The Horror Thread - Part 1

[jonathancrane]

I would hardly classify all of the characters in the film as white trash types. If one wants to make the case about Myers' family and the sanitarium guards/coroner, fair enough. The Strodes and Loomis were in the upper tax bracket and looked and acted accordingly; Laurie's friends represented the typical high school and college kids; I would hardly call the Brackets white trash, or Mya. Or Mr. Van Der Klok(?) who confronted Loomis at the bookstore; or the hippie (I probably spelled it incorrectly, but am too damn tired to care at t his point) coffee shop owner, and a few others I cannot presently recall.

 

[Heretic]

I would hardly classify all of the characters in the film as white trash types. If one wants to make the case about Myers' family and the sanitarium guards/coroner, fair enough. The Strodes and Loomis were in the upper tax bracket and looked and acted accordingly; Laurie's friends represented the typical high school and college kids; I would hardly call the Brackets white trash, or Mya. Or Mr. Van Der Klok(?) who confronted Loomis at the bookstore; or the hippie (I probably spelled it incorrectly, but am too damn tired to care at t his point) coffee shop owner, and a few others I cannot presently recall.

I don't really recall each character...but it seems like they threw in some sex talk between the Strodes parents...not that sex talk is bad or anything...but it was unnecessary to the film, and inserted just to give them some sort of edge, because just being parents would be boring. (I may have the wrong characters, and in fact the wrong movie entirely...but that is my memory)

 

[Piper Maru]

Currently watching John Carpenter's Christine.

 

[TheDreamMaster]

I don't really recall each character...but it seems like they threw in some sex talk between the Strodes parents...not that sex talk is bad or anything...but it was unnecessary to the film, and inserted just to give them some sort of edge, because just being parents would be boring. (I may have the wrong characters, and in fact the wrong movie entirely...but that is my memory)

You're not wrong, I felt the same way regarding the dialogue. Laurie fingerbanging the donut at breakfast with her parents comes to mind. Also it's been a while, but while the discussions both had some talk of boys and plans for the night, Zombie's film had the more explicit dialogue, because "Pplz in 2008 won't buy modern teenagers without the most shallow and explicit ways of talking possible."

 

[Heretic]

You're not wrong, I felt the same way regarding the dialogue. Laurie fingerbanging the donut at breakfast with her parents comes to mind. Also it's been a while, but while the discussions both had some talk of boys and plans for the night, Zombie's film had the more explicit dialogue, because "Pplz in 2008 won't buy modern teenagers without the most shallow and explicit ways of talking possible."

Right, thanks. There's a reason why Laurie is the template for the final girl. Not that she has to be presented as angelic, but the idea is that her life is basically upper middle class perfection and then evil shows up to shatter it. Zombie couldn't resist the lure to throw in an edge to them to make the family cooler in his eyes. They were not screwed as bad as the Myers family, but that would be practically impossible.

 

[TheDreamMaster]

Right, thanks. There's a reason why Laurie is the template for the final girl. Not that she has to be presented as angelic, but the idea is that her life is basically upper middle class perfection and then evil shows up to shatter it. Zombie couldn't resist the lure to throw in an edge to them to make the family cooler in his eyes. They were not screwed as bad as the Myers family, but that would be practically impossible.

That's one of the reasons I cannot stand Zombie's film, is because t has to give Myers that family as a back story. Now, I you can infer Michael was abused, was a quiet kid, or was a normal kid until whatever happened to him that Halloween night in the original series. It is part of what made it creepy. Now sure, the family story of the sequels convolutes it a bit (since of course, originally he was just a killer and found himself following Laurie and her friends in the original. and we won't get into what Curse of Michael Myers tried to do.) because he was somewhat chasing down specific targets instead of just a force of evil. It still had a scare factor though.
Once Zombie removed that, I couldn't take the remake in any capacity. For example, the opening when young Michael is walking home before killing the bully, and they kick up the Halloween theme. It isn't creepy, it isn't showing Michael as a troubled boy, it just seems to say to me "yep, you're watching Halloween. Here's the title. Didn't want you to forget." But seriously, dammit RZ, trashy people exist in America, a lot of them in some places. But yet, I'm betting a good portion of the notorious killers we know about today weren't raised like Michael. If anything, all RZ's Myers was was frustration taken to the extreme.

 

[Heretic]

Yeah, the secret was that evil can happen anywhere, without warning. In Zombie's Halloween...evil most certainly comes from a hellish household...and my household is not hellish, nor is the home of anyone I know...so evil will not happen to me.

The guy has spent his entire life adoring and studying horror, and seems to have not picked up on what actually makes it horrifying.

 

[TheDreamMaster]

Guess what I decided to buy tonight with some extra cash I made helping some family today?

Spoiler

No Flash:

With Flash:

My earlier post was relevant to this discussion. when picking out a mask, they mostly only hac Rob Zombie Myers masks. Thankfully they had the one pictures above and I love it. Never would waste my money on anything besides the DVDs of those awful films. Also not trying to bash anyone that likes them, but personally I cannot stand them at all, and I can stomach the worst of the original
Halloween series.

 

[DaRkVeNgeanCe]

Currently watching John Carpenter's Christine.

One of my favorite films of all time! t:

 

[Heretic]

Watching the obviously much needed sequel I Spit On Your Grave 2

First of all...I'm offended. I'm not even in the business and I know how a female model would get free/inexpensive photographs from talented photographers. There are websites full of photographers with traceable history and portfolios offering Trade For Print. Why would a model call some guy on the phone, who is then abusive and evasive with questions, and then still go ahead and meet with him alone? (Not surprisingly, it is much, much harder for a band to get inexpensive photos...but when we got a famous porn star lined up for the cd cover, photographers jumped on board quick). Besides...not for nothing...according to an agents website, the lead actress in this movie is 5'2" (if not shorter, which I wouldn't doubt at all...this girl is freaking short)...which is really, really, REALLY short for a girl trying to model in NYC. I know...small details...but if your movie is going to be about a profession, learn enough about it to figure out how to realistically make the situation happen in 2013.

I actually don't mind the fact that I Spit On Your Grave could be an ongoing franchise of victims getting revenge. My problem is how this movie handled it. I am very likely in the minority here...but the goal of this franchise (in my opinion) should not be to try to get a fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes or to be respected as works of art. It's called I Spit On Your Grave for god's sake...this above all other franchises should be hardcore! I have no problem with it being exploitative and full of nudity and extreme violence. I know...that will just get trashed by critics...but to me this franchise serves no real purpose if it isn't pushing the boundaries of good taste. One of my problems with this movie is that they obviously want to be edgy...but stop themselves from truly going there. This film should wallow in the darkness of what is happening to the girl...and to hell with critics if they think it is catering to sick minds. Bad things happen to this girl, but I never felt like I should turn away (and most of the violence occurs off screen anyway).

In a sense, ISOYG is like The Crow…you need a different protagonist in every film, and certain plot points have to be there every time…but like The Crow (which uses evil biker type gangs too often) this film never reaches beyond the initial premise. Maybe this film could have taken place in the mid-east, and shown a girl tortured, raped and scarred then denied help by the police because she had sex out of marriage (shockingly, this sort of thing happens often over there, where tortured teenage girls are actually imprisoned by the government because they were raped before marriage). This would have given the film a political commentary that would reflect modern times, as I am led to believe that the original film did during the early women’s rights movement. Instead, we just get a bunch of people who commit violence for the sake of violence, along with a mentally challenged relative who is supposed to be the slightly sympathetic villain (yes, this happens in the new film as well as the first, and there is no need for every violent group of guys to have that friend).

In short...this is essentially the same movie as before...and the film with Sarah Butler is superior in every way.

 

[TheDreamMaster]

Watching the obviously much needed sequel I Spit On Your Grave 2

First of all...I'm offended. I'm not even in the business and I know how a female model would get free/inexpensive photographs from talented photographers. There are websites full of photographers with traceable history and portfolios offering Trade For Print. Why would a model call some guy on the phone, who is then abusive and evasive with questions, and then still go ahead and meet with him alone? (Not surprisingly, it is much, much harder for a band to get inexpensive photos...but when we got a famous porn star lined up for the cd cover, photographers jumped on board quick). Besides...not for nothing...according to an agents website, the lead actress in this movie is 5'2" (if not shorter, which I wouldn't doubt at all...this girl is freaking short)...which is really, really, REALLY short for a girl trying to model in NYC. I know...small details...but if your movie is going to be about a profession, learn enough about it to figure out how to realistically make the situation happen in 2013.

I actually don't mind the fact that I Spit On Your Grave could be an ongoing franchise of victims getting revenge. My problem is how this movie handled it. I am very likely in the minority here...but the goal of this franchise (in my opinion) should not be to try to get a fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes or to be respected as works of art. It's called I Spit On Your Grave for god's sake...this above all other franchises should be hardcore! I have no problem with it being exploitative and full of nudity and extreme violence. I know...that will just get trashed by critics...but to me this franchise serves no real purpose if it isn't pushing the boundaries of good taste. One of my problems with this movie is that they obviously want to be edgy...but stop themselves from truly going there. This film should wallow in the darkness of what is happening to the girl...and to hell with critics if they think it is catering to sick minds. Bad things happen to this girl, but I never felt like I should turn away (and most of the violence occurs off screen anyway).

In a sense, ISOYG is like The Crow…you need a different protagonist in every film, and certain plot points have to be there every time…but like The Crow (which uses evil biker type gangs too often) this film never reaches beyond the initial premise. Maybe this film could have taken place in the mid-east, and shown a girl tortured, raped and scarred then denied help by the police because she had sex out of marriage (shockingly, this sort of thing happens often over there, where tortured teenage girls are actually imprisoned by the government because they were raped before marriage). This would have given the film a political commentary that would reflect modern times, as I am led to believe that the original film did during the early women’s rights movement. Instead, we just get a bunch of people who commit violence for the sake of violence, along with a mentally challenged relative who is supposed to be the slightly sympathetic villain (yes, this happens in the new film as well as the first, and there is no need for every violent group of guys to have that friend).

In short...this is essentially the same movie as before...and the film with Sarah Butler is superior in every way.

Wait, they made a sequel? This is a sequel tot he remake right? Did the original even have a sequel? I didn't even realize this thing warranted a sequel, I hadn't really heard anything at all since the remake came out a while ago.

 

[Heretic]

Wait, they made a sequel? This is a sequel tot he remake right? Did the original even have a sequel? I didn't even realize this thing warranted a sequel, I hadn't really heard anything at all since the remake came out a while ago.

Sequel to the recent remake in the sense that the number 2 is after the title. It is about a different girl getting raped, tortured and taking revenge on a completely different group of guys.

 

[Piper Maru]

Currently watching John Carpenter's Prince of Darkness.

Having a JC movie marathon this weekend!

 

[Tanin]

Starman is my favorite JC film... though not really horror.

Currently watching 'Attack of the Crab Monster'

 

[Thundarr]

I like Zombie but I can't stand that he's always *****ing and moaning about his movies not being what he wanted.

The ending just ruins the movie. There was a slow burn creep factor going on but it needs some pay off... like House of the Devil.

I've always heard that he was supposed to handle The Blob after Halloween 2. Has anyone heard what happened to that?

My guess? The people who own the rights to The Blob saw what RZ did to Halloween and told him to go f**k himself.

At least that's what I would do in that situation.

 

[Piper Maru]

My guess? The people who own the rights to The Blob saw what RZ did to Halloween and told him to go f**k himself.

At least that's what I would do in that situation.

lmao. That's most likely what happened, they didn't want to see the blob turned into some trash talking redneck.

 

[jonathancrane]

To be fair, the Blob is nothing more than an over-glorified B-film.

 

[Teelie]

It's snot with an appetite.

 

[Loki882]

Right, thanks. There's a reason why Laurie is the template for the final girl. Not that she has to be presented as angelic, but the idea is that her life is basically upper middle class perfection and then evil shows up to shatter it. Zombie couldn't resist the lure to throw in an edge to them to make the family cooler in his eyes. They were not screwed as bad as the Myers family, but that would be practically impossible.

No, her life was still upper middle class, she just acted more like a real character. Scout Taylor-Compton herself told Zombie not to make her Laurie like JLC because, in the actresses own worlds, "people will think I'm Amish or something." Also, parents talk about sex, mine have, they're was nothing really explicit about it and Laurie was making a crude joke, which a lot of teenage girls (including some of my HS friends/people I knew socially) do. Sorry, that complaint doesn't ring true to me, there are flaws in the movie, but that's not one of them.

 

[Heretic]

No, her life was still upper middle class, she just acted more like a real character. Scout Taylor-Compton herself told Zombie not to make her Laurie like JLC because, in the actresses own worlds, "people will think I'm Amish or something." Also, parents talk about sex, mine have, they're was nothing really explicit about it and Laurie was making a crude joke, which a lot of teenage girls (including some of my HS friends/people I knew socially) do. Sorry, that complaint doesn't ring true to me, there are flaws in the movie, but that's not one of them.

If anyone is an expert on the Halloween mythos, surely it is Scout Taylor Compton.

I know...cheap shot...I'm actually a fan of hers.

 

[jonathancrane]

No, her life was still upper middle class, she just acted more like a real character. Scout Taylor-Compton herself told Zombie not to make her Laurie like JLC because, in the actresses own worlds, "people will think I'm Amish or something." Also, parents talk about sex, mine have, they're was nothing really explicit about it and Laurie was making a crude joke, which a lot of teenage girls (including some of my HS friends/people I knew socially) do. Sorry, that complaint doesn't ring true to me, there are flaws in the movie, but that's not one of them.

This.

 

[TheDreamMaster]

So I've decided to wait until October and also do a 31 Days of Halloween(I was gonna start in September, but my Breaking Bad addiction kicked in.) . I will still watch a few films through September, but I've gotta make a list for my 31 Days.

 

[jonathancrane]

So I've decided to wait until October and also do a 31 Days of Halloween(I was gonna start in September, but my Breaking Bad addiction kicked in.) . I will still watch a few films through September, but I've gotta make a list for my 31 Days.

I have decided I am going to do my own 31 Days as well. The problem I am facing is which films to include, as I have a massive library.

 

[NDX]

I need to compose a list for a 31 Days as well. Going to ask some friends over at another forum what they think I should watch from a list I'm going to compose soon.

 

[Piper Maru]

In addition to my October 2013 Halloween horror line-up that I posted earlier, for the month of September I've been having an X-Files Marathon during the week, and on the weekends I'm having a John Carpenter movie marathon. It's been really fun!