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Horror-GAF |OT|

A

acohrs

Member
Zombine said:
Not a lot of fat in this movie. It's very clear and concise in what it's trying to accomplish. Will it be remembered fondly? Not sure. But it does try and it succeeds in telling an entertaining story.
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I thought the plot twist in the middle was great but didnt tie in with the robbery subplot didnt work so well.

also, i dont understand why she was scared at the end. Hes blind, the reason he was so kickass at home was how familiar he was with the house. He wont be as skilled at tracking you down, different expertise. Also, the kidnapped girl, wheres the subplot about her disappearance and him being a police suspect, because he had motive. That story element lacks credibility and really doesnt make sense when you think about it.

Film was impressive at first glance, but the story really falls apart on further inspection.
 
Corpsepyre

Corpsepyre

Banned
I went ahead and read the entire synopsis of Blair Witch, loaded with spoilers and such. Wasn't particularly looking forward to it, and I have come to detest found footage films.

Best decision. That sounded awful. Not sure how well it translated to the screen, but I imagine it didn't so well, given the reviews.
 
M

More_Badass

Member
Zombine said:
It Follows is a modern horror classic. I can watch it over and over again like my other favorites.
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I thought it did some things well, but it didn't click with me like some modern favorites such as The Witch or Cabin In The Woods

I liked the premise and the eldritch nature of the entity. It just is. It's beyond our comprehension. I liked the way its cinematography built tension, in those wide shots and slow pans and how the entity's behavior made for some gripping slow-burn horror. I like the ending

But I felt the entity being invisible made some of the encounters look silly and it seemed like it broke its own rules a few times, like
it standing on the roof or tricking the guy as his mom
. Although I guess that's rests on the characters assuming they know how it operates but not really understanding it. And the score didn't do much for me.
 
Eanan

Eanan

Member
Zombine said:
It Follows is a modern horror classic. I can watch it over and over again like my other favorites.
Click to expand...

I didnt get the hype. It was a bit of slog for me to finish.

Ive actually forgotten most of what happens in that film, all I can remember is the swimming pool scene and the opening scene in the parking lot or whatever.

Watching Southbound now as cant sleep. hope its good.
 
B

Brinbe

Member
Caught Sadako Vs Kayako at TIFF earlier today. Funny and silly movie with a good amount of jump scares in it. It's not bad at all.
 
H

HiiiLife

Member
Annabelle was the movie with that staircase upside down demon face right? And the elevator? Regardless of the overall movie those two scenes were pretty cool.
 
M

mariachi507

Member
ThirstyFly said:
Okay, so after asking about it a couple of pages back and getting a split opinion, I went and watched The Conjuring.

It wasn't as idiotic as Insidious but I certainly wouldn't say it's scary. I did like how it was a little more realistic and since it was a period piece, I didn't have to suffer though a stupid scene of them looking up ancient witch symbols on Google.

I guess as far as big studio LOUD NOISES movies go, it's one of the better ones but meh, it's still really, really bland. None of the scares are surprises because they telegraph everything before it happens with LOUD MUSIC and LONG SHOTS OF SHADOWS AND DARKNESS.

Overall, just boring. And I don't see what the big deal about the doll is. How did that thing get 2 spinoff movies? Just because it's ugly? Yeesh.
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Nailed it. With only seeing Saw and The Conjuring, I don't think James Wan's style of horror is for me.
 
T

ThirstyFly

Member
mariachi507 said:
Nailed it. With only seeing Saw and The Conjuring, I don't think James Wan's style of horror is for me.
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Yeah. I don't know if I'd go as far as to say I dislike James Wan's style... I did really enjoy Saw and thought it was pretty original at the time. I hate Insidious with a passion, but The Conjuring did have a great look to it, and some really interesting shots. If only they had showed a little restraint here and there, it might have actually been good. I haven't seen any of his other films outside of those 3.

I think my problem is more with the current trend of mainstream horror rather than James Wan specifically. It's just all jump scares with no substance or craft. He's certainly not the only director guilty of that and I'm sure it's what the studios ask him to deliver.

I'll probably end of watching The Conjuring 2 now just to see where they go with it and might even check out Annabelle just to see how the hell they manage to get 2 movies out of that, but I'm not expecting much. I haven't decided if I want to suffer though Insidious 2 yet though. Once I start a series I usually finish it, but man, this is gonna be a slog.
 
E

EmpressInYellow

Banned
ThirstyFly said:
Yeah. I don't know if I'd go as far as to say I dislike James Wan's style... I did really enjoy Saw and thought it was pretty original at the time. I hate Insidious with a passion, but The Conjuring did have a great look to it, and some really interesting shots. If only they had showed a little restraint here and there, it might have actually been good. I haven't seen any of his other films outside of those 3.

I think my problem is more with the current trend of mainstream horror rather than James Wan specifically. It's just all jump scares with no substance or craft. He's certainly not the only director guilty of that and I'm sure it's what the studios ask him to deliver.

I'll probably end of watching The Conjuring 2 now just to see where they go with it and might even check out Annabelle just to see how the hell they manage to get 2 movies out of that, but I'm not expecting much. I haven't decided if I want to suffer though Insidious 2 yet though. Once I start a series I usually finish it, but man, this is gonna be a slog.
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I think he does very well-crafted examples of a type of horror film I have very little interest in - that is, theater-oriented horror geared towards really mainstream audiences. He's certainly a cut above most of the directors who do that kind of work. It's just...it's all stuff I've seen done before in more interesting films.
 
T

ThirstyFly

Member
EmpressInYellow said:
I think he does very well-crafted examples of a type of horror film I have very little interest in - that is, theater-oriented horror geared towards really mainstream audiences. He's certainly a cut above most of the directors who do that kind of work. It's just...it's all stuff I've seen done before in more interesting films.
Click to expand...

That's a perfect way of describing his work, actually. Well said.
 
CharminUltra

CharminUltra

Member
It's ~1:30am, and I just finished watching The Neon Demon. Beautifully shot movie with an amazing soundtrack, questionable dialog, and uneven acting. That said, I have to admit I thoroughly enjoyed it despite its weaknesses. It has enough "WTF am I watching" moments to make it easy to recommend to those who are looking for an alternative to the usual "paranormal shit happens in a house" fare we get nowadays.
 
A

acohrs

Member
ridley182 said:
It's ~1:30am, and I just finished watching The Neon Demon. Beautifully shot movie with an amazing soundtrack, questionable dialog, and uneven acting. That said, I have to admit I thoroughly enjoyed it despite its weaknesses. It has enough "WTF am I watching" moments to make it easy to recommend to those who are looking for an alternative to the usual "paranormal shit happens in a house" fare we get nowadays.
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that's cool, didn't see it really as a horror film from the trailer but maybe the trailer didn't do it justice. Will have to catch on dvd or netflix
or ILLEGAL STREAM ONLINE
when it releases
 
M

mariachi507

Member
EmpressInYellow said:
I think he does very well-crafted examples of a type of horror film I have very little interest in - that is, theater-oriented horror geared towards really mainstream audiences. He's certainly a cut above most of the directors who do that kind of work. It's just...it's all stuff I've seen done before in more interesting films.
Click to expand...

ThirstyFly said:
That's a perfect way of describing his work, actually. Well said.
Click to expand...

I never had any love for Saw and remember it being one of my more disappointing theater experiences. I do agree with what you guys said though in regards to Wan. He represents the trend of studio based, mainstream horror that has been fed to us for the last fifteen years or so. However, I would rather watch one of Wan's films before something like Ouija or The Forest. I'm missing a considerable gap in his filmography, but he has shown improvement in his skills going from Saw to The Conjuring IMO.

To rephrase my earlier post, instead of saying that "Wan's style of horror isn't for me" it's more like "Wan's films have yet to do much for me, but he's talented enough that I'm open to giving him more chances in the future".

I'm somewhat interested in The Conjuring 2, but I'm not going to give it a slot in next month's horrorthon. I am curious to see if he has shown any more improvement though, so I might rent it beforehand.
 
Monocle

Monocle

Member
ridley182 said:
It's ~1:30am, and I just finished watching The Neon Demon. Beautifully shot movie with an amazing soundtrack, questionable dialog, and uneven acting. That said, I have to admit I thoroughly enjoyed it despite its weaknesses. It has enough "WTF am I watching" moments to make it easy to recommend to those who are looking for an alternative to the usual "paranormal shit happens in a house" fare we get nowadays.
Click to expand...
I don't really consider The Neon Demon a horror film, but yeah, I found it totally absorbing. The movie gets super freaky in a way that will seem unearned and even pretentious to some viewers, but keep in mind that it's basically a hyperstylized odyssey through the cutthroat world of the fashion industry, expressed via violent metaphor. Even the most abstract and crazy stuff cleaves to that theme.

The soundtrack is a revelation. Instant classic.
 
K

kinggroin

Banned
Neon Demon is Refn high on Refn.


Probably my favorite work of his.


Edit: Went through a Jaws marathon yesterday and I've concluded that as bad as the sequels are, the fourth is far more entertaining than the third. Honestly, I don't get the vitriolic hate for Revenge in the face of 3D, comparatively.


Edit 2: So I'm sure you've seen me drop links here and there to stuff being done by the site I've co-founded and help run. It got me thinking that, with as much as folks here like to discuss horror, maybe some would be interested in joining our TTF13 group!

So, if any GAFers would like to get involved with the Thirteenth Floor (TTF13.com), perhaps get their name credited for a review, contribute an opinion piece or just offer some advice to improve things, I'm always open to it, and it'd be awesome for the whole thing to be community grown by like-minded genre fans (and hell, who knows, maybe one day it'll make us rich beyond our wildest dreams :p)

Anywho, send me a PM if you're interested or have questions.

---gross self-promotion over---
 
V

Violence Jack

Member
Monocle said:
I don't really consider The Neon Demon a horror film, but yeah, I found it totally absorbing. The movie gets super freaky in a way that will seem unearned and even pretentious to some viewers, but keep in mind that it's basically a hyperstylized odyssey through the cutthroat world of the fashion industry, expressed via violent metaphor. Even the most abstract and crazy stuff cleaves to that theme.

The soundtrack is a revelation. Instant classic.
Click to expand...

This is sounding more and more like a modern day Dario Argento movie with Goblin doing the soundtrack. I can't wait to see it.
 
J

John Rabbit

Banned
cmp_dv_98_WNUF_WebRes_.jpg


Watched this over the weekend. Every single person in this thread who hasn't already seen this needs to watch at their earliest possible convenience. One of the best horror films I've probably ever seen.

Occasionally strains your suspension of disbelief a little too far and meanders into "bad corny" instead of "good corny" territory a few minscule times, but goddamn the dedication to the theme and the presentation in this is basically unparalleled.
 
K

kinggroin

Banned
Violence Jack said:
This is sounding more and more like a modern day Dario Argento movie with Goblin doing the soundtrack. I can't wait to see it.
Click to expand...

Not sure if I'd classify the soundtrack (dope as it is) as Goblin-esque. The rest is definitely vintagr Argento, down to the awkward acting at times.

John Rabbit said:
cmp_dv_98_WNUF_WebRes_.jpg


Watched this over the weekend. Every single person in this thread who hasn't already seen this needs to watch at their earliest possible convenience. One of the best horror films I've probably ever seen.

Occasionally strains your suspension of disbelief a little too far and meanders into "bad corny" instead of "good corny" territory a few minscule times, but goddamn the dedication to the theme and the presentation in this is basically unparalleled.
Click to expand...

I've slept on this a few times. So it's good huh? I'll have to queue it up.
 
B

Brian_FETO

Banned
Violence Jack said:
This is sounding more and more like a modern day Dario Argento movie with Goblin doing the soundtrack. I can't wait to see it.
Click to expand...
There's a lot of Argento. Beautiful visuals, creepy/dreamlike atmosphere, and hard turns to over-the-top stupid excess. The killer soundtrack is there too but it's synthy eurobeats rather than synthy prog rock

A lot of the negative criticisms are just from people who like things like "logic" and "rationality", fuck em
 
MattyH

MattyH

Member
John Rabbit said:
cmp_dv_98_WNUF_WebRes_.jpg


Watched this over the weekend. Every single person in this thread who hasn't already seen this needs to watch at their earliest possible convenience. One of the best horror films I've probably ever seen.

Occasionally strains your suspension of disbelief a little too far and meanders into "bad corny" instead of "good corny" territory a few minscule times, but goddamn the dedication to the theme and the presentation in this is basically unparalleled.
Click to expand...

I imported this a few years back (I'm in uk) and it's a fun little film great companion piece to ghostwatch
 
K

kinggroin

Banned
So I'm putting a little article together where each staff member chooses their favorite deadite (along with why - complimented with a money shot and video clip). It's crazy though, thinking on which one to pick made me realize just how much shit Ash has gone through and how many deadites he's had to dispose along the way,

Howabout you guys? What's your favorite?




BattleMonkey said:
It's streaming on Shudder if you got that
Click to expand...

I do, thanks.
 
D

Dandy Crocodile

Member
John Rabbit said:
cmp_dv_98_WNUF_WebRes_.jpg


Watched this over the weekend. Every single person in this thread who hasn't already seen this needs to watch at their earliest possible convenience. One of the best horror films I've probably ever seen.

Occasionally strains your suspension of disbelief a little too far and meanders into "bad corny" instead of "good corny" territory a few minscule times, but goddamn the dedication to the theme and the presentation in this is basically unparalleled.
Click to expand...
My ex actually has one of the original VHS tapes this was distributed on.
The atmosphere and theme are spot on but I felt like there were too many commercials after the original novelty of them wore off and the actual plot was too thin and hokey to really be entertaining.
 
B

Brian_FETO

Banned
acohrs said:
Yeah, really enjoy that film.

what did you think of the twist that it was the date?
Click to expand...
Saw it coming a mile away. Dude was suspicious from the get go. The whole first part of that movie I was going nuts because I knew there was something I didn't know. The thing with him leaving the house was telegraphing that he knew he wouldn't be harmed

There's red herrings motive-wise, figured it could've been something to do with the parents being involved in whatever Fascist group the son mentions at the beginning. Or even something as weird as teachers dating students, which would've also explained the first people killed. They mention briefly that the date was her teacher/tutor in the past at the dinner table.
 
M

More_Badass

Member
It's technically not horror, but I finally saw 2001 and it absolutely nails some cosmic horror aspects. The monoliths are these powerful entities beyond our comprehension, with goals and ambitions too alien for us to understand, and our first contact with them is absolutely terrifying, which it probably would be when you have a being like that trying to communicate with a human.

This scene in particular dipped into horror for me. It builds this overwhelming scene of dread and foreboding through the isolation and framing and rising music and the presence of the monolith

You can tell Alien was probably inspired by this too; the approach to the monolith reminded me a lot of the scene where the crew investigates the derelict ship

3NZtOKHl.jpg


And of course HAL defined the detached dangerous AI gone awry.
 
A

acohrs

Member
Brian_FETO said:
Saw it coming a mile away. Dude was suspicious from the get go. The whole first part of that movie I was going nuts because I knew there was something I didn't know. The thing with him leaving the house was telegraphing that he knew he wouldn't be harmed

There's red herrings motive-wise, figured it could've been something to do with the parents being involved in whatever Fascist group the son mentions at the beginning. Or even something as weird as teachers dating students, which would've also explained the first people killed. They mention briefly that the date was her teacher/tutor in the past at the dinner table.
Click to expand...

Yeah thats a great point how the very first scene of the film is him and his student romantically involved going to his family get together. Total redflag of his character there
 
B

Brian_FETO

Banned
acohrs said:
Yeah thats a great point how the very first scene of the film is him and his student romantically involved going to his family get together. Total redflag of his character there
Click to expand...
From the first scene in the car his mannerisms are just very shaky and nervous. He stops the father from opening the closet. There's even some hammed up foreshadowing dialogue from him, there's a conversation like "yeah.....should be interesting when the rest of the family arrives tomorrow....." "...what do you mean by that?" "Oh nothing"
 
L

lordxar

Member
More_Badass said:
It's technically not horror, but I finally saw 2001 and it absolutely nails some cosmic horror aspects. The monoliths are these powerful entities beyond our comprehension, with goals and ambitions too alien for us to understand, and our first contact with them is absolutely terrifying, which it probably would be when you have a being like that trying to communicate with a human.

This scene in particular dipped into horror for me. It builds this overwhelming scene of dread and foreboding through the isolation and framing and rising music and the presence of the monolith

You can tell Alien was probably inspired by this too; the approach to the monolith reminded me a lot of the scene where the crew investigates the derelict ship

3NZtOKHl.jpg


And of course HAL defined the detached dangerous AI gone awry.
Click to expand...

I rewatched this not too long ago myself and it does have a really good horror vibe to it. All this needed was a slightly different angle and it may have been Alien before Alien lol.
 
K

kinggroin

Banned
Hey guys, not sure if you've heard of Chris McInroy or his short film "Bad Guy #2", but he recently completed production on his next ultra-violent short, "Death Metal" and it's currently making the festival rounds. If you can appreciate polished practical fx work then I highly recommend keeping an eye on his career, the dude invests a LOT into that particular bank. Plus, from the last time I spoke with him, the next project will be a feature length werewolf film.

Here's an article our site wrote about "Death Metal" in particular - http://www.ttf13.com/news/2016/9/20...oys-ultra-gory-riff-hits-the-festival-circuit

but if you'd rather not give us the click, here's a direct link to his previous short film (highly recommended to watch) and a teaser for the current one:

https://vimeo.com/128166838 - Bad Guy #2

https://vimeo.com/177640343 - Death Metal
 
A

acohrs

Member
Brian_FETO said:
From the first scene in the car his mannerisms are just very shaky and nervous. He stops the father from opening the closet. There's even some hammed up foreshadowing dialogue from him, there's a conversation like "yeah.....should be interesting when the rest of the family arrives tomorrow....." "...what do you mean by that?" "Oh nothing"
Click to expand...

lot I missed that on first watch, if I rewatched it I think I'd see all your points
 
Darkangel

Darkangel

Member
Friends and I want to see a movie tonight and we're trying to decide between Blaire Witch or Don't Breathe.

Don't Breathe seems to have better reviews, but I figured I'd see what GAF has to say.
 
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