[Closed] Horror Films.

[i]what do I win?[/i]

If you really want a prize for having a different opinion, you can have the Don't Know a Decent Film When You See It 3D Glasses 1999 Award.

The camera shake was kind of part of the experience 😆

Oh it was an experience alright.

This is on sky movies ATM..

I obviously didn’t like it, but I did watch it until she took over and ....

Turned it owf..

[img] [/img]

I too think Blair Witch was a steaming pile o shite. As posted earlier I am easily scared, but Blair Witch was just a bunch of irritating drama students, some sticks, a few misplaced rocks and a cameraman with delirium tremens. There are scarier episodes of Scooby Doo (the one with the Beefeaters). All my opinion of course 😉

Dario Argento was the master at skirting that line between thriller, mystery and horror. He was so good at using the camera to create tension and his death scenes were pure payoff. Now, it's not for everyone, it hasn't aged brilliantly and it is mostly women being murdered, but I could watch Argento films pretty much non stop and never get bored.

Won't post them directly because they're a bit rude (boobies) and pretty grizzly but here are two clips that emphasize what I'm talking about.

[url=

[url=

Too many "horror" films rely on cheap tricks and jump scares to create tension. A good director and DP make all the difference, Sicario being a case in point (as mentioned above). It isn't a horror film, but the tension...oh my god, the tension.

Also, the original version of Maniac (starring the late, great Joe Spinell) was a great horror film, the perfect distillation of the whole 42nd St. grindhouse thing with the added bonus of a brilliantly nuanced lead performance which elevated the Psycho killer almost to a position of pathos.

Sorry, pretentious rambling...I bloody love horror films...

I watched Suspiria to check it out. I might have left it too late because I'd grown up on all of the old (kind of charming) horror from Hammer and the likes and then progressed to modern stuff and going backward to Suspiria I could see why it was novel at the time but didn't do much for me. The bad dub probably didn't help and also it reminded me of something else, Repulsion maybe.

Argento's films often dazzling also have their own logic and incoherence which can be infuriating.

Do like Suspiria and Tenebrae though.

A recent film that impressed me was The Invitation. Did not know where it was going at all. On Netflix.

On the subject of the old films, is it just me or does anyone else remember maybe a Friday or Saturday night on maybe BBC 2 or CH4 was almost always just old horror films? I mean for decades? Did I imagine this or did it happen?

exorcist 3 legion is a bloody great film and much better than the first one imho exhibit a

I could see why it was novel at the time but didn't do much for me.

Yeah, a lot of the Italian stuff from the 70's and early 80's is a bit marmite. Where the low budget, American grindhouse stuff (which there's nothing wrong with) got repeated summer after summer at drive-ins then given the full nostalgia treatment in the last decade, the Italian horror from the same era never really seeped into popular culture the same way (with the exception, perhaps, of Cannibal Holocaust). For a lot of people, the Italian Horrors seem more dated when maybe, in fact, they're just less familiar. Either way, I think there's some real classics deserving of a wider audience, including...

The House by the Cemetery (Lucio Fulci)
The Beyond (Lucio Fulci)
A Hatchet for the Honeymoon (Mario Bava)
A Bay of Blood (Mario Bava)
Anthropophagus (Joe D'Amato)
Cannibal Holocaust (Ruggero Deodato)
Zombie Flesh Eaters (Lucio Fulci)
Demons 1+2 (Lamberto Bava)
The House on the Edge of the Park (Ruggero Deodato)
The Night Train Murders (Aldo Lado)

Also, an anti-recommendation.
Do not watch A Serbian Film.
I'm not saying this as a dare or to be clever, I cannot make the images go away, and they really aren't the sort of images you want seared onto your brain.

****ing unnecessarily unpleasant piece of shit film (and this is coming from someone who likes Gaspar Noé films).

Thinking again about 'The VVitch' - it singlehandedly inspired me to begin watching 'horror' again, mainly to seek out quality ones that I've somehow missed. Enjoying this thread, would like to see people share some more all-time favourites.

Stephen King's thoughts on [url= https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Witch_(2015_film) ]The VVItch[/url]

Horror authors Stephen King and Brian Keene both reacted positively towards the film; King tweeted significant praise for the film, stating, "The Witch scared the hell out of me. And it's a real movie, tense and thought-provoking as well as visceral",[37] while Keene, on social media, stated "The Witch is a gorgeous, thoughtful, scary horror film that 90% of the people in the theater with you will be too stupid to understand."[38] Jason Coffman expressed his "frustration" toward viewers who felt The Witch was "boring", saying

[T]hese detractors have targeted [these] films that work within the genre but are also examples of how genre cinema can explore concepts and themes in ways that less fantastic stories cannot. In short, the rejection of these films appears to people outside of horror fandom as a rejection of cinema as an art form.[39]

Somewhat agree, OTOH I can understand people finding it 'boring' these days as most modern movies of the horror genre have been distilled to one of the two following:

1. 'Stalk, chase, nudity, scare, torture, nudity, rape, kill, mutilate'
and/or -
2. 'Creepy music JUMP-SCARE. Lull. Creepy music JUMP-SCARE! Lull. Crescendo..

Formulaic they may be, but only 'boring' in the sense that you know what's going to happen and you've seen it all before. At least the pace is not boring.

Also, an anti-recommendation.
Do not watch A Serbian Film.
I'm not saying this as a dare or to be clever, I cannot make the images go away, and they really aren't the sort of images you want seared onto your brain.

The thing is for the persistent horror fan that is bait no matter how you put it.

The film-makers of that particular enterprise just wanted to see if they could get the most extreme stuff onto the screen whilst using the excuse it was a political allegory.

Oddly it did get a certificate (with cuts). The BBFC notes are very interesting.

I remember going to a film seminar a few years ago and the guy was saying how the BBFC have mellowed and perhaps the only the thing they wouldn't let through would be extreme sexualised violence/rape involving children. Then, A Serbian Film was released (with cuts).

Many films have tackled child abuse though, but not in this sort of graphic and exploitative framework.

Given real-life violence is too easy find on the internet these days I would say nothing in the fictitious world is ever going to be as numbing.

'Irreversible' gets very close. A drama that has a couple of scenes that are outright horrific.

Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer had a profound affect on me too. There was something about the low budget nature of it that made it feel very clumsy but real.

How many movies can you say have created an entirely new genre of film?

None. None movies?

As much as my own pedantry annoys even me - I have to challenge the claim that 'found-footage' horror sub-genre was 'created' by the Blair Witch Project. It was the arguably the most high profile (hyped) one to date. I'll go that far.

The thing is for the persistent horror fan that is bait no matter how you put it.

Maybe, deep down, I want people to share my pain. Don't do it though.

Don't.

The Babadok was really good, are we allowing spoilers on here?

Anyway I think a lot of it played into one of the biggest fears in parenting - kids can drive you completely nuts sometimes, no adult could ever make you so tense and now and again, for a split second you get the feeling “I’m going to ****ing belt you one in a minute” and it repulses you and it plays on that.

Another on that shit me up was The Strangers.

The Babadok was really good

It's a good movie - great performances, nicely shot, smart concept, but I think I must have been just a bit too jaded to find it scary.

I watched a shit-tonne of horror films when I was younger, but very few these days for this same reason. However, it makes it all the more special when you come across something that actually gets to you.

As an aside, I always thought that the Babadook would make a great double feature alongside We Need to Talk About Kevin. Very similar territory on the taboo subject of mothers not bonding with and/or being driven mad by, their children. Both by female directors too.

Currently looking forward to catching It Comes at Night, having read good reviews. Anyone seen it?

Malvern Rider - Member

Thinking again about 'The VVitch' - it singlehandedly inspired me to begin watching 'horror' again, mainly to seek out quality ones that I've somehow missed. Enjoying this thread, would like to see people share some more all-time favourites.

I can't think of anything that I could recommend which would come close to The VVitch in terms of how I felt about it and the buttons it pushed but I guess there are some films with structural similarities or riff along the same lines - Babadook, Rosemary's Baby, The Wicker Man etc. Don't Look Now maybe. A Field In England and Kill List are probably worth a look too, just for curiosity if you haven't seen them.

In terms of favourites that's tough, I think the VVitch is right up there and you've obviously seen it. Audition certainly, Onibaba is worth a look. Kurosawa's Throne of Blood (not really a straight horror but still creepy). If you're after something completely different check out Gozu, some of Shinya Tsukamoto's films too maybe. Switchblade Romance / Haute Tension has already been mentioned.

If you haven't already seen Calvaire/The Ordeal definitely do so.

Edit: Let the Right one in / Let me in. The original and the remake are both excellent.

Double Edit: I've already mentioned Green Room, not strictly a horror, but not a bad film. There are probably tons more but I just can't think of them at present.

Dead Birds, a horror/western. Last horror film that made me jump out of my seat, very creepy.

[img] [/img]

[img] [/img]

Great shout, I loved Prince of Darkness. Shame Carpenter didn't have any money when making In the Mouth of Madness.

Thirst and Byzantium also worth a look.

I have to challenge the claim that 'found-footage' horror sub-genre was 'created' by the Blair Witch Project. It was the arguably the most high profile (hyped) one to date. I'll go that far

Interesting. I'm not, like [i]defending[/i] Blair Witch Project as the greatest, most original film I've ever seen or anything (I mean, I didn't even go to the cinema to see it, first time I watched it with a girl on a dodgy VHS tape with one candle in the room), but which "found footage" horror films came before it? And why was it "hyped"? It was more a clever marketing campaign and benefited from the early days of the Internet and word getting around fast. And, because it was good! Otherwise it would've vanished into obscurity, like all the other crap films that are made.
Anyway, like music, that which polarises opinion is always the most interesting innit.

DezB - Member

And why was it "hyped"?

It was hyped because it was marketed as a documentary. The actors were complete unknowns and all of the marketing material (online) alluded to the fact that these people went missing making the doc. The very earliest people who saw it thought they were seeing real footage and were understandably freaked out.

It was a stroke of marketing genius, but that doesn't make it cinematic genius. It was really interesting timing - I remember reading about it before its release and struggling to get through the smokescreen, but by the time it was released over here it was obvious what it was and how the trick had been executed. The names of the actors were getting leaked and people were spotting them alive and well. I guess there were some people who just went on the basis of what they heard without digging into it but I think because it was almost entirely marketed online, it was outed as a hoax online too.

Even the timing with high res vhs recorders that could just about be blown up to cinema size made it possible for a low budget film to be made in that way.

I have to wonder, could someone possibly pull a similar trick today - not necessarily the same structure, but release a film that people can't differentiate from "real".

We Need to Talk About Kevin

was very good, not sure if "Horror" though?

It was a stroke of marketing genius, but that doesn't make it cinematic genius

Yeah, but as a whole concept it was pretty extraordinary, and I think should be judged as such... I mean, even your description makes it sound brilliant!

There's a story about people fleeing the cinema during it's very early days when they were shown a clip of a train moving toward the screen. They were terrified because they had never seen anything like it before. It was a technological trick. Looking back now it's quaint. The same trick would never work today.

I'm sure there are other examples but that's how I feel about Blair Witch. A snapshot in time, a perfect confluence of technologies and marketing genius, but just not a good film when judged purely as a film.

I guess you could take a 15 yo today who's never seen it and tell them it's real, sit them down and make them watch it. Perhaps enough time has past.

Maybe with VR and augmented reality we might see another Blair Witch / Train coming at the screen moment. Who knows. It's an interesting subject.

[i]I guess you could take a 15 yo today who's never seen it and tell them it's real[/i]

I've got one of those. They ain't that gullible these days. Sadly.

I'm not, like defending Blair Witch Project as the greatest, most original film I've ever seen or anything

Neither am I attacking it. Just disagreeing with your claim that it 'created' the found-footage horror (sub)-genre

but which "found footage" horror films came before it?

Cannibal Holocaust
Guinea Pig 2
Man Bites Dog
Alien Abduction
The Last Broadcast

etc

Anyway, like music, that which polarises opinion is always the most interesting innit.

Agreed. And I actually enjoyed the BWP, but history, opinion, hype and facts often diverge. Credit where due and all that...same as I'd speak up if someone claimed that Chris Boardman invented the mountain bike! 😉

I'd also be interested to discover earlier examples than Cannibal Holocaust

DezB - Member

I guess you could take a 15 yo today who's never seen it and tell them it's real

I've got one of those. They ain't that gullible these days. Sadly.

Damn Dez, you always strike me as so young and hip 😆 How can you have a 15yo?

I mean it's possible that some of them somewhere won't have heard about it. Perhaps you'd need to pull an old unmarked vhs out of a dusty ammo can you keep buried under the garage floor - that might work.

Malvern Rider - Member

I'd also be interested to discover earlier examples than Cannibal Holocaust

I'm pretty sure it's a literary mechanism that's hundreds of years old if you really want to dig in.

We Need to Talk About Kevin

was very good, not sure if "Horror" though?

Oh, definitely not a horror. Just a different approach to similar themes.

Me? Young? Jeez, you're having a laugh 😆

[i]Guinea Pig 2[/i]

Oh yes. Must see this. I wonder if it's from a Guinea Pig's POV
[i]Just disagreeing with your claim that it 'created' the found-footage horror[/i]
Wan't me what claimed that 😉

I'm pretty sure it's a literary mechanism that's hundreds of years old if you really want to dig in.

Yes it is/was. But I mean specifically found-footage/horror in motion-picture.

DezB -

Wan't me what claimed that

yikes! Apologies due 😳

You can even look at something like Aliens where Gorman is watching his marines live streaming footage on a bank of video screens - it's not found footage but the mechanism is similar. Man Bites Dog, also very similar.

The thing that BWP did though was to make the found footage the entire film, not just part of it.

Annnyway. I think I only own 1 horror film on DVD - [b]Near Dark[/b] 🙂

Most of em, one watch is enough really.

[edit]Unless The Shining counts as a horror.

I'm pretty sure it's a literary mechanism that's hundreds of years old if you really want to dig in.

Yes it is/was. But I mean specifically found-footage/horror in motion-picture.

DezB -

Wan't me what claimed that

yikes! Apologies due

No that was me!. And since adjusted my statement to "It was the first mainstream/mass aware film of that genre or sub genre if you like.

I watched it for the first time at home. I knew all about the marketing and the fact it wasn't real, but it still scared me and that's not something I can say about many films.

DezB - Member

[edit]Unless The Shining counts as a horror.

Ghosts, rivers of blood, possessed psychic children, axe maniacs....yeah I think we could give it a pass.

Near Dark is brilliant.

You're not called Lisa are you trailwagger? 😉 8)

You're not called Lisa are you trailwagger?

Ummmmmm, no.... am I missing a joke??

You mean to say, you're not reading my posts?? How very..

[i] (I mean, I didn't even go to the cinema to see it, first time I watched it with a girl on a dodgy VHS tape with one candle in the room)[/i]

So yeah, I little private joke with myself really 🙂

Can’t watch horror films anymore, I get my daily fix at work. Meetings, Gant charts and deadlines...

Anyway, I have been trying to recall name of Italian horror film where the villain was transforming every victim to a wax doll. Colour film so maybe from 70s. Can’ t recall more details and had no luck with IMDB search, someone might know the name?

You mean to say, you're not reading my posts?? How very..
(I mean, I didn't even go to the cinema to see it, first time I watched it with a girl on a dodgy VHS tape with one candle in the room)
So yeah, I little private joke with myself really

Been a long day/week, sorry I missed that 😉

Watched [url= http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3748172/ ]Gerald's Game
[/url] the other night, it's very Steven King, which isn't always a good thing, half worth a watch though.

jimjam - Member
Near Dark is brilliant.

Not sure I've ever thought of it as a horror film though - it's just a great film that happens to have vampires as its central characters...

(way before Twilight tried the same trick to much lesser effect)

Let's agree to never mention Near Dark and Twighlight in the same sentence ever again shall we 😆

The Thing 80's version is awesome horror.

Alien scared me to death as an 11 yr old

Love and still get scared of werewolf films, guess harks back to American Werewolf.

Weirdest horror I can just remember clips of is Xtro, I can't even remember the plot, but seem to recall some gross vulgar stuff oh and an action man. Or did I dream all that!!??!!

There were some incredibly weird moments in Xtro alright. I think Redletter Media covered in in best of the worst a while back. I remember Xtro 2 was some kind of generic Aliens rip off, and then Xtro 3 was kind of like a rubber sock puppet spitting acid at people in cheap army costumes in the desert.

After Aliens there was just a slew of Xenomorph sci fi horror films out there. Most of which I ended up watching for some reason 🙂

There was one in particular I wish I could remember - a hardboiled detective hunting a serial killer, which turned out to be a Xenomorph iirc.

I have been trying to recall name of Italian horror film where the villain was transforming every victim to a wax doll. Colour film so maybe from 70s

Not from the 70's but it could be Wax Mask, a Lucio Fulci screenplay rewritten by Dario Argento and directed by Sergio Stivaletti in 1997?

Dawn till Dusk.
I win.

Also, not "found footage" as such, but a good ancestor of the Blair Witch is the Legend of Boggy Creek from 1972. Proper cheesy at times and more of a mockumentary but you can see the DNA of the Blair Witch in it.

jimjam - Member
Let's agree to never mention Near Dark and Twighlight in the same sentence ever again shall we

If it weren't for you pesky kids!

Again, Dusk 'til Dawn is an awesome film but whatever else it is, it ain't a horror one.

There was one in particular I wish I could remember - a hardboiled detective hunting a serial killer, which turned out to be a Xenomorph iirc.

Dark Angel?

Predator 2?

Oh no it was waaaaay more crap and obscure. And I mean the alien monster in it looked exactly like the creature in "Alien" albeit cheaper. Much cheaper. I've looked through list after list of obscure micro budget b movie Alien rip-offs and I still can't find it. Never mind.

There was one in particular I wish I could remember - a hardboiled detective hunting a serial killer, which turned out to be a Xenomorph iirc.

Was Rutger Hauer in it?

I really like 30 days of night. It’s like the anti-twilight and has done wonderfully shot scenes. The one where the camera pans around the town from above and you just see parts of the snow turn red is brilliant.

Was it this, jimjam?

*EDIT* it must be this, there can't be two films about a detective hunting a killer that turns out to be a shit xenmorph...or can there? 😀

Lol. You know you're getting close to the bottom of the barrel when....but no.

Speaking of obscure. Does anyone remember Dead Heat with Treat Williams and Joe Piscopo?

Edit: Holy shit I think that's it! I mean that must be it. As you say, there can't be two of them. Can there? And I've definitely seen that. Dang, that really takes me back.

Dang, that really takes me back.

In the year 2008, global warming and heavy rainfall has left large areas of London flooded. Rookie police officer Dick Durkin is assigned to partner with Harley Stone, a burnt-out and highly cynical veteran homicide detective who, according to his commanding officer, survives on "anxiety, coffee and chocolate" after being unable to prevent the murder of his partner by a serial killer several years previously.

😆

This is the stuff of pure B-movie gold.

I'm going to have to watch that again.

I'm watching it right now.

Found a great quality stream. So much for doing some work tonight. Great so far though.

Here’s a couple of recent ones.

Autopsy of Jane Doe.

Deathgasm (cracking comedy horror especially if you like heavy metal).

Fin25:

Not from the 70's but it could be Wax Mask, a Lucio Fulci screenplay rewritten by Dario Argento and directed by Sergio Stivaletti in 1997?

Last night I watched The VVitch.. on recommendation of this thread. What an utter pile of cr*p that was. Not remotely frightening, and the goat did it!

trailwagger - Member

Last night I watched The VVitch.. on recommendation of this thread. What an utter pile of cr*p that was.

Other than "not remotely frightening," what was crap about it?

Other than "not remotely frightening," what was crap about it?

I have to admit that I struggled to hear quite a lot of the dialogue, and don't understand why they did it like that. I don't think it adds anything to the film and certainly wouldn't have taken anything away from it if they had used current English language.

The whole thing about the paranoia was ruined by the fact they showed you the witch in the hut in the woods with the boy. Leave that out and then you start to wonder if there is a witch or if its just in the families heads. Given that that is the whole premise of the film really, why would you give the game away so early on and so easily?

I agree with you about the sound production - I did struggle to understand the dad, but I think his voice was just so deep. As for the language used I appreciated the old English - the rest of the production seemed (to my uneducated eye) very historically accurate, or at least believable. Although the splitting axe used by the father looks identical to my Husqvarna / Wetterlings pattern one but I'll not dwell on that.

As for revealing the Witch, I would need to rewatch but my initial take was that it was they boy's imagination running wild. The other point is that even if there's a wierd old woman living in the woods she doesn't have supernatural powers.

I mean, in the reality of a film where we see her casting a spell and the spell having a direct effect then yes sure, you can have witches in fiction, but my take was that it wasn't a literal broomstick wielding hag in league with satan.

I could be wrong, obviously it's very open ended and open to multiple interpretations but that's one of the things I like so much about it.

I just remembered as well, that's not the first time you see the/a witch. After the baby is taken (cant really be imagining that) you see her smothering blood/guts/brains over her skin.
If the witch was imagined by the boy, then why did he return in such a state and subsequently die?

And what happened to the other two kids ? did the goat eat them?

I like Director Neil Marshall - especially Dog Soldiers and The Decent. .

trailwagger - Member

I just remembered as well, that's not the first time you see the/a witch. After the baby is taken (cant really be imagining that) you see her smothering blood/guts/brains over her skin.
If the witch was imagined by the boy, then why did he return in such a state and subsequently die?

I would have to watch it again to give you a better answer, then again maybe I wouldn't be able to, but I do intend watching it again at some point. My incredibly vague and flowery answer at this point to most such questions would be that the reality presented on screen isn't clear. Is it really a world of witches, goats possessed by Satan, magic etc, or are the supernatural things the way that paranoid, isolated and scientifically primitive people rationalise things they can't understand.

Is the film set in our real world, a supernatural world, or a world where people's belief in the supernatural effects their perception of reality and that's what it represented.

A directors commentary might clarify some of those points.

Some answers here from the director....

http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2016/02/23/the_witch_director_robert_eggers_on_the_real_history_behind_the_movie_s.html

The Descent is a superb film.

trailwagger - Member

Some answers here from the director....

In a nutshell he kept in intentionally vague so people would interpret it their own way. Do you feel any differently reading that or is it ruined for you anyway?

http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2016/02/23/the_witch_director_robert_eggers_on_the_real_history_behind_the_movie_s.html

Not sure, but I think maybe my initial reaction was too hasty. The fact I am still thinking about the film today and looking online to find out more about it probably means it had a bigger effect on me than I first thought.

Going to an all night horror marathon tonight at a local cinema.
28 days later
The eyes of my mother
Young Frankenstein
A nightmare on elm Street
There's also a mystery film, even if it's shit, the other four are more than worth the £25 quid (which includes bottomless coffee).
Might have a little nap in a minute.

Bottomless beer would have been better but still, sounds good. I got half way through Split Second last night. I'm going to watch the rest of it later, it's so hilarious. The lead character is literally an unhinged mad man. It's really deep in the "so bad it's good" territory.

I see that the guy who wrote it actually went on to write The Fast and the Furious, so no doubt he'll have pocketed many millions from that.

trailwagger - Member

Not sure, but I think maybe my initial reaction was too hasty. The fact I am still thinking about the film today and looking online to find out more about it probably means it had a bigger effect on me than I first thought.

Well it's good to discuss it with you anyway. If anything it's helped me remember what I liked about it. I'm now thinking that on my second viewing I'll be trying to see exactly what is left in, and what's left out in order to prompt or lead the audience one way or another.

Young [s]Frankenstein[/s]Fronkensteen

All nighter at cinema sounds ace btw!

All nighter at cinema sounds ace btw!

It is, but I've never made it all the way to the end before in 3 attempts... it's 10 solid hours of movies!
Have to do it this time, they're finishing with Nightmare on elm Street, can't miss that.

I just read the plot of A Serbian Film on Wikipedia, and now I feel bit nauseous, how anyone could watch it is beyond me TBH.