Horror Movie Discussion Thread - Page 3

I love horror films...can you tell?....and on top of my list is one that get's to the very core of my instincts.

The Birds (1963), I don't trust the little bastards, I never did. Even in their most friendly form there is an underlying sense of aggression coming from these creatures & our good buddy Alfred tapped into a primal fear when he made this film, what if "they" just decided to attack us in mass for no reason? What could we do? We are very comfortable in our supremacy of the world and how we have altered it to our will, but in the end we are at the whim of nature & it wouldn't take much for an all out surprise assault from these "lesser" creatures to wipe out civilization as we know it.

They might even shit on Mel Brooks.

The acting seems to be a bit fluffy and "60's" cocktail at first but this is a trick, it is setting up the mundane self assurance of the little social games we play as dangerous since, while getting self absorbed in our daily distractions, we fail to pay attention to the world around us and respect it. It forces us to respect it.
The FX, the cinematography & the sound design are fantastic, and of course the direction is superb.
Boy that sound design...I still get chills from the electronic bird screeches and screams in this film, unnatural yet familiar.

And then there is the last shot of the film......it isn't "your" world, you just think it is.

I have almost 1000 movies in my DVD collection and about two thirds are in the Horror/Sci-Fi/Thriller genres (to my wife's dismay). I love horror films and have since I was a kid. My recent additons are "Dawn of the Dead" 2004 version and the recently released collectors edition of John Carpenter's "The Thing." Once film that I have been dying to get on DVD is a little '50s-'60s era British gem titled "Burn Witch, Burn." I have never seen this on DVD and had it on VHS a long time ago, but it was lent out and NEVER returned. My most anticipated acquisitions are "Shaun of the Dead" and next year, George A. Romero's "Land of the Dead" scheduled for release in October of 2005 and hopfully on DVD soon thereafter.

So I guess we are still discussing general horror films here and new release info/schedules in Scott's thread?

Anyway, post 2 for me is another bash...freaking Saw, puke. My 2004 film thread post on it covers it all I think. Horrible writing, horrible acting, only the story idea is worth anything here and in many ways its just ripped off from Se7en, Usual Suspects, The Game, etc, except with hella more plot weaknesses.

It makes it into my recent "I wanted to punch this film in the face" category. To be fair I had to move House of the Dead into my even newer "I wanted to kick this film in the balls and then shove a hot poker up its rear" category to make room for Saw in the other section.

Seriously, I did feel anger toward most of Saw. Since when did Elwes and Glover forget how to act?


I was less annoyed and more bored by Cold Creek Manor (5.5 of 10). Acting was decent and many scenes were written with smart characters in mind, people that actually mention things and ask questions rather than letting problems unfold with unrealistic inattention. But for the most part it was just too simple-minded and occassionally directed in such a way as to suggest red-herrings when I don't think it really intended to. Not to mention one of the worst endings (denouement, not end of villain) in recent years, a series of shots that left me asking "why?"


I finished The Mummy which is a totally different story. Isn't it amazing how good horror films were able to be despite CGI? What part of "good script/good cast" don't some of these producers understand? To be fair, I always defend the modern stinkers by pointing out that many B-film producers put out the same sort of crap back then.

I guess what I really am complaining about is that the era when horror films could be treated and produced as prestige films is long gone. I suppose things like The Ring or The Others are well cast and directed, but they weren't major studio tentpoles.

And another great Karloff film I finally caught was Son of Frankenstein. Beleive it or not I had never seen this film. Karloff, Legosi, Rathbone - all great. And they kept the expressionistic art direction from the first 2 Frank films. Its also quite well written, both in character motivation and in plot setup. My only criticism is that despite the art direction, Rowland Lee fails to make the most of it with his very plain, industry standard direction. If only Whale could have been behind the camera for this film also. Almost as good as the first 2, but not quite.


Lion's Gate
I was going to mention it in the release thread but since Matt just mentioned them I'll put it here. I really noticed all the LG trailers in from of Saw. I didn't realize LG was putting so much of an effort into horror, though horror films are perhaps the most potentionally profitable for low budget releases so it makes sense. It feels like LG is working on cornering the market.

truly offbeat and not sure why it was/is classified by imdb as horror. Even Dwarves Started Small...another little known very odd one Death Bed:The Bed That Eats...

Hmmm. No one's mention The Haunting (1963)?

No......we haven't. Give us your impressions of it Jack.

I thought the remake was a lot better than the original.



kidding


I watched this for the first time last year via Warner's DVD and while I liked the movie, I was really letdown. I had gone into the film with such hype that there was no way the film could live up to it so I really need a second viewing. I was expecting your typical "ghost" story when in fact, it's totally different from that. Looking back, I like the approach that we don't actually "see" the ghosts but their presence is felt in other ways.

I gave the film a three-star rating but a second (and possibly third) viewing is needed to fully get what the film offers. I plan on viewing it in next years Scary Movie Challenge.

Since this is a discussion thread....

I'm just curious to know what you guys think is the

1. Greatest horror film
2. Scariest horror film
3. Favorite horror film

For me, I still think the greatest is BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN due to it being able to take the greatness of the first film and make it a lot better. Karloff gives one of the greatest performances ever caught on screen. Not even Brando could have done a better job. The scene with the blind man is also one of the greatest in film history and the ending is very nice with the monster once again having his heart broken.

I'm always amazed at how young kids really connect to these two films. I've shown this film to a lot of kids and it's rather amazing seeing them "understand" the monster. In the first film, I always saw the monster as just being born, and like a real kid, he's trying to figure out life. Of course it doesn't help when your father turns his back on you at the start of life. In the second film the kid learns how to talk and once again sets out to find love and friends only to see how brutal the world can be.


The scariest horror film would have to be THE SHINING. I really hated this film the first few times I saw it. The biggest reason was Nicholson's performance, which is very much over the top but I read an interview with Kubrick, which cleared this up for me. While the performance might be over the top, it's a performance we've never seen before so that in its own makes it scary. Plus, those two little girls are without a doubt the most terrifying thing I've ever seen. Not to mention the woman in the bathtub. The ending is also very effective due to the wonderful editing and that certain scene with the animal.

Kubrick is my favorite director and the main reason is that each time you view one of his films, it could be the second viewing or the 20th, you're going to notice something different each and every time. I always try to piece the clues together and a couple years ago I spent a month researching this film trying to put the clues down for a little article. I watched the film dozens of times for this and each time I found myself writing something different. However, each time with those two girls, it left my hair standing up. I knew the exact moment they were going to pop up but they still get me.


As for favorite...I'd say ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN because I love A&C and I love the monsters. The story is a lot better than Universal's previous HOUSE films plus you got A&C doing brilliant work, especially Costello. Many of the gags are from previous A&C films but they seem fresh and work the best here. The work between Chaney and Costello is wonderful as well. Lugosi is a lot better here than he was in DRACULA, which is another plus.

Many people say the monsters are made fun of here but I don't agree at all. In fact, if you really look, the monsters are a lot more violent here than in any other film in the series.

Greatest Horror Film - Night of the Living Dead -1968
Scariest Horror Film - Zombie - Lucio Fulci
Favorite Horror Film - Dawn of the Dead - 2004

Michael Elliot, interesting insight into the "Abbott and Costello Meets Frankenstein" film. I have a few books on the Horror Film genre and most acknowledege that that film signaled the death of the era of the Universal monster films. Happily the mantle was passed to Hammer which remade and improved on a lot of the great Universal monster films.

I agree with Michael on a few points, especially regarding the greatness of ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN. It's a comedy, but the monsters are treated with more respect and are given more to do and better woven together within the plot than in either "serious" HOUSE film. Take out the comedy and you've still got a good, solid monster movie - Dracula revives Frankenstein's Monster and wants to give it a new brain, but the Wolf Man is hot on his trail to stop him. When Chuck said that books say this film marked the "death" of the monsters, well it was their last film together. But they went out with one grand last hurrah and were well-served.

Greatest Horror Film:
This is tough. I'm inclined to say BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN for its fairytale-like storybook quality but ROSEMARY'S BABY also leaps immediately to mind because I think it's as close to sheer perfection as a film can get. And it's very scary without showing all that much.

Scariest Horror Film:
No hesitation from me - THE EXORCIST all the way. I've always loved all sorts of horror films over the decades but the only two that made me tense or affected me at all were THE EXORCIST and TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE (the original). With TEXAS, I'd call it the most "disturbing" film I've seen, but THE EXORCIST is the "scariest". I was too young to see it in 1973, but I saw it in theatres in a 1979 revival. It may feel less powerful today to younger people, but in the 1970s on a huge theater screen before we became too jaded, it was devastating. It has not so much to do with in-your-face vomit and head-spinning as it does great direction. It's always intense and frightening, no matter how many times I see it and how well I know each frame of film. Even things as simple as the first time the doctors arrive at the girl's home and the camera tracks them rushing up the staircase with Sharon - amidst the girl's cries and screams from her room - is unnerving. It's all in how it's paced and shot.

Favorite Horror Film:
FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLF MAN - Just a personal favorite, having grown up with the Universal classics on television in the early 70s.

The first time I saw TCM wasn't until around 1985, when I rented a very dark and dupey VHS cassette from my local video store. I found it very disturbing and unrelenting, and a masterpiece. I think the main power of TEXAS lies in the feeling that you're watching someone's home movies, or an actual, real snuff film. These are not actors - these are real people out of the "Faces of Death" videos or some illegaly obtained police crime scene videos. The fact that the film looked so dupey and primitive when I first saw it only added to this - but since then, every time I revisit it on a beautiful DVD, it always loses a little more power. I still think it's a great horror film, but unlike Matt, for me it doesn't retain the shock and vile atmosphere I felt so acutely that first time.

Part of the weakening for me in the years since, was that we had some lousy sequels which more or less copied the exact same idea. If there is one film that should never have had a sequel, it should have been TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE. It worked much better as a stand-alone isolated incident. I mean, we had some of the bizarre family members returning for the God-awful (IMO) "comedy" sequel that was TEXAS CHAINSAW PART 2. I think that when you bring these cast members back again, and especially for a laugh, you're killing that unique quality of the original. Part of the power of the original was that these lunatics were supposed to be "unknowns" and real killers. Once you parade them like celebrities and so forth, and they appear at horror conventions and things, it takes away part of the anonymous nature or "random-ness" of the 1974 film.

I'll just post a list, I don't have any time for comments:

Best- Black Sunday
Scariest- Night of the Living Dead
Favorite- Black Sunday

Best, Scariest, Fave: The Haunting (that is, 1963).

I'm worried about you, JB. :wink:

Greatest = Jaws. The fear of being food for another creature is very primal. Spielberg's shooting style, on purpose or by accident, is very effective. Very well-drawn, well-acted characters, especially the three leads.

Scariest = Poltergeist. The only horror film to ever give me nightmares. Though I don't believe in ghosts/poltergeists, for some reason this film just freaks me out (especially the scene with the tree eating the kid). In fact, I've purchased it on both Laserdisc and DVD, but I've yet to dare to watch either. Haven't seen it in years, yet it still makes me shiver just thinking about it.

Favorite = Candyman. Man, what a hard choice to pick one film. This is another atmospheric fave and also another that while I don't believe in spirits/ghosts/etc., seems to give me the heebie jeebies anyway. I would not dare say "Candyman" in front of a mirror...ever! Tony Todd's voice, Philip Glass's score, interesting story.

Just found this thread, so I'll post on a few things. Concerning Argento's films: I have Suspiria and Inferno from IFC on my Tivo, and I was very anxious to watch them. However, about 1/3 of the way into Suspiria, I quit because I was afraid it might be butchered. Several of the early killing scenes looked edited to me. Is this Argento's editing, or does IFC show a cut version? This would surprise me considering the fact that I saw what appeared to be a totally uncut version of Jackson's Dead Alive on IFC, which is about as gory as you can get.

Concerning Last House on the Left, I see it as three distinct parts: beginning, middle, and end. The beginning (including the folky score) is not great, but it works in a way... kind of putting you at ease before really socking it to you. The middle section is very good (see spoiler), but the end is predictable and fairly weak.

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

It is very rare that I find any horror movie disturbing, but LHotL is one of the few, if only for the middle section.

Did anyone see the Bravo 100 scariest scenes marathon on Halloween? I was pleasantly surprised to so many obscure and foreign films in the list. I expected it to be mostly mainstream, but it really was aimed at the fanatics. Most of the top 10 was spot on, but I wouldn't have put Alien and Jaws as the top 2.

Hmmmm this is really hard:

greatest: Tie - Night of the Living Dead and Psycho. These two movies helped to set the foundation for the horror genre that we know today.

scariest: This is very hard to pick. I've seen many of the usual suspects (Exorcist, Chainsaw, etc.) as an adult, and I guess I'm just numb to the scare factor. Movies that scared me as a child were usually due to age and circumstances. I remeber seeing Altered States alone at night in a house that wasn't mine. I was creeped out by it back then. I also remember The Changeling freaking me out too.

favorite: Jacob's Ladder. Not sure if this is a horror film, but it was on Bravo's list at #21. Tense, intelligent, surreal, and really challenging. All aspects I love in movies. This is near the top of my favorite movie list, regardless of genre.

Interesting... looking at this list, my choices are primarily psychological horror rather than blood and gore. That is probably accurate for my tastes, though I do like a good slasher film too!

Chris

The IFC version of SUSPIRIA is somewhat of a middle ground. It's not the complete version and it's not the shorter, American version either. It's basically the American version with all the violence/gore from the complete version. The only thing it's missing is some useless dialogue. Many people prefer this version, although I don't think it features the correct AR.

I enjoyed the Bravo special and it was great seeing some of the lesser known movies get talked about. Several of them were shown on American TV for the first time.

For those who liked the rawness of LAST HOUSE, you might want to check out CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST but be warned that it contains a lot more violence, some of it real. HOUSE ON THE EDGE OF THE PARK, also with David Hess, is a rip of LAST HOUSE but I actually liked it more. Shriek Show released this as did EC overseas as well as Brentwood in one of their 10-movie packs.

Greatest: The Shining. Haven't seen it since I was a kid though, but it's pretty chilling and well directed.

Scariest: Hellraiser 2. This one gave me nightmares for six months after seeing it. And I watch horror films pretty regularly. The atmosphere in this film just does something to me.

Favorite: Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2. This was the first movie I saw that really combined humor and gore. The first dozen or so times I saw it, it was pretty disturbing, but somehow funny. Now I find it pretty funny. There's great one liners all over the place in this movie.

Resident Evil and The Grudge. In the spirit of "Ringu", the Grudge had all the right scares for me. The ending had a lot to be desired, however, and honestly, I was waiting for Sarah Michelle Gellar to do some hard-core Buffy action. Buffy reruns were spinning in my head despite itself. The first Resident Evil film paid decent homage to the ultimately fun-driven video game. The second one, not as great. But how can you ever beat the first movie, in any situation, hmm...? I'm thinking I will not like SAW at all...I have yet to see it, but haven't heard good feedback. Jeepers Creepers...it was surely creepy but the story didn't entice me to watch the film twice.

Favorite Horror Movies:
"Amityville Horror" part II, Nightmare on Elm Street, and Brainscan.

Matt, if you want to get a "taste" of the cannibal genre, Netflix does carry Jungle Holocaust, Eaten Alive, & Cannibal Ferox. Eaten Alive is the best of the 3.

I really can't pick a greatest, I could maybe narrow it down to 5 - Nosferatu, NOTLD, The Shining, TCM, or Rosemary

Scariest - TCM & The Shining

Favorite - Again I can't really pick between NOTLD, TCM, Dawn, or The Shining

Isn't Cannibal Holocaust the one with Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show) ? There is something about anything "real" that sort of bugs me. I've never watched Faces of Death or any of those because I like my horror to be an escape, not reality. I still may check out CH some day though.

About Dawn of the Dead: I too live in Western PA (not far from Monroeville mall where it was filmed). There was also a rumor when I was growing up that the cemetary very close to my house was used for the opening sequence of Night of the Living Dead. I'm guessing that was just urban legend, but does anyone know where they filmed the cemetary scenes?

Chris

On another note: did anyone find it amusing that the Bravo scariest scene marathon showed all manner of graphic violence and gore (including disebowling and a closeup of an eye being pierced) but they had to blur the breasts of a woman in a black-and-white still shot? Do they really think that the FCC would get complaints about grainy nipples and nothing about 30 gallons of blood?

Chris

Chris, all the cannibal films I've seen have some manner of animal killing/mutilation scenes. One of their favorites is to show big snakes eating birds or other animals.

While it is icky and I find it bizarre that 70's viewers found this sort of thing entertaining (or at least I assume they did since the Italians kept making cannibal films for at least 8-9 years), I can't work up much outrage about it either. I fully support the slaughter of zillions of cows, chickens, turkeys, pigs, etc. each day and dissecting animals in science class is as much about entertainment as it is education.