The Horror List Discussion and Suggestions (Genre Project)

[swo17]

I suspect I'm alone in this, and I'm not even sure if I'll include it or not, but I've always considered Pee Wee's Big Adventure to be the perfect horror movie for kids (Large Marge, vampire Pee Wee, bike surgery by evil clowns, the score, etc.)

[Brian C]

Of the marginal films listed above that I've seen:

The Night of the Hunter: horror
Klute: not horror
Hard Candy: not horror (despite the horror movie poster)
Single White Female: horror
Pee-Wee's Big Adventure: whaaaaaa?

You're all welcome.

[knives]

I don't see how Hard Candy could be anything but horror given the use of violence and fear.

[Brian C]

I don't think it really makes the audience afraid, though, it's just about making Wilson's character afraid. It's like calling Inglourious Basterds a horror movie because the Nazis are afraid of the Bear Jew.

[knives]

The film does through its presentation though create an unnerving experience for the audience as it flirts with identification between the two characters.

[Brian C]

The film does through its presentation though create an unnerving experience for the audience as it flirts with identification between the two characters.

Does it? I don't remember it that way. He's a predator, we know he's a predator from pretty much the start, and I don't remember the movie asking us to identify with him at all.

I guess I would ask this: "Unnerving" is one thing, but to what extent does the movie attempt to transfer Wilson's fear onto the audience? That's what horror is really all about, right? I don't deny that the movie is unsettling in some ways (although I think it plays it pretty safe for the most part), but we as the audience are not subjected to Wilson's perspective, and thus do not share in his fear.

[knives]

While occasionally we get Page's perspective the film absolutely in terms of story expectation and the like places us in Wilson's seat with him as the victim of a torturer and attempting to escape. That we slowly begin to learn how awful he is only makes this identification more uneasy than what the story has already provided. The set up and for the most part how it plays out isn't terribly different from much trash like The Strangers and Them. Hard Candy definitely uses our built in expectations from those parts of the genre to make mess the audience's sympathies. If I remember rightly we don't learn about him until a good thirty minutes into the film.

[LQ]

Seance on a Wet Afternoon (Bryan Forbes, 1964) - for LQ
This film is many things: expertly acted, tautly suspenseful, beautifully shot. But there's one thing it's decidedly not: a horror film. As a crime drama, it's up there with some of the best of the decade; perhaps not the kidnap-masterpiece of High and Low, but a worthy contender. But, even allowing for a touch of ambiguity in the final scene, the film is not a horror film, beyond the situation it portrays constantly threatening to turn terribly tragic. The real reason to see this film is, once again, the acting. I admit I first tracked down this film to see the stage legend Kim Stanley in one of her rare film roles, but on re-watching it, I'm convinced Richard Attenborough may give the better performance. Not an actor I usually like, but he's brilliant here in an expertly quiet and understated performance. His voice rarely rises above a murmur, but he's able to relay an endless amount of anxiety and terrible sadness. This film is worth seeing just to see two of the greatest acting performances ever filmed, lensed with some of the finest black-and-white cinematography of the era. Everybody here should probably give the film a whirl... for the 1960s list. But I see no way to justify putting this on my list.

I'm glad to read that you're a fan of the film, Cold Bishop. I'll concede that it is objectively the most questionable inclusion on my list, but I tend to judge horror just as much by elicited emotions as I do genre signifiers, which is why I feel this oversteps the boundaries of crime drama into horror, but would never consider something like, say, The Bespoke Overcoat horror, even though it contains a ghost. As the plot of Séance plainly unfolds, at each of Kim Stanley's lilting, increasingly horrific manipulations I'm gripped with such rich dread that I can't not vote for it, and encourage others to be arrested by its spell too.

[swo17]

Of the marginal films listed above that I've seen:

Pee-Wee's Big Adventure: whaaaaaa?

I should perhaps clarify. I mean that I consider the film to be the perfect level of scary for a child (maybe 7-11 years old) to "enjoy" it on the same level that an adult might enjoy, say, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre or a hardcore haunted house. Not that that necessarily makes it a horror film.

[colinr0380]

swo17, perhaps you might like to know that the BBC once did a "Weird Night" of films and programmed George Romero's Martin, David Lynch's The Grandmother, X: The Man With X-ray Eyes, the Claude Rains starring General Motors financed "Fascists have taken over America whilst I was away on a fishing trip" film Strange Holiday, Attack of the 50 ft Woman and finished off with Pee Wee's Big Adventure!

Pee Wee's antics really fit in with that not quite horrific, but certainly off-kilter and 'weird' company!

[terabin]

For those not familiar with the BBC's Ghost Stories for Christmas and looking to take a last recommendation before you submit your lists, I heartily recommend Lawrence Gordon Clark's adaptation of the M.R. James short story, "A Warning to the Curious." The story oozes dread through its pacing as the out-of-work, amateur protagonist, driven by curiosity but also by a need to prove himself, finds clues that lead him into the pursuit of a crown about which local folklore has much to say, but about which local persons have much to keep quiet. Clark takes some liberties with the original short story, but I find the BBC adaptation to cut to the quick of the mythology and to emphasize the terror of the protagonist more than the short story. Nothing is more terrifying than the image of a dark figure lingering on the edge of one's peripheral vision, a figure one dreads is following him. The film also takes advantage of wonderfully dreary (what I assume is) on-location small-town coastal photography in England. A bite-sized pleasure at 50 minutes. And for those horror fans who prefer a minimum of bloodshed, give it a chance if you have time.

[domino harvey]

Nine lists now in. The early leader (and most represented film at seven lists) is by a Criterion-approved director and contains at least one cast member from Nashville

[knives]

I'd make an Images crack, but I doubt (for better or worse) it will make it. I am unfortunately reminded of The Shining though. Should have guessed that would win.

[domino harvey]

Received another list in the interim and the streak still holds at 8/10 lists! I'm neither confirming nor denying your guesses (though as much as I love Susannah York, gimme a breaksville on Images) or the guess made via PM by the newest list submitter. Part of the miniscule remaining pleasure in tabulating lists is doing shit like this

[swo17]

If the film is 3 Women that reminds me that I forgot to vote for 3 Women!

[zedz]

Don't Look Now / Julie Christie.

[Cold Bishop]

C'mon, that hint is easy guys.

I've got 5 days (are the lists due on or by the 1st) and about two dozen films in my "must watch" kevyip, so don't expect mine until the last minute.

[Mr Sausage]

C'mon, that hint is easy guys.

I've got 5 days (are the lists due on or by the 1st) and about a half-dozen films in my "must watch" kevyip, so don't expect mine until the last minute.

I'm in the same boat. Also because I haven't even begun to put mine together. God, this feels like undergrad all over again.

[Cold Bishop]

D'oh... not a half-dozen. Two dozen. And I should probably apologize to mfunk, domino and preacher in advance, as they're the only people whose spotlight title I've yet to place in my possession, although I'm working on them. Everyone else has one that's been seen or is likely to be seen before project's end.

[domino harvey]

Single White Female's ~$8 on Amazon... just sayin'

[tarpilot]

If I don't get around to buying a hard drive enclosure to see if the hard drive with all my lists is fried then I'm going to have to put it together all over again an hour before the deadline. Race against time

[Cold Bishop]

I've seen Single White Female. I don't consider it a horror film. The question now is whether L'Annulaire will arrive in time to be seen or not.

[Matt]

I just realized that I neglected to put Black Swan on my already-submitted list. Oh well. One title I did remember and want to remind people of is Marina de Van's In My Skin (Dans ma peau), a worthy entry in the Cronenbergian body horror subgenre. Maybe at least one other person will vote for it so it's not an orphan.

[domino harvey]

People can send me revised lists up to the deadline, FYI

[LQ]

I just realized that I neglected to put Black Swan on my already-submitted list

! Thanks for the reminder.