What's the best of the Horror genre in yer opinions? I've never been an expert, and frankly, since the scariest film you'll ever in your life see isn't even in the genre (Rowan Woods' The Boys 1998), its probably a moot point.
(Incidentally, the Australian Screen Online site has an good linked essay on Horror in Australian Cinema).
Anyway, against usual inclinations, and on recommendations I've watched some crackers lately. The Japanese flim Ring (1998) is highly recommended from O Capitão's deck, and has some great ideas (which Hollywood naturally ripped off shortly afterward in an English language remake). John Carpenter's remake of the The Thing (1982) wasn't bad either, though it all felt a touch dated to me, having not seen it at the time. I was reminded to revisit The Sixth Sense (1999) as well, which really is a stonker.
Et tu?
15 comments:
Finally, an issue of great import!
So much meat here to discuss: sub-genres, cultural memes, special effects, directors, parodies, u.s.w.
For mine, the best horror movie is one of the true originals, Murnau's Nosferatu. Not just a faithful - if not THE most faithful - rendition of Dracula, but a brilliantly executed moofy with a phenomenally cast lead.
Great to contrast with its remake, by Herzog with Kinski in the lead. Naturally, it's a Herzog movie so there's altogether far too much existential Angst, but there are some genuinely great moments:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1KO55JBuFE
Also great to watch after you've seen Nosferatu is Shadow of the Vampire, which is a briliant riff on the original with a role only Willem Dafoe could play.
Other mentions:
Best Werewolf movie - An American Werewolf in London
Best Zombie movie - (actually a twofer, as it's also the best horror parody*) Braindead.
That last is an absolute must see. Peter Jackson goes totally mental with zombies in Wellington, Nyuh Zuhland.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbOmCUWm25w
Best Sci-fi horror - Alien, obvs, but Scanners is another fave. Event Horizon is a rip-off of Solaris but is a brilliantly executed horror fillum.
Best Swedish horror movie - Let the Right One In. Just brilliant - vampirism at its most malevolently banal.
Not only but also - you should be watching True Blood if you haven't seen it by now. Must see teev. Do yourself a flava, etc.
* Apart from Young FrankenSTEEN, natch**.
**OK, mea culpa. The Man with Two Brains is the best horror movie parody. Classic Steve Martin - you know, back when he was funny. Also has Kathleen Turner at the peak of her Smokin' HOTNESS.
You're right: I always nominate The Boys as the scariest movie I've ever seen.
Second is this sequence (I admit, from a TV series, not a movie); dated now but it scared the piss out of me back in the eighties:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VG2aJyIFrA
Glad you think so!
We are sur le meme page on several scores there Fyodor. My better third (weight adjusted reference) and I are uber-nutters for True Blood, and basically cant wait for the next series. Let the Right One In is indeed ace; I though the age/gender swtich there worked brilliantly - but also the general scenes in icy forests. I hear there's some US remake to not bother with as well.
Nosferatu I saw aeons ago, but will revisist on your rec.
Alien ja, ist gut: but for me always the ugly sister beside teh awsumness of the sequel. I never go 1 when I can 2. Alaien 2 is truly "only 5 vids, deerted island" territory."
Which, incidentally, will be the theme of me next post.
Solaris really is a stonker. I cant say I dig the rest of Tarkovsky as much tho, n'est ce pas? Maybe Nostalgia excepted. If Event Horizon is hald as good Im there avec cloches.
Yer other selections are Julie Noted.
Liamista - yup. I just rewatched the 3 clips I linked to in the post (at the ace and scandalously neglected ASO site), and immediately re-crapped my pants.
And thanks for the Day after reprise - 1983 all over again for me, when I first saw it. Reminds me that all my high school English compositions were about nuclear threats. Really messed up two generations of minds - that film really brought it out in the open.
Snippity SNAP all round.
Now I'm struggling to think of something not already covered...
I'll stick to the funnies.
Parody:
Army of Darkness (2nd to Braindid tho). 3rd place, Bloodbath at the House of Death
Unintentionally shit:
Leviathan. Deep sea horror roughly contemporaneous with The Abyss, but the beasties are actually evil. SPOILERS: Favourite moment - when the few surviving protagonists reach the surface after their laughable agonising underwater ordeal, and are about to be rescued by a helicopter, then an entirely unrelated shark attack kills most of them.
On that note, I'm a fan of Jaws. Never quite sure whether it's a comedy though.
Sentimental fave:
Rock 'n' Roll Frankenstein, partly because it's fucking hilariously awful, but mostly cos my little sis worked on it.
Have checked all links now: that Kinski Nosfer looks ACE! und wer ist die heisse babe-lichkeit da?
Jackson "she's....experienced!". And you've just reminded me of the origin of "Oi kick erse fer the lord!" . HEH!
FDB - Rock n Roll Frankenstein looks like a must. And Kenny Everett!
And from me, the premier occult/ horror film of all time, including best soundtrack, this beautiful song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCwHku2_WJ0&feature=related
And finally, who can tell me the name of the shit-scary film from the 70s in which everyone was trapped in a house? Only one escapes at the end.... cant recall the name, but used to freak me out!
"Army of Darkness"
YES! Bruce Campbell is like the chicken salt of cinema, enflavaring everything he touches.
Lookit.
Other zombie parodies deserving honourable mention:
Shaun of the Dead and Zombieland.
"On that note, I'm a fan of Jaws. Never quite sure whether it's a comedy though."
Deep Blue Sea, aka [in some circles] Big Smart Sharks. Best. Shark. Moofy. Evah. Plus: Saffron Burrows in smalls.
"...und wer ist die heisse babe-lichkeit da?"
Heh. Ich verstehe, sie ist HEIß. Aber wer, mein Herr? Die junge, sinnlich-üppige Isabelle Adjani.
The Wicker Man
Absolutely - that'd be in my top 10. Another great occult/horror movie is Angel Heart.
"And finally, who can tell me the name of the shit-scary film from the 70s in which everyone was trapped in a house? Only one escapes at the end.... cant recall the name, but used to freak me out!"
Sounds like the granddaddy of the zombie sub-genre, Night of the Living Dead.
Okay, I'm downloading Deep Blue Sea as I type.
We shouldn't forget The Shining or Misery either, for all that Steven King movies are really hit-and-miss.
"...for all that Steven King movies are really hit-and-miss."
...which is a wordier way of saying "Cujo".
Isabllee Adjani - I knew I recognised Die HEIß!
Hmm, good guess Fyodor, but I think its might be this one I was thinking of (more ghost than zombie oriented) Personally, it always scared me witless as a wee lad watchign telly in the late 70s/ early 80s"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MDF9vZVd_s
Unless that aint it! Here's what I recall:
- shit-scary film
- always on telly in the late 70s/80s
-set in a house with various evil ghosts
- the plotline has everyne trapped in the house - at one point the house releases one person who then sinks into the front yard...
Is it Legend of Hell House, or another?
Aaah, the Haunted House trope. In that case I'd say The Amityville Horror (1979) or Poltergeist (1982) are likely candidates.
I remember that Poltergeist has someone falling into an empty swimming pool that fills up with corpses [OH-EM-GEE! You built the house on a burial ground!!!].
I remember seeing Poltergeist with my Dad in 1982. He had a Catholic upbringing - unlike us Atheists of the next gen - and just about flew off his chair at the brisbane Regent whle my bro and I were like "WTF, have some popcorn and chill daddyo!"
Anyways, I know those two, and it wasnt them - I reckon Legend of hell House is the one Im thinking of. With Roddy McDowell etc.
Special mention to Guillermo del Toro while we're here too. Quality Spanish gear in the genre, eg The Oprhanage.
The Oprahnage?
What's that, a creche for Winfrey clones?
Sounds scary as.
Now THATS Horror.
P'raps the whole point of the genre is to escape the true nightmare of the modern banal.
Matter of fact, now the news is on teh interwebs, Id happily convert my telly to a species of standing DVD projector, and piss it all off!
The Omen, Pt. 1 does it for me. The other two aren't worth watching.
Also Stephen King's Cujo, which I was never able to watch right through until I saw it broken by commercials on TV.
Have recently watched The Exorcist. Its still not scary.
Totally agree Paul: I watched the Exorcist again recently and was highly non-scared throughout. Best seen as a comedy.
The Haunting, based on the Shirley Jackson novel, may be an entry in the what was that scary movie list. It's a paranormal investigator who gathers a group of sensitives and skeptics in a haunted house, and nothing ever happens, except it still scares you. Masterful tension control.
A relatively recent science fiction horror entry is The Host, which I'd guess owes a lot to the Jaws shock variety but which also has a decent story.
The Shining is supremely creepy.
Post a Comment