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curran12 wrote: I also appreciate the first Saw movie. While I totally agree that the franchise jumped on the first bus to GoofyTown, the first was a very good thriller.
100% agreed. Was one of the best of the new thriller horror movies, before they went straight to gore.
The last few Texas Chainsaw remakes/prequels or whatever were pretty solid. R. Lee Ermey is a high point. Same with the Fright Night remake.
The Witch was atmospheric and creepy. Then certainly speak in Olde English, but I really liked it.
I've grown very fond of the horror comedy genre. Tucker and Dale vs. Evil, Cabin in the Woods, Sleepy Hollow, Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse (decidedly B, but fun).
Ugh, I hated the first Saw. The sheer amount of parallels to Se7en just made it feel like a ripoff in regards to the characters.
I heard how awesome it was...watched it...bored. Felt like I was watching the cheap version of Se7en.
Reality is a nice place to visit, but I'd hate to live there.
Manchu wrote:I'm a Catholic. We eat our God.
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I thought the first Saw was devilishly clever, but I also hadn't seen Seven at the time so I guess I'm unable to appreciate any similarities. I barely remember Seven honestly.
I did like the Witch a lot. I expected a silly movie about some Puritans in the woods, but it was a lot more clever than that.
Also agree about horror comedy. Zombieland is by far my favorite zombie movie, and Cabin in the Woods a wonderful genre deconstruction.
The Witch is one of the best horror movies in recent times, really good, very effective with it's lighting, tension, visuals and atmosphere. It's a bit like the shining where the supernatural vs natural elements aren't always obvious like is this person really possessed or are they playing tricks?
Which makes things real creepy, they also use a few bait and switch scares where when transitioning a scene you might hear a loud noise only to find it's a guy chopping wood or a farm animal which keeps the audience at edge.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2016/09/30 10:32:30
Cheesecat wrote: The Witch is one of the best horror movies in recent times, really good, very effective with it's lighting, tension, visuals and atmosphere. It's a bit like the shining where the supernatural vs natural elements aren't always obvious like is this person really possessed or are they playing tricks?
Which makes things real creepy, they also use a few bait and switch scares where when transitioning a scene you might hear a loud noise only to find it's a guy chopping wood or a farm animal which keeps the audience at edge.
I agree, I just watched this yesterday and really enjoyed it. Strange though because the rating for it on Amazon Prime was a 2 star and I would of gave it a 4 or 5 personally. Its really good
Cheesecat wrote: The Witch is one of the best horror movies in recent times, really good, very effective with it's lighting, tension, visuals and atmosphere. It's a bit like the shining where the supernatural vs natural elements aren't always obvious like is this person really possessed or are they playing tricks?
Which makes things real creepy, they also use a few bait and switch scares where when transitioning a scene you might hear a loud noise only to find it's a guy chopping wood or a farm animal which keeps the audience at edge.
I agree, I just watched this yesterday and really enjoyed it. Strange though because the rating for it on Amazon Prime was a 2 star and I would of gave it a 4 or 5 personally. Its really good
Weird it received critical acclaim in general, is Amazon Prime's rating system effected by audiences ratings or it it based on critics, sometimes their can be quite a contrast.
I watched friend request lately. Its more teen slock horror than creepy/psychological but I kinda enjoyed it. It was pacey, didnt bother with tedious character background and had a nice little twist at the end.
Dman137 wrote:
goobs is all you guys will ever be
By 1-irt: Still as long as Hissy keeps showing up this is one of the most entertaining threads ever.
Cheesecat wrote: The Witch is one of the best horror movies in recent times, really good, very effective with it's lighting, tension, visuals and atmosphere. It's a bit like the shining where the supernatural vs natural elements aren't always obvious like is this person really possessed or are they playing tricks?
Which makes things real creepy, they also use a few bait and switch scares where when transitioning a scene you might hear a loud noise only to find it's a guy chopping wood or a farm animal which keeps the audience at edge.
I agree, I just watched this yesterday and really enjoyed it. Strange though because the rating for it on Amazon Prime was a 2 star and I would of gave it a 4 or 5 personally. Its really good
Weird it received critical acclaim in general, is Amazon Prime's rating system effected by audiences ratings or it it based on critics, sometimes their can be quite a contrast.
Now that im not fully sure of. I will occasionally get an email asking me to rate something i watch but its not everytime i watch it. Adding to that, unlike netflix i cant just click on the ratings and rate right away, unless im missing something anyways. Either way though that was a really good and enjoyable movie.
Event Horizon had a great build-up for a truly lousy last 1/3 of the movie, IMO. It ignores its own internal logic and goes right for the Hollywood showdown-with-the-"bad-guy" ending, with fisticuffs and everything.
curran12 wrote: I have a soft spot for the American version of The Ring, it was what got me really into horror movies. It was one of the rare Americanizations that worked really well and had tons of very creepy atmosphere and tension.
And there is a sequel on the way...which I just don't know, it seems like they are doubling down on scale.
The American version is better than the Japanese original. Gonna lose a hipster point for that opinion, but I'm talkin' truth.
If you want a good J-horror film...check out Audition.
Event Horizon had a great build-up for a truly lousy last 1/3 of the movie, IMO. It ignores its own internal logic and goes right for the Hollywood showdown-with-the-"bad-guy" ending, with fisticuffs and everything
Thanks god Im not alone. Been arguing this point with friends for years.
Dman137 wrote:
goobs is all you guys will ever be
By 1-irt: Still as long as Hissy keeps showing up this is one of the most entertaining threads ever.
Watched "Don't Breathe" last night. Horribly disappointed. I hadn't heard much about it or seen any trailers so it was a blank canvas. Couple jump scares, contrived plot, the hero/villain dynamic was backwards (but not in a clever/interesting way).
Feels like they wrote the movie backwards and sent it through 14 rewrite committees.
Bland garbage.
American Horror Story is doing a much more entertaining take on a witch curse (which is good, because the series had been getting progressively worse with each season).
The whole film was a throw back to very Puritan religious ideas, namely that the point of the world was to suffer and come to god (to the point of praying for worldly suffering). The whole setting of the film harkin's back to the Puritan period of American Colonialism, where the New World was a untamed and godless place for the faithful to prove their worthiness. The mercy of God is not relevant in this religious tradition because it stresses that you must fear God because breaking his will is damning in the worst ways. You can actually still find these ideas alive and well in modern American culture (hence the films relevance).
The characters are slowly torn down by their own sins; Lust (Caleb), Envy (Katherine the mother, who coverts Thomasin's youth), sloth (Jonas and Mercy, who shirk their chores to play games and cohort with the devil in disguise) and arrogance (William, the father whose family would have been spared to torment had he not gotten them kicked out of their community). The final girl, Thomasin, a girl who has been completely denied any recognition of life beyond fear and God's wrath realizes the pointlessness in the end and accept's Black Phillip's offer to "live deliciously."
The film actually is about a dysfunctional family, which is in the narrative a metaphor for modern Christianity (namely Evangelical Christianity). The family is so obsessed with its fearing of God, that William never talks honestly to Caleb about the feelings he's having as an adolescent boy. Mercy and Jonas are never punished for their improper behavior, while Thomasin is constantly forced to carrying their burdens. The mother almost seems bipolar at times, and seems to relish punishing Thomasin. All the while the family hides within it's fearful interpretation of scripture, which in the film turns out to be reality. Thomasin, whose only crime seems to be frustration with her circumstances, ends up becoming evil because no one in her family could shut their own egos down long enough to realize how messed up their family dynamics were.
It's not horror in the "this is making me shake" variety, but of the "think about this for a little while and realize how fethed up it is." The film is a very subtle (honestly too subtle) direct attack against suburban affluent Christians as coddlers of their own egos at the expense of their children.
my two cents.
This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at 2016/10/28 03:51:44
A very well reasoned analysis. Perhaps it is an allegory for a dysfunctional family . I didn't see it as such, since it overtly tipped it's hand to the supernatural (which externalizes the evil and would then validate the heavy handed religious view). So it shifts uncomfortably between period drama (as a critique of modern values) and horror and never settles on one.
Spoiler:
And, to me, the one note characters came across as very lazy, as if they were no more than just pretty set pieces themselves. As you point out, Thomasin becomes "evil" for no real reason, despite seeing the horrific effect of a malevolent supernatural force that destroyed her family.
I think it would have been a much more effective movie if it would have either embraced the internal evils and stood as a critique (not that their is any shortage of puritan stories as a critique of modern American hypocrisy and intolerance), or got over itself and embraced the supernatural menace.
But, of course reasonable minds can differ.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2016/10/31 13:06:58
I hope it's not too spoilery (though I'll hide it anyway), but as for The Witch...
Spoiler:
I would have been much more satisfied if it were about 5 minutes shorter. Into the woods, end the movie. The last scene killed everything they had built up in ambiguity for me.
To hit on the idea mentioned earlier of monster-as-metaphor, I love me some Ginger Snaps.
Tried to get through Ouija the other night.
Barely made it. Few scares, movie by numbers.
The very ending was sort of creepy and dark but not worth your time.
Dman137 wrote:
goobs is all you guys will ever be
By 1-irt: Still as long as Hissy keeps showing up this is one of the most entertaining threads ever.
Ratius wrote: Tried to get through Ouija the other night.
Barely made it. Few scares, movie by numbers.
The very ending was sort of creepy and dark but not worth your time.
Ratius wrote: Tried to get through Ouija the other night.
Barely made it. Few scares, movie by numbers.
The very ending was sort of creepy and dark but not worth your time.
From sources I trust, (i.e. the Bad Movie Message Board), they say Ouija II is effective and solid and could save the franchise.
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I can't believe these haven't been mentioned as Bruce Campbell is one of the kings of horror, Evil Dead 1-2, Army of Darkness, Ash vs the Evil Dead
I wouldn't really call them horror (although there are prominent horror elements and vast quantities of obviously fake gore), I think of Ash as the quintessential American Action Hero. Young, dumb and full of.......enthusiasm
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