[Closed] Horror Films.

A lot of the classics don't age well despite my affection for them.

It's hard to argue with the French Horror new wave though such as Martyrs and Haute Tension.

I did quite enjoy the Conjuring and its sequels though.

Yes, there can't be a horror film thread without mention of The Exorcist

Love Hellraiser and even Nightbreed, flawed as it is.

The slasher stuff never really grabbed me

As I love sci-fi films like a
Alien much better.

Event horizon is brilliant.

I think what makes it scarier is that you only see flashes of the other dimension- full scenes there were shot but the studio cut them, that left almost subliminal glimpses of detailed & well realised horror that your mind can easily be extrapolate out.

I suppose it's stuff like that gets into your imagination.

Sometimes With horror less is more
The scene in the mostly pants Fire In The Sky is a great one

I think I like this the best, no model perfect young starlets & hunks,just a bunch of bearded blokes in long John's at the bottom of the world unable to trust anyone

James Gunn just put his list of 50 fave horror films on Facebook, worth a squiz, all good

Similarly, Cape Fear (the remake) only starts becoming [s]farcical[/s]horror towards the end when he almost seems indestructible.

FTFY 😉

But to make a point about subjectivity and genre - to my mind the 'true horror' of Cape Fear (for me) was captured best (by both Gregory Peck and De Niro) much earlier in the story. ie the horrifying smarmy-sociopathic/amoral surety with which Max Cady openly stalked the lawyer and his family. The slightly twisted, falsely- smiling look in his eye. The grandiose pseudo-politeness that foretold his intent. A look that said - 'I'm not 'threatening' you and your family. I'm inevitable. Your safety is an illusion'. Chilling.

So, for me, those early sunny scenes on the lawn and in the neighbourhood were far more horrific than the murderous raging-muscle-fest-in-the-rainstorm ending of the remake. ymmv.

Torture porn films I find boring.
Comedy horrors have potential, Final Destination, Evil Dead type of thing.
The best horror films work psychologically.

Either way I don't watch many these days. The most recent good one I've seen is Let the Right One In.

Event horizon is brilliant.

I think what makes it scarier is that you only see flashes of the other dimension- full scenes there were shot but the studio cut them, that left almost subliminal glimpses of detailed & well realised horror that your mind can easily be extrapolate out.

Event Horizon was so very very nearly genius. The single flaw was that it should have left the short cuts of the 'other place' out entirely. It worked really well on the suspense level alone.

IIRC it got critically panned on release. But one of my most watched DVDs.

One that really got to me but shouldn't have (given it was on rated 12) was The Others with Nicole Kidman. Saying that, the BBFC did admit to getting it wrong by rating it 12 and it should have been a 15.

The Fog (old one)

Bunch of us watching the film late at night and it was really fogging outside. Just as the fog started eveloping the house and pirates bashing on the window scene a real life fox decided to crash into the patio window, then started pawing it....that scared the shit out of us.

Zombie Fox

Looking back, what a bunch of wimpey pansies.

Ps My Dad reckons he heard our girly screaming....we did'nt btw.... but it was a long time ago ...........

Just reminded me of watching Cannibal Holocaust at a friend's house. 14-15yrs old. His older brother and friend ambushed me from a hiding-place in the bushes on my way home in the dark. They got me to the ground bit my neck and I subsequently stank of tom sauce. How I laughed! It was a weird sort of laugh IIRC, with a rising tone that was almost indistinguishable from terror. 😆

I've only watched Event Horizon once, when it came out. I don't imagine it'll have aged well but I did think it was good at the time - I liked the premise and the haunted house in space scenario works when it's done well.

As for Se7en I wouldn't consider it a horror at all. Certainly as a black as a cop thriller could go, and it used plenty of horror tropes. I think it's more horrific because it's set in a recognizably real world. There are other films that are also set in the real world that kind of step over the line and are more "horror" than not. I think Green Room does that quite well. Calvaire would be another, Haute Tension maybe straying further across the line. I guess it's a blurry line sometimes.

Broader question: When do you think a thriller becomes a horror?

At which point?

I would've put Se7en in the horror category for instance. It's just that it's plot is very much thriller.

I think Sicario is almost horror too. The feel of the film and the dread; the outcomes are pretty awful. Again, sits in the thriller camp by plot.

rone - Member

Broader question: When do you think a thriller becomes a horror?

At which point?

I would've put Se7en in the horror category for instance.

Well aside from obvious ques like supernatural or monstrous elements I think it would have to be when the horror, either through violence, gore or sustained terror becomes a primary theme or driving force of the narrative. There's obviously a lot of subjectivity involved there, and to further muddy the waters there's an issue that our real world can be as horrific or even more horrific than a fantasy when accurately depicted.

Seven is a good example of this because it never focuses on gore or ever really shows you anything gratuitous or horrible (sloth scene aside and even then, that's just a guy). All of the horror is built up in your mind, and then flashed at or hinted at. People will tell you about the horrific things they saw in Seven that simply aren't in the film.

Same with Silence of the Lambs, Manhunter etc.

The real drive of Seven is the relationship between Pitt and Freeman and their investigation - that is the film.

If you compare Seven with something like Haute Tension/Switchblade romance it's also set in the real world but the it's a constant an relentless escape/pursuit with a very murderous and implausibly persistent killer.

Or another good film which skirts that line is Green Room. A group of friends trapped in a room by bad people. But the tension and the assualt on the main characters is constant, the violence is extreme and the depiction of it in some instances is incredibly graphic and explicit. It's 90 minutes of tension, pain and suffering basically, although it's all (almost) realistic, plausible and based in our world.

imo

The original Japanese versions of The Ring, & Dark Water are good. (Not the Hollywood remakes)

I actually thought they did quite a good job on The Ring remake. Dark water was OK as well.

There's obviously a lot of subjectivity involved there, and to further muddy the waters there's an issue that our real world can be as horrific or even more horrific than a fantasy when accurately depicted

Absolutely.

I also think the correct ending says a lot about a horror film. Too many films (for commercial reasons) tie things up far too neatly. Seven is great example of why, in my book - it's true horror.

rone - Member

Seven is great example of why, in my book - it's true horror.

Well here's a thought, the most horrific book I ever read was a documentary account of real world serial killers who were cannibals (I can't remember why I was reading it, I think part of a film script I was writing). An even more horrific book which my wife read was a book about Fred and Rose West. I tried to read that book and the sheer bleak, mundane ordinariness of it horrified me so much I couldn't read the book. There's no way I will go back and try to read that book.

And yet it's not a Stephen King, or a Clive Barker.

^ I thought about just this a fair bit.

'True' horror - defining example of the movie genre
True horror - real life horrific events.

Long may they stay apart.

I'd maybe happier in a world that chose to contribute to/enjoy neither, And say that as a long-time fan of 'horror' films.

Malvern Rider - Member

^ I thought about just this a fair bit.

'True' horror - defining example of the movie genre
True horror - real life horrific events.

Long may they stay apart.

Yes agreed. I think that's why I have zero interest in Hostel or similar. While they aren't exactly real, they are based in our reality and offer nothing other than the worst real things imaginable.

I'd of course be happier in a world that chose to contribute neither, And say that as a long-time fan of horror films.

For drama you need peril, and for peril to be real you need the threat of violence and to contextualise that violence you need, well, violence. So I don't mind fantastic depictions of violence. It's also what makes something like Pan's Labyrinth so compelling. There are monsters, and there are horrors but obviously, the real monsters are very real humans and the violence they commit.

I grew up on a diet of horror and things like The Fly and the Thing when my age was in single digits and do have a thing for a good horror, two things that really freaked me out back then although not horror were The Elephant Man, and The Invisible Man series on BBC1.

Has anyone watched the Syfy Channel Zero series?

I think 'Disturbing' as another genre all together, i love watching all the horror classics mentioned but stuff like Irreversible, Salò, or 120 Days of Sodom, or Martyrs etc are just horrible to watch. no fun at all.

Funny Games (Haneke original) is another one that really had an impact on me!!

I think when it boils down to raw human cruelty rather than ghosts and vampires, that reality can be chilling! Snowtown was another!

anyone mentioned blair witch yet?

very original in its day and I cant think of any other horror flick in recent times that had such a huge media coverage (because it was so good)

mahalo - Member

I think 'Disturbing' as another genre all together,

Psychological horror I guess.

Other than those mentioned:

Drag me to hell - Comedy genius,
The Descent
The Cabin in the Woods
REC
Get Out
A tale of two sisters
The Conjuring - I love a horror but had to take a break during this one.

Bone Tomahawk is an odd one. A standard western with a constant tension and building sense of dread with one truely horrific scene. I’d still class it as a western though.

anyone mentioned blair witch yet?

I hope not, cos it's crap 😉

I liked Silent Hill. Even though it was based on a, very good, game I thought they did a fair job of it.

Bone Tomahawk is an odd one. A standard western with a constant tension and building sense of dread with one truely horrific scene. I’d still class it as a western though.

That's a great example.

By the end - I saw it more as horror than Western.

I hope not, cos it's crap

Would have to disagree on that one. As mentioned above the fact it shows you very little and all the "scary" stuff is built up in your own head makes it a good movie IMHO. Then the fact it created a new genre of "found footage" films. How many movies can you say have created an entirely new genre of film?

trailwagger - Member

I hope not, cos it's crap

Would have to disagree on that one. As mentioned above the fact it shows you very little and all the "scary" stuff is built up in your own head makes it a good movie IMHO. Then the fact it created a new genre of "found footage" films. How many movies can you say have created an entirely new genre of film?

I don't think you can really credit it with creating an entirely new genre - the found footage premise wasn't invented by Blair Witch. I think at best you could credit its success to the rise of a horror sub genre, something many films have done (and in the case of [i]Found Footage[/i] I'm not sure what sort of legacy that really is).

I don't think you can really credit it with creating an entirely new genre - the found footage premise wasn't invented by Blair Witch. I think at best you could credit its success to the rise of a horror sub genre, something many films have done (and in the case of Found Footage I'm not sure what sort of legacy that really is).

True, but its first one anyone has ever heard off.

trailwagger - Member

True, but its first one anyone has ever heard off.

If Take That* had a massive hit with an obscure 60s B side no one had ever heard do you credit Take That or the original artist for the song's qualities?

I had certainly seen Cannibal Holocaust and Man Bites Dog, and other mocumentarys before Blair Witch. I think the real master stroke that Blair Witch pulled was its marketing campaign - iirc it was the first big online stealth marketing for a film and it used the medium perfectly to obfuscate whether the film was fiction or documentary. In that respect the style of the film and the marketing campaign were uniquely of their time and complemented each other perfectly.
[i]
*I don't listen to popular music so I couldn't think of a more relevant example than Take That. [/i]

Is Cannibal Holocaust the one where they have to buy back the film reels which turn out to be the film maker setting up the tribal war?

I'm not sure what sort of legacy that really is

Cloverfield. Unfortunately.

Sorry, started an argument and then wandered off!

Blair Witch (IMO) as a film was garbage, but it really managed to create this myth about whether it was real or not. That, and not the film itself, is it's biggest coup.

Anyway, fan of the foreign stuff myself. Spanish directors seem to be the fave at the moment. Recently enjoyed:

Timecrimes
Mama
The Orphanage
Sleep Tight

Not really a horror, but The Similars was also pretty good.

The Babadouk is surprisingly good for a modern horror. No slashers just weird spookiness.

Blair Witch was great when it came out. It trendy to dismiss it now, but it was very different and original.

Just noticed - the Babadook is on Film4, tonight 1:20am

DezB - Member

Blair Witch was great when it came out. It trendy to dismiss it now, but it was very different and original.

Well I dismissed it then too, what do I win? It was 79 minutes of nauseating camera shake and 2 minutes of creepy cabin at the end. That part was pretty good. But jesus christ the rest of it.

I haven't watched since the cinema.

[i]what do I win?[/i]

If you really want a prize for having a different opinion, you can have the Don't Know a Decent Film When You See It 3D Glasses 1999 Award.

The camera shake was kind of part of the experience 😆

Oh it was an experience alright.

This is on sky movies ATM..

I obviously didn’t like it, but I did watch it until she took over and ....

Turned it owf..

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I too think Blair Witch was a steaming pile o shite. As posted earlier I am easily scared, but Blair Witch was just a bunch of irritating drama students, some sticks, a few misplaced rocks and a cameraman with delirium tremens. There are scarier episodes of Scooby Doo (the one with the Beefeaters). All my opinion of course 😉

Dario Argento was the master at skirting that line between thriller, mystery and horror. He was so good at using the camera to create tension and his death scenes were pure payoff. Now, it's not for everyone, it hasn't aged brilliantly and it is mostly women being murdered, but I could watch Argento films pretty much non stop and never get bored.

Won't post them directly because they're a bit rude (boobies) and pretty grizzly but here are two clips that emphasize what I'm talking about.

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Too many "horror" films rely on cheap tricks and jump scares to create tension. A good director and DP make all the difference, Sicario being a case in point (as mentioned above). It isn't a horror film, but the tension...oh my god, the tension.

Also, the original version of Maniac (starring the late, great Joe Spinell) was a great horror film, the perfect distillation of the whole 42nd St. grindhouse thing with the added bonus of a brilliantly nuanced lead performance which elevated the Psycho killer almost to a position of pathos.

Sorry, pretentious rambling...I bloody love horror films...

I watched Suspiria to check it out. I might have left it too late because I'd grown up on all of the old (kind of charming) horror from Hammer and the likes and then progressed to modern stuff and going backward to Suspiria I could see why it was novel at the time but didn't do much for me. The bad dub probably didn't help and also it reminded me of something else, Repulsion maybe.

Argento's films often dazzling also have their own logic and incoherence which can be infuriating.

Do like Suspiria and Tenebrae though.

A recent film that impressed me was The Invitation. Did not know where it was going at all. On Netflix.

On the subject of the old films, is it just me or does anyone else remember maybe a Friday or Saturday night on maybe BBC 2 or CH4 was almost always just old horror films? I mean for decades? Did I imagine this or did it happen?

exorcist 3 legion is a bloody great film and much better than the first one imho exhibit a

I could see why it was novel at the time but didn't do much for me.

Yeah, a lot of the Italian stuff from the 70's and early 80's is a bit marmite. Where the low budget, American grindhouse stuff (which there's nothing wrong with) got repeated summer after summer at drive-ins then given the full nostalgia treatment in the last decade, the Italian horror from the same era never really seeped into popular culture the same way (with the exception, perhaps, of Cannibal Holocaust). For a lot of people, the Italian Horrors seem more dated when maybe, in fact, they're just less familiar. Either way, I think there's some real classics deserving of a wider audience, including...

The House by the Cemetery (Lucio Fulci)
The Beyond (Lucio Fulci)
A Hatchet for the Honeymoon (Mario Bava)
A Bay of Blood (Mario Bava)
Anthropophagus (Joe D'Amato)
Cannibal Holocaust (Ruggero Deodato)
Zombie Flesh Eaters (Lucio Fulci)
Demons 1+2 (Lamberto Bava)
The House on the Edge of the Park (Ruggero Deodato)
The Night Train Murders (Aldo Lado)