Re: A scary thing happened on the way to the Movie Forums - Horrorcram
 

With my family and I trying to cram as many hikes in before it gets too much colder, I have been slacking on my horror watching! Only got one film in this weekend - the so-bad-it's-good 80s flick, Witchboard.

Though I'm not as down on Evil Dead 2 as some people are, I prefer its approach by a decent margin. Don't get me wrong about Viy, I like how it starts out with a strong basis in reality as this makes certain scenes in the final act work really well. A lot of what goes on before that, however, contains so many scenes I find dull which don't sit well for me upon rewatches in comparison to the latter scenes. I prefer both Evil Dead 2 and, especially, ED 1, in terms of atmosphere.

Yes, there’s nothing worse than receiving a PM from @Yoda informing me of my latest infraction. (Admittedly, it hasn’t happened for quite some time now.) :D

Fun film, if only for trying to imagine the audience reactions to the last act :D

Re: A scary thing happened on the way to the Movie Forums - Horrorcram
 

I liked Viy but I didn't love it. Same goes for The Tingler. I love Evil Dead II, though.

They'll be running a bunch of great oldies for October. I already DVR'd Twice Told Tales (which I've never seen) and Black Sabbath (which I watched last Halloween but feel a strong need to rewatch.)

"Have you ever heard of Kurgaal? It is a prison below Omsk. Many men have gone there. Few have returned. I have returned. After fifteen years... I have returned."


Legit had chills during this scene. God tier line delivery from the man Bela Lugosi.

I have an inexplicable affinity for movies where characters wander through creepy corridors so I didn't haaaaaate it, but yeah, not nearly enough cool stuff happens. Paganini doesn't even look like he does on the poster!

I don't know if I'm just high off my viewing two days ago and maybe I've been tuning out all the mentions over the years, but this is absolutely a top tier horror movie.



I'm thinking I'm gonna have to squeeze in another Bela/Boris teamup this month.

I watched Boar, about a giant boar terrorizing a small Australian town. Standard monster fare if a bit too leisurely paced. The cast is charming though especially Rictus from Fury Road. I was expecting a bad CG monster but aside from a few shots it’s mostly done with animatronics and puppetry. And for a big animal that’s constantly breaking branches and making grunting noises it sure is good at sneaking up on people.

I also watched Vampires vs The Bronx. So Netflix wanted their own Attack the Block. This was cute.

Ooh! The Body Snatcher.

Dagon -

Not to take away from Forrest and Jenny, but he and H.P. Lovecraft really go together like peas and carrots. Like he did in his other Lovecraft adaptations, Gordon respects the source material without alienating Lovecraft amateurs and makes a movie that is a blast to watch. I like how the slightly fisheye (no pun intended) lens and unsteady camera put you in Marsh's shoes and amplify his confusion and desperation. It helps that Ezra Godden - who was inspired by Harold Lloyd, but he might as well have been channeling Gordon muse Jeffrey Combs - is so expressive. I was also impressed with Francisco Rabal (R.I.P). and Macarena Gómez as Paul's would-be mate Uxia, who made her feature-film debut in this movie and has deservedly had a successful career since. Not to mention, if you also enjoy Gordon's movies for their laughs as much as their scares, you'll find them here, especially during a scene with a not-so-responsive innkeeper and the reveal of Uxia's...umm...condition. The production does not have a huge budget, and while some of the special effects like the underwater scenes and the one in the flooded house hold up, others are as shoddy as ones in the typical SyFy original movie. Also, Gordon's more perverse tendencies are often a boon - see Re-Animator and Castle Freak - but they do not always work in this movie's favor. It's still as enjoyable as the typical Gordon movie and is bound to please those who are new to or familiar with his or Lovecraft's work. Just be warned that you may be compelled to cancel any upcoming lake or beach trips after you watch it.

Dug that one when I saw it a few years ago, might be due for a rewatch. Boris really got under my skin in that one.

some thoughts:

For Karloff and Lugosi going head-to-head I'd go with The Raven ('34) or The Invisible Ray, which is more sci-fi than horror but still kinda cool.

Body Snatcher: Probably my favorite Karloff role, but Bela is stuck with a too-minor character. (watch it anyway!)
Son of Frankenstein: Probably my favorite Lugosi role, but Karloff's monster is reduced to a mute zombie. (watch it anyway!)
Black Friday is a gangster film which I've seen multiple times but can't remember any of it to save my life.

https://youtu.be/U3qGwCPKhdI

Well this is a helluva thing! By far the goriest thing I've ever seen from the 1930s. (from Italy, natch) I feel like this needs to be way more famous/infamous.

It's silent and 12 minutes long so for those not familiar with Poe's short story this may be hard to follow. Short version: Dying man agrees to be hypnotized at the moment of death in an attempt to forestall his demise, but there's an unforeseen glitch in the plan. Those of you who've read it know what's coming but I was not prepared for how gruesome this was going to be. Or for the camera to just stay on it in closeup. This must have traumatized some folks back in the day.

Also lots of wacky lighting and dutch angles which I'm always up for.

I think it might be the best performance of his career.

I agree in both cases, but any time I get a chance to recommend The Body Snatcher, I do.
And I love that the guy who directed it also did The Sound Of Music and Star Trek: The Motion Picture. (The historic masterpiece, West Side Story, aside, because it's not as funny as the tBS/TSoM/Star Trek triple-shot.)

Re: A scary thing happened on the way to the Movie Forums - Horrorcram
 

Black Sabbath - Watched this just last year around this time but felt the pull to re-watch, I suppose because of Mario Bava's involvement. It's an anthology and starts out with my #2 The Drop of Water, about a nurse that steals a dead medium's property and ends up paying for it. Then there's my 3rd ranked The Telephone about a woman receiving mysterious phone calls from someone she thought was dead. The last one and my favorite is The Wurdalak, (which incidentally is now my favorite vampire moniker over stuff like der Vampyr, the undead, ghoul, bloodsucker or Mitch McConnell). Boris Karloff plays the patriarch of an 1800's Russian family who sets out to kill a local bandit that's been terrorizing the countryside. He's rumored to be a Wurdalak and when Karloff shows up at their home after five days they know somethings up. I'd like to check out the Bava's original Italian version. 80/100

This is the correct ranking. :yup:👍

Just wandered in from the cold. Just another hungry transient thrown out into the street by Uncle Corrie.


Can I enter and have a bowl of soup?

I just read a piece of research that suggested Sinister is ‘objectively’ the scariest film of all time, because it elicited the strongest physiological response. It’s said to be on account of the jump scares and the soundtrack with heavy beats. I do remember it being reasonably disturbing, if average in terms of narrative. Still, rather odd, huh?

That film has an unusually large fanbase. I thought it was pretty basic run of the mill horror.

Yeah, likewise.

Re: A scary thing happened on the way to the Movie Forums - Horrorcram
 

Yeah, same here. I would say the same about many of those "recent" horror thrillers like The Conjuring and Insidious, which I usually get mixed up.

James Wan directed both so it makes sense people might mix them up. I love The Conjuring movies and thought Insidious was a decent attempt at shaking things up a bit.

Re: A scary thing happened on the way to the Movie Forums - Horrorcram
 

I *hated* Insidious. However, I don't remember anything about The Conjuring other than it stars Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson (who was also in Insidious!)

Re: A scary thing happened on the way to the Movie Forums - Horrorcram
 

I will sit out the James Wan conversation.

*twiddles thumbs anxiously*

That means you're a huge fan of him, right?

Re: A scary thing happened on the way to the Movie Forums - Horrorcram
 

I'd consider myself a fan of his. Always look forward to what he has to offer in the horror genre. Same with Mike Flanagan, Ari Aster and Robert Eggers.

Neil Marshall needs a rebound after the latest Hellboy movie.

Man I keep forgetting this even exists. I haven't heard anything good but I still intend to watch it one of these days, just cause I'm loyal that way.

I hated that film, disgrace to the original Hellboy movie and comics.

Re: A scary thing happened on the way to the Movie Forums - Horrorcram
 

Wan is hit and miss for me. Pretty sure he was behind the first Saw flick, which I abhor. That said, The Conjuring was definitely a step up for him. I think it says quite a bit about contemporary horror when a guy like Wan manages to up his quality considerably by reverting to style and technique from the 70s...

You must have really been underwhelmed by Wurdalak because I thought Telephone came off a bit too generic. That's why I want to see the original Italian version. From what I've read the studio really messed with it and turned it into just another stalker story, albeit one of the first.

No, I meant I agree with your rankings. Wurdalak is my favorite thing ever.

:blush: Whoops. My bad.

I haven't seen it since it first came out (2001?), but I felt pretty much the same way.

I wonder if those responses were short or long term. Yes, if you make me jump my heart rate might go up for a few minutes. The same thing is true when I trip over a stray walnut in the dark--doesn't mean it's an expertly crafted scare. I hardly remember The Conjuring, a film that placed very high on the list. To me, a scary movie is the one that I'm thinking about a month after watching it.

I was under the impression it was short-term response, including during the viewing itself. I don’t think the heart rate would apply for long-term. I appreciate it’s a myopic way of judging response, but for me, a spiked heart rate from a film would be a pretty big deal - and that’s exactly what I seem to remember from Sinister, especially when the entity’s face suddenly appears in videos or moves in drawings/photos. Anyway, while I understand that, I’d never in a million years place Sinister at the top of the list.

I’m with you a 100% on that. I quite like The Conjuring and feel it’s very stylish, but it doesn’t feel like a horror film to me - and I definitely don’t think back to it unless I’m in a thread like this one.

I think I finally cracked why Crumbsroom feels the way he does about The Conjuring.






Crumbsroom: "Popcorn, I'm depressed. No movie seems scary anymore."

Popcorn Reviews: "Treatment is simple. Great director James Wan is in town tonight. Go and see his new scary movie. That should pick you up."

Crumbsroom: "But Popcorn...I am James Wan!"

There's a pretty good Baba Yaga scene and Milla Jovovich is fun. Not a great movie and reeks of obvious studio interference, but with my extremely lowered expectations I didn't mind it.

Sold

Re: A scary thing happened on the way to the Movie Forums - Horrorcram
 

I watched Mohawk. A couple streaming services labeled this as horror but it’s more of a cat and mouse thriller. In this, Americans are portrayed as the villains while Native Americans and the British are heroes during the War of 1812, which I’ve never seen before. It makes do with its modest budget and mostly succeeds in what it’s trying to do.

I also watched Tremors Shrieker Island. My undying love for the first film means I’m destined to watch as many terrible sequels as they churn out. This one actually felt like it had a budget and a vision after the dreadful ****ing ice movie that was the last one. Otherwise it’s more of the same.

Woah, there's a new Tremors movie out? I'm like you, I've seen every single one. Even the Jamie Kennedy ones. As long as Michael Gross is in it I'll keep watching.

That's very funny because, when I panned that film over on the Corrierino last year, one of my issues was actually how it had been built up as this incredibly scary movie and how it failed to deliver on that.
And people said, "Well where did you hear that? I don't remember hearing that so that's not a fair point." And here you are.
Yes, it is one of the jump-scare heaviest horror movies I've seen with the music stabs and all, but that didn't amount to much for me and it certainly didn't scare me. Especially with the villain looking like somebody from Slipknot.

Sinister would have been a lot better if it hadn't so aggressively **** its bed at the end.


And to think that people used to complain about Argento's landings. :suspicious:

Rewatched this one over the summer. Roeg is an unsung master.

I think you’re both right, @Jinnistan and @Wooley, I seem to remember it was way overhyped - it was probably the only time I’ve seen the R-rating actually enforced, IDs and all. I do feel that with horror you do very rarely get films that are both hyped and deliver. Hereditary was being sold as the ‘scariest’ film to date, and few would argue that it’s not at least creepy and well-constructed, narrative-wise.

In regards to Don't Look Now, I've seen it now maybe four or five times, and I don't think I've ever once had the exact same impression of it. It has the good taste to not latch itself onto any one emotional state. It seems to shape shift along with my own personal moods, even while it always remains objectively the same film.

Many of us are still traumatized with our efforts at our RT 100 Greatest Films and 100 Greatest Horror threads being flushed down the toilet. And even with Rockatansky unearthing the latter at Corrie, now being flushed twice.


But I'd rather light a candle than curse the darkness. Even though there's a number of quibbles I personally have with the final results, for posterity, and comparison, here's the final tally of our Horror list:


100. Trick 'r' Treat
99. Interview with the Vampire
98. Cemetery Man
97. Tremors
96-95 (tie). Onibaba/Ghostbusters
94. Possession
93. Ringu
92. Zombieland
91. The Vanishing (88)
90. The Host
89. The Ring (02)
88-87 (tie) Lake Mungo/Martin
86. The Abominable Dr. Phibes
85. The Invisible Man (33)
84. Drag Me To Hell
83-82 (tie) Misery/The Sixth Sense
81. Gremlins
80. The Cabin in the Woods
79. [REC]
78. Black Sunday (60)
77. The Thing From Another World
76-75 (tie) King Kong (33)/Dawn of the Dead (04)
74-72 (tie) The Babadook/Fright Night (85)/Videodrome
71. Creepshow
70. Haxan
69-68 (tie). The Devil's Backbone/Nosferatu (79)
67. Curse of the Demon
66. Repulsion
65. Army of Darkness
64. House (77)
63. Predator
62. I Walked with a Zombie
61. The Lost Boys
60. Triangle
59. Brain Dead (Dead Alive)
58. Christine
57. Godzilla (54)
56. The Fog (80)
55. Cat People (42)
54. Don't Look Now
53. Candyman
52. Aliens
51. From Dusk Till Dawn
50. Dracula (31)
49. Kwaidan
48. Horror of Dracula
47. Vampyr
46. Peeping Tom
45. Hellraiser
44. Se7en
43. The Innocents (60)
42. The Phantom of the Opera (25)
41. The Blair Witch Project
40. Carrie (76)
39. The Haunting (63)
38. The Descent
37. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
36. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (56)
35. The Bride of Frankenstein
34. The Omen (76)
33. The Wicker Man (73)
32. The Birds
31. Scream
30. Re-animator
29. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (78)
28. Eyes Without a Face
27. The Return of the Living Dead
26. Black Christmas (74)
25. The Evil Dead
24. 28 Days Later
23. Suspiria (77)
22. Freaks
21. Let the Right One In
20. Shaun of the Dead
19. Poltergeist (82)
18. Evil Dead II
17. Nosferatu (22)
16. A Nightmare on Elm Street (84)
15. Dawn of the Dead (78)
14. The Fly (86)
13. Rosemary's Baby
12. Frankenstein (31)
11. An American Werewolf in London
10. The Silence of the Lambs
9. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
8. Night of the Living Dead (68)
7. The Shining
6. Halloween (78)
5. Jaws
4. The Exorcist
3. The Thing (82)
2. Psycho (60)
1. Alien

I am happy to report that I saved the Rotten Tomatoes 100 Greatest Films list. I even saved the days on which they were posted! Thankfully, I didn't save my odd and pretentious thoughts on Apocalypse Now, which make mention of the Blue-Footed booby for some reason (don't ask).

While this is off-topic, here's the list anyway:

~~ DAY THREE ~~

1. 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968)
2. Apocalypse Now (Francis Ford Coppola, 1979)
3. The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972)
4. Rear Window (Alfred Hitchcock, 1954)
5. Mulholland Dr. (David Lynch, 2001)
6. Raiders of the Lost Ark (Steven Spielberg, 1981)
7. Jaws (Steven Spielberg, 1975)
8. Taxi Driver (Martin Scorsese, 1976)
9. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (Sergio Leone, 1966)
10. Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1942)

11. Alien (Ridley Scott, 1979)
12. Goodfellas (Martin Scorsese, 1976)
13. Vertigo (Alfred Hitchcock, 1958)
14. The Third Man (Carol Reed, 1949)
15. Lawrence of Arabia (David Lean, 1962)
16. The Fellowship of the Ring (Peter Jackson, 2001)
17. There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2007)
18. Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 1994)
19. Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)
20. The Shining (Stanley Kubrick, 1980)

~~ DAY TWO ~~

21. Dr. Strangelove (Stanley Kubrick, 1964)
22. Blade Runner (Ridley Scott, 1982)
23. A Clockwork Orange (Stanley Kubrick, 1971)
24. The Empire Strikes Back (Irvin Kershner, 1980)
25. The Godfather Part II (Francis Ford Coppola, 1974)
26. Citizen Kane (Orson Welles, 1941)
27. Fargo (The Coen Brothers, 1996)
28. 12 Angry Men (Sidney Lumet, 1957)
29. Stalker (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1979)
30. The Seven Samurai (Akira Kurosawa, 1954)

31. The Shawshank Redemption (Frank Darabont, 1994)
32. No Country for Old Men (The Coen Brothers, 2007)
33. Back to the Future (Robert Zemeckis, 1985)
34. 8 1/2 (Federico Fellini, 1963)
35. The Seventh Seal (Ingmar Bergman, 1957)
36. The Big Lebowski (The Coen Brothers, 1997)
37. The Passion of Joan of Arc (Carl Theodor Dreyer, 1928)
38. Schindler's List (Steven Spielberg, 1993)
39. Once Upon a Time in the West (Sergio Leone, 1968)
40. The Assassination of Jesse James... (Andrew Dominik, 2007)

41. Chinatown (Roman Polanski, 1974)
42. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (James Cameron, 1991)
43. The Thing (John Carpenter, 1982)
44. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (Jones & Gilliam, 1975)
45. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry, 2004)
46. City Lights (Charles Chaplin, 1931)
47. On the Waterfront (Elia Kazan, 1954)
48. Persona (Ingmar Bergman, 1966)
49. The Silence of the Lambs (Jonathan Demme, 1991)
50. Sunset Blvd. (Billy Wilder, 1950)

~~ DAY ONE ~~

51. Memento (Christopher Nolan, 2000)
52. Raging Bull (Martin Scorsese, 1980)
53. L. A. Confidential (Curtis Hanson, 1997)
54. Rashomon (Akira Kurosawa, 1950)
55. Blue Velvet (David Lynch, 1986)
56. Eyes Wide Shut (Stanley Kubrick, 1999)
57. Seven (David Fincher, 1995)
58. The Tree of Life (Terrence Malick, 2011)
59. Pan's Labyrinth (Guillermo del Toro, 2006)
60. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (Milos Forman, 1975)

61. Paris, Texas (Wim Wenders, 1984)
62. M (Fritz Lang, 1931)
63. Aguirre the Wrath of God (Werner Herzog, 1972)
64. Aliens (James Cameron, 1986)
65. Children of Men (Alfonso Cuaron, 2006)
66. Shaun of the Dead (Edgar Wright, 2004)
67. Boogie Nights (Paul Thomas Anderson, 1997)
68. Drive (Nicolas Winding Refn, 2011)
69. Barry Lyndon (Stanley Kubrick, 1975)
70. Heat (Michael Mann, 1995)

71. The Wizard of Oz (Victor Fleming, 1939)
72. Die Hard (John McTiernan, 1988)
73. F for Fake (Orson Welles, 1973)
74. The Matrix (The Wachowskis, 1999)
75. The Graduate (Mike Nichols, 1975)

76. Once Upon a Time in America (Sergio Leone, 1984)
77. Amadeus (Milos Forman, 1984)
78. The Thin Red Line (Terrence Malick, 1998)
79. Double Indemnity (Billy Wilder, 1944)
80. Bicycle Thieves (Vittorio de Sica, 1948)

81. Fight Club (David Fincher, 1999)
82. Sunrise (F. W. Murnau, 1927)
83. La Dolce Vita (Federico Fellini, 1960)
84. Touch of Evil (Orson Welles, 1958)
85. American Beauty (Sam Mendes, 1999)
86. Days of Heaven (Terrence Malick, 1978))
87. Brazil (Terry Gilliam, 1984)
88. Network (Sidney Lumet, 1976)
89. The Dark Knight (Christopher Nolan, 2008)
90. Amelie (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2001)

91. Requiem for a Dream (Darren Aronofsky, 2000)
92. Star Wars (George Lucas, 1977)
93. Ikiru (Akira Kurosawa, 1952)
94a. Annie Hall (Woody Allen, 1977)
94b. Spirited Away (Hiyao Miyazaki, 2001)
96. Metropolis (Fritz Lang, 1927)
97. Unforgiven (Clint Eastwood, 1992)
98. Rosemary's Baby (Roman Polanski, 1968)
99. Three Colors: Red (Kyrzysztof Kieslowski, 1994)
100. The Red Shoes (Powell & Pressburger, 1948)

I actually thought both of those films were significantly better than Sinister, which was a real disappointment to me.

Only just checked this thread and realised it was being used for general horror purposes, so I guess I'll just drop a quick run-down on everything I've seen this October. Blue for new, red for repeats...

Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 - On some level, I have to respect the audacity of following up a groundbreaking film with an aggressively conventional sequel, but that doesn't mean it's good.

C.H.U.D. - Not without its low-rent charm (especially the '80s New York location shooting), but I didn't care for it.

Cube 2: Hypercube - I'm kind of a sucker for how this messes around with time and space, but beyond that it's a pale imitation of its predecessor.

The Descent - On the one hand, effective use of claustrophobia and monsters. On the other, pretty unsatisfying on a plot/character level. I'm calling it a wash.

The Devil's Candy - You'd think it would be easy to mash up metal with horror, and yet...

Eaten Alive - I know I shouldn't expect every Hooper film to match TCSM but man, when he misses, he misses.

Evil Dead II - "Groovy."

Exorcist II: The Heretic As far as "worst movies ever" go, you can do much worse. Still not much to recommend about it, though.

The Fog (2005) - Easily the worst Carpenter remake to date. At least when Rob Zombie changed up Halloween, he did it with purpose.

The Fury - DePalma overextends himself by trying to mash up Carrie with more Hitchcockian material. Not enough psychic explosions.

Galaxy of Terror - Corman-produced Alien knock-off. At least it's not boring.

The Girl With All The Gifts - The Last of Us? Never heard of it. Still novel enough.

The New Mutants - Maybe there's a way to make a superhero-themed horror movie that works, but this ain't it.

Nightmare Beach - Very Italian, for better and for worse.

A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010) - Dour, ugly, and unimaginative. The Halloween remake is looking better all the time.

Petey Wheatstraw - Dolemite goes to hell and meets the devil. Hilarity ensues (if not necessarily fear).

Saw II - An excellent reminder why I wasn't bothering to keep up with this franchise.

Shadow of the Vampire - Huh, turns out that high concept isn't that interesting. Still gets by on performances, though.

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre - Hooper was always the best with the saw.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 - Maybe one of the best "part two" movies in horror. Also has a chainsaw duel 32 years before Mandy.

Thinner - Exists at that weird spot where the threat is at once too ridiculous to take seriously and too serious to laugh at, so...*shrug*

When A Stranger Calls (1976) - Very surprised that the whole movie does not take place inside the house, which is a shame because that's the only good part of the movie.

Wishmaster - Reads like off-brand Hellraiser with its demonic villain and penchant for gore, but at least it knows how to have fun with itself.

Wishmaster 2: Evil Never Dies - A tangibly inferior sequel in just about every way, though not without its moments.

Argento lands?

*chimp-stab*

You've mentioned the editing, and Roeg has both a signature editing style and one of the most experimental, and I agree with admiring the way the quick cuts in this film directly reflect the psychological repression of trauma.


(Also, the rumor is that it was the love scene here which made Warren Beatty break-up wih Julie Christie. Why is it always the most promiscuous men who are also the most jealous?)

Never thought we’re very likely to agree on a rating, but I second that a 100%, a surprisingly solid sequel.

Re: A scary thing happened on the way to the Movie Forums - Horrorcram
 

It's an undeniable film.

I'm actually questioning now if I ever saw The Conjuring. It's all a blur.

"Undeniably a film." - greatest poster quote of all time.

Sounds like a pretty accurate summation of the film.

This remains one of the worst films I've ever seen. I mean, I'm a fan of the original, but I doubt that I'd think any different even if I wasn't.

I'm a fan of this. To me, it's one of the best horror films of the last 20 years.


*sigh* This, and the couple of responses you got for this, is what makes me wonder if there's something wrong with me. Didn't like it, didn't like the first one, and didn't like Drag Me to Hell. What can I say?


This is another one we agree. I have some respect for the first one, and I think it's pretty solid. Even if the premise doesn't hold up to much scrutiny, it did caught me by surprise. But everything went downhill after that. I quit after the third one.

I agree, but like you say, it's worth a watch just for the crazy premise and Malkovich/Dafoe.


Agree on both. TCM is my favorite horror film.

78/100 seen.

100/100

*takes self satisfied bite out of apple*

*spits out apple because apples are awful*

First, you dislike James Wan and now you dislike applies? You're cancelled for sure now!

I'm a complicated guy.

Well, at the very least, we can agree on Don't Look Now, I suppose, so I won't cancel you then. I'll cancel the cancel.

I don't like Evil Dead 2 either (or Drag Me to Hell) so it's not only you. Though I must admit that I still like the first Evil Dead.

Re: A scary thing happened on the way to the Movie Forums - Horrorcram
 

Like the line goes, you can be the tastiest peach in the world and there will always be people who hate peaches.

RE: The greatest films list above:

89/100 Seen

That said, That list has some seriously odd stuff going on. Unforgiven all the way up at 97, with chaff like Refn's Drive ahead of it. Also, Chinatown all the way down at 41? That a serious violation. Towne's script is pretty much perfect, the performances are all legendary, and the twist and ending don't even think about copping out. I would complain if Chinatown didn't make the Top 10, but man, down in the 40s???

Back to Unforgiven for a second... 97th? I demand an explanation immediately! ;)

Either there was a targeted conspiracy against Westerns in general, or a serious deficit in the taste of the voting group for that film to place that low. Again, one of the best scripts ever written, IMO. Top notch performances from screen legends like Gene Hackman, stellar cinematography, a memorable score...

Meanwhile, Anderson's Boogie Nights is 30 slots ahead of it. Shameful! ;)

Anyway, if you haven't already, make sure to check out the Lists section here on the site.

Re: A scary thing happened on the way to the Movie Forums - Horrorcram
 

Let the record show that I did not participate in any of those lists, mostly because my brain is incapable of ranking more than 5 items at a time. Anything over 3 is a struggle.

That RT All-Time 100 list was assembled in 2013. 15 to 30 of us sent lists of at least 25 of our favorite movies to the guy running the project, he did some complex mathematics and there you have it.

As for Drive's high placement, it's likely a combination of it having come out a couple years earlier and the hype being fresh; also, a sub-group in the forum really, really liked that movie to a disturbing, cult following level.

Christine is a movie about a car that hardly asks you to think further than a souped-up car analogy when talking about it. It just sits there gleaming a fab cherry-red under the show lights, leaving even those not so car inclined to remark—”Oooh, shiny”. A quick look under the hood may reveal its engine to be nothing but a possum nest, but that’s okay. It doesn’t actually have to go anywhere special. You know its destination so well, you may as well just walk to it yourself.

John Carpenter is all too aware of this. Seeming to know that his audience is likely to be a few interstate turnoffs ahead of the plotting of Stephen King’s demon car fable, he will only bother to point out a few things of note as we quickly roll past. He assumes we can recognize them, even from a distance. Look, a Nerd! He’s buying a car! But it’s an evil car! Watch as their fates becomes intertwined, and he gets the girl and all of his enemies get chased through the street. Carpenter seems to know there is little need to get too much into Arnie Cunningham’s transition from lunch bag dork into evil Danny Zuko greaser. It is made clear the moment his eyes locked on Christines smashed headlights he was done for. As soon as Arnie pops his jacket collar and curls his lip, the audience knows he is gone for good.

While the film treats many of its plot points as little more than landmarks to show its audience we are still on the road to the expected conclusion, these fleeting glimpses we get of Arnie’s world are still vivid enough to work their spell. When bullying is required, all manner of local toughs have a shop class to shake their unkempt locks and practice their switchblading in. When we need to get a sense that home is no salvation, a chain-smoking mother is there to kick Arnie out for daring to have a teenage attitude. And when Arnie’s behavior becomes legally questionable, Harry Dean Stanton offers himself up to shamble around for a few scenes and pretend he’s investigating something. He’s got a rumpled suit and a cigarette, and this is all we will need to know that he means business. Appearances are, after all, everything in Christine.

It really will hardly matter that none of these subplots are ever dealt with much beyond the most surface details. And do they really need to be?. While much of the film may ring emotionally hollow, we always have a gleaming red Plymouth Fury sitting in the center of the film, engine purring and indestructible. Who needs to see the home lives of bullies, or the fall out of domestic battles or whether or not the detectives actually have anything on Arnie beyond goofy speculation of where he buys his car paint? These serious matters are not the kind of youthful currency this film is peddling. Christine only ever promises that Arnie will be seen. And we, as an audience complete this pact by watching him. Who cares if nothing here surprises us. Christine makes a great case for indefinite idling. For looking good while going nowhere.

Sounds very similar to the process we use here for our Top 100s. I presume it is fairly similar on various forums around the 'net, however few of those there may be left at this point.

Re: The RT 100 List, I've seen 87, so yay!

These are the ones I haven't seen, so let's see who can sell them to me :D

37. The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)
46. City Lights (1931)
61. Paris, Texas (1984)
73. F for Fake (1973)
81. Bicycle Thieves (1948)
82. Sunrise (1927)
83. La Dolce Vita (1960)
84. Touch of Evil (1958)
86. Days of Heaven (1978)
87. Brazil (1984)
93. Ikiru (1952)
99. Three Colors: Red (1994)
100. The Red Shoes (1948)


Seriously speaking, most of them are on my watchlists, but I just haven't gotten to them for whatever reasons. Joan of Arc in particular is one that I'm looking forward to.

Yeah I had no idea either until someone posted a review in a Facebook group yesterday. That’s not how I like learning about new Tremors movies :D Anyway this one has Jon Heder instead of Jamie Kennedy. It’s on Netflix.

I've seen the bolded ones. Honestly, I think all of those are essential watches. City Lights and Touch of Evil are my favorites from that bunch.

Run, don't walk to see Brazil. Make sure it's the directors cut, and not the garbage theatrical cut.

Re: A scary thing happened on the way to the Movie Forums - Horrorcram
 

Just quickly, folks:

To add a popcorn box rating to a review/mini-review etc.

Use the following Code, but remove the asterisks:

[rating*]3_5[/rating*]

That would assign a three and a half box rating out of 5. Simply alter the number in the middle to adjust your rating.

Carry on!

If I were to rank those I haven't seen in order of how much I want to see them, it would be...

1. The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)
2. Sunrise (1927)
3. Touch of Evil (1958)
4. Brazil (1984)
5. Ikiru (1952)

So yeah, I need to get on that. I think there are several cuts, right? I know the TC is a no-no, but the DC should be the one?

Stephen King wrote a book called The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon. Well, I am The Guy Who Loves Stuart Gordon (R.I.P.).

I posted my Dagon review a while back. Here are few more reviews of his movies that I've written:

From Beyond -

Like Stuart Gordon's preceding movie, Re-Animator, From Beyond is about scientists playing with the laws of nature who don't realize the consequences of their actions until it's too late. Re-Animator vets Jeffrey Combs as the more skeptical scientist and Barbara Crampton as his psychiatrist are in their prime. You could say the same about the creature effects of Nightmare on Elm Street vet Mark Shostrom, which are easily on par with Rick Baker and Rob Bottin's work. It's not a classic like Re-Animator and the ending is a little too pat, not to mention employs an oft-parodied cliché than dilutes its tension. Even so, it deserves credit for being full-fledged and filler-free in spite of being borne from a short story that is only 7 pages long.

Dolls -

While Stuart Gordon's Re-Animator and From Beyond have been heaped with praise, and rightly so, Dolls is arguably on par with them. It has all the qualities that have made Gordon's preceding movies endure, including an artisanal, handcrafted look and feel, strong performances from the entire cast and scares that give you chills and make you laugh at their audacity. Speaking of the cast, the standouts are Carolyn Purdy-Gordon, who makes Rosemary equally loathsome and funny and Stephen Lee as Judy's childlike ally Ralph. All the same, Carrie Lorraine - who actually resembles a doll herself - is the MVP for how well she expresses her desire to be understood, and well, parented. Also, the handcrafted quality I mentioned is most evident in the doll effects, which thankfully avoid the uncanny valley that typically mars horror movies like this one. The movie is also valuable as a cultural artifact for how it depicts what got on people's nerves during the late '80s: in addition to Judy's yuppie parents, the Hartwickes' cadre of uninvited guests include a pair of punk rockers. Some of the worldbuilding is confusing, and while that may be on purpose, it took me out of the movie a few times, and Mr. Hartwicke's moralizing at the end seems redundant. Regardless, it's still a very entertaining and thoughtful exploration of the fear of your toys coming to life and the possibly even worse fear of your parents never or never desiring to understand you.

Castle Freak -

This Stuart Gordon horror yarn is about the American Reilly family - John (the legendary Jeffrey Combs), Susan (Barbara Crampton) and their blind daughter Rebecca (Jessica Dollarhide) - who inherit a castle in Italy. Already damaged by a death in the family and John's alcoholism, an uninvited guest in the castle's basement makes matters even worse. While not a classic like Stuart Gordon's Re-Animator, it's still a very satisfying entry in his filmography, mostly because of the castle's creepy vibe, the freak's unnerving depravity, the father's Jack Torrance-like volatility and the Reilly family's foreign alienation. Also, Combs once again proves that he's one of the best horror actors in the business.

My Stuart Gordon rankings:

1. Re-Animator
2. Dolls
3. From Beyond
4. Dagon
5. Castle Freak
6. Edmond

I hope to see the rest of his movies some day, especially Fortress, King of the Ants and Robot Jox (which is completely unavailable, apparently).

What! Touch of Evil deserves better! But at least it beat Brazil on your list...

Aw, no City Lights? :(

37. The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) - dude.
46. City Lights (1931) - duuuude!
84. Touch of Evil (1958) - DUDE!?

Just make sure to avoid the shorter "Love Conquers All" version that hit theaters back then. If I recall, there are two other cuts floating around, one European and one American, but they are quite similar. I have the Criterion Edition, and am not at home right now to check exactly which of the longer cuts it contains.

The Godfather Part I and II and Psycho are my biggest blind spots in cinema. However, I plan to watch Psycho at the end of this month, so I'm slowly righting my wrongs.

DUUUDEE!!

Seriously, though, I saw my first Kurosawa (Yojimbo) in 2013, and my second Kurosawa (Rashomon) in 2018, so I'm not that far away (I've seen four already, so you can catch me easily).

So I decided to check which films from the aforementioned lists I hadn't seen. First, the horror one...

Trick 'r' Treat
Cemetery Man
Lake Mungo
The Abominable Dr. Phibes
The Thing From Another World
Curse of the Demon
Triangle
The Phantom of the Opera (25)
The Bride of Frankenstein

Then the general one...

F for Fake

Not too bad, I guess.

Shame.

SHAME!

SHAAAAMMMMMMEEEEEEEE!!!!

(You will LOVE The Red Shoes, and I wager you'll also be a big fan of Passion of Joan of Arc)

Lake Mungo is one of my all time favorites. I think that it borders more on a supernatural thriller/drama, but I'm in love with its pace and how well it executes the beats and look of a documentary.

Curse of the Demon is a more recent watch for me (the last two years or so) and it's easily become one of my favorites. I love the look of it and especially the finale.

I missed Assassination of Jesse James. That's another one I haven't seen.

I love horror. I love drag.

I've previously given a shoutout to horror-drag competition Dragula, mostly to a response of *crickets*.

But if you are a fan, Dragula: Resurrection just came out on Shudder. (If you haven't watched the show before, I'd recommend season 2 as a good starting point--I think they are on Netflix).

If you enjoy learning about costumes and/or effects, this is highly recommended. Not only is there an interesting conversation about the role of marginalized populations (people of color, gay/lesbian people, trans people) within horror, there are some cool looks at how they create the costumes and effects for their shows.

I also really enjoy the different interpretations of the themes, such as witches, ghosts, a haunted Old West town, or even a Cenobite-themed show.

I rewatched Requiem For a Dream (which isn't strictly a horror movie, but is still terrifying) yesterday and man, it hasn't aged a bit. It still scares me more than most horror films I've seen. With this viewing, I think I figured out what makes it work so well, which is its enormous level of craft. Aronofsky scares you in so many ways with such an immense variety of editing/camera/lighting techniques which occur one after another that my experience watching it was akin to a complete assault on my senses.

I guess in keeping with the general conversation, what do you consider your horror "blindspots", if you have any?

The ones I hear about most often but haven't seen are:

Rosemary's Baby
King Kong
The Fly
Day of the Dead
The Wolf Man
Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer

And then a whole slew of 60s titles like Masque of the Red Death.

Re: A scary thing happened on the way to the Movie Forums - Horrorcram
 

Using the RT horror list posted upthread as a guide:

1) Psycho
2) A Nightmare on Elm Street
3) Poltergeist
4) Let the Right One In
5) Eyes Without a Face
6) Scream
7) The Wicker Man
8) The Omen
9) The Haunting
10) The Phantom of the Opera

Psycho and Poltergeist, however, are on my watchlist for this month though.

Re: A scary thing happened on the way to the Movie Forums - Horrorcram
 

First two that come to mind are Kuroneko and Onibaba

Um...Mad Love?


Err...probably a few of the better Hammer films

I grew up a big fan of Gordon, and thought Robot Jox was his worst movie as a teen; boring and too family friendly from what I remember. If wikipedia is to be believed, I wish Joe Haldeman had gotten his way with the script. I liked Gordon's more customarily pulpy sci-fi movie Space Truckers much better. The humor falls flat, but it at least has his trashy fun style. And Fortress is still a schlocky favorite of mine, head and shoulders above the former two.:)

His Masters of Horror episodes, Pit and the Pendulum, and Stuck are decent from what I remember, but it's been a while. I was lukewarm on King of the Ants, but it's aptly bizarre and violent. I still seek Daughter of Darkness.

Based on this and a couple of your posts in the 'Rate...' thread, you've got good taste. :D Welcome to the forum.

Yeah, everybody get mad at Thief for not having seen The Passion of Joan of Arc. Truly the worst thing any of us have said about that movie...


:shifty: *nervously tugs collar*

...does anyone else want to tell him, or should I?

https://i.ibb.co/jDvymFg/biggrin.gifCouldn't agree with you more, man (although I do like Drive a lot, while I'm on the subject here).