The Tall Man was def the year's biggest letdown for me, horror-wise. So much so that it's caused me to rethink a lot of the stuff I *like* about Martyrs.
― suggest butt (Pillbox), Friday, 26 October 2012 16:09 (eleven years ago) link
xtro's pretty entertaining in a berserk b-movie way, there's something discomforting about its emotionless disregard of the basic requirements for cinematic engagement, it's like a movie made by cyborgs who have never seen a movie before but they did read a book on how to make a movie once
― space dokken (Edward III), Friday, 26 October 2012 16:20 (eleven years ago) link
I bet "Deadgirl" could have been good given a better director and writer. There's a lot of thematic/metaphoric potential, sort of wasted.
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 26 October 2012 16:27 (eleven years ago) link
Also, this would have been really powerful/iconic if it was made and released during the Vietnam era with the likes of "Last House," etc. But now? Just a grisly indie misfire.
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 26 October 2012 16:29 (eleven years ago) link
fighting words
― I'M THE ONLY ON (jjjusten), Friday, 26 October 2012 16:32 (eleven years ago) link
snowtown murders is a horror movie the same way henry:portrait of a serial killer is, but in some ways more bracing and effective. its a cold sad film.
― I'M THE ONLY ON (jjjusten), Friday, 26 October 2012 16:35 (eleven years ago) link
Deadgirl remains in my number one spot for horror movies of the last decade so
― I'M THE ONLY ON (jjjusten), Friday, 26 October 2012 16:36 (eleven years ago) link
Inside for me. I'm boring that way.
― Bobby Ken Doll (Eric H.), Friday, 26 October 2012 16:37 (eleven years ago) link
ha well inside would be prob top 5, def top ten for me.
― I'M THE ONLY ON (jjjusten), Friday, 26 October 2012 16:38 (eleven years ago) link
thats right eric you are also in the "inside is better than martyrs" camp w/me. *clinks glass*
― I'M THE ONLY ON (jjjusten), Friday, 26 October 2012 16:39 (eleven years ago) link
may I join you
― sug ones (omar little), Friday, 26 October 2012 16:43 (eleven years ago) link
Well, Martyrs is still top 5.
― Bobby Ken Doll (Eric H.), Friday, 26 October 2012 16:43 (eleven years ago) link
Pending some viewings of Mr. Hal's Jam.
― Bobby Ken Doll (Eric H.), Friday, 26 October 2012 16:44 (eleven years ago) link
Inside was actually scarier than martyrs, top ten for me too.
― JacobSanders, Friday, 26 October 2012 16:47 (eleven years ago) link
watched Inside a few weeks ago. it was good for that sort of thing, but it made me realize i've gotten a little soft in my old-er age with regards to this extreme gore stuff. i mostly just felt nauseated.
i kinda dug Deadgirl's Gus Vant Sant-esque pretty teen angst vibe, but i don't think i believed anyone's behavior/decisions in it whatsoever.
― circa1916, Friday, 26 October 2012 16:52 (eleven years ago) link
Still waiting for your point-by-point takedown of that Salon article, btw, jjj.
― Bobby Ken Doll (Eric H.), Friday, 26 October 2012 16:53 (eleven years ago) link
emotionless disregard of the basic requirements for cinematic engagement
it's like junk food for your eyes! i think that's why i like it tbh. i don't have to care about anyone or anything, i don't have to be scared or feel like throwing up, i can just enjoy looking at the people (and panthers) doing the things. it's definitely not as good as depalma/cronenberg but there's something similar enough that makes me like it. i dunno. maybe i have terrible taste.
― these albatrosses have no fear of man (La Lechera), Friday, 26 October 2012 16:54 (eleven years ago) link
yeah there's something gruesomely fascinating about xtro but it's not by design. depalma/cronenbeg are always in control of their aesthetics.
deadgirl def one of the better horror movies of the past few years but it didn't tip over into all-time great for me, not sure why. feel like the narrative played it a little too safe, or maybe it was the high school students who look like they've already graduated college. I know those are stupid complaints, maybe I'm partially in agreement w/ josh that these guys had a great concept but executed it in a workmanlike way. still recommend it tho.
― space dokken (Edward III), Friday, 26 October 2012 16:58 (eleven years ago) link
i don't have to care about anyone or anything (...) i can just enjoy looking at the people (and panthers) doing the things.
this! I never worry about whether a movie is making me care about its characters. I think all I care about is atmosphere and vibe, in the end. A movie is an entity looking at me and I'm interested mainly in the feeling I get from it looking at me.
― Miss Anus Regrets (Jon Lewis), Friday, 26 October 2012 17:02 (eleven years ago) link
i mean movies of all kinds are intensely emotional for me but the emotion doesn't derive from the characters or the 'plot'...
― Miss Anus Regrets (Jon Lewis), Friday, 26 October 2012 17:03 (eleven years ago) link
i still think the dude who played the worse (as in most evil) of the two main characters was amazing in it, really bums me out to see him stuck slogging through tons of awful half-assed horror stuff, i was worried that that performance might make him an untouchable and i think thats happened
re: deadgirl
― I'M THE ONLY ON (jjjusten), Friday, 26 October 2012 17:10 (eleven years ago) link
xpost Wow, I am the total opposite. Or at least those things are important to me. A movie doesn't need plot to move me, but a good plot needs more than atmosphere to sell it to me. And I like movies that are mostly atmosphere, or vibe, but if nothing is done well with those things then the absence of character or plot bugs me. Usually to move me a movie needs at least a couple of those things. Otherwise, I'm just looking at a screen. Def. character and plot and writing and acting elevates a movie to greatness ime. Any doof with a camera can get the atmosphere part down.
I thought the evil-er guy in Deadgirl overacted terribly, like Christian Slater in Pump Up the Volume or something. Wish they had more fun with the concept, because teens so pent up they resort to sex with restrained zombies is rife for satire, not so hot played straight. Though to its credit, it's rarely outright ugly and never seemed out strictly to shock.
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 26 October 2012 17:15 (eleven years ago) link
Though I do think the camera/director can be a winning character, as with Jackson or Raimi or whomever.
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 26 October 2012 17:16 (eleven years ago) link
considering the subject matter it could've been wildly offensive but they did get the tone right
xp
― space dokken (Edward III), Friday, 26 October 2012 17:18 (eleven years ago) link
Any doof with a camera can get the atmosphere part down.
can't disagree with you more here
― space dokken (Edward III), Friday, 26 October 2012 17:19 (eleven years ago) link
also never watch an argento film
― space dokken (Edward III), Friday, 26 October 2012 17:20 (eleven years ago) link
Most of the horrors I've watched in the past few months have been oldies.
Quatermass and the Pit - slow-burn classicPrince of Darkness - John Carpenter's final wave to fans before sinking into mediocrity. Curse of the Crimson Alter - stagey, proto-Wicker Man with Christopher Lee, and a cameo role for an 80 year old Boris Karloff, who is actually really good.The Silent House (original) - lots of quietly creeping around in the dark, which had me on edge. But the reveal at the end was a bummer.Shivers - amazing Ballardian body-horror from C-bergz
And a bunch of old Hammer films w recently restored prints on shiny Blu-ray:The Horror of DraculaThe Plague of the ZombiesThe Devil Rides OutThe Reptile - considered a minor work, and formulaic, as most of 'em are, but I enjoyed it immensely.
(And the nu-Hammer: The Woman in Black with Harry Potter, which was crap.)
And I have to give mention to INBRED, as I vaguely know the director, Alex Chandon, who is a good guy. Anyway, Inbred is a fun, shoestring-budgeted splatter film with League of Gentlemen-style black comedy. Check iiiit.
― DavidM, Friday, 26 October 2012 17:23 (eleven years ago) link
ike Christian Slater in Pump Up the Volume Hey now what's wrong with Christian Slater in Pump Up the Volume? I think acting has to be really horrible for bad acting to stand out to me, I hardly ever notice it. I'm easily sold on most movies though.
― JacobSanders, Friday, 26 October 2012 17:24 (eleven years ago) link
I file Argento under "director provides character" a la auteur theory.
I didn't say any doof with a camera can get atmosphere right. Just that it's a lot easier to make something look cool or spooky than make someone a good actor. Which is why you never hear "wow, the acting was so good, and I really cared about the characters, but the sets looked fake."
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 26 October 2012 17:25 (eleven years ago) link
Nothing wrong with Slater in Volume, I guess. HIs overacting style is better on display in Heathers, which was probably a better comparison re: Deadgirl.
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 26 October 2012 17:26 (eleven years ago) link
Acting SUPER matters to me. I'd never diminish that element. But for me acting not necessarily = making me care about the characters...
Curse of the Crimson Alter - stagey, proto-Wicker Man with Christopher Lee, and a cameo role for an 80 year old Boris Karloff, who is actually really good.
The ritual scenes in this were absolutely delicious and perfect. Hern the Hunter!
― Miss Anus Regrets (Jon Lewis), Friday, 26 October 2012 17:29 (eleven years ago) link
"wow, the acting was so good, and I really cared about the characters, but the sets looked fake." This was Aliens for me!
― JacobSanders, Friday, 26 October 2012 17:30 (eleven years ago) link
Shivers - amazing Ballardian body-horror from C-bergz
sometimes I think this is my fave cronenberg, so economical, effective, and disturbing. opening montage is like some crazy gauntlet being thrown down.
― space dokken (Edward III), Friday, 26 October 2012 17:32 (eleven years ago) link
I guess I can tolerate a lot of plot holes (xtro was nothing but plot holes) in the name of eye candy. Why else would I keep looking at the image thread from the horror poll. I just like to idly look at pictures.
For exampleBarbara!! http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ljbhhbdYGb1qz72v7o1_500.jpg
― these albatrosses have no fear of man (La Lechera), Friday, 26 October 2012 17:37 (eleven years ago) link
some of the greatest horror films ever made have terrible acting, cardboard characterizations, clumsy plotting, etc. when done right the cheapness of b-movies can make things more nightmarish and horrific. but you knew this.
― space dokken (Edward III), Friday, 26 October 2012 17:37 (eleven years ago) link
But minus all those things, I have trouble liking b-movies that are outright witless. That's what makes, say, Hammer so awesome. They're campy and cheap but they have style and vision.
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 26 October 2012 17:39 (eleven years ago) link
And décolletage.
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 26 October 2012 17:41 (eleven years ago) link
BTW, I kept thinking of Shivers is a great example of a good concept - sexual panic made literal - done right. Been a while since I saw either, but I want to say "Rabid" did even better with the same general idea.
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 26 October 2012 17:43 (eleven years ago) link
Huh, ignore that gibberish before the word Shivers. Weird.
guys i want to watch so many goddam horror movies this weekend! It hurts! 0_0
― Miss Anus Regrets (Jon Lewis), Friday, 26 October 2012 17:50 (eleven years ago) link
ok I just finally got nauseated by my own dn finally
― this update fixes the following known sugs (Jon Lewis), Friday, 26 October 2012 17:52 (eleven years ago) link
lol
― Bobby Ken Doll (Eric H.), Friday, 26 October 2012 17:53 (eleven years ago) link
rabid's good but shivers is more creepy and claustrophobic, I like the way it gets down to business and then builds to a crescendo, rabid's quotidian finale is haunting but kind of anticlimactic pardon the pun
and while rabid is broader in scope, shivers somehow feels more sprawling, maybe because of the lack of a central character
― space dokken (Edward III), Friday, 26 October 2012 17:56 (eleven years ago) link
I'm making my list today of our horror fest for this weekend, so far it's Apartment 143, Rosemary's Baby and if I can find Amer. Any thought on Ethan Hawke doing horror?
― JacobSanders, Friday, 26 October 2012 17:56 (eleven years ago) link
no ethan hawke no
― space dokken (Edward III), Friday, 26 October 2012 17:57 (eleven years ago) link
you've already ruined shakespeare, julie delphy, and the act of novel writing
― space dokken (Edward III), Friday, 26 October 2012 17:58 (eleven years ago) link
wait are you talking that vampire movie? that was vaguely ok, but not one i would bother to seek out.
― I'M THE ONLY ON (jjjusten), Friday, 26 October 2012 17:59 (eleven years ago) link
think he's talking about sinister not daybreakers but I've been wrong before
― space dokken (Edward III), Friday, 26 October 2012 18:00 (eleven years ago) link
Yeah I was talking about Sinister, I'm not sure if it's out yet, based on a Stephan King short story.
― JacobSanders, Friday, 26 October 2012 18:01 (eleven years ago) link
stephan king, a little known greek horror scribe of the early 1900s
― space dokken (Edward III), Friday, 26 October 2012 18:04 (eleven years ago) link