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

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Commander X said:
I've been revisiting some Hong Kong comedy-horror films, like the Mr. Vampire franchise, which helped kick off the 1980s craze in " jiangshi" fiction and films you saw in Hong Kong., the so-called "hopping vampires" of Chinese folklore. The first film was such a hit it spawned loosely-related sequels and even a TV series, Vampire Expert, that ran for two seasons, but was cut short when veteran martial artist/stuntman/actor Lam Ching-ying, the man who'd been the lead of most of the installments, passed away from liver cancer.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=oRoK8I-ONf0
Of the sequels, I like Mr. Vampire IV almost as much as the original, though they're all nicely creative horror comedies with HK martial arts action. The only direct sequel to the first, from original director Ricky Lau, Mr. Vampire 1992 is also a romp.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=H1qA1e_Yczshttps://youtube.com/watch?v=Kywj4watwjc
Lam Ching-ying was also in another jiangshi horror comedy, starring Sammo Hung and directed by Lau, Encouters of the Spooky Kind II and 1990s Magic Cop, where Ching-ying once more played a practicing Taoist with a unibrow, only now he's an ex-cop in modern Hong Kong where a Japanese sorcereress is using black magic and zombie henchmen to run a drug ring.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=LVhdnluFwcMhttps://youtube.com/watch?v=tOfT3XE9FMk
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YES!!! MY CHILDHOOD HAS BEEN GIVEN KIWIFARMS RECOGNITION! You have no idea how happy this makes me.
 
hk spoopy comedies are usually, at-worst, nice enough to leave on in the background
def love me some hopping vampires, got this little wind-up toy a while back
1728910318123.png
ironically it walks rather than hops
 
BullfrogBill said:
I don't care if the director was a rich kid or not, but I watched the first Terrifier because of the mega hype behind it and so many people saying I'd love the movie so much. It was so disappointing. I hate that movie, fuck Art the Clown he sucks. and it's pretty gay if it's true that the director is the guy who commissioned the billions of artworks with his character alongside other much more iconic and deserving characters.
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wholetthegodsout said:
The thing I liked about Terrifier 1 and 2 is the fact that Art is emotive and humorous which breaks up the tedium of most slasher films where you know the premise and have to sit through 30 minutes of stalking and buildup. This can be great when well executed but I like how the Terrifier films just get to the point with this odd creepy sadistic clown interacting with people. Terrifier 2 is way too long but it plays as some long extended surreal dreamlike experience and I had fun watching it.
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I really do not get the draw of the Terrifier films, and I watched 1 & 2. Part of it is that there is no connecting tissue, no build up, its just vignettes of people getting killed. The second thing is that Art lacks any kind of cohesive part of his personality or mythos that I can hang anything on, he's a nothing. The movies are so formulaic and distilled down that there is nothing left - and I'm a guy that enjoys some of the most by the numbers slasher movies.
 
So far, as October marches on, I've got:
  1. Evil Dead 2 (1987)
  2. The Invisible Man (1933)
  3. Dead & Buried (1981)
  4. Elvira's Haunted Hills (2001)
  5. The Deadly Spawn (1983)
  6. The Beyond (1981)
  7. Horror of Dracula (1958 )
  8. Prince of Darkness (1987)
  9. Haunted Mansion (2003)
  10. Inferno (1980)
  11. House by the Cemetery (1981)
  12. House of the Devil (2009)
  13. Funhouse (1981)
All rewatches but Elvira, Haunted Mansion, and House of the Devil.

The Beyond makes a little less sense on each viewing. You notice the plot doesn't make sense right away, but there are deeper layers to it. I found myself doing the kinds of checks you do to tell if you're dreaming, questions like: how much time passed since the last scene? What time of day is it? What are the people in the scene doing there; how did they get there and why are they doing what they're doing?

I also find it kind of interesting that it takes place in New Orleans and has nothing to do with the local folklore whatsoever. New Orleans has voodoo, hauntings, vampires, werewolves, sasquatch, and even a Saw-tier serial killer in Madame LaLaurie -- probably among other things -- and none of it ever comes up. I guess Fulci just liked the cool-looking graves and that really long bridge.

It's sometimes compared with Inferno and I believe was influenced by it. I have somewhat mixed feelings about Inferno. Watching the two in close proximity, I'd say The Beyond nails "dream logic" a lot more squarely. Inferno underexplains the story and has dopey characters that don't do much of anything, but The Beyond really feels like reality is coming apart by the seams. Inferno has a great soundtrack, if you listen to it on its own, but the cues hardly ever match what's happening onscreen.

Haunted Mansion is a decent enough remake of The Beyond, I thought.
 
Calandrino said:
Funhouse (1981)
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I like this one for one particular scene, when they're all in the funhouse and gathered around together and one of the characters is telling a story about how when he was a kid he once hid in the closet and was planning to jump out and scare his older brother. But the more he waited the more he started wondering "What if my brother knows I'm in here and he's waiting right outside the door waiting to scare me instead?" and he froze up and was too afraid to come out for hours. I don't know why but I always liked that story, it's such a brief part of the movie but I really like it for some reason.
 
I have to admit the Terrifier movies are not to my liking, but I can understand why some people are into them, we're in an era of American horror film where some people want something raw and visceral, and there's a big difference between people who simply don't care for films like Terrifier, and the people who get so mad when someone makes a horror movie that isn't yet another piece of A24-style bone-chilling spine-tingling character driven trope-subverting high concept slow-burn elevated horror movie with no jumpscares slop. I don't mean actual atmospheric "quiet" horror films, but you know, the sort of formulaic drivel that usually hits the viewers over the head with themes and messages like "what if le protagonist was le stressed single mother and le monster was le actually depression?!?!?"

To give you an idea of where I'm coming from, the live-action Akira bike slide in Jordan Peel's "Nope" was more visually repulsive to me than watching Art the Clown behead a woman.
 
Part of the reason I enjoy the Terrifier movies is that they remind me of something I would have made back when I was 13 and assuming I had the money and resources to create something so twisted.
 
The Cunting Death said:
Tbf I like those too but I also love my gorey shit too. You can have room for both.
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I did qualify I enjoy atmospheric films, quiet horror has it's place, but I think we've seen too many cases of it done badly in recent years, movies that get glazed by critics and have me wondering "what's up with that". Pulp horror films, films with gore and ultra-violence can be done badly as well. I don't consider that we have some people who execute horror movies badly a mark against the basic idea of either "quiet" or "extreme" horror films.
 
Commander X said:
I have to admit the Terrifier movies are not to my liking, but I can understand why some people are into them, we're in an era of American horror film where some people want something raw and visceral, and there's a big difference between people who simply don't care for films like Terrifier, and the people who get so mad when someone makes a horror movie that isn't yet another piece of A24-style bone-chilling spine-tingling character driven trope-subverting high concept slow-burn elevated horror movie with no jumpscares slop. I don't mean actual atmospheric "quiet" horror films, but you know, the sort of formulaic drivel that usually hits the viewers over the head with themes and messages like "what if le protagonist was le stressed single mother and le monster was le actually depression?!?!?"

To give you an idea of where I'm coming from, the live-action Akira bike slide in Jordan Peel's "Nope" was more visually repulsive to me than watching Art the Clown behead a woman.
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I've never liked slasher movies or the overly gory/fake looking gore genre of horror much. But I really liked Terrifier after auto queue seemed to automatically play it for me one night. Actually debating going to the theater for the third one
 
I've always loved slashers, so Terrifier was a nice change of pace since it seems they're so rare these days. At least ones that aren't Z-List slop that'd make the first Terrifier look like a big budget Hollywood masterpiece in comparison. I really hate how needlessly complex the plot got in the sequels, with angels and demons now being behind the magical bullshit that didn't need to happen. I miss Art just being a sick fuck as he was in the first movie. I know about All Hallows' Eve, but it's not like that's really "canon" to the series anyway.

Makes me think of how Friday the 13th and Halloween dropped off where Jason and Michael started to get wrapped up in magical bullshit that didn't belong.
 
Lone Star said:
I've always loved slashers, so Terrifier was a nice change of pace since it seems they're so rare these days. At least ones that aren't Z-List slop that'd make the first Terrifier look like a big budget Hollywood masterpiece in comparison. I really hate how needlessly complex the plot got in the sequels, with angels and demons now being behind the magical bullshit that didn't need to happen. I miss Art just being a sick fuck as he was in the first movie. I know about All Hallows' Eve, but it's not like that's really "canon" to the series anyway.

Makes me think of how Friday the 13th and Halloween dropped off where Jason and Michael started to get wrapped up in magical bullshit that didn't belong.
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Art will be revealed as a worm parasite in part 9.
 
I watched Terrifier, its a pretty fun movie. I look forward to watching the sequels, and Art is a very funny character. I really loved whenever he used a gun, its really rare to see that.

I've been slacking on watching some movies for the season so I'll be sure to catch up especially with a lot of sequels and films I missed out on.
 
I like the Terrifier movies, but at some point (probably very soon) Leone is going to be racking his brain for ways to shock a seemingly desensitized audience. What can he have Art do that will shock and appall the average horror fan by the time the 5th or 6th movie is being made? Will Art go on a mass shooting at a gay bar during pride month? Hang a black woman and carve "nigger" into her belly before disemboweling her? Gore on its own simply won't cut it pretty soon.
 
Commander X said:
the sort of formulaic drivel that usually hits the viewers over the head with themes and messages like "what if le protagonist was le stressed single mother and le monster was le actually depression?!?!?"
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I just saw Talk to Me and thought it was incredible. I was not expecting to enjoy it as much as I did. Saw Smile for the first time a few weeks back, and felt like it was going at a very similar niche, also a great success imo.

I don't mind when horror asks "is the supernatural entity real or are characters just going crazy?" Because possession as insanity, or vice versa, feels like a very natural concept to be explored by the genre. I feel like we've seen a lot of the theme in the past decade, between the above two, Hereditary, Babadook, The Lighthouse, etc. It has to walk a fine line of hokey execution, but when a film pulls it off I love it.
 
Not a fan of Terrifier movies myself, just find Art too annoying and second one was way too long. But, I'm happy it is doing well at the box office, because I really would like a new era of slasher movies that push the gore like the Terrifier movies are.

Also, nice it's showing a unrated movie can do well at the box office.
 
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