The Horror Thread

[NewYorkSpider]

Curse of Chucky doesn't look too bad. I'm hoping it's good since the last two movies were absolutely terrible.

 

[jonathancrane]

While I was not fond of House of 1K Corpses, I enjoyed Devil's Rejects and the Halloween films immensely (esp. the director's cut of 2. My only regret I have in this life was that I was unable to be an extra for the Phantom Jam. We had gone through the same area they filmed a month before...)

 

[Piper Maru]

Do any of you folks enjoy Asian horror movies like Ju-On: The Grudge or Ring?

 

[jonathancrane]

I have been meaning to expand my knowledge/collection to Asian cinema, but have been slow in doing so (altho I attended a terrific lecture from a film professor at a uni in California who specializes in it.)

 

[steintym]

To be honest, Zombie's Halloween movies are the only ones I liked that he directed.


Love his music, though ...

 

[Piper Maru]

I have been meaning to expand my knowledge/collection to Asian cinema, but have been slow in doing so (altho I attended a terrific lecture from a film professor at a uni in California who specializes in it.)

In addition to Ju-On: The Grudge and Ring, you should check out Shutter. I hear Audition is pretty good as well.

 

[Farren]

In addition to Ju-On: The Grudge and Ring, you should check out Shutter. I hear Audition is pretty good as well.

Audition's not bad, but I personally don't think it's as frightening as the majority opinion seems to think. I suspect it is scarier to male viewers in a way that supposedly Fatal Attraction scared the bejeezus out of men back in the 80s.

 

[redhawk23]

The Lords of Salem was actually pretty good, moving along with a nice slow burn before quite suddenly flying right off the rails and becoming a music video riff on the Nick Cage Wicker Man. Seriously I don't even know what the hell RZ was thinking on that one. It was like after showing quite a bit of restraint for the majority of the film, some kind of rubberband snapped in the last 10 minutes. Its unfortunate, because a lot of the acting actually wasn't bad (even Sheri Moon Zombie was acting like a human being instead of the Backwoods Methhead Harley Quinn she usually pulls). There is some decent production design and measured camera work. But yeah, it pretty much collapses. Very Disappointing 5/10.

 

[Hobgoblin]

What do you guys think of "high art" horror movies? Rosemary's Baby, The Exorcist, Silence of the Lambs? These kinds of flicks seem to be dying out, which the splatterfests continue to be cranked out.

I dont mind a good ultra violent horror flick but I wonder if it is just too hard to make a cerebral horror movie.

 

[redhawk23]

I don't think it is particularly harder than making quality movies of any other genres, its just a matter of someone with the talent and the drive needed to do so being attracted to doing so.

Such splatterfests, or the just as schlocky but less bloody equivalents in past decades, have pretty much always been the norm in the genre.

Just look at the titles you through out there, there are many years in between each of those movies, each from a different decade. There are of course a few other titles you could throw out, but such movies have always been few and far between.

 

[Piper Maru]

Does anyone remember that anthology movie Nightmares? I just watched it for the first time in years.

 

[Rocketman]

What do you guys think of "high art" horror movies? Rosemary's Baby, The Exorcist, Silence of the Lambs? These kinds of flicks seem to be dying out, which the splatterfests continue to be cranked out.

I dont mind a good ultra violent horror flick but I wonder if it is just too hard to make a cerebral horror movie.

I would add Se7en and American Psycho to the list, though some would disagree.

In a bizarre way, David Fincher is one of my favorite "horror directors" without having actually directed a single horror film. But, fingers crossed, if he ever does a straight-up horror film someday, I imagine it would be an instant classic.

Alien 3
Se7en
The Game
Fight Club
Panic Room
Zodiac
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

All of these films have an eerie, haunting feel to them that is directly in the realm of the horror genre. He's sort of "disowned" Alien 3 as part of his filmography, but oh well - that movie's underrated.

 

[redhawk23]

I'd say Se7en in particular could be considered just as much of a "horror" film as the Silence of the Lambs, if that film is to be considered as such.

Similarly American Psycho fits the bill just as much as either of the Maniac films.

 

[Rocketman]

Has anyone noticed that 2009 was a damn fine year for horror films?

Paranormal Activity (2009)
Drag Me to Hell (2009)
The Final Destination (2009)
The Fourth Kind (2009)
Friday the 13th (2009)
Halloween II (2009)
The Human Centipede (2009)
The Last House on the Left (2009)
Orphan (2009)
Pandorum (2009)
Survival of the Dead (2009)
The Unborn (2009)
Trick 'r Treat (2009)
The Uninvited (2009)
Zombieland (2009)
Jennifer's Body (2009)
The Haunting in Connecticut (2009)
Splice (2009)
Sorority Row (2009)
Saw VI (2009)
My Bloody Valentine (2009)
The House of the Devil (2009)
The Grudge 3 (2009)
The Descent 2 (2009)
The Collector (2009)
Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever (2009)
Case 39 (2009)
Carriers (2009)

 

[redhawk23]

There is indeed a lot of good among that list.

I absolutely hated the Unborn though.

 

[redhawk23]

All of these films have an eerie, haunting feel to them that is directly in the realm of the horror genre. He's sort of "disowned" Alien 3 as part of his filmography, but oh well - that movie's underrated.

Very, there is a lot to like.

 

[Rocketman]

I absolutely hated the Unborn though.

It should've been better, but Gary Oldman makes anything good.
I still think he did that movie as a favor to David S. Goyer.

 

[Heretic]

I watched the new movie The Last Will and Testament of Rosalind Leigh on Netflix streaming. It is apparently the first movie by the publisher of Rue Morgue magazine.

It's a beautiful film! The set is just awesome and the long shots panning the room really pull you into the scene. Basically, a guy inherits his mom's house when she dies and Horror film stuff happens when he goes there. I don't want to spoil too much...and really the movie is open to interpretation (I watched it once and hated the end...watched it again the next day and decided that the movie meant something very different from what I initially thought and now I really like the film). Not a whole lot happens as far as intense horror action...but it's worth a watch.

 

[redhawk23]

The new horror film You're Next is having a great ad campaign invading cities. They have put masks on a bunch of statues in St. Louis. This pic of our Chuck Berry statue is the best though.

 

[jonathancrane]

2009 was indeed a fine year for horror cinema.

I did not care for the Lords of Salem; of course, I had read somewhere there were some production difficulties - limited budget/schedule or something along those lines-that ended up forcing Zombie to release a product different than he wanted.

I understand that; when I adapted 'One for the Road,' I had every single problem imaginable (and then some) happen. I realize that is the reality for every production, but the composer of the film and I ended up referring to the production as 'that Maine film' [a reference to the 'Scottish play'] because at times it felt like we were indeed cursed (although I believe in no such thing.)

 

[redhawk23]

Lords of Salem feels like he just gave up at the end though. It is bizarre.

 

[chamber-music]

I'm looking forward to Hammer Studios next film The Quiet Ones

 

[Majik1387]

What do you guys think of "high art" horror movies? Rosemary's Baby, The Exorcist, Silence of the Lambs? These kinds of flicks seem to be dying out, which the splatterfests continue to be cranked out.

I dont mind a good ultra violent horror flick but I wonder if it is just too hard to make a cerebral horror movie.

I like them, but I don't find Silence of the Lambs to be horror personally.
With Exorcist, I found it good, and I enjoyed some sequels/prequels, but I don't know, wasn't really overly interesting to me.
Rosemary's Baby was all kinds of awesome though.

Has anyone noticed that 2009 was a damn fine year for horror films?

Paranormal Activity (2009)
Drag Me to Hell (2009)
The Final Destination (2009)
The Fourth Kind (2009)
Friday the 13th (2009)
Halloween II (2009)
The Human Centipede (2009)
The Last House on the Left (2009)
Orphan (2009)
Pandorum (2009)
Survival of the Dead (2009)
The Unborn (2009)
Trick 'r Treat (2009)
The Uninvited (2009)
Zombieland (2009)
Jennifer's Body (2009)
The Haunting in Connecticut (2009)
Splice (2009)
Sorority Row (2009)
Saw VI (2009)
My Bloody Valentine (2009)
The House of the Devil (2009)
The Grudge 3 (2009)
The Descent 2 (2009)
The Collector (2009)
Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever (2009)
Case 39 (2009)
Carriers (2009)

The bold ones are my faves of the year.

 

[Donnie Darko]

Has anyone noticed that 2009 was a damn fine year for horror films?

Paranormal Activity (2009)
Drag Me to Hell (2009)
The Final Destination (2009)
Friday the 13th (2009)
Halloween II (2009)
The Human Centipede (2009)
The Last House on the Left (2009)
Trick 'r Treat (2009)
The Uninvited (2009)
Zombieland (2009)
Splice (2009)
My Bloody Valentine (2009)

These are the only ones from that list I have seen. For the most part, I enjoyed them. I love Drag Me to Hell, Trick 'r Treat, and Zombieland. I actually really enjoyed F13, H2, and The Uninvited as well.

The only ones I did not like were Splice, My Bloody Valentine, and Paranormal Activity. In fact, I turned off Paranormal Activity probably less than halfway through, and I never do that. I know this is an unpopular opinion, but I hated it. It was just so dull for the stretched I watched, and the characters gave me nothing to care about, either, so it wasn't like one of those where you build up to the big payoff because the movie just failed to engage me and make me care at all.

 

[Donnie Darko]

I actually kind of hate that I liked Rosemary's Baby so much when I watched it years ago. I watched it with my old roommates, thought it was great, and then it was actually later that I found out about all the Roman Polanski stuff, so on a personal level, I want to hate everything he has ever done, but that movie was just awesome (at least it was made BEFORE all that other stuff went down).