The Horror List Discussion and Suggestions (Genre Project)

An ongoing project to survey the best films of individual decades, genres, and filmmakers.
Post Reply
Message
Author
User avatar
zedz
Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 7:24 pm

Re: The Horror List Discussion and Suggestions (Genre Project)

#1601 Post by zedz » Mon Nov 04, 2019 10:13 pm

domino harvey wrote:
Mon Nov 04, 2019 9:41 pm
I liked Severance for finally figuring out a way to make a wilderness-set slasher work, and I think the big visual joke at the end with
SpoilerShow
the plane
is wickedly tasteless and audacious, but I don’t really remember much else about it other than that large portions of it seemed to exist solely to be able to say some variation of “It’s the Office meets Texas Chainsaw Massacre” on the DVD cover
I don't even remember your spoilered bit! But I agree with your closing assessment. It seemed more like a brainstorming / marketing idea that happened to get funded rather than a film that had any real need to exist.

User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: The Horror List Discussion and Suggestions (Genre Project)

#1602 Post by domino harvey » Mon Nov 04, 2019 10:16 pm

SpoilerShow
One of our heroes retrieves some kind of guided missile launcher to use in defense against the invading war criminals, only to launch it into the sky and down a commercial airliner instead

User avatar
zedz
Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 7:24 pm

Re: The Horror List Discussion and Suggestions (Genre Project)

#1603 Post by zedz » Tue Nov 05, 2019 4:37 pm

Today it's Mr Sausage's turn on the grill, as I watched one of his recommendations last night:

The Witch in the Window: I thought this was a terrific little film, for unexpected reasons. It started out with eye-rolling familiarity: broken family with a troubled, sullen pre-teen being shipped off to his father's newly acquired creaky Vermont mansion. It, of course, turns out to have a spooky past and there are weird noises and low level strange occurrences.

But: the film unfolds in a refreshingly non-hackneyed way. The relationship between the father and son is really well-acted and well-observed, with the boy emerging as more than just the sullen stereotype we initially expected. The supernatural stuff is not over-egged with jump scares, soundtrack stings or sinister camera angles, and one of the film's smartest moves is that, when the crunch comes, it's not at all coy about the nature of what the characters are experiencing.

The film manages to maintain an eerie mood without struggling to turn a very small, intimate story into a theme-park ride, though it does manage at least one memorable chill along the way - again with a familiar scene treated in an unfamiliar way:
SpoilerShow
when the father speaks with his ex-wife on the phone after Finn returns, and she reveals that he's actually with her, and thus the boy with him is just a manifestation of the local ghost. Rather than turning into a jump scare or attack, we instead get an extended long shot of the phone call, with the father slowly realizing what's going on and Finn / Lydia, also realizing that she'e been found out, slowly slumping down into an uncharacteristic pose.
Not every idea in the film is gold (there's probably a reason why we waited this long to see a haunted Magic Eye picture), but it's consistently, quietly smart about the choices it makes.

It emerges as a classical ghost story, though not so much a classical ghost movie.
SpoilerShow
Actually, the conclusion of the film is so oddly warm that it almost ends up not being a horror movie at all, following more of a literary tradition where ghosts aren't necessarily malevolent.
One of the real strengths of this film compared to a lot of other modern horror movies is that it has an excellent sense of scale. So many contemporary horror movies try to tell really big stories on really tight budgets. They often show a lot of resourcefulness in doing this, but it's always hard to buy an apocalypse that's mostly experienced by three characters on two sets. This story is modest enough that the minimal treatment actually feels expansive enough to stand in for a plausible world. Only two other characters are involved because that's all the story needs and, realistically, that's all that would even be aware that something's going on.

Warmly recommended.

User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: The Horror List Discussion and Suggestions (Genre Project)

#1604 Post by domino harvey » Tue Nov 05, 2019 9:38 pm

I can't decide if this sounds stupid or not
Hanukkah
"From the dreidel to the grave"
Obediah Lazarus is the son of Judah Lazarus, the original Hanukiller. In 1983, Judah terrorized NY for seven nights and was preparing to sacrifice his eight year old son, Obediah, on the eighth night. Judah was convinced it was God's will, like Abraham and Isaac, to sacrifice his only son to God. Luckily for Obediah, police tracked Judah down and stopped the sacrifice, but Judah was gunned down in the process. Warped by hatred with no guidance, Obediah Lazarus becomes a religious extremist, intolerant of non-Jews, bad Jews, and those he perceives to be enemies of the Jewish faith. He is about to unleash eight nights of horror. A group of Jewish teens are getting ready to party for the holidays, but are in for a Festival of Frights. With the help of a wise Rabbi, they deduce that the murder victims have violated Judaic law and that their only chance at survival is to embrace their faith.

User avatar
zedz
Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 7:24 pm

Re: The Horror List Discussion and Suggestions (Genre Project)

#1605 Post by zedz » Tue Nov 05, 2019 9:41 pm

Stupid, but that's a tagline for the ages.

User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: The Horror List Discussion and Suggestions (Genre Project)

#1606 Post by domino harvey » Tue Nov 05, 2019 9:44 pm

I suspect there's probably no chance any film could be made matching the above description that would be more enjoyable than just reading the above description

User avatar
swo17
Bloodthirsty Butcher
Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2008 10:25 am
Location: SLC, UT

Re: The Horror List Discussion and Suggestions (Genre Projec

#1607 Post by swo17 » Tue Nov 05, 2019 10:02 pm

For whatever reason you guys just reminded me of this must-see recommendation from zedz:
zedz wrote:
Tue Aug 08, 2017 11:07 pm
Just popping in to "recommend" the late Andrew Getty's insane The Evil Within. It's an overbudgeted labour of love, or desperation, or something, and it really has to be seen to be believed.

This is a bad, bad film in almost every conceivable way, but it's certainly not boring. Just when you think the film has finally found its woeful groove, some fresh absurdity is lurking around the corner. Try to imagine a filmmaker with Tommy Wiseau-level skills (and understanding of human behaviour), cursed with an unlimited budget, trying to make the kind of horror movie that somebody who wasn't really paying attention might think that David Lynch would make.

Our protagonist is a 'retard' (they don't just go there: they barely go anywhere else) who has a thing going on with a cursed mirror that orders him to perform escalating atrocities. Animatronics may be involved. This movie doesn't have the best mirror acting you've ever seen, but I'm pretty sure it has the most! Badly drawn and performed characters bumble into and out of the story, most meeting a sorry end, some just hanging in the air like a stale fart as narrative non sequiturs. The plot lurches and judders around scenes that were never shot, or possibly the disjunctions are because we're experiencing different generations of script filmed at different times.

What makes the film remarkable, and worth seeing once, is that there's a genuinely original visual imagination evident at times - often at inappropriate times, as when a bland dialogue scene is shot with a trippy, continually tracking / wiping editing scheme that Raul Ruiz would have dismissed as too eccentric. The fact that the filmmaker was a Getty heir means that every fanciful / misguided CGI or effects whim could be catered to, which is kind of unique for this kind of shitty film. Almost by accident, you get flashes of eccentrics like Jodorowsky, Ottinger or Ruiz in the middle of a turgid Z-grade genre exercise.

User avatar
zedz
Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 7:24 pm

Re: The Horror List Discussion and Suggestions (Genre Project)

#1608 Post by zedz » Tue Nov 05, 2019 10:14 pm

That is indeed a genuinely terrible film. But the WTF quotient is enough to make it traffic accident complusive.

User avatar
knives
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 6:49 pm

Re: The Horror List Discussion and Suggestions (Genre Project)

#1609 Post by knives » Wed Nov 06, 2019 8:27 pm

I actually liked these movies about the same. Just chalk the difference in my tone to the expectations game.

Frankenweenie (the remake)
This obviously begged the question about why this of all stories has remained attractive to Burton for so many decades. Certain things are perhaps obvious such as it giving Burton the ability to signpost '50s (though this is set in the '60s) suburban safety in a cutely gothic way. I'd like to pretend though that it has more to do with a personalized touch. It's a story with its goodness of characters presenting an optimistic look on an emotionally traumatizing time. The character of Victor lives a pretty miserable life even before Sparky dies, but Burton infuses these possible moments of sadness with humour and a caring which ensures that things seem positive. Take a look at Martin Short's father character. In a lesser film he'd be the terrible Sandler-esque dad who has to learn a lesson, but the film doesn't play out that way. Instead the film gives weight to his perspective and makes him not just well meaning, but an actually good father doing the right things as concerns arise. Even in the fatal baseball game Burton asks us to be sympathetic to the father even if Victor would rather be doing something else.

Berberian Sound Studio
I imagine this film would be even better if the DVD didn't subtitle the Italian in the initial hour. The tension in Jones' psychology seems largely formed by his inability to understand and so us understanding takes away from being absorbed in his tension. The nerve here isn't as raw as in Katalin Varga. This is a far more humourous film and it doesn't seem to treat it's protagonist with the same respect. That's a logical move given that what Jones' suffers isn't anywhere up to what she did, but I would have liked this more as less of a joke.

The fear of the unknown and feelings of isolation are great sources for the genre. Strickland handles it well giving a lot of care to the experience of those ideas. He crafts an excellent film, but I mean to say that it would become a great film with just a slight more sincerity towards its protagonist. Certain choices are great. Never seeing the film adds a lot whether it be maintaining the tone, leaving Jones' reaction ambiguous, or just not rendering the whole film a farce on every level. The repeated silence sign is a pleasantly creepy motif along with a myriad of other positives. Basically, when I think of the film I think of The Cremator, probably a bigger resource than any giallo, or The Belly of an Architect and how they handled a similar relationship to their protagonists in a superior fashion. The Greenaway in particular seems relevant given how that likewise deals with an absurd protagonist undergoing very real horrors. Despite Greeenaway seeming more wry in his artistic personality and developing the protagonist in the manner of joke sees the problem he faces as one worth empathizing with. I'm not sure if I get that here. Perhaps that is because of how obscure Strickland keeps elements of the horror.

User avatar
bottled spider
Joined: Thu Nov 26, 2009 2:59 am

Re: The Horror List Discussion and Suggestions (Genre Project)

#1610 Post by bottled spider » Thu Nov 07, 2019 11:07 am

Some Shakespeares that perhaps haven't been considered:
Macbeth (Rupert Goold, 2010) A faithful adaptation, in a non-specific Soviet Bloc setting, with Patrick Stewart as a Stalin-like Macbeth. This was definitely made in the style of a horror movie, so classifying it as such isn't a stretch.
Macbeth (Polanski). Well it's gruesome, and gratuitously titillating, so.
Throne of Blood (Kurosawa). While not gruesome or particularly frightening, the eeriness of it makes it a valid candidate.
Titus (Taymor). Yes?

Skimming through the 65 pages of this thread and some of the horror lists on Letterboxd, and seeing how wide the horror umbrella [<-- movie idea?] is, I'm wondering about these borderline cases:
Manuscripts Don't Burn (Mohammad Rasoulof, 2010). I don't know, it may do an injustice to the seriousness of the film to consider it horror. But I wouldn't blink at someone referring to it as a political thriller. So how about political horror?
The Honeymoon Killers (Leonard Kastle, 1970). IDMB tags it with Crime, Drama, Romance. 'Crime' is its own genre, of course, but we're not talking about bank heists here...
You are Not I (Sara Driver). Very mild, but if it isn't horror, what is it?
Cries and Whispers (Bergman). According to a list on Letterboxd, which I haven't fact checked*, Robert Eggers considers this a favourite horror film.
The Birthday Party (Pinter, Friedkin's or any other adaptation). Yes?

*someone posted a link: https://old.reddit.com/r/movies/comment ... e/f5loeq1/

User avatar
therewillbeblus
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:40 pm

Re: The Horror List Discussion and Suggestions (Genre Project)

#1611 Post by therewillbeblus » Thu Nov 07, 2019 11:55 am

You could make a case for many films as horror as far as I'm concerned, though now I'm curious to hear a persuasive interpretation of the Shakespeares considering his themes often disrupt a sense of safety from ideological systems to psychologically destructive ends, as discussed in that list project thread.

The Birthday Party is definitely in the realm of (anti-)social horror for me, and I'd say some of the Pinter/Losey collabs could qualify. The disorientation of identity hits those pregnable existential and psychological horror spots in my view, though how large of an inclusive criteria umbrella one casts for the genre is quite subjective even here.

User avatar
Dr Amicus
Joined: Thu Feb 15, 2007 10:20 am
Location: Guernsey

Re: The Horror List Discussion and Suggestions (Genre Project)

#1612 Post by Dr Amicus » Fri Nov 08, 2019 5:31 am

Friedkin's adaptation of The Birthday Party often gets discussed in books on British Horror, mainly thanks to being produced by Subotsky and Rosenberg, the owners of Amicus, rather than any links to The Exorcist. And, come to think of it, Polanski's Macbeth is usually included as well - I'm pretty sure it's in the excellent Ten Years of Terror: British Horror Films of the 1970s that Fab Press put out some years ago (if you can find a copy at a sensible price, this is very highly recommended).

User avatar
bottled spider
Joined: Thu Nov 26, 2009 2:59 am

Re: The Horror List Discussion and Suggestions (Genre Project)

#1613 Post by bottled spider » Sun Nov 17, 2019 10:33 am

Nadja (Almereyda, 1994). The over-the-top artsy-fartsy pretentiousness of this is great fun. Not to suggest this is camp or parody -- not exactly. The beauty is real, however tongue in cheek the artiness. Witty script, good story, great soundtrack.

The Invasion of the Bee Girls (Dennis Sanders, 1973). Female human/hymenoptera hybrids hump men to death. As terrifying as you might imagine. Diverting trash for a rainy Sunday afternoon. Watched via an antique VHS tape, courtesy of Ye Olde Video Rental Shoppe, the most suitable medium for it next to a midnight screening at a drive-in.

Sredni Vashtar (David Bradley, 1940). Recommended by swo17 one billion times on this forum (I counted) in every list project for which it is conceivably eligible. JUST WATCH IT ALREADY. It's ten minutes. It's on YouTube.

Alien (Ridley Scott, 1979). Not bad. Anybody seen it?

User avatar
swo17
Bloodthirsty Butcher
Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2008 10:25 am
Location: SLC, UT

Re: The Horror List Discussion and Suggestions (Genre Project)

#1614 Post by swo17 » Sun Nov 17, 2019 1:24 pm

Wow, how long did it take you to count all of them?

User avatar
bottled spider
Joined: Thu Nov 26, 2009 2:59 am

Re: The Horror List Discussion and Suggestions (Genre Project)

#1615 Post by bottled spider » Sun Nov 17, 2019 1:45 pm

Ten minutes.

User avatar
brundlefly
Joined: Fri Jun 13, 2014 12:55 pm

Re: The Horror List Discussion and Suggestions (Genre Project)

#1616 Post by brundlefly » Sun Nov 17, 2019 2:46 pm

bottled spider wrote:
Sun Nov 17, 2019 10:33 am
The Invasion of the Bee Girls (Dennis Sanders, 1973). Female human/hymenoptera hybrids hump men to death. As terrifying as you might imagine. Diverting trash for a rainy Sunday afternoon. Watched via an antique VHS tape, courtesy of Ye Olde Video Rental Shoppe, the most suitable medium for it next to a midnight screening at a drive-in.
This one also has a great (in a different way) soundtrack.

User avatar
bottled spider
Joined: Thu Nov 26, 2009 2:59 am

Re: The Horror List Discussion and Suggestions (Genre Project)

#1617 Post by bottled spider » Sun Nov 17, 2019 2:58 pm

Yes, you're right, and then the cherry on the top is
SpoilerShow
breaking out Also Sprach Zarathustra at the very end, the master stroke of a true artist

User avatar
therewillbeblus
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:40 pm

Re: The Horror List Discussion and Suggestions (Genre Project)

#1618 Post by therewillbeblus » Sun Nov 17, 2019 5:28 pm

bottled spider wrote:
Sun Nov 17, 2019 10:33 am
Sredni Vashtar (David Bradley, 1940). Recommended by swo17 one billion times on this forum (I counted) in every list project for which it is conceivably eligible. JUST WATCH IT ALREADY. It's ten minutes. It's on YouTube.
I must have missed all billion so thanks for the bump (and swo for constant championing)! This was terrific in essentially foreshadowing an entire subgenre, diluting the fat down to creepy essentials within ten minutes. My ears are now open to other shorts like this, if anyone has any recs

User avatar
swo17
Bloodthirsty Butcher
Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2008 10:25 am
Location: SLC, UT

Re: The Horror List Discussion and Suggestions (Genre Project)

#1619 Post by swo17 » Sun Nov 17, 2019 8:58 pm

I only learned about it from HerrSchreck championing it. Another one that I kind of mentally group with it is Falling Pink from Kino's avant-garde 3 set.

User avatar
therewillbeblus
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:40 pm

Re: The Horror List Discussion and Suggestions (Genre Project)

#1620 Post by therewillbeblus » Sun Nov 17, 2019 10:29 pm

Thanks, I’ll seek it out!

User avatar
bottled spider
Joined: Thu Nov 26, 2009 2:59 am

Re: The Horror List Discussion and Suggestions (Genre Project)

#1621 Post by bottled spider » Fri Nov 22, 2019 4:29 pm

Séance on a Wet Blanket (Bryan Forbes, 1964)
A parlour spiritualist, domineering but unhinged, plots a kidnapping for a publicity stunt, with the reluctant assistance of her browbeaten husband. Deluxe cinematography and tour-de-force acting are lavished on material better suited to a lurid, trashy thriller, or even a black comedy. One might say the 'objective correlative' is inadequate to the tragic emotions. Perhaps a clinically realistic portrayal of mental illness might have made a better vehicle for serious drama – or maybe the plot should have been re-envisioned without that aspect altogether. Further credibility gaps in a milquetoast husband capable of pulling off a daring abduction & money handoff, and the strange complacency of the kidnapping victim, are not satisfactorily resolved. I well understand the high regard this film commands, but for myself found it a bit stodgy in spite of its praiseworthy elements. In any event, its classification as horror is very debatable.

Twilight of the Cockroaches (Hiroaki Yoshida, 1987)
Now this is more like it!
A messy bachelor’s apartment is a paradise for the huge colony of cockroaches living there: no sprays, no traps, and plenty of food. When the homeowner’s girlfriend moves in, however, the party comes to an abrupt end, and the roaches must quickly adapt to a life of struggling for survival. Combines animation with live actors.
Just kidding. It's not that good. Not my cup of cockroaches.

User avatar
zedz
Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 7:24 pm

Re: The Horror List Discussion and Suggestions (Genre Project)

#1622 Post by zedz » Fri Nov 22, 2019 4:46 pm

therewillbeblus wrote:
bottled spider wrote:
Sun Nov 17, 2019 10:33 am
Sredni Vashtar (David Bradley, 1940). Recommended by swo17 one billion times on this forum (I counted) in every list project for which it is conceivably eligible. JUST WATCH IT ALREADY. It's ten minutes. It's on YouTube.
I must have missed all billion so thanks for the bump (and swo for constant championing)! This was terrific in essentially foreshadowing an entire subgenre, diluting the fat down to creepy essentials within ten minutes. My ears are now open to other shorts like this, if anyone has any recs
Great horror short: The Phone Box / El Cabina.

User avatar
therewillbeblus
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:40 pm

Re: The Horror List Discussion and Suggestions (Genre Project)

#1623 Post by therewillbeblus » Fri Nov 22, 2019 5:05 pm

bottled spider wrote:
Fri Nov 22, 2019 4:29 pm
Séance on a Wet Blanket
I see what you did there. I remember liking this fine, but not loving it. There's something about séances in horror films that intrigue me in ways other tropes of the supernatural subgenre fail to do, but since it's so rare to build a narrative around this ritual, with most simply featuring a scene or two, I expected more here. I'll be giving it another watch at some point though if only to gauge whether this impression is related to my expectations or the quality of the film.
zedz wrote:
Fri Nov 22, 2019 4:46 pm
Great horror short: The Phone Box / El Cabina.
That's a great one. I somehow never considered it in the context of horror, which is a great excuse to revisit. Thanks!

User avatar
swo17
Bloodthirsty Butcher
Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2008 10:25 am
Location: SLC, UT

Re: The Horror List Discussion and Suggestions (Genre Project)

#1624 Post by swo17 » Fri Nov 22, 2019 6:06 pm

What other context is there for it--informative for proper booth usage? It'll definitely make my horror list (and my next '70s list)

User avatar
Mr Sausage
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 9:02 pm
Location: Canada

The Horror List Discussion and Suggestions (Genre Project)

#1625 Post by Mr Sausage » Fri Nov 22, 2019 6:21 pm

therewillbeblus wrote:
bottled spider wrote:
Fri Nov 22, 2019 4:29 pm
Séance on a Wet Blanket
I see what you did there. I remember liking this fine, but not loving it. There's something about séances in horror films that intrigue me in ways other tropes of the supernatural subgenre fail to do, but since it's so rare to build a narrative around this ritual, with most simply featuring a scene or two, I expected more here. I'll be giving it another watch at some point though if only to gauge whether this impression is related to my expectations or the quality of the film.
Consider seeking out Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s adaptation, Seance. It’s an interesting film.

Post Reply