I know and understand the 'there's nothing really special about Friday 13th' but at the time this is big stuff. The body count is high (for the time), it had a backstory and a history but, more than that, I think it's the first slasher which has innocent victims paying for the supposed crimes of others. They're not even related, either. This isn't sins of the father stuff, this is sins of people who once had the same job you did.
That's a good point, Honey, I'd never thought of that before. I also have to remind myself that at the time, it was also a whodunit just as much as it was a slasher film!
MM will be pissed at this one but yeah, this Spanish chiller put found footage horrors like Blair Witch to shame with it's various amount of petrifying sequences, with one of its best undoubtedly being the final, chaotic climax, that's not only horrifying and ambiguous, but perfectly sets up a scenario ideal for its sequel.
In relation to the prior events in the film, this concluding scene introduced a religious element/twist to what was previously believed to have been a biologically driven illness. It was macabre, and that uncertainty and introduction of supernatural elements made it all the more unsettling.
Whatever that thing at the end was horrifying, it alone probably would have seen through onto the list
I know and understand the 'there's nothing really special about Friday 13th' but at the time this is big stuff. The body count is high (for the time), it had a backstory and a history but, more than that, I think it's the first slasher which has innocent victims paying for the supposed crimes of others. They're not even related, either. This isn't sins of the father stuff, this is sins of people who once had the same job you did.
Didn't Black Christmas have the whole "Innocent victims paying for supposed crimes thing" I don't think Billy had any relation to anyone in the house, just the house itself.
Didn't Black Christmas have the whole "Innocent victims paying for supposed crimes thing" I don't think Billy had any relation to anyone in the house, just the house itself.
I'm not sure it's explained why they're killed, although that does ring a bell.
My avatar comes from this very scene!! Anyway, Argento's 1977 ode to the violence in women is infamous, and even by today's standards, it is extremely brutal.
And as if hearing Joan Bennett say "bitch" wasn't enough by itself, the scene features a blood drenched Sara (Stefania Casini) launch towards the Snow White like heroine (Jessica Harper) in terrifying style, that was built up via a monologue of the finally revealed witch, with said corpse slowly opening the door to reveal a brutally slashed, but animated, hand. Then all hell breaks loose when Suzy finally overcomes the witch, resulting in the death of stars of both Italian and Hollywood cinema, as well as the eruptive destruction of the ballet school.
I would have placed it higher since I never stop yapping on about the film, but even I thought it was a little anti-climatic. But even so, it was a terrific ending to one of the greatest horror films ever filmed.
EDIT: Also, according to Jessica Harper, the actress who plays the witch physically (Daria Nicolodi did the voice) was a 90 year old ex-hooker Argento found wandering the streets of Rome!
Awesome, it's my favourite Argento flick, Jennifer Connolly is deadly in it as well, one of her best performances.
I'm going to have see it urgently, I just realised Donald Pleasence and Daria Nicolodi are in it as well.
I can also see him using Swiss scenery to magnificent effect as well, so hopefully I'll enjoy it just as much as you!
Another film that spawned a 1,000 sequels/reboots/remakes to cash in on that $$$. Anyway (and I apologise to Honey in advance!) I loved the ending to this film, and although it isn't particularly horrifying to watch, something about it is particularly disturbing (it's not the acting either). But watching Marilyn Burns scream in anguish like that for so long beings to take its toll and to see her hobbling away whilst two of her attackers quickly advance left me with my heart in my mouth that was only enhanced when she started getting slashed.
Then the following pursuit around the truck, and Ms Burns struggling to climb into the car whilst Leatherface steadily approaches was just as tense.
And then who could forget the maniacal and hysterical laughing of the late Ms Burns as she finally manages to escape from the nightmare. Without a doubt, this was the highlight of the film, and for me, its primary redeeming feature.