Horror Movies

[Paddylaz]

Anyone a big fan of the genre?

I've always loved them but have become a bit disillusioned about the recent (last ten years or so) move to the cheap, 'jump-scare' genre. I.e. cheaply made clones that basically use quiet bits followed by sudden loud moments to illicit cheap feelings of 'fear', rather than well-developed 'dread' that more sophisticated movies from the past managed to generate. (e.g. Omen, Exorcist).

Two recent ones that I've been extremely impressed with have been The Babadook and It Follows. Highly recommended.

 

[Hunka Hunka Burning Love]

Esaj and I just chatted about this very same subject in the DISco RiDers chitty chat room a while back.  Here's some pretty good ones:

Event Horizon - a sci-fi horror that was good.

The Others - an oldie but a goodie.

Stir of Echoes - Kevin Bacon, super-creepy

White Noise - even the trailer gives you goosebumps

The Ring - weird, but good.

The Skeleton Key - I thought it was done well.

Angel Heart - Oldie from the 80's but still a good watch.

Se7en - Brad Pitt, more of a mystery suspense movie I guess

[Paddylaz]

6 minutes ago, Hunka Hunka Burning Love said:

Esaj and I just chatted about this very same subject in the DISco RiDers chitty chat room a while back.  Here's some pretty good ones:

Event Horizon - a sci-fi horror that was good.

The Others - an oldie but a goodie.

Stir of Echoes - Kevin Bacon, super-creepy

White Noise - even the trailer gives you goosebumps

The Ring - weird, but good.

The Skeleton Key - I thought it was well done.

Angel Heart - Oldie from the 80's but still a good watch.

Se7en - Brad Pitt, more of a mystery suspense movie I guess

Nice. I might try Stir Of Echoes tonight as haven't seen it.

The Others was great but I think that's one of those movies where once you know the twist, it's rewatch value is limited.

 

[Hunka Hunka Burning Love]

The Descent was actually pretty decent.  

 

Saw / Hostel / Hellraiser were pretty original at the time I think.  Very sick and twisted. 

Have you seen "Cube?"

 

[lizardmech]

My favourites that I can think of now

Event Horizon

funny games

Hell raiser 1 & 2

Screamers - Aged kind of badly due to VFX advances

Kill List - low budget british film.

[TremF]

Horror is one of my favourite genres. I've seen so many of the years that I am pretty much desensitised to them.

My favourite genre is Sci-Fi  

[Dingfelder]

Horror and sci-fi horror are right at the top of my favorite genres.  But more than that -- I read someone once saying that horror isn't a genre, it is an effect, and in fact you can find it in all types of genres and in literature as well.  There is something to be said for that.  Sometimes the best parts of something nobody would think of as horror are actually the one part that seems horrific.

I like two kinds of horror best.  They often overlap, but don't have to.  They are atmospheric horror, where a great deal of attention is paid to, well, atmosphere, and the build is often quite slow ... and psychological horror, especially paranoid horror.

Among the latter, some of my favorites are two great Polanski movies, Rosemary's Baby and The Tenant, as well as Jacob's Ladder and The Thing.  Shadow of a Doubt is a Hitchcock paranoia-fest that shows how well elements of horror integrate into genres not strictly horror.  

As for atmospheric horror, they tend toward period pieces, but I've probably watched the original Alien more than I've seen any other movie.  It is built up of countless unusually well-imagined details and revelations.  The sound design is compelling and the lighting is very spooky!  Many of the old Hammer horror films have fantastic sets and slow builds.  The old Kolchak The Nightstalker TV series could build up an atmosphere based on the narration and acting chops of star Darren McGavin alone.

As to more recent films, I loved The Descent, found The Conjuring series as well as the other series done by the same guy (??)  atmospheric but ultimately paint-by-numbers.  I though The Babadook was hard to watch because the kid was so unstomachable I was cheering for the demon to kill him myself, and think it finally slipped into a kind of character study that dragged out a bit.  It Follows was wonderful stuff.  It was very inventive and really gave me the creeps.  

I like some Asian horror too.  Some favorites are the original Ringu and The Grudge, which really freaked me out.  Also a lot of anthologies, like Be with Me and Black Knight.  I also liked The Unseeable.  Some Korean favorites are The Chaser, The Wailing, and Train to Busan.  Most everyone liked The Host.

I'm also a big fan of over the top stuff like the 80's favorites Evil Dead and Return of the Living Dead, and one of my all-time favorites, Reanimator.  I bought the first two seasons of the TV series Ash vs. Evil Dead.  So gloriously over the top!  Can't wait for next season!

That's enough for now.  But I've enjoyed this stuff a lot all my life.  And honestly, I can still be scared by it, including jump scares I know are coming.

Like this:

 

[Paddylaz]

15 hours ago, Hunka Hunka Burning Love said:

The Descent was actually pretty decent.  

 

Saw / Hostel / Hellraiser were pretty original at the time I think.  Very sick and twisted. 

Have you seen "Cube?"

 

Haven't seen the Cube but The Descent is awesome. Love the character (and girl) Juno in that.

[Paddylaz]

1 hour ago, Dingfelder said:

Horror and sci-fi horror are right at the top of my favorite genres.  But more than that -- I read someone once saying that horror isn't a genre, it is an effect, and in fact you can find it in all types of genres and in literature as well.  There is something to be said for that.  Sometimes the best parts of something nobody would think of as horror are actually the one part that seems horrific.

Among the latter, some of my favorites are two great Polanski movies, Rosemary's Baby and The Tenant, as well as Jacob's Ladder and The Thing.  Shadow of a Doubt is a Hitchcock paranoia-fest that shows how well elements of horror integrate into genres not strictly horror.  

 

Agreed, horror can encompass multiple genres.

I loved The Thing, so rewatchable too. I made the mistake of giving the 2011 'prequel' a chance.....absolutely terrible.

You should give It Follows a go if you haven't. Very unusual and original idea...fantastic cinematography too.

[Dingfelder]

I did see It Follows.  It's my favorite horror movie of the last few years.  

For this year, my favorite is Train to Busan.  

I'm a huge fan of The Thing.  I've seen all three versions, and bought the two most recent(the last one was about the same price as a rental at the time).  I'll probably watch the second one every couple of years till the day I die.

Oh, I should mention two more Asian flicks I really loved, Memories of Murder (seriously good film, not just horror) and Onibaba, another serious film with demons and such still in it.  I've never seen anything quite like either of those, and mean that in a very good way.  

[Paddylaz]

19 minutes ago, Dingfelder said:

I did see It Follows.  It's my favorite horror movie of the last few years.  

For this year, my favorite is Train to Busan.  

I'm a huge fan of The Thing.  I've seen all three versions, and bought the two most recent(the last one was about the same price as a rental at the time).  I'll probably watch the second one every couple of years till the day I die.

Oh, I should mention two more Asian flicks I really loved, Memories of Murder (seriously good film, not just horror) and Onibaba, another serious film with demons and such still in it.  I've never seen anything quite like either of those, and mean that in a very good way.  

Loved 'Busan! The Wailing is the scariest asian movie I've seen.

South Korean cinema is my favourite new addiction.....haven't seen any other horror though. Have you seen Oldboy and I Saw The Devil? Brutal but spectacular thrillers. Korean cinema is the future!

[Dingfelder]

18 minutes ago, Paddylaz said:

Loved 'Busan! The Wailing is the scariest asian movie I've seen.

South Korean cinema is my favourite new addiction.....haven't seen any other horror though. Have you seen Oldboy and I Saw The Devil? Brutal but spectacular thrillers. Korean cinema is the future!

Korean cinema is really good stuff.  Very strong, though, yeah. I haven't seen Oldboy or I Saw the Devil.  I heard the latter was an exercise in sensationalism, and someone who knew I don't like torture porn or misery porn recommended I don't bother with it.  I did love The Chaser, though .... even though I found it devastating.  

I think I may first have feel in love with Korean movies with Tae Guk Gi.  I thought it was really exciting and moving, and intense.  I think it's back on Amazon streaming now, and I will probably buy it because it disappears for years at a time, and I'd hate to never see it again.

I need to see The Wailing again.  I was pretty iffy about it, and a bit confused too.  But the more I talked about it with other people, the more I wanted to see it again.  And of course the final scenes were really really good.

[Spark]

wow many favs of mine already named! sed in omnem eventum:

Audition (1999)
Ravenous
Let The Right One In
The Cabin In The Woods
The Witch (2015)
You're NeXt 

no reasons given
so you can be swept off your feet,  or bored to hell 

 

[esaj]

On 6/29/2017 at 7:02 AM, lizardmech said:

Screamers - Aged kind of badly due to VFX advances

Was that the one with the burrowing robots with saw-blades or whatever that killed people? I've seen it as a kid (when it was brand new), really cool movie. Also, although not really horror, love the "Tremors"-movie series  

[Dingfelder]

On 6/30/2017 at 0:16 PM, Spark said:

wow many favs of mine already named! sed in omnem eventum:

Audition (1999)
Ravenous
Let The Right One In
The Cabin In The Woods
The Witch (2015)
You're NeXt 

no reasons given
so you can be swept off your feet,  or bored to hell 

 

Haven't seen all of these, but there are some real good ones here.

I loved Ravenous and Let the Right One In.  I thought The Witch was good enough to buy, and I am sure I will rewatch it from time to time.  Only thing is that the Olde style English used is so hard to understand that this movie practically demands subtitles or earphones.  Anything less than a sterling sound system would make deciphering the audio almost impossible.  Luckily a pretty cheap pair of earphones is still the equivalent of a vastly better and more expensive sound system.

I love the Wendigo theme.  There's an episode of Fear Itself based around wendigos which was really top notch.  Unfortunately it is no longer for sale as a streamer on Amazon, or I would have bought it long ago.

To go back to Korean movies, has anyone seen Mother?  Another really gut-wrenching one, centering around a serial killer and a mother's attempt to save her child.  But it's not as "nice" as it sounds.

[LanghamP]

On 6/29/2017 at 8:39 AM, Dingfelder said:

 

I'm a huge fan of The Thing.  I've seen all three versions, and bought the two most recent(the last one was about the same price as a rental at the time).  I'll probably watch the second one every couple of years till the day I die.

I've watched The Thing, actually read the short story before knowing there was a movie. Now I was only aware of the 1980's version.

What struck me was how relentlessly grim it was, with no humor (well, maybe the flamethrower scene) and that is unusual in a movie.

Another movie that feels exactly like the thing is Sean Conneries Outland, made about the same time with the same complete lack of humor.

[steve454]

21 hours ago, esaj said:

Was that the one with the burrowing robots with saw-blades or whatever that killed people?

If they were flying shiny metal spheres that the blades would come out, stick in the head and pump all the blood out, that was Phantasm.  That was a strange but good movie.

[Dingfelder]

6 hours ago, LanghamP said:

I've watched The Thing, actually read the short story before knowing there was a movie. Now I was only aware of the 1980's version.

What struck me was how relentlessly grim it was, with no humor (well, maybe the flamethrower scene) and that is unusual in a movie.

Another movie that feels exactly like the thing is Sean Conneries Outland, made about the same time with the same complete lack of humor.

A lot of 70's movies were like that.  Cop dramas, etc.  Real lived-in feeling to the characters, enough time given to scenes to feel like people really belonged in them.  To today's short attention span mindset, and a tendency to disavow virtually any style but whatever is current as unacceptable, that has fallen out of favor.  But I love it.  It lasted a lot longer in European movies.  

When you mentioned Connery, "The Anderson Tapes" came to mind, as well as some of the English gangster flicks like "Get Carter."  Both pretty damn grim, but sometimes that is perfect.

I read the John Campbell story too.  I think the Sci Fi writer's guild declared it the best sci-fi story of all time.  I was surprised to find it was an incredibly gripping read.  "Who Goes There" was its name, and it itself is a spin on of H.P. Lovecraft's "The Mountains of Madness" with its Antarctic setting and Shuggoths.  

[steve454]

Not so much a horror movie, but very dark and strange David Lynch movie with Dennis Hopper as the gas huffing criminal that blackmails the nightclub singer by holding her husband and child hostage.  Well worth a watch if you like strange movies with good actors like Laura Dern, Kyle Mclachan, and Isabella Rossellini.

[Acturbo]

I am really disappointed in some of the movies classified in the horror.  Get Out for example. Why this movie is rated so well I will never know, boring and suspense less

Some good ones

I agree with the babadook

the strangers I thought was pretty good.

VHS was decent, more of a collection of short film than a movie of its own.  

It follows was def good.  

Gonna see the new version of "IT" here soon.  Looks promising and I'm a fan of stephen king. 

[kour]

On 6/29/2017 at 9:39 AM, Dingfelder said:

For this year, my favorite is Train to Busan.  

you should check out the animated, 'seoul station'!

[kour]

one of my favorite slashers -

 

[kour]

a short -

 

[kour]

Spoiler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjQ2sAIGvfw