Psychological Horror/Thriller(Not Goreporn) +Sci-Fi-Thriller Films!

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > Cinema Discusso > Psychological Horror/Thriller(Not Goreporn) +Sci-Fi-Thriller Films!

foodfight: Feb 10, 2009

^^^^Frailty owns.

(USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)

# ¿ May 2, 2011 21:08

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# ¿ Apr 29, 2024 02:36

foodfight: Feb 10, 2009

Afraid of the Dark

quote:

After a psycho begins murdering blind women in their homes, 12-year-old Lucas Hardy (Ben Keysworth) -- whose eyesight is disintegrating -- launches his own investigation. But when he finally finds the maniac he's been looking for, Lucas comes face to face with fear in this terrifying psychological thriller.

I watched this movie a couple years ago and it really messed with my head. If you have any sort of phobia about eyes or knitting needles this will drive you up the wall. Its on Netflix instant right now.

# ¿ May 10, 2011 14:42

foodfight: Feb 10, 2009

Shane-O-Mac posted:

The first Cube was awful too. The acting and dialogue were terrible.

Especially the villain. He was horrible.

# ¿ Jun 17, 2011 16:47

foodfight: Feb 10, 2009

White Rabbit posted:

I went to see Kill List last night and it's place is definitely in this thread. It builds up to a strong, unexpected ending so I advise not to read about it but if you like early Polansky or the unreliable narrator of the Machinist you owe it to yourself to check it out. As much as I like the Machinist this is even better actually.

Just beware two couples walked out an hour into the movie, violence in it is fairly rare and worked into the story but it is graphic and intense as gently caress when it comes up.

I absolutely love Kill List and have been pondering making a thread about it for months.

# ¿ Jul 25, 2012 03:49

foodfight: Feb 10, 2009

HampHamp posted:

I also loved this movie, but for some reason one of the violent scenes made me extremely uncomfortable. I've seen my share of violent movies, but there was something about the way this scene was framed that made it very effective.

the scene In question is the hammer killing - I'm not sure why it provoked such a reaction from me, but I genuinely felt like I was gonna have an anxiety attack just after it

So yeah fantastic movie, but I haven't been able to re-watch it yet.

I've been trying to find a interview I read with the director, but he talks about this specifically and how they used a rubber hammer in that scene and then they used a very sharp metal on metal sound for the impact sound effect. There is also the whole thing where you are expecting them to cut away during that scene and it never happens so the rest of the movie you think that literally anything can happen.

# ¿ Aug 20, 2012 15:31

foodfight: Feb 10, 2009

Kikka posted:

And Kairo. SUPER creepy movie. I almost turned it off because it was too intense at parts! The horror is very Japanese though, and basically berates the social behavior of teenagers during the entire movie. However, the nagging doesn't distract from how brilliant the horror elements are at all!
I thought it was super clever how they basically reversed traditional jumpscares by making ghostly apparitions appear in complete silence; really effective move that made the haunting truly terrifying.

If you liked Kairo also check out Cure by the same director. Its about a detective investigating bizarre murders that are done by people who can't remember why they did it. I liked it more than Kairo.

# ¿ Aug 20, 2012 22:45

foodfight: Feb 10, 2009

HUNDU THE BEAST GOD posted:

Year of the Sex Olympics is exactly what it sounds like

Please make this the new thread title, because this makes me giggle.

# ¿ Aug 22, 2012 18:05

foodfight: Feb 10, 2009

adamj1982 posted:

Probably not the best version, but here you go:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veGrGk0uBd4

Its also on amazon for $2 http://www.amazon.com/The-Stone-Tape/dp/B00350I20W/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1345821672&sr=8-2&keywords=stone+tape

# ¿ Aug 24, 2012 16:23

foodfight: Feb 10, 2009

Lord Krangdar posted:

I'd have to watch the film again to go really in depth on this stuff, but I think I have a pretty good interpretation of the ending.

Before I get into what the last line means, let me address the cult's purpose. They're not just investigating whether there is an afterlife, they're investigating whether there is some transcendent value to the experience of extreme violence/pain. The afterlife part is just their hypothesis on what they will discover through their experiments.

Their ideas have real world analogues, by the way. Obviously the film makes reference to real life martyrs (those photos the Mademoiselle shows Anna are real) but there's more. In his book Heaven and Hell Aldous Huxley discussed the polar extremes of the human mind's experience (the mind's heaven and hell, or the "antipodes"). He said there was a thin line between experiencing the transcendent state of timeless peace and the nightmarish state of pure awful terror, and that humans throughout history had sought the former state through drugs, religious rituals, art, fasting, or extreme pain. This theme also shows up in Clive Barker's Hellraiser (The Hellbound Heart) and probably a million other things, you get the point.

Now, the cultists are all elderly. Presumably they have been working at their task for a long time, devoting their entire lives to their ongoing experiments. Over the years they have no doubt theorized and fantasized about the endgame: how mind-blowing would it be to finally know the answers to every big question of the afterlife, or the meaning of human existence, or the secrets behind transcendent states of mind?

So they finally succeed in their experiments, and Mademoiselle gets to hear all the secrets from her artificial martyr's lips. We don't hear what Anna says, but it doesn't really matter. No mere words could ever fulfill the fantastic expectations that the cultists have built up. Remember the Mademoiselle doesn't get to experience the transcendent state that Anna does, she only gets to hear about it secondhand. The Mademoiselle is inevitably disappointed, and her life's work appears cheapened; a terrible cheat against nature which has succeeded but has not fulfilled her longing.

To put it in another way, consider the Star Wars prequel effect. A kid watches the original Star Wars films, captivated by the mysterious idea of the Force, for example, speculating and fantasizing with their friends as they play Jedi and Sith. Then they grow older and the much hyped Phantom Menace comes out. They finally learn the secret source of The Force: its caused by tiny life-forms that live in people's bloodstreams called midi-chlorians.

I think we all know the collective nerd-rage that took place after that film came out. The transcendent mysteries were ruined by the mundane explanations. But not just that specific explanation, any answers would inevitably have been disappointing. The fact is, mysteries and ambiguities have more power to entice the imagination than answers. Now Star Wars is just a movie series, but apply that kind of disappointment to the questions humans have asked themselves for their entire existence.

So back to Martyrs: the Mademoiselle kills herself in the end, warning the cult to "keep doubting". She has realized, too late, that the mysteries of human existence and experience have a value beyond existing to be answered. Learning her prized answers vicariously through a vile cheat has cheapened them, and she can't go on living with that knowledge. In her last act, she spares her comrades the same fate and witnesses to them the value of doubt over certainty.

Now to apply this interpretation of the ending to the larger subtext of the film. I don't think the movie is damning the audience for watching it, as others have suggested. Rather the second half of the film leads the audience to ask whether there is a transcendent aspect to extreme violence and pain, and whether that is why they entice us so much. Then the ending of the film asks us to consider that maybe we don't want to know the answer, but we should "keep doubting" or keep questioning anyway.

Since this thread morphed into 'Psychological Horror/Discussion of the extremely violent and gory Martyrs' I wanted to throw in my two cents on the movie. I really like your interpretation of the film but but I'm not sure that I fully agree that the movie isn't damning of its audience. I got a real "Diet Coke" effect vibe from the movie. Basically there is this study that says people get addicted to Diet Coke because they are chasing a high that only regular Coke can give them. Only a real Coke is truly satisfying and drinking a diet Coke is only going to further dissatisfaction.

Applying this to the movie, when the old woman kills herself at the end, she is robbing the audience of the satisfaction of knowing what the afterlife is (or knowing what the ultimate meaning is to watching goreporn). "Keep doubting" means the cult will continue to torture and means the audience will continue to view the torture as a means to achieve the satisfaction they desire. The only true way to achieve that satisfaction is to kill yourself/turn off the movie(s).

# ¿ Sep 6, 2012 15:03

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# ¿ Apr 29, 2024 02:36

foodfight: Feb 10, 2009

justcola posted:

I watched Sorcerer the other night, I really enjoyed it. There were moments that it was so suspenseful it was bordering on horror, which I don't think I've gotten from a thriller film before. Parts of it reminded me a little of the heist in Rififi.

Unsure if Hitchcock has been mentioned, but Rope, Rear Window and Frenzy are all good as well as the early De Palma films, which were heavily influenced by Hitchcock.

Yeah, those De Palma films are great.

# ¿ Sep 18, 2012 15:22

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