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(Thank you Michael.) (Mods, publicly crucify me if I missed a similar thread.)

Let's start with Glen Or Glenda, shall we? The dream sequence rivals The Red Shoes ballet sequence in it's sheer audacity and kitchen sinkness. I was breathless at the end of it. You can feel Wood's pain and confusion as he glides in and out of this weird, confusing (he couldn't boldly uncloset - he had to "pull the strings"), intensely personal masterwork.

For me films like Glen or Glenda? and The Room are the greatest experiences that can happen. It's like a love sick stutterer. The most amazing and deeply personal, completely and totally naked, things are being expressed in the most bizarrely structured way. G/G especially is a favorite in part because of the subject matter, but mostly in how it is expressed. I can't think of a single film made in Hollywood during that period that's even remotely similar. Things aren't really that bad either. The performances are unconventional, but there's a lot of professionals involved making me think Wood somehow knew how to manipulate actors for better or worse. It also has one of my favourite scores of all time. That Eraserhead screech is beyond perfect. The sets too are pretty interesting to look at. Unlike the expressionism of his later movies this one seems to have a weird minimalist thing going on. Reminds a great deal of something I heard Dreyer say. It went something like he asked one of the female crew members to do up a room just as they would have it if they were living in it. After she set everything up he would slowly remove all of the pieces until all that was left was the bare essentials. The entire film really could be described in that way, from the faux documentary writing to the previously mentioned acting to that aching mechanical score. Everything is striped away until all we are left with is some quick alien look at life. That really helps both the narrative of love that Wood's working at and the social acceptance bit. We are left with a basic and honest statement that we can either accept or look away from in disgust. His girlfriend's acceptance, ironic, is the world's. There's just something so perfect about it. I haven't even managed to get into the meat and potatoes of the film. I think a fair argument could be made that this isn't a so bad it's good movie, but rather a truly and honestly great movie.

I suppose it is only appropriate to provide a link to theis:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1144539/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Exorcist The Heretic. I think the actual quality of the movie is unfairly maligned due to it being a sequel to the original. I think it is at least on par with something in the line of Argeno's Phenomena. I love the set pieces, pseudo science, excellent score and of course James Earl Jones brings a touch of class to any movie he is in.

I just discovered that Mercedes McCambridge did Linda Blair's demon voice in The Exorcist. I wonder if she came back for The Heretic.

Peter Brown claims that the revelation of that fact before the final voting is what made Academy voters go with Tatum O'Neil over Linda Blair, but he's up a tree on that claim seeing as how Tatum ONeil is roughly a billion times more impressive than Blair.

R0lf wrote:Exorcist The Heretic. I think the actual quality of the movie is unfairly maligned due to it being a sequel to the original. I think it is at least on par with something in the line of Argeno's Phenomena. I love the set pieces, pseudo science, excellent score and of course James Earl Jones brings a touch of class to any movie he is in.

Count me in as another fan of THE HERETIC. It's an outrageous, operatic Looney Tunes of a movie, witha gorgeous Morricone score & scrumptious to look at. When Boorman was approached by WB to direct it, he reportedly told them he's undertake the project only if he didn't have to make a sequel that was even remotely like the original. He delivered, in spades... & WB apparently didn't have a clue what to do with it - witness their having sevral diffrent cuts of it circulating for a time (I'm glad the DVD preserves the original release cut).
The comparison to Argento is not inapt, although I never considered it before. The trippy visuals (even when not devoted to astral projection trips) and the completely out-of-left-field revelation of the "villain" are very Argento-ish (even if the latter is straight from Bava).
You'll never convince me, however, that (unlike Argento) the film isn't an elaborate joke. Surely Boorman would not include that sequence where Blair is tap-dancing to "Lullabye of Broadway" and starts reacting to the stones being hurled at Richard Burton on the other side of the world unless he had comic intentions... could he?

It is one of my life's passions to defend Blair Witch until my last breath. The careful, gradual buildup of suspense in that film is something that begs to be worshipped by all those who aspire to be creative. "Just follow the fuckin stream" shout so many detractors....nevermind that The Witch was able to do so many supernatural things in addition to fuckin up the geography? Sheesh!

I'm also inclined to favour Tony Scott's shamelessly overwrought The Hunger against Ridley Scott's deadly earnest Blade Runner.

*CUT TO BREAKING GLASS*
*CUT TO BILLOWING CURTAINS*
*POINTED SOUND CUE PUNCTUATION*

Noiretirc wrote:It is one of my life's passions to defend Blair Witch until my last breath. The careful, gradual buildup of suspense in that film is something that begs to be worshipped by all those who aspire to be creative. "Just follow the fuckin stream" shout so many detractors....nevermind that The Witch was able to do so many supernatural things in addition to fuckin up the geography? Sheesh!

Absolutely couldn't agree more, the Blair Witch Project just clicked with me in so many ways; from the build-up of suspense - that you mentioned Noiretirc - which really becomes feverish as the film ploughs along at it's own rhythm toward the climax that hits at precisely the right time in the film and just seeps this doom-like frenzy out of the screen, to the little details that I appreciate the care being put in to retain - such as the audiovisual work in the final moments of the film

Spoiler

where Heather's 16mm camera wildly spasms as she descends the stairs in the house whilst looking for Mikey whose downed camera picks up her distant screaming. The viewpoint through her camera with the distant sound of her voice makes for a truly disorientating effect which I applaud

I agree with both of you on The Blair Witch Project. I don't usually enjoy horror films because I don't find them scary. This film really does have a strong creepiness to it - the feeling of being trapped and heading toward a doom one can't get out of... Also, the final moments are terrifying. Really, it is one of the great films of the 90's. Then again, I agree that Glen or Glenda? is a film that shouldn't be completely dismissed.

As for the topic, I feel Texasville is one of the better films ever made about adulthood and in may ways equals The Last Picture Show as a cinematic masterwork. Yes, the glorious cinematography found in TLPS isn't as immersive in it's sequal, and it is sometimes difficult to follow because it only exists in it's truncated from that was cut by the studio, but it's one of those rare movies where the motives and actions of the characters are truly characteristic of adulthood rather than a function of the narrative. Perhaps I feel that way because I saw that film at a turning point in my life as I developed as a young adult. Also I'm a great admirer of Bogdanovich and like everyone here, I love to defend movies we feel are overlooked. It also has a great soundtrack.

The Blair Witch Project is by far the scariest film I have ever seen. I've watched it three times, and each time have come away physically trembling. I still remember my first viewing (during a visit to Los Angeles in 1999), and being puzzled by the ending - the significance of the final shot didn't click for me until I was lying in bed that night. I came out in a cold sweat.

I know it tends to polarise its audience, but surely it isn't part of the canon of 'so-bad-they're-good films'?

Sloper wrote:I know it tends to polarise its audience, but surely it isn't part of the canon of 'so-bad-they're-good films'?

Indeed, I shouldn't have brought it up here, really. It was mentioned in the article that inspired the Worst Best Films Ever Made, and I got confused.

Sloper wrote: I still remember my first viewing (during a visit to Los Angeles in 1999), and being puzzled by the ending - the significance of the final shot didn't click for me until I was lying in bed that night.

The significance of it is still lost on me, so I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.

I don't think I payed much attention to the beginning.

Mr_sausage wrote:I don't think I payed much attention to the beginning.

I think this should go into a Blair Witch thread - but I'll just say that I never thought that the killer was the one mentioned in the beginning, but rather

Spoiler

...Josh who became possessed by the spirit/ghots.

I mean, the things that were happening to them can't be explained any other way.

ando wrote:I just discovered that Mercedes McCambridge did Linda Blair's demon voice in The Exorcist.

I'm afraid I can't remember the source to back this up but I think I heard somewhere that Jeanne Moreau did the demon voice for the French dub of The Exorcist.

I also quite like The Blair Witch Project for the elements described above about the movements of the camera and use of sound from one camera to another, as well as the use of the beautiful black and white images set against the grainier colour ones. The sense of inexorability about the way that the film builds up speed towards the inevitable conclusion is very nicely done (plus the way that each night fall seems to come faster and be anticipated with more dread by the characters).

It is differently weighted but I also have a soft spot for The Last Broadcast, which plays like an combination of The Blair Witch Project and those faux-documentaries Curse of the Blair Witch and Burkittsville 7, with an similar kind of ending that I'm still not sure entirely works as it is rather tonally out of keeping with the rest of the film but does provide a disturbing, jolting counterpoint to the rest of the action.

This will likely get sent to a Blair Witch thread, but.....

To me, the shock of the ending comes from the realization that this Muthafucker (ie The Witch) is real! (Well, as far as the film is concerned anyway.) Mike could never be coerced to face the wall unless otherwise. Until this moment, all can be explained by mistakes / confusion / local hillbillies tormenting, but when we see Mike facing the wall, we go "shit....wtf?.....it's real", and the home-made film-on-the-fly feel of all that leads to this moment makes this an even bigger shock. ie In a home-made film, we are witnessing something supernatural.

At least that's how I see it......maybe I got it all wrong, hahaha....

Edit: A quick search of Blair Witch at this forum reveals how vastly underapprecited it is. (It belongs in this thread, hahaha.) Someone even mentioned bad acting all round, and I simply cannot agree with this at all. Heather is annoying, yes....but that's her character. Her gradual loss of authority and descent into hell is extremely convincing.

I appreciate the idea of Blair Witch Project much more than sitting through the actual execution. You know, like Sonic Youth

This kind of a thread comes up every once in a while.

This didn't get very far.

This is very relevant.

This is too.

Sometimes there's just nothing like the reassuring comfort of a warm, predictable piece of quality crap, or a well trod Universal Horror film, or some dude in a rubber suit stomping on meticulously constructed, expensive miniatures. God bless poop on Sunday nights.

domino harvey wrote:I appreciate the idea of Blair Witch Project much more than sitting through the actual execution. You know, like Sonic Youth

Oh dear......

http://www.sonicyouth.com/gossip/member.php?u=27660" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Noiretirc wrote:It is one of my life's passions to defend Blair Witch until my last breath. The careful, gradual buildup of suspense in that film is something that begs to be worshipped by all those who aspire to be creative. "Just follow the fuckin stream" shout so many detractors....nevermind that The Witch was able to do so many supernatural things in addition to fuckin up the geography? Sheesh!

Blair Witch is the only "horror" film I've seen in the last 40 years that I found at all scary, and did more with less than almost any film I could name. No overpowering special effects, no ridiculous plot devices, just sheer psychological terror. Val Lewton would probably have appreciated it very much.

There are two Mystery Science Theater classics that have always struck me as begging for a high-quality remake: The Touch of Satan and Manos: The Hands of Fate. The off-the-wall storylines of both are just crazy enough to work in the right creative hands. Although, this is coming from a guy who routinely watches Manos without the riffing.

Mac and Me deserves a menton here for being one of the most shameless films ever made. It's best summed up as 'A blatant E.T. ripoff sponsored by McDonald's, Coke, Skittles, and Sears. If that isn't enough, they throw the kid in a wheelchair for sympathy points.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5le9sYd ... re=related