Cold Bishop wrote:The film is suppose to be an allegory for Mainland China, but frankly, I feel that it's too muddled to work that way.
It would've been more coherent if the community elite were feeding on their own community members rather than outsiders, for starters. It really takes its allegory for granted more than anything, but it hardly matters. The success of a movie called I'm Going to Eat You isn't bound to lie on the coherency of its allegory.
Cold Bishop wrote:I hope this isn't a spoiler, but the "unexpectedly bleak endings" are pretty much a Tsui Hark trademark at that point in his career. It says something that this has probably the most hopeful outlook of all his early films.
Hah! You actually did just spoil the endings to his first two movies with that. I'm only familiar with Hark from his Zu and Once Upon a Time in China movies (speaking of the latter, the Wong Fei-Hung theme showed up in Eat You a full decade before OUATC; does it have another origin?), and from being John Woo's producer during his early success with the Better Tomorrow films.
The theme is actually based off an older classical piece - On the General's Orders (將軍令) - which became associated with Wong Fei-Hung during the old 40s and 50s serials.
Despite his "Spielberg of Hong Kong" tag, it always seemed to be that Hark differs in that he seems to be, by nature, something close to a misanthropist. The fact that he's been, since the early 80s, in the position of making crowd-pleasing blockbusters provides his films with a tension that I think is fairly unique, with his misanthropic side occasionally winning out (The Blade and The Big Heat being the most clear examples).
Went through my second 24 hour horror movie marathon this weekend at The Portage theater here in Chicago. More technical difficulties at this venue, but lots of fun regardless. Here are my thoughts on the films...
Un Chien Andalou (Luis Bunuel, 1929) - I don't really think of Un Chien Andalou as a horror film, but plenty of the imagery fits. The organist played some nice spooky music for it, and it worked for most of the film (he seemed to have a bit of trouble with the sillier parts of the film). A fun experience, though I don't think it's going to make me consider Un Chien Andalolu for my list.
The Black Cat (Edgar G Ulmer, 1934) - I'm having a bit of trouble forming a completely coherent opinion about this one. A lot of great parts, particularly the interaction between Lugosi and Karloff, not sure the whole thing completely gelled together for me. Though this may be in part because I wasn't really sure what to expect, and also due to some projection errors during the climax. I may try and re-visit it before lists are due.
Curse of the Werewolf (Terence Fisher, 1961) - I thought this film was pretty effective, though it suffers from perhaps a bit too much exposition in the beginning, as it spends quite some time explaining the origins of the wolf man and then when it comes to the present day still takes quite some time to build up steam. May have felt a bit longer than it should have due to frequent projector issues. I enjoy the sympathetic telling of the werewolf story quite a bit, though for my list my vote will probably go for the Chaney film instead.
Witchfinder General (Michael Reeves, 1968) - I haven't seen too much of his work, but so far I haven't really been able to get much out of Vincent Price films (The exception being The Abominable Dr. Phibes). Price certainly does pretty well in this, and I enjoy some of the dialog that thinly veils their intentions in witch hunting. There are some interesting things going on in here, but I'm not sure it adds anything particularly groundbreaking to witchhunt films or revenge fantasies.
From the Drain (David Cronenberg, 1967) - One of Cronenberg's first shorts. Very amateur production, but it's interesting to see how he started out.
Spider Baby (Jack Hill, 1964) - This is one of my absolute favorites. It hits the dark comedy is pretty perfect, and I like that it takes the side of the crazy family in the cabin, while also keeping a few likable characters within the victims. There are also quite a few really outstanding performances, it's really great to see the whole cast really giving their all to this production. Jack Hill was there to talk about the film, and he was absolutely delightful and had lots of interesting things to say. This film for sure will be ranking very highly on my list.
Return of the Living Dead (Dan O' Bannon, 1985) - Another favorite of mine. There are a lot of wonderful things to say about this film, but I think one of my favorite aspects is just how unrelenting the zombies are in this film. Despite the heavy doses of comedy in this, the zombies end up being much more frightening than in most serious horror films. Lineea Quigley (Trash) was there to talk about her experiences working on the film. Another high ranker on my list for sure.
Phantasm II (Don Coscarelli, 1988) - Another casualty of horror movie fandom. The original is just so perfectly odd and terrifying. Now the sequel has the budget to do more, but it just rehashes everything in the original, and most of the things lose some of the terror behind them due to over-exposure and explanation. Not sure why the silverball has to suddenly be a key to open doors, other than it's now become the iconic image of the first film. The film also has this weird Evil Dead 2 rivalry in that it seems hellbent on out-doing Evil Dead 2 in terms of cool home-made weapons and badass 1 liners, but posses none of the manic energy, and also some pretty forgettable performances. It can be funny a times, and there are a few frightening moments, but for the most part this one was a real chore to get through, and far inferior to its predecessor. And interesting case study though that is perhaps worth watching when studying the genre.
A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (Chuck Russell, 1987) - I don't have too much new to say about this one other than that it's a pretty top notch sequel in this franchise. It has some goofier moments, but they're worked in pretty well with the horror, and it wasn't nearly as cheesy as I was expecting. Perhaps the only genuine sequel to the original, and definitely worth checking out.
Hausu (Nobuhiko Ôbayashi, 1977) - Though I've watched this film tons of times, it never gets old. I assume most people are familiar with this film's reputation, so I won't spend too much time praising this film other to say it's quite inventive and lots of fun. Definitely showing up on my list.
Nightmares (Joseph Sargent, 1983) - Fell asleep for the entirety of this anthology.
Prince of Darkness (John Carpenter, 1987) - I was pretty tired when watching this, though I managed to stay awake the whole time. While it lacks some of the outstanding creature effects of some of Carpenter's previous films, I thought this film manages to hold up a pretty unique and chilling atmosphere for most of the runtime. I'm not really sure exactly how to describe this film, but it seemed to generate it's atmosphere not through traditional suspense, but purely through how it unveils it's strange mythology that blends quantum physics and religion. I may need to re-watch it to speak of it fully, but I thought this was quite effective and if I can find room for it, it's a strong candidate for my list.
Dead Snow (Tommy Wirkola, 2009) - I slept through this one as well, but I've seen it before and don't particularly like it. An above average zombie-comedy with a few creative moments, but overall a fairly forgettable film.
Frenzy (Alfred Hitchcock, 1972) - This was quite good, but while it ventures into darker territory than other Hitchcock films have, I don't really find it as effective. Glad I saw it, but it won't be on my list.
Halloween 2 (Rick Rosenthal, 1981) - I thought this was a pretty solid slasher, but in the end not quite as effective as the original one was, and it seemed to be moving more into the territory of slasher films that emphasize creative death scenes over suspense. Probably won't make my list.
When my wife and I went grocery shopping yesterday, the store had a display with some cheap horror dvds ('tis the season). One of them was Fox's orginal "The Fly" collection, for the low price of $11.99. I had always wanted to check out the original Fly, having only ever seen the Cronenberg version, so I bought the set and watched The Fly last night. I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised at how good I found the film. It was much darker, and less cheezy, than I was expecting. Neumann's version is dealing with different issues than Cronenberg, and I have to admit that I prefer the old version in many ways. I was even surprised at how much dread I was feeling at the end, Spoiler
when Vincent Price discovers his brother's head on the fly caught in the web,
pleading for help, because I'm usually not affected by these old 50's and 60's horror flicks. I don't have high hopes for the sequels (I notice they're in black & white, as opposed to the colour of the original), but we'll see.
Also I distinctly remember one moment being almost as disturbing as the help me moment from the original where the cop gets hamster feet. It's very lame for the most part, but it has a couple of nice moments all things considered.
Of all of the horror films I've ever seen in my life the Fly movies (both old and "newer") had a profound effect on me. I was only about 8 years old when I caught the original late one night and in spite of my mother's warning me not to watch it as its terrifying, I didn't listen and was literally traumatized. For YEARS, and actually to this day, I can't even look at close up pictures of flies, mosquitos or indeed any other insect "faces" or "eyes." It was a good five or so years later when I randomly came upon the Cronenberg movie, which I admit to watching with a remote in my hand an eyes squinted the majority of the time. I remember being around friends who were absolutely terrified of Freddy Kreuger and Michael Myers, or even The Exorcist and to me they weren't half as mortifying as a man morphing into a hideous insect. Needless to say those two films (each in their own unique twiste way) have always stuck with me as the peak of sci-fi horror.
I have hundreds of horror movies in my possession that I want to get to, so I'll probably still be participating in this list long after it ends. I guess in retrospect it's a good thing Animation won, since I'll be plenty distracted elsewhere anyways!
Don't Answer the Phone! (Robert Hammer 1980) Generally regarded as one of the more misogynistic entries in the slasher/exploitation cycle, this one didn't bother me nearly as much as it did others, probably because the despicable villain and the hapless cops in pursuit are right out of a bad French Connection ripoff, which is the genre where this one really belongs. The "thrills" here, as much as I can suss out, are typical cops and robbers stuff with a bit of an unsavory leering edge. However, it goes without saying that this isn't a very good film no matter how you classify it.
Ghostkeeper (Jim Makichuk 1981) Why do I keep opening and watching these horrible Code Red movies when I should just keep them sealed, wait six months, and then sell and retire? Don't fret about tracking down this expensive OOP title, it's nothing more than dull snow-set haunted hotel hijinx (using the loosest definition of the term). Between this and Curtains, Canadian Winter Slashers are shaping up to be one of the worst subsubsubsubgenres ever.
Graduation Day (Herb Freed 1981) One of the original cash-in slashers, this Troma feature has all the actorly acumen one would expect from its studio and is not nearly good enough or bad enough to make much of an impression after the fact. Perhaps the most interesting thing here is the hyper-cut opening, a sequence so over-edited that it might just be genius. No such worried debate about the rest of the film, though!
In the Mouth of Madness (John Carpenter 1995) A familiar premise-- an author's work becomes reality (was reality all along?) -- is dragged through a couple different layers of malarky in this disappointing collection of hack writing developments cobbled together into a sloppy meta mass that is nowhere near clever. Presumably the Lovecraftian fanatics are so tickled anytime a film throws them a bone that this holds some esteem in their circles, but dear God why on this board too?
the Man With Wax Faces (Maurice Tourneur 1914) --swo17 Spotlight-- Charming in its fashion, but I can't imagine this brief sketch coming anywhere near my list. It's hard to even write at length about something as fleeting as this, however pleasantly it may unfurl.
Microwave Massacre (Wayne Berwick 1983) Friars' favorite Jackie Vernon just can't stop killing and cooking and eating women in this bizarre Catskills-style horror comedy. Essentially eighty-five straight minutes of bad one liners from a never-materialized Ed Gein Roast, that Microwave Massacre is a film that exists-- Vernon at one point slathers a naked girl in butter and then smothers her between two five-foot slices of bread-- is proof that for better or worse, there's no shortage of novelty in this genre.
domino harvey wrote:I have hundreds of horror movies in my possession that I want to get to, so I'll probably still be participating in this list long after it ends. I guess in retrospect it's a good thing Animation won, since I'll be plenty distracted elsewhere anyways!
domino harvey wrote:I have no interest in an Animation List. Which is okay, as I plan to keep working on this one and getting caught up on the Alt Oscars
I won't be doing the animation List either. I'll probably continue with this one, too. So I guess I'll be keeping you company here, Dom.
With two of our esteemed colleagues finding themselves dwarfed by their kevyips - and yours truly still having not officially thrown my heart and soul into the project - how about an extension?
Perhaps that will give us enough time to care these two of their kyrofelonoshophobic tendencies.
Last edited by Cold Bishop on Fri Oct 26, 2012 9:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Let's just say January 1st so I can recover from the previous night's debaucheries by tabulating and the Animation List can lay hold to the new year immediately? I mean, I have so many movies to watch that a twelve month extension wouldn't help, but it's something!
