/horror/ general megathread - Let's talk about movies and shit.

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Dom Cruise said:
But it seems like the trend after that was for horror to go very, very cheap, that fucking cycle of Paranormal Activity movies and it's wannabees has got to be the worst cycle of horror film ever, so bland, so generic, so boring (and I'm not just saying that, I saw the first Paranormal Activity in theaters in fact and was amazed at how boring and pointless it was)
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Oh gawd, you are one tough soul. I only saw bits at home, NO fucking way I was wasting my life on those once I got the samplers.
 
Dom Cruise said:
And yeah, an attempt to bring back the gothic horror of the early Universal and Hammer films is exactly what the connecting tissue is between this run of films, very observant.
Orphan is also a bit different because it's an attempt to do gothic horror but on a smaller scale and budget, it still has some cool visuals though, it's just the setting is a typical bland modern generic rich people house, but maybe that works for the story, gothic horror crashes into the bland present day.
But it seems like the trend after that was for horror to go very, very cheap, that fucking cycle of Paranormal Activity movies and it's wannabees has got to be the worst cycle of horror film ever, so bland, so generic, so boring (and I'm not just saying that, I saw the first Paranormal Activity in theaters in fact and was amazed at how boring and pointless it was)
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I think that it comes down to the center themes and motifs central to Gothic Horror, and those firmly resolves around the lush and extravagant juxtaposed with brutality or decay. Gothic Horror requires a setting and cast that is refined, beautiful, mannered and extremely personal from the delicately hand carved woods to the custom bespoke fashions - this seductive, sumptuous backdrop brings into stark relief (or amplifies) the brutal, horrific violence. That beautiful wood and silk should never be sullied by murder - but at the same time, what is more vibrant and alive than the gushing blood that steams, the passion that drives a scorned lover, the madness of the human mind? How tragic and desperate is the ruined house, once so fine and shining with polish, floating on brandy and stolen summer kisses, its lost spirit seeking to feed on the lives of humans for a moment of magic again? These are the bones of Gothic Horror, the almost desperate attempt to distill human life and energy into art and culture that it might be preserved by inlayed wood and elaborate ritual, the ultimately futile attempts at a Godless immortality doomed to be pale reflections of their creators or twisted mockeries of the passions that drove them!

The modern aesthetic, in architecture, fashion, and cinematography is counter to this - everything is soulless, committee designed, mass produced in factories for consumption and immediate disposal. The cold, sterile coarseness of modern 'craft' and people simply fail to integrate into the Gothic Horror genre, they clash garishly. This is why those remakes all failed to really launch, they could not put their modern wise-cracking characters in sweat-shop made blue jeans into a mansion with hand-carved balustrades and have them look like anything but clowns.

I think that the only way to properly do Gothic Horror is as a period piece, like Crimson Peak did.

Dom Cruise said:
I forgot to mention another one that's arguably part of this cycle, Dead Silence from 2007, which I re-watched last year and thought was actually pretty dang underrated (the lead actor is very bland though), but that's also a bit different because it's the SAW guys specifically trying to meld the post SAW era with the whole gothic horror of the early Universal and Hammer films, but that also makes for something pretty cool to look at (never seen any of the SAWs, but I do like Dead Silence)
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Dead Silence is a bit of a sleeper, I have to agree with you there, its got a pretty interesting premise and I found the direction and production values interesting. I wish it had done better, so maybe we have gotten less formulaic Saw movies and more stylish horror films.
 
Most recent horror movie I'd seen was Stephen King's Christine. Despite it's age, it held up pretty well. Alas however, Blumhouse wants to remake that movie. They already have a script, but are yet to name the new cast.

Considering the new It movies were 'meh' and Pet Semetary was merely OK (they needed more on the Wendigo) I don't have much optimism for this movie.
 
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JohnDoe said:
I think that the only way to properly do Gothic Horror is as a period piece, like Crimson Peak did.
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The old gothic horror movies were period pieces more often then not. Confusingly, the firs Universal Wolfman and Dracula movies had a contemporary setting, but I think the sequels ended up in the 1800s. They weren't sticklers about that kind of thing.
 
So tonight I'm watching an indie, Eye Without a Face (2021), and it's fucking fantastic so far.

Story is simple: Nerd with social anxiety doesn't leave his room and lives by proxy through his youtuber roomate and by hacking into the webcams of people, and one of the people he lives through turns out to be a killer.

The acting of the two main lead really elevate what could have been a really shitty indie, and in a way kind of reminds me of Ratter which I discussed earlier. The movie could shit it's landing, but at the moment it's a strong 8-8.5/10 as horror movies go, and 9.5/10 as far as indie horror goes.
 
Internet War Criminal said:
Wolf Creek is a great fucking series, Mick is awesome, WC2 is better than the first because of how batshit insane it is (first one is a bit more generic) but I haven't watched the TV show, how is it?
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The show is great, but the second season is way better than the first. You don't really need to watch the first season before it either there's really no continuity sort of like how American Horror Story seasons are. It involves Mick acting as a tour guide for a diverse crowd of foreigners in the outback. Here's the first scene of season 2
 
any favorite action/horror films here? my favorite (aside from the famous examples like Predator or Aliens) is definitely The Seventh Curse, because it's completely batshit insane... which makes complete sense when you learn it has the same director as Riki-Oh!

 
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Michael Rooker Reteaming with ‘Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer’ Director for Shocker ‘Road Rage’​


Decades have done nothing to diminish the impact of Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, the grim serial killer thriller that launched the careers of star Michael Rooker and director John McNaughton. Now the pair are looking to do it again with the vigilante film Road Rage.

Per Deadline, Road Rage is intended to be the first in a series.

The film “will center on a serial killer who only kills those who deserve to die—presenting a modern hero who is a bad guy gone good, protecting the innocent and punishing the guilty.”

“I’d wanted to work with Michael Rooker again since Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, but we never got the chance. Finally, I wrote a story that took the genre in a whole new direction,” McNaughton told the outlet. “Michael Rooker as Stony; he drives a truck… and kills people. Stony is the ultimate serial killer… with a twist, and he’s going home now after twenty years, to settle a score from the past.”

Tim Perell will produce the vigilante thriller through his banner, Process Media, and said, “With Road Rage, John McNaughton and Michael Rooker aim once again to create a transgressive and shocking film that will exist at the cutting edge of art and genre. As Henry was ahead of its time, so Road Rage will be ahead of this time; both a disturbing and exhilarating reflection of contemporary American culture.”

Rooker’s memorable turn as serial killer Henry Lee Lucas shoots this project to the top of hotly anticipated titles in the works.

Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer plot synopsis: “Recently released from prison, the nomadic Henry (Rooker) finds temporary abode in the rundown Chicago lodgings of a former jail acquaintance and small-time drug dealer, Otis (Tom Towles). Hiding behind his unremarkable employment as a pest exterminator, Henry leads a double life, prowling the streets by night on a brutal and apparently motiveless killing spree. As the bodies mount up, Otis finds himself inducted into Henry’s dark secret world, but when Otis’ sister Becky (Tracy Arnold) moves in, herself fleeing from an uncomfortable domestic situation, it quickly becomes apparent that two’s company, but three’s a crowd.”

In addition to Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, McNaughton’s films include Mad Dog and Glory. Rooker’s credits include Suicide Squad, “The Walking Dead,” and Slither.

 
Other action horror films I've liked include the Shaw Bros. production Human Lanterns. A craftsman and a disgraced ex-martial artist deranged by the knowledge he's no longer number 1 in the martial arts world. He becomes a serial killer that abducts young women and murders them to use their skin to make lanterns which he considers his "masterpieces". A wuxia action film meets slasher.


Another one of those zany HK horror-comedies from the 1980s that followed in the wake of 1985's "Mr. Vampire", even featuring some of the same cast, The Haunted Cop Shop. Vampires, evil spirits and other nasties converge on a HK police station with a rather grim history. Once it was a officer's club during the Japanese occupation, and more than one ended up committing seppuku there. On the eve of the Festival of Yulan, a petty thief is freed from his cell by spirits who use him to free the spirit of a Japanese general who has a cape and looks like a Chinese Dracula. Slapstick and bumbling cop wackiness ensues.


Mentioned in this thread before, I actually recommend it The First Power (1990) starring Lou Diamond Phillips. What if Fallen featured over the top stuntwork and action scenes? Here you go.

 
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Product Placement said:
The film “will center on a serial killer who only kills those who deserve to die—presenting a modern hero who is a bad guy gone good, protecting the innocent and punishing the guilty.”
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Even though it's a complete rip-off of Dexter, I'd be really excited... if it wasn't current year. I hope the 'guilty' aren't gonna be incels/suburban parents/maga/wall street types etc... and actual legit horrible people.
 
Yesterday was the first time watching All the Colors of the Dark, 1972 Italian psychedelic horror, involving a psychosexual, blood orgy cult and having a cast filled with staples of the golden age of giallo films. What's not to love?

 
Power Glove said:
So many of those movies do, and so many of them are missing from Spotify, and will likely never get on there.
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Youtube is a thing, you know.


I don't think there has been a soundtrack release of this one. It's funny, I like Martino but most of his Gialli leaves me kind of cold but I love Torso AKA Carnal Violence.


I guess I like it because it's a little bit more straight forward and a proto-slasher in a lot of ways before the conventions of the genre was firmly established with Halloween and Friday the 13th. Plus the twist at the 3rd act is brilliant.

So, what have I been watching?


It took me a while to get through it because even though it's 92 minutes the version I watched was hosted by Joe Bob Briggs as part of The Last Drive-in on Shudder and this single episode is one of the longest he's done clocking in just 10 minutes shy of 3 hours. But it's great because Joe Bob goes over the history of freak shows. The Freakmaker is pretty good. It's basically Freaks but set in the 70's in England and it has plant monsters.

Internet War Criminal said:
Even though it's a complete rip-off of Dexter, I'd be really excited... if it wasn't current year. I hope the 'guilty' aren't gonna be incels/suburban parents/maga/wall street types etc... and actual legit horrible people.
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I trust McNaughton. And Michael Rooker is a powerhouse character actor. You say "Dexter ripoff" I say "Maniac 2: Mr. Robbie ripoff":


It starts 2 minutes in.
 
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BrunoMattei said:
I don't think there has been a soundtrack release of this one. It's funny, I like Martino but most of his Gialli leaves me kind of cold but I love Torso AKA Carnal Violence.
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I only saw that one for the first time recently, and it really did live up to the hype.

Apparently All the Colours of the Dark's score made it to vinyl back in the 70s and could be yours for ~$30 to ~$80: https://www.discogs.com/release/601...e-Colours-Of-The-Dark-Tutti-I-Colori-Del-Buio
 
I was talking to a buddy of mine last night, who works for the local indie theater and mentioned this movie, 'The Timekeepers of Eternity'.
He wound up really liking the trailer and showed it to his boss, who really liked it too. Hopefully that means they'll book it.

It's a re-edit of the forgettable movie adaptation of 'The Langoliers' but every frame has been printed out and torn up to make a new movie.
Not sure if anyone else has tried to make something like this, but I am in love with the art direction.
 
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