Non-cliched horror/slasher movies (1 Viewer)

[Dome Vongvises]

I like horror movies and slashers. A friend of mine owns almost every slasher known to man and has shown them to me every once in awhile. But I'm particularly disturbed by the fact that every one of them seems to have the same M.O. Scream and Valentine seem to be the last two good slasher flicks, but they still have all the old cliches. I would like recommendations for non-cliched horror/slasher movies. This is probably the hardest thing for anybody to do.
Cliches
- stupid people
- stupid people making stupid decisions
- pissed off killer seeking revenge
- always a person who seems to know about the killer
- hot women (the only good cliche in horror movies)
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"I don't know, Marge. Trying is the first step towards failure." - Homer J. Simpson

 

[Julie K]

Scream and Valentine. I'll just leave that alone, very, very alone...
Some to watch:
Martin
Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer
Ed Gein
Maniac
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[Michael Reuben]

quote: I would like recommendations for non-cliched horror/slasher movies. [/quote] Cliches don't start off as cliches. The films that created the genre (my list would include Halloween, Friday the 13th and the original Nightmare on Elm Street) may seem trite today, but that's only because they've been copied to death. But they're still the best the genre has to offer.
And don't forget the grandaddy of all "slasher" flicks: Hitchcock's Psycho.
M.
[Edited last by Michael Reuben on August 13, 2001 at 04:55 PM]

 

[MaxY]

Scream and Valentine. I'll just leave that alone, very, very alone...

I will too.
As for non-Cliched Horror....
Horror as a genre tends to be cliched, but is a cliche a cliche when it is done as a spoof?
I will second Julie's mention of Martin.
I would also like to suggest that Night of the Living Dead (Original) and even Dawn of the Dead are both pretty free of the standard horror Cliches.
Funny all of those movies are by George Romero.
I would also suggest that Dead Alive (AKA Braind Dead) and American Werewolf in London are fairly free of the Horror Cliches.
Max
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[Phil Florian]

I just watched Vincent Price in "The Last Man on Earth" and if Romero didn't steal that movie's plot, I'll eat brains. There was this plague that was going around the world turning people into vampires and Price eventually was the only one left...hmmm, change vampires to zombies and it starts to look very familiar. But Dawn of the Dead was, IMHO a better movie in that it was funny, original and heck, it even had a message! Good points about the "originlals" looking cliche due to many copies. Put Robert Wise's "The Haunting" up there, too. The grandaddy of haunted house pictures, still not topped for mood, jumps, and all around spookiness. That is a movie ready for a DVD SE.
I miss the good old paranoid horror moives, like "The Thing" or "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (originals or remakes). This is a subgenre that hasn't been too over done, has it? The old "They Live" type premise. Gimme "Vamps" for cliche-busting (sort of). The last line of the movie was tops (one of the last lines, it has been a while):
Spoiler:"Formica, go figure."
I would put Carpenter's Prince of Darkness as a pretty original and freaky movie (at least for part of it). It gets kind of old school in the end, but the concept was killer.
Phil
[Edited last by Phil Florian on August 13, 2001 at 08:52 PM]

 

[Scott Weinberg]

Mute Witness
Dead Calm
The Thing
Dead of Winter (This one is more of a mystery, but it's damn solid!)
Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer
American Werewolf in London
Near Dark
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[george kaplan]

Another vote for the original (and hence very non-cliched) Psycho.
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[CoreyII]

I would wholeheartedly recommend Halloween and often underated Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Both are downright scary and both offer real people who react realistically in a terrifying situation.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

I have often wondered this, how many times does something have to happen in so many movies before it becomes a cliche'? Once, twice, three times?
I for one am sooo sick to death of these so called 'slasher movies', like Valentine, Urban Legend and it's shitty sequel. How many, please tell me how many times are they going to do the same freaking movie over and over, and over, and over...
I do like the Scream films however, but not in the way you'd think, to me, they're great murder mysteries, not true "horror" films, because they fail to evoke REAL terror. REAL fear comes from films such as...
The Exorcist Without doubt, the most disturbing film ever made.
Halloween Sorry to say, this film is where most of the cliche's of today got started, and they're still doing them as if they're fresh!

Psycho A horror thriller of the best kind, scary AND smart. Whoa! What a concept!
A Nightmare on Elm Street In the sequels, Krueger was a clown, but he is no laughing matter in the superior original.
The Changling Want to be scared do ya? Well watch this, and sleep tight kids.
The Blair Witch Project O.k., say what you will about this movie, but it's proof positive that a huge budget with snazzy cgi does not a good horror movie make.
Carnival of Souls You'd probably find more loose change in your average sofa, than what it took to make this fevered nightmare of a horror gem.
The Sixth Sense Well what's to say that hasn't been said before?
And Finally...
The Others If your a TRUE fan of chill you to the bone terror, you MUST see this incredibly creepy thrill ride! IMHO one of the best films of the year!
*****NOTE TO HOLLYWOOD*****
The Others is how a horror film should be made, so grow up, and stop making mindless slasher and gore films with teens from the WB, and hip hop soundtracks! If I have to hear some brainless teen say one more time "Hey you guys, stop fooling around, this isn't funny!" Yes, it's not funny indeed, and it's not scary either.
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[Edited last by John Williamson on August 13, 2001 at 10:45 PM]

 

[AdrianJ]

I'd suggest the original The Haunting.
By the way, I don't know how you get any more cliched than Valentine. I've got high hopes for From Hell and Jeepers Creepers, but who knows.
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Adrian Jones

 

[Greg_S_H]

I just watched Vincent Price in "The Last Man on Earth" and if Romero didn't steal that movie's plot, I'll eat brains. There was this plague that was going around the world turning people into vampires and Price eventually was the only one left...hmmm, change vampires to zombies and it starts to look very familiar.

In case you weren't aware, TLMoE is based on the highly-recommended Richard Matheson novella, I Am Legend. And, from interviews I've read, Matheson agrees with you and is perhaps a tad bitter about it.

 

[Travis_S]

One that I would reccomend is In the Mouth of Madness actually pretty scary and unsettling with a very interesting premise.

 

[Ricky f]

I am a big horror fan.
I have to defend Scream Trilogy, I absolutely love them.
What pisses me off is that when somebody went to the theaters and saw scream they came out loving it, but when they talk to other people who didn't like Scream, they say to the person who loved scream " it was stupid " and then that person thinks well I am not going to like Scream anymore and so on.
I loved Scream, Scream 2 and Scream 3 since the first time I saw them and I always will. They are fun, clever and thrilling. Exremely clever the way Scream 3 links all the movies together.
My basic point is that it seems some people don't like Scream anymore because they spoke to a person who hates Scream and that person then does not have the balls to stand up and say the he/she likes Scream.
This may not apply to all of you, but most people I speak to about Scream it does. I am sure most of you just dislike Scream, That is fair enough.
I love Scream Trilogy and Always will, No matter who says they dislike them.
Regards,
Ricky
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[Rob_C]

Ed Gein was an effective film. Low on gore but high on the creepy level.

 

[Michael Reuben]

My basic point is that it seems some people don't like Scream anymore because they spoke to a person who hates Scream and that person then does not have the balls to stand up and say the he/she likes Scream.

I don't think you'll run into that problem here. I haven't met many timid people on HTF.

M.

 

[tyler O]

Hrmm. Non cliched. I personally enjoy Peeping Tom which I consider to be a founder of quite a few cliches as well. Not quite straight horror, but enjoyable. I truly enjoy the suspense/horror however, so it does me well. I also did enjoy The Others more than most standard horror fare as of late. Waiting to see how Jeepers Creppers turns out... I would not be averse to seeing Rob Zombie's film either. But, we shall see (or not as the case may be).
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[Phil Florian]

Greg,
Didn't know that about Matheson novella. Will look for it! (I am in a mood where I can't find the "right" book to read...maybe this will be it).
As for Scream movies, I liked them a lot (until 3, that is). They were just the spoofs to get the genre up and moving again (only to move it into more self-referential crap...damn the Hollywood mechanism!).
Phil

 

[James T]

Black Christmas
It's a low-budget Canadian film which stars Margot Kidder(Lois Lane)
If you do decide to watch this movie, just remember that this was made before Friday the 13th and all the 80s slasher flicks...
It's about a group of college girls who are picked off one by one by a crazed guy calling over the phone threatening them...sound familiar?

 

[Dome Vongvises]

I would like to thank everybody who has so far replied to this thread. Unfortunately, I've see most of the movies mentioned. Since I'm pretty bad with movie release dates and so forth, I start to think that all the movies start copying off each other. Oh well, here are all the horror/slasher movies I've seen.
Psycho
- Classic example of a twist ending and a classic scream.
Psycho 98
- WTF? Cows?
Black Christmas
- That English chick is pretty hot .
Carnival of Souls
- I wasn't too impressed with this movie except for the makeup job on the ghosts. Pretty freaky. I think what ruined it for me was the fact that I've seen other movies like this.
All the Friday the 13th's
- heavily cliched and the plots are tiring, but still cool to watch. One of the reasons why I won't sleep in sleeping bags no more.
All the Nightmare on Elmstreets
- same comments as above with the Friday's. Unfortunately, I'm very disappointed in this series as Freddy turned from a childhood terror to a laughable carciture of a gameshow host.
Halloween
- John Carpenter's best work.
Terror Train
- How often can you say that you've seen a movie with David Copperfield in it?
Both Versions of the Haunting
- I HATE BOTH MOVIES. Ones an effects-laden movie that's supposed to scare people, but ended up making laughs instead, the others about a bunch of people + one paranoid bitch who are scared of a bunch of silly things that go bump in the night. I've seen scarier things on the bottom of my shoe. You figure out what goes with what.
Rosemary's Baby
- I HATE PARANOID BITCHES. The languid pacing and ending to this movie didn't help either.
The Others
- Now this is a great ghost story, unlike both versions of the Haunting of course.
Suspiria
- Classic Argento.
All the Screams
- I liked the first two. Scream was like a mystery in which the audience could participate, and Scream 2 was like a self-spoofing sequel. I didn't like the third one because it didn't try to distinguish itself from the other movies in the series, and I was cheering for the bad guy to win.
Valentine
- Some fine looking ladies in this one. Oh, I almost forgot, what was the plot to this one?

In The Mouth of Madness
- Extremely underrated. Note to self, kids with "stress" hair are creepy.
Well, thanks for the recommendations and keep them coming. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to my local video store to check out these movies, plus I need to finish up my HTF AFI challenge.
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"I don't know, Marge. Trying is the first step towards failure." - Homer J. Simpson
[Edited last by Dome Vongvises on August 15, 2001 at 03:50 AM]

 

[AdrianJ]

The Others - Now this is a great ghost story, unlike both versions of the Haunting of course.

I find this a very odd statement considering that The Others owes a lot to The Haunting. It's basically The Haunting told from a different perspective and then mixed with (and I'll use spoilers in case anyone hasn't seen The Others) Spoiler: with a Sixth Sense twist at the End Don't get me wrong, I liked The Others, but it's very cliched!
I think part of the problem is that you have to see movies like this when they are first produced. If you see them 10 to 20 years later, then society has changed and things that were once scary or no longer scary because every other horror movie has ripped them off and the public is constantly aware of them.
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Adrian Jones