|
Modern Horror Films (pg. 3)
|
View this Thread in Original format
| Igaryok |
| quote: | Originally posted by narcism
psychological thrillers > horror films |
Agreed. |
|
|
| Protege |
| quote: | Originally posted by tc-fan
i recently saw the new texas chainsaw masacre and it was great. Also Dead Silence in the theaters is amazing. |
Thank you for destroying american cinema.
| quote: | Originally posted by narcism
psychological thrillers > horror films |
Hell yeah. Hitchmovies are the best. Psycho, Rear window, The birds. Its all about the atmoshpere, that something could happen, that makes them good. I dont really care for gory pics. |
|
|
| mezzir |
lol gorror
i swear that people called them slasher flicks |
|
|
| kush paintings |
The horror genre has always been a problematic one.
If you look back at the horror movies of the 70's, one could easily argue far too much time is devoted to building character and atmosphere, where the real scares come out like the grand finale of a firework show at the climax of the movie. The scares become the climax and release of all the tension that has been building throughout the film. While the movies certainly had excellent stories, their approach for eliciting the most scares was perhaps arguably not the best one.
The late 70's and 80's brought the slasher flick, which is clearly the most influential take on the genre today. What distinguished that era was not only masterful directors, Craven and Carpenter, but also excellent characters - Freddy, Jason, Michael Myers. It is my opinion that this era found the best balance between scares and compelling narratives. However, the shortcoming of this era was in the mass of sequels.
For the past decade or so the horror genre, in my opinion, has been soul searching. It has journeyed from psychological takes, to slasher, to gore/torture, and even back to classical horror conventions. The big studio Hollywood horror movies of the past ten years have been abysmal, there only moments of great movie making coming from adapting foreign horror movies. While I like a lot of what has been going on with J-Horror, I think a lot of the genre gets more credit than it deserves. Foreign horror flicks of other origins pop up ever now and then, but not with any real consistency that would suggest a movement like J-Horror.
Ultimately, I think Hollywood is completely failing the horror genre, which I think is expressed through consistent disappointment in new releases. However, these movies still remain relatively successful, as they gather the teen crowds and aren't too expensive to make. I do not think the picture is as bleak as some may say, however. The Others (2001), Pitch Black (2000), The Mothman Prophecies and The Sixth Sense (1999) are, I think, examples of where the horror genre should be today. They combine the strengths of all past takes on the horror genre and mold it into an excellent product, none of which rely heavily on special effects, nor gore. Today's horror isn't completely doomed, it just takes a good deal of effort to find the diamonds in the rough. |
|
|
| SuspicionVandit |
| quote: | Originally posted by bogartgreens
not positive if it was based on the King book, but I'm certain it's being released as "The Signal", and Eli Roth didn't have anything to do with it, maybe he's workin on King's "Cell"?
anyway, here's some links to the signal's teaser site and an article about some of the reactions it got @ sundance, definitely got me intrigued:
http://www.aintitcool.com/node/31447
http://www.aintitcool.com/node/31341 |
"you have the crazy?!"
all they have to say is that line. I want to see it!
anyways, here is the wiki-entry for Cell. seems like the same thing
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cell_%28novel%29
i grabbed The Host from BitSausage, and watching it right now. omg, the initial attack sequence was ing AMAZING. |
|
|
| tctitan |
i def. prefer suspenseful scary -with-your-mind movies as opposed to super-steroid hockey mask jason in space
i loved the ring movies and the saw movies |
|
|
| dj tek |
| quote: | Originally posted by jdat
from cinema that tried to instigate a thought process to the viewers in the past to what we have today thanks to a blast against intellectualism in the hippy era .... you have no other alternatives than to stray away from the mass of what constitutes popular culture if you are seeking for something better
:p |
this is a great statement relevant to many fields not just horror films being made today.
i'll just add that there is always alternatives, it just depends how much you are devoted to finding them. |
|
|
| Azz3D |
| quote: | Originally posted by bogartgreens
best horror flick released in the US in 2006 was Descent IMO.. |
+1 Descent was just :nervous:
here's a good one for old times sake: Candyman (1992) |
|
|
| tubularbills |
nothing will ever beat the Exorcist. everyone nowadays hates it because the special affects aren't all computerized and .
that movie took you where i think no other movie can or has. quite possibly one of the best movies of all time, regardless of genre. |
|
|
| kush paintings |
| quote: | Originally posted by dj tek
this is a great statement relevant to many fields not just horror films being made today.
i'll just add that there is always alternatives, it just depends how much you are devoted to finding them. |
While I don't completely disagree, I think you guys are exagerating the predicament. Christopher Nolan is producing many great, dark (albeit not 'horror') films, and he is a fairly mainstream director. The Descent was on one level a pretty good jump out at you horror movie, but what made it great was the anti-feminist subtext. The Others, any Shyamalan film, all horror movies to a degree, very intellectual. Usually the movie you have to dig for aren't that great of movies. |
|
|
| Frenchie |
Yes. It's not that it was ,"scary", it was more, " plays tricks on your mind after the movie" type of movie. I liked it, ish.
Another movie is , " The people under the stairs ". I think it's called that anyway. My mom told me that after she saw that movie she was scared of our basement stairs. |
|
|
| SuspicionVandit |
| quote: | Originally posted by kush paintings
The Descent was on one level a pretty good jump out at you horror movie, but what made it great was the anti-feminist subtext. |
I found descent to be more that just a jump horror. and i didn't notice anything anti-feminist, unless you mean women not wearing skirts and killing .
i felt it had a dehumanization/"we are not all that different from the monsters" theme. primarily the part when the lead kicked the monster in the balls and then gouged his eyes out and when the woman is covered in blood after jumping into the blood pool (seemed like Carrie)
more than just a "monster bad guy. must survive for 90-120 minutes)"
The last thing anyone sees in the US distribution is a jumpscare. the UK version is much better imo. mental illness ftw! |
|
|
|
|
