Horror Movies

[Bear 1817]

I think Friday the 13th (10/10), Friday the 13th Part 2 (9/10), Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (8/10) and Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (8/10) are all great and worth seeing.

 

 

But again, do check out classic giallos. Giallos are a must!

[Licio123 181]

I will! It's a genre I haven't visited yet, so I will check them out for sure!

 

Thanks again! =D

[Bear 1817]

If you are not familiar with giallos I would strongly advice you to check it out. I'd go as far as to say that giallos are to slashers what Celtic Frost is to black metal, Kreator is to death metal and Buck-Tick is to visual kei. But compared to slashers, giallos tend to be smarter, more stylish, sexier, more colourful and way more complex. But it is the crime element is what really sets the genre apart from regular slashers, though.

 

But the genre is also very known for their unique soundtracks. Goblin are perhaps the most known band to score giallos, and they also happen to rank among my favourite bands. Unique prog rock that is both great and fitting to the films. Other artists that's known for their giallo soundtracks are Bruno Nicolai, Ennio Morricone and Riz Ortolani, all great composers with an ear for mood and atmosphere.

 

[Bear 1817]

Dead Silence - James Wan's second film, and while it was not a new Saw, I always found it charming in many way. It's very easy to see that it' made by the same person who made Saw, because it does feature any of the same elements - directing-wise that is. While not amazing, it's a charming film with some nice atmosphere, and it's obvious that it is made by someone with a love for horror.  Wan's weakest film but still good fun on a wednesday evening.

 

A few of the scares are poor, and some of the special effects are awful. Godawful that is. But as I said, it's good fun.

 

[Bear 1817]

Dust Devil - Hauting, western'esque horror by Richard Stanley. Dream-like, mellow and grim in a weird way. Great atmosphere throughout the whole film. Mystical and bleak. Gotta love that.

 

 

 

Hardware - Stylish post-apocalyptic cyberpunk horror by Richard Stanley, and in my eyes, his masterpiece. An underrated film with lots of atmosphere, stylish visuals and a cool plot. Imagine Alien and The Terminator making a baby and you've more or less got this film. It's claustrophobic and terrorizing, nightmarish, dark and creepy. I think everything works well in this film, and it's crowned by Richard Stanley style and vision. There's a lot of similarities with Dust Devil, but I find this to be the better film. It just looks and sounds so good. A pleasure to both eyes and ears.

 

Watch out for the cameos by Lemmy of Motorhead, and Carl McCoy of Fields of the Nephilim, as well as the voice of Iggy Pop. Very cool touches, that.

 

 

 

 

 

It's such a shame Richard Stanley was ruined by The Island of Dr. Moreau. Imagine what he could've been today if not for that farse? Jesus.

 

Screamtime - Low-budget horror anthology that just didn't do anything for me. I didn't expect much from it, but it still disappointed me. There's no atmosphere and it's just bad, but not bad enough sadly. Just meh.

 

[Bear 1817]

Maniac - The remake with Elijah Wood and Nora Arnezeder., directed by Franck Khalfoun. Lovely film, this. The atmosphere is great, and the choice of filming it POV makes it both challenging and fresh. A brutal, bleak and quite disturbing film, and Elijah Wood is excellent! I do prefer the original, though. It's just much more grimmer and feels even more sadistic and fucked up.

 

However, despite all this the best part of this film is the soundtrack. It's like a beautiful mix of Goblin and John Carpenter or something. It's so god damn good!

 

[Vitne Eveille 65]

I'm not big into horror films, but one of my favorites is Event Horizon.  

[Bear 1817]

Discussed Event Horizon not too mane pages back.

 

 

Event Horizon is a cool and slightly underrated film. A 7/10 for me. Love those space-, or even sea-terror films, even the ones that aren't all that good. Just add some nice suspense and atmosphere and combine it with a claustrophobic feeling and you have me hooked. Alien, Event Horizon, Sunshine, Sphere, The Abyss or hell, even non-space nor sea-themed The Thing, but it's similar as far as the claustrophobia and suspense goes. Just love these kind of films.

 

Both Event Horizon and Sphere are very underrated in my eyes. Not great films, but very enjoyable films for what they are.

 

 

Yeah, they're both very similar with Sunshine being the better film. Other similar films would be Sphere, Pandorum, Alien and THe Black Hole.

 

Especially The Black Hole. It's not horror, but Event Horizon seems to have gotten a lot of its ideas from the mentioned film. And I mean a lot.

 

 

100 Bloody Acres - Lovely low-budget horror-comedy much in the vein of Tucker & Dale vs. Evil. Not as good, but still a very good and fun film with some excellent performances by Damon Herriman and Angus Sampson. It's also a bit slower than Tucker  Dale, but well-worth seeing. Fun and gory!

 

If you enjoy Tucker & Dale, Shaun of the Dead and the like I reckon you'll enjoy this quite a lot as well, even though it doesn't offer quite as many laughs. But when it does offer a laugh it's bloody hilarious.

 

Highly recommended!

 

[Jigsaw9 6783]

 

100 Bloody Acres - Lovely low-budget horror-comedy much in the vein of Tucker & Dale vs. Evil. Not as good, but still a very good and fun film with some excellent performances by Damon Herriman and Angus Sampson. It's also a bit slower than Tucker  Dale, but well-worth seeing. Fun and gory!

 

If you enjoy Tucker & Dale, Shaun of the Dead and the like I reckon you'll enjoy this quite a lot as well, even though it doesn't offer quite as many laughs. But when it does offer a laugh it's bloody hilarious.

 

Highly recommended!

 

I feel like I would like this, so gonna seek it out. Thanks for recommending!

 

Also, somehow I ended up watching some horror flicks today (some pre-planned, some on a whim with a friend).

 - Ju-On: The Beginning of the End: good for a few laughs, but overall boring, confusing and lost its effect

 - It Follows: aside from the story dragging, an awesome experience, complete with killer music

 - Goodnight Mommy: saw this for the 3rd time, this time at the cinema - still delivers!!

[Bear 1817]

Yeah, you check it out boy. I reckon you'll like it quite a lot too. I am also really looking forward to Goodnight Mommy, it looks neat. Even my girlfriend totally looks forward to the film.

 

Killer Crocodile - Cheesy Italian low-budget animal horror from the late 80's. It's so-bad-it's-good-cheese. The plot sucks, the acting sucks and the characters suck, but it's still fun. The crocodile looks cool, but it doesn't look real at all and it changes size quite often, and there's plenty of blood and shit to make this an enjoyable film. This is shit, but it's fun shit and works perfectly together with a few cold beers, and possibly a few friends as well.

 

The film is scored by none other than Riz Ortolani, and the score is great. Easily the best part of the film.

 

[freesia 714]

Watched The Visit. Very creepy movie and got an unexpected twist at the end of the movie. Not bad.

[plastic_rainbow 2162]

Watched Angel Heart last night!  It was kind of hard to follow, but the ending left a rather ominous feeling.

And although it's different from Jacob's Ladder story wise I think the dark atmosphere from the two do measure pretty well.

Thanks for the recommendation Jigsaw9 and Bear~ I will check the others out soon. : ]

[Jigsaw9 6783]

^ Glad that you enjoyed it overall, I think it's a great and sinister tale.

 

I also recommend the novel it was based on, "Falling Angel" by William Hjortsberg (written almost a decade before the movie adaptation, but no less creepy!).

[fitear1590 2414]

Here's the Goodnight Mommy trailer for anyone interested.

A bit mismarketed imo, but a visually stunning movie nonetheless. 

[Jigsaw9 6783]

^ One of my favorites from this year!! I was really pleasantly surprised when watching it, cuz yeah, the trailer is a bit misleading, heh.

[plastic_rainbow 2162]

^ Glad that you enjoyed it overall, I think it's a great and sinister tale.

 

I also recommend the novel it was based on, "Falling Angel" by William Hjortsberg (written almost a decade before the movie adaptation, but no less creepy!).

 

Yess, I want to pick it up sometime too!

[Bear 1817]

I was a bit busy at the start of the month so I have some catching up to do, but I've seen a few films this month:

 

October the 1st:

The House at the End of Time - While not really original or anything, this haunted house film does its job very well. The story is good, the acting is great and the overall atmosphere and suspense is good, but my main problem is actually the cinematography which is a bit changing. At times it feels like they've had several cinematographers, but I'd recommend this film. 7/10

 

But to my disappointment this is not really a horror film, though. It's more a sci-fi-mystery-thriller

 

 

October the 2nd:

Satan's Little Helper - Pretty poor and goofy horror-comedy that is neither funny nor scary or atmospheric in any way. It's just ridiculous. I fucking hated the mom and the relationship between the her and her teenage daughter. They came off more two bi-curious roomates that just wants to fuck eachother. It was so odd. Nah, didn't do it for me. At least not this time around. 4/10

 

I can see this becoming a cult film with time, though.

 

 

October the 3rd:

Friday the 13th (2009) - A remake that is awful in every way possible, and that seems to have misunderstood what Friday the 13th is all about. Awful jokes, annoying-as-fuck characters, poor camera work and cinematography and weak acting sums this film up fine. And while the original isn't exactly anything Oscar-worthy, this is just dumbed down so much it's sad. What a disaster of an film. 2/10

 

October the 4th:

The Relic - A very cool and suspensful horror film from the late 90's. The monster looks cool, the atmosphere is great and it's an overall enjoyable film. For the majority of the film the special effects are a blend of nice, practical ones and decent CGI, but the big disappointment comes towards the end when they go full retard with the CGI. That's what almost breaks the film for me, sadly. But overall I thought it was a very enjoyable film! 7/10

 

[Tokage 5930]

Yeah, Satan's Little Helper... Not the best in its genre. I don't even really remember how it ended because at some point while watching it I just kind of zoned out lmao whoops

[Bear 1817]

Haha! That is very understandable.

 

October the 5th:

Proxy - Weird horror/thriller/drama which often feels like a Hitchcockian Martyrs or something along those lines. One thing that I do know though is that it sure wasn't what I expected at all. It's slow, it's stylish and it's weird, and it won't satisfy most people. But it tells a tale of different people and their need for attention and more. Yeah, I don't know. It's dark and twisted. I liked it.

 

That one scene was majestic, though. Not very realistic or aything, but it looks so cool. Very artistic choice of blood. Loved that scene! 6/10

 

[Bear 1817]

October the 6th:
Hotel Transylvania - Fun, charming children's horror film with a bunch of cool, likeable characters and a fun plot, even though it is very predictable. But you just can't help but go "aaaaaawwwwwwwww" at the characters and everything that happens. And don't forget all the homages/tributes to older horror films such as the face-shaped cave that just screams The Phantom of the Opera. Yeah, I thought this film was excellent. I am really looking forward to the sequel. 8/10

 

October the 7th:
All Cheerleaders Die - 12-13 years after Chris Sivertson and Lucky McKee releaed All Cheerleaders Die they released their very own remake of the same film, and while I have not seen the original, I am quite interested after having seen this. This isn't exactly genius filmmaking, but I thought it was fun. The start is a bit slow, but after about half an hour it starts getting real fun. Silly, sure, but fun nonetheless. The special effects though...jesus, at times theywere provokingly bad. Totally out of place to be honest. But other than that it was fun actually. 6/10

[Bear 1817]

October the 8th:

Human Lanterns - Martial arts-horror with the likes of Lieh Lo, Tony Liu and Chen Kuan-tai in the leads. The best way to describe this is Hammer Horror meets traditional Shaw Brothers wuxia. The story is standard, but very cool and engaging to me, it's well-acted and choreographed, and it's atmospheric as fuck. It's very dream-like, stylish and lit in a way that'll make fans of Suspiria cum their panties full 7 days a week, and the atmosphere is pretty morbid at times. I think ghastly would be a fitting word. Butit is the cinematography and set-pieces that truly makes this film what it is. It looks so damn beautiful haunting and ghastly.

 

The film is directed by Chung Sun, and while he's not one of Shaw Brothers most known directors, he's often said to be among the most talented among them. And when watching a film like this, or the masterpiece that is The Devil's Mirror, it's easily to see why people think so. And the way he's turned Yojimbo (because let's be honest, plot-wise this is pretty close to Yojimbo) into a dark, ghastly wuxia-horror that comes off as both original and uniue, despite not being either, just sums up why he's got the status that he's got in the underground.

 

At the end of the day I would highly recommend this ghoulish martial arts-extravaganza to both fans of martial arts and horror films. Stunning film! 10/10

 

[Tokage 5930]

Finally got around to watching the original Ringu the other day, pretty fun movie. Not sure if I'll give the western remake a try, is it worth watching after you've already seen the original or is it just a 1-on-1 remake/just totally terrible? By the way, to this day I STILL don't know what Japan/Asia's deal is with the whole ''stringy black-haired ghost girl'' archetype, I just don't see what's so spooks about it tbqh.

[Bear 1817]

Ringu is nothing short of breathtaking and phenomenal. Brilliant film! The remake is actually good (6/10), and easily among the best american remakes of asian horror films. But it's not a must-see or anything.

 

 

And the "stringy black-haired ghost girl" aka Yurei is simply traditional Japanese ghosts, and beneath yurei you have different ghosts such as onryo (vengeful ghost?), ubume (mother dying giving birth or something), funayurei (ghosts of people who died at sea, but these are often a bit different than the other yurei's, looking more like monsters and such), samurai ghosts and more. As far as their looks goes, that was something they came up with in the 17th century to distinguish them from humans in plays. Simple as that. I love the look and prefer it to regular western ghosts.

 

 

Many people don't know this and often wonder what the hell the cover for Sigh's Hail Horror Hail is supossed to be, and it's actually a classic painting of a Yurei by 18th century artist Tsukioka Yoshitoshi:

 

 

[Tokage 5930]

I honestly would just like to see more horror movies featuring other types of Yokai for a change besides just regular yurei tbh, since Japan has such a rich and varied collection of different types...

 

I can't honestly think of all that many, only thing that comes to mind are those Kuchisake Onna-themed horror movies and that's just about it.

[Bear 1817]

I agree, but I guess Japanese just think these ghosts are the scariest. They've been very popular in Japanese films since the 60's at least. But you could try some of the older films with these types of ghosts though as they were used a bit different back then. The Ghost of Yotsuya, Illusion of Blood, Kwaidan, Crest of Betrayal, Kuroneko, Jigoku and more. While the ghosts are rathr traditional and look similar to what you're used to, they're just used in a whole different way than in the more modern films with 'em.