Austin Movie Nights! - Page 4

Saturday night will work out, but ShowTime will have to wait until after the Texas vs Iowa St. game, which should end about 5:30-6pm. For those interested in watching the game before hand, let me know. If its a boring game we can turn on the PS2 or start the "Fright Night" early.

As for film preferences. There are several films that would make for good double/triple features.

Naturally one has to consider the "Series" films:

The Evil Dead Trilogy
Evil Dead
Evil Dead II
Army of Darkness

A terrific trilogy by Sam Raimi and featuring Bruce Campbell at his best! Scary, fun, and actually quite good films considering their extraordinarily modest budgets! Often imitated, but never duplicated - these are true classics that jump started a genre.

The Omen Trilogy
The Omen
Damien: Omen II
The Final Conflict

This whole series gives me the goosebumps each time I see them, but as usual, the first is by far the strongest!

The Alien Series
Alien
Aliens
Alien³
Alien: Resurrection

Of course once you see Alien, the rest just don't match the pure terror that is evoked from the original due to the fact you never really see the "creature" until the very end, all you see is the effect it has on the isolated and defenseless crew. Brilliant, brilliant film!

The Halloween Series
Halloween
Halloween II
Halloween III: Season of the Witch
Halloween H20: 20 Years Later
Halloween: Resurrection

The first is a true classic. Very terrifying without overdoing it in the gore category. James Cameron used the same style of relentless pursuit in The Terminator, and many other directors have done the same. Unlike many series/trilogies, the sequel was actually very good, and plays well when watching both back to back, picking up exactly where the first left off. After that though, the series took a major hit with #3 which had nothing to do with the first two films. I have not yet seen the two latest Halloween films, but I hear, at least H2O was pretty good.

The Nightmare On Elm Street Series
A Nightmare On Elm Street
A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge
A Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors
A Nightmare On Elm Street 4: The Dream Master
A Nightmare On Elm Street 5: The Dream Child
Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare
New Nightmare

Here I have the entire box set, and I have NEVER watched any of them... ROTFLMAO (too many films, too little time)
I hear the early ones were very good, but I can't comment from 1st hand experience.

The Friday the 13th Series
Friday the 13th
Friday the 13th Part 2
Friday the 13th Part 3: 3D
Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter
Friday the 13th: A New Beginning
Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives
Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood
Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan
Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday
Jason X

I guess this should be called "The Series that Would Not Die". I found these films far to gory for my taste, but I appreciate the cult status of this series, and the storyline from the first film was quite good, and the 3D version of part 3 was brilliant, but after that it got completely out of control and relied only on gore and its pedigree to gain attention to itself.

On a related note, we all knew it was bound to happen...
Freddy Vs. Jason is being shot right now by the great Hong Kong director, Ronny Yu, and is expected to be released on Friday the 13th in June of next year.

The From Dusk Till Dawn Trilogy
From Dusk Till Dawn
From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money
From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter

For pure entertainment, the original is hard to beat. Not exactly scary, but a whole heap of fun and some amazingly sharp dialog. I haven't seen the other two, so I can't comment on their worthiness.

The Scream Trilogy
Scream
Scream 2
Scream 3

Typical of most series, the sequels fall far short from that of the original, but considering how clever Scream was, this was only to be expected. That said, Wes Craven uses the "trilogy factor" to continue to poke fun at the genre.


As for similarly themed films that would make for excellent double/triple features:

Nosferatu (original '22 version, '79 remake, and the recent film based on the bizarre events surrounding the filming of the original film - such as the mysterious deaths and disappearences of some of the cast & crew)
Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens
Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht
Shadow of the Vampire

All three of these films are fantastic, and while I have not seen them back to back, I am positive it would be an amazing experience!

The Classic Monster Movies of the 30's starring the likes of Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, Lon Chaney Jr., Claude Rains, Colin Clive, Valerie Hobson, and many others.

Dracula
Frankenstein
The Mummy
The Invisible Man
The Bride Of Frankenstein
The Wolf Man
Phantom of the Opera

Any and all of these would be excellently displayed on Jonathon's system - aka Mirus Miniplex


Yikes!!! How time flies... I have to put this message to bed, but I'll try and get back to it later with some other good Fright Night Film Combos.

BTW: Before I depart, I must add that if any one asked me what are the two most frightening/disturbing (without being disgusting) films I have ever seen they would easily be the following:

The Haunting
This 1963 classic should NEVER, EVER be confused with the horrible 1999 remake The Haunting.

This British film was directed by Robert Wise, not known for doing "scary" movies, but rather classic dramas. Too bad he didn't make more, as this film defines terror and transfers the tattered emotions of its stars from the screen into the viewer's psyche. This film has no physical villain, no special effects, no seen deaths, and yet it will leave you trembling. I have already probably said too much if you have not seen this movie, so let me just sum up by saying - GO SEE THIS FILM!!!!!!


My other top pick is...

Repulsion

This 1965 little known classic was written and directed by Roman Polanski and stars the absolutely gorgeous Catherine Deneuve at a tender age of 22. Without giving anything away, basically Polanski creates an atmosphere whereby the viewer watches as Deneuve's character slowly but surely goes insane with catastrophic results. What sets this film apart is the brilliant way it is shot, and its precise use of sound that causes the viewer to wonder if they too are going insane... brrrr.... (disturbs me just to think about this film).

I am going to wait for the openning of the Mirus Miniplex for the old B&W classic horror movies, so when offering a suggestion or vote, limit it to films from the 60's on up.

Keeping that in mind, I suggest we consider at least one of the following films:

Tre passi nel delirio (Spirits of the Dead)

Halloween and Edgar Allan Poe go well tegether, so this classic may be an excellent choice. The film is actually a collection of three short films based on the following Poe strories: Metzengerstein, William Wilson , and Never Bet the Devil Your Head. Each story was directed by a world famous director: Roger Vadim, Louis Malle, and Federico Fellini. Each film is treated with a full complement of stellar actors and personalities, like: Brigitte Bardot, Jane Fonda, Peter Fonda, Terence Stamp, Alain Delon, Marie-Ange Aniès, and many others, including the infamous Vincent Price! I have yet to watch this DVD, so I can't comment on the films, other than that they have been critically well recieved.

The Wicker Man

I have been looking forward to watching this film ever since I got Anchor Bay's Limited Edition. It stars Christopher Lee, as well as Edward Woodward, Diane, and Britt Ekland exposing more flesh than she wanted to (or so I have heard). This is a highly praised film, but I'm not sure exactly how "scary" it is?

The Legend of Hell House

This is a remake of my favorite horror film, "The Haunting", and while I have heard it is a pretty good film, certainly better than the 1999 version of "The Haunting", I can't say more than what I have read.

Suspiria

This is another film I have been anxiously waiting to see. Considered a true horror classic, this German film (although the majority of the dialogue is in English) was directed by the famous Italian director, Dario Argento.


BTW: I just found this link on the IMDB site:

Top 50 Horror Films Listed on IMDB

Looking over the list I realized I completely forgot about Freaks

I love this film, and while it is indeed very distrurbing and quite the thriller, it is not the least bit gorey. It is a true masterpiece, and I feel foolish for not remebering it. It also reminded me of a film that I am surprised is not listed under Horror, and that I also forgot to include in my earlier list:

Fritz Lang's "M"

This is an absolutely brilliant film and quite terrifying!

There were also two films that I had never heard of before, and that look very interesting:

Das Kabinett des Doktor Caligari (The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari)


The Innocents


If any of you have seen either of these, please share your thoughts on them!

FRIGHT NIGHT #1!

When :TONIGHT
Time :6PM (just before the Monsters come out)-until the last survivor leaves...
Where :Luehrmann Miniplex
What :Scary Movies!
Bring :Favorite Refreshments (NO TWEETY BIRD POPCORN!)

OK, head count time:

Nils
Hank
Jonathan
Colin
Scott
Frederick & the Mrs.
Ian

Any others?


For all those attending, I assume you all know how to get to the Luehrmann Miniplex, but if not, send me email - or call me on my mobile 554-4887

See you all tonight!

I vote for a Dracula Theme night:

Not just because Jonathon left me an abundance of Bloody Marry mixings that would be oh so appropriate for such an evening, and not just because Dracula is a perfect match to halloween being that it is a costume favorite for all ages, but also because I have been looking forward to seeing Blackhawk Films' "restored" version of the first, most say best Vampire film ever made, and considered not only the greatest horror film to date, but perhaps one the the finest films of the silent era:

Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens



I say "restored", because sadly the negatives were destroyed shortly after the film was released as a result of a lawsuit from Abraham Stoker's widow - the infamous Florence Balcombe, a very ambitious socialite, who was engaged to one Finegal O'Flahertie (better known to litirates as one Oscar Wilde), but broke it off when young Stoker came to visit the O'Flahertie's and whom Balcombe's father prefered as a suiter to his daughter. Perhaps the Lieutenant Colonel saw the true nature of the young Oscar Wilde long before even Wilde realized that his desires were not of the opposite sex.

Any way... LOL

Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau (regarded as one of the all-time greatest directors), boldly adapated Stoker's wildly popular novel, Dracula (which within 3 years of its release in 1897 outsold every other book in history except the Bible), to film. Unfortunately Stoker had died ten years prior, and his widow, Florence, refused to allow Murnau to make the film. Not wanting to give up on what he had hoped would be his masterpiece, he proceeded to make the film but changed the names of all the characters. When Florence heard what Murnau had done, she imeadiately filed a lawsuit in Germany to stop the distribution of the film. Eventually the suit was settled, but as a result the courts ordered all the negatives and prints destroyed.

This would have been unbelievably catastophic except for the fact that many of the prints "disappeared" only to reimerge after Florence Balcombe passed away. Sadly, the negatives were destoryed, and due to the nature of how the prints were "lost", most were poorly maintained, and over the years had been "cut" several times over. The original ran about 95 minutes, but no surving prints to this day have that much film. The best copy to date was put together by a large group of film historians (can't remember the name of the orginzation right now), but they have no plans to release it on video. The best copy available on video is supposed to be the "restored" version by Blackhawk Films which runs 81 minutes and was released on DVD on January 2, 2001. Due to the lack of any licensing, there are countless different copies of Murnau's Nosferatu, most of which are very poor in quality and usually have only about an hours worth of film. Besides the Blackhawk Films' version, there is another version that I have heard is also very good that is distributed by Kino and includes lenghty excerpts from other films by F.W. Murnau: Journey Into the Night (1920); The Haunted Castle (1921); The Last Laugh (1942); Faust (1926); and Tabu (1931).

The one I have is the one from Blackhawk Films, and distributed by Image Entertainment:

Nosferatu, A Symphony of Horror: Special Edition


This DVD comes with two soundtracks, one being a classic organ score, the other is an interesting soundtrack created by The Silent Orchestra specifically for this release and uses accustic and electronic sounds with contemporary and traditional styles to produce a very interesting accompanying music - and as a plus is recorded in DD 5.0 (no LFEs).

There is also a running commentary from Lokke Heiss as well as a collection of "Then-and-Now" stills.

As mentioned before, it would only be even more appropriate to follow this film up with a showing of:

Shadow of the Vampire


This is not only supposed to be a fantastic film, but as it is based on the filming of Murnau's Nosferatu - it should really be interesting to watch!

Then if we are REALLY feeling ambitious, and if Jonathon is up to it, we could finish off the night with a viewing of Werner Herzog's classic remake of Nosferatu starring the frequent Herzog colobarator and infamously intense Klaus Kinski:

Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht