Serious Horror Films

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Fletch F. Fletch
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 3:54 pm
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#76 Post by Fletch F. Fletch » Tue Jul 22, 2008 9:50 am

Napoleon wrote:Both will make you think twice about staying in hotels in sleepy British towns.
Speaking of which, The Last Great Wilderness always creeped me out, in particular the film's disturbing climax. But it had a really effective build up to that point. Very odd little film.

hewsan
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#77 Post by hewsan » Fri Jul 25, 2008 1:57 am

blindside8zao wrote:I've been seeking very serious horror movies. Not slashers, not theater-friendly weekend events.
A few that might fit the bill - and can click for IMDB info to see if of interest.

Altered States (1980)
Angel Heart (1987)
The Brood (1979)
Carnival of Souls (1962)
Cat People (1982)
The Cell (2000)
The Changeling (1980)
Dark City (1998)
The Devil's Backbone (2001)
The Dust Devil (1992)
Equinox (1970)
eXistenZ (1999)
Fallen (1998)
The Hunger (1983)
Jacob's Ladder (1990)
Lost Highway (1997)
Nomads (1986)
The Prophecy (1995)
Rosemary's Baby] (1968)
Scanners (1981)
Shadow of the Vampire (2000)
Stigmata (1999)
(John Carpenter's) The Thing (1982)
Videodrome (1983)

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Michael
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 12:09 pm

#78 Post by Michael » Fri Jul 25, 2008 11:19 am

My horror faves vary every few years. Right now I'm simply nuts about:

Rosemary's Baby, Psycho, The Innocents, Lisa and the Devil, Diaboliques, Eyes Without a Face, INLAND EMPIRE and a handful of Gothic Horror: The Fall of the House of Usher, Vampyr, Black Sunday and Kill, Baby Kill.

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sonofkinski
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#80 Post by sonofkinski » Sat Jul 26, 2008 7:52 pm

A French film called Inside isn't fooling around. Disregard the cheesy 'Dimension Extreme' cover art...it's worth checking out.

Also a recent Spanish movie called [Rec] gets the whole 'shaky cam' thing more right than anything else has. Good claustrophobia. It's getting remade (and likely ruined) in the U.S. as Quarantine.

Cronenberg's Shivers doesn't really stop being disturbing either.

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zedz
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#81 Post by zedz » Sat Jul 26, 2008 9:15 pm

sonofkinski wrote:Also a recent Spanish movie called [Rec] gets the whole 'shaky cam' thing more right than anything else has. Good claustrophobia. It's getting remade (and likely ruined) in the U.S. as Quarantine.
Second this. It works like clockwork and, unlike almost every other 'serious' European horror films of recent years, it doesn't sell out what's gone before with a desperate twist near the end (there are twists, but they're not the raison d'etre of the film). Saw this in a packed cinema and haven't heard so much screaming in a good long time. Not just the passing screams of Pavlovian jolts, either, but long sustained ones.

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LQ
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#83 Post by LQ » Wed Jul 30, 2008 11:53 am

hewsan wrote:Cat People (1982)
do tell me you've confused 1982 with 1942 ;)

that 80s piece of cheese wouldn't scare a mouse.

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sonofkinski
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#84 Post by sonofkinski » Wed Jul 30, 2008 1:20 pm

The last movie that truly left a permanent impression on me, in the sense of horror, is Trouble Every Day (a particular scene, actually).
I just watched this last night. Is it the scene where Vincent Gallo tries to emote?

Oh, I kid. Kinda.

I liked this, and it definitely deserves a spot in whatever we've decided "serious horror" is.

And I kind of love Beatrice Dalle. She makes Asia Argento look like Heidi Montag.

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LQ
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#85 Post by LQ » Wed Jul 30, 2008 2:06 pm

sonofkinski wrote:A French film called Inside isn't fooling around. Disregard the cheesy 'Dimension Extreme' cover art...it's worth checking out.
oof. No, its certainly not fooling around. I'm no softie but that was one rough movie, especially for us womenfolk. Thinking about it now makes me want to put Juno and Knocked Up on loop for a week or two.
sonofkinski wrote:And I kind of love Beatrice Dalle. She makes Asia Argento look like Heidi Montag
Hell yes.
Last edited by LQ on Wed Jul 30, 2008 2:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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LQ
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#86 Post by LQ » Wed Jul 30, 2008 2:34 pm

sonofkinski, since you seem to be pretty well-versed in the arena of crazy-obscure horror, have you ever heard of/seen the Japanese "Guinea Pig" label horror movies? Such as Flowers of Flesh and Blood?

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bigP
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#87 Post by bigP » Wed Jul 30, 2008 2:47 pm

Hewsan, absolutely The Changeling. I have a fear of wheelchairs because of that spine-tingler. It doesn't help that my dad bunged up his foot recently and is possibly going to be wheelchair-bound for sometime. Shudder at the thought. I'm also afraid of red balls and old-lady-séance's to-boot. And quite possibly George C. Scott too.

Two modern day director's of note who rarely fail to inflict some kind of disturbed emotion within me are Shinya Tsukamoto and Kiyoshi Kurosawa. Tsukamoto's two Tetsuo films (Iron Man and Body Hammer) certainly work in a visual attack, but also work in capturing the fears and observations of Tsukamoto in his lifelong concern (and fascination) with the spread of technology, modernisation and science - and somehow, plants these fears cerebally into the viewer. I'd also reccomend such films as Tokyo fist, Gemini and Nightmare Detective (a film that lulls the audience into something generic and all-too-easy for the first half of the movie, only to assault them with some of the strangest and most fascinating cinema I have ever seen in the second).

Kiyoshi Kurosawa is equally as fascinating. Cure and Séance are two excellent examples of genre bending, atmosphere-filled, haunted-thrillers. His experimentation with lighting, insane visuals effects (the head scratching and absolutely wonderful effects he puts into backgrounds of and reflections on car / bus windows leaves me giddy - of note, the bus journeys in Cure that seem as if Koji is on a bus ride to heaven as the clouds flutter by) and un-equaled sound design take modern horror into a new world. He very much reminds me of a modern day Seijun Suzuki, taking a genre and blasting it with new life. The film I found most to affect me on a personal level, most strangely, was Bright Future. Taking his regular theme of mass-(unexplained)-incident and making a film as wholly beatiful as that, disturbed me in way's that only wheelchairs have had that pleasure. And the ending was incredible.

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mfunk9786
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#88 Post by mfunk9786 » Wed Jul 30, 2008 2:51 pm

The Changeling is a great movie indeed. One of the most fantastic haunted house movies ever made. I have a significant dislike for homes with hardwood floors because the creaks and noises always remind me of that film.

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sonofkinski
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#89 Post by sonofkinski » Wed Jul 30, 2008 3:06 pm

LQ wrote:sonofkinski, since you seem to be pretty well-versed in the arena of crazy-obscure horror, have you ever heard of/seen the Japanese "Guinea Pig" label horror movies? Such as Flowers of Flesh and Blood?
Definitely, I actually have a copy of Flowers of Flesh and Blood. It's the only one of the series that I've seen, but its sheer "Is-this-what-you-want?" exploitation is worthy of respect.

Haven't watched Evil Dead Trap in years, but I remember liking that one as well.

Got some others, LQ?

As far as stretching for "seriously horrorific" beyond the genre, how about: I Stand Alone and Benny's Video?

Oh, and I second Kurosawa's Cure. Very well made.

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mfunk9786
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#90 Post by mfunk9786 » Wed Jul 30, 2008 3:13 pm

I Stand Alone and Benny's Video are rough, but the much-discussed rape scene in Irreversible blows any other Noé or Haneke scenes out of the water.

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LQ
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#91 Post by LQ » Wed Jul 30, 2008 4:44 pm

hmm. Well, I just heard about it the other day and can't make up my mind i I should see it or not.

For recent french horror, there's Sheitan...which I've heard some good things about (but have yet to see myself)

Martyrs, coming out sometime this fall, has been gathering some good buzz...

also, I guess this belongs more in the anime thread than here, but the Devil Man anime franchise is pre-tty badass Japanese horror for its time.

and lets not forget your avatar there, sonofkinski. That movie was super unsettling.

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anvilscepe
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#92 Post by anvilscepe » Wed Jul 30, 2008 5:59 pm

I’m sure I’ll be shot down instantaneously, but I really love Final Destination. Something about not having control over your death is simply terrifying.

Final Destination totally freaked me out. Now I see everything around me as a menacing mouse-trap.

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sonofkinski
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#93 Post by sonofkinski » Wed Jul 30, 2008 8:07 pm

hmm. Well, I just heard about it the other day and can't make up my mind i I should see it or not.
I'd recommend it more as a curiosity than something that's essential (or even on par with a lot of the titles mentioned here). The phrase "torture porn" is thrown around too much, but Guinea Pig really is that... It just did it early and pretty well.

I have Sheitan on my Netflix queue -- I'll let you know.

edit: Just thought of another French one called Calvaire. Good use of pig squealing in that.[/url]

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Cosmic Bus
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#94 Post by Cosmic Bus » Wed Jul 30, 2008 10:47 pm

Even though the intention isn't really as "horror," I thought Bruno Dumont's Twentynine Palms had one of the most startling and unsettling climaxes I've seen in a modern film. It stuck with me for weeks.

I'm very much anticipating Let the Right One In (and the previously mentioned Martyrs) right now. Reaction to the former, both critical and from audiences, has been exceptionally strong and I hope Magnolia does it justice with a decent-sized release this fall.

hewsan
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#95 Post by hewsan » Fri Aug 01, 2008 1:13 am

LQ wrote:
hewsan wrote:Cat People (1982)
do tell me you've confused 1982 with 1942
that 80s piece of cheese wouldn't scare a mouse.
Agree that the 1942 Val Lewton / Jacques Tourneur b&w orginial Cat People does have better atmospherics and is more psychological in nature...

But the movies I listed, including the 1982 remake, are ones that I have in my dvd collection that I thought might be of interest to blindside8zao, who was asking for horror films that weren't the typical slasher fare - but was a bit more serious in theme and nature, and that I thought were a bit out of the mainstream. And unfortunately, the original Cat People is one that I have let to add to my collection - though do intend to - LOL.

Feel that the horror genre has moved to far towards the graphic slasher end, and enjoy films in this genre, that give more faith in the imagination of the viewer, and works on a psychological angle to have us come up with our own "frights"

Though also admit - watching the news - and reading newspapers - works in that area to well for me - to become afraid of what's shown in most films.

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sonofkinski
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#96 Post by sonofkinski » Fri Aug 01, 2008 7:21 am

Ah, no need to defend yourself. How is a (well made) slasher movie any better or worse than a cash-in TV remake or an oh-so-sexy comic book adaptation? Remember, to people who hang their hats on such things, The Dark Knight isn't a comic book adaptation...it's a "crime epic". Buckle up for more of the same over the next 4 or 5 years -- then no one will care again and we can wash, rinse, and repeat.

I hate it all. But I also just watched Pitfall and If... back-to-back.

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colinr0380
Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2004 4:30 pm
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#97 Post by colinr0380 » Fri Aug 01, 2008 6:21 pm

sonofkinski wrote:
LQ wrote:sonofkinski, since you seem to be pretty well-versed in the arena of crazy-obscure horror, have you ever heard of/seen the Japanese "Guinea Pig" label horror movies? Such as Flowers of Flesh and Blood?
Definitely, I actually have a copy of Flowers of Flesh and Blood. It's the only one of the series that I've seen, but its sheer "Is-this-what-you-want?" exploitation is worthy of respect.
I'm not sure I'd ever have the guts (pardon the pun) to bring up Flower of Flesh and Blood or casually recommend it to anyone except the hardest of hardcore gore/horror fans. However in amongst all the drawn out dissection (which thankfully moves into out and out comedy in the final decapitation as the head 'thonks!' bloodily against a wall in slow motion with the appropriate sound effect) there was one shockingly effective and awful moment as a freshly severed hand closes in a reflex motion around the killer's own hand, he pries it free and it slowly curls into a fist. Stomach churning stuff but quite powerful.

Another film in the Guinea Pig series, Devil's Experiment, is actually more effective as a lo-fi snuff styled film and similarly should be approached with extreme caution.

Strangely most of the other Guinea Pig films are styled in a more traditional manner. They are still incredible gory but there is more of a reassuring distance there - in fact He Never Dies could be described as a knockabout comedy as a put upon office drone driven to attempt suicide finds, of course, that he cannot die and sets about joyfully creeping his various tormentors out through displays of self harm and evisceration.

Android of Notre Dame is the worst of the series (if 'worst' has a meaning in this context!), though it does feature Tomorow Taguchi around the time he was making his name as the lead in Shinya Tsukamoto's first Tetsuo film.

The most interesting, bizarre and yet strangely moving episode was Mermaid In A Manhole which again is absolutely not for the faint hearted as a tormented artist finds both a muse and a patron while trawling the local sewers for inspiration (?!?) Probably best described as a tragic version of Splash! with more multi coloured sprays of pus.

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sonofkinski
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#98 Post by sonofkinski » Fri Aug 01, 2008 6:55 pm

I'm not sure I'd ever have the guts (pardon the pun) to bring up Flower of Flesh and Blood or casually recommend it to anyone except the hardest of hardcore gore/horror fans.
You're absolutely right -- I didn't stress it enough earlier...the movie's HARSH.

Thanks for the info on the others. Helps narrow it down.

Gozu, anyone?

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colinr0380
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#99 Post by colinr0380 » Fri Aug 01, 2008 7:04 pm

There is a lot of discussion of Takashi Miike's films in this thread.

putney
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Location: stratosphere, baby, stratosphere

one of kiyoshi kurosawa's favorites.....

#100 Post by putney » Sat Aug 02, 2008 6:22 am

surprised no one has mentioned william peter blatty's "Exorcist 3" (or "Legion" if you will...), if you can somehow ignore the obvious studio tinkering in the last section, a truly rewarding film...hard to believe this film is almost 20 years old...

putney

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