| Author | Message | ||
     Stephen Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.0.106.15 |
Thinking about the remakes of 'Friday The 13th', 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre', 'The Last House On The Left', 'The Omen', 'The Wicker Man', 'The Hills Have Eyes', 'Halloween II' (!!), 'The Haunting' (shudder), 'Psycho' (idiot), 'A Nightmare On Elm Street' (shooting), etc, etc, etc... got me wondering what new and original English language horror films of the 1990s-2000s would have us similarly up in arms if they were to be remade in 20 or 30 years time? Foreign language horrors are remade almost as soon as they appear so they don't count. If the remake frenzy indicates the death throes of risk taking and imagination in the Hollywood machine then there should be very few indeed. Off the top of my head I can think of 'Seven', 'The Blair Witch Project', 'Wolf Creek' and in a more populist vein the 'Saw' and 'Scream' franchises. I mean how many new iconic horrors have been produced in the last 20 years??? | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.16.77.186 |
I just tonight saw, at the video store, that someone remade IT'S ALIVE. I was just about intrigued enough to actually rent it... it smacks of something that was not direct-to-DVD, but maybe intended for theaters... anyone know/seen this?... I hated WOLF CREEK, if it's the one I'm thinking of...? Australian outback serial killer...? Good moments, overall, blah. THE RING is pretty damned iconic, I'd say. Even if it's already a remake, the American version is the one most people think of.... (two sentences in one post ending in a preposition - ugh) | ||
| Stephen Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.0.106.15 |
See what I mean... where are the Exorcists, Omens, Shinings, Jasons, Freddy Kreugers, Michael Myers of today? Did great horror cinema, like pop music, die in the 1980s!? | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.180.182 |
The Ring is one of the better remakes of the last few years - not as good as the Japanese original, but not bad. I'm a fan of Larry Cohen, so I'm staying well clear of the It's Alive remake which, by all accounts, is dire. I am saddened by the lazy remake fad, but there have been many worthy horror films made over the past 20 years, including Ring, Rec, Kairo, Session 9, A Tale of Two Sisters, Candyman, The Orphanage, Dark Water (the Japanese original), The Devil's Backbone, Uzumaki, Let the Right One In, The Host, Seance, Wendigo, 28 Days Later, Juon, The Last Winter, The Blair Witch Project, Double Vision, Los Sin Nombre, Final Destination, The Mothman Prophecies (well, I liked it), Pan's Labyrinth, Cure, Audition, Dellamorte Dellamore, and quite a few others. | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.180.182 |
I should add that most of the films I listed above are not the kind that feature larger-than-life, crazed serial killers that spawn franchises, but rather the kind of low-key, offbeat, intelligent fare that I personally consider more worthwhile than any number of Freddys or Jasons. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.16.77.186 |
Here's my ops on your list, Huw, fwiw - going in order, from the beginning: liked, liked a lot, never saw, liked a lot, never saw, liked, liked a lot, never saw, didn't like, never saw, liked, never saw, didn't like, liked, liked a lot, never saw, a big disappointment, liked a lot, never saw, loved, loved, I liked it too!, big disappointment, loved, liked, and finally, if it's the movie I'm thinking of with Rupert Everett, fucking hated. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.240.106 |
I am saddened by the lazy remake fad, but there have been many worthy horror films made over the past 20 years I'm with Huw on this one. I'd add to his terrific list: Shutter, The Abandoned, REC, Frailty, Dust Devil, Cronos, Spectre, The Baby's Room, The Prophecy, Martyrs, Haute tension, Audition, Il Sin Nombro, The Others, Hostel, May, Ils, The Descent, The Mist, The Eye...I could go on and on. To answer the original qiestion, the films being remade in 20 years time haven't been made yet. Remekaes happen so quickly now that by then it'll be a case of two weeks after a film is made a remake will be released. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.240.106 |
Dellamorte Dellamore is exactly the kind of film you would hate, Craig - low-key, offbeat, surreal, lacking a template, and possessing a non-mainstream vision. It's a minor masterpiece, IMHO. | ||
| Kate (Kathleen) Username: Kathleen Registered: 09-2009 Posted From: 93.96.181.75 |
I've no doubt someone out there has his eye on Re-Animator, envisioning all the cool CGI FX he could "improve" it with.  | ||
| Stephen Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Love them or loathe them Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees & Freddy Kreuger are iconic movie monsters - the Frankenstein, Dracula & the Wolfman of the modern era. They were also indicative of how healthy and energetic the horror genre was in the 70s & 80s. I believe when the big serious studio horror films are as numerous as they were then and as excellent as 'The Exorcist', 'The Omen' or 'The Shining' etc this is reflected in the vigour of the less arty genre efforts. The last 20 years has seen some excellent horror films but in comparison to what went before they are very few and far between which is at least partly responsible for the lack of risk taking in the populist market and the avalanche of half-baked remakes we've all been suffering from... | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.180.182 |
Stephen, I think these days the icons are all superheroes: Spidey, Batman, Superman, Hellboy, Iron Man, X-Men, etc. etc. I suppose the monster in Jeepers Creepers could be mentioned, but he's a minor icon, at best (compared wit say, Freddy or Jason). There's always Chucky, of course (and his lovely bride!). | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.180.182 |
'with', damn it! I need sleep... | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.180.182 |
Zed, thanks for listing some I forgot about (I agree with you about all of them, except Martyrs, which I've yet to see). And I've just realised I omitted David Lynch, too. Mulholland Drive and Lost Highway should definitely be in there. Cronenberg's Naked Lunch, too. | ||
| Stephen Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
That's a fabulous list of recent horror films Huw & Zed came up with BUT I did say English language (and meant predominantly Hollywood) horrors. Ring (brilliant but Japanese - remake not bad but redundant), [Rec] (haven't seen but Spanish), Pulse/Kairo (brilliant but Japanese), Session 9 (haven't seen it), A Tale of Two Sisters (brilliant but South Korean), Candyman (absolute classic), The Orphanage (haven't seen it but Spanish), Dark Water (brilliant but Japanese), The Devil's Backbone (brilliant but Spanish), Uzumaki (haven't seen it but Japanese), Let the Right One In (very good but Swedish), The Host (great fun but South Korean), Seance (haven't seen it), Wendigo (haven't seen it), 28 Days Later (brilliant but flawed), Juon : The Grudge (brilliant but Japanese), The Last Winter (haven't seen it), The Blair Witch Project (certainly iconic but grossly overhyped and not as good as reputation implies), Double Vision (haven't seen it but from Hong Kong), Los Sin Nombre (haven't seen it but Spanish), Final Destination (I hate the Final Destination movies, very poor), The Mothman Prophecies (dreadful mishmash and I love John Keel's original book), Pan's Labyrinth (brilliant but Spanish), Cure (haven't seen it but Japanese), Audition (brilliant but Japanese, Dellamorte Dellamore (haven't seen it and can't wait to as I rank Michelle Soavi the last of the GREAT Italian horror stylists), Shutter (haven't seen it), The Abandoned (haven't seen it but Spanish isn't it?), Frailty (very good), Dust Devil (masterpiece), Cronos (brilliant but Mexican), Spectre (haven't seen it), The Baby's Room (haven't seen it but Spanish), The Prophecy (haven't seen it), Martyrs (haven't seen it but French isn't it), Haute tension (very good but French), The Others (excellent but a bit overrated), Hostel (bloody awful), May (a quite brilliant little film and also loved the director's lesbian/insect episode of 'Masters Of Horror'), Them/Ils (brilliant but French), The Descent (excellent if a tad overrated), The Mist (haven't seen it but sounds great), The Eye (very good but from Hong Kong) Thanks for a great list of Horror DVDs to add to my MUST GET list but where are all the great English language big Hollywood studio horrors? The vast majority of those above are foreign language which indicates it is Hollywood that has given up on new, original, serious minded and scary horror films. It looks like vacuous remakes are to remain the order of the day... | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.180.182 |
Double Vision ('Shuang Tong', 2002) is actually a Taiwanese film (albeit with input from Hong Kong and Australia). It's an excellent film, and refreshingly different to the other Asian horror films of the time. And the great David Morse is in it too... | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.180.182 |
Stephen, I've just remembered a couple of decent horror films I saw not long ago: Splinter and The Burrowers. There must be more, but I'll have to list them as they come to me - my memory is terrible these days. Oh, and there's always Dog Soldiers and Ginger Snaps, of course (just remembered werewolves)! | ||
| Stephen Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
'Dog Soldiers' and 'Ginger Snaps' were the last two brilliant werewolf movies I saw and, as inspired satirical/spoof versions tend to indicate the final artistic comment on sub-genres (ala 'Shaun Of The Dead'), probably ever will see. Does that make sense?...  | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.4.230.246 |
Dellamorte Dellamore is exactly the kind of film you would hate, Craig - low-key, offbeat, surreal, lacking a template, and possessing a non-mainstream vision. No, Zed, I hated it because it was poop. It was all over the place, and helmed by the stiff-jawed, hangdog-droopy, annoying-as-all-fuck Rupert Everett. I give it points merely for being Italian, and a few scenes of gore. | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.47 |
Just goes to show that what they say is true, one man's poop is another man's low-key, offbeat, surreal, lacking a template, and possessing a non-mainstream vision. | ||
| Stephen Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
I think you secretly fancy Rupert Everett... don't you Craig.  | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.4.250.204 |
Just because he's dreamy don't mean he's any less annoying. God, his character in MY BEST FRIEND'S WEDDING... that whole movie, come to think of it... I wanted it to end with a coke-caked Tony Montana sweeping the joint with his little friend, doin' it Peckinpah-style.... | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.240.106 |
The Abandoned is Engligh-language. The Blair Witch Project (certainly iconic but grossly overhyped and not as good as reputation implies) We're nevr going to agree totally on film, then. I think The Blair Witch Project is a genuine masterpiece. people expected something different because of the hype, and what they got was a subtle, intelligent, and terrifying piece of art. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.240.106 |
This is one of the differences between you and I, Craig: I would never even go to see MY BEST FRIEND'S WEDDING. | ||
| Stephen Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Oh come on Zed, disagreeing over one film doesn't maketh the man!! And who wants to agree totally on anything anyway. I thought 'The Blair Witch Project' looked like what it was... a badly acted amateurish effort elevated through (admittedly inspired) hype. A bit like Madonna in the pop world in fact. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.4.250.204 |
Why do you assume it didn't come to me, to be seen?... | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.4.250.204 |
Er, my post was directed at Zed's, above, but... totally divorced of all context, it's actually funnier.... | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.240.106 |
Stephen - I thought the acting in Blair Witch was astonishing, particularly by the female lead. Her performance was beyond acting: it was real. She was brilliant. | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.180.182 |
The Blair Witch Project is a film that has grown on me. At first I was disappointed, but something about it makes me want to revisit the film every once in a while, and I find I admire and enjoy it more with each viewing. The pseudo-documentary on the DVD is well worth watching too. | ||
| Stephen Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
In one scene perhaps but that wasn't acting that was more akin to a pent up release of frustration (Big Brother style) due to the manipulations of the ejits messing about in the woods and her own discomfort. Don't forget when this film was being made the "actors" didn't know it would go on to become a phenomenon. Yeah I am a fussy sod aren't I... | ||
| Stephen Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
These are the horror films I've collected from the last 20 years: Acacia (2003) by Park Ki-Hyung The Addiction (1995) by Abel Ferrara Audition (1999) by Takashi Miike Basket Case II (1990) by Frank Henenlotter Basket Case III : The Progeny (1992) by Frank Henenlotter The Boneyard (1990) by James Cummins Candyman (1992) by Bernard Rose The Card Player (2004) by Dario Argento Cat In The Brain (1990) by Lucio Fulci Cradle Of Fear (2001) by Alex Chandon Cronos (1993) by Guillermo del Toro Dark Water (2002) by Hideo Nakata The Descent (2005) by Neil Marshall The Devil's Backbone (2001) by Guillermo del Toro Dog Soldiers (2002) by Neil Marshall Donnie Darko (2001) by Richard Kelly Dust Devil (1993) by Richard Stanley Evil Dead III : Army Of Darkness (1992) by Sam Raimi The Eye (2002) by Danny Pang Fat & Oxide Pang Chun The Eye II (2004) by Danny Pang Fat & Oxide Pang Chun The Eye III : Infinity (2005) by Danny Pang Fat & Oxide Pang Chun Frankenhooker (1990) by Frank Henenlotter Funny Games (1997) by Michael Haneke The Heirloom (2005) by Leste Chen Ichi The Killer (2001) by Takashi Miike Inland Empire (2006) by David Lynch Junk (1999) by Atsushi Muroga Ju-On : The Grudge (2003) by Takashi Shimizu Ju-On : The Grudge II (2003) by Takashi Shimizu The Last Great Wilderness (2002) by David Mackenzie The League Of Gentlemen's Apocalypse (2005) by Steve Bendelack Marebito (2004) by Takashi Shimizu Mimic (1997) by Guillermo del Toro Natural Born Killers (1994) by Oliver Stone The Ninth Gate (1999) by Roman Polanski The Nostril Picker (1993) by Patrick J. Matthews Oliver Twisted (1997) by Dean Gates One Missed Call (2004) by Takashi Miike The Others (2001) by Alejandro Amenábar Pan's Labyrinth (2006) by Guillermo del Toro Penetration Angst (2003) by Wolfgang Büld The People Under The Stairs (1991) by Wes Craven The Phantom Of The Opera (1998) by Dario Argento Pulse (2001) by Kiyoshi Kurosawa Raising Cain (1992) by Brian De Palma Reincarnation (2005) by Takashi Shimizu Ringu (1998) by Hideo Nakata Ringu II (1999) by Hideo Nakata Ringu 0 (2001) by Norio Tsuruta Seven (1995) by David Fincher Shaun Of The Dead (2004) by Edgar Wright The Skeleton Key (2005) by Iain Softley Sleepy Hollow (1999) by Tim Burton Slither (2006) by James Gunn Spider (2002) by David Cronenberg Suicide (2004) by Raoul Heimrich A Tale Of Two Sisters (2003) by Kim Jee-Woon Them (2006) by David Moreau & Xavier Palud Trauma (1993) by Dario Argento Tremors (1990) by Ron Underwood 28 Days Later (2002) by Danny Boyle 28 Weeks Later (2007) by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo Two Evil Eyes (1990) by Dario Argento & George A. Romero Whispering Corridors (1998) by Park Ki-Yong Wolf Creek (2004) by Greg McLean Zombie Honeymoon (2004) by Dave Gebroe | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.5.3.85 |
No THE MIST, very good... but what's DONNIE DARKO doing there?! | ||
| Stephen Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
It's not a bad movie and was going cheap. Must be due for a rewatch soon now I come to think of it. Haven't seen 'The Mist' but have liked what I've heard from everyone apart from...  | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.4.254.248 |
Oh my god, I just noticed.... You put on this list THE CARD PLAYER?!?!?! You must be dragged out immediately and horsewhipped. | ||
| John Llewellyn Probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 88.202.211.71 |
I, like my dear and beloved friend Zed, have just been staring open-mouthed in shock at Craig's 'appraisal' of Dellamorte Dellamore - the last truly great Italian horror film, by a wonderful director (where the hell has he gone?) who while you're watching it makes you realise that most horror today is talentlessly directed tedium without one iota of true visual creativity. A minor masterpiece indeed - I loved it (and the Dylan Dog comic book isn't bad either). I haven't seen My Best Friend's Wedding to be able to comment | ||
| Martin Roberts (Martin_roberts) Username: Martin_roberts Registered: 06-2008 Posted From: 86.5.239.91 |
I too have spent the day in a slack jawed haze after reading this post... having recovered my wits I do know that Michele Soavi followed Dellamorte Dellamore with several Italian TV productions. He seems to have directed two further films since then... a crime flick, The Goodbye Kiss in 2006 & Blood of the Losers, a historical drama in 2008. The Dylan Dog books were great fun too! | ||
| Chris_morris (Chris_morris) Username: Chris_morris Registered: 04-2008 Posted From: 12.165.240.116 |
Okay, Mr Walsh, I'm a big fan of about eight titles on your list, and I'm okay with most of the rest. I hated NATURAL BORN KILLERS, was bored by JUNK, and found RAISING CAIN insulting -- but nonetheless, I understand why someone might like those films. Even FRANKENHOOKER, which is wretched, is okay if you're in the mood for the right sort of laugh. But what on earth did you find appealing about THE NOSTRIL PICKER? | ||
| Stephen Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
If any movie disproves Craig's template theory it is that one!! Have you seen it?! As for 'Frankenhooker' - Frank Henenlotter can do no wrong in my opinion. I've always had a perverse love of independent low budget cinema at its most bizarre. Where else can directors and screenwriters take risks without worrying about the men in suits, cast off the shackles of political correctness and give their imagination and sense of humour free rein? Remember when Peter Jackson made his own movies instead of book adaptations and remakes... sigh. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.240.106 |
Frank Henenlotter can do no wrong in my opinion Ditto, old chap. I do think, however, that FRANKENHOOKER is his least interesting film. It has it's moments, but personally I founf it too restrained - as if he was perhaps trying to appeal to a wider audience?. | ||
| Stephen Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Chris, only eight movies from that list!! Explain yourself... | ||
| Chris_morris (Chris_morris) Username: Chris_morris Registered: 04-2008 Posted From: 12.165.240.116 |
I only meant that there are eight films on your list that are personal favorites of mine. The eight I was counting were: Audition The Descent Funny Games Inland Empire Pulse A Tale of Two Sisters 28 Days Later That's seven films. The eighth would be Ju-On, but I very much prefer Shimizu's two original television productions to the cinema versions. There are several other films on your list -- Dark Water, Ringu, Spider -- that I like a lot, but not enough to call them favorites. Still others -- Marebito, The Eye, Pan's Labyrinth -- are films that I consider near-misses. Everyone's different, of course, and any list of films would probably produce the same sort of results. The Nostril Picker, though, is almost definitively god-awful. Here's a review of the film I found online that sums up the film quite well: A strange loner meets a random man with a beard who tells him that if he meditates while singing his favourite song he will be able to turn into whomever he chooses. At this point I feel obliged to point out that the loner's favourite song is London Bridge Is Falling Down. Why is this his favourite song? Because he's an idiot. We are only a minute into the film and already the film has reached a monumental level of stupidity. It gets even stupider. The loner is the nostril picker. I can only assume this as there are two scenes in the film where he is seen picking his nose. That clears up the title. He decides to change into a girl so that he can get close to other girls. And kill them. That's more or less it. The acting is universally appalling. Every single performance in this movie sucks. In fact, I would go so far as to say that the acting is of the standard of a pornographic movie. It really is that terrible. The nostril picker appears to the audience as the nostril picker. The characters in the movie see him as the girl he has become through singing London Bridge Is Falling Down. Man, I feel like an idiot even typing this. Anyway, it is kind of strange seeing a middle aged weirdo hanging out with school girls. And not in a good way. There is even an extended montage of scenes where the nostril picker is at school with the girls and a song plays over the top. It is very possibly the worst song ever recorded. I'm not even going to describe it. You'll know it when you hear it. And you'll agree with me. There are some scenes of violence, sure. And there is a Benny Hill style chase sequence involving a transsexual. There is even an immortal bit of dialogue, that may or may not have been taken from Shakespeare or John Milton, where the nostril picker says to a prostitute, 'I've got the cash if you've got the gash'. Lovely, I'm sure you'll agree. Utter nonsense. So what exactly did you like about it? | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.4.250.108 |
I've always preferred "I've got the coins if you've got the loins".... I've never heard of THE NOSTRIL PICKER. Now I know not to in the future. Which FUNNY GAMES, Chris...? Or both? Those were intense experiences, but man, I couldn't put them on "favorite" lists. | ||
| Chris_morris (Chris_morris) Username: Chris_morris Registered: 04-2008 Posted From: 12.165.240.116 |
I was speaking of the first FUNNY GAMES, which I like slightly better than the second. (Although there is little difference between the two.) I agree the film is an intense experience, but I tend to like intense filmic experiences. The first time I saw FUNNY GAMES I had no idea what I was in for -- I just picked up the film at random from the video store shelf -- but the film was so complex, so intense, and so thought-provoking I just knew it would become one of my all-time favorites. The only other movie that struck me this way was A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, which I saw when I was a teenager. That film forever changed my conception of what a great film could be, of what great art could be. I'm honestly not overstating the case by saying that I was one person before I saw A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, and I was someone else afterward. FUNNY GAMES was like that for me, too -- although probably not to the same extent. | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.185.57 |
Chris, when I listed Juon in my first post in this thread I was referring to the first television film. I like both versions, but the theatrical version is not quite as good, in my opinion. | ||
| Steve Bacon (Stevebacon) Username: Stevebacon Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 90.208.112.200 |
Fuck Hollywood, anyway. | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.178.157.128 |
Got to say I felt a similar way to Chris after seeing A CLOCKWORK ORANGE. I also loved DELLAMORTE DELLAMORE, beatifully atmospheric, I thought. | ||
| Chris_morris (Chris_morris) Username: Chris_morris Registered: 04-2008 Posted From: 98.220.97.79 |
>> Chris, when I listed Juon in my first post in this thread I was referring to the first television film. I like both versions, but the theatrical version is not quite as good, in my opinion. No doubt, Huw. Odd how few people know of it. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.5.2.70 |
I liked every thing, singular, that was in DELLAMORTE DELLAMORE (except for Rupert Everett, not a whole lot), but everything, plural, all together...? Just didn't set well for me. A cake that didn't rise. There is no reason for me not to like this when I analyze it in my head, but - there you go - I DIDN'T!!! | ||
| Stephen Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.0.106.15 |
The synopsis above has put me in the mood to watch 'The Nostril Picker' again - sober this time. But you have to agree it doesn't fit any template I've heard of... in fact I think all concerned were off their heads on mind altering substances throughout the entire creative process. In my defence it did make me laugh (often in bewilderment) and has a similar tone to Henenlotter's fims - stark staring bonkers! I'm a huge fan of 'A Clockwork Orange' as well. Inexplicably underrated these days it is second only to '2001' for me. Had a similar experience with 'Funny Games' as well but was disappointed by Haneke's pointless decision to remake it. The US version is still great but the cast of the original just couldn't be bettered. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.4.224.226 |
Here's another one from exactly 20 years ago: PARENTS (1989), which I've just seen for the first time - this is just a reason to mention it here, this thread, but... wow! I'd heard of this film long before getting a hold of it, and was expecting some light funny entertainment - but I sure wasn't expecting an amazing little film! It's as if David Lynch made a black comedy/horror (I guess the guy that did the music did it for David Lynch movies, so maybe there's more than a passing nod to him here...). Disturbing, nightmarish, bleak, very funny, and surreal. Is it all real, or is it all a fantasy, a boy's delirium?... Only the viewer, in the end, can really decide. Direction, art-direction, score - superb! Just a total gem of a discovery, I must say.... | ||
| Protodroid (Protodroid) Username: Protodroid Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 78.152.197.94 |
They're re-releasing SCUM in 3D. It looks so much better. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.153.150.170 |
We need good movies of Salem's Lot and The Stand. They never happened. Those lists of recent movies; they really were ok, most of them, but so few are ones I really love thru and thru. In fact, to carry on my 'everything bores me' thang I'm even losing old favourites; watched Poltergeist recently and I've seen it enough now, I think, for a while, and The Haunting, a great, evergreen old favourite has sort of faded too; it feels artificial somehow. I think seeing it as a kid was a great stroke of luck. Parents was ok, but I'm not keen on Lynch-likees. I can't remember it, to be honest. | ||
| Stephen Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.0.106.15 |
Tony, you sound like me from a few years ago when I split up with my ex. Whatever is making you feel jaded will pass with time and then you'll rediscover all your old passions again. Believe it or not I even lost interest in checking the football scores!!!!  | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.4.242.217 |
I'm sorta there with you, Tony.... I'm on a movie-watching jag, and I'm enjoying most of what I watch... but I wonder how much of it I'll retain? They just come in and out, through the eyeballs, out the back of my head.... We did this on another thread, but casting back over the months, over the year, which films stand out, which films bob up above the detritus of films I've seen?... Few, and there's no accounting for content (e.g., "shocking" films I've seen that I can even remember, they don't bob to the surface purely for that). "One damn thing after another," Hemingway said life was... sometimes certain lines or sayings have more or less meaning, and resonance, depending on where you're at... this one certainly seems to have more for me, of late.... | ||
| Stephen Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.0.106.15 |
'Parents' sounds like a must-see Craig and I'm surprised it's passed me by all these years. Thanks! Feeling jaded and grumpy is all a natural part of growing older and guys like us are feeling it all the more because of the sheer speed with which society and technology are changing. Having as wide a variety of interests as possible and consciously shifting back and forward between them helps a lot... it works for me anyway. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.4.242.217 |
You have a point there, Stephen - I think "our" (I'm including all of us, regardless of age, for sake of argument) generation is experiencing the most dramatic changes in, hell, everyday ways of life itself, thanks to technological/societal alterations. We have more unbelievable "new things" that have become not just curiosities, but actual day-to-day realities, in a shorter span of time - the cell phone is just one of many examples. Has anyone yet written about, or addressed at all, this hyper-alteration as it relates to a generation?... I honestly don't know, but this seems like a subject to analyze in a book - or, perhaps better, an e-book.  | ||
| Protodroid (Protodroid) Username: Protodroid Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 78.152.197.94 |
Seems like you're asking too much of art, Tony. It's like eating every different type of cake and wondering why you're still not satisfied. Try something that has nothing to do with the arts for a bit. "We need good movies of Salem's Lot and The Stand. They never happened." I just re-watched the '70s one and really like it. A lovely blend of cheese and genuine frights. David Soul does lots of taking-off-the-glasses acting and dabbing-mouth-with-napkin-before-talking acting. I bought the new one and was looing forward to it. Is it rubbish? | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.153.150.170 |
I love the seventies one! It's just the movie world feels deprived by not having it as a movie... Yeah, you're right. It's like I want movies to save my life or something. Most of the time though I miss that rush we'd get watching a film as kids, our minds stretched and wisdom pouring in the cracks... | ||
| Stephen Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.0.106.15 |
The 1979 version of 'Salem's Lot' was directed by Tobe Hooper and for me is the finest and most genuinely frightening thing he ever did - including 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' and 'Poltergeist'. I heard it was actually intended for cinema release but got turned into a TV mini-series because of running time - or is that just an urban myth? Either way it's a gloriously old fashioned horror masterpiece. The vampire theme hasn't been treated as seriously or as terrifyingly since imho. Now if someone were to make a faithful version of Robert R. McCammon's 'They Thirst'... that really could kickstart cinematic vampirism again! 'Let The Right One In' notwithstanding. | ||
| Protodroid (Protodroid) Username: Protodroid Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 89.19.81.17 |
SALEM'S LOT is the only book I've read that actually made me jump! (when he plunges the stake into the vamp) The TV one didn't capture the claustrophobia of the small town though. Small towns are great to live in if you don't care what people think of you, though. | ||
| Protodroid (Protodroid) Username: Protodroid Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 89.19.81.17 |
There are tons of PSYCHO homages in the 1979 Salem's Lot. The Marsden house itself, Ed Flanders slow ascent of the staircase inside, the skull superimposed on the moon in the final last shot, a climactic confrontation in a cellar. | ||
| Protodroid (Protodroid) Username: Protodroid Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 89.19.81.17 |
The "final last shot". Me writer. | ||
| Protodroid (Protodroid) Username: Protodroid Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 89.19.81.17 |
The production design on the interior of the Marsden house was so good - there was nowhere to sit down, everything was black and unctuous, like the inside of a crematorium oven. | ||
| Stephen Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.0.106.15 |
Yeah, Hooper had loads of money thrown at him for the first time and was clearly having a ball making 'Salem's Lot'. It remains one of my all-time favourite horror films. The cast alone is worth the entrance fee as they say - and I thought David Soul was magnificent in it! Actually I just checked and it did get a limited cinema release Tony, so even better! | ||
| Protodroid (Protodroid) Username: Protodroid Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 89.19.81.17 |
By David Soul's elbow patches! Battlestar Galactica TV miniseries got a cinema release, in the same year I think. I went to see it. James Mason's disdain at slumming it worked out well, because that was the attitude of his character. Poor Ed Flanders (okey-dokily!), always plays the nice guy destined to be killed in spectacular ways in good horror films. | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.176.22 |
Proto, I thought the new version was so-so. Not a patch on the 1979 version, which I loved. (Yes, even the 'taking-off-the-glasses' and 'dabbing-mouth-with-napkin' acting.) I wish more films would take their time unwinding like many of the older ones did. Today's films are often filmed in such a frantic way that you can't absorb and appreciate what's going on half the time. | ||
| Protodroid (Protodroid) Username: Protodroid Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 89.19.81.17 |
Maybe that's why there hasn't been a Salem's Lot film - I do think you need the scope of a miniseries to follow all the characters. It might make a good full series, actually. | ||
| Stephen Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.0.106.15 |
I wish more films would take their time unwinding like many of the older ones did. Today's films are often filmed in such a frantic way that you can't absorb and appreciate what's going on half the time. You never spoke truer words Huw. The greatest strength of Tobe Hooper's version is that very languid pacing with the ever so slow build-up of supernatural dread that make the shock moments, when they come, all the more scarifying. A wonderful epic piece of work that deserves to be more heralded as the masterpiece it is IMHO. I've watched it several times since it was first broadcast and love that early scene with David Soul driving back into town after years and stopping to look up at the old Marsden House with real fear in his eyes. It is so matter-of-factly atmospheric and redolent of all the horrors to come it makes me squirm with anticipation every time. They surely don't make em like that anymore! | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.170.181.74 |
Old movies used to do small town life very well indeed. If we can have three hours of Captain Jack just looking bewildered or fighting a squid why can't we have a movie of Salem's Lot that lasts as long? | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.170.181.74 |
Oh, and the series was chopped in half for that movie release. It was terrible - it felt like it was running, missing out all the really good stuff. Romero likes it, however. | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.47 |
Craig - at last you start showing some film taste. Parents is a fantastic film, it plays the "Is this real or is the kid completely insane" card brilliantly. It has some of the best dream sequences I've seen in any movie (I especially love it when he walks downstairs in the morning shouting "Mom, I didn't have a nightmare" before the screen momentarily goes monochrome to tell us he's having one now...) The murder scene in the food store with the anachronistic happy jazz music is fantastically well done and completely nightmarish. I love that film. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.4.255.189 |
It was a good one, wasn't it? I don't think I've seen a film that so does not give sway to either side of the argument, whether the boy is deluded or not - I mean, it seems absolutely impenetrable. The murder scene, coming late, tells you that's still the director's intention, because he so intentionally hides the identity of the killer, like classic giallo. It's a vibrantly colorful film - and despite everything, you just SALIVATE over the meat they're eating! (If you're a flesh-eater like me.) | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.16.78.201 |
Again, I'm just using this thread to mention another film I've just seen: BUBBA HO-TEP (2003). I should have disliked this - hell, it was directed by Don Coscarelli, of the much-loathed-by-me PHANTASM - but I didn't, I was thoroughly entertained, fascinated alone by its utter creative bizarreness. I'd heard of it before, and kept waiting for its inexplicably inventive core to sort of reveal itself - for the film to explain why it was... it never did, until the end credits, when I saw what I didn't know before: this is based on a Joe R. Lansdale novella (there's an extra on the dvd, with Joe reading from his story). Now it makes sense, its bizarreness - it is based on the work of an established writer, who is thoroughly of this "genre" world of bizarre/horror fiction. How rare does that make this? It's not based on a mainstream best-selling author's latest novel, etc. It's culled right from the heart of "weird" horror fiction. How many movies are there out there, then, like this?... I can't think of any others - there are the series, of course, "Masters of Horror," and such - but so rarely, a movie. Maybe Ramsey Campbell's THE NAMELESS counts, another great one (better, actually). I wish more were done. Don't we all wish.... | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.181.80 |
Well, there's Candyman, based on Clive Barker's 'The Forbidden'. The Keep is based on the F.Paul Wilson novel. Night of the Eagle, based on Leiber's Conjure Wife. Del Toro's Mimic is based on a Donald Wollheim story. Then there's Spielberg's Duel, based on the Richard Matheson story. I'm sure there are quite a few more. I agree, though: with so many good stories and novels around that could be adapted it's a shame that we basically only ever see Stephen King movies, or the odd one based on something by Barker or Koontz. There are plenty of brilliant weird stories out there (old and new) that would make for very effective films in the right hands. I think the number of directors who are even aware that such work (outside the narrow rank of bestselling King/Koontz/Rice/Barker books) exists is very small. Del Toro, Cronenberg, Carpenter, maybe a few others, seem to be more aware than most of genre fiction. It's a shame others are not. | ||
| Allybird (Allybird) Username: Allybird Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 80.47.23.139 |
I'm looking forward to BUBBA NOSFERATU, Craig. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0457295/ | ||
| Stephen Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Huw, how can you even mention King & Barker in the same breath as Koontz & Rice!! Shame on you... | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.5.1.69 |
I don't know I'd include Barker, since he vaulted to King-big right out of the starting gate; though "The Forbidden" made it seem earned, certainly. The others... mmm, okay.... I've just seen the Director Who Created Evil is coming out with THE BOX, based on a Matheson short-story. I guess these kinds of movies trickle out, if you look for them.... | ||
| Stephen Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
And he did that because his writing is so damn original and unforgiving... Barker rocks!! All you hard and fast horror fans who haven't given his dark fantasy and children's material a read don't know what you're missing. The man's a genius end of story! | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.186.39 |
I was only lumping the four of them together due to their bestseller status, not because I consider them equally important as writers. I consider King and Barker to be on a different level entirely to Koontz and Rice (although I've enjoyed their work on occasion too, if I'm to be honest!). | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.5.1.69 |
Ally - Ron Perlman as Elvis?! | ||
| Allybird (Allybird) Username: Allybird Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 80.47.23.139 |
Really? Perhaps not then, Craig. http://io9.com/5074075/ron-perlman-to-steal-bruce-campbells-elvis-in-bubba-nosfe ratu | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.189.21 |
I'll see this regardless of who stars in it, although I do wonder if Perlman can equal Campbell's Elvis. Paul Giamatti as Colonel Tom Parker should be worth a look! | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
Ron perlman is great - much better than The Chin. |