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Coffeehitler posted:I must have missed the "Based on a True Story" part of the credits. You're being pedantic. What you're describing is the entire gimmick of the film. There are plenty of stories and films about cursed objects, the draw of Oculus is that the main characters are taking a "realistic" approach to observing and documenting the supernatural events. They do stuff that other horror movie characters don't do in their preparations, and they go into it with all the background that most films only let their characters find out when its already too late. This discussion isn't about the film's mythos, which is just as far from reality as anything in Elm Street or Evil Dead. We're talking about the actions of the characters, which is what separates Oculus from a lot of other horror films and is what attracted a lot of people to the trailer when it was first released.
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Aug 18, 2015 22:28
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Skyscraper posted:I liked Oculus more than some of the posters here seem to, but Absentia was, I think, a way better movie. It's one I keep coming back to, just because the premise of the monster is so strange. Oculus is 1408 with a mirror, but Absentia is Lovecraft levels of strangeness without being all tentacles and suchlike. Absentia is a dreadful experience. In the good way.
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Aug 18, 2015 22:28
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MagnumOpus posted:Absentia is a dreadful experience. In the good way. This is how I felt about Nightcrawler. Nightcrawler was one of the most powerful movies I've seen recently, and it created a pervasive and persistent feeling of dread from the first scene.
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Aug 18, 2015 22:37
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Basebf555 posted:You're being pedantic. I was. I misunderstood what people were asking.  To answer the question, I would have destroyed (through smashing or arson) as soon as I had confirmed the mirror had an effect on its surroundings, given the history of the family and the prior history of the mirror. The kids had already seen what the mirror could do, so the proof phase of the problem was already over for the daughter at least. As soon as she had established that the brother had been made to forget the effect of the mirror, she should have gone into destruction mode and dropped the anchor. But that would have defeated the purpose of the film. Taken as an examination of the horror genre, 'Oculus' is great in the vein of 'Cabin in the Woods'. Granted, in CitW only half of the cast knows what's up so you get both sides of the horror coin.
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Aug 18, 2015 23:13
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Coffeehitler posted:As soon as she had established that the brother had been made to forget the effect of the mirror, she should have gone into destruction mode and dropped the anchor. But that would have defeated the purpose of the film. In the sense that the runtime would have been much shorter and we wouldn't have learned as much about the characters yes, but the ending probably would have been pretty much identical - they establish early and quite strongly that people cannot successfully hit the mirror, with one exception that proves the rule sort of special case. As for Absentia: I liked it a lot, but I'm having trouble figuring out who I would recommend it to. Very slow burn and characters that are impossible for what I am going to stereotype as most horror fans to relate to. It left me with the additional sense of detachment I've had on the few occasions when I've seen a stage play, and have always been so far back that I can't make out the details of anyone's faces. Very well executed, though, and maybe more mainstream appeal than most horror. Maybe. Then the ending happens and the non-horror fans are sad and angry.
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Aug 19, 2015 00:07
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I enjoyed Lord of Illusions when I first saw it about a decade ago. I thought it would make a good middle movie in a triple-feature with Angel Heart (an amazing movie that everyone in this thread would enjoy) and Constantine (a terrible adaptation of the Hellblazer comics, but a pretty decent horror-noir if you can accept Keanu Reeves isn't playing the John Constantine we know and love from DC/Vertigo comics). So yeah, Angel Heart. A horror-noir '50s period piece (made in the mid-'80s) starring a young Mickey Rourke back when he was still a good-looking dude, Robert DeNiro, and Lisa Bonet. Jacob's Ladder is another great movie that everyone in this thread should see. I don't think either of them are available on any of the regular streaming services, though.
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Aug 19, 2015 02:11
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Jacob's Ladder is pretty good. It suffers a little bit from the fact that so many movies have followed in its footsteps. I think it would have had a much bigger impact on me if I hadn't seen so many of its elements in other films "first".
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Aug 19, 2015 02:18
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Irony.or.Death posted:As for Absentia: characters that are impossible for what I am going to stereotype as most horror fans to relate to.
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Aug 19, 2015 16:20
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SirMonkeyButt posted:I don't know if it fits in here perfectly, but I recently rediscovered this (obscure?) Clive Barker mid-90's masterpiece, Lord of Illusions, and figured it might have a receptive audience in this bunch. It's more occult magic themed, with Scott Bakula starring as a New York private eye thrown into the middle of a conflict between a cult and super-powered magicians. As a kid, I saw Lord of Illusions on TV twice and it really affected me, to the extent that despite having really fond memories of the movie I almost don't want to watch it again because I have a feeling it won't live up to that memory. I remember it as a very strange, bleak, unpredictable film, and it enkindled in me a love of dark occultism and urban fantasy-horror in fiction. edit: hey whats the best version of this movie, the theatrical cut or the director's cut? Periodiko fucked around with this message at 22:38 on Aug 19, 2015 |
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Aug 19, 2015 22:32
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Periodiko posted:As a kid, I saw Lord of Illusions on TV twice and it really affected me, to the extent that despite having really fond memories of the movie I almost don't want to watch it again because I have a feeling it won't live up to that memory. I remember it as a very strange, bleak, unpredictable film, and it enkindled in me a love of dark occultism and urban fantasy-horror in fiction. director's cut, no question. the theatrical cut is borderline incomprehensible and cuts a couple of the best scenes in the movie.
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Aug 19, 2015 23:44
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Oculus continues what Mike Flanagan showed in Absentia. He's clearly preoccupied with trauma, and how to overcome a tragedy, except Flanagan's view is an incredibly bleak one. In Absentia, a woman tries to overcome her husband's "death," only to have her husband literally show up at her door the moment she's ready to let go. In Oculus, a similar turning point happens: right when the sister is ready to move on from her parents' death, the mirror finally shows its powers. In both of his films, the trauma gets manifested as some sort of impersonable, all-powerful force that's impossible to defeat, and the characters wind up destroying themselves in an attempt to overcome it. It's bleak because Flanagan's films suggest that the only right thing to do is to never look back at the past, and that by doing so you become a part of it (Oculus made this real explicit with the shot of the glass eyed family staring out the window at the end). This is part of why Flanagan is one of my favourite horror filmmakers working today: the way he merges personal tragedy with folkloric horror is something I don't see a lot of filmmakers doing right now, and the way he mixes the two makes his films very unsettling. The only other recent comparison point I can make is The Babadook, but that movie is straight up not scary and has the message being shoved in your face as much as possible.
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Aug 19, 2015 23:59
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I had seen Lord of Illusions in the theater and was disappointed by it, where I never bothered to watch it again. I caught the director's cut a couple years ago and I liked it much more than the first time. It's not a great movie (and I feel a certain aspect of it could've been played with MUCH more) but it's a fun ride and I'd say I liked it now (director's cut, anyway). I also wouldn't say it's a psychological movie only, because there are some bloody parts.
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Aug 20, 2015 21:46
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justlikedunkirk posted:Oculus continues what Mike Flanagan showed in Absentia. He's clearly preoccupied with trauma, and how to overcome a tragedy, except Flanagan's view is an incredibly bleak one. I'm not necessarily disagreeing with you here but if the message was to forget the past and overcome trauma by turning away from it, why is it that the characters that do so are destroyed or punished in his films? The brother in oculus successfully completes treatment and is ready to start his life on what would objectively be a healthy path before his sister reintroduces their abusive past into his life against his wishes. The pregnant woman in absentsia finally accepts her husbands death and turns away from that tragedy by legally and symbolically declaring him dead, while her sister has similarly conducted a complete 180 in her life by turning away from drug addiction. I get the feeling that Flanagan's idea of past trauma is that you can never escape it. One day you get unlucky and your number comes up and your soul is marked by that tragedy for the rest of your life. The sister in oculus tries to actively confront her past trauma and is destroyed, the brother and the two women in absentsia try to turn away and forget and are also destroyed. Trauma is indiscriminate and destroys indiscriminately. Flanagan seems to suggest there is no answer or correct course of action.
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Aug 22, 2015 03:32
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I don't think the lesson has to be "that you can never escape it". I think it's more "Here's a story of a person who tried really hard, and did a lot of things right, but even they were devastated by this"
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Aug 22, 2015 03:41
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The characters in those two films were so wholly unequipped to confront their demons that they were essentially given impossible tasks. There was no answer or escape for them.
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Aug 22, 2015 03:56
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speshl guy posted:The characters in those two films were so wholly unequipped to confront their demons that they were essentially given impossible tasks. There was no answer or escape for them. Yeah, but I don't think the message is supposed to be that "trauma is inescapable" i.e "no one can escape their past trauma". Like it's more of a cautionary tale, "Even if you think you have your poo poo together, emotional poo poo from your past can blindside you", and then you find out how put together your poo poo really is. I don't know, I haven't seen Absentia yet, so I can only comment on how Oculus made me feel. Wasn't trying to say you were wrong.
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Aug 22, 2015 04:03
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Well, I'd say it's much bleaker than Oculus. I watched both of them before I found out they were from the same director, but in retrospect the sequence fits together quite well.
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Aug 22, 2015 04:11
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Snak posted:Yeah, but I don't think the message is supposed to be that "trauma is inescapable" i.e "no one can escape their past trauma". Yeah I was thinking that within the scope of the story told that the endings were the inevitable result of the conditions established throughout the films. So yeah I would refine my conclusion to be more in line with yours. Sorry didn't mean to come off overly confrontational
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Aug 24, 2015 00:49
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It's okay, you didn't  I'll try to watch Absentia soon. My horror-movie-watching buddy has been really overworked recently, so we haven't found time for many films.
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Aug 24, 2015 01:31
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Snak posted:My horror-movie-watching buddy I miss the time when my friends cared about movies. Now they just play Magic the Gathering all the god drat time.
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Aug 24, 2015 15:20
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MacheteZombie posted:I miss the time when my friends cared about movies. Now they just play Magic the Gathering all the god drat time. In their defense, Magic is a pretty great way to waste your entire life and all your money...
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Aug 24, 2015 17:29
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Kill List was loving incredible, easily in my top movies now. I didn't know what was going to happen but I knew from it being in this thread that something was coming, I told my mates that it was just about hitmen. In the final chapter our jaws hit the floor and we just silently stared at the screen.
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Aug 27, 2015 18:40
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Really? I thought the ending was generic and predictable... To me the best part of it was the intense sense of unease and revulsion it makes you feel for the first 2/3...
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Aug 27, 2015 18:42
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How the gently caress can you predict that ending? A vague idea of what's going on sure, but the way things played out, no way. I love the story that was implied and wasn't even on screen,from the war crimes hinted at in Kiev, to Jay's future as some type of possessed cult leader, the existence of some type of cult conspiring in all levels of British politics towards some bizarre ritual, and it's all portrayed in this hyper realistic way that perhaps works better if you're British.
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Aug 27, 2015 18:49
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Brendan Rodgers posted:How the gently caress can you predict that ending? A vague idea of what's going on sure, but the way things played out, no way. Well, could I predict the exact nature of the cult? no, but it's pretty standard for movies that have a weird cult element, which is foreshadowed by the woman scratching the symbol on the back of the mirror, and him killing his wife and kid is super heavy-handedly foreshadowed by the foam sword fight where he stabs them both as they fall on the ground. Both of these happen very early on, so unless you forget about them, it's pretty natural to assume things are going that direction Kill List has basically the same ending twist as Last Exorcism.
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Aug 27, 2015 18:55
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Just want to say thanks to the OP and all the posters contributing to this thread, I don't have anything to add that hasn't already been posted but I sure as poo poo have a huge list of movies to see now. Right as I was running out of stuff to watch, too. I love slow, creepy horror/thriller stuff, so this is all up my alley. I think I'm going to try and track down I'm Not Afraid and Broken first. Good to know I'm not the only human on earth who enjoyed Yellowbrickroad. A Spider Covets fucked around with this message at 20:03 on Aug 27, 2015 |
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Aug 27, 2015 20:01
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Yeah this thread is great. It's my favorite slow moving/low volume thread on the entire forums I think.
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Aug 27, 2015 20:04
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Snak posted:him killing his wife and kid is super heavy-handedly foreshadowed by the foam sword fight where he stabs them both as they fall on the ground Yeah, I don't care how heavily they foreshadow, I'd never see a swordfight between the main character and his wife who is secretly a cultist, with their son on her back, in a hunchback disguise coming. I'd way sooner assume they were playing around, that it was a fun detail to show that he has a nice home life and is not always controlled by anger issues.
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Aug 27, 2015 20:10
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I mean, I watch a lot of horror and thriller films, and the patterns of foreshadowing and twists in the genre just becomes really apparent after awhile. It's not a bad thing, I don't mind if I'm able to predict the ending, as long as the story is told well. I enjoy movies for their ability to make me think and feel in interesting ways, not to be surprised by the twist. Yeah, a really great twist is fun, but a good movie is still good when you know the twist. I would say that Kill List is pretty powerful even if you know the ending. I just don't think that the twist itself is part of what makes it good. There's lots of things that I don't like about it, but that's more of a matter of personal taste rather than the quality of the product. I think Kill List does it's job too well. It makes me feel too uncomfortable for how interesting it is. So it's a very effective film, but I'm not sure I would say that I like it.
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Aug 27, 2015 20:15
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Snak posted:I mean, I watch a lot of horror and thriller films, and the patterns of foreshadowing and twists in the genre just becomes really apparent after awhile. It's not a bad thing, I don't mind if I'm able to predict the ending, as long as the story is told well. I enjoy movies for their ability to make me think and feel in interesting ways, not to be surprised by the twist. Yeah, a really great twist is fun, but a good movie is still good when you know the twist. I would say that Kill List is pretty powerful even if you know the ending. I just don't think that the twist itself is part of what makes it good. There's lots of things that I don't like about it, but that's more of a matter of personal taste rather than the quality of the product. I think Kill List does it's job too well. It makes me feel too uncomfortable for how interesting it is. So it's a very effective film, but I'm not sure I would say that I like it. Please watch Berberian Sound Studio and report back. I am really curious to hear what you think, but I don't want to say why for fear of giving you too much information.
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Aug 27, 2015 21:19
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MagnumOpus posted:Please watch Berberian Sound Studio and report back. I am really curious to hear what you think, but I don't want to say why for fear of giving you too much information. Is there some sort of twist to that movie that I didn't understand? Its certainly not a straightforward film but not really the kind of film that's meant to be "solved" like a puzzle either.
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Aug 27, 2015 21:27
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Basebf555 posted:Is there some sort of twist to that movie that I didn't understand? Its certainly not a straightforward film but not really the kind of film that's meant to be "solved" like a puzzle either. The guy was going insane. It's a bad movie.
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Aug 27, 2015 23:06
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I didn't really like kill list. I don't mind things being ambiguous but at a certain point it makes me feel like I'm watching mad libs the movie. When so many things are left to interpretation everything stops being important after awhile. I could just be a simpleton who likes a little more exposition in their stories though and I enjoy knowing the "whys" and "what fors" about things. I've liked a lot of the movies that have been posted so I'll 2nd this being one of my more favorite threads on the forums.
FalloutGod fucked around with this message at 06:50 on Aug 28, 2015 |
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Aug 28, 2015 05:57
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I hear all this praise about berberian sound studio but I put it on and about an hour into it I was falling asleep. I'm usually the type to stick it out for slow burners, I was the only one among my friends to sit through and thoroughly enjoy Stalker, but I found this film agonizing and couldn't make it the full 90 minutes. Pontypool was a film that I think did an excellent job capturing that dimly lit claustrophobic atmosphere while also being set in a recording studio. Couldn't tell you how thematically similar they are though.
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Aug 30, 2015 02:26
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 Someone in the first few pages of this thread mentioned Triangle so I thought I'd bring up another movie directed by Chris Smith. Black Death starring Sean Bean. During the plague in England, the church hears of a village far away from everyone else in the countryside that is ruled by a necromancer and is free of the plague. Bean is a knight leading an expedition to investigate and he brings along a young church boy (Eddie Redmayne) who really gets put through the ringer in terms of his faith and sanity. The movie plays with the idea of whether the necromancer's powers is just a delusion of these fevered idiots and what the hell is going on. It also features one of the most brutal deaths Sean Bean has ever been put through. And...  The Countess, directed by and starring Julie Delphy as Elizabeth Bathory. Nothing supernatural but it 100% nails the gothic theme and checks off some mythical boxes that could definitely make locals believe in a crazed vampire living amongst them. Great psychological movie.
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Aug 30, 2015 02:49
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This poster loves police brutality, but only when its against minorities!
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Directed by Julie Delpy, eh? I will check that out.
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Aug 30, 2015 02:53
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An American Werewolf in Paris is baaaaaad but Delpy is a lovely vision in it.
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Aug 30, 2015 06:32
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Wes Craven is dead
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Aug 31, 2015 02:21
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His more straight-ahead horror work is being discussed in the horror thread of course, but keeping in theme with the thread, I think Red Eye and many parts of Scream and A Nightmare on Elm Street show Craven definitely had a knack for more psychological, suspense-oriented work along with his shockers.
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Aug 31, 2015 19:51
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speshl guy posted:I hear all this praise about berberian sound studio but I put it on and about an hour into it I was falling asleep. I'm usually the type to stick it out for slow burners, I was the only one among my friends to sit through and thoroughly enjoy Stalker, but I found this film agonizing and couldn't make it the full 90 minutes.
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Sep 1, 2015 13:22
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