Is this maybe a reply to my comment over here?
Nope, I was answering this question: Are there any scary films other than The Thing and Alien?
Oh. I did mean fiction. In that we can enjoy the scare.
Real life has a proven supremacy in dehumanising terror.
Might as well post videos of the familial gassings by the Khmer Rouge. But I get the point.
4 Likes
When it came out, and for many years thereafter, The Exorcist was considered one of the scariest films ever made. Its reputation seems to have fallen in the past few years, though I donāt know why. I still find it to be terrifying in a completely unique way.
The original Japanese film of The Ring has one of the most terrifying moments in cinema when you know who emerges from the you know what.
And the Japanese version of The Grudge is also pretty damn scary.
1 Like
I dunno, by the mid-80s I remember hearing ads on the radio for showings of the Exorcist with a very Rocky Horror type vibe. They were explicitly inviting people to come and laugh.
I spent many summers at a sleepaway camp in the Catskills called āChipinaw.ā One year the drama instructor was the actor William Forsythe (later of Raising Arizona and many other films). He directed me that summer in Greaseāa great guy and a lot of fun. My point, at this moment, is that he did an incredible impression of Linda Blair when her head was turning. And he told us how he would sit in the theater during a screening of The Exorcist and do this, puffing up his cheeks, hissing, and swiveling his head as far as he could. Said it scared the hell out of the people sitting behind him.
1 Like
Great article, thanks for sharing. I thought Leviathan (1989) directed by George P. Cosmatos and starring [Robocop] Peter Weller was pretty damn good and was certainly inspired by isolation and uncertainty of John Carpenterās The Thing. I find it coincidentally ironic that The Abyss, also a mind-bending underwater classic starring [Kyle Rees] Michael Biehn also came out that year; the former being a box office flop, though I think in terms of an anthropomorphic existential horror or whatever, it kept the mutagenic momentum going.
1 Like
Iāve always interpreted āexistential horrorā to mean that the antagonistic force/entity/whatnot literally not only forces us to question the meaning of our own existence and the constructs weāve created (material, philosophical, cultural, religious, etc.) but may also threaten the very fabric of that existence entirely. H.P. Lovecraft, anyone?
2 Likes
I know, huh? Iāve always found horror movies so meh, in general. @popobawa4u makes a good point about them lacking diversity in the means of horror generation; perhaps most of them could be more accurately called terror movies. Itās a tall order to terrify me for one via a screen, but Iām sure it should be a lot easier to horrify me, given sufficiently perverse imagination.
The Exorcist left me totally cold, probably because I find Christianity and particularly Catholicism so tired and sillyā¦ even The Shining barely registered on the scale for me. The biggest scare I can remember getting is from Stir of Echoes, when Kevin Baconās character turns around and the ghost has appeared on the couch, but I consider that a cheap shot, very well executed.
The fact my favourite horror movie is a spoof probably says enough about my esteem for the genre, but then Evil Dead 2, aside from being pretty damn funny, is less typical and perhaps more Lovecraftian than most.
I have to agree about Gravity - itās the most physically affecting thing Iāve ever seen on the screen. The suspense is so intense and unrelenting, and the relatively realistic yet completely extreme and thoroughly spectacular setting totally sells it. I hate how I didnāt get to see it at IMAX, dammit. It was great enough at a normal cinema, but it really suffers on the 40" at homeā¦ maybe I just need to watch it with the screen in my face.
3 Likes
I like Leviathan quite a bit, but itās a B-movie and no more. The Thing is a much higher level of film-makingāa classic. No one is ever going to mistake a film directed by Cosmatos for Carpenterās best work.
1 Like
It Follows (2014) is a great suspenseful āhorrorā movie without the gore for goreās sake. A good āpoltergeist you canāt shake offā film and executed on a surprisingly low 2 million dollar budget. The Evil Dead remake (2013) was bloody terrible and filmed for 17 million. I found It Follows to weave together all the right elements, and the writer/director David Robert Mitchell is one whose work I will look for onward, especially if he does more horror. I donāt scare easily but this one gave me chills. I think the genre began itās decline in early 2000 with SAW and itās progeny, where the suspense was built upon a known gruesome fate, when fear of the unknown is more interesting and scary IMO. Eli Roth redeemed himself of this and his Hostel films with Knock Knock, though not a horror per se. Iād recommend you watch It Follows if you havenāt, itās well worth a watch and on Netflix.
1 Like
I saw The Thing on the day it opened in 1982, right after I had seen Blade Runner. (And I, too, saw The Shining on opening day and saw that infamous scene.) Itās amazing how a film that received such little acclaim upon release (thanks greatly to E.T.'s huge success), has now reached such a revered status and is now considered an iconic horror/sci-fi film whose stature only continues to grow. It never seems dated, the incredible f/x by Rob Bottin not only hold up, they have yet to be beat. From the original story by Newark, NJ native John W. Campbell, Jr., to William Lancasterās script to Carpenterās direction, Dean Cundeyās photography, Ennio Morriconeās score and that amazing cast led by Kurt Russell, The Thing is without a doubt one of the best horror films ever, if not the best. Great article and recollections - long live The Thing!
2 Likes
Those are the only two movies that, even to this very day, I have nightmares about. As much as I love those movies, the very idea of the Thing and the xenomorph I find utterly terrifying. I can think of no cinematic horrors that have affected me even remotely like those two did.
3 Likes
It probably doesnāt measure up to Carpenterās best work, but I think Of Unknown Origin (Peter Weller destroys his home and life trying to kill a rat which may or, just as likely, may not be smarter than the average) is a great film.
Also, I loved Cobra, but that may be more camp appreciation.
After seeing the excellent reviews for It Follows, have to say I was disappointed. Not sure why, but it didnāt seem even remotely scary to me.
No one has mentioned āI, Madman,ā but itās a pretty great 1980s B-movie made with great care and a damn scary antagonist!
That The Martian is a remake of E.T. from E.T.'s POV?
1 Like
This topic was automatically closed after 5 days. New replies are no longer allowed.
