emphasis on modulating sound, careful build of tension, dexterous camerawork. A few of the smaller moments aren't effective, like when she tears the napkin, or when the anvil falls, but overall I find Drag Me to Hell most successful as a striking and confident piece of formal play.

[Rowland]

Hrmm. I admired how quickly Christine gains our sympathy, and Clay's final shot is heartbreaking, but I find the parking garage, the seance, the cemetery, and the bedroom sequences to all be superb examples of horror filmmaking. Emphasis on modulating sound, careful build of tension, dexterous camerawork. A few of the smaller moments aren't effective, like when she tears the napkin, or when the anvil falls, but overall I find Drag Me to Hell most successful as a striking and confident piece of formal play.It doesn't really succeed as horror, in that it's not particularly scary, nor does it seem all that interested in genuinely being so. As such, it's best judged on the level of, as you say, exciting formal dynamics and carnivalesque grotesqueries, and on that level, I only found it moderately inspired. By the standards of Raimi's best work, it's fairly innocuous.

[Dead & Messed Up]

It doesn't really succeed as horror, in that it's not particularly scary, nor does it seem all that interested in genuinely being so. As such, it's best judged on the level of, as you say, exciting formal dynamics and carnivalesque grotesqueries, and on that level, I only found it moderately inspired. By the standards of Raimi's best work, it's fairly innocuous.

Ah well. At least you love The Fly.

[Rowland]

Ah well. At least you love The Fly.Damn straight. Fucking masterpiece, man.

[Bosco B Thug]

The Stepfather was solid.

Prom Night II was admirable in many ways, but completely unsuccessful. Weird movie. Much more grim and serious than you expect it to be, which led to some good stuff. Has some great special effects work. But you watch the film strive towards being provocatively strange and suggestive and unique, and there are so many small elements that are subtle and superb, but pretty much nothing comes together. I felt many times like the movie wanted to make some subversive point with a number of scenes, but there's a lack of cohesion in the film that makes it just a long series of WTFs. The performances and character work are surprisingly good, though, and there's a great girl's locker room scene in there (for a number of reasons).

Director Pittman has some good ideas, but you can tell the film gets lazier when it gets campier.

[Dukefrukem]

Trick 'R Treat was energetic and cute and fun and irreverent and reverent of Halloween mores and subversions. Not much... else to say... about it...

Horror fans, give it a go, especially pre-Halloween.


There's an article in this month's Rue Morgue that says if it sells well on DVD and there's a strong fan base, they'd consider making Trick R Treat into a series... like Tales from the Crypt.

[Dukefrukem]

Drag Me to Hell was pretty good, but disappointing in relation to my expectations. It's nowhere near as inventive, visceral, and lawless as The Evil Dead, nor is it even as irreverent and charming as Evil Dead 2, instead coming across as faintly muted in tone and overly reliant upon CGI-dependent gross out gags. Nevertheless, I had a good time with most of it, and Raimi's underlying mean streak was appreciably bracing. Solid work.

muted????

[Spun Lepton]

Found a clip of the Mud Monster episode.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGcWYwUoG50

They cut the clip just before the hand grabs her.

[Rowland]

Blair Witch 2.... UGH.

[Acapelli]

watched pet sematary 2 last night. clancy brown is great in it

[Dead & Messed Up]

watched pet sematary 2 last night. clancy brown is great in it

Clancy Brown is great in general.

[Spun Lepton]

Clancy Brown is great in general.

http://www.kellyskindergarten.com/Games/GamestoMake/images/krabs.gif

[Raiders]

http://www.kellyskindergarten.com/Games/GamestoMake/images/krabs.gif

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/7/71/BJustin2.jpg/200px-BJustin2.jpg

[The Mike]

By golly, the original The Stepfather is awesome. Well worth the wait.

Thank you, remake.

[megladon8]

By golly, the original The Stepfather is awesome. Well worth the wait.

Thank you, remake.


Wait wait wait...it was actually, like, good?

Or ironically awesome?

[Raiders]

Wait wait wait...it was actually, like, good?

Or ironically awesome?

Huh? The original is truly a great film. Is this a new thought? It has been moderately praised for some time now I thought.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Huh? The original is truly a great film. Is this a new thought? It has been moderately praised for some time now I thought.

My understanding is that it's long been a cult hit admired more for Terry O'Quinn's performance than the sum total of its elements.

[Raiders]

My understanding is that it's long been a cult hit admired more for Terry O'Quinn's performance than the sum total of its elements.

O'Quinn is the top highlight, but there's a lot of great stuff in there beyond that. It pretty effectively sets up its horror in contrast to the idealized American family, very much an end-of-Reagan-era horror film. And it is much more effective in this regard than the twisted, though humorously strange, People Under the Stairs.

[Dead & Messed Up]

O'Quinn is the top highlight, but there's a lot of great stuff in there beyond that. It pretty effectively sets up its horror in contrast to the idealized American family, very much an end-of-Reagan-era horror film. And it is much more effective in this regard than the twisted, though humorously strange, People Under the Stairs.

Yeah, I was reading about that angle in a recent Onion article - I'm very curious to see it.

[Ivan Drago]

http://www.kellyskindergarten.com/Games/GamestoMake/images/krabs.gif

Damn straight.

[MadMan]

Only 14 horrors seen on the season (8 in October). I'm slacking a bit. Thoughts to come on The Brood and Horror of Dracula, among other movies I've seen. Just simply small, quickly writen write-ups off the top of my head, nothing too facy.

[Dead & Messed Up]

The Call of Cthulhu works so well that I'm still kind of shocked. On a second viewing, I was able to appreciate the smaller nuances of its effort to ape silent conventions. The actors' makeup, their overwrought styles, the lovely stop-motion and modelwork (clearly fake, reveling in its artifice). Hardly scary at any point, this remains a remarkable experiment that's required viewing for horror fans, silent film fans, and Lovecraft fans. Since I'm all three, it casts an especially effective spell.
A-

Trouble Every Day fetishizes the human body to a degree I haven't seen since...what? Cronenberg, maybe, or Yuzna's Society. This film, however, is deadly earnest, painting a picture of two characters who carry the same deadly urge: erotic situations provoke a desire to literally feed off their partner. The concept is intriguing, but the film is very slow to advance, and the English/French dialogue never really convinces or engages. Fascinating and frustrating in about equal measure.
B-

[Rowland]

Wow, I've had a bad day for horror movie viewing. This Dante Tomaselli fellow apparently has a small-but-passionate cult following, so I was hoping to discover something in his latest effort, Satan's Playground, that was at the very least indicative of a promising talent, but no, this redundant pastiche just sucked.

[Dukefrukem]

It's almost Halloween. All i've been watching lately is horror.

[Spun Lepton]

Wow, I've had a bad day for horror movie viewing. This Dante Tomaselli fellow apparently has a small-but-passionate cult following, so I was hoping to discover something in his latest effort, Satan's Playground, that was at the very least indicative of a promising talent, but no, this redundant pastiche just sucked.

I don't get his following. I watched Desecration when it first hit DVD and found it more comical than horrific.

[Raiders]

Trouble Every Day fetishizes the human body to a degree I haven't seen since...what? Cronenberg, maybe, or Yuzna's Society. This film, however, is deadly earnest, painting a picture of two characters who carry the same deadly urge: erotic situations provoke a desire to literally feed off their partner. The concept is intriguing, but the film is very slow to advance, and the English/French dialogue never really convinces or engages. Fascinating and frustrating in about equal measure.
B-

I think this will be my next Denis. I don't know why, but I find it amusing to see her discussed in this thread.

[megladon8]

The Call of Cthulhu works so well that I'm still kind of shocked. On a second viewing, I was able to appreciate the smaller nuances of its effort to ape silent conventions. The actors' makeup, their overwrought styles, the lovely stop-motion and modelwork (clearly fake, reveling in its artifice). Hardly scary at any point, this remains a remarkable experiment that's required viewing for horror fans, silent film fans, and Lovecraft fans. Since I'm all three, it casts an especially effective spell.
A-


YES!

You get rep for the rest of eternity.

It's an incredibly effective film. Quite possibly the best literal translation of Lovecraft's Cthulhu works ever put on film.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Trick 'r Treat is coming tomorrow. I won't really have the time to watch it till this weekend, though. That's also when I plan on tackling Memories of Murder.

[jenniferofthejungle]

The Call of Cthulhu works so well that I'm still kind of shocked. On a second viewing, I was able to appreciate the smaller nuances of its effort to ape silent conventions. The actors' makeup, their overwrought styles, the lovely stop-motion and modelwork (clearly fake, reveling in its artifice). Hardly scary at any point, this remains a remarkable experiment that's required viewing for horror fans, silent film fans, and Lovecraft fans. Since I'm all three, it casts an especially effective spell.
A-



I'm happy a second viewing was still great, Jim. I loved it the first time and I've been wanting to watch again for a long time, but when you have hundreds of movies to choose from it's difficult to remember what was on the list.

[jenniferofthejungle]

Trick 'r Treat is coming tomorrow. I won't really have the time to watch it till this weekend, though. That's also when I plan on tackling Memories of Murder.


Cannot wait to hear your thoughts on both of these.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Gah! So much horror! I have another thirty or so I want to watch before the year ends. I can do it - it's just gonna be exhausting

[Spun Lepton]

Gah! So much horror! I have another thirty or so I want to watch before the year ends. I can do it - it's just gonna be exhausting

http://scienceblogs.com/retrospectacle/upload/2007/08/coffee%20poster.bmp

[Bosco B Thug]

Pulse is abstract to a fault. It's a disparate series of installation pieces presenting loneliness and mortality pretending to be a movie pretending to have a premise, that "premise" being some nonsense about ghosts infiltrating our world through the internet. This movie would be utterly inane if it weren't also good. I don't think many people in my class liked it too much...

But thankfully, it is so good. So I just had to forgive the fact that the film's use of the internet as springboard for existential crises is kind of weak, forced, and underdeveloped; that the whole movie, in its commitment to broad allegory, is often generally very underdeveloped and has a lot less to say about technology than it leads on; and that, hand-in-hand with the previous fact, its allegory necessitates it follow only the most bland, mild, and sexless of Tokyo youth. Overlook those points, and then see the film as simultaneously a clever deconstruction of truly inane J-horror ghost films and the most aching excavation of fears of the eternal since The Seventh Victim, and it's harder to deny how superb, intricate, and balls-to-the-wall Kurosawa's effort is.

[Raiders]

Pulse is abstract to a fault. It's a fragmented series of installation pieces on loneliness and mortality pretending to be a movie pretending to have a premise, that premise being some nonsense about ghosts infiltrating our world through the internet. This movie would be utterly inane if it weren't also good. I don't think many people in my class liked it too much...

Don't really agree with this paragraph at all (natch). It never pretends to have a premise more than the very decline of society through the evils (read: ghosts) that infiltrate through our overusage of the Internet. The film is all about gut-wrenching isolation. I mean, there are almost no people left in the city. Society as we know it has crumbled under the weight of our WWW excess, allowing the world to become overrun with the souls and spirits killed by the Internet. The film eminates a distinct and palpable feeling. The sense of loss, agony and loneliness is remarkable tangible. It's a brilliantly constructed mood piece spiked with moments of pure terror (the conception of the ghosts and their movements is pure unbridled terror in my opinion; my heart practically stopped the first time we see their movement and appearance) and of human emotion just coming through (the holding hands scene is among the most subtly powerful I can think of).


But thankfully, it is so good.

We agree here. :P


So I just had to forgive the fact that the film's use of the internet as springboard for existential crises is kind of weak, forced, and underdeveloped; that the whole movie, in its commitment to broad allegory, is often generally very underdeveloped

What's so weak about it? Allegory is allegory. You got the idea and understood what the film is communicating, thus it is successful. It need not continuously beat you on the head with it; in fact, wouldn't that be the opposite of good? The film is more about the end of society and the crumbling of our world precipitated on the ills of the Internet, thus the former gets the weight of the time as it should. I think Kurosawa smartly stays away from actually explaining the events. Rather, it is the mere feeling of horror, the shock of the unknown and the aching isolation caused by society's end that makes the film remarkably potent. I think explaining the mystery and elucidating on the nature of the happenings would only add levity and needless exposition to the film which operates almost solely on an emotional level. For a high concept horror film, it works very much at the most basic of human levels.


Overlook those points, and then see the film as simultaneously a clever deconstruction of truly inane J-horror ghost films and the most aching excavation of fears of the eternal since The Seventh Victim, and it's harder to deny how superb and intricate Kurosawa's effort is.

Don't think there is anything to "overlook," but you're dead-on with the last part.

[Dukefrukem]

Pulse is abstract to a fault. It's a disparate series of installation pieces presenting loneliness and mortality pretending to be a movie pretending to have a premise, that "premise" being some nonsense about ghosts infiltrating our world through the internet. This movie would be utterly inane if it weren't also good. I don't think many people in my class liked it too much..

It does take a while to straighten out. I wish they stretched out up the ending scenes to the middle of the movie. I'd like to see some more survival in the new world.

[Rowland]

I don't really think Pulse is about the Internet, since actual sociological issues pertaining to its proliferation are glossed over at best, but the film is rather a potent mood piece meditating upon the sort of 21st century technophobic nihilism that is rooted in Japan's history as the only nation in the world to experience nuclear devastation in a densely populated urban environment. If anything, the Tokyo sketched here resembles a civilization post-fallout, the imagery of nuclear-shadows and free-floating particles in the wake of human life explicitly suggesting as much, coupled with the sheer desperation evinced by the film's characters for a shared humanity in a socially repressed society inextricably fused to said history through their nigh-inability to accomplish as much without the veil of a technological prism, the Internet being the latest evolution in this respect. Even a character's attempt to wax philosophical over the irreconciable nature of human relationships as a conflicting series of polar attractions tellingly requires her to wield a computerized model of such. As such, I see the film as a broader allegory for Japan's collective shadow.

And as for explaining what's going on, I feel Kurosawa includes one expositional scene too many with a character "theorizing" the nature of the ghosts in a too-pat manner given the dream logic of the film proper.

[Qrazy]

A google image search has this to say about the film proper:

http://www.scene-stealers.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/iron-man-2-20090115-nick-fury-samuel-l-jackson.jpg

[Dead & Messed Up]

The technological side of Pulse always struck me as a means to an end. My interest in the film lies in its craft and control of tone, which is about as perfect as I've ever seen in a film.

[megladon8]

Pulse is one of the most subtley terrifying films I've ever seen.

I think it's a masterpiece, really. As is Cure.

[Spun Lepton]

I can't say I was impressed with either Pulse or Cure. In fact, I recall disliking Cure quite a bit for being anti-climactic. I disliked Pulse because the story was secondary to mood and artsy-fartsy flourishes.

[Dukefrukem]

Did you guys know they're making a sequel to Pontypool? Pontypool Changes

[megladon8]

I can't say I was impressed with either Pulse or Cure. In fact, I recall disliking Cure quite a bit for being anti-climactic. I disliked Pulse because the story was secondary to mood and artsy-fartsy flourishes.


Really? I didn't think it was "artsy fartsy" at all.

I found its attention to mood really, really cool. That segment with the woman behind the couch is just...man, that's some chilling stuff.

[megladon8]

Did you guys know they're making a sequel to Pontypool? Pontypool Changes


Yes.

Could be interesting, but could also be utterly terrible.

The ending to the first film didn't really warrant a sequel, I thought.

[Raiders]

I disliked Pulse because the story was secondary to mood and artsy-fartsy flourishes.

:frustrated:

[Spun Lepton]

:frustrated:

Finally, revenge for your Terry Gilliam quip. REVENGE!!!1

[Dukefrukem]

Yes.

Could be interesting, but could also be utterly terrible.

The ending to the first film didn't really warrant a sequel, I thought.

Yeh but I bet they're gonna have a different perspective on the events. Could be kind of interesting seeing it start from a different location. Maybe Ken's location?

[Dukefrukem]

Only 14 horrors seen on the season (8 in October). I'm slacking a bit. Thoughts to come on The Brood and Horror of Dracula, among other movies I've seen. Just simply small, quickly writen write-ups off the top of my head, nothing too facy.

36 for me. You need to see Drag Me to Hell.

[megladon8]

Yeh but I bet they're gonna have a different perspective on the events. Could be kind of interesting seeing it start from a different location. Maybe Ken's location?


I feel like that'd betray everything the first movie was about, though. Unless they are just planning to totally re-imagine the "message" of the events.

[Dukefrukem]

I feel like that'd betray everything the first movie was about, though. Unless they are just planning to totally re-imagine the "message" of the events.

I agree it would, but I bet producers will be pushing for more blood. More tension based off scenery. I highly doubt the sequel will be as effective with descriptive narration as the first movie... are they gonna have a perspective from another radio station? Probably not.

[Bosco B Thug]

Don't really agree with this paragraph at all (natch). It never pretends to have a premise more than the very decline of society through the evils (read: ghosts) that infiltrate through our overusage of the Internet. The film is all about gut-wrenching isolation. I mean, there are almost no people left in the city. Society as we know it has crumbled under the weight of our WWW excess, allowing the world to become overrun with the souls and spirits killed by the Internet. The film eminates a distinct and palpable feeling. The sense of loss, agony and loneliness is remarkable tangible. It's a brilliantly constructed mood piece spiked with moments of pure terror (the conception of the ghosts and their movements is pure unbridled terror in my opinion; my heart practically stopped the first time we see their movement and appearance) and of human emotion just coming through (the holding hands scene is among the most subtly powerful I can think of).
What's so weak about it? Allegory is allegory. You got the idea and understood what the film is communicating, thus it is successful. It need not continuously beat you on the head with it; in fact, wouldn't that be the opposite of good? I agree totally with pretty much half your sentences, and then feel skeptical towards the other half.

It's not at all that I want the film to have a coherent, convincing premise. I used the term "inane" half tongue-in-cheekly, just as I suspect Kurosawa conceived his story - half tongue-in-cheek, half really moved by a story that would allow him to divest pretty much every existential fear he has into one single film. It's outlandish premise is very intellectually satisfactory within the film's often ironical thesis.

It's just the internet stuff that seems terribly underdeveloped and anemic. It just strikes me as less able to support itself purely on Kurosawa's symbolic depictions, and was in dire need of some explication. Even the film's computer expert never seems to tell us much practically about computers and what people do with them.

It's a springboard for Kurosawa, tapped from pop sociology, that I don't feel Kurosawa is all that concerned with exploring as much as utilizing for his other, broader ideas. Thus, all the computer and digital imagery he uses to such haunting effect just seem even more like installation art pieces instead of part of a formed, cogent argument on the given topic.

Which is fine, and probably something Kurosawa acknowledged and embraced. It just doesn't completely impress me at some level.


I think explaining the mystery and elucidating on the nature of the happenings would only add levity and needless exposition to the film which operates almost solely on an emotional level. For a high concept horror film, it works very much at the most basic of human levels. Agreed on that last sentence. But it's not explanations I want, it's just more meat on its tableau that I'm looking for.

For instance, I am very happy to accept the fact that, considering how profoundly basic are its existential horrors, the epidemic would subdue even the most carefree reveler. But why not have let us seen that other side of humanity and so see how loneliness and mortality is the great leveler amongst all types?

The film does offer some breadth and contrast in characters - that is, between the lead guy, Michi, and the intellectual Harue.


I don't really think Pulse is about the Internet, since actual sociological issues pertaining to its proliferation are glossed over at best, but the film is rather a potent mood piece meditating upon the sort of 21st century technophobic nihilism that is rooted in Japan's history as the only nation in the world to experience nuclear devastation in a densely populated urban environment. Yeah, this is my stance put more formally.


If anything, the Tokyo sketched here resembles a civilization post-fallout, the imagery of nuclear-shadows and free-floating particles in the wake of human life explicitly suggesting as much, coupled with the sheer desperation evinced by the film's characters for a shared humanity in a socially repressed society inextricably fused to said history through their nigh-inability to accomplish as much without the veil of a technological prism, the Internet being the latest evolution in this respect. But again, I just don't think the film says enough about the technological age it uses to such its own advantage. One half of the film entirely drops the technology angle once the initial floppy disk has contaminated the group.

Also, I don't know why, but I was severely bugged with not knowing what mundane piece of greenhouse data was on that floppy disk. That was strike one against the film. :P


Even a character's attempt to wax philosophical over the irreconciable nature of human relationships as a conflicting series of polar attractions tellingly requires her to wield a computerized model of such. As such, I see the film as a broader allegory for Japan's collective shadow. Now even as I rail against the film's non-thesis about technology, I'd completely agree with a statement like this. It's just the film is a bit too broad.

I found the film most effective when seen, as Salon.com's review of the film calls it, "a teen drama" (but, again, without a teen rebel!), because teen dramas are suited for a sort of broadness/naiveté.


And as for explaining what's going on, I feel Kurosawa includes one expositional scene too many with a character "theorizing" the nature of the ghosts in a too-pat manner given the dream logic of the film proper. I actually really like the ridiculous exposition. I think the film clearly knows what it's doing, that is, making something so high-concept and outlandish a reality, because it seriously is the most terrifying idea the maker (Kurosawa) can imagine. I find the library ghost scene a real hoot, in a good way.


It does take a while to straighten out. I wish they stretched out up the ending scenes to the middle of the movie. I'd like to see some more survival in the new world. I like how they announce that they're heading for Latin America, because people there are dealing with it better I guess.


The technological side of Pulse always struck me as a means to an end. I agree here.


the story was secondary to mood and artsy-fartsy flourishes. Yeah, pretty much. The film's made entirely of artsy, as I'm arguing it.

[lovejuice]

just borrow don't look now from the library. this will be the most halloweeny thing i do this year.

[megladon8]

So after rewatching them, Saw II > Saw.

[Dukefrukem]

So after rewatching them, Saw II > Saw.

:crazy:

That's the house one right?

[megladon8]

:crazy:

That's the house one right?


Yes.

It has worse characterizations for sure, but I thought its stuff about survival of the fittest was actually kind of neat, and the way it ties things together in the typical Saw fashion of "everything's a piece of the puzzle" worked better here than in the first.

[Kurosawa Fan]

Going to see Paranormal Activity this weekend, and Trick R' Treat is on its way from Netflix. I have high hopes for both.

[megladon8]

:
Going to see Paranormal Activity this weekend, and Trick R' Treat is on its way from Netflix. I have high hopes for both.


Jen and I are hoping ot see Paranormal Activity tomorrow :)

Should make a cool SPECIAL EDITION segment in our thread.

[Dukefrukem]

Yes.

It has worse characterizations for sure, but I thought its stuff about survival of the fittest was actually kind of neat, and the way it ties things together in the typical Saw fashion of "everything's a piece of the puzzle" worked better here than in the first.

I've only seen each Saw once, except for the first which I've seen multiple times. You may be right about the puzzle aspect, but the regular plot involving the girl, and Donnie's son, is a distracting over-elaborate mess. I don't like it when people plan scenarios in which they already know what choice each person is going to make (the wrong one) and I don't like it when there's one universal factor preventing them from escaping (the poison gas). I actually happen to LIKE a lot of the characters, more than any other saw film, Donnie Wahlberg, the badass Xavier, Rigg and Kerry.

[Dead & Messed Up]

So after rewatching them, Saw II > Saw.

In concept, I'd agree, but the dialogue is so very wretched. "The only doors you know how to open...are between your legs!"

::barf::

[Spun Lepton]

In concept, I'd agree, but the dialogue is so very wretched. "The only doors you know how to open...are between your legs!"

::barf::

I'd have to agree with meg on this one. That said, I don't much care for any of the movies in the series. Saw II was only slightly less ridiculous than the first. Well, ending was, anyway.

Wasn't it written by the talented bastard who gave us The Collector just a few months back?

[megladon8]

I'd have to agree with meg on this one. That said, I don't much care for any of the movies in the series. Saw II was only slightly less ridiculous than the first. Well, ending was, anyway.

Wasn't it written by the talented bastard who gave us The Collector just a few months back?


Looks like the two guys who wrote The Collector were the guys who wrote Saw IV and on.

Saw II was written by Leigh Whannell (who wrote and starred in the first one), and Darren Lynn Bousman (aka J.J. Abrams' lookalike).

[megladon8]

In concept, I'd agree, but the dialogue is so very wretched. "The only doors you know how to open...are between your legs!"

::barf::


Yeah, like I said, dialogue and characterization are awful here.

But I thought the concept was pretty neat, and I found it less eye-roll-inducing than the first one, in the way it ties everything together at the end.

[Spun Lepton]

Not sure where else to post this. Seems as good a thread as any.

Apprently, Christian Bale's inspiration for Patrick Bateman was ... (you might laugh, but you probably won't be very surprised) ...

http://dlisted.com/node/34451

[megladon8]

That's some of the worst "journalism" I've ever read, but that is indeed pretty funny.

I always felt that Cruise had this intense insincerity about him. Like he gets along with absolutely everyone, but behind closed doors he also hates absolutely everyone.

[Spun Lepton]

That's some of the worst "journalism" I've ever read, but that is indeed pretty funny.

I always felt that Cruise had this intense insincerity about him. Like he gets along with absolutely everyone, but behind closed doors he also hates absolutely everyone.

I have a feeling it's a little more complicated than that. He acts brainwashed.

[megladon8]

I have a feeling it's a little more complicated than that. He acts brainwashed.


Yes he does now, but he's always been kind of, well, socially retarded.

It's almost like he's autistic and over-compensates.

[Dead & Messed Up]

I just try to ignore that shit. I'll watch his movies, though - I think he's a great actor.

[Spun Lepton]

I'll watch his movies, though - I think he's a great actor.

Yeah, as much as I hate to admit it ... he really is very good. Of course, talent and crazy tend to go hand-in-hand.

[megladon8]

Count me into the Tom Cruise love here.

He's probably a zombie martian vampire-hunter posing as a human for cover, but he's given some good performances in good movies.

[MadMan]

Count me into the Tom Cruise love here.

He's probably a zombie martian vampire-hunter posing as a human for cover, but he's given some good performances in good movies.If that was only the case, cause that would be awesome.

And Duke I'll get around to Drag Me to Hell eventually. Yes I'm a Rami fan but as the year has gone on I've been less and less interested in seeing it for some strange reason. Maybe I'm afraid it won't live up to the hype.

[megladon8]

Saw III is f'ing retarded.

The ending was just one "oh brother" and "gimme a break" after another.

Terrible.

[Bosco B Thug]

Halloween III: Season of the Witch ain't bad. For being unbelievably ridiculous, it's actually quite creepy at times, and it gets increasingly legit as it goes on. I found Tom Atkins really good here, too.

[Spun Lepton]

Halloween III: Season of the Witch ain't bad. For being unbelievably ridiculous, it's actually quite creepy at times, and it gets increasingly legit as it goes on. I found Tom Atkins really good here, too.

Pulpy goodness.

[Rowland]

Saw III is f'ing retarded.

The ending was just one "oh brother" and "gimme a break" after another.

Terrible.I liked this one more than the second. A tighter cast, less shrill histrionics and overt mean-spiritedness, a visual style that felt less like it was trying to ape the first movie, and kills that were both more imaginative and steeped in something kinda sorta resembling a moral quandary, arguably more so than the comparatively empty pretensions of the first two. Still didn't like it though.

[Rowland]

So yeah, Them isn't as terrifying, thematically ambitious, or outright audacious as Inside and Martyrs, but as lean survival horror goes, it's tensely wrought and agreeably atmospheric. Matter of fact, The Strangers now seems in retrospect like a borderline remake of this film, both with different strengths and weaknesses (besides that the protagonist couple behaves foolishly in both), both about equal in overall quality. The twist at the end induces a shrug, though I admired that it was carried out in a low-key fashion.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Looks like you had the same reaction to Them as I did, Rowland.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Oh, and I finally plopped down the cash for May. I recently Netflixed it and realized I should own it.

So that hole in my life has been filled.

[Rowland]

Looks like you had the same reaction to Them as I did, Raiders.Yes.

Yes I did.

:P

[Spun Lepton]

I just noticed that Trick R' Treat is available on PPV. I know what I'll be watching this week.

[Grouchy]

Pulpy goodness.
Exactly.

[Kurosawa Fan]

I just noticed that Trick R' Treat is available on PPV. I know what I'll be watching this week.

I just received this in the mail today from Netflix. Should be watching it tomorrow night.

[megladon8]

I liked this one more than the second. A tighter cast, less shrill histrionics and overt mean-spiritedness, a visual style that felt less like it was trying to ape the first movie, and kills that were both more imaginative and steeped in something kinda sorta resembling a moral quandary, arguably more so than the comparatively empty pretensions of the first two. Still didn't like it though.


Were you bothered by the ridiculous explanation at the end?

That all of this was Amanda's test - he's been "testing" here this whole time - and he has all this crap planned and ready for when he dies?

Ugh, it was just too stupid for me to get past that.