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Trivial Pursuits => Arts & Entertainment => Topic started by: Nabubrush on March 26, 2007, 11:18:27 pm
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I'm looking for horror movies that aren't awash in blood. A little more intellectual, if you please. The lovely bride and I can't get enough of being creeped out and on the edge of our seats. However, we aren't particularly interested in The Devil's Rejects. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0395584/) We like stuff like The Changeling (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080516/) and Rosemary's Baby (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063522/) and The Exorcist. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070047/) Recently we watched Descent. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0435625/)Of course, we also have the Evil Dead (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083907/) catalog, because you sort of have to. We like it when the terror is implied rather than stuffed down our throats in a wash of evisceration. Do you have any suggestions?
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I assume you have watched the obvious options, like The Shining?
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I assume you have watched the obvious options, like The Shining?
Well, yes. Dispensing with the italics, we have watched (and own):
The Shining. The Omen. Evil Dead. Rosemary's Baby. The Exorcist. Night of the Living Dead.
Give me some movies that have come out in the last five years or so.
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The Host http://imdb.com/title/tt0468492/ was excellent. Just the right mix of horror/comedy to keep you entertained without taking itself too seriously.
I'll just assume you've seen The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Aside from Evil Dead I think this is the finest horror movie ever made.
Audition http://imdb.com/title/tt0235198/ was extremely creepy. If you plan on seeing it, just don't read anything about the movie beforehand. THe less you know the better.
Slither http://imdb.com/title/tt0439815/ is another great horror movie that has great thrills/laughs ratio.
I'm trying to think of more good ones that have come out recently. Horror and comedy are pretty much the two toughest genres to do right, and it's only once in a while that a truly great one comes along.
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The Sound of Music?
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Suspiria is really good, if you're looking for a certain something. It's use of lighting, coloured particularly is incredible, and some of the casting is great. While I wouldn't necessarily call it a great horror movie, it certainly has it's draws.
Similarly Silent Hill is a stunning movie. It's fairly terrible, but it's beautiful.
I shall have a think further, when I have slept on it, as at the moment I am spending so much time thinking about the horror movies that visually made an impact on me.
Oh, The Descent might be worth a look. Good use of atmosphere (mmmmmm, claustrophobia) and some clever writing (a great ending I thought). It is flawed, but worth seeing. As I say, I shall think some, as I watch a lot of horror, be it blood bath or nay...
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Suspiria is really good, if you're looking for a certain something. It's use of lighting, coloured particularly is incredible, and some of the casting is great. While I wouldn't necessarily call it a great horror movie, it certainly has it's draws.
Similarly Silent Hill is a stunning movie. It's fairly terrible, but it's beautiful.
I shall have a think further, when I have slept on it, as at the moment I am spending so much time thinking about the horror movies that visually made an impact on me.
Oh, The Descent might be worth a look. Good use of atmosphere (mmmmmm, claustrophobia) and some clever writing (a great ending I thought). It is flawed, but worth seeing. As I say, I shall think some, as I watch a lot of horror, be it blood bath or nay...
Seen Descent. We screamed and set off our house alarm.
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The Jeff Goldblum version of The Fly holds up surprisingly well.
I always recommend Eraserhead, because it never fails to upset me when I watch it.
Also, Psycho and The Birds.
These are all sort of obvious, but really enjoyable.
I have to think on it a bit more. You've got it right though - the best scary movies are the ones that don't show too much.
I actually liked Signs. Please don't tell anyone.
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Love Eraserhead and The Fly. And goddamn, can you imagine wandering into a theater in 1960+ and seeing Psycho? I would have shit my #####. What do you have from the last five years or so?
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I hate scary movies. I saw the previews for Hostel and almost pee'd myself. Yuck. No thanks. The previews alone were enough to make me (a non-dentalphobe) get a little creeped out when I was at the dentist getting a new crown installed. I kept getting unwanted visions of grimy underground torture chambers with leather straps and rusty implements.
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Seconded on Suspiria, a real must-see but from the 70's. And while you're working on the Bruce Campell catalogue, just this weekend I rented Bubba Ho-tep (2001) and that's a disc that I ain't returnin', no way in hell. And I started a whole thread on how great Slither was but the wife'll have to be down with hella mutant shit.
Carptenter's The Thing is my favorite horror of all time. Mad nice mutant shit in that.
Oh yeah, also Shaun of the Dead.
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Seconded on Suspiria, a real must-see but from the 70's. And while you're working on the Bruce Campell catalogue, just this weekend I rented Bubba Ho-tep (2001) and that's a disc that I ain't returnin', no way in hell. And I started a whole thread on how great Slither was but the wife'll have to be down with hella mutant shit.
Carptenter's The Thing is my favorite horror of all time. Mad nice mutant shit in that.
Oh yeah, also Shaun of the Dead.
Yup. Did all four of those.
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A Tale of Two Sisters (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0365376/) is a creepy Korean horror movie. The plot is somewhat confusing and fairy-taleish (evil stepmother, clueless dad, downtrodden sisters), but it's definitely worth a watch if you're looking for an intellectual horror film.
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A Tale of Two Sisters (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0365376/) is a creepy Korean horror movie. The plot is somewhat confusing and fairy-taleish (evil stepmother, clueless dad, downtrodden sisters), but it's definitely worth a watch if you're looking for an intellectual horror film.
Yeah, I saw that with the SO. I seemed intellectual, but then it turn out to be plot twist upon plot twist to the point where I was just annoyed. Also, I remember it being quite bloody. It's a different sort of horror flick though. It's worth seeing, but more as a visual film - I felt the writing sort of falls apart under closer examination.
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Psycho.
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I don't really know what qualifies, and I know that if I have seen it you probably have, but, just in case, Battle Royale.
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Mr Trout, those are interesting recommendations. I don't see any way I can see the first one though, it's not on DVD yet. It seems to be just being released in this country but I don't know if anyplace around here would play such a thing. You saw it in a theater?
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Mr Trout, those are interesting recommendations. I don't see any way I can see the first one though, it's not on DVD yet. It seems to be just being released in this country but I don't know if anyplace around here would play such a thing. You saw it in a theater?
It is indeed showing in a theatre nearby (The Charles in Baltimore), however babysitters costing what they do I aquired it via other means for the SO and I. It's been out in Korea for about a year, so it is readily available.
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Bummer that you saw Rosemary's Baby already, it's my favorite horror movie ever, one of my favorite movies ever, and because of it, everytime I walk into a theater these days I'm reminded of how shallow, silly, unsubtle and artless (in the sense of lacking sheer craft) today's pop horror offerings are. All jump cuts and bullet times and shaky cameras and "ominous strings" (quotes referencing George Lucas talking to John Williams about the score for Star Wars: "Then here, ominous strings, yadda yadda, then he jumps towards Anakin and ominous strings again, and then...". I bet he uses a system with tags like "ominous strings", "jolly horns", "silly bass" to save time. But I digress).
Uhm. I guess I just wanted to vent, but if I remember a real good horror flick, I'll make sure I'll tell you about it.
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Pet Semetary was every which sort of upsetting for all the wrong reasons.
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Goddammit, I hate you, Pet Sematary, yes, how could I forget >/
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Oh, what about "Sunset Blvd."?
I have read some analysis about it which make the point that "Sunset" could be watched as a horror movie. I bought the DVD yesterday and watched it, and what can I say? It's very, very, very creepy, nightmare-creepy, almost unbelievably so when one considers it was a mainstream product from a major studio in a very conservative era. It's more accurately described as a psychological drama, of course, but the topic is alienation and madness, which has always provided good material for chills.
The introduction of Norma Desmond's character, for instance, can be considered alone of of the great horror set-ups ever filmed. Everything is perfect, spot-on - and deeply unsettling: A decaying gothic manor, a spooky butler, an organ that plays eerie music by itself (there's a pretty ordinary explanation for the phenomena, but the effect is attained nonetheless) and Norma Desmond herself - her face most specifically, which in the final scene of the movie, as she gestures towards you, the viewer is guaranteed to give anyone the howling fantods).
The best horror stories always suggest rather than show, and the implications of everything that Joe Gillis sees when he enters the manor are very disturbing. As I watched this scene I tell you I was a very happy spectator, though creeped out beyond my senses: You don't usually get this sense of potency, of concentrated evil atmosphere in the movies anymore (think "Rosemary's Baby" from the New Year's Eve party onwards - yes it's that ominous, and actually even slightly more so because "Sunset Blvd" doesn't have any supernatural elements - it's just a very ugly and bitter and sad story). There's a particular scene involving a chimpanzee's arm which made me go "Oh My God Get Out Of This House RIGHT NOW YOU IDIOT", and the fact that it's all accomplished within the limits of a realistic setting only heightened the sense of horror.
Admittedly, there are long patches in the movie where things get safer and saner, bringing the movie closer to other genres, such as love story, noir, even comedy albeit of a very very sad and biting nature - but the ending recuperates the creepiness factor and amps it up in a climax that deserves it's fame. Norma Desmond's eyes and her freaking talons gesturing at the audience as she finally gets the closest thing to a close-up she'll ever get.
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Oh man, do I have a name for you: Val Lewton.
I'm taking a class in his films right now. He was a forties B-movie producer who would get these ridiculous titles from RKO and make these amazing, thoughtful, scary, subtle, personal films about them. The two best movies we've seen in the class so far? I Walked With A Zombie and Curse of the Cat People.
So, here are my recommendations:
Cat People
I Walked With A Zombie
The Seventh Victim
Curse Of The Cat People
Ghost Ship
What's funny about these movies sometimes is just how far they stray from the title: Curse of the Cat People is a kind-of sequel to Cat People, except that Cat People aren't mentioned once in the entire movie. It's about a lonely little girl. (All of his movies are essentially about loneliness, though.)
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Fancy that! I saw The Cat People when I was eleven on the teevee and it creeped the bajeezus out of me (Hopefully no family member needs a bajeezus transplant). I may check that out sometime.
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I'm assuming that is a different version than the one with Malcom McDowell in it. Although it did have Natassija Kinski as well...
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I'm assuming that is a different version than the one with Malcom McDowell in it. Although it did have Natassija Kinski as well...
Yeah, it's the original. I'm looking to find that version, I figure that the only thing that could make that movie better is incest and explicit sex.
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What Ever Happened to Baby Jane
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We are right now watching Slither. It is a little bit, um, grosser than I expected, which I think can only mean that I was not exactly paying attention when I read the reviews and so on pursuant to the Trout's recommendation. But it is entertaining.
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What Ever Happened to Baby Jane
Yes. Totally. Seconded.
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The Plannet Terror segment of Grindhouse had the most lethal zombies I've ever seen in a movie.