I do understand that Hollywood is within their rights to take liberties with the truth in order to make a movie better, but what I have a problem is with the slant jobs. Its one thing to take liberties for the sake of moviemaking, its another thing all together to have an agenda.
Anything can be twisted and manipulated. If you are going to distort the truth so much, you might as well make a movie about Hitler portrayed as a hero and liberator. I don’t like this spin doctoring that goes on. I don’t like how Argo made it look like the Americans all did everything and the Canadians were just along for the ride when in real life it was the other way around. That doesn’t make it a better movie, it only serves to distort facts.
[quote=“last.caress, post:899, topic:405”]I liked The Conjuring. I wasn’t swept up by the hype; I’m a little old for that and, besides, I didn’t see it until it had pretty-much come and gone again from the box office, almost twelve weeks after its release here. So the hype machine had long since rattled past me. It doesn’t offer the visceral thrills found in smaller, independent fare but these bigger, more polished films almost never do. It’s pretty effective for what it is though, I thought. Takes itself seriously, great cast, decent in-camera effects. And yeah, there’s definitely something about Vera Farmiga. Maybe not so much in this role specifically, but, yeah. I would.
Wasn’t intending to imply that everyone who liked the film were taken in by the hype, just an observation. I don’t know what kind of media presence the film had in other countries, but here in the US, the media was totally saturated with promotion for the film- it was everywhere you looked/listened, and everyone had the same opinion about the movie’s incredible terror…
I mean without all the publicity, I don’t really see this film ever having gotten any more attention than say Ti West’s [b]The House of the Devil /b - which imo, is a way better horror film with similar nods to past genre elements.
And again I concede its a well-made film with a good cast, it just doesn’t really deliver past a generalized appreciation in these aspects for me. To be honest, while I like horror films, I’ve never really cared much for haunted house movies so this probably has a lot to do with my opinion.
No, I quite understand fella, I was just disassociating myself from that particular theory, which tbh I agree probably has a degree of merit. There was… I’d hesitate to say that there was, say, Blair Witch Project-sized hype surrounding The Conjuring over here in the UK but there was quite a bit of hype around it.
Hm. Whilst I agree that The Conjuring’s big-studio publicity machine will undoubtedly have generated a groundswell of audience anticipation that mightn’t have existed otherwise, I think that it would still have been received better generally speaking and far more widely than The House of the Devil in the final analysis. It just possesses greater mass appeal. Personally speaking, I’m right with you re. the one film versus the other: I absolutely love Ti West from what I’ve seen of his work (THotD, The Innkeepers and his segments in V/H/S and The ABCs of Death; I’m not counting Cabin Fever 2, my understanding is that he had little to do with how that film panned out. I’m not counting his acting role in You’re Next either; he was fucking terrible, bless him! ;D ) and The House of the Devil is, IMO, significantly better than The Conjuring. It’s a blistering movie, a throwback movie which elicits genuine tension and dread without having to “show” much of anything at all and which kind-of illustrates the point I made in my rambling observations on The Conjuring about how bigger studio pictures have a glistening, professional sheen on them which adversely seems to keep the audience at arm’s length, a glaring issue within a genre like horror but prevalent elsewhere too; it’s also why, IMO, a movie like, say, 10,000 Dollars for a Massacre is more stimulating than for example Gore Verbinski’s The Lone Ranger. But, all that said, I think that ultimately The Conjuring would always have greater appeal on a general scale than something as low-key as THotD, irrespective of the disparity in those movies’ publicity budgets.
Indeed. I’m going to be watching a horror every day in October leading up to Halloween, an exercise inspired by one of you fellas on here who did it last year (in my ignorance I’ve forgotten exactly who it was… John Welles, maybe? Great idea, anyway), and I spent a decent portion of Sunday afternoon working out what I’m going to watch each day. Actually, I’m going to be watching a couple of things each day because my ten year-old boy wants to join me on this odyssey so in addition to the movies mrs.caress and I will be enjoying late at night I’ve also picked out a bunch of films and shows that he can watch with us too; a mix of stuff ranging from The Simpsons’ “Treehouse of Horror” episodes through some of the James Whale/Tod Browning classics and the more typical contemporary family Halloween pictures by the likes of Dreamworks or Tim Burton to edgier stuff (for a ten year-old) that I think he’s ready for like Near Dark.
Can confirm it wasn’t me who did the horror marathon anyhow…
Recently watched Tenebrae and found it to be incredible. Argento’s mise-en-scene is utterly extraordinairy, arguably surpasses De Palma in the shooting and editing of his set pieces and the two and a half minute crane shot will stick in my mind for a long time. The actors are no more adequate and the plot isn’t terribly original and frankly I had premonitions as to “whodidit” rather a longtime before it was revealed, but the cumulative effect of the direction, united with the thundering soundtrack, is pretty phenomenal, a real achievement of Argento’s aims.
Also viewed Night Train Murders, directed by Aldo Lado. Effectively a remake of Last House on the Left (even marketed as such in the States), it’s very bleak and disturbing, fantastic performances and the central rape scene is horrifying, no exploitative prurience at work here. Its so strong that it tends to overshadow its nominal, cathartic climax, but the socio-political commentary is still as relevant now as then. Surpasses Lado’s rather ordinary Who Saw Her Die? and highly recommended (but only if one’s in the right frame of mind: this is nihilism at its toughest).
Also viewed this movie recently and I’m afraid I can’t agree. To me the movie was very exploitative, especially the rape scene. In the movie girls are shown as sexually overcharged (leaning to feel “vibrations” of a train), there is an explicit porno photo and after the rape scene we have a quite long shot of a girl running through train without her undies. Nothing that adds to the “horror” but more in the land of pure exploitation. Social commentary thing was not convincing to me and the fact that it is pretty blatant rip-off of Last House on the Left annoyed me. Who Saw Her Die? I liked much better.
Nice analysis there last.caress, I agree with your points.
It was indeed Col. Douglas Mortimer who kicked off the every day of horror marathon last year. I attempted to follow suit, I think along with some others (maybe scherp?) but I don’t think I quite hit the every day marker.
Now that you mention it, may have to give this another go. I haven’t been watching any horror for a bit now, timing is appropriate.
That’s awesome that you guys are doing the “31 days of horror challenge”. I’ll probably do it again this year. I have to give you a bit of as warning though, coming from someone who’s done it before, its actually ALOT of work to do! lol
31 days of continuous horror film watching was a more laborious endeavor than I anticipated, but I guess it appeals to the adventurous side of me. Be warned also, that since its 31 previously unwatched films you will be viewing, simply looking for films will be hard enough, but finding ones that you will actually like will be even harder! I remember a good portion of the 31 films I viewed last year, I didn’t even like or didn’t like alot.
You are 12 days away from embarking into the unknown fellas!
Oh, I won’t be watching horrors I’ve never seen (well, I’ll be watching one: The Grudge 3. But that’s it). Horrors can suck the will to live clean out of you if there’s enough crud thrown at the screen. I’m currently eating through my Netflix list which, as it is, is full of well-they’re-here-so-I-might-as-well-watch-'em types of movies, many of them horrors; in the last two nights alone I’ve been mugged off by Mr. Jones (Mueller, 2013: Showed real promise before descending into barely-watchable crap) and The Devil Inside (Bell, 2012: Fucking shambles). I intend to thoroughly enjoy my Halloweenathon. I’ve already worked out what I’m watching on each day.
I orchestrated a “31-Day Film Challenge” last year on a football forum that I frequent. You know the sort of thing: Each day there would be a different criteria dictating the choice for that day - One day it’d be “Favourite Director” day, one day it’d be “Guilty Pleasure” day, one day it’d be “Favourite Sci-Fi”, “Favourite from Last Year”, “All-Time Favourite” etc. etc. There were also a few “Least” days thrown in as well to keep everything challenging. Only rule really was that you couldn’t use the same film twice. As a result though I know how tough it can be to actually stick to watching a movie every day (and as I said, I shall be watching TWO per day in October: a proper one and a slightly lighter one with my son). But I also know that I WILL stick with it. When I did this 31-Day Film Challenge, I even took a film with me to the in-law’s house one Saturday night and watched it there when we were invited over for the evening rather than balls up the challenge. Some might say, “How rude!” I say, “Hardcore, man. Fucking hardcore.” ;D Indeed, on this challenge, I’m going away on a short caravan break from 27th-31st, but I shall be taking my eight picks for the evenings of the 27th, 28th, 29th and 30th with me, along with a portable DVD player and a sound bar. A fleeting caravan holiday interrupt my Halloween movie odyssey? Pfft. I don’t think so.
(my 31-Day Movie Challenge, from May 2013:)
DAY 1 - [size=8pt]FAVOURITE MOVIE OF LAST YEAR:[/size] Django Unchained (2012)
DAY 2 - [size=8pt]USED TO LOVE IT, NOW I HATE IT:[/size] Flash Gordon (1980)
DAY 3 - [size=8pt]FEELGOOD MOVIE:[/size] Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)
DAY 4 - [size=8pt]DOWNBEAT MOVIE:[/size] Requiem for a Dream (2000)
DAY 5 - [size=8pt]GUILTY PLEASURE:[/size] Robot Monster (1953)
DAY 6 - [size=8pt]HAVEN’T SEEN IT YET; THINK I’M GOING TO LIKE IT:[/size] Chronicle (2012)
DAY 7 - [size=8pt]HAVEN’T SEEN IT YET; THINK I’M GOING TO HATE IT:[/size] Mamma Mia! (2008)
DAY 8 - [size=8pt]MOST QUOTABLE MOVIE:[/size] Monty Python’s Life of Brian (1979)
DAY 9 - [size=8pt]FAVOURITE ACTOR:[/size] Clint Eastwood: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
DAY 10 - [size=8pt]BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT:[/size] Judge Dredd (1995)
DAY 11 - [size=8pt]FAVOURITE DIRECTOR:[/size] Quentin Tarantino: Pulp Fiction (1994)
DAY 12 - [size=8pt]LEAST FAVOURITE DIRECTOR:[/size] Michael Bay: Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011)
DAY 13 - [size=8pt]LEAST FAVOURITE MOVIE:[/size] The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
DAY 14- [size=8pt]DIDN’T EXPECT TO LIKE IT:[/size] Moon (2009)
DAY 15 - [size=8pt]IN SOME WAY, REMINDS ME OF ME:[/size] Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)
DAY 16 - [size=8pt]FAVOURITE WESTERN:[/size] Unforgiven (1992)
DAY 17 - [size=8pt]FAVOURITE DRAMA:[/size] Magnolia (1999)
DAY 18 - [size=8pt]FAVOURITE COMEDY:[/size] Four Lions (2010)
DAY 19 - [size=8pt]FAVOURITE ACTION:[/size] Grindhouse (2007)
DAY 20 - [size=8pt]FAVOURITE WAR:[/size] Full Metal Jacket (1987)
DAY 21 - [size=8pt]FAVOURITE SCI-FI/FANTASY:[/size] The Matrix (1999)
DAY 22 - [size=8pt]FAVOURITE HORROR:[/size] [REC] (2007)
DAY 23 - [size=8pt]FAVOURITE THRILLER/MYSTERY:[/size] Mulholland Drive (2001)
DAY 24 - [size=8pt]FAVOURITE ANIMATED:[/size] Rango (2011)
DAY 25 - [size=8pt]FAVOURITE DOCUMENTARY:[/size] Grizzly Man (2005)
DAY 26 - [size=8pt]FAVOURITE NON-ENGLISH LANGUAGE:[/size] Batoru Rowaiaru (Battle Royale) (2000)
DAY 27 - [size=8pt]FAVOURITE REMAKE:[/size] The Thing (1982)
DAY 28 - [size=8pt]WTF?!?[/size]: Rubber (2010)
DAY 29 - [size=8pt]FAVOURITE MOVIE AS A CHILD:[/size] Star Wars - Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
DAY 30 - [size=8pt]FAVOURITE MOVIE OVER 40 YEARS OLD:[/size] Night of the Living Dead (1968)
DAY 31 - [size=8pt]ALL-TIME FAVOURITE:[/size] Alien (1979)
I must admit that realistically I will definitely not be able to watch movie per day, so I’ll just play this by making decision that almost every movie I watch in October is a horror. Here’s list of movies I was planning to watch and now have the excuse to do it (mostly unseen, but some are rewatches):
1 you’re next
2 frankestein (1931)
3 legend of hell house
4 corpse bride
5 sweeney todd
6 nosferatu
7 carnival of souls
8 dementia
9 night of the living dead
10 cabinet of dr cagliari
11 demon seed
12 jigoku
13 dark water (japanese)
14 onibaba
15 ju-on: the curse
16 conjuring
17 phantasm
18 race with the devil
and I’ll fill the rest with the first season of masters of horror anthology
In defense of Night Train Murders: I would interpret the “vibrations” scene as more demonstrating their youthful, paradoxically innocent sexuality (one is a virgin) that is then utterly destroyed by the rape; the photo forewarns us of Meril’s character rather than using it in a sexually exploitative way (we it only very briefly). Likewise, the girl running without her panties is more of an extension of the graphic verisimilitude Lado has already established. Obviously it was marketed as exploitation, both as a “rape & revenge” and The Last House on the Left rip-off (haven’t actually seen the Craven film so perhaps the movie’s borrowings, which in an interview, Lado claims not to have seen and a result of the producer, not him, mean I’m not as irritated by the lack or originality in the plotting). From my POV though, there is nothing at all erotic about the rape scene and from Lado’s direction, I don’t think it’s meant to be either.
Have gotten an early start on next month’s horror viewings with some zombie flics.
World War Z - much better than its popular reputation, satisfactorily gripping for the duration of the film - good for a night’s watch although I don’t know if I will ever re-visit this film. As with many current films, it seems very good for one viewing but then is spent without much reason to go back. Interesting how it reflects various current political-social goings-ons, not that I agree with everything seemingly presented
Night of the Living Dead (1990 remake) - Tom Savini’s only feature length directorial work. Produced by Romero and I guess a lot of the original crew is also used. Hadn’t seen this since I used to rent it as a kid. I had basically forgotten the film and didn’t know this was a Tom Savini movie. Was expecting a bit more from Savini but the film is just too friendly for me. One highlight is Tony Todd who I always enjoy seeing on screen since his excellent role as Candyman.
I’ve started my October Horror Odyssey yesterday with the expressionist classic, The Cabinet of Dr. Cagliari (1920). I’ve watched the 51 min version, maybe I’ll give the new version with John Zorn’s soundtrack a try too.
@John W: Well argumented defense of NTM, you have valid points although I’ve felt different
I’m having a go at this too but not sure if I’ll see it through the whole month. Time will tell.
Anyway, my first was Cronenberg’s Scanners. Amazingly I had never seen it before so thought it time I ticked it off.
I hadn’t seen Scanners until sometime last year I think it was, and I guess the film was built up too much in my head because it was a let down for what I was expecting… maybe need to give it another shot
So far, my horror viewings for the month have been:
[b]Gallowwalkers /b - Wesley Snipes plays a highly groomed gunman that hunts down weird undead no-skin-bandits in the middle of the desert. The film is ripping off classic spaghetti stuff left and right - the entire post-credits scene is lifted basically from OUATITW and then proceeds to even quote the scene. Tons of violence and gore in this strange horror western. There’s also tons of attention placed on the visual appearance of everything, unfortunately its styled very much like an anime cartoon and has the effect of being really cheesed out superficial stuff.
Snipes’s character reminds me of Depp in the Pirates movies, and no one really looks believable in this film. There’s also some fairly heavy usage of an annoying fake grain filter.
Despite its flaws, I have to admit its got some cool shots and there is a blatant amount of spaghetti styling, lots of crazy stuff and gunslingin’ going on, so maybe worth watching, but can’t say I necessarily recommend it…
[quote=“Phil H, post:915, topic:405”]I’m having a go at this too but not sure if I’ll see it through the whole month. Time will tell.
Anyway, my first was Cronenberg’s Scanners. Amazingly I had never seen it before so thought it time I ticked it off.[/quote]
I haven’t seen it either. Don’t know why. I’m not a big fan of Cronenberg, but I’ve seen most of his movies, this is one of the exeptions.
Maybe I’ll give it a try now.
The only rules I’ve set myself are that I must watch a movie each day, and that all of the films eligible for selection must have a degree of supernatural shenanigans, since it’s a run up to Halloween. So films like Saw, Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Inside… they’re all out. I also have to watch another, slightly less traumatic piece alongside my son. No rules to his pics, they just need to be vaguely Halloween/ghostly/monstery.
Started things off yesterday with just a whiff of Devilish witchcraftery and occultism in the form of Ben Wheatley’s unsettling, frustrating and bloody brilliant Kill List (2011). Tonight, we shall be enjoying Splinter (Wilkins, 2008), a bit of a hidden gem IMO. It’s a humble little creature feature and it won’t change the world but it does what it does surprisingly well.
My pick yesterday for my son and I was The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror Episodes I-IV, the first four Simpsons Halloween specials which aired in 1990-1993 and which, combined, make up about an hour-and-a-half of material. Today, we watched Ghostbusters II (Reitman, 1989), a movie I hadn’t seen since it’s cinematic run 25 years ago. I wasn’t keen on it then but hoped I might be surprised by it after all this time. Alas, I didn’t like it today either and tbh, my boy found it a bit of a task too. Ah well.
