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

[Spun Lepton]

I'm going to blind-buy My Bloody Valentine 3D on Blu-Ray. Oh, it will be glorious on my new TV!

[Rowland]

Prince of Darkness (John Carpenter, 1987) - 5.5

Yeah, this one has never struck me as being all that good. There are certainly moments of inspiration, but lots of unfulfilled potential to go along with them.

[Bosco B Thug]

Yeah, this one has never struck me as being all that good. There are certainly moments of inspiration, but lots of unfulfilled potential to go along with them.

Pretty much. It was uninspiring past some excellent visuals (the much-praised "future video" footage and that SPOILER final frame of the heroine behind the mirror I believe it's a frozen image, and if so, the effect is amazing) and also the very impressive (and very Carpenter) punctuative scene structure and sequencing that gives the film that strong "creeping apocalypse" feel. I liked those extended opening credits, even if Nick Schager didn't.

[Spun Lepton]

Prince of Darkness is one of Carpenter's weaker efforts, but compared to a lot of the horror that was coming out at the time, and even now, it's still pretty good. Seems to me there was a lot of great ideas behind it, a lot of ambitious ideas, but those ideas were never fully explored before the movie fell back on being a body-count flick.

But, man those moments that work, work like gangbusters. The dude with the beetles is still one of my favorite Carpenter moments, ever. There is a lovely sense of dread that slowly builds over the course of the story. Plus, the climax and the ending are both top-notch Carpenter.

"I have a message for you and you're not going to like it. Pray for death."

[megladon8]

BAH! Bah I say!

Prince of Darkness is only slightly lower than The Thing and Halloween on my Carpenter-meter.

[megladon8]

Jeez, I'm kind of saddened by how disappointing my rewatch of Wes Craven's New Nightmare has been.

As I've stated, I used to hold it in very high esteem. I still think that conceptually it's freaking brilliant, but Craven's dialogue is atrocious, and the acting all-round isn't much better.

I also find Craven's writing himself as some sort of prophet/saviour character to be a little odd.

Anyways, I still give it a passing grade because there's enough there that I still enjoy the film quite a bit - great make-up and effects work, a superior concept and similar to Scream it features an interesting analysis of horror films. But there are too many flaws for me to consider it superb horror anymore.

[Spun Lepton]

As I've stated, I used to hold it in very high esteem. I still think that conceptually it's freaking brilliant, but Craven's dialogue is atrocious, and the acting all-round isn't much better.

I also find Craven's writing himself as some sort of prophet/saviour character to be a little odd.

Also, Craven desperately needed to drink a glass of water before his scene. You could hear how dry his mouth was and it drove me up a wall.

[megladon8]

Also, Craven desperately needed to drink a glass of water before his scene. You could hear how dry his mouth was and it drove me up a wall.

:lol:

I have to say I didn't notice that.

I didn't want to say it seemed "arrogant" of him to write himself as that character and try to say that his own nightmares have this incredible insight into the supernatural world, because "arrogant" isn't the word I'm looking for.

It just seemed, I don't know...it was weird.

[dreamdead]

Yeah, the idea of New Nightmare is ripe for analysis. Unfortunately, Craven's dialogue is too pedestrian to truly register the quality of the central fairy tale aspect of the concept. I admit to liking the obviousness of the Hansel and Gretal aspects of it...

Little is worse than being switched out from writing a 750 word write-up on Halloween for a film compilation to being assigned Friday the 13th. To go from genuine artistry to schlock that quickly hurts. Friday's never really a truly bad film, as it lifts the subjective voyeuristic elements of Halloween's camera "eye," and works the twist of the Voorhees killer well enough, but the victims are all rather bland and cardboard. The only other interesting aspect is the idea of having the "final girl" not be a virgin or tomboy, as Carpenter has Laurie be...

[Rowland]

I love the extended opening credits for Prince of Darkness as well. I remember the overflowing anthill being an evocatively foreboding image during that sequence.

Wes Craven's New Nightmare is pretty lame. The core concept is clever, but it's elaborated upon and executed rather unexceptionally. Its self-reflexive qualities are better explored within Scream, which is itself the only worthwhile entry in the Scream trilogy.

[Dead & Messed Up]

This hate for New Nightmare is wrong. Just plain wrong.

Unless we're talking about the overabundance of Miko Hughes. That criticism I get.

[The Mike]

BAH! Bah I say!

Prince of Darkness is only slightly lower than The Thing and Halloween on my Carpenter-meter.

Fuckin' A right! (Though I'd put it about fifth behind those, Assault on Precinct 13, and Escape from New York.)

I think the final shot might be my favorite final shot in any horror flick, ever.

Also, I think that there's a correlation between how open the ending of a Carpenter film is and how awesome a Carpenter film is.

[The Mike]

Oh, and I'm watching Herzog's version of Nosferatu right now. It's poetic and awesome, but I'll still take Murnau's 80 minutes any day.

(And I'll take Fisher's Horror of Dracula over both any day, too.)

[jenniferofthejungle]

This hate for New Nightmare is wrong. Just plain wrong.

Unless we're talking about the overabundance of Miko Hughes. That criticism I get.

I hate that kid so much.

I'll try to get to New Nightmare again, but except for my first viewing I never found it to be exceptional at all. I can't say why because it really has been years since I've seen it.

[jenniferofthejungle]

Oh, and I'm watching Herzog's version of Nosferatu right now. It's poetic and awesome, but I'll still take Murnau's 80 minutes any day.

(And I'll take Fisher's Horror of Dracula over both any day, too.)

I place Herzog's over Murnau's, which is just my personal preference and not a slight against the original in any way.

I don't think I've seen Horror of Dracula yet. My parents and I would watch those old Lee/Cushing horror movies when I was a kid, but I don't really remember them so I don't count those viewings at all.

[jenniferofthejungle]

I'm going to blind-buy My Bloody Valentine 3D on Blu-Ray. Oh, it will be glorious on my new TV!

Who are you and how did you gain access to Spun's account?

Prince of Darkness is one of Carpenter's weaker efforts, but compared to a lot of the horror that was coming out at the time, and even now, it's still pretty good. Seems to me there was a lot of great ideas behind it, a lot of ambitious ideas, but those ideas were never fully explored before the movie fell back on being a body-count flick.

But, man those moments that work, work like gangbusters. The dude with the beetles is still one of my favorite Carpenter moments, ever. There is a lovely sense of dread that slowly builds over the course of the story. Plus, the climax and the ending are both top-notch Carpenter.

"I have a message for you and you're not going to like it. Pray for death."

I had a love/hate relationship with this one, but for the past few years I have been on the "dig it" side of things.

I love some of the undertones in the film. Carpenter does manage to make it feel very moody and creepy at times, and I always relish that feeling, but I have always hated the Asian girl's translation scene. That was such a stupid explanation for it all. I suppose they had to explain the technological aspect of the liquid thingy (damned if I remember what it was called) and needed an excuse for all of these physics students (yay, no teenagers!) to gather together and try to solve this particular riddle, but an extraterrestrial? Really?

I can complain about any film endlessly (what a stupid, boring, wooden lump of a mustache they used as the lead!!!) but I'll leave it at that.

I enjoy it. I like it. One of my favorites for sentimental reasons.

[Dukefrukem]

Who are you and how did you gain access to Spun's account?

Sorry. That was me.

[Dukefrukem]

Also, I just joined Columbia house to get 8 DVDs for $20 and I just blind bought;

Pineapple Express (Unrated) 1 selection $0.49
Shutter Unrated 1 selection $0.49
The Strangers (Unrated) 1 selection $0.49
Quarantine 1 selection $0.49
The Eye 1 selection $0.49
Vacancy 1 selection $9.95
Black Christmas (Unrated) 1 selection $9.95

It also included The Ruins Unrated Edition for $0.49 but i've seen it.

[MacGuffin]

Also, I just joined Columbia house to get 8 DVDs for $20 and I just blind bought;

Pineapple Express (Unrated) 1 selection $0.49
Shutter Unrated 1 selection $0.49
The Strangers (Unrated) 1 selection $0.49
Quarantine 1 selection $0.49
The Eye 1 selection $0.49
Vacancy 1 selection $9.95
Black Christmas (Unrated) 1 selection $9.95

It also included The Ruins Unrated Edition for $0.49 but i've seen it.

Did they actually send them to you?

(And yes, everyone I changed my rating system again. I don't care.)

[Dukefrukem]

Did they actually send them to you?

(And yes, everyone I changed my rating system again. I don't care.)

Yeh. Why wouldn't they?

[MacGuffin]

Yeh. Why wouldn't they?

I don't know. I was always under the impression those were a scam.

[Dukefrukem]

I don't know. I was always under the impression those were a scam.

I've joined and canceled them at least three or four times. It's so worth it now. I get 8 DVDs for $20 and I have to buy two more within two years at $19.99 each.

And if i sign anyone up I get a free DVD.

Anyone want to join? It's not a bad deal nowadays since their DVDs aren't $30 anymore. They also have Blu-ray and Criteron DVDs.

[jenniferofthejungle]

Also, I just joined Columbia house to get 8 DVDs for $20 and I just blind bought;

Pineapple Express (Unrated) 1 selection $0.49
Shutter Unrated 1 selection $0.49
The Strangers (Unrated) 1 selection $0.49
Quarantine 1 selection $0.49
The Eye 1 selection $0.49
Vacancy 1 selection $9.95
Black Christmas (Unrated) 1 selection $9.95

It also included The Ruins Unrated Edition for $0.49 but i've seen it.

I sometimes miss Columbia House. I'd take you up on that offer, but my postal carrier or local post office "lost" two huge orders I placed a while back and I am on their shitlist. :lol:

Is that the new Black Xmas? OY. One of the worst movies I've ever seen in my life, and I have see a lot of bad movies.

[Dukefrukem]

Is that the new Black Xmas? OY. One of the worst movies I've ever seen in my life, and I have see a lot of bad movies.

Yes it is. I already own the original. Figured I'd try it out. I give too much credit to remakes. My blind buying gets out of control.

[Spun Lepton]

I watched the 3D Blu-Ray for My Bloody Valentine. The 3D works, but it's certainly not perfect. The color palate is all screwed up in the 3D version. Thankfully, the disc comes with a 2D version.

As for the flick itself, not great, but watchable. Though, I swear if I see another coed trip and fall while she's being pursued by the killer, I'm going to throw a remote control at the TV. Not my new TV, though. Somebody else's.

I was really glad to see Tom Atkins getting work.

I thought they could've handled the ending much better.

[

Show Spoiler

Okay, so, climactic confrontation, the tank explodes -- BOOM.

FIRST cut to later as the Axel and Sarah are carted from the cave by the paramedics. Balh blah blah, we're so happy it's all over, they drive off. THEN cut to the rescuer finding Tom, who wakes up and pick-axes the rescuer in the face. Credits.

Watching him pick-axe the guy in the face and then walk out in disguise just seemed like overkill. (*rimshot*)

]

EDITED:
Also, what's with all the cannon fodder in this movie? Many of the kills are just random people with no scenes outside their own death scenes. "Who are you in the movie?" "I'm the chick who gets a shovel through her face." "Do you have any lines?" "You mean, aside from aauuugghhh?"

6/10