| Author | Message | ||
     Paul_finch (Paul_finch) Username: Paul_finch Registered: 11-2009 Posted From: 195.93.21.74 |
Have we had a thread on THE ORPHAN yet? I only ask because I finally got to see it last night. I tend to approach anything from the 'demon child' subgenre warily, firstly on moral grounds, secondly because they're often so derivative. But I have to say, on this occasion I was delighted. Genuinely scary, quite gory and with some amazingly disturbing twists towards the end. If you haven't seen it, check it out. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.240.106 |
I've been waiting for a review of this. Cheers, paul. I'm off along to Play.com to order it now...they've a sale on. | ||
| Paul_finch (Paul_finch) Username: Paul_finch Registered: 11-2009 Posted From: 92.19.136.192 |
I don't think you'll be disappointed, Gary. I had it bought for me as a Christmas present, and when I unwrapped it, I thought "ho-hum". However, I got round to watching it last night, and it's now on my top shelf, which is strictly reserved for my favourite horror DVDs. For what it's worth, someone also bought me THE HILLS RUN RED, and I feel exactly the opposite. Having seen numerous good reviews on line, I asked for it specifically, watched it on Boxing Day and was fazed by how poor it was. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.4.254.0 |
I'll put in a thumbs-up for THE ORPHAN. Much better than I expected, especially considering the lackluster reviews it got. Paul, what I liked very much about it, is that it didn't pull its punches, but went places other films might have shied away from... did you think so?... | ||
| Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.56 |
That's not a good sign... | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.240.106 |
I rather liked THE HILLS RUN RED,but went in with zero expectations. By no means a classic, but it had some neat ideas (although it sometimes didn't seem to know what to do with them). I'll get ORPHAN ordered... | ||
| Paul_finch (Paul_finch) Username: Paul_finch Registered: 11-2009 Posted From: 92.19.136.192 |
Craig - I absolutely agree. THE ORPHAN went 'for it' in a big way. There were certain moments when I thought "surely not". But I wouldn't have said there was anything gratuitous in it, or even anything that would offend conservative types. I'm lendng it to my old mum tonight with no qualms. I'm sure she'll enjoy it. It didn't do it for me because it was a shocker, but because it was a compelling thriller, which got progressively creepier and more intense until the revelations of the last quarter, which basically pushed it over the dividing line into full blown chilling horror. I'm not going to say too much more because I don't wish to raise expectations unrealistically. But I'd be surprised if any genre fan checked this one out and felt short-changed at the end. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.4.248.197 |
Yes, Paul, let's not raise expectations too highly. The husband is played by Peter Sarsgard, who only four years earlier, was in - imho - another tremendous, and tremendously overlooked horror film, THE SKELETON KEY. | ||
| Stephen Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.17.252.126 |
At last somebody mentions one of my favourite horror films of the noughties! I thought 'The Skeleton Key' was exceptionally well done and a contender for best horror that year. I had visions of it inspiring a resurgence of original, intelligent horror cinema aimed at adults in the States which sadly never came to pass. And the piss-poor remakes just kept on coming... | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.240.106 |
Sorry, but I thought THE SKELETON KEY was nothing more than an okayish mainstream chiller aimed at people who know little of the horror genre. I know Craig has praised the film before, but I didn't really rate it. | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.190.234 |
I saw Orphan last night and thought it was pretty damn good. As Paul said, it became progressively creepier and more intense as it went along, and I honestly didn't see the late twist coming. Definitely worth seeing for horror and suspense fans. Overall I didn't think much of The Skeleton Key, but it did have some eerie moments. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.157.23.22 |
My original thread, and thoughts; http://www.knibbworld.com/campbelldiscuss/messages/1/2379.html | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.253.77 |
Just watched Orphan and I really enjoyed it. It was absurd, of course, and I saw the twist coming a mile off - but I still smiled when the big reveal came. The ending reaches hysterical levels of intensity, yet still manages to be pretty disturbing (mostly due to the absolutely top-notch make-up on the girl and the skill of the actress playing her). Yeah, this was loads of fun - if fun's the right word (and it is for me). | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 61.216.49.198 |
I liked it too, Zed, though I admit I didn't see the twist coming (at least not the nature of the twist). It didn't occur to me at the time, but there are echoes of Machen's story 'The Bright Boy' in The Orphan. | ||
| John Llewellyn Probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.152.74.159 |
We liked ORPHAN, and made me want to look out for more by the director (I'm sure we've posted about it on a thread somewhere). Looking further up the thread, I'm sure I've told the story of how much I liked THE SKELETON KEY when I watched it on a pirate DVD. I thought the photography was fantastically moody - all washed out and grim. Then I got the 'proper' DVD and realised all the atmosphere had been an effect of the poorly reproduced copy I'd been watching! So in a way, I'm the only person who's seen that particular version of THE SKELETON KEY. Goodness me, there couldn't be a story in that somewhere, could there? | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.253.77 |
John, have you ever read THE CUTTER by Ed Bryant? You'd bloody love it, and it's one of my favourite stories. | ||
| John Llewellyn Probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.152.74.159 |
No I haven't - do you know where I might have it? | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.253.77 |
Blimey...let me think. I first read it in YBF&H 2, I think. Back in 1988? Also in the same volume is M. John Harrison's sublime The Great God Pan and Lew Shiner's brilliant Love in Vein. Two more of my favourite ever short stories...1988 was clearly a banner year for short horror fiction. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.4.224.79 |
Am I alone in loving THE SKELETON KEY? Does that make me alone in loving ARLINGTON ROAD too? Same screenwriter, and same film, in many respects - one horror, the other psychological-thriller.... | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.182.155.251 |
I really enjoyed ARLINGTON ROAD, but can't recall how I felt about THE SKELETON KEY, which probably says it all, really. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.253.77 |
I thought THE SKELETON KEY was cliched, overblown, borderline-racist bilge. ARLINGTON ROAD, however, was a neat little chiller that I really enjoyed. Anyone seen RIGHT AT YOUR DOOR? One of the most suprising films I've ever seen- watched it with zero expectations and it chilled me. | ||
| Protodroid (Protodroid) Username: Protodroid Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 109.79.34.227 |
"So in a way, I'm the only person who's seen that particular version of THE SKELETON KEY. Goodness me, there couldn't be a story in that somewhere, could there?" I have a VHS copy of NEAR DARK which is stark and high-contrast with muffled sound, like a found tape. How disappointing it was to get the DVD and find that it actually looks and sounds beautifully. SKELETON KEY had an excellent twist, but not much else. RIGHT AT YOUR DOOR seemed to me a film that didn't quite grasp the concept of an ironic ending. | ||
| Joel (Joel) Username: Joel Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 91.110.149.91 |
"Looking further up the thread, I'm sure I've told the story of how much I liked THE SKELETON KEY when I watched it on a pirate DVD. I thought the photography was fantastically moody - all washed out and grim. Then I got the 'proper' DVD and realised all the atmosphere had been an effect of the poorly reproduced copy I'd been watching!" You were lucky, John. I had the misfortune of seeing The Skeleton Key in the cinema and thought the director deserved happy slapping. It's crass, stereotyped, corny and tiresome drivel that poses as 'subtle' by ducking and weaving before going straight for an ending so utterly predictable that you didn't expect it because you thought something more intelligent was going on. It's a very good example of commercial horror for people who don't like horror, and therefore imagine the stalest cliche is original. There are few films I despise more. | ||
| Joel (Joel) Username: Joel Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 91.110.149.91 |
"I thought THE SKELETON KEY was cliched, overblown, borderline-racist bilge." As ever, Zed, you say in a few words what it takes me many more to fumble into place. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.253.77 |
I thought the ending of RIGHT AT YOUR DOOR worked pretty well, Proto - what about it did you feel was done so badly? | ||
| Protodroid (Protodroid) Username: Protodroid Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 109.79.108.6 |
"I thought the ending of RIGHT AT YOUR DOOR worked pretty well, Proto - what about it did you feel was done so badly?" [SPOILERS ahoy] The protagonist dying because he stayed indoors during the disaster isn't in itself ironic because it wasn't at any point attached to a meaningful choice that the character made. It could have worked as irony if he had made a real choice to be selfish, but he didn't really have any choice to make - his actions were logical rather than selfish. It has the shape of an ironic ending but it's divorced from what could have given it power - the characters. Some of the better TWILIGHT ZONE episodes get this right. | ||
| Protodroid (Protodroid) Username: Protodroid Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 109.79.108.6 |
I'm really bad at following, let alone predicting, plots so I'll put my hand up and say that THE SKELETON KEY's twist took me by surprise. It did take too long to get there, though. It'd be a good NIGHT GALLERY episode, if such a thing existed. | ||
| Protodroid (Protodroid) Username: Protodroid Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 109.79.108.6 |
Actually, it probably surprised me because the rest of the film was so by-the-numbers that I'd lowered my guard. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.5.5.146 |
...an ending so utterly predictable that you didn't expect it because you thought something more intelligent was going on.  Come on, Joel! Something intelligent then WAS going on - it was winding up to surprise even YOU! (And me too!) And the utter, dismal bleakness of that ending... surely that counts for something, with an ending so dark and horrible to contemplate?... in the world of too-often-sanitized horror films?... |