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Horror Movie Discussion
- Thread starter ForAcademicPurposes
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drotahorror
Member
^ Most of those are 4 and 5's to me. Original NOES and original Halloween belong there as well.
Right now in my backlog of recent 2025 movies to watch I have Together, Dangerous Animals, Presence, The Ugly Stepsister and of course I can't wait to see Weapons. Also really looking forward to GDT's Frankenstein. I'm sure there will be a few surprises for me this year as well. Still some 2024 movies to watch like MaDs and a couple others. I keep seeing people talking about MaDs so I'll watch it eventually.
EerieArcade
Member
Rewatched The Mortuary Collection the other night. Probably one of my favourites from the last few years. Also watched Ghost Stories for a second time, which I thought was decent.
Days like these...
Have a Blessed Day
You got anything a little more substantive than "I wasn't feeling it" for Bring Her Back or nah? The monkey was trash.
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Nocty
Currently Steaming
Finally around to my thoughts on Weapons;
Spoiler free, first. This is a movie about grief and loss, and how it spreads from the immediately effected to everyone around them and even strangers in many ways.
There is a ton of symbolism and it genuinely is full of small details, it reminded me of classics from the late 80s and early 90s.
The film is a certified modern classic comedy horror in my humble opinion. The humour is dark, done properly, but never quite becomes 'too comedy' which is the sweet spot of the genre. I would say it lies somewhere between Drag me to Hell and Hereditary. If you like slow building mystery movies with good plots unwinding, especially told from several perspectives, this is a gem and you will love it. If you go in expecting full dark horror with serious-all-the-time vibes, this one isn't for you. There are several scenes where I burst out laughing but at the same time, I was silenced by a brutal bit of horror / gore shortly after to remind me this is a very dark horror flick at heart.
Spoilers around the ending which I think is sadly the weakest part of the film.
Spoiler free, first. This is a movie about grief and loss, and how it spreads from the immediately effected to everyone around them and even strangers in many ways.
There is a ton of symbolism and it genuinely is full of small details, it reminded me of classics from the late 80s and early 90s.
The film is a certified modern classic comedy horror in my humble opinion. The humour is dark, done properly, but never quite becomes 'too comedy' which is the sweet spot of the genre. I would say it lies somewhere between Drag me to Hell and Hereditary. If you like slow building mystery movies with good plots unwinding, especially told from several perspectives, this is a gem and you will love it. If you go in expecting full dark horror with serious-all-the-time vibes, this one isn't for you. There are several scenes where I burst out laughing but at the same time, I was silenced by a brutal bit of horror / gore shortly after to remind me this is a very dark horror flick at heart.
Spoilers around the ending which I think is sadly the weakest part of the film.
I particularly liked the Gladdys character, she was evil yet comedic to the point of loveable. It's such a shame they did her dirty right at the end, making her seem weak and frail after doing such a good job of making her seem evil and powerful desppite her illnesss.
The themes of head trauma are very heavy in this film. Most all of the death scenes, someones head is being destroyed. It's because the director lost a friend of 20 years to a head trauma and decided to weave that and the grief of it through the theme of the film.
Marcus in the kitchen with the forehead smash was the best scene of the film, it went from chill to holy fuck at full acceleration from that point. I knew what I was in for as the audience went from laughing at Gladdys to holy fuck dead silence and gasp as Marcus caved in the face of his boyfriend on the kitchen floor. A certified horror classic scene right there.
I felt there were lots of great homages to other films in this. Blair witch kids chilling in the basement staring at the walls, before revealing the witch herself down there... the puke scene was ripped right off Drag me to Hell, etc. The soundtrack was very Ari Aster as well, which is great.
The themes of head trauma are very heavy in this film. Most all of the death scenes, someones head is being destroyed. It's because the director lost a friend of 20 years to a head trauma and decided to weave that and the grief of it through the theme of the film.
Marcus in the kitchen with the forehead smash was the best scene of the film, it went from chill to holy fuck at full acceleration from that point. I knew what I was in for as the audience went from laughing at Gladdys to holy fuck dead silence and gasp as Marcus caved in the face of his boyfriend on the kitchen floor. A certified horror classic scene right there.
I felt there were lots of great homages to other films in this. Blair witch kids chilling in the basement staring at the walls, before revealing the witch herself down there... the puke scene was ripped right off Drag me to Hell, etc. The soundtrack was very Ari Aster as well, which is great.
NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt
Biggest Trails Stan
I can't wait for this movie but at the same time I'm not looking forward to it due to having a soft spot for dogs especially
clarky
Gold Member
I can do extreme body horror and all kinds of weird shit but count me out if they hurt a dog.
I can't wait for this movie but at the same time I'm not looking forward to it due to having a soft spot for dogs especially
Trilobit
Absolutely Cozy
I've never understood how some people have such a hard time seeing dogs die in movies, but are perfectly fine with people being slaughtered.
I can't wait for this movie but at the same time I'm not looking forward to it due to having a soft spot for dogs especially
Esca
Member
Because dogs are better than people
clarky
Gold Member
I take it you don't own a dog?
Marley and Me is the baseline for me crying my eyes out.
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Bring Her Back, to me, is about the 5 stages of grief and loss. Grief and loss is non linear and you can go through the stages in any order actually. You'll see in real life Acceptance as not the end, but Depression after Acceptance.
You're mileage may vary (and I picked Depression and Acceptance at random) but it isn't like everyone will go through the stages in exact order.
As a parent, she was suffering through the 5 stages and if you take a look at how it plays out, she was on the extreme end of denial
You're mileage may vary (and I picked Depression and Acceptance at random) but it isn't like everyone will go through the stages in exact order.
As a parent, she was suffering through the 5 stages and if you take a look at how it plays out, she was on the extreme end of denial
And if you say the same thing about Bring Her Back...
She wasn't think that far ahead. She was thinking of her immediate nees to bring her back and fill the hole in her life at any cost.
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Trilobit
Absolutely Cozy
I mean, I was sad when my sister's dogs died, but a fictional dog isn't them. And I've had close human beings who died, but that doesn't mean I weep everytime someone dies on screen.
There's nothing wrong with people being uncomfortable with an animal dying, but I think it's a bit weird, especially as they don't react that way with humans dying.
Shadow1414
Neo Member
It doesn't matter to me. I don't really pay attention to what year media came out in.
NeverYouMind
Member
Bullshit. You haven't had hungry strays chase you in packs or those goddamn police mutts fuck up your day. I could watch a live stream of dogs being cooked in a Chinese market in 100 different ways without batting an eye. Worse than any farm animal.
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I just watched Wolf Man (only an hour and 43 minutes which was our selling point). Saw the everything coming a mile away but is was mindless entertainment. I actually wished they would have taken the first 15 or 20 minutes at the beginning, cut it, then added more:
Him changing. It reminded me of Jeff Goodbloom in The Fly. It would have been great to see more time spent changing rather than compressing his change into a couple of hours.
Some of the shots were "interesting" like going from darkest of night to morning instantly.
Some of the shots were "interesting" like going from darkest of night to morning instantly.
Danjin44
The nicest person on this forum
I recently watched Weapon and really liked it but my biggest reason why I liked so much is that old lady was using that plant's power as weapon similar to how Kira used Death Note.
Is not like your typical horror movies that turns out it just another unnatural entity behind the kidnapping.
Is not like your typical horror movies that turns out it just another unnatural entity behind the kidnapping.
ForAcademicPurposes
Member
I think this sounds soothing rather than eerie.
drotahorror
Member
I know this ishorror movie talk but whats everyone think about Alien Earth?
I haven't seen the third episode yet but first 2 seemed promising enough. Definitely better than Romulus.
I haven't seen the third episode yet but first 2 seemed promising enough. Definitely better than Romulus.
EerieArcade
Member
About to watch Castle Freak. Love horror films set in castles.
EerieArcade
Member
I'm enjoying the series but I'm fairly biased as I love everything Alien (except Romulus).
clarky
Gold Member
There is a special place in hell waiting for you my friend.
ForAcademicPurposes
Member
Alien For Dummies
Prometheus levels of dialogue. Uninteresting plot and even more uninteresting characters.
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drotahorror
Member
That's kind of how I am, atleast the mainline alien movies. Fuck Romulus. So disappointed in Fede.
clarky
Gold Member
I saw it in theater when I was in Maryland on a work trip, so somewhat close to where it was based. Did NOT sleep well that night, I can tell you! That type of found footage style was soooo effective back then.
clarky
Gold Member
I never really "got" that movie at the time. Maybe I need to rewatch it.
drotahorror
Member
Evil Dead 2013 in top 3 horror movies for me. So imagine my hopes too. Don't Breathe was solid so yeah was very surprised with Romulus....
NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt
Biggest Trails Stan
I always considered Whiplash to be a horror movie instead of a drama
ForAcademicPurposes
Member
Is that why I enjoyed it?
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drotahorror
Member
Finally saw:
Weapons - 3.5/5 - Was solid, not a 7 on a 10 scale though. I think I liked the story of Barbarian better. The only reason really to watch Weapons again is to find the more comedic elements (if there is anymore) that I might have missed first time around due to tone. Also
is getting kind of played out at this point to me. Sort of like
movies for a few years there.
So what's next for august/sept? Toxic Avenger, The Conjuring Last Rites, Strangers Chapter 2 for big releases atleast.
Will the Conjuring be super derivative? Probably. Strangers Chapter 1 was fucking awful. Toxie will be fun to watch.
Weapons - 3.5/5 - Was solid, not a 7 on a 10 scale though. I think I liked the story of Barbarian better. The only reason really to watch Weapons again is to find the more comedic elements (if there is anymore) that I might have missed first time around due to tone. Also
witchcraft, black magic, spells, satanism, etc
possession
So what's next for august/sept? Toxic Avenger, The Conjuring Last Rites, Strangers Chapter 2 for big releases atleast.
Will the Conjuring be super derivative? Probably. Strangers Chapter 1 was fucking awful. Toxie will be fun to watch.
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Trilobit
Absolutely Cozy
Unfortunately I've been disappointed, but I'm hopeful it gets better. The characters don't really interest me and the story feels dull. I love Blade Runner and Alien and whilst the show visually looks like that universe it doesn't really feel like it.
Nocty
Currently Steaming
caught a couple of films from the backlog of unwatched this evening. Watched them back to back which in hindsight probably was not the best idea given how differently paced they are.
1. Pans Labyrinth
Holy shit. I honestly am angry at myself for putting off watching this for so long... What a damn good movie this was. I really hated that fucking piece of shit soldier guy, and the ending genuinely made me feel emotional. I haven't any excuses.
2. The Thing (the 2011 version, ugh, I knew this would be bad going in but I had morbid curiosity).
Not even going to waste my time writing about it. Pile of shit, the original shits all over it.
1. Pans Labyrinth
Holy shit. I honestly am angry at myself for putting off watching this for so long... What a damn good movie this was. I really hated that fucking piece of shit soldier guy, and the ending genuinely made me feel emotional. I haven't any excuses.
2. The Thing (the 2011 version, ugh, I knew this would be bad going in but I had morbid curiosity).
Not even going to waste my time writing about it. Pile of shit, the original shits all over it.
drotahorror
Member
Atleast the new Dexter is turning out solid.
Mohonky
Member
I watched a horror movie recently where it was implied the dog might get it; I was ready to nope out of the film that being the case. The owner copped it, the good boy survived.
I was happy with this scenario.
I dunno, I can handle any amount of gore, but as soon as its an animal, Im out. I think for me it has to do with the fact people can rationalise good vs bad people, animals not so much and dogs generally just love to please people and are almost always trusting to a fault.
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drotahorror
Member
Not that I want to see animals die (like I do humans in movies) but I don't really feel anything in a horror movie with pets dying unless the pet is a staple of the movie. I mean, was it super upsetting when Michael Myers killed Lindsey's dog in Halloween? No way right? You didn't even get to the know the dog at all. Movies where you get to the know the animals is where I start to feel empathy and sympathetic. They are usually for alerts/jumpscares or kill fodder in horror movies though. "Good Boy" might change that if they develop the dog's character a bit.
TheUnicornGuy
Gold Member
"He won't even know your name" is such a great line.
Grildon Tundy
Member
Kacho
Gold Member
A new Hellhouse LLC just dropped in theaters. Heard not so great things on Reddit unfortunately. I would have to go out of state to see it so I'll just wait for the Shudder release in October.
Watched a random Blumhouse flick on Prime last night. Has anyone seen it? Never heard of it before.
Thought it was kind of engaging despite being awful. No clue where they find these terrible actors. Not even fit for a Sci-Fi movie. The score felt totally off at times like they got mixed up with another movie during production lol.
The twist?
Giant, intelligent bugs live underground. They somehow lure kids to a hole and use their bodies to infiltrate the families. For what reason? I don't know. I believe it was global domination but the impact was so small-scale it seemed like a flawed plan. All I know is they wanted to breed with the strong independent woman that couldn't breed but she ran them over with a truck. Fin. 2/10
Days like these...
Have a Blessed Day
I did the same thing but you can't take their opinion seriously. According to ChatGPT a 3.5 on 5 point scale is the same as a 7 on a 10 point scale. In what world is Bring Her Back a 2.5 and Weapons a 3.5?A 3.5/5 is not a 7/10.
3.5 x 2 = 7. 5 x 2 = 10.
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drotahorror
Member
What?
Look I wanted to keep my barrage of scores simplified. I don't need to do 3.25/5. That's ridiculous and a bit convoluted for a simple rating scale. All I meant was I would not give it a 7 on a 10 scale. I would go lower but it's not a 6/10 either. If I was to give the movie a 6.5/10 on a 10 scale I'm not going to break shit down to the hundredths of a decimal for a 5 scale.
I liked Weapons better than Bring Her Back. A lot more. Big deal.
Days like these...
Have a Blessed Day
A 3.5 and a 7 are mathematically the same thing taking into account scales of 5 and 10. So I don't get how you'd rate a movie 3.5 but not a 7. Your math is not mathing.
Regarding Bring Her Back it's not a big deal you are certainly entitled to like what you like. It's just that people in this thread usually discuss things beyond dismissively "not feeling it" you are under no under obligation to do so but I've noticed it tends to foster better discussion. Also there's no accounting for taste so there's that too.
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Nocty
Currently Steaming
as much as I adore the genre, it's very rare that a horror movie hits a 10/10 rating for me on both an objective and personal preference level and EXTREMELY rare where I would consider both.
I personally like to review films objectively, because I'm self aware enough to know when my personal tastes are muddying the waters which is less important with other genres at least in my humble opinion. Fear is an extremely subjective emotion, possibly the most subjective one. If a horror movie fails to scare it's viewer, then by objective review it has technically failed from the go.
Examples you say, well, I can think of a few in recent memory worth talking about to explain it.
Hereditary. This was a perfect horror for me, it revealed just enough to make the scary things scary, whilst showing you just enough to make you feel disgusted and or horrified by the visuals on screen. The attic scene in particular stated with me for weeks after viewing. That said, when reviewed objectively, it has pacing issues, a pretty simplistic plot, and an ending that quite simply dissappointed. It's a 7/10 film from a hyper critical sense and I am happy at that. It still didn't sour my subjective score which was easily a 10. I loved the weirdness, the cult undertones, the atmosphere and the scares.
I hope you understand what I'm getting at. IF you pressed me for films that my aforementioned reasoning befit a 10/10 for both subjective and objective level, well that list is extremely short.
In no particular order;
Alien (the greatest sci-fi horror of all time. This film made myself and my stone-hearted grandfather genuinely scared in the movies when he saw it. Nothing had been done like it, the chest burster scene had people running from the theatre)
The Thing (as close to perfect a horror film has and ever will get, in my opinion. It's just a masterpiece of film. Tension, paranoia, human nature, gore. It's perfect. I would go as far as saying my favourite film of all time regardless of genre.
Psycho (hitchock defined many tropes we now suffer today... while it is a product of it's time and thus, quite impossible to be 'scary' in 2025, it's still on this list because of it's quality and originality at the time)
The Witch (the only modern horror I would even consider putting on this list. It's a masterclass in slow burn folklore horror. Stunning scenes, intense atmosphere, horriffic themes and a great ending)
drotahorror
Member
Dude , myself, as in I, rate movies differently on a scale of 1-5 and 1-10. Im doing basic ass whole numbers or halves for 5 scale. If I was doing out of 10 I would rate down to the tenths. 6.8, 5.4 etc. it's just what I'm doing. Sorry you don't like it. I know 2+2 is 4.
I changed my ratings for both movies just to appease you. Bring her Back is now 2/5 and a 4/10. It adds up! Weapons is 3/5 now and a perfect 6/10 on that scale after thinking about it more.
As for not going into discussion....almost all those ratings were part of a laundry list of movies. Pretty hard to have a discussion when I just dropped ratings on 10 different movies from a few months of watching. Or you can nitpick something I typed and we can go from there. As you have done already.
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Days like these...
Have a Blessed Day
drotahorror
Member
You're nuts man.
Days like these...
Have a Blessed Day
Nevermind, whatever
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bitbydeath
Member
Few horror movies can reach the incredible heights of Elm Street 3… IMO.
That's an easy 10/10.
It's easy to mark others down with that in mind.
bitbydeath
Member
Anyone else watching The Institute?
I'm 3 episodes in so far, do recommend.
I'm 3 episodes in so far, do recommend.
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MudoSkills
Volcano High Alumnus (Cum Laude)
Just got back from Together. I liked it, although it suffers from the trailer giving away too much. Also would have preferred a more depressing ending.