| Author | Message | ||
     John Llewellyn Probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.152.74.159 |
So how is everyone spending this weekend? We're just about to go out to the Cube cinema in Bristol to enjoy a live set of immersive synthesised Lovecraftian mood music (it says here) and electronica covers of horror film soundtracks, followed by a big screen showing of the new HD print of Dario Argento's Suspiria. We've even dressed up for the occasion - apart from a white shirt I'm in black (with a black cravat instead of the usual tie) and Lady P in her green velvet looks as if she has just walked off the set of a Hammer film. Is anyone else planning on trying to scare people?  | ||
| Matt_cowan (Matt_cowan) Username: Matt_cowan Registered: 04-2008 Posted From: 68.249.107.42 |
Halloween is my favorite holiday. We're hosting a big party tonight with a murder mystery dinner, games, story readings, horror-themed food, etc. I reread Ramsey's "Apples" today for the season. | ||
| Simon Bestwick (Simon_b) Username: Simon_b Registered: 10-2008 Posted From: 86.24.209.217 |
Just watched the original 'Haunting'. Now- watch another horror movie, or try and write a short story for the occasion? Decisions, decisions. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.31.194.128 |
Just been to a Paul Magrs book launch. Was fun. | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 85.222.86.21 |
Who mate? I could have used Wikipedia, but that would be dishonest. Simon - The Haunting. I'll never tire of watching that film. But I still have problems deciding whether it or Night of the Demon is the better film. It's an even match probably. | ||
| Simon Bestwick (Simon_b) Username: Simon_b Registered: 10-2008 Posted From: 86.24.209.217 |
...and followed up 'The Haunting' with 'Session 9', as someone was suggesting here the other day. Now thoroughly creeped out. Nearly shat a brick when some trick or treaters knocked on earlier. (Assuming they were trick or treaters, anyway. Didn't answer the door. I'm not bloody taking chances after that double bill.) | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 85.222.86.21 |
Just been sent the link for The Walking Dead. Watched the first five minutes. Maybe the best zombie film/series I've EVER seen since Night of the Living Dead. I cannot believe just how good it is. | ||
| Jamie Rosen (Jamie) Username: Jamie Registered: 11-2008 Posted From: 99.240.203.201 |
I watched the Mystery Science Theatre 3000 episode "Night of the Blood Beast" while eating pizza and Reese's Pieces candy. The candy is orange and black, which is nicely Hallowe'en-y. Tomorrow I shall massacre an empty box of breakfast food in preparation for visiting a friend's for Hallowe'en proper, as I shall be in costume as a cereal killer.  I might watch something spooky once I get home, depending on what the ladyfriend says. | ||
| John Forth (John) Username: John Registered: 05-2008 Posted From: 82.132.139.220 |
We're four films into the Frightfest Halloween all-nighter (three to go). Unsurprisingly a mixed bag so far, with Japanese film Confessions probably the best of the bunch. It remains to be seen if I will remain conscious for the next film, which I can't even remember the name of... | ||
| Kate (Kathleen) Username: Kathleen Registered: 09-2009 Posted From: 81.152.74.159 |
Alas, the night was a bit of a shambles.  After nearly an hour wait (clearly just a scam to make you spend money at the bar while you're killing time), two guys took the stage with their Macs. The "Lovecraftian music" consisted of some synthesised rhythm and dancey-trancey stuff. It it hadn't been for the backdrop of Night of the Living Dead on the screen behind them, we'd have fallen asleep. There followed an unnecessary 30-minute interval. The second guy was on his own with a mixer board and a keyboard. He did the same thing while a succession of repetitive images played on the screen. By now we were wanting to leave, but it would have been a shame to suffer through all that only to miss Suspiria, which was the main reason we were there. Another unconscionable wait before FINALLY, at just gone 11 (we'd been there since 7.30), they started the film! This is the same cinema that showed The Red Shoes in the wrong aspect, so we've learnt to expect some technical incompetence. This time someone had to go downstairs and tell them to turn down the pop music in the bar, as it was drowning out the film. The audience was properly weird too. They laughed at literally *everything* and John and I kept exchanging baffled looks. We got as far as Udo Kier's dubbed appearance and decided we'd had enough of the people talking behind us, not to mention the near-freezing conditions in the cinema. Clearly they don't make enough money to afford to heat the place. We try to support small venues and events like this, but they just seem to shoot themselves in the foot. | ||
| Ramsey Campbell (Ramsey) Username: Ramsey Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.93.21.68 |
Dear Lord, that sounds like an awful evening. I suppose our worst experience in a cinema where we expected them to know better was in the Plaza in Crosby, at a double bill of the two Lewton Cat People films. All the famously quiet scenes were ruined by the projectionist talking at full volume to a friend in the booth. When I complained the person in charge seemed not to understand why I did. For Halloween I'm on a panel at Grimmfest at 2. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.31.194.128 |
Why do cinemas always assume horror fans like staying up late? I'm knackered come 8pm. | ||
| Hubert (Hubert) Username: Hubert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 78.22.237.21 |
Pumpkin soup for me, a quiet stroll on the nearby cemetary grounds (there is a marvelous jewish section which looks like something out of a Hammer film, vine creepers protruding from splintered slabs and all), and a lot of reading, not necessarily genre stuff. | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 85.222.86.21 |
John/Kate - rectify last night with four films in a row. Write down the names of 20 horror films that you love. Get Kate to do the same. Throw them in a hat, pick out three each, and go with them. Or two each. | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 85.222.86.21 |
I obviously can't count. | ||
| Kate (Kathleen) Username: Kathleen Registered: 09-2009 Posted From: 81.152.74.159 |
LOL @ Frank - but hey, you made me laugh!  Ramsey, that's simply awful. And yeah, I've had the same experience of blank-faced confusion when I've complained about something that ought to have been obvious. Utterly baffling. And I'm with you, Gary! It's dark in the cinema no matter what time of day it is.  | ||
| Patrick Walker (Patrick_walker) Username: Patrick_walker Registered: 01-2010 Posted From: 79.79.184.34 |
I did a horror all-nighter last year for Hallowe'en. There were about forty of us in the cinema. I took some sandwiches in tin foil and a flask of tea. It began at 11pm with Saw Twenty Three or whichever one is was, which was, as far as I was concerned, dull as dishwater. And ditchwater. Then came Alien: The Director's Cut. Well worth a watch on the big screen of course. Then came Child's Play and I took this opportunity to have forty winks. The last film was to be Let The Right One In, which I was curious about. At ten to five, before it began, the cinema manager came in and said, "well done everyone for sticking with it up till now. Just to warn you all that the last film tonight has got subtitles so we're going to put on an alternative teen comedy/vampire movie in the sceen next door as an alternative". Absolutely everyone cleared out except myself and literally four others. I was a bit wasted at this point but the moment the film began I was transfixed for the next two hours. I left the cinema at the crack of dawn and walked the four or five miles home across misty fields. I'll always remember that. It was beautiful. This year the cinema did it again but the only film worth seeing was Psycho plus they'd upped the ticket price. So I stayed in and read a book. | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 85.222.86.21 |
Patrick - you are indeed a trooper, but for 'Let The Right One In', it was undoubtedly worth it, plus the walk across misty fields, too. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.31.194.128 |
I wanted to go see REC2 in Leeds and the only showing was at fucking midnight! Like, up for work the next day at 6:45 . . . durrr. | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 85.222.86.21 |
I'm lucky this year because tomorrow is a day off for the entire country as it's all Saints Day. So I can celebrate Halloween properly without worrying what time I have to get up. Mind you, these days I'm usually in bed for 11. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.31.194.128 |
So am I. Having gone there at 9pm, that's where I usually am at 11, too. | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 85.222.86.21 |
I can have it arranged that you'll spend the rest of your life in bed at all hours of the day for generating yet more 'dad' humour round these parts  | ||
| Matthew Fryer (Matthew_fryer) Username: Matthew_fryer Registered: 08-2009 Posted From: 90.195.182.42 |
I'll be watching all 3 episodes of the Mark Gatiss History of Horror series with my wife, hoping all the while that we don't get too many trick or treaters so I can scoff the big bowl of goodies. Although that big grave I put in the window seems to be attracting them, damn it. | ||
| Allybird (Allybird) Username: Allybird Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 88.111.132.33 |
Spartan Girl and Vampire Lass have come back from Trick or Treating. Highlight of the night so far... Skeleton Tot at the door-so small we didn't see him at first. | ||
| Seanmcd (Seanmcd) Username: Seanmcd Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 217.39.90.36 |
Having both sets of parents down tonight for some good old steaming Irish stew (straight out of the cauldron) followed by apple tart and custard. Then when they've all gone we'll settle down to watch the 'Psychoville' Halloween special. Then a suitable horror for the kids, 'Creepshow', Heh Heh! | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.31.194.128 |
Frank, come on, I'll have ya! | ||
| Simon Bestwick (Simon_b) Username: Simon_b Registered: 10-2008 Posted From: 86.24.209.217 |
Just watched the full-length director's cut of The Exorcist, which scared the bejazus out of me, atheist or not. Next up... 'Creep', 'Quatermass and the Pit', 'The Devil's Backbone', 'Hour of the Wolf' or 'The Mist'? 'Hour of the Wolf', I think. Never seen it before... | ||
| Carolinec (Carolinec) Username: Carolinec Registered: 06-2009 Posted From: 92.232.199.129 |
I've had a great Halloween weekend at the Halifax Ghost Story Festival. I'll do a little "write up" about it on the appropriate thread tomorrow - just got back and I'm too tired tonight. (nice to see you there yesterday, Ally ) | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.17.252.126 |
I'm getting very excited at the imminent beginning of the Psychoville Special! 'Hour Of The Wolf' is extraordinary - and should be much better known and lauded imho. | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 85.222.86.21 |
Simon - The Mist. Hour of the Wolf, the French film. If so, a good film, but the 18th century kung fu can be a bit much to take. No, I'm not drunk. | ||
| Simon Bestwick (Simon_b) Username: Simon_b Registered: 10-2008 Posted From: 86.24.209.217 |
Frank- I think you mean Brotherhood of the Wolf, which indeed rocks, but is not the same film. Hour of the Wolf is Ingmar Bergman, and some decidedly unsettling shit. | ||
| Patrick Walker (Patrick_walker) Username: Patrick_walker Registered: 01-2010 Posted From: 79.79.184.34 |
Hey, Simon - and anyone else. I haven't seen The Exorcist in years, though I just read the novel which likewise scared the bejazus out of me, but also made me cry a little toward the end. So, wanting to see the film again, is the director's cut to be favoured over the regular version? Wocha fink? | ||
| Protodroid (Protodroid) Username: Protodroid Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 109.79.103.137 |
PSYCHO at the National Concert Hall in Dublin, with a live orchestra. It worked really well. Either a dialogue-only track existed or the back room boffins are now able to somehow remove music from a mono track. One old lady turned to her friend at the end, genuinely shocked: "So he was pretending to be his mother all along?" At home it was THE SIMPSONS HALLOWE'EN SPECIAL XIII, followed by the BBC 2 HORROR CAFE which I last saw in full on its only broadcast 20 years ago. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 99.126.164.88 |
Happy Reformation Sunday!!! I got into the spirit of things by nailing 95 theses to my door, and went around caroling "A Mighty Fortress Is My God" to various neighbors.... Yeah. Me, I'm sitting here, right now, with a cake-mix plastic bowl filled with bite-sized Twix... and not one little muther has showed up yet....  | ||
| Jamie Rosen (Jamie) Username: Jamie Registered: 11-2008 Posted From: 99.241.48.210 |
After singing an inordinate amount of karaoke -- which is scary for everyone around me -- I came home and watched a very independent, low budget film called "In Search of Lovecraft". For the most part the acting and staging made the film resemble a porn movie without the sex, and at no point could this be considered good, but there are some decent bits. To give you some idea of the quality, though, the latter portion of the film is set in a house with no power, and in one scene one of the character turns off the light in the bedroom closet. | ||
| Allybird (Allybird) Username: Allybird Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 88.111.132.33 |
Good to see you Caroline | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
No, the 1960s black-and-white Ingmar Bergman movie - you numpty! | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Patrick, now read 'Legion'. It is one of the greatest literary horror experiences you will ever have. I have the 'Exorcist' director's cut on DVD and still haven't felt the time was right to watch it. | ||
| Kate (Kathleen) Username: Kathleen Registered: 09-2009 Posted From: 81.152.74.159 |
Re: THE EXORCIST John and I watched the director's cut last Xmas. I'd seen the original version many times before and John had never seen it at all. The spider-walk scared me more than anything else in the film, but we both agreed with Friedkin's reasons for ultimately cutting it. Also - the extra added "subliminals" are too much. I think there are only two in the original, which was far more subtle. I think the film is best seen in its original version, with the spider-walk as a deleted scene. | ||
| Protodroid (Protodroid) Username: Protodroid Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 109.79.76.99 |
Hmm, here's a thing: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00vhfjn/The_League_of_Gentlemens_Ghost_Cha se/ Anyone see their Hallowe'en Special? More horror than comedy I thought, but the "baby" dunking for apples still made me laugh out loud. | ||
| Patrick Walker (Patrick_walker) Username: Patrick_walker Registered: 01-2010 Posted From: 79.79.184.34 |
I've read Legion, Stevie; twice in fact. It really is the one of the very great horror novels. The second time I read it was in the hospital when my daughter was born. Talk about time and place! It's being reissued in Spring, by the way. | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 85.222.86.21 |
Simon - I am a d**k. Bergman. I've even seen it. Long time ago. Time for me to go and jump off a cliff for people who know nowt about movies, or embarrass themselves silly. What a t**t. | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 85.222.86.21 |
That's like mistaking On The Buses for Nosferatu. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.17.252.126 |
I keep telling people this, but I just recently read it for the first time, back-to-back with 'The Exorcist' (for the second time), and it was the most frightening reading experience I have possibly ever had. The two books are inseparable in my mind now. Blatty's film of 'Legion' is also a horror classic imo (changed ending notwithstanding) - I just wish they'd retitle it. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.17.252.126 |
It's not that serious, Frank lol. | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 85.222.86.21 |
Steve - just emailed you, mate. | ||
| Patrick Walker (Patrick_walker) Username: Patrick_walker Registered: 01-2010 Posted From: 79.79.184.34 |
You're right, Stevie. Even as the movie stands (something of an bastardisation of Blatty's vision) it's easily one of the best horror films of the 90s, and certainly my favourite. I'm constantly drawn to it - and I almost never watch a film more than once. But as for the novels, I know I read them out-of-sequence, but I got a real thrill when Kinderman appeared in the first novel as a peripheral character and perhaps enjoyed his scenes best of all. Now if only Blatty would write another Kinderman novel... By the way, just to put in my own two-pence worth, I'm a huge Bergman fan but never cared much for Hour of the Wolf. Winter Light, Cries and Whispers and Scenes from a Marriage really do it for me. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.17.252.126 |
It's the film that convinced me I should investigate Bergman, after watching it as a "gothic horror masterpiece" - which it certainly is. It left me deeply unsettled and disoriented, in a way that only the films of David Lynch or Jan Svankmajer usually do. I was also struck by the similarities to 'The Shining' - frustrated artist, with serious personality flaws and a guilty past, gets away from it all with his spouse to a gloriously bleak and isolated location, hoping it will inspire his creativity. Then begins a series of impossible encounters with ghostly strangers who seduce him into a different way of thinking, while his wife too comes to share his "hallucinations", and his very identity is gradually subsumed, etc... Having said that, my favourite Bergman is 'Wild Strawberries' - a film that has everything, not least terror! | ||
| John Forth (John) Username: John Registered: 05-2008 Posted From: 82.24.1.217 |
Blatty's LEGION contains one of the most chilling chapters I've ever read in a horror novel, and it's not even about the central possession/mystery. One of the central doctors is considering assorted horrific (but real) mental conditions, and listing some terrifying symptoms, some of which really shook me (I don't have my copy to hand to give any examples). I love the film too - it contains one of my favourite dream sequences. Like Stevie, though, I do wish they'd release a re-titled, original cut. As for my halloween activities - Esther and I went to the FrightFest all-nighter at Leicester Square for a seven movie marathon. Good fun, but exhausing. Alas, technical issues meant that the last two films that were due to be shown didn't go ahead, but replacements were hastily arranged. For anyone who's interested, here's my thoughts on the movies I saw. CONFESSIONS (Tetsuya Nakashima) is non-linear story about the aftershocks of a teacher's revenge on two students she believes are responsible for the death of her child. It's occasionally a little too stylish for its own good, but the performances are good and there are some very powerful moments. ALTITUDE (Kaare Andrews) has a nice, Twilight Zone set-up, but wastes it with generic Hollywood 'pretty' casting and a script that is mostly dire and which cribs most of its best ideas from Stephen King (The Langoliers and The Regulators principally). The climax is unwittingly hilarious. This was the real clunker of the night. THE SILENT HOUSE (no credited director) is a Uruguyan haunted house story shot, supposedly, in one continuous take. I'm a bit dubious, as there are several scenes where it falls into deep enough shadow to allow a cut, but I suppose you gotta have a gimmick these days! Anyway, there are some good scares in there, but the story loses its way towards the end with a twist that almost makes Switchblade Romance look coherent. Also, the nature of the single take means that we spend a lot of time following the main character around as she investigates seemingly every shelf in the house. It's a bit like watching a completist play a computer game. CHOOSE (Marcus Graves) or 'Shoes' or 'Cheese' as we variously referred to it at various points is a slightly cynical attempt to kickstart a new Saw-style franchise. The killer's USP here is that he forces his victims to choose their punishment (e.g. a concert pianist must choose whether he looses his fingers or his hearing). It's actually quite restrained, and has a decent cast, but is ultimately a bit dull. The ending is, once again, a calamity. Have scriptwriters lost the knack of writing a decent climax to their films? At this point, various technical issues meant that the next film (THE REEF, which looked like it was just going to be OPEN WATER with more people) was postponed and we moved on to: RARE EXPORTS: A CHRISTMAS TALE (Jalmari Helander). This Finnish film is about a young boy in a remote community who believes that Santa Claus is real and that he is, in fact, a giant pagan God who is buried in a nearby mountain. A mountain which, of course, is currently being excavated. This is a deliberately silly, but enjoyable film, which is happy to have its young protagonists pursued through the snow by an army of Santa's elves - in this case hairy, skinny, naked old tramps with weapons. I can happily say I've never seen anything like it. By this time it was confirmed that THE REEF was dead in the water, and that the final film that was due to be shown (I forget what it was called) was also wiped out. The last minute replacement was a British movie named SPIDERHOLE, which was about a bunch of vile art-school wankers who move into a squat to find themselves locked in and tortured by some mad doctor. It's a totally charmless effort, which sent me to sleep despite the screaming. After that, the second replacement film was the Shyamalamanamanana-produced DEVIL, which neither of us fancied, so it was off into the early London morning to make our way back home for a long, well-deserved sleep. Subsequently, halloween itself totally passed us by. | ||
| Jamie Rosen (Jamie) Username: Jamie Registered: 11-2008 Posted From: 99.241.48.210 |
Was CONFESSIONS also released as part of the Art of the Devil series? Because that sounds similar to one of the AotD films I was reading about today... | ||
| Jamie Rosen (Jamie) Username: Jamie Registered: 11-2008 Posted From: 99.241.48.210 |
And I answer my own question -- the Art of the Devil series is Thai. nevermind. | ||
| Weber (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.55 |
halloween is my mother's birthday (I really am a sone of a witch) and this year she turned 60!!! so it was up to Newcastle and the largest gathering of my family - immediate and extended - since my Gran's 80th more than a decade ago. I gave my mother a copy of The Road on DVD with a ticket for Motorhead at the Manchester Apollo in two weeks time folded up in the packaging. I've never seen her so excited about anything before. If she could walk she'd have been dancing round the room! I think it's released her inner teenager. | ||
| Weber (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.55 |
On a more irritating note, because I wasn't at home to change the time setting on my freeview recorder (with the clocks going back) I missed the Psychoville Halloween special. Buggrit! | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Can't you watch it on BBC iPlayer. That's something I've only recently got to grips with myself, and finally got to see the last episode of 'A History Of Horror' last night on it. | ||
| Weber (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.55 |
I'm not online at home, so no. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Against my better judgement, and because it's Hammer and half-price Tuesday, I think I'll go see 'Let Me In' tonight... there is literally feck all else on. |