No Sleep Tonight, Then: Horror Movies

[Sharpie66]

I don't really get into horror flicks at all, but the one that I own on dvd and really like a lot is The Prophecy (the first one, not any of the sequels!). It was recommended to me by someone who knew of my nascent interest in Viggo Mortensen after the first LotR film came out, and I became obsessed with looking up all of the actors previous works that I hadn't already seen (I only knew of Elijah Wood from Deep Impact, for example). The person who recommended The Prophecy did so by saying, "In his ten minutes on-screen, Viggo manages to out-creep Christopher Walken at his creepy best," and I knew I had to see it.

 

I am sooo glad I did! Not only was that person right, but as an English major who actually really liked Paradise Lost, I delighted in the very Miltonian take on angels that the movie has. That's the reason I bought the movie and still re-watch it occasionally.

[Princess Sparkle]

I wasn't even remotely interested in Anabelle because The Conjuring was so laughably horrible. But you're right about Anabelle being the creepiest part of that movie.

Ok, I'm glad I wasn't the only one who wasn't in love with The Conjuring.  I had such high expectations because it was rated R just for being scary, but the only thing that creeped me out was Anabelle, and that's because dolls that look like that are fucking scary.

[Schweedie]

I watched this for the first time last year while carving a pumpkin and was underwhelmed. I figured I'd give it another go this year and gave it my undivided attention. Still underwhelmed. My whole life, I've heard people rave about how this is one of the best horror films of all time, etc. The acting was bad even by horror standards (Jamie Lee's friends were stinking up the joint), and the pace was so slow. I don't know, maybe watching all those Nightmare on Elm Street films as a kid entertained me a little too much. I need my serial killer to have a little charisma.

 

Maybe it's sacrilege, but I was completely underwhelmed by Halloween, too. But I'm not big on the serial killer horror movies in general - unless they're of the creepy supernatural sort, like Freddie. Nightmare on Elm Street was one of my favourites when I was in my teens as well.

 

And a lot of those same people were in another one I liked well enough called The Sacrament.  I actually think it starts a little slow, but really kicks into gear in the back half of the film.  And it's one of the few "found footage" movies that I liked, since it wasn't all herky jerky - they frame it as Vice going down to do a story, so it explains why the camera work is so good.

 

I'd love to see some other recommendations too - I really haven't seen a whole lot of good horror movies recently.  Has anyone seen Anabelle?  I've been on the fence about seeing it, but she was the scariest part of The Conjuring to me, so I'm hoping it's good.  

I'm actually pretty fond of 'found footage' films, so I'll definitely give The Sacrament a look. Thanks for the tip!

 

I still haven't decided whether to see Annabelle, either, but I agree that the segment with her in The Conjuring was one of the freakier parts. Although I do find The Conjuring scary on the whole, too, at least until the big finale - I think the film is better before you really find out what's going on.

[Jeebus Cripes]

I don't really get into horror flicks at all, but the one that I own on dvd and really like a lot is The Prophecy (the first one, not any of the sequels!). It was recommended to me by someone who knew of my nascent interest in Viggo Mortensen after the first LotR film came out, and I became obsessed with looking up all of the actors previous works that I hadn't already seen (I only knew of Elijah Wood from Deep Impact, for example). The person who recommended The Prophecy did so by saying, "In his ten minutes on-screen, Viggo manages to out-creep Christopher Walken at his creepy best," and I knew I had to see it.

 

I am sooo glad I did! Not only was that person right, but as an English major who actually really liked Paradise Lost, I delighted in the very Miltonian take on angels that the movie has. That's the reason I bought the movie and still re-watch it occasionally.

 

Viggo is absolutely riveting as Lucifer! I remember this was the first film I'd seen him in, and I was super impressed. 

[Bruinsfan]

He's probably my second favorite Devil after John Glover.

[miles2go]

This movie was in the Mill Creek Sci-Fi collection, but there's no real science fiction in it.  It's more of a horror film, so I'll review it here.

 

BRIDE OF THE GORILLA (1951)

 

The working title of this flick was The Face in the Water , which, IMHO, is much better than what they changed it to.  I guess studio execs thought anything with the word "gorilla"  in it would have a bigger draw value.

 

Anyway, our setting is on a rubber plantation deep in the Amazonian rainforest.  Judging by the clothing styles and the presence of a phonograph, we're in contemporary times, i.e., late '40's or early '50's.  Colonialism is still present, but the natives aren't enslaved; at least, not overtly.

 

Characters:

 

Klaas Van Gelder -- elderly plantation owner,  in poor health

Dina Van Gelder -- his much younger, and very restless, wife

Barney Chavez -- plantation manager, in love with Dina (he's played by Raymond Burr -- a few years after he made this B-film, he started hitting the big leagues)

Al-Long -- housekeeper/cook and native sorceress

Larina -- house maid and Barney's discarded mistress,  like Al-Long, she's from the native population

Taro -- police commissioner; he's a native of the area with a European education, (played by Lon Chaney, Jr)

Dr. Viet -- Klaas's friend and physician; he's also in love with Dina

 

There's tension a'plenty as we open this drama, with Barney hitting on his employer's attractive young wife, Klaas being aware of it, and the rejected Larina fretting on the sidelines.  Things come to a head when, due to Barney's negligence, a worker is killed in the processing plant.  Klaas fires Barney, and Dina, who up until then had neither encouraged nor rejected Barney's overtures, suddenly expresses an interest in him.

 

Meanwhile, a sobbing Larina confides her troubles to Al-Long, the housekeeper and a sort of grandmother-figure. Al-Long tells her not to worry, that Barney Chavez won't ever be hurting her again.  

 

Klaas goes for stroll in his garden after dinner and encounters a belligerent Barney; a fight ensues, and Barney, who notices a poisonous snake just emerging from some bushes, shoves Klaas right in its way. Being already in a weakened state of health, Klaas doesn't have the strength to get out of the way and Barney has no intention of helping him.  

 

Barney runs off, and Al-Long enters the scene -- she's been observing everything!  She's carrying a potted plant; placing some of the leaves on the dead man's eyes, she pronounces a curse on the murderer: "Barney Chavez will be as an animal".

 

Now, most synopses of this flick indicate that Al-Long is aiming to avenge her employer's murder, but this is clearly not the case.  She first expresses her intent to harm Barney in the scene with Larina (described above).  Moreover, there's no indication she has any particular fondness for Klaas Van Gelder or his family; note that she does absolutely nothing to interfere with Barney's attack or to help Klaas after he's bitten.  No, Al_Long has other reasons to curse Barney; maybe it's partly for Larina's sake, maybe there are other reasons (Barney is, after all, a bit of a creep).  The murder of Klaas is giving her more firepower -- I suspect what she's doing with the corpse is harnessing the angry energy of the ghost for her own purposes.

 

The next morning, the death of Klaas Van Gelder is investigated by Police Commissioner Taro and Dr. Viet, the only physician for miles around and a friend of the deceased.  Viet says the cause of death is snake bite, although he clearly has some suspicions of Barney.  Taro is also suspicious, but doesn't have enough evidence to charge the man.  And there's another matter that concerns him:  at the scene of death he finds leaves of a hallucinogenic plant that is known to be used in magical rituals.  Taro is not sure whether he believes in sorcery or not; he's a native of these parts, but left the area to pursue an education in Europe, so he's torn between his native beliefs and the rational thought of his foreign schooling.

 

Some time elapses --  we're not sure how long -- Dina and Barney are getting married.  At the wedding party, Al-Long slips the new master a special drink, and he soon starts feeling a little strange.  

 

 

That very night, Dina and Barney's wedding night, Barney is driven to go into the jungle, leaving his astonished and dismayed bride behind. He wanders through the dense foliage, and stops at a pond to look at his reflection.  What he sees is a gorilla's face looking back at him.  In the morning, Dina finds him collapsed in the garden, feverish and babbling about the "face in the water". Dr. Viet examines him, gives him a shot to quiet him down and prescribes quinine.  Then he hints to Dina that Barney murdered her late husband, but she's having none of it because she knows Viet is in love with her and doesn't trust him.

 

Time passes -- Al-Long continues to make potions from her mind-altering plant, all the while chanting spells and curses at Barney; Barney keeps running off to the jungle every night; Dina stays blindly loyal, even though she's probably a bride in name only; Viet and Taro remain suspicious.  Meanwhile, the natives of the area are talking about a sukarat [not sure of spelling], a legendary jungle creature that they believe is attacking their livestock, and they fear may someday attack a human being.  And, then, Barney is spotted with blood on his hands . . .

 

This is a pretty decent film, although marred by some silly, florid dialogue and narration.  The performances are good, although Chaney -- who I usually like -- seems a bit wooden. He may have been trying to tone things down, considering his character gets some of the more melodramatic lines. 

 

Rating: 3/5 Probably worth a look

Edited November 12, 2014 by miles2go

[JAYJAY1979]

Bumping up topic...with halloween days away that means horror movie time :)

The most intense horror movie to me is Texas Chainsaw Massacre! The original, not the crappy remakes

http://www.chicagonow.com/confessions-coffeeholic/2015/10/the-texas-chainsaw-massacre-primitive-response-shifting-world/

[Shannon L.]

Once I found out that Texas Chainsaw Massacre was based on a true story, I couldn't watch it.  I need my horror flicks (what few I watch) to be completely ridiculous (although I do have a couple on my list that are more likely to happen in real life).

 

Jaws is my favorite.  I also like Nightmare on Elm Street (the original), Scream and Psycho.  Theater of Blood, while cheesy, scared me to death because I was only about 8 years old when I saw it (long story) and to this day, I shudder when I see a picture of Vincent Price and/or hear his laugh.  Does Poltergeist count as horror?  That one was cool, too.  Crimson Peak was promoted as a horror film and I really enjoyed that one, but didn't find it very horror-like at all.  Gory and creepy, yes, but not really scary. 

 

I was much more into horror films in my teens.  It seems that the older I get, the less I can tolerate them. 

[spaceytraci1208]

Does Poltergeist count as horror?

Part 2 sure as hell does! Julian Beck as Mr. Kane is terrifying lol

[Bastet]

A friend and I recently watched The Uninvited.  Not the Ray Milland classic, but a 2009 adaptation of a South Korean horror film.  It's one of those that has a surprise twist (that I caught on to about a whopping 60 seconds before it was revealed, so I was definitely taken in) that forces you to rewatch it to see if they honored the truth throughout.  One tiny cheat, but otherwise they nailed it.  It was pretty good - suspenseful, and with some great dry humor as well.  Plus, it has David Strathairn.

[Spartan Girl]

I loved The Uninvited. Personally, I liked the ending because

I thought that the dad and his new girlfriend got what they deserved for cheating on the terminally ill wife. I didn't blame the girl for going psycho after she caught them in the act.

[Anne Elk]

Just watched two scary movies in honor of Halloween: First, The Woman in Black, the 2012 version. It was more spooky than scary, and the story had no major surprises, but the production design and set decoration were excellent and the performances were good, so I liked it. Daniel Radcliffe did a great job with the lead.

 

Second, The Babadook. Another one that was more spooky than scary, but I thought the suspense buildup was very well done. The relationship between the mother and son was so seriously disturbing and distressing to me, it was hard to watch. And kudos to the designer of that book for making it extremely creepy.

[Bastet]

A friend with whom I regularly have movie nights, often scary movie nights, is a Harry Potter freak and thus we had to watch The Woman in Black so she could see Daniel Radcliffe.  I thought it was pretty good.

 

I love the original Halloween.  Low budget horror at its best, although without Carpenter’s iconic score it wouldn’t be half the film.  I also love the film it spawned, the original Friday the 13th.  It sort of gets lost, thanks to the umpteen generic sequels that came after, but that first one is not a typical slasher film.  It has an uncommon killer in

Mrs. Voorhees

and the various victims are far more developed characters than became the norm, and played quite naturally by a bunch of NY theatre actors, so that you actually care they’re getting bumped off.  In subsequent films, you root for Jason.

 

I like a lot of Wes Craven’s horror films, especially Scream.  He and Kevin Williams do a great job of skewering the genre at the same time they’re delivering a good example of it.  I also really like The People Under the Stairs and Nightmare on Elm Street.

 

Psycho remains one of my favorites.  The first sequel was okay, but they definitely should have stopped after that.  And don’t get me started on that gimmicky shot-for-shot remake.

 

When a Stranger Calls sort of lags in the middle – it almost feels that another film got inserted into it – but there’s a good reason “the call is coming from inside the house” became A Thing.  Great ending, too.

 

Although its impact is lessened now for the parodies and knockoffs that followed, The Blair Witch Project was really something when it came out.  (I know it wasn’t the first faux documentary horror film, but I’m actively trying to forget Cannibal Holocaust.)

 

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is incredibly disturbing.  Not a favorite, but definitely a classic.

 

One of my favorites as a kid was the 1978 version of The Cat and the Canary.  I was able to catch the original (1927) quite a few years back, and I’ve seen the Bob Hope version (blech), but I like this one best.

 

The Haunting was probably the first scary movie I ever saw, and I’ve been fond of it ever since.  I’ve never tried the remake.

 

It’s not in the same league as those listed above, but I have to include Sleepaway Camp on my list of, if not favorite, memorable horror films, for the, well, campy performances and the WTF? ending

 

A lot of the individual films aren’t that good, but there’s something enjoyable about the horror films dragged out of the Universal vaults from the ‘20s through ‘40s.  Formulaic on one hand, but directors doing interesting things on the other.  The other studios got in on the act, and took the smart route of putting out fewer but better films of the genre, but there’s just something about the slew of Universal offerings taken as a whole.  Same with Roger Corman’s B-movie Poe adaptations and the William Castle collection.

Edited October 26, 2015 by Bastet

[Princess Sparkle]

 

 

 

It’s not in the same league as those listed above, but I have to include Sleepaway Camp on my list of, if not favorite, memorable horror films, for the, well, campy performances and the WTF? ending

 

 

Honest to god, Sleepaway Camp is one of my favorite horror movies.  As you say, it's not in the same league as some others, but I'm watching it every Halloween.  Plus, it's just a nice bonus that the movie gave me my favorite episode of "How Did This Get Made";.

[blixie]

I went and saw Goodnight Mommy which was delightfully creepy, but be forewarned the last third is CRAZY intense and super deranged, and there is a LOT of disturbing imagery (creepy kids, creepy bugs, creepy masks). Having said that it's mostly a psychological thriller, though I suppose it has the earmarks of being straight up horror.

 

I also had my yearly viewing of Hellraiser which I still adore, mostly for Pinhead and Kristy's deal making and doublecrosses, as well as for Frank's enduringly sleazy-ass, and Julia's being strung out beyond the telling of it. But, weirdly, this is the first time it really hit me how most of the cast are American's using American accents even though it's clearly set in England, w/only Kristy and her father meant to be actual American's. I had never heard that the studio overdubbed the almost entirely British cast because they feared it turning off American audiences. Sure. WTF?!

[Shannon L.]

Silence of the Lambs.  I can't believe I forgot that one.  Scared the crap out of me (and, when it was over, I had to take the bus home and walk a few blocks to get to my house--after dark!) , yet I was so on board with every award it won. 

[harrie]

I love the original Halloween.  Low budget horror at its best, although without Carpenter’s iconic score it wouldn’t be half the film. 

 

Just a note in case anyone's interested, the 1978 Halloween will be shown in selected theaters nationwide this Thursday, October 29.  I'm not affiliated with Fathom Events, but very much enjoyed their theater showings of Psycho and more recently, two 1931 versions of Dracula -- the Bela Lugosi classic and a Spanish-language version that was made concurrently on the same sets when the day's shooting for the Lugosi version was done. The Dracula double feature will be done again this Wednesday.   I highly recommend the experience if anyone has the time and interest.

[Crim]

When a Stranger Calls sort of lags in the middle – it almost feels that another film got inserted into it – but there’s a good reason “the call is coming from inside the house” became A Thing.  Great ending, too.

 

The Haunting was probably the first scary movie I ever saw, and I’ve been fond of it ever since.  I’ve never tried the remake.

 

That's exactly what I thought about When a Stranger Calls. I think it's a popular opinion. And speaking of "he's in the house!" moments, Black Christmas is one of my favorite slashers - and it predates WaSC. I only watched The Haunting recently and wasn't impressed; I think it's that I went in with such high expectations.

 

I also had my yearly viewing of Hellraiser which I still adore

I like Hellraiser too. Have you seen Zulawski's Possession?

 

Of recent horrors I liked It Follows. I considered a horror marathon for Halloween, searched for some challenge on letterboxd, but in the end did nothing.

[JAYJAY1979]

Honest to god, Sleepaway Camp is one of my favorite horror movies. As you say, it's not in the same league as some others, but I'm watching it every Halloween. Plus, it's just a nice bonus that the movie gave me my favorite episode of "How Did This Get Made";.

I think this movie is a perfect argument against conversion therapy of any kind.

http://www.chicagonow.com/confessions-coffeeholic/2015/10/sleepaway-camp-horror-movie-see-to-believe/

[Archery]

I really liked Oculus. The heroine, played by Karen Gillan of Doctor Who, plays against most of the usual woman-in-horror-film tropes.

 

When I was in law school, our criminal law professor was discussing different ways of killing or attempting to kill someone.  It was right around Hallowe'en, and we got on the topic of scaring someone to death.  Two days later, he invited the whole class to come back to the lecture hall after hours and watch Diabolique (the original French version, not the stupid Sharon Stone one). Holy crap.  Freaked us ALL out. 

[spaceytraci1208]

So I'm watching Halloween and Laurie is really pissing me off...she throws the knife back on the floor twice! It's your best chance at survival, WTF is wrong with you?!

[blixie]

I watched Trick 'r Treat which was really fun, nicely creepy and certainly super Halloween-y, but not really ever *scary*.  The best part is the sack cloth  headed child-gremlin, it's weird to me this came out the same year as The Orphanage which also made use of a creepy sack cloth headed child, and had an emotionally disturbed and exploited kids subplot. Hmm. 

 

I also feel like the Mean Girl Macy/quarry story felt like Ryan Murphy sort of stole that whole vibe for the premise of Scream Queens.

[Bruinsfan]

Two days later, he invited the whole class to come back to the lecture hall after hours and watch Diabolique (the original French version, not the stupid Sharon Stone one). Holy crap.  Freaked us ALL out. 

Oh man, when I was a little kid my dad let me stay up late to watch that with him, and then when I turned around for reassurance after the infamous bathtub scene he was slumped in his recliner with his eyes rolled back into his head. Hope that prank was still funny months later when I was waking you up to jump in your bed after my nightmares every night, Dad!

[Spartan Girl]

I don't get why AMC marathons all the Halloween movies EXCEPT Halloween H20. That was the one sequel that was actually good!

[Bastet]

They often skip Halloween III, too - and with good reason - but I see that tonight they're airing it. 

 

H20 was pretty decent, yeah.  I also liked the one with the niece, but just for the ending reveal calling back to how it all began with Michael. 

 

My dinner plans were canceled due to a friend's illness, and I have a Halloween Blu-Ray with a bunch of special features I've yet to watch, so I think I'll settle in with some popcorn.  IFC is currently airing the remake, which I've watched two minutes of and rejected.

Edited November 1, 2015 by Bastet

[Bastet]

Double posting to say Jeez, I love this movie.  I scream at Laurie to stop dropping the damn knife, wonder at how it got so dark so fast as Laurie and Annie head to their babysitting jobs, and get a good laugh at what a quick lay – even for high school – Judith Myers’ boyfriend is (and then a bigger one upon finally listening to the commentary and hearing Jamie Lee Curtis say the same thing).  And I don’t know that “kids today” who watch it with the rich history of horror films we didn’t have upon its original airing can possibly react the same way.  But it’s good.  John Carpenter and Debra Hill were really onto something.  Something that went on to be diluted and ultimately parodied, but something at the time.

[Spartan Girl]

I watched Candyman last night. Lots of gross disturbing moments, but I'm not going to lie: I loved it when the cheating, douchebag husband got gutted. He was the only victim I didn't feel sorry for.

[Shannon L.]

I came across The Shining last night and was reminded that the one thing that freaks me out more than anything else in the horror genre is when Danny runs into those twin girls.  ::shudder::

[blueray]

Not sure if this really fits this thread but anyhow. Yesterday my boyfriend and I were trying to find a good Halloween movie to watch, that wasn't a slasher movie since I don't like those. Anyhow, The Lost Boy's came on a random TV channel and neither of us had seen it but heard it was a good 80's movie (and it was very 80's). It says in the description that it was teen "horror" movie... yeah no its a comedy. But I liked it and felt like a good movie to watch on Halloween.

 

Anyhow the plot of the movie is a single mother takes her two teenage boys to a creepy California town to stay with her father (who is also very weird). Anyhow the older boy gets involved with a gang of Vampires and gets turned. And the younger boy starts learning about how the town is over run with vampires. Without spoiling the rest of the movie I'll just leave it there, since it's kind of a simple movie. But an enjoyable watch, but not horror. Plus be warned the movie is very 80's with hair and everything.

Edited November 1, 2015 by blueray

[Shannon L.]

 

Plus be warned the movie is very 80's with hair and everything.

And it has one of the most awesome 80s movie soundtracks ever.

 

I love this movie-I've seen it a dozen times. It's very much a cult hit.  When I first moved to Los Angeles at 18, my  roommates and I lived in a small apartment building filled with young people and we were the only ones to have HBO.  I can't tell you how many times it would get around that Lost Boys was playing and, sure enough, at movie time we'd have a group of people spread out in the living room.  :)

[raven]

I love The Lost Boys also.   I'm also a fan of the original Fright Night (though the remake was pretty good) but am especially partial to werewolf movies, thought it's hard to find a good one.  I have a soft spot for Silver Bullet, really enjoyed Wolfen (not true werewolves, but scared the heck out of me as a kid, very tense and creepy); The Howling is a good one.  The 2010 remake of The Wolfman was not bad.  Wer from 2013 is watchable and interesting, a lawyer defends the "werewolf".

The best for me is Dog Soldiers, which had scary werewolves, great, spooky Scottish atmosphere and characters you care about (Sean Pertwee! Kevin McKidd!)

 

 

I watched Candyman last night.

Ooh, forgot about this one.  It was pretty good. 

 

Being partial to creature features, I like the Pumpkinhead movies, though the first is easily the best, doing the most effective job of combining pathos and horror.  Plus it has Lance Henriksen, who can do no wrong in my book, even in a bad movie (like Abominable, heh).   He's also in a pretty good, little known (at least to me) vampire movie called Near Dark, which also has Bill Paxton and Adrian Pasdar!

 

The trend in horror movies to have 1) ghosts throwing people around a room and/or 2) those weird creatures/ghosts walking upside down/backwards aren't scary to me, unfortunately they usually just make me laugh.  Especially the throwing the person around the room,  I had really been looking forward to The Conjuring, esp because the house it takes place in is in my home state of RI, but....omg when Lili Taylor is flying around the room??? Could not stop laughing.

 

I did like the more recent It Follows, which had that old school creepy feeling about it and decent performances.

[Jeebus Cripes]

Not sure if this really fits this thread but anyhow. Yesterday my boyfriend and I were trying to find a good Halloween movie to watch, that wasn't a slasher movie since I don't like those. Anyhow, The Lost Boy's came on a random TV channel and neither of us had seen it but heard it was a good 80's movie (and it was very 80's). It says in the description that it was teen "horror" movie... yeah no its a comedy. But I liked it and felt like a good movie to watch on Halloween.

 

Anyhow the plot of the movie is a single mother takes her two teenage boys to a creepy California town to stay with her father (who is also very weird). Anyhow the older boy gets involved with a gang of Vampires and gets turned. And the younger boy starts learning about how the town is over run with vampires. Without spoiling the rest of the movie I'll just leave it there, since it's kind of a simple movie. But an enjoyable watch, but not horror. Plus be warned the movie is very 80's with hair and everything.

 

The Lost Boys is a classic in the Jeebus home. I definitely consider it in the horror genre; it's in the horror/comedy branch next to Fright Night (another classic).It blows my mind when someone says they haven't seen those films. Especially The Lost Boys, but I suppose I'm getting old.

Plus it has Lance Henriksen, who can do no wrong in my book, even in a bad movie (like Abominable, heh).   He's also in a pretty good, little known (at least to me) vampire movie called Near Dark, which also has Bill Paxton and Adrian Pasdar!

 

Near Dark is a good flick. It's a little camp, as most '80s horror films tend to be, and the dialogue can be cheesy, but the atmosphere is great.

Edited November 2, 2015 by Jeebus Cripes

[Crim]

I'm also someone who only watched Near Dark recently, and did so just because it's one of Kathryn Bigelow early movies (still need to see The Loveless). I'm not particularly interested in vampire movies as a genre. I'm watching Abel Ferrara's The Addiction - not quite a horror movie, just vampires, similar to how A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night and Only Lovers Left Alive are good, non-horror vampire movie - and wow, is it a heavy-handed "All There In The Title And Don't You Forget It". It's not a bad thing, I'm just slightly surprised. It has Lili Taylor too. I am not a fan of The Conjuring, but it looked pretty good and, for the genre, it was quite decent. Oculus was better, I'd say.

 

@raven, those would be my favorite werewolf movies too, plus Ginger Snaps. Wer was interesting. I wonder why it didn't get more attention, as An American Werewolf in London is such a classic and they are similar in theme (minus the comedy in the latter). And speaking of Ginger Snaps and similar movies, I've seen When Animals Dream/Når dyrene drømmer, which I would recommend to almost anyone; not spoiling it with a why.

[Archery]

I came across The Shining last night and was reminded that the one thing that freaks me out more than anything else in the horror genre is when Danny runs into those twin girls.  ::shudder::

My boyfriend and I watched The Shining one Hallowe'en night long ago (my idea), and that was the scene when he was like, Aaaand, okay -- peace out!, and went to bed, leavinig me to watch the rest by myself.  He's damn lucky I married him anyway. 

[raven]

 

I've seen When Animals Dream/Når dyrene drømmer, which I would recommend to almost anyone; not spoiling it with a why.

Thanks, had not heard of this one and will look for it. 

 

I'd also recommend Let the Right One In (haven't seen the American verision, Let Me In); a really good, yet different type of vampire movie.

 

If you're still in the mood for subtitles (or speak Korean) I can't say enough good things about The Host, a somewhat horror, somewhat wacky, all fun creature feature. 

 

Guillermo del Toro's The Devil's Backbone is technically a ghost story but there's more to it than that; probably my fave of his.. 

 

Movies with a Lovecraft feel tend to be hit or miss, if you like that though I recommend In the Mouth of Madness, which has Sam Neill, insanity and the Old Ones.

Edited November 6, 2015 by raven

[Crim]

Let Me In is not bad at all; it's not quite as quiet and powerful, it shows more - the gore, the monster! - , and something could be said about the inappropriately glamorous casting, but it's totally worth watching.

 

I'm on a bit of a John Carpenter kick, and In the Mouth of Madness was part of that. Still need to watch The Fog.

 

I'm one of those apparently few people who didn't really like The Devil's Backbone. It's certainly a good movie, but it didn't leave any impression on me; I actually prefer his Cronos from his "smaller" movies. He certainly revisits motifs though - Pacific Rim aside, for obvious reasons.

[Bastet]

I watched Nightmare on Elm Street 4 last night for the first time in eons.  That is a weird movie.  Renny Harlin was pretty new on the directing scene, and it shows with a lot of fancy shots that are there just because they’re fancy, but it’s also obvious he had better than average skills.  And the special effects are fantastic.

 

I wish Patricia Arquette had come back as Kristen, because Tuesday Knight is as terrible in this as she is in everything else.  (I have a friend who worked with her once and absolutely hates her to this day, so my opinion may be colored by that, but I find her very annoying.)

 

I’m surprised this did such big business at the box office.  It’s nice looking, but it’s not scary.  It is pleasantly trippy, with Alice pulling people into her dreams (and promptly getting them killed).  And the time loop is cool.  It just feels like something that had potential to be really good – no surprise, really, given what both Harlan and screenwriter Brian Helgeland went on to do - but didn’t live up to it.

 

I have only vague recollections of the next one with Alice; isn’t she pregnant?  I have a DVD set with the first four films, and I hardly ever watch any of them other than the first, so I don’t intend to buy the fifth.  But I may have to rent it.  I can’t remember which is the last sequel I saw; at some point, I decided the franchise had gone to hell and quit watching.

 

Same with Friday the 13th.  I hung in for a long time with that one, as I can appreciate a silly slasher film, but each sequel was worse than the one before.  The original film was the only truly good one, but if they’d stopped after the fourth as originally planned that would have been a nice run because all of those other than the 3-D one are decent slasher films.  The retconning of movie five was bad enough, but then each director took his turn coming up with a new story for Jason and it was just a mess.

[Ubiquitous]

I watched this for the first time last year while carving a pumpkin and was underwhelmed. I figured I'd give it another go this year and gave it my undivided attention. Still underwhelmed. My whole life, I've heard people rave about how this is one of the best horror films of all time, etc. The acting was bad even by horror standards (Jamie Lee's friends were stinking up the joint), and the pace was so slow. I don't know, maybe watching all those Nightmare on Elm Street films as a kid entertained me a little too much. I need my serial killer to have a little charisma.

I love the original Halloween but absolutely HATE the remake form Rob Zombie. I think it's mostly b/c he managed to make Michael Meyers so trite and insipid. What was originally described in the scripts as the "DARK SHAPE", a force of nature, became "someone who was abused as a child". *yawn* I watched a documentary on this movie and enjoyed hearing John Carpenter blew off Rob Zombie when he told him he was remaking his movie. Ha-Ha!

 

That reminds me. I hate how when they play Halloween, they usually post the description of the wrong one.

[Jeebus Cripes]

I watched Nightmare on Elm Street 4 last night for the first time in eons.  That is a weird movie.  Renny Harlin was pretty new on the directing scene, and it shows with a lot of fancy shots that are there just because they’re fancy, but it’s also obvious he had better than average skills.  And the special effects are fantastic.

 

I wish Patricia Arquette had come back as Kristen, because Tuesday Knight is as terrible in this as she is in everything else.  (I have a friend who worked with her once and absolutely hates her to this day, so my opinion may be colored by that, but I find her very annoying.)

 

I’m surprised this did such big business at the box office.  It’s nice looking, but it’s not scary.  It is pleasantly trippy, with Alice pulling people into her dreams (and promptly getting them killed).  And the time loop is cool.  It just feels like something that had potential to be really good – no surprise, really, given what both Harlan and screenwriter Brian Helgeland went on to do - but didn’t live up to it.

 

I've always had a soft spot for part 4 because I watched it so much growing up. Part 3 was so great (the best, IMO) that anything following it wasn't going to hold up. I also wish Arquette was playing Kristen because the character's vibe was all wrong with Knight. She had a shallow quality about her, aside from being a shite actress.

[Bastet]

I also wish Arquette was playing Kristen because the character's vibe was all wrong with Knight. She had a shallow quality about her, aside from being a shite actress.

 

I think about how good the scene when Kristen discovers her mother (at least they got Brooke Bundy back) has given her sleeping pills and says, "You've just murdered me" would be with Arquette and get really annoyed that Knight is there instead.

 

Her vibe with Joey and Kincaid is all off, too. 

[SoSueMe]

I found this really well done horror short film (8 minutes) on youtube last night. Worth a watch and also finding the "making of" feature on their channel. These guys did a lot with a little.

[Zola]

I am not a big fan of horror films, especially those that go overboard on the blood, guts and violence (usually against women). So mainstream films like The Descent, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Hostel, Halloween, Friday 13th, Wrong Turn etc. I just tend to avoid.

That said, I have quite enjoyed The Thing (1982),  Saw (but not the awful sequels), Evil Dead 2,  Dawn of the Dead (1978). For the most part because these films either have a decent story, or the gore is so completely OTT that it comes across as campy rather than down right scary. 

However, I prefer my horror to be more psychological rather than visual - films like  The Shining, The Exorcist, The Others, The Haunting (1963), Repulsion, The Sixth Sense, Psycho, Ringu, Les Diabolique, Silence of the Lambs and Don't Look Now - will always get my vote, and make for great creepy TV late at night just before bedtime.

[festivus]

I'm a big fan of cheesy horror movies with equal opportunity killing. Everybody dies! The cheesier and crappier they are, the better. I'm also that weird person that can totally fall asleep to horror movies. I find the suspenseful music to be soothing.  

[BigBeagle]

The last horror movie to truly scare me was "Jaws" in 1975 (my friends swear I levitated two or three times during the film).

In comparison, most slasher flicks are farcical.

Edited July 14, 2017 by BigBeagle

[Zola]

1 hour ago, BigBeagle said:

The last horror movie to truly scare me was "Jaws" in 1975 (my friends swear I levitated two or three times during the film).

In comparison, most slasher flicks are farcical.

I love Jaws too!

So many great scenes, interlaced with a fairly decent story. And that opening scene with that familiar John Williams score, was just sooo scary, even though you didn't actually see any blood and guts!

and then of course there's the head popping through the hole in the boat scene-  I recall screaming like a little girl first time I saw that (when I was 16 I think); had nightmares for days. Still scares me even now!

[Nordly Beaumont]

On 7/14/2017 at 0:28 PM, Only Zola said:

and then of course there's the head popping through the hole in the boat scene-

When I saw it the first time, the girl behind me screamed and grabbed my head! I'm not sure which scared me the most!

[spaceytraci1208]

Watching Scream at 34 is a much different experience than watching at 13. The twist of 2 killers still works, but much of the  "clever" dialogue hasn't aged well for me. 

[slf]

So Drag Me To Hell sucks. I was surprised to see it has a 92% rating on RT considering it was so bad I could stand to watch only 15 minutes of it.  While I appreciate that she fails to break the curse and still goes to hell in the end, everything else from the acting (especially by Lohman) to the special effects is atrocious. At one point in the movie Lohman's character gets a terrible nosebleed; the actress holds her hand at a really unnatural angle and then tips her head to make the blood spurt. It's so badly done. Then in a later scene a corpse falls on top of her and embalming fluid gushes out of the corpse's mouth all over her, including into her mouth, and the actress doesn't gag or cough, her hair or shirt isn't wet. 

The movie was categorized as a horror but maybe it's supposed to be a comedy?

[Zola]

I watched "Alien" last night: still my favourite of the franchise purely because it was done on a low budget, an unknown director (Ridley Scott), and an unknown actress at the time, in Sigourney Weaver, standing up for herself and kicking some xenomorph's arse!

Many stand-out scenes (in particular the interior of the crash-landed alien ship, and the Space Jockey, were both beautifully rendered and incredibly eerie). But of course the creme de la creme, is always going to be the Chestbuster scene with John "Kane" Hurt!

You look at it today and it looks a little hokey purely because it's not CGI and therefore loses a little on shock value; but when I saw Alien first time round in 2010, and that particular scene, it scared the hell out of me (I think I was grabbing at my tummy at the time!)

A great film!

[littlewonder]

It Follows is one of the best horror movies I've seen in years.  Not super scary but... unsettling.