I liked Zombies “Halloween”, it had some cool ideas…the stuff with the masks was brilliant…havent seen the second one…enjoyed both Corpses and Devils Rejects… Rejects a little more though
Col, you are a man who knows the finer points of horror. I can not disagree with any of your points!
I thought it was ok, I was surprised Malcolm Mcdowell gave a pretty bad performance, and I agree the first half was the better half.
I loved Devils Rejects, William Forsythes performance blew me away.
Sad sad sad! 
Naughty, naughty, naughty
Totally agree.
The Colonel’s list should be on every would be horror or thriller film maker’s office wall. (although I think one false scare per movie should be allowed)
It’s all common sense stuff too which Hitchcock, for example, was sticking to years ago.
No no no, not one false scare. Ban them all.
[quote=“Col. Douglas Mortimer, post:198, topic:405”]1. The “Monster” should never get too much screen time.
(example: Jaws works because you hardly ever get to see the shark.)[/quote]
For a moment when I read this I thourght you might use “The Thing from Another World” as an example.
Hahaha.
There are exceptions to my list. The Shining, a great movie, contradicts my rules #1 and #6.
Well, #6 is maybe the only one of your points which I would not agree with. The others are perfect.
Col: I agree with all your points but I’m not sure about No 6.
IMO The Omen, The Birds, The Thing from another World, Jaws … are all big budget movies and all are good Horror Flicks. 
I would like to add the point that there have to be some kind of mystery about the “Monster” e.g. you never know the reason why the Birds are so aggressive in Hitchcocks Masterpiece.
But them again, in “The Thing from Another World” you know why he is killing off the people but it doesn’t make it less effective. I think that all rules that deal with movies have to be flexible.
I could be way off, as I know nothing of these films’ budgets, but it seems like they would not require a very large amount of money. I mean, they are mostly films of just people talking, like a drama… not huge blockbuster scenes involving heavy effects and whatnot… maybe a big budget to pay the cast and of course some effects, but still they are not explosive big budget hollywood type movies
oh, and i’m not trying to say i think they were low budget films, just that in principle they could be… if it wasn’t for cast, director, etc.
I don’t think Jaws felt that big budget.
[quote=“Paco Roman, post:211, topic:405”]Col: I agree with all your points but I’m not sure about No 6.
IMO The Omen, The Birds, The Thing from another World, Jaws … are all big budget movies and all are good Horror Flicks.
I would like to add the point that there have to be some kind of mystery about the “Monster” e.g. you never know the reason why the Birds are so aggressive in Hitchcocks Masterpiece. :)[/quote]
I think those movies you mentioned have average budgets. Not much in the way of special effects or expensive sets. Jaws used a mechanical shark that was constantly malfunctioning. A good example of a big budget horror movie that sucks is the remake of the haunting. Just terrible LOL.
And a great point about the mystery aspect. I should add that to my list! Like in Halloween you never find out why Michael Myers never dies and why he kills. Zombie’s remake tried to use an “explanation” but it didn’t quite work.
That’s one of the weirdest (and most charming, actually ;)) aspects of Gialli, there’s always a strange explanation on why the killer is a killer. The doll thing in Torso, now that’s strange.
Jaws was a big budget film. Thing from another World also. Omen I’m not sure.
The Birds was surely also expensive.
Not so big really. Remember one of the reasons they developed the device of the floats coming to the surface was because they couldn’t afford to keep showing the shark. Not a low budget film by any means but not a huge blockbuster budget either. It became a blockbuster because of how much money it took, not because of how much it cost.
Well jaws was made for 7 million which was quite a large sum for that time. The omen was made for 3 million. But I guess my point was that you don’t need a high budget to make a good horror film.
In many cases poor budgets forced the director to be more resourceful and creative. If you added another 10 million to the budget of jaws, or the omen or thing from another world you probably would’nt see any improvement in the film.
Yeah thats true, the mystery aspect of gialli adds tension and suspense. You also don’t find out all the details until the end.