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Windows 98 posted:I am still adding to this list but so far here are 82 films I haven't seen. If you need inspiration! Some may get removed because they aren't particularly a "classic" and more of a recent film I just missed. There are exactly 31 films on this I haven't seen! I have 14 movies left from Slant's Top 100 Horror Movies. So I'll try and participate as much as possible. I'm also going to spend a lot of January watching movies in 2019 I missed, one of which was Unsane, which I just finished watching. I loved it, and I'd consider it a modern classic (though time will tell). It's available on Amazon Prime. It's a paranoid, anxious film. Sawyer is a victim of stalking. She is worried her stalker might be back. She seeks counseling from a local clinic for support and therapy, but unknowingly is assigned involuntary admission. She is soon drugged and held against her will while being "treated". Steven Soderbergh directed this horror psych-thriller. It got a lot of attention for being filmed entirely on an iPhone with a small budget. The film looks great, embracing natural lighting and little make-up and including Soderbergh's love of strong colors, and the iPhone camera allows the film to at times be detached and clinical, and other times claustrophobic. The opening credits take full advantage of this, a simple scene of Sawyer walking to work, filmed far away from her, behind foliage and signs, a voyeuristic perspective. Soderbergh's voice is also strong here, including satire and cynical jabs at for-profit mental health facilities and their victimized patients and his willingness to let the story go to some dark and weird places. The movie, while anxiety-inducing, has with it a dark sense of humor, like the odd stalker victim lifestyle coach, a fun cameo by a well-known actor. The cast is stellar in this. Claire Foy is an excellent lead, supported by a great villain (Joshua Leonard) and a fellow patient (Jay Pharoah), as well as Juno Temple and Amy Irving. They're excellent. Since it's a new movie, I've kept this write-up vague, because this movie is filled with wonderful twists. I hope more people watch this one.
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Jan 2, 2019 00:00
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Question about The Birds, for those that may know: How much of a surprise was the central plot of birds killing people prior to the release? I know the story of Hitchcock's Psycho, where Hitchcock made prints of the novel would be hard to find (by purchasing a lot of them himself), and wouldn't allow people to enter the theater once the projector started rolling, etc. Did he do something similar with The Birds? As mentioned, the movie is set up like a little romantic mystery and the first act involves a woman purchasing two birds to give as a present, and the title "The Birds" could easily be construed as a play on "The Love Birds". So did people go into The Birds knowing there would be terror delivered by feathered fowl, or was it a bait-and-switch shock that birds are pecking away at people? I've only seen about half of The Birds before I fell asleep. So I guess I'll be watching this one.
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Jan 2, 2019 18:55
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Windows 98 posted:I know I am in the extreme minority but if I went to a movie I expected to be a romantic comedy and it turned into a horror I would be absolutely overflowing with joy. I love getting an experience I didn’t expect, if the film is good of course. I do agree it would make it a commercial flop for mainstream audiences. You should absolutely watch Something Wild, directed by Jonathan Demme.
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Jan 2, 2019 19:37
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Which day are we watching Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom?
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Jan 2, 2019 22:42
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I don't like The Birds. While I love the shot compositions of the first act, it's such a slow burn that I never get the momentum from the build-up and the excitement from the titular Birds beginning their attack never wins me over. Tippi Hedren's Melanie is a fun protagonist, however. Her 'romance' with Mitch (Rod Taylor) is less charming than it is bizarre, but they still seem to have a nice chemistry. Jessica Tandy, the domineering mother Lydia, is also a spooky severe lady. The cast is great, really, making the horror of an environmental attack that is overwhelming grounded and believable (also thanks to Hitchcock's directing. Robert Burks's cinematography and the special effects team). I just don't find the film that scary or even interesting, outside of it's cultural significance. I know quite a few people that consider this the scariest movie for them, and has lead to their irrational fear of birds. It's a solid film, but I much prefer Vertigo and Psycho and other Hitchcock films. This is my third or fourth attempt at watching the movie, and I hit the same lull as last time. For me? This film is for the birds.  I don't outright hate it. In fact, in a few years, I'd like to revisit this and see if it works better for me.
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Jan 3, 2019 13:30
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Lurdiak asked other goons to pick today's flick, so here it goes: Day 3: Audition, aka オーディション 1999 | dir. Takashi Miike | based on the novel by Ryû Murakami Trailer | available on Shudder  Seven years after the death of his wife, company executive Aoyama is invited to sit in on auditions for an actress. Leafing through the resumés in advance, his eye is caught by Yamazaki Asami, a striking young woman with ballet training. I have never seen this classic. It was recently gifted to me by fellow goon FancyMike, so I have no excuse. Join me!
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Jan 3, 2019 16:28
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TrixRabbi posted:The final act when they're boarded up in the house, the characters feel detached from the film itself, like I keep getting reminded of Six Characters in Search of an Author. It's five characters unstuck in their own story, existing outside of the narrative they were supposed to live in and undone by something inexplicable and irrational. The lack of a score, and relying on the ambient silence and the eeriness of the flapping wings really drives home how much the film is breaking from conventional Hollywood moviemaking and remaking the form. I liked all these aspects, especially the lack of music and sound design. More horror films should embrace the spookiness of silence.
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Jan 3, 2019 16:31
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Basebf555 posted:drat I'm 0 for 3 so far, I just recently saw Audition in October. Of your list, I think these are excellent contenders for the thread: Maniac, The 'Burbs, Magic, Jacob's Ladder, and Alice Sweet Alice. Magic is so good. I haven't seen Night of the Comet, so I also hope someone gets to pick that.
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Jan 3, 2019 16:37
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I thought that there was some weird reverse Oedipus stuff going on with Mitch and his mother. At least on her end. You're telling me if a woman broke into your house hours away from where you normally live to gift you some birds you told her you were lying about wanting during your very first interaction, you wouldn't invite her to dinner to meet your family?
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Jan 3, 2019 16:43
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I've already decided the next time I watch The Birds will be first thing in the morning with a fresh pot of coffee, so I can make sure I'm wide awake and open to it.
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Jan 3, 2019 22:26
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Hollismason posted:It's super hosed up the way he's basically " Yeah lemme just use my position of power and influence to find a wife". I think it's important to point out that he doesn't decide to do this, his friend decides to do it for him. Just like his son tells him to start looking for a partner. He doesn't decide it himself, it's decided for him by others. Not that he's innocent. He's complicit with the idea and takes it as his own. Even when his friend tells him that they should stop the search and that he should stop talking with Asami, sensing danger and possibly feeling karmic regret. He hallucinates cruelty he has subjected women to for his own carnality, and even includes his son's romantic interest as one of these nightmares. I'm glad ya'll mentioned the issues Japan has had with dating, a gap which has only grown wider since this film's release. Young adults are now more interested in career less interested in romance and continuing their families. There are now government funded dating programs and a fear of population levels becoming too low within a few generations. Audition's paranoid take on the fear of dating, compounding by the many negative gender dynamics that are exhibited within the story, really hits a terrifying note of romance, sexuality and basic human interaction. The torture scenes freaked me out, but the foot special effects were fantastic. Kiri kiri kiri. Watched: Unsane | The Birds | Audition I've seen Sleepaway Camp already, so I'll have to find something else to watch tonight.
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Jan 4, 2019 22:30
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I've seen Sleepaway Camp almost a dozen times within the past few years, so instead, today, I watched for the first time Irreversible 2002 | dir Gaspar Noé | France | Amazon Prime because no one was going to watch it with me. This is my first proper watching of a complete Noe film. I've seen sections and clips, but I always find something else worth watching when I have the time. The man's reputation for the grotesque and disturbing is intimidating. This is a brutal, angry, nihilistic, cruel film. It is told through frantic nauseating cinematography (notably done with Benoît Debie, frequent Harmony Korine and Noe collaborator) on 16mm. The narrative's episodes are prevented in reverse chronological order. It is unflinching in it's portrayal of hopelessness, violence, hatred, bigotry, and cruelty. It's two most notorious scenes--a murder via fire extinguisher and the most famous sexual assault scene in modern cinema--are as shocking and horrific as they were over a decade ago. This film is painful to watch. And yet, while that is the film's reputation, it is quite misleading to the actual film, which is an expertly crafted example of life's cruelty, the hopelessness of the illusion of fate, the destruction of time, the idiocy and ultimate pointlessness of revenge, and that suffering is the human condition. Irreversible, while not a traditional horror film, is indeed a classic. Though not one that's easy to recommend, or revisit. 4 Watched: Unsane | The Birds | Audition | Irreversible
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Jan 5, 2019 03:35
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Samuel Clemens posted:Irreversible occupies the same general space as something like the August Underground trilogy for me: well-crafted, but with little to recommend once you get past the shock value. Its most impressive feat is managing to attract an audience which usually strongly reviles this type of exploitation film. That's interesting. I don't find much value in August Underground. I've only seen the first one, but it is just an effective vulgar special effects showcase with a cruel agenda, and not much else. I don't get anything from it except nausea. Irreversible exists, for me, alongside Last House on the Left, Cannibal Holocaust, and rape revenge flicks like I Spit On Your Grave and Ms. 45. It clearly has more to say outside it's notorious scene. It's intended to shock and disturb, yes, but it at least backs up that shocking image with a thoughtful meditation on the uselessness and selfishness of revenge, and how it's a destructive force, as well as commentary on time itself. There's even a subtle subplot of precognitive dreams, of being warned of oncoming danger, and yet not being able to understand or control that. Our human lives are so small and fragile, that one event outside of your control that takes place in 10 minutes can take everything away from you, and you can never have it back. For me, there's plenty to recommend, it's just got a major caveat attached to it. I'm surprised so many people are seeing Sleepaway Camp for the first time! Such a fun bizarre flick.
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Jan 5, 2019 15:31
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I've seen Henry and Let The Right One In, so I skipped those. I started watching another classic, a really old classic I've been putting off, but the streaming just wasn't working. I'll post about it when I finish it tonight or tomorrow, but I guess I'll hold off on what it is.
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Jan 7, 2019 16:27
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Windows 98 posted:I watched I Walked With A Zombie in an effort to keep with a theme. Unfortunately this movie was garbage. It’s racist as gently caress and takes place on a Caribbean sugar plantation with slaves. The entire film is basically “black people are scary and crazy African religions are scary!” I don’t feel like I need to elaborate any further, I’m sure you can picture a film from the 1940s being racist as gently caress. That being said, there is one very cool scene where the slaves are practicing their voodoo religion in a religious ceremony and that was really cool. It was basically 5 uninterrupted minutes of black people getting to be genuine black people without any white characters on screen, and they were dancing and being extremely African. In the 1940s I’m sure this was done to strike fear into the hearts of their white audience, but today I see it as black actors getting to show off their skills without needing a white person on screen and that’s very cool. Ultimately the film is a romance story and the voodoo and zombies are almost an after thought. I'm gonna politely disagree with your conclusion on the subtext. The film is indicting while colonialism of cultures and native populations of the West Indies. As you mentioned, a white woman is clearly manipulating and controlling the indigenous people for her selfish gain, and in turn she gets destroyed by it. Tourneur wasn't a racist, he was trying to point out that the white people are clearly creating the means of their own destruction while destroying the indigenous people as well. The way that point is explored may not have aged well 70+ years later, but it was a risque and progressive message for the time. I did a big write-up about the film in 2017's October challenge, and I think Basebf555 (or maybe several goons?) did one in last year's challenge thread as well, which went more in-depth about that stuff. Here's a cool essay about the portrayal of racism in early zombie films, which specifically compares White Zombie to I Walked With A Zombie. Franchescanado fucked around with this message at 18:39 on Jan 8, 2019 |
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Jan 8, 2019 18:35
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Basebf555 posted:I've never seen I Walked With A Zombie, so it wasn't my write-up. I'd have included that in my list but I haven't seen it available on any of the streaming services I use. Maybe it was MacheteZombie, or Neo Rasa then. I just remember it was a good write-up from a good poster. 
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Jan 8, 2019 19:52
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Several other 1935 horror films: Werewolf of London The Raven Mark of the Vampire Mad Love
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Jan 8, 2019 22:28
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chitoryu12 posted:That being said, I'm hesitant to really put this movie in the "horror" category. The horror elements are very limited and almost exclusively played for comedy. The movie overall comes off as a straight black comedy,. So it's a Joe Dante movie, then.
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Jan 10, 2019 13:29
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Everyone should watch Alice Sweet Alice. I strongly believe it will become a horror goon favorite within two years, once more people give it a chance. It's one of the best proto-slashers, and acts like an interesting bridge for slashers and gialli.
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Jan 11, 2019 16:07
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The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari The influence of this film is painfully obvious within the first ten minutes. At turns, it is a slasher or a thriller, but its sleepwalking killer has inspired the Frankensteins, vampires, zombies and mummies of film for years. His stance and hand movements also had a big impact on Johnny Depp's characters--especially Edward Scissorhands--when collaborating with Tim Burton, who has mentioned his appreciation for this film in multiple interviews. It's influence on Burton and other directors (Barry Sonnenfield, for instance), is all in the film's style, which is a famous cinematic example of German Expressionism. The make-up is heavily applied to exaggerate the sharp and crooked angles of the human face and expressions, the set designs are cramped and imposing, leaning and bending. It's the biggest reason to watch this film. It's fun to look around the frame and see this strange world. It made me wonder why this exaggerated minimal set design (that's so clumsy; there has to be a term for it!) isn't embraced by more filmmakers. The 2018 comedy Dave Made A Maze played with the idea with set and prop designs and puppetry being made completely of cardboard. Jillian Mayer has done it for her short films, though uses it for more intimate shots rather than larger set designs. Musician Adam Green (of the Moldy Peaches), in his low budget, drug-fueled DIY directorial efforts has used it. I know artist Wayne White has dabbled in it with art exhibits (with cardboard and wood), though not for film. I'm eager for someone to embrace the design ethos of Dr. Caligari with something more ambitious that showcases how far we've come with film. 5 Watched: Unsane | The Birds | Audition | Irreversible | The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari Franchescanado fucked around with this message at 21:46 on Jan 11, 2019 |
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Jan 11, 2019 20:51
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 Kuroneko 1968 | dir. Kaneto Shindō It's refreshing to watch a new film that fills you with an excitement and a growing confidence that you've found a new favorite. This is a haunting ghost story about revenge in post-war Japan. The story is simple. Two women are brutalized to death by samurai and come back as vengeful spirit to spill the blood of every samurai. From this, we meditate on bloodlust in the name of revenge, romance, lost love, stolen time, regret. Any film that manages to embrace the visual power of cinema gets me excited. Kuroneko exceeds in this, providing hallucinatory dream-like imagery to fuel the creeping suspense. I'm overwhelmed by how much I enjoyed this, which makes it difficult to articulate properly. I hope that anyone reading this that hasn't seen it takes the soonest opportunity to give this a chance. I'm already excited to revisit this.  6 Watched: Unsane | The Birds | Audition | Irreversible | The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari | Kuroneko
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Jan 12, 2019 04:53
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Return of the Living Dead is also on US Amazon Prime .
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Jan 13, 2019 22:22
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STAC Goat posted:
Peeping Tom is included in Roger Ebert's Great Movies list, which it completely deserves, and I would recommend you read his essay on the film. I wouldn't say Peeping Tom is a giallo. First, it was a UK production, and gialli are Italian. It also came out a solid decade before gialli was really being defined, like The Bird with the Crystal Plumage in 1970. Wikipedia cites lists the first giallo being Bava's The Girl Who Knew Too Much in 1963, but it's kinda like how Psycho is considered the first slasher, despite not resembling the majority of the genre. I don't think you're completely wrong, but it's missing a lot of key ingredients that are common to giallo, such as a murder mystery to find the killer's identity. There is never a mystery as to who is the killer in Peeping Tom, the suspense comes from who he's going to kill next. It's a colorful film, but I think that's more to do with being 1960. If anything, giallo directors saw this movie (as did many slasher directors and horror directors) and were inspired from it. The other aspect, and I guess this is open to discussion, which I think makes Peeping Tom distinct from giallos is the treatment of women. They're being murdered, but the movie never demonizes them. They are victims of a predator, and it never puts that blame on them. For a movie that's about a man killing sex workers, it has a very positive perspective on the actual sex workers. It also doesn't really emphasize actual sex, since Mark seems to be psychologically impotent from his trauma. Mark seems more interested in sexiness and sex culture from an artistic and economic stand-point. The main 'romantic interest' of the film is at worst young and naive for believing Mark to be a good person, albeit eccentric and troubled. The connections/similarities to Psycho are so bizarre. Peeping Tom premiered in the UK three months before Psycho premiered in the USA. Both deal with a killer who suffers arrested development and identity issues from trauma inflicted by a parent. Peeping Tom blames the father, Psycho blames the mother. One is black and white, one is color (Eastmancolor, specifically). One hides the mystery of the killer while the other puts him at center focus with no mystery. Franchescanado fucked around with this message at 14:39 on Jan 23, 2019 |
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Jan 23, 2019 14:27
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STAC Goat posted:Ha, yeah, obviously I'm tossing the word "giallo" around too loosely. That's something I struggled with through October. I really never dove into Italian film, "giallo", or much of the 60s or 70s of film until the last few months. There's obviously elements and themes that cross through the time period but aren't limited to something as specific as "giallo". Somewhere along the line I just was asking myself "What is giallo?" and came to "So like these 60s/70s movies that are about serial killers of women with lots of color and sex?" And that's probably a flawed definition as you guys have pointed out but then I probably started applying it broadly to films of that time period. Which obviously is historically incorrect. You should check out the Film Theory & Criticism thread. While it's kinda aimless right now, the resources are good if you ever want to sharpen your film reading tools. I think Peeping Tom has a lot to say to the viewer, but sometimes it takes time or multiple viewings to get the message. That's why I love the October thread, because sitting down and writing about the movie always clarifies my feelings and ideas about the film. I've been reading A Short Guide To Writing About Film. It's interesting and approachable while defining a lot of things. I have the sixth edition, but there's only a few extra entries in the newest. Plus it's like 200 pages. So if you want something to read, that's my rec right now.
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Jan 23, 2019 23:13
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STAC Goat posted:I should note I know almost nothing about Japanese cinema. I’ve never heard of Kaneto Shindo. I think my Japanese film viewing may actually be limited to this, Ju-On, Ringu and Audition. I’m probably forgetting something and saw some random kaiju films as a kid but like, that’s all that’s really coming to mind. For horror, watch A Page of Madness, Tetsuo the Iron Man, Kuroneko and Kwaidan. And more Miike. For non-horror, you're pretty much obligated to watch Kurasawa. But that's a pretty awesome obligation. I've only seen a handful of his flicks, but they're always a treat.
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Jan 29, 2019 15:17
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STAC Goat posted:Akira Kurasawa is a name I've always known (I was a huge Wu Tang fan growing up, after all) but like I never actually saw Seven Samurai or anything. I've just never really been into that stuff and I guess I just didn't come across it easily. Nowadays I'm expanding my interests more. Part of that is probably maturity and more curiosity, some of it is probably that its easier to get stuff now than it ever was before, but part of it is definitely my involvement in these horror challenges that has forced me out of my comfort zones. Yeah, his flicks are a little long, but they're worth it. Yojimbo, Seven Samurai and Ikiru are the top three I'd recommend, but RAN and Rashomon are the other two big ones for him (which I haven't seen yet). Yojimbo is under two hours, and Ikiru is a little over two hours. They're both drastically different but both will deliver emotional resonance for you to sit with.
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Jan 29, 2019 15:32
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Honestly, the most exciting thing to happen to my film-watching in the last two years has been watching more Eastern films, especially Hong Kong and Japanese films. A lot of that comes from FancyMike recommending me a ton of great films, and then browsing through lists on Letterboxd.
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Jan 29, 2019 15:45
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Everyone, Everyone, Everyone and I mean Everyone Watch Diabolique. It's so good. One of my favorites from the last October challenge!
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Jan 30, 2019 23:50
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STAC Goat posted:This seems incorrect? I see Prime and Kanopy? Do I have the right movie? Lurdiak is in Canada, so it may not be on his region’s services.
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Jan 31, 2019 01:05
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