The Evil Dead 1981 Directed by Sam Raimi
Not my nomination, but I do love
The Evil Dead. It's still one of the goriest films I've ever seen. The dark humor doesn't detract from the terrifying, relentless carnage. As you mentioned, the creative cinematography is a highlight. I'm not a fan of the sequels, as they lean too heavily on
Three Stooges-style slapstick, but lots of people prefer them, so definitely give them a watch sometime.
Bambi (1942)
I was surprised by how dark the themes in
Bambi were. I assumed this was a G rated family movie, but in someways it had one of the most disturbing scenes I've ever watched. That would be the hunting scene with little Bambi and his mom
It's still crazy to me that you haven't seen so many of these Disney classics. They've been around so long that I feel like everyone, no matter their age, has grown up with some of them. What type of movies were you watching as a kid? Surely the tragic fate of Bambi's mother wasn't a surprise to you. I feel like that's one of the most universal spoilers that everyone knows, whether they've actually seen the film or not --- kinda like Darth Vader being Luke Skywalker's father. I don't know how I'd respond to
Bambi if I was introduced to it now, and I haven't actually watched it in ages, but I consider it my favorite of the classic-era Disneys. I think I watched the movie so many times at a young, impressionable age that it affected me on a psychological level. My attitudes toward hunting and nature, my fear of abandonment . . . all of that likely stems from
Bambi.
The Blair Witch Project (1999)
I strongly considered this and
Nosferatu the Vampyre before deciding I'd rather force you to watch a singing as*hole. I was very surprised that you hadn't already seen
Blair Witch Project, although I figured you had a reason, like an aversion to found-footage or something. It's such an influential film that I feel it deserves to be seen by anyone interested in horror. Whether or not one finds it scary likely depends on where one was raised. I've lived in rural areas most of my life surrounded by woods, and I've gotten lost in those woods a couple times growing up, and I think
The Blair Witch Project perfectly taps into that vulnerable, disoriented state. I also love the film's ambuiguity. Are the woods truly haunted, or was it just a group of dangerous locals f**king with the filmmakers? That last shot always haunts me. I'm glad you liked the film more than you expected to.