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

flashy_mcflash: Feb 7, 2011

Saw a very good sci-fi/horror last night from Xavier Gens (Frontiers, Hitman) called The Divide (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1535616/). It's got a great, bleak look and a really excellent cast featuring Michael Biehn, Milo Ventimiglia, and Michael Eklund. It's about a group of survivors living in a basement after a nuclear attack. Wonderfully claustrophobic and some fantastic effects that feel really real.

In the Q&A after the film, Gens and the cast said that the film was shot chronologically, and the whole cast was put on a strict 31-day diet during filming in order to portray the characters as wasting away. Definitely put it on your list when it drops in January.

e: oh, there's a trailer on Ain't It Cool here: http://www.aintitcool.com/node/51569

flashy_mcflash fucked around with this message at 18:50 on Oct 26, 2011

# ¿ Oct 26, 2011 15:02

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# ¿ May 5, 2024 20:32

flashy_mcflash: Feb 7, 2011

Bonk posted:

Really looking forward to this after I saw the trailer recently. I likes me some dark and gritty post-apocalyptic fare. Feels like it could've been a prequel to The Road.

I've been wanting to see Michael Biehn get a meaty role in something big for a loooonnnng time. I hope this revitalizes his career somewhat, he's been in such huge iconic movies but I'm not sure what happened that he never quite hung onto his success. How's his performance?

I can honestly say it's the performance of his career. Unless he's done something more obscure I've never seen, this is easily the best I've seen him.

It's Eklund that steals this movie right out from under everyone though. He is so completely twisted and unhinged. Apparently a lot of the film is improvised, and it all comes off very naturally.

Funnily enough, the version we saw was an edited version (strange for a film festival to get a cut like that) but Anchor Bay will be releasing it theatrically with a 'drectors cut' that has 15 more minutes and some more explicit stuff.

# ¿ Oct 27, 2011 17:00

flashy_mcflash: Feb 7, 2011

futureproof posted:

The first half of Pontypool is the best zombie film I've ever seen.

Frankly, that Pontypool is even halfway good is a testament to Bruce McDonald making sense of what was some pretty poo poo source material. The novel is one of the first I've read that has an Author's Note at the end which more or less apologizes for the book and writes it off as a young writers' self-indulgent first novel.

That said, there are a few scenes in the book that would be fantastic if translated to the screen, but overall the whole thing is a mess.

http://www.amazon.com/Pontypool-Changes-Everything-Tony-Burgess/dp/1550228811

# ¿ Jan 23, 2013 21:22

flashy_mcflash: Feb 7, 2011

I saw Last Days On Mars last night and it was better than I expected for yet another movie about space zombies. Liev Schriber does a good job anchoring the film and doesn't fall into cliches too much, and there's a decent supporting cast including Olivia Williams, who I've always liked.

The space station and the planet itself are really nicely realized and the movie pops on a large screen (not sure if it's getting any sort of wide release) and the wide shots of Mars and the space station look suitably epic. The sound design really stood out for me with really good use of silence and music that recalled, to me at least, Mass Effect. It's no Event Horizon but it works better than you'd expect.

# ¿ Oct 23, 2013 15:19

flashy_mcflash: Feb 7, 2011

I seriously can't wait to see what Wheatley does with Ballard's 'High Rise'.

http://www.heyuguys.co.uk/ben-wheatley-direct-jg-ballards-high-rise/

# ¿ Oct 25, 2013 16:14

flashy_mcflash: Feb 7, 2011

Conduit for Sale! posted:

Have any of you seen Ti West's new movie The Sacrament? I liked The Innkeepers, and LOVED House of the Devil, so I'm hoping it's good.

Here's my impressions of Sacrament from the Toronto fest this year. I don't think they've changed much or would change on a second viewing.

flashy_mcflash posted:

I'm gonna try to keep this vague but it's nearly 3:30am so if there's spoilers here I apologize.

This is just my opinion, and I certainly have friends that caught this Sunday that thought it was the best of the Festival so far (which I think is reaching considering the amazing stuff on display this year) but I was extremely disappointed with The Sacrament. I mean, I have family from Guyana and am extremely familiar with People's Temple/Jonestown so maybe that's why I wasn't as impressed with this as some others were, and I've noticed that every single person that loves Sacrament doesn't really know much about what happened there.

I just feel like I was waiting for the signature Ti West twist and it just never comes. It plays out exactly as you expect, again if you know anything about Jonestown, but is somehow more trite than it should be, especially since the actual People's Temple footage and photos are horrific enough on their own (and far more so than West ever accomplishes here). At the same time, I was hoping for a little more about why The Father is so seductive to these people and that's not explored either. My benchmark for this sort of thing, at least with recent movies, is Martha Marcy May Marlene or even Leslie My Name Is Evil and West just never aspires to or reaches those levels with Sacrament.

One thing that stuck out to me was that they keep reminding us that there's 160-odd people at this commune but you never get the sense that there's anything more than about 50 people around. This is important because of the last point - it makes Father's influence seem a lot smaller than it should be, and he's therefore less threatening.

Another thing is the inclusion of Vice. Like, I get that West wanted to use a real brand and all, but there's so much bound up with them that it seems unnecessary. If West wanted to make a fictionalized Jonestown (and he did, since he literally said that in the Q&A), I don't know why he didn't make up a news organization so he wouldn't have to explain what Vice was, what they do, and have the audience enter with a preconceived notion about them if it's not being subverted in any way. Vice is all over the first third of the film and while I didn't feel like I was being advertised to, exactly, West does spend longer than he needs to on explaining what Vice is when you kind of just want them to get to the cult.

So I guess I'd recommend this movie if you've never read up on Jonestown and never want to, because honestly, the real story is about 1000x more impactful, extreme, and horrifying than what West has done here. The performances are generally pretty good and it's enjoyable enough while you're watching it (enjoyable is the wrong word given the subject matter but, again, it's late) but in not saying anything bigger or much more meaningful than "people be gullible" it's a big missed opportunity, in my opinion.

# ¿ Apr 29, 2014 17:33

flashy_mcflash: Feb 7, 2011

The Clap posted:

I saw The Sacrament last year at Fantastic Fest and was completely underwhelmed. I'm typically a huge fan of cult-related fiction like this but it was just so predictable that I couldn't get into it. There was little to no mystery aside from the cult leader, who ultimately ends up being a very generic villain. For reference, though, I went absolutely bonkers for Kill List which, in my opinion, works the cult angle much more skillfully and with significant, heavy suspense.

If you're into cult films (films about cults) you've probably already seen Martha Marcy May Marlene but it does the theme far better justice than The Sacrament does. I'd say it's scarier by a fair bit as well.

Not sure if you've seen it and it doesn't really belong in this thread but Reginald Harkema's Manson, My Name Is Evil is also worth a look. It's disjointed but also develops its ideas much better than West manages to.

# ¿ Aug 18, 2014 15:27

flashy_mcflash: Feb 7, 2011

The same guy also wrote Cellular and Messages Deleted. Dude needs to stop using telephones entirely or maybe change providers.

# ¿ Sep 29, 2014 21:08

flashy_mcflash: Feb 7, 2011

I was real mad that that wasn't a sequel to the horror film Grace, which I adore for reasons that remain a mystery to me.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1220213/

# ¿ Nov 18, 2014 19:13

flashy_mcflash: Feb 7, 2011

RightClickSaveAs posted:

I thought they nailed the atmosphere in Grace so well, it's a movie that just looks and feels gross and unsettling.

Yeah, the very first shot that shows a despondent Jordan Ladd having the most mundane sex possible really sets the tone for the whole thing. Also one of the more effective final shots I've seen in a movie.

# ¿ Nov 20, 2014 16:39

flashy_mcflash: Feb 7, 2011

the chaos engine posted:

Well gently caress, which is it?

I didn't care about it enough to think it was real good or real bad. It's kind of just there, and is probably not worth your time unless it's literally right in front of you and you have nothing else to watch.

# ¿ Feb 27, 2015 16:58

flashy_mcflash: Feb 7, 2011

The whole time I was thinking that if this were a small production of a stage play (with only maybe three or four sets and as many characters, it'd be easy to adapt), it'd actually be pretty good. As a movie, it's very mediocre though.

# ¿ Feb 27, 2015 17:49

flashy_mcflash: Feb 7, 2011

Ego-bot posted:

If Time Lapse were as popular as Looper or Back to the Future the internet would never shut the gently caress up about it regarding how time travel works.

Is this not true of every movie dealing with time travel, or any film that attempts to delve into science in any way?

# ¿ Mar 5, 2015 18:43

flashy_mcflash: Feb 7, 2011

Skyscraper posted:

Odd Thomas is aggressively terrible. I dislike Dean Koontz but I'm usually of the opinion that he can hit one or two decent horror notes per book, but Odd Thomas is utterly without merit. I have to imagine the book was better than that to actually get funding for a movie.

I have to agree with this. I have no real opinion on Koontz but I couldn't make heads or tails of what this was even supposed to be. Lines that read as dripping with sarcasm are completely earnest, and it never settles long enough on a tone. Just horrible.

# ¿ Jun 17, 2015 16:31

flashy_mcflash: Feb 7, 2011

Blisster posted:

I'm curious what everyone thought of Proxy. It got some rave reviews, and I really wanted to like it, but it pretty much just left me cold. The slow-mo scene was groan worthy and I really didn't buy any of the characters, except maybe the husband. I feel like the concept was there but the execution was lacking- every shot had this flat, soft lighting like a made for TV movie.

It reminded me of the movie Passion, with the (possibly intentional?) stiff acting, except without any of the style. And I didn't even like Passion all that much.

I actively hated Proxy and every single character with the possible exception of Joe Swanburg. It seemed incredibly trite and up its own rear end about a twist that isn't really that surprising, and the cartoon man-hating lesbian character put me right off. I left that screening pretty angry.

# ¿ Jul 24, 2015 14:14

flashy_mcflash: Feb 7, 2011

Blisster posted:

Thank god I'm not the only one, cause I was reading reviews and feeling like I was crazy. Like the one on Rogerebert.com:

"Minor roles are filled out by performers who seem intentionally inexperienced, adding to the unease throughout the entire, admittedly long film. The amateurish aspects of the production don�t detract from it as much as give it an eerie, lived-in quality that makes it harder to shake..."

Not really buying this.

That seems like a pretty transparent way to sugarcoat "bad acting" and "bad production". If they're trying to say it feels like a documentary or at least realistic, you can't just handwave away the lesbian character who talks and acts like no human being ever would.

I've been meaning to check out Parker's Scalene to see if it's equally bad, but I haven't gotten around to it.

# ¿ Jul 24, 2015 15:54

flashy_mcflash: Feb 7, 2011

Something real good. That movie crawled into my head and nested there for days. I think it's Moss's best performance yet.

# ¿ Mar 14, 2016 13:51

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# ¿ May 5, 2024 20:32

flashy_mcflash: Feb 7, 2011

SHISHKABOB posted:

I saw this thread and looked for something on Netflix and saw this movie called The Hole. I decided to watch because of the spooky premise: bottomless hole gets found in basement of new house by kids, their worst fears come out of it and haunt them. It didn't precisely live up to my expectations, but it turned out to be an adorable little modern day Are You Afraid of the Dark or feature length Goosebumps movie. It turned out to be very emotionally sensible and tackled some serious stuff for kids. It wasn't a brilliant movie, but it was very smart for what it was. I would not suggest it to anyone looking for an actual horror/thriller film. Or if you really hate kid actors lol

If you have early teens who like to read those rl stine goosebumps books then this will be a good choice. Unless they are horribly traumatized by parental child abuse then you might want to check it out first.

I really liked that movie and it made nice use of 3D when I saw it. It has that 80's kid-horror vibe (probably helped by the fact that it's a Joe Dante flick) and it features a young Haley Bennett of Hardcore Henry and The Booth At The End fame.

# ¿ Apr 29, 2016 13:47

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