The Horror Thread

[Majik1387]

Why is that?

 

[redhawk23]

Horror dwarfs in comparison to the use of romance.

 

[Majik1387]

And again, Romance itself tends to be a sublet of Drama.

 

[redhawk23]

I agree. But even if you want to separate sub-genres, you don't exactly see horror as almost a requirement for all movies. Its actually suprising if a movie doesn't have a romantic sublpot.

 

[Thundarr]

I agree. But even if you want to separate sub-genres, you don't exactly see horror as almost a requirement for all movies. Its actually suprising if a movie doesn't have a romantic sublpot.

True. In almost every slasher flick, there's almost always at least one romantic couple. Usually they get killed off by the slasher, or at least one of them does (if the couple in question is our lone female survivor and her boyfriend).

 

[bullets]

Jeepers Creepers annoyed me too. Mostly because the characters were unabashed idiots and the story was so promising but fell so far from its potential to me. Mainly because of the really corny dialogue and acting. I remember several scenes of the sister repeatedly calling out for him to not do something only to do it and prove what a moron the character was to ignore obvious danger.

Probably it does not help I'm not a fan of Justin Long.

It took everything I had not to to walk out on that film. People in the crowd started making fun of it. I don't mind Justin Long , but I thought Jeepers Creepers was really dumb.

 

[redhawk23]

As if that doesn't describe basically all of the Horror genre.

 

[Teelie]

Even if it were an actor I really liked, I don't think it would have changed my opinion much of the movie. Justin Long just exacerbated my dislike of the weak story and moronic actions of the characters.

Other horror movies can do it better or at least better cover up their idiotic characters, usually. Not all characters are so blatantly running into danger they know is there.

 

[66 Face]

Even if it were an actor I really liked, I don't think it would have changed my opinion much of the movie. Justin Long just exacerbated my dislike of the weak story and moronic actions of the characters.

Other horror movies can do it better or at least better cover up their idiotic characters, usually. Not all characters are so blatantly running into danger they know is there.

"What does that mean?"

 

[Matt Mortem]

Anybody picking up Evil Dead tomorrow?

 

[NDX]

Not yet, but it's on my list of things to eventually pick up in the next... decade.

 

[Thundarr]

"What does that mean?"

He means most horror writers make their characters ignorant of the danger they're in without making them appear like total freaking morons. Justin Long's character knew full well he and his sister were in danger and instead of doing the smart thing and running away, he heads straight towards the damned Creeper.

When you look at other horror movies in comparison, people either don't know they're in danger until it's too late, or when they realize that they are they run like hell to get away from it.

Take John Carpenter's Halloween for example. Nobody but Dr Loomis and Sheriff Brackett knew that Michael Myers was on the loose in Haddonfield. Had Laurie and her friends known there was a psychopathic killer on the loose, they likely would have acted differently throughout the movie. But they didn't, and most of them wound up dead. Had the events of that evening happened on any other night of the year, Laurie likely would have assumed that something was wrong when she didn't hear back from her friends. But because it was Halloween, second only to April Fool's Day for practical jokes, she went into the neighbor's house assuming it was some sort of prank. Then when Michael attacked, she did the smart thing and ran.

In comparison, Justin Long's character sees a mysterious figure throwing what looks like dead bodies wrapped in sheets down a drain pipe. Instead of hitting the accelerator and getting the f**k out of Dodge, the idiot parks the car and goes to investigate. When the mysterious figure and his beat up old truck are gone, he decides to go down the drain pipe. When he's down there and sees all the dead bodies stitched together like some macabre collage, he sticks around until he hears someone coming. Then when he FINALLY decides to do the smart thing and go get the police, he and his sister have the damned creeper on their tail.

See the difference?

 

[Teelie]

^^^ Exactly. If someone tells you something wants to eat your face in one direction, you head in the opposite direction of the face-eating monster. You don't walk headlong into it asking it to come out and play.

 

[Thundarr]

In the documentary His Name Was Jason, the film makers of the Friday The 13th movies said that one of the trickiest parts of writing the movies was making the kids ignorant of the danger they were in without them looking like complete morons. In Part 1, the kids were warned that they were in danger by someone they were told was crazy, so they didn't take him seriously. In Part 2, they were told that Jason was only a legend. I don't know why they were so ignorant in Part 3, I guess they didn't listen to the news reports that day. In Part 4 the murders were all over the news, but everyone believed the killer was dead. In Part 6, not only was Jason considered to only be a legend, but he was an animated corpse brought back to life by a lightning bolt (and who the hell would believe a story like that?). So it is possible to be ignorant of danger without being a total idiot. Something I guess the writers of the first Jeepers Creepers didn't understand. In a way the second movie was better, because once the kids realized they were in danger they immediately sought help or tried to fight back. Now THEY were smart. Hell, compared to Justin Long, they were freakin' geniuses.

 

[Jake Cassidy]

^ That, and Ray Wise rocks.

 

[66 Face]

He means most horror writers make their characters ignorant of the danger they're in without making them appear like total freaking morons. Justin Long's character knew full well he and his sister were in danger and instead of doing the smart thing and running away, he heads straight towards the damned Creeper.

When you look at other horror movies in comparison, people either don't know they're in danger until it's too late, or when they realize that they are they run like hell to get away from it.

Take John Carpenter's Halloween for example. Nobody but Dr Loomis and Sheriff Brackett knew that Michael Myers was on the loose in Haddonfield. Had Laurie and her friends known there was a psychopathic killer on the loose, they likely would have acted differently throughout the movie. But they didn't, and most of them wound up dead. Had the events of that evening happened on any other night of the year, Laurie likely would have assumed that something was wrong when she didn't hear back from her friends. But because it was Halloween, second only to April Fool's Day for practical jokes, she went into the neighbor's house assuming it was some sort of prank. Then when Michael attacked, she did the smart thing and ran.

In comparison, Justin Long's character sees a mysterious figure throwing what looks like dead bodies wrapped in sheets down a drain pipe. Instead of hitting the accelerator and getting the f**k out of Dodge, the idiot parks the car and goes to investigate. When the mysterious figure and his beat up old truck are gone, he decides to go down the drain pipe. When he's down there and sees all the dead bodies stitched together like some macabre collage, he sticks around until he hears someone coming. Then when he FINALLY decides to do the smart thing and go get the police, he and his sister have the damned creeper on their tail.

See the difference?

Understood but I was doing Shaun of the Dead.

 

[The Dark Defender]

It would've made no difference whether the characters in Jeepers Creepers had went back or not, he had there scent, he knew where they were and could find them at any time, he wanted to intentionally prolong it just for his own enjoyment of the cat and mouse.

They didn't head in the same direction as him either, since he went flying passed them in his truck in the completely opposite direction of that Church.

They made a stupid (but not all that relevant anyway, since they were no safer on the road than at that Church) but compassionate decision to go back and try to help someone, that's not enough to turn me against characters.

I thought the brother/sister relationship in that movie was great, and they're two of my favorite characters from a slasher/monster film.
I love that movie, easily one of the best horror movies since the turn of the century.

 

[Thundarr]

It would've made no difference whether the characters in Jeepers Creepers had went back or not, he had there scent, he knew where they were and could find them at any time, he wanted to intentionally prolong it just for his own enjoyment of the cat and mouse.

They didn't head in the same direction as him either, since he went flying passed them in his truck in the completely opposite direction of that Church.

They made a stupid (but not all that relevant anyway, since they were no safer on the road than at that Church) but compassionate decision to go back and try to help someone, that's not enough to turn me against characters.

I thought the brother/sister relationship in that movie was great, and they're two of my favorite characters from a slasher/monster film.
I love that movie, easily one of the best horror movies since the turn of the century.

I'm not saying that the characters would have been safer on the road than in the church. As you said, the Creeper had their scent. But anybody watching the movie for the first time wouldn't have known that the Creeper wasn't human, at least not that early in the movie. But the futility of doing the smart thing doesn't take away from the stupidity of doing the dumb thing. And marching straight into the lair of someone you suspect might be a mass murderer, whether the killer is supernatural or not, is a very VERY dumb thing.

And Justin Long's decision to go into the Creeper's lair wasn't compassionate. It was just dumb. The bodies the Creeper was dumping into the drain pipe were obviously dead. Had I seen something like that I would have put my foot to the floor and headed for the nearest police station at top speed. The only way to help the victims of a mass murderer is to bring their killer to justice and put their souls to rest. That's what Justin Long should have tried to do.

I'm not saying I hate the movie. I just hated Justin Long's character. I liked his sister. The character was smart, insisting they go to the police instead of investigating the church. Plus, the actress who played her was hot. But Justin Long was a complete freakin' idiot. Horror movie characters who are that dumb deserve to die, and quickly. Quite frankly, I'm surprised he made it all the way to the end of the movie.

 

[Matt Mortem]

I picked up the Evil Dead blu ray today. The special features are pretty good. I haven't got a chance to watch the film again, but I will tonight.

 

[redhawk23]

I finally got around to checking out Halloween 3: Season of the Witch.

My feelings on the film are mixed. I really appreciate the attempt to turn Halloween into an anthology franchise. The movie keeps the Halloween setting of course but a lot of the feel of the first film is there while telling an unrelated story. This franchise could have been a series of something like Trick R Treat. I wish this had happened as I don't at all understand the appeal of Michael Myers story beyond the first film.

All that said, I don't think Halloween 3 is particularly good. It has some interesting ideas but overall it doesn't really all quite hang together individual elements could have been plaid with and expanded in their own right but are passed over. Other elements just don't work at all. It doesn't really have enough plotwise to sustain itself. It feels like it would have been better off as and episode of the Twilight Zone or as the backdrop for an episode of Buffy.
6/10

 

[The Dark Defender]

And Justin Long's decision to go into the Creeper's lair wasn't compassionate. It was just dumb.

It may have been a dumb decision, his motivation was still compassion though.

I like a stupid but compassionte person better than an intelligent *****ebag.

Whether someone's decisions are smart or not isn't always the most important factor in likability of a character for me.

 

[Matt Mortem]

I don't like dumb characters in movies, but it's hard to have a movie if the lead character says "**** that!" and drives off to safety. Most characters in horror films are just dumb. Really, really dumb.

 

[dark_b]

I'm not saying that the characters would have been safer on the road than in the church. As you said, the Creeper had their scent. But anybody watching the movie for the first time wouldn't have known that the Creeper wasn't human, at least not that early in the movie. But the futility of doing the smart thing doesn't take away from the stupidity of doing the dumb thing. And marching straight into the lair of someone you suspect might be a mass murderer, whether the killer is supernatural or not, is a very VERY dumb thing.

And Justin Long's decision to go into the Creeper's lair wasn't compassionate. It was just dumb. The bodies the Creeper was dumping into the drain pipe were obviously dead. Had I seen something like that I would have put my foot to the floor and headed for the nearest police station at top speed. The only way to help the victims of a mass murderer is to bring their killer to justice and put their souls to rest. That's what Justin Long should have tried to do.

I'm not saying I hate the movie. I just hated Justin Long's character. I liked his sister. The character was smart, insisting they go to the police instead of investigating the church. Plus, the actress who played her was hot. But Justin Long was a complete freakin' idiot. Horror movie characters who are that dumb deserve to die, and quickly. Quite frankly, I'm surprised he made it all the way to the end of the movie.

t:

weeks after i watched Jeepers Creepers i visiting some friends on a farm. nice looking sunset and than i see this

 

[Thundarr]

It may have been a dumb decision, his motivation was still compassion though.

I like a stupid but compassionate person better than an intelligent *****ebag.

Whether someone's decisions are smart or not isn't always the most important factor in likability of a character for me.

It wasn't compassion, it was morbid curiosity. He wanted to see the pile of dead bodies. If one of the bodies was struggling as The Creeper was throwing it into the drainpipe, then it would have been compassionate because he would have been trying to help someone who needed his help. Dead bodies are beyond needing help.

 

[Majik1387]

He wanted to make sure they were dead bodies. Yes it was morbid curiosity, but he couldn't do anything unless he knew for sure. And what happens once he sees everything? They tell the police.

Granted, yes he was stupidly curious and both of them were a bit of annoying know it alls, but they seemed a lot more like realistic characters than the stereotypical victims of most horror movies.