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

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I actually love found footage as a niche, and I've gone through a bunch of them just to see what I like and what I don't. I have some pretty generic and even edgy answers, like The Poughkeepsie Tapes and The Cohasset Snuff Film, Behind the Mask the Rise of Leslie Vernon(I saw someone call this one shit while backreading, personally I thought it was a fun movie). I never heard of the McPherson tapes though, so I'll definitely check that out. There's one that I liked, I'm pretty sure it was just called Alien Abduction. Probably the only off thing about it is the handwave example of why they have a camera in the first place(the reason is literally "my son is autistic and he likes recording with it" but it ends up being how the "footage" gets shot), but even in spite of that it was great. There's another called The Fourth Kind but I really feel I should give that one another shot because I tried it once and I honest to God almost fell asleep because a lot of it early on is just interviews and shit with abductees and witnesses, it's like watching an actual television program and kind of boring.

Speaking of, there is one i want to watch even if it's a slow burn. I believe it's called Life Tracker, and it's literally "liveleak cameras" the movie, being multiple different peoples' day/life viewed from the perspective of security cameras and the like, in disjointed segments where it cycles through each person periodically throughout the movie. Seems kind of interesting as a concept and I wanna try it.

For other recommendations I have some I can throw out as well. Noroi: The Curse, Hell House LLC 1 and 2, Rec 1 and 2(I honestly don't care for 3 and 4, I think 2 is a great stopping point but to each their own), Grave Encounters 1 and 2, the first Cloverfield movie was fantastic imo. There's also two really nice classics I'd recommend in Found Footage: Digging Up the Marrow and The Last Broadcast. I had fun watching the former, but the latter actually blew me away, I thoroughly enjoyed that one.

Sorry for the rambling but I keep some of my movie collection catalogued so seeing talk of found footage made me just bust out the FF section. I'll grab and check out the McPherson Tapes today. On a final note, I was pretty tired last night and couldn't finish Hellraiser, but I'm about to, and I'll try to go through at least 2 and 3 this evening.
I fucking loved alien abduction. It may have relied a bit too much kn jump scares, but I enjoyed it so much. The kid having autism was a decent enough excuse for the camera IMO and everything was well acted.
 
I actually love found footage as a niche,
Honestly I don't get why FF gets shat on so much, it has produced some of the best horror in the last 20 years.

Cannibal Holocaust, Man Bites Dog, One Cut of the Dead, Creep 1 & 2, Blair Witch Project, Noroi, Paranormal Activity 1 & 3, [REC] 1 & 2, Grave Encounters 1 & 2, Host, Troll Hunter, Unfriended 1 & 2, Host, Ratter, V/H/S/ 1 & 2, Cloverfield, The Visit, The Den, The Borderlands, The Last Broadcast, What We Do In the Shadows, Dashcam, Behind the Mask, The Gallows, Spree, The Houses October Built, Murder Death Koreatown, As Above So Below, Leaving DC, and dozens I just forgot. I know a shit ton of people love Lake Mungo as well, Poughkeepsie Tapes, The Taking of Deborah Logan, etc

I fucking love Digging Up the Marrow with Ray Wise but don't ever see anyone talking about it. Which is weird considering it has Ray Wise in it and it was directed by fucking Adam Green (Hatchet director), you'd think it would be mentioned more often.
 
Yeah, but we're talking about horror. If we're going to complain about lazy film making, cheap effects, or people not behaving in a way they would in real life, there wouldn't be a genre left.

I think it's just one of those bandwagon things when people go 'All country music is shit' or bullshit like that.
 
I can't really consider What We Do in the Shadows as a horror. I love the movie, don't get me wrong, but it feels like it's just a documentary Animal House that just happens to be about vampires. I think that's what makes it work so well though.
 
Honestly I don't get why FF gets shat on so much, it has produced some of the best horror in the last 20 years.

Cannibal Holocaust, Man Bites Dog, One Cut of the Dead, Creep 1 & 2, Blair Witch Project, Noroi, Paranormal Activity 1 & 3, [REC] 1 & 2, Grave Encounters 1 & 2, Host, Troll Hunter, Unfriended 1 & 2, Host, Ratter, V/H/S/ 1 & 2, Cloverfield, The Visit, The Den, The Borderlands, The Last Broadcast, What We Do In the Shadows, Dashcam, Behind the Mask, The Gallows, Spree, The Houses October Built, Murder Death Koreatown, As Above So Below, Leaving DC, and dozens I just forgot. I know a shit ton of people love Lake Mungo as well, Poughkeepsie Tapes, The Taking of Deborah Logan, etc

I fucking love Digging Up the Marrow with Ray Wise but don't ever see anyone talking about it. Which is weird considering it has Ray Wise in it and it was directed by fucking Adam Green (Hatchet director), you'd think it would be mentioned more often.
I honestly never really remember actors and directors that much, I just know Digging Up the Marrow was a great film and I really enjoyed the concept it presented in its story. Off the top of my head, I recently watched Dashcam at my friend's rec and I thought it was amazing. It starts off with a really stupid and stereotypical spew of stuff but then it just starts hitting you in the second and third acts. I've heard of Cannibal Holocaust, The Gallows, Lake Mungo, Creep, and The Taking of Deborah Logan, and they're on my list. One Cut of the Dead, Host, Troll Hunter, Ratter, The Visit, The Borderlands, What We Do in the Shadows, Murder Death Koreatown, are all new to me so I'll look into them. Give me something more to dig into this Halloween.

Interestingly, Man Bites Dog was just recently recommended to me among a few other French films by my friend and I actually have it right now, I wasn't even aware that was found footage. Definitely will check that out along with Spree soon. Thanks, you've given me a lot of titles I wasn't even aware of. And yeah I've had some conversations online where people just immediately disregard Found Footage and I don't get why. It's a fun concept and many movies have done it well.
 
I can't really consider What We Do in the Shadows as a horror. I love the movie, don't get me wrong, but it feels like it's just a documentary Animal House that just happens to be about vampires. I think that's what makes it work so well though.
I hesitated on whether to add it to the list or not, but if we consider Shaun of the Dead to be horror, I'd say it qualifies too.

I've heard of Cannibal Holocaust, The Gallows, Lake Mungo, Creep, and The Taking of Deborah Logan, and they're on my list. One Cut of the Dead, Host, Troll Hunter, Ratter, The Visit, The Borderlands, What We Do in the Shadows, Murder Death Koreatown, are all new to me so I'll look into them. Give me something more to dig into this Halloween.
You're in for a lot of fun and mind bending shit

Interestingly, Man Bites Dog was just recently recommended to me among a few other French films by my friend and I actually have it right now, I wasn't even aware that was found footage. Definitely will check that out along with Spree soon. Thanks, you've given me a lot of titles I wasn't even aware of
I don't want to overhype Man Bites Dog too much, I grew up with that movie, I own the Criterion edition, it's one of my favorite movies of all time, but I don't know how much it aged and how well it aged for someone who sees it for the first time today. Might be like showing Casablanca or Citizen Kane to a millenial/zoomer, and a shit ton is just lost in translation. Spree was definitely entertaining too

And yeah I've had some conversations online where people just immediately disregard Found Footage and I don't get why. It's a fun concept and many movies have done it well.
That's the thing, so many movies used the medium to such great extent, it makes no fucking sense to give those lazy critics of the subgenre.
 
I don't want to overhype Man Bites Dog too much, I grew up with that movie, I own the Criterion edition, it's one of my favorite movies of all time, but I don't know how much it aged and how well it aged for someone who sees it for the first time today. Might be like showing Casablanca or Citizen Kane to a millenial/zoomer, and a shit ton is just lost in translation. Spree was definitely entertaining too
That explains a lot actually.
 
VHS 99 is the series cannibalizing itself for content. There is not a single segment here that you haven't seen before:

Segment 1: Asshole kids break into a place where people died; the people come back as zombies.

Segment 2: Main character is pranked by shitty friends reenacting an urban legend; the prank goes wrong and the urban legend is real.

Segment 3: Horny, unlikeable dudes perv on a chick who turns out to be a monster. Absolute dogshit that sucks all momentum out of the movie.

Segment 4: 90s kids show descends into extreme violence and cosmic horror. The kind of thing the Astron 6 guys would do, but sloppier and worse written. Steven Ogg is in it and way too good for this movie.

Segment 5: The horror/comedy segment; demon summoning goes wrong and the documentary team gets sent to Hell. By far the most enjoyable segment but by this point I was checked out. Some neat looking monsters and fun set design, but kind of a predictable ending.

Overall, better than the absolute AIDS that was VHS Viral but worse than the other 3. I'd rank them 2 > 1 > 94 > 99 > Viral
 
Thoughts on X and Pearl: Spoilers and I don't give a fuck.

X: despite having an absolute shit title that makes it a bitch to search for the movie on streaming and torrent sites I thought this was "okay." Nothing happens until exactly 59 minutes in. There's 2-3 sex scenes and titties at least. But other than that? A lot of buildup and nothing happening. Finally, an hour in, it picks up. There's some good carnage but I have to deduct a point for a cliche use of Don't Fear the Reaper.

By decree: filmmakers are forbidden from using Don't Fear the Reaper in movies. Just enough. We get it. You're not being clever. Just stop it. This and Halloween Ends used it. Enough.

An hour in, the carnage ramps up, it's pretty decent and a fun watch. But that first hour though... 6.5 out of 10.

Pearl: god fucking damn does Ti West need a fucking editor. FFS man, get to the fucking point. Ari Aster has the same issue with pacing but his films have a feeling of dread permeating through them which justifies the slow buildup. Ti West never justifies it.

This feels like it should have been a short film or extended prelude or flashback in X. There's just simply not enough story to justify a 102 minute film. It could be summed up as: the old woman from X had a fucked up and overbearing mother who didn't let her leave the farm and caused her to slowly go insane. Things escalate from there. There's some good gore at least.

Mia Goth is a decent actress.

6 out of 10.

Am I going to watch part 3 of this trilogy? FUCK NO!
 
X rules. I rewatched that last night completely on a whim and it's still my favorite film of 2022. Ti West beautifully captures that 70's hixploitation horror thing in a way Rob Zombie wishes he could. It oozes with 70's 'new Hollywood' energy. I can't wait to see Pearl, although I have a feeling it might end up letting me down.

The McPherson Tape kinda blows, but not because of the whole camcorder thing. Just the whole execution of the project is very corny. Of course it deserves some respect for doing straight up 'found footage' so early on, but beyond that its limitations are so obvious that it's difficult to enjoy.
 
X rules. I rewatched that last night completely on a whim and it's still my favorite film of 2022. Ti West beautifully captures that 70's hixploitation horror thing in a way Rob Zombie wishes he could. It oozes with 70's 'new Hollywood' energy. I can't wait to see Pearl, although I have a feeling it might end up letting me down.
REALLY????

I get liking it but your favorite of 2022? Oh my god... I think you need to see actual good horror films (no offense, difference of opinion, yadda yadda). Check out the following:

The Cursed AKA Eight for Silver

Crimes of the Future (David Fucking Cronenberg)

Barbarian

Terrifier 2

2022 has been a very good year for the genre.
 
Already seen Crimes of the Future which was obviously fantastic, I definitely plan to see Barbarian. The rest I'll keep an eye out for, thanks.

Well I'd say, judging by what you've said, that I like X for very different reasons.

You say nothing happens in X for about an hour, and Ti West needs an editor to help him "get to the point" but I would totally disagree that the horror is the point in the first place. There's so much going on subtextually in X. I view it just as much as a Paul Schrader-esque social commentary drama as I do a horror.

To anybody considering watching X, if your expectations are that you're gonna watch a traditional genre film that gets to the murder and mayhem almost immediately (like a slasher or whatever) then this film isn't for you. X is a horror in the same way that Bone Tomahawk is a horror; it's much more about everything that happens before the final act.

PS: Mia Goth. <3
tumblr_1128c2ec71b847a69a513b14590dd08b_9c2c59ef_540.gif
 
Already seen Crimes of the Future which was obviously fantastic, I definitely plan to see Barbarian. The rest I'll keep an eye out for, thanks.

Well I'd say, judging by what you've said, that I like X for very different reasons.

You say nothing happens in X for about an hour, and Ti West needs an editor to help him "get to the point" but I would totally disagree that the horror is the point in the first place. There's so much going on subtextually in X. I view it just as much as a Paul Schrader-esque social commentary drama as I do a horror.

To anybody considering watching X, if your expectations are that you're gonna watch a traditional genre film that gets to the murder and mayhem almost immediately (like a slasher or whatever) then this film isn't for you. X is a horror in the same way that Bone Tomahawk is a horror; it's much more about everything that happens before the final act.

PS: Mia Goth. <3
View attachment 3754119
Do you have a Mia Goth poster on your wall and/or a Mia Goth screensaver?
 
VHS 99 is the series cannibalizing itself for content. There is not a single segment here that you haven't seen before:

Segment 1: Asshole kids break into a place where people died; the people come back as zombies.

Segment 2: Main character is pranked by shitty friends reenacting an urban legend; the prank goes wrong and the urban legend is real.

Segment 3: Horny, unlikeable dudes perv on a chick who turns out to be a monster. Absolute dogshit that sucks all momentum out of the movie.

Segment 4: 90s kids show descends into extreme violence and cosmic horror. The kind of thing the Astron 6 guys would do, but sloppier and worse written. Steven Ogg is in it and way too good for this movie.

Segment 5: The horror/comedy segment; demon summoning goes wrong and the documentary team gets sent to Hell. By far the most enjoyable segment but by this point I was checked out. Some neat looking monsters and fun set design, but kind of a predictable ending.

Overall, better than the absolute AIDS that was VHS Viral but worse than the other 3. I'd rank them 2 > 1 > 94 > 99 > Viral
I like all the V/H/S movies but that's because of my love of shlock horror. I finished Hellraiser, the original, and it was fantastic, and went right into 99 tonight. I actually thought the Medusa segment was good because it kind of appealed to me just not in the horror sense. It made me go "yeah this really is what the 90s were like", it kind of captured that setting nicely. I even broke out into a little bit of a grin when the one guy said "The internet is awesome!". That said, I think Gameshow and Otherworld were my favorite segments because those most appealed to my biases. Rack was also nice because it just made me think of the wraparound from the very first movie with the assholes that broke shit and harassed people for fun. And Sorority was really well done imo, probably one of the better done segments, but again, Otherworld and Gameshow just happened to most appeal to my biases.

I think if I had to give a ranking it'd be 1=2>94>99>Viral. I even like Viral, but it was definitely the weakest of the lot. I'll just keep consuming them if they keep making them, I like these segmented things like V/H/S and Creepshow. Speaking of, I was never really on the Creepshow wagon and only saw those movies about a year ago, and I never looked into whether the magazines were a real thing or a movie gimmick, but watching Creepshow 1 and 2 made me go "man that'd be rad if that magazine was actually real and something you could get a subscription to".

Tomorrow night if I can squeeze in a double feature I'll try for Hellraiser 2 and Spree. For a movie that came out in 1987, Hellraiser was fantastic and did the atmosphere, the props and effects, all very well for its time and even aged very well.
 
I think the reason found footage does get a bad rep is that it's a good way to disguise lazy film making or cheap effects and people filming in a manner in which they'd never do in real life.
When even the mundane scenes of normal stuff obviously look like a bunch of actors reciting scripted dialog, it totally backfires and makes the movie seem twice as fake as a movie filmed the regular way.
 
Thanks to recommendation of Tubi along with HBO Max, here are my thoughts on some notable horror films.

Kwaidan: Japan has been making "arthouse horror" long before A24 was a thing. What little score each story had along with the studio-painted backgrounds really added to the surrealness. The last story stuck with me more than the others because of the ending. It reminded me of the Japanese horror film, House, where you ask yourself what you just watched.

Suspiria (original): I had seen the Amazon remake when it first came out and since it was completely different, I felt I could view it without having knowledge of the original. I honestly prefer the straight-up horror tone of the original than all the underline themes in the remake. Maybe it's because I am tired of the fart sniffing from those saying A24 is taking the horror genre to a more progressive direction.

The Hitcher (original): John Ryder (Rutger Hauer's character) is a force of nature and despite some moments that made it hard for me to suspend my disbelief (such as how is he always one step ahead of the protagonist, Jim Halsey, when did he not only steal the protagonist's information but slipped in his switchblade for the frame-up, and how could he shoot down a police helicopter while taking part in a highspeed chase), I saw the conclusion as not a victory for Jim but for John. Jim basically had his innocence look on life shattered by John. John saying, "I want you to stop me," showed that a psychopath like him can only be stopped if someone has the guts to kill him. Jim's attempt to reason with John resulted in the death of Nash and broke Jim. So seeing Jim have a smoke against the setting sun as the credits roll reminds me of how Sally from the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre just survived and will never be the same again.
 
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I like all the V/H/S movies but that's because of my love of shlock horror. I finished Hellraiser, the original, and it was fantastic, and went right into 99 tonight. I actually thought the Medusa segment was good because it kind of appealed to me just not in the horror sense. It made me go "yeah this really is what the 90s were like", it kind of captured that setting nicely. I even broke out into a little bit of a grin when the one guy said "The internet is awesome!". That said, I think Gameshow and Otherworld were my favorite segments because those most appealed to my biases. Rack was also nice because it just made me think of the wraparound from the very first movie with the assholes that broke shit and harassed people for fun. And Sorority was really well done imo, probably one of the better done segments, but again, Otherworld and Gameshow just happened to most appeal to my biases.

I think if I had to give a ranking it'd be 1=2>94>99>Viral. I even like Viral, but it was definitely the weakest of the lot. I'll just keep consuming them if they keep making them, I like these segmented things like V/H/S and Creepshow. Speaking of, I was never really on the Creepshow wagon and only saw those movies about a year ago, and I never looked into whether the magazines were a real thing or a movie gimmick, but watching Creepshow 1 and 2 made me go "man that'd be rad if that magazine was actually real and something you could get a subscription to".

Tomorrow night if I can squeeze in a double feature I'll try for Hellraiser 2 and Spree. For a movie that came out in 1987, Hellraiser was fantastic and did the atmosphere, the props and effects, all very well for its time and even aged very well.
I'm quoting your post.

99 started off really weakly, the first two were just balls. But the gameshow, medusa, and summoning were all pretty solid. Had a better time with it than the Hellraiser refresh.
 
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