The Horror Thread is Dead & Buried

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H.P. Shivcraft: Mar 17, 2008; STAY UNRULY, YOU HEARTLESS MONSTERS!

Toriori posted:

And now you'll shiver uncomfortably when you hear creepy old Tiny Tim's "Tiptoe Through the Tulips", congrats.

This scene, the first one with the the dancing little boy/old man thing was probably my favorite in the movie because it managed to evenly split the dual modes of goofy and dread, and it also seemed (forgive me for using this word in this context) realistic. What I mean by that is that it's the sort of weird surreal bullshit that sometimes happens in "real life" haunted house cases beyond cold spots or walking shadows or whatever.

When I was a kid I discovered my mom had piles of 70s era folklore collections about hauntings in the attic and I spent a good part of my childhood reading them ragged on car rides or whatever. The really incredible thing about these stories is how they generally defy narrative logic (there's usually no explanation or catharsis, usually the "ghost" just goes away or people move) and they're also incredibly weird. I can recall at least one ghost that allegedly left piles of wooden nickels everywhere for no apparent reason, and another that specialized in turning the TV on during syndicated reruns of the original Star Trek.

Obviously none of this would make a good film, but whenever a movie hits the right note of "mundanely unnatural" over "supernaturally malevolent" it always seems a bit more believable to me.

# ? Apr 17, 2012 14:38

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# ? May 18, 2024 02:09

Shanty: Nov 7, 2005; I Love Dogs

H.P. Shivcraft posted:

This scene, the first one with the the dancing little boy/old man thing was probably my favorite in the movie because it managed to evenly split the dual modes of goofy and dread, and it also seemed (forgive me for using this word in this context) realistic. What I mean by that is that it's the sort of weird surreal bullshit that sometimes happens in "real life" haunted house cases beyond cold spots or walking shadows or whatever.

When I was a kid I discovered my mom had piles of 70s era folklore collections about hauntings in the attic and I spent a good part of my childhood reading them ragged on car rides or whatever. The really incredible thing about these stories is how they generally defy narrative logic (there's usually no explanation or catharsis, usually the "ghost" just goes away or people move) and they're also incredibly weird. I can recall at least one ghost that allegedly left piles of wooden nickels everywhere for no apparent reason, and another that specialized in turning the TV on during syndicated reruns of the original Star Trek.

Obviously none of this would make a good film, but whenever a movie hits the right note of "mundanely unnatural" over "supernaturally malevolent" it always seems a bit more believable to me.

It's a great setup for the reveal of the "real" threat that all the ghosts are like dogs and they just sort of do things arbitrarily.

# ? Apr 17, 2012 15:53

Levantine: Feb 14, 2005; GUNDAM!!!

I liked Insidious because while it was pretty adept at creating tension, there were jump scares but they didn't feel like what I consider to be "cheap" scares. This is a divisive topic of course because what scares me might not scare the next guy but two scenes I found amazingly effective were when the ghost was pacing outside the window and BAM was inside and the scene at the table, in the middle of the day where Darth Maul demon is just loving right behind Patrick Wilson oh poo poo!

Sure the movie was a little silly or corny in some places but I felt those moments were intentional on the part of the filmmakers. Overall though, when it got down to brass tacks, it was a pretty good haunting story.

# ? Apr 17, 2012 16:05

Topper Harley: Jul 6, 2005; You have the whitest white part of the eyes I've ever seen. Do you floss?

Levantine posted:

I liked Insidious because while it was pretty adept at creating tension, there were jump scares but they didn't feel like what I consider to be "cheap" scares. This is a divisive topic of course because what scares me might not scare the next guy but two scenes I found amazingly effective were when the ghost was pacing outside the window and BAM was inside and the scene at the table, in the middle of the day where Darth Maul demon is just loving right behind Patrick Wilson oh poo poo!

Sure the movie was a little silly or corny in some places but I felt those moments were intentional on the part of the filmmakers. Overall though, when it got down to brass tacks, it was a pretty good haunting story.

I hate the scene where neckbeard Ghostbuster is playing with his View-master and then HOLY poo poo TWINS AND THEY JUST SMILED. You just know something's going to happen, then it does (accompanied by a stinger), then they suddenly smile and I wet myself.

But that might just be me. I've watched The Strangers twice and both times I had to pause it about halfway through to "recover" before I continue. And I don't consider myself easily scared.

# ? Apr 17, 2012 16:20

demozthenes: Feb 14, 2007; Wicked pissa little critta

I feel like Insidious would've been a much better movie if they'd left Darth Maul out of it and stuck to the slow-burn haunted house story that made up the first 1/3rd of the film. Everything else left a bad, bored taste in my mouth.

# ? Apr 17, 2012 16:32

Professor Clumsy: Sep 12, 2008; It is a while still till Sunrise - and in the daytime I sleep, my dear fellow, I sleep the very deepest of sleeps...

I thought Insidious was one of the best films of last year.

# ? Apr 17, 2012 16:40

spixxor: Feb 4, 2009

demozthenes posted:

I feel like Insidious would've been a much better movie if they'd left Darth Maul out of it and stuck to the slow-burn haunted house story that made up the first 1/3rd of the film. Everything else left a bad, bored taste in my mouth.

Yeah Darth Maul yanked me right out of the movie, honestly. It would have been fine if they'd just used pretty much any other kind of demon make up, instead of making me wonder why villains from a Star Wars movie suddenly showed up in my ghost movie.

# ? Apr 17, 2012 18:00

weekly font: Dec 1, 2004; Everytime I try to fly I fall
Without my wings
I feel so small
Guess I need you baby...

If you liked Insidious make sure you watch Dead Silence because it's beat for beat the same pacing as Insidious but a really bad movie. The improvements they made on their formula between the two movie really showed me how much potential James Wan has as a filmmaker.

# ? Apr 17, 2012 20:24

Professor Clumsy: Sep 12, 2008; It is a while still till Sunrise - and in the daytime I sleep, my dear fellow, I sleep the very deepest of sleeps...

I quite like Dead Silence, to be honest with you. It's not entirely successful but it has some very effective imagery Everytime that puppet moves it freaks me out so much!

# ? Apr 17, 2012 20:41

Slasherfan: Dec 2, 2003; IS IT WRONG THAT I ONCE WROTE A HORROR STORY ABOUT THE BUDDIES? YOU KNOW, THE TALKING PUPPIES?

weekly font posted:

If you liked Insidious make sure you watch Dead Silence because it's beat for beat the same pacing as Insidious but a really bad movie. The improvements they made on their formula between the two movie really showed me how much potential James Wan has as a filmmaker.

I think the writer or director wrote a blog about how much they loving hate Dead Silence.

# ? Apr 17, 2012 21:27

DrVenkman: Dec 28, 2005; I think he can hear you, Ray.

Slasherfan posted:

I think the writer or director wrote a blog about how much they loving hate Dead Silence.

Only for the studio interference though. They confirmed they were going for a very particular, sort of campy, tone with the film but the studio made them re-shoot into something more modern so your just left with this sort of goofy film.

# ? Apr 17, 2012 21:42

Twin Cinema: Jun 1, 2006; Playoffs are no big deal,
don't have a crap attack.

I finally got around to watching the remake of Fright Night last night, and while it was better than my expectations, it felt like a film of wasted potential. It felt like everything that wasn't the main narrative was just stuff that happened. Also, I realize this has been said way too many times, but I really hate CGI when you can obviously tell its CGI. This film is no exception, and looks even worse when you are watching scenes meant for 3D in 2D.

Also, what was the point of characters drawing attention to Charley's shoes at the beginning? To show that he's trying to be cool?

# ? Apr 17, 2012 22:21

Servoret: Nov 8, 2009

LtKenFrankenstein posted:

See, this is presuming that (1) race is the only thing I'm talking about when I say social commentary (even if Duane Jones' part went to a white guy, there'd still be a strong thread of social critique there) and that (2) the script is where 'commentary' has to come from. In NOTLD, a lot of the social commentary takes place in the visuals/framing - look at the drat end credits sequence.

I don't see why a film forum so big on 'Death of the Author' theory is so willing to write off everything George Romero did as accidental and therefore invalid.

I was mostly chiming in because you were attacking someone for claiming that the use of the mall location in Dawn of the Dead was not predicated on its symbolic value. If you don't believe that intentions matter, then why would you care?

You make a lot of presumptions about me that aren't warranted. I don't even care what the Dead movies have to say about politics, which is partly why Land of the Dead annoyed me so much. Sorry if I seemed to be writing off everything George Romero ever did. Obviously I must hate his work if I was willing to sit in a reference library for three hours reading about the production details of every film he ever made.

# ? Apr 17, 2012 22:45

Timeless Appeal: May 28, 2006

Twin Cinema posted:

I finally got around to watching the remake of Fright Night last night, and while it was better than my expectations, it felt like a film of wasted potential. It felt like everything that wasn't the main narrative was just stuff that happened. Also, I realize this has been said way too many times, but I really hate CGI when you can obviously tell its CGI. This film is no exception, and looks even worse when you are watching scenes meant for 3D in 2D.

I find it hard to find any real fat in the movie or stuff that is secondary to the main narrative. The film is as much about Charlie not becoming the father who abandoned him as it is about vampires. All the high school stuff, the Ed characterization, and the Vegas stuff serves that narrative. Nothing is really tangential.

The blatant 3D stuff is very distracting on home video.

quote:

Also, what was the point of characters drawing attention to Charley's shoes at the beginning? To show that he's trying to be cool?

Yep.

# ? Apr 17, 2012 22:53

Whispering Machines: Dec 27, 2005; Monsters? They look like monsters to you?

That Tiptoe Through the Tulips song was already kinda creepy and then Insidious made it even loving creepier. The same thing happened with "The Sprout and the Bean" in The Strangers. Pretty song but reminds me of the movie.

AFGHASIGHAJSGAH YOU GUYS I JUST LOOKED UP ON MY CEILING AND THERE WAS A WASP

It was just sitting there staring at me.

Okay, so.. Ahem. Cabin in the Woods, man. Crazy poo poo. Absolutely loved it, but wish I had seen it opening night with friends rather than on a Sunday afternoon. I love when movies have a good crowd- even the Harry Potter movies were awesome opening night since it was all college kids who grew up with the books and movies, and the crowd at Insidious was pretty into the movie as well.

# ? Apr 18, 2012 01:24

TheBigBudgetSequel: Nov 25, 2008; It's not who I am underneath, but what I do that defines me.

I like that the creepy old woman who haunts Patrick Wilson in Insidious is pretty much the same design for Mary Shaw in Dead Silence.

I like Dead Silence more than most, but I really dug the tone they were aiming for, even if it faltered due to studio fuckery. Getting to watch it with James Wan might have made me see the film through rose colored glasses.

# ? Apr 18, 2012 01:37

Slasherfan: Dec 2, 2003; IS IT WRONG THAT I ONCE WROTE A HORROR STORY ABOUT THE BUDDIES? YOU KNOW, THE TALKING PUPPIES?

I liked Dead Silence but wasn't to fond of Insidious. Thought Insidious was pretty dull while Dead Silence had some creepy scenes.

# ? Apr 18, 2012 01:48

Uncle Boogeyman: Jul 22, 2007

servoret posted:

I was mostly chiming in because you were attacking someone for claiming that the use of the mall location in Dawn of the Dead was not predicated on its symbolic value. If you don't believe that intentions matter, then why would you care?

You make a lot of presumptions about me that aren't warranted. I don't even care what the Dead movies have to say about politics, which is partly why Land of the Dead annoyed me so much. Sorry if I seemed to be writing off everything George Romero ever did. Obviously I must hate his work if I was willing to sit in a reference library for three hours reading about the production details of every film he ever made.

Yeah, you, uh, you lost me there.

Support your local library, though.

# ? Apr 18, 2012 02:28

RandolphCarter: Jul 30, 2005

Anyone hear anything about John Dies at The End? Haven't heard anything since SXSW.

# ? Apr 18, 2012 23:20

Megasabin: Sep 9, 2003; I get half!!

I've been watching a lot of horror movies lately, and I'm starting to feel like I'm running out. I'd like to get some recommendations. I like both monster/jump-scare horror and psychological horror, but I find there are far fewer good movies from the former category, so I always really enjoy when I do get my hands on a solid monster movie. I have no issues with gore, but I don't find gore in itself to be scary, so I tend to dislike torture porn films, since they have no compelling characters or plot or atmosphere. I know providing examples is the best way to get a good recommendation so here are some horror films I've seen and ranked on Cricketer to give you an idea of what I like.

Great(100-70)
The Shining, Alien, Let the Right One In, Nosfeartu the Vampire, Antichrist, Black Swan, The Black Witch Project, Fallen, Jaws, The Thing, Rosemary's Baby, Behind the Mask, Noroi the Curse, Pontypool, The Ring, [Rec], The Last Exorcism

Enjoyable(65-50)
Cabin in the Woods, Cube, The Descent, Triangle, Lake Mungo, Event Horizon, The Tenant, The Thing (2011), The Orphanage, Tucker and Dale vs. Evil, Saw, Trick 'r Treat, Drag me to Hell, Paranormal Activity,

Bad (45-0)
The Audition, Fido, High Tension, The Vanishing, Session 9, Paranormal Activity II, Dead Snow, Funny Games, Eden Lake, Hostel, Hostel Part II, Midnight Meat Train, Pulse, Inside, Saw II, Paranormal Activity III, The Hills have Eyes

Megasabin fucked around with this message at 23:38 on Apr 18, 2012

# ? Apr 18, 2012 23:35

TheBigBudgetSequel: Nov 25, 2008; It's not who I am underneath, but what I do that defines me.

RandolphCarter posted:

Anyone hear anything about John Dies at The End? Haven't heard anything since SXSW.

It's really, really weird. I loved it, but it might not hit audiences the way they want it to.

# ? Apr 18, 2012 23:35

Xenomrph: Dec 9, 2005; AvP Nerd/Fanboy/Shill

TheBigBudgetSequel posted:

It's really, really weird. I loved it, but it might not hit audiences the way they want it to.

Could you go into more detail on that?

# ? Apr 18, 2012 23:49

TheBigBudgetSequel: Nov 25, 2008; It's not who I am underneath, but what I do that defines me.

Xenomrph posted:

Could you go into more detail on that?

They story jumps around a lot, introducing characters left and right, most of whom never even get named, and some of the horror stuff is really out there They fight a demon early on, who uses all the meat in a refrigerator to build himself a physical body, so it's just a bunch of steaks, sausages, turkeys and other things in the form of a body.

It's basically the most surreal horror film I've had the pleasure to sit through. I imagine it's a hard sell for whoever distributes it (It's still without major distribution, they are currently roadshowing it to festivals (which is how I saw it) and are hoping to have distribution by the fall)

It's really funny, so it has that going for it, and the cast all give great performances. Clancey Brown is amazing in his brief screen time, as is Doug Jones. The two leads are also really good considering this is their first big movie.

# ? Apr 19, 2012 00:08

Nemesis Of Moles: Jul 25, 2007

TheBigBudgetSequel posted:

They story jumps around a lot, introducing characters left and right, most of whom never even get named, and some of the horror stuff is really out there They fight a demon early on, who uses all the meat in a refrigerator to build himself a physical body, so it's just a bunch of steaks, sausages, turkeys and other things in the form of a body.

It's basically the most surreal horror film I've had the pleasure to sit through. I imagine it's a hard sell for whoever distributes it (It's still without major distribution, they are currently roadshowing it to festivals (which is how I saw it) and are hoping to have distribution by the fall)

It's really funny, so it has that going for it, and the cast all give great performances. Clancey Brown is amazing in his brief screen time, as is Doug Jones. The two leads are also really good considering this is their first big movie.

It sounds a lot like the actual book then.

# ? Apr 19, 2012 00:19

Tuxedo Catfish: Mar 17, 2007; You've got guts! Come to my village, I'll buy you lunch.

TheBigBudgetSequel posted:

They story jumps around a lot, introducing characters left and right, most of whom never even get named, and some of the horror stuff is really out there They fight a demon early on, who uses all the meat in a refrigerator to build himself a physical body, so it's just a bunch of steaks, sausages, turkeys and other things in the form of a body.

Sounds kind of like Cast A Deadly Spell. (A good thing in my book.)

# ? Apr 19, 2012 01:02

RandolphCarter: Jul 30, 2005

TheBigBudgetSequel posted:

They story jumps around a lot, introducing characters left and right, most of whom never even get named, and some of the horror stuff is really out there They fight a demon early on, who uses all the meat in a refrigerator to build himself a physical body, so it's just a bunch of steaks, sausages, turkeys and other things in the form of a body.

It's basically the most surreal horror film I've had the pleasure to sit through. I imagine it's a hard sell for whoever distributes it (It's still without major distribution, they are currently roadshowing it to festivals (which is how I saw it) and are hoping to have distribution by the fall)

It's really funny, so it has that going for it, and the cast all give great performances. Clancey Brown is amazing in his brief screen time, as is Doug Jones. The two leads are also really good considering this is their first big movie.

Sounds just like the book which is a good thing, hopefully it makes it's way to Tampa soon.

# ? Apr 19, 2012 02:28

Pope Guilty: Nov 6, 2006; The human animal is a beautiful and terrible creature, capable of limitless compassion and unfathomable cruelty.

I liked how Paranormal Activity 2's plot wrapped around the first one, but goddamn did it feel like they backed off on the scares. Instead of a slowly mounting campaign of harassment and fear, we got a handful of spooky things and a couple of outright attacks. I'm still trying to figure out how they looked at 1 and said "you know what we should do for the sequel? Dial it back a bit."

# ? Apr 19, 2012 02:46

HUNDU THE BEAST GOD: Sep 14, 2007; everything is yours

I think PA3 is a much stronger sequel.

# ? Apr 19, 2012 02:55

Mouser..: Apr 1, 2010

Pope Guilty posted:

. I'm still trying to figure out how they looked at 1 and said "you know what we should do for the sequel? Dial it back a bit."

More like "Holy poo poo, that viral marketing crap worked? Quick what can we get together as fast as possible so we can steal the Halloween box office from Saw again next year."

# ? Apr 19, 2012 03:52

EgillSkallagrimsson: May 6, 2007

Pope Guilty posted:

I'm still trying to figure out how they looked at 1 and said "you know what we should do for the sequel? Dial it back a bit."

Wow, this make me glad I stopped watching after the first. I had to watch it with the Riff Trax audio just to keep from falling asleep.

# ? Apr 19, 2012 06:04

1stGear: Jan 16, 2010; Here's to the new us.

PA2 was real bad, no way around it. I found the movie incredibly dull and I was one of the people who couldn't sleep after watching PA1.

PA3 was better, but frankly, it was a series that should haven't been a series. I fully expect PA4 to be a bunch of daguerrotypes with documentary-style narration over them.

# ? Apr 19, 2012 06:42

XIII: Feb 11, 2009

1stGear posted:

PA2 was real bad, no way around it. I found the movie incredibly dull and I was one of the people who couldn't sleep after watching PA1.

PA3 was better, but frankly, it was a series that should haven't been a series. I fully expect PA4 to be a bunch of daguerrotypes with documentary-style narration over them.

I said this in the thread for Cabin in the Woods, but I would absolutely loving LOVE if the creature responsible for all the spooky poo poo at the end of PA4 was a raccoon. Seeing it in a packed theater would be amazing.

# ? Apr 19, 2012 07:33

Servoret: Nov 8, 2009

LtKenFrankenstein posted:

Yeah, you, uh, you lost me there.

Yeah, ditto:

LtKenFrankenstein posted:

Dude, watch Texas Chainsaw Massacre, it's maybe the best American horror film ever made. It honestly doesn't surprise me that Tobe Hooper never made anything that good again, it's a really serendipitous movie in all kinds of ways.

# ? Apr 20, 2012 13:57

Uncle Boogeyman: Jul 22, 2007

Yes, that is a post that I made. Is there a part of it you object to?

# ? Apr 20, 2012 14:19

54 40 or fuck: Jan 4, 2012; No Yanda's allowed

Pope Guilty posted:

I liked how Paranormal Activity 2's plot wrapped around the first one, but goddamn did it feel like they backed off on the scares. Instead of a slowly mounting campaign of harassment and fear, we got a handful of spooky things and a couple of outright attacks. I'm still trying to figure out how they looked at 1 and said "you know what we should do for the sequel? Dial it back a bit."

The movie was ridiculous to me, so many times I would have gotten the gently caress out of that house, and wouldn't have let the girl near the kid after her wig out. The dog scene scared me a bunch though.

I've never seen Blair Witch so tonight because we're bored me and the man are going to check it out on netflix.

# ? Apr 21, 2012 01:09

MrGreenShirt: Mar 14, 2005; Hell of a book. It's about bunnies!

Toriori posted:

I've never seen Blair Witch so tonight because we're bored me and the man are going to check it out on netflix.

But Blair Witch isn't on Netflix. I haven't seen it either, and your comment made me really excited. Not cool.

# ? Apr 21, 2012 02:57

54 40 or fuck: Jan 4, 2012; No Yanda's allowed

MrGreenShirt posted:

But Blair Witch isn't on Netflix. I haven't seen it either, and your comment made me really excited. Not cool.

Sorry, Canadian netflix has it though!
I personally hated it.

# ? Apr 21, 2012 03:31

Coffee And Pie: Nov 4, 2010; "Blah-sum"?
More like "Blawesome"

Blair Witch is a lot like Austin Powers in that on it's own meit, it's a fantastic movie, but it got way too popular for its own good. There was a time in the late 1990s/early 2000s where you couldn't swing a dead cat without hitting some sort of parody.

# ? Apr 21, 2012 03:50

eckoelab: Apr 7, 2005; we are chaos in motion

that, and when Blair Witch came out it was actually very, very different than 99% of what was out there. We were coming out of the whole Scream type horror flicks of that era and BWP had a huge, huge build up and mystery surrounding it, which allowed for one's imagination to run wild. You sort of actually had to let yourself get caught up in that mystery, and play along with that public build up of not knowing what it was, what was happening, or even if it was real. It was the first of its kind in a long time which made it special.

To watch it now, after the fact, you are missing the crucial elements that made it what it was. It is like going through a funhouse when you already know your way around it and your friends have been talking about it for 15 years.

# ? Apr 21, 2012 05:22

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# ? May 18, 2024 02:09

DrVenkman: Dec 28, 2005; I think he can hear you, Ray.

Coffee And Pie posted:

Blair Witch is a lot like Austin Powers in that on it's own meit, it's a fantastic movie, but it got way too popular for its own good. There was a time in the late 1990s/early 2000s where you couldn't swing a dead cat without hitting some sort of parody.

I worked at the cinema when it came out and detested it (despite totally buying into all the hype) but when I watched a year or so later I ended up loving it. The DVD has a great commentary track too. God I remember the parodies coming out right away, 'The bogus witch project' and 'The bare wench project' to name but a few.

# ? Apr 21, 2012 09:23

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