Horrors - gimmie some! (1 Viewer)

Jon

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Last night, while eating pizza, I watched a movie called "Inbred". It was particularly sick and gave me a distrust of farmers. Don't go to remote Yorkshire villages!


Anyone seen it? Who else is a fan of the horror genre?
 

The_Doc_Man

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Horror comes in all forms.

The movie Alien, though occurring in a futuristic sci-fi environment, is a horror film in the "Monsters in the Attic" genre. Another sci-fi horror film is a little gem called Event Horizon, with Laurence Fishburn and Sam Neill. The nature of horror has mutated over the years. Although it is an H.G. Wells classic story and has had some sci-fi overtones, The Island of Dr. Moreau is a classic horror film that explores the horrors within a man as he seeks to ennoble animals.

Several of Edgar Allen Poe's gothic horror stories have been made into movies starring Vincent Price. The Fall of the House of Usher and The Pit and the Pendulum come to mind immediately. But then again, horror doesn't ALWAYS have to be horrible - if done "tongue in cheek." For instance, that masterpiece (?) The Raven, with Boris Karloff, Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, and a VERY young Jack Nicholson (in tights no less). And this movie has one of the craziest openings you would ever find. A raven flies into a sorcerer's study through the open window. The sorcerer (Vinnie Price) begins to recite a lament for his lost love. He utters a line similar to, "Shall I ever again behold the face of my lovely lost Lenore?" At which point the raven, who is an ensorcelled and shape-shifted Peter Lorre responds, "How the Hell should I know?"
 

Jon

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I loved Event Horizon. Not sure how well known it was, but it combined a couple of genres which I liked.

The Hammer Horrors were corny, and often very slow moving, but I loved them! Great little tales. The Gorgons Finger!
 

Vassago

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I personally love psychological horror movies more than graphical ones. I've always found the CGI in modern horror movies can look particularly fake. The false realism of the CGI and props of older horror movies was so much scarier.

For psychological horror, Event Horizon is one of my favorites. While some didn't like 1408, I rather enjoyed it. Classics like The Shining rate highly with me, though I really didn't care for the horrible sequel. Though there was obviously supernatural phenomenon happening in the first movies, they were coy to produce it in a way that made you question how much of it was in his head. The sequel just made it no longer a mystery and dimmed the psychological factor by too much.

I love horror movies, but can never come up with a good list when asked.
 

shadow9449

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Classics like The Shining rate highly with me, though I really didn't care for the horrible sequel. Though there was obviously supernatural phenomenon happening in the first movies, they were coy to produce it in a way that made you question how much of it was in his head. The sequel just made it no longer a mystery and dimmed the psychological factor by too much.
That is an interesting analysis!

I saw both of them and my thought is that you will NEVER match Jack Nicholson's performance in the first one. Every scene is so perfect and just messes with your brain and there are endless articles analyzing the ending. Stanley Kubrick was just such a master that it's impossible to compare anything to it. It's ironic that Stephen King had his issues with the movie but that's another topic.

You called the sequel "horrible". I think that it was only poor by comparison to the original - disappointing might be a better word. I guess independent of the original it was an ok movie. The performance by Rosie the Hat was pretty good (and memorable, but I won't go there...) as well as Crow Daddy.

I think that overall, the quality of movies has increasingly relied on CGI and eye-popping effects rather than the master acting, directing and storytelling of the previous generations.

Anyway, just my 2 cents
 

Vassago

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I concede that it wasn't a horrible movie, just a horrible sequel. Indeed, if you look at it as standalone, it wasn't terrible, but I wouldn't exactly call it good in either case. I found it hard to stay intrigued.

I agree with your last line. It's rare to find a good thriller/horror these days that doesn't rely heavily on CGI or gore. Some of the scariest and best moments for me are the ones that scare you through other means. I'll always appreciate a good ghost story movie over movies like Saw or Hostel. The unseen and seemingly unnatural, like someone standing still in the background that wasn't there before or a shadow in the hallway until the light is turned on, those are what I love.
 

AccessBlaster

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My mom watched Psycho in the theater when it premiered, she said everyone was freaked out and some people turned away. I heard the Exorcist had a similar effect.
 

The_Doc_Man

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I think that overall, the quality of movies has increasingly relied on CGI and eye-popping effects rather than the master acting, directing and storytelling of the previous generation.
While I would agree in a decline in overall movie quality, I would perhaps offer a different perspective.

First, too many reboots and remakes and retreads and innumerable sequels. How many reboots of the Hulk or Fantastic Four or True Grit or Conan the Barbarian do we need?

Second, too many scripts that are not literature, they are merely action guidelines that result in stunt pay. The plot content of many of the modern action films leaves your head spinning because you THOUGHT that nature abhorred a vacuum. But you found an intellectual vacuum in some of the more modern action films.

I don't mind CGI or practical effects or heavy prosthetic makeup/costuming if the story is any good. Look at the Lord of the Rings trilogy. That was an epic presentation. I shed a few tears in parts. I actually enjoyed the CGI-heavy Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: End Game duo. There is a reason why Marvel has burst on the blockbuster movie scene in the last few years - stories.

I believe that a very large part of the decline of cinema these days is the poor quality of the writing because everyone must think there are no new ideas out there. But students of classic Greek literature know there are only seven basic stories anyway. It isn't the theme that makes a story, its the writer, and I don't see good original screenplays coming out. But the world of comic books and sci-fi novels has led to some really entertaining movies. That is because it used to be that nobody would touch comics as a source because, I guess, they thought that was beneath them. But in the comics, you have stories already scripted and story-boarded. You have back story, you have characters known and loved by a generation of kids who grew up but who are still receptive to memories of comics in their childhood. What's not to like?

The dearth of good stories means diminution of Hollywood output. That's good and bad. Good because it opens the door for "indie" films. Bad because some indie films should have stayed behind that closed door.
 
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Jon

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My mom watched Psycho in the theater when it premiered, she said everyone was freaked out and some people turned away. I heard the Exorcist had a similar effect.
The Exorcist, even by modern day standards, is terrifying!!
 

Jon

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ummmm...which one? 1, 2, 3, 4, the beginning, or dominion? LOL
The first one. I found the third freaky too, especially when the nurse comes at you with the shears and walks on the ceiling.
 

neuroman9999

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I found the third freaky too, especially when the nurse comes at you with the shears and walks on the ceiling.
what about the other freaky occurance in 3? the re-appearance of Father Karris in the jail cell after he was technically killed in 1?
 

Jon

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The Omen 1, 2 or 3? Which one? Just joining the game.
 

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