To this day, I have not found a movie frightening enough. Honestly, I've walked away from every horror movie disappointed because no movie has ever "scared" me enough.
I urge you to tell me about a horror movie that I can say has truly scared me.
I've gotten: "Oh, you should check out The Ring, or The Grudge." Those movies have poor special effects, no effective plot, and no dramatical or impressive acting. Simply a diseased chick who does not have the human mental capacity to stand up-right.
We've all seen Linda Blair vomit that toxic waste on that poor holy righteous man, nothing scary about a neck twisting levitation. Ive learned now that, "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy", and by that i've also learned that Jack Nicholson was far more demented in Anger Management.
To me, there is nothing scary about deranged serial killers with chain saws and fifteen inch knives chopping limbs and eating flesh. Where's the plot in that? The theme? Less special effects, and more original acting. Where's the psychological thiller?
I promise to not be too analytical about every detail and try to enjoy the movie for the synopsis stated in the back of the box... for once, But when an alien is casted away from their native planet only to land in a residental area perfectly in the lead actors front yard with no scrapes or damaged areas on the mother ship and is able to breathe the oxygen and gases of this planet with no prior knowleged of their consistencies, its kinda hard not to be. With that aside, I urge you to please send me to a psychotherapist on having to deal with nightmares of a truly fightening movie.
Peliculas
become a drug addict, same sex prostitute, or join the iraqi insurgency.
I enjoy the occasional silly formulaic slasher flick. Especially the Scream series for some reason. But I think of this genre as kind of a comedy sub-genre. The only two "horror" movies that I can think of off the top of my head that I found truly creepy and frightening are Man Bites Dog and Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer. The violence and psychosis in both movies seem disturbingly real.
i feel the same way about romantic comedies or any coming of age sex romps. They are just so divorced from reality and much too much well lit.
Oh God! The Kashinovas are spawning like Tribbles!
the baggy-skin-eyeball-hand guy from Pan's Labyrinth scared the shit out of me. I think it was because it was a slow and subtle build as to exactly why he was as scary as he was.
Nightmare on Elm Street. But i think the entire movie was destroyed for me when the plot of this movie was introduced.
But thanks, i'll check it out for sure once more.
You should stop searching for experience in simulacra.
No, i think i'll continue
become a drug addict, same sex prostitute, or join the iraqi insurgency.
It seems effective that i should retire this blog and resort to a drug addiction, same sex prostitution meanwhile joining the iraqi insurgency, but i have no muscle to proceed with those. I might as well just sit on my ass and hope that i will be terrified the next time i turn my television.
I've been all three of those things.
All be it not at the same time, but still...
OH THE HORRORS I'VE SEEN.
I dont doubt the horrors in that. Maybe a movie that clearly and accurately exemplified those three things would be the horror movie i've always been looking for.
But that mannequin in Poltergeist scared the crap out of me, and the scars still run deep.
Man Bites Dog and Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer are two movies that i will definitely inject in my dvd player.
Do you have any phobias? Any residual childhood fears? Any movie that panders to that might be your only hope.
I can't think of any movies that scare me, either, but all the movie formulas for scaring have been used up. It's easy to guess what's coming, and that spoils the element of surprise, which is crucial for scariness.
I'm not sure what kind of scares you are looking for, though. Like, jump-out-of-your-seat scariness? I don't think that works anymore. And even if it did, it would be difficult to sustain for an entire movie, and not at all for a second viewing.
I'd say go for the creepy factor...atmosphere, atmosphere, atmosphere. Lots of low-budget 70s/80s flicks are great in this regard. The less polished, the better. Grainy film stock, terrible lighting, and no-name actors who are probably just as creepy in real life mean instant atmosphere!
Among higher-profile movies that never quite garnered their due attention, I'd recommend Dario Argento's Suspiria.
A medium-budget movie that works well as an intentionally atmospheric horror film is Scarecrows from 1988.
More recently, I'd give big props to The Host. It's a Korean creature feature. Yes, the monster is CGI, but it's the most fluid and lifelike CGI I've ever seen on the big screen. And the monster is subsidiary to the plot rather than the other way around. I think you'll enjoy it even if it doesn't particularly scare you.
It's definitely a comedy, but still pretty disturbing... I thought so anyways...
yeah.
but that's how they like their comedy.
irreversible is disturbing, and non-comedic.
Do you have any phobias? Any residual childhood fears? Any movie that panders to that might be your only hope.
I can't think of any movies that scare me, either, but all the movie formulas for scaring have been used up. It's easy to guess what's coming, and that spoils the element of surprise, which is crucial for scariness.
I'm not sure what kind of scares you are looking for, though. Like, jump-out-of-your-seat scariness? I don't think that works anymore. And even if it did, it would be difficult to sustain for an entire movie, and not at all for a second viewing.
I'd say go for the creepy factor...atmosphere, atmosphere, atmosphere. Lots of low-budget 70s/80s flicks are great in this regard. The less polished, the better. Grainy film stock, terrible lighting, and no-name actors who are probably just as creepy in real life mean instant atmosphere!
Among higher-profile movies that never quite garnered their due attention, I'd recommend Dario Argento's Suspiria.
A medium-budget movie that works well as an intentionally atmospheric horror film is Scarecrows from 1988.
More recently, I'd give big props to The Host. It's a Korean creature feature. Yes, the monster is CGI, but it's the most fluid and lifelike CGI I've ever seen on the big screen. And the monster is subsidiary to the plot rather than the other way around. I think you'll enjoy it even if it doesn't particularly scare you.
I cant say i have any phobias. Up to a couple weeks ago, i was deeply afraid of stairs. I have no clue why. That was resolved when i saw someone else eat shit on them as he stood up unscathe. I think that is attributed to my sick humor, much like that movie Man Bites Dog. But i dont know of any movies where the plot is a case of stairs and the story line is people breaking their neck on them or being attacked by them.
Any residual childhood fears? Hmmm i dont think so. The only fear contending thing that occured in my childhood were:
1. an electrocution
2. about 7 concussions
3. a dog attack
Once again, due to my sick humor, i see those occurences as being deeply hilarious, not to mention, auto-biographical worthy.
Ugh sorry to disappoint Seitan.
I am more interested in psychological horror movies. Those seem far more effective than gallons of blood.
I will definitely check out Suspiria, Scarecrows and Host.
Thanks
I can't recommend the original Wicker Man (1973) enough...NOT last year's version with Nicholas Cage, which, although I haven't seen it myself, I'll trust the reviews on (which near-universally panned it).
The original is an excellent psychological horror film with bushels of creep factor and a truly unsettling climax that pays dividends. It features the rare combination of low-budget vibe, beautiful cinematography, and a stalwart cast including Edward Woodward and Christopher Lee. The sinister hippy-dippy ambience is an eerie bonus.
daisy is right about french comedies.
"We will mock them by showing what they TRULY ARE. hrrrrhrrrhrrrr."
Also. Shut it about wicker man.
Maybe when we hear the last peep out of you about your beloved Farscape, pinhead.
While it's not really horror, I'd also recommend the original The Vanishing (1988), another fine psychological thriller.
Not to mention that our very own R. John bears an uncanny resemblance to the villain, played by Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu:
Anyway,
Horror movies are dumb.
The Vanishing is good, though.
PS - Janet Beetlejuice looks sexy.
Anyway,
Horror movies are dumb.
The Vanishing is good, though.
PS - Janet Beetlejuice looks sexy.
She's mine... I saw her first!
They should make a horror movie of the nightmare I had this afternoon. I must have fallen asleep while working because I dreamt that PUNK PLANET was closing. Good thing it was just a dream. C'mon, k-, wake up already!
The scariest psychological thriller I've ever seen is Cronenburg's Dead Ringers- hands down the most disturbing film I've ever seen. It's about incestuous identical twin gynocolgists who become obsessed with "sharing" a patient/ lust interest who happens to have been born with two uteruses (uteri?). Need I say more?
They should make a horror movie of the nightmare I had this afternoon. I must have fallen asleep while working because I dreamt that PUNK PLANET was closing. Good thing it was just a dream. C'mon, k-, wake up already!
I dont know if im welcomed into the Punk Planet community.
I did have prior reading of the magazine before joining here.
I'm still, like all of your here, saddened that this is the last of Punk Planet.
There were some great and interesting articles.
I only wish my sick humor would pull me out of this one. Getting electrocuted would have done my mind a lot better.
Im going to import a Tesla Coil and keep it im my backyard next to my pool just for my personal enjoyment. Perfect.
you do not really want to be frightened you want to be made uncomfortable.
horror as a genre is almost completely dead.
The scariest psychological thriller I've ever seen is Cronenburg's Dead Ringers- hands down the most disturbing film I've ever seen. It's about incestuous identical twin gynocolgists who become obsessed with "sharing" a patient/ lust interest who happens to have been born with two uteruses (uteri?). Need I say more?
YOU NEED NOT. I just watched that last weekend for the first time and the more I think about it, the more I like it. It hits, though, one of my major freak-points: medical equipment. I am so fucking freaked about medical equipment--especially old, arcane, or otherwise odd pieces. Like the Gynecological Instruments for Operating on Mutant Women, or whatever they are called in the film. Jeremy Irons is brilliant in the film, as well.
Another scary movie for me is "Jacob's Ladder." Medical equipment, shadowy what-not....*shudder*
I think the most effective scene in any horror movie I've seen was in Nightmare on Elm Street, when Nancy is sitting in class and sees her recently deceased best friend reaching out towards her from a body bag out in the hallway. It's not one of those cut/jump scenes where they try to scare you with loud music stabs... it's slow and quiet and honestly creepy.