| Author | Message | ||
     Steve Bacon (Stevebacon) Username: Stevebacon Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 90.208.112.244 |
This has sprouted from the other thread, so I'll repost the question - You're about to produce a portmanteau horror film involving 5 segments. What 5 stories would you like to see adapted? Bonus points for identifying a particular theme. Maybe you'd want to use the same writer for all the stories - which 5 tales would you use? You can choose a UK version and a US version, if you like. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.253.77 |
While the City Screams The Lost District - Joel Lane The Whimper of Whipped Dogs - Harlan Ellison The Dark Land - Michael Marshall Smith The Scar - Ramsey Campbell City Fishing - Steve Rasnic Tem The linking story would feature five characters held at gunpoint in the cellar of a derelict urban building. They are forced to tell stories by the Raoul Moat-like madman holding them captive. He says the city is trying to kill him. The captive who scares him most will be spared to tell the last tale (what happened here); the other four will die, alongside him. | ||
| Steve Bacon (Stevebacon) Username: Stevebacon Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 90.208.112.244 |
I like that, Gary. Something tells me you've considered this before. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.253.77 |
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| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.4.239.111 |
Since it's fresh in my mind from reading it.... The Speciality of the House The Speciality of the House The Moment of Decision The Blessington Method Robert The Nine-to-Five Man The Last Bottle in the World A Corner of Paradise Like the old Robert Bloch anthology films, this one would be all Stanley Ellin. "The Speciality of the House" would be the book-ending/linking storyline, the characters we see in the other stories, all being patrons of the restaurant of this short story at some point; as well, "The Nine-To-Five" man would be segmented, since the story works well that way, the audience seeing it in bits and pieces throughout the film, until it all adds up at the close. So it would still feel like 5 distinct stories being told, in complete segments. In fact, I might do ("I might do" - ah, if only...) this one in completely segmented structure, ala Altman's brilliant Short Cuts, one of the best short-story anthology films ever (there, the works of Raymond Carver). | ||
| Barbara Roden (Nebuly) Username: Nebuly Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 142.179.14.129 |
When he discussed DEAD OF NIGHT in his book HALLIWELL'S HUNDRED, Leslie Halliwell said that his one complaint about the film was that all the stories seemed to be competing for top place; were he to make the film, he'd have given one story prominence (he picked 'Oh, Whistle . . .') and reduced the others to supporting tales. I can see where he's coming from. . . . That said, I'd make a portmanteau film with a linking tale of a group of people, camping in the wilderness. As they sit round the fire, they begin recounting tales - which either happened to them, or to people they know - which take place far from the madding crowd, as it were. Blackwood's 'The Wendigo' would be there, along with Atwood's 'Death By Landscape'. James's 'Wailing Well' would provide the (black) comic relief - similar to the 'Golfing Ghost' segment in DEAD OF NIGHT - and the film would be rounded out with Conan Doyle's 'The Terror of Blue John Gap' and Eleanor Scott's 'Randalls Round'; all of them stories about people out of their depth in an alien landscape. | ||
| Kate (Kathleen) Username: Kathleen Registered: 09-2009 Posted From: 213.122.209.76 |
Since The House That Dripped Blood didn't get to use the title... Death & the Maiden The Godmothers - Charles Birkin Nefarious Assortment - John Llewellyn Probert The Other Woman - Ramsey Campbell The Yellow Wall-Paper - Charlotte Perkins Gilman The Surgeon's Tale - JP Dixon A nice bit of kick-off nastiness from Mr Birkin to lead into something more appetising and blackly comic from Lord Probert. Then a controversial juicy middle from Mr Campbell to make way for the slightly less horrific classic by Ms Gilman. Just to give the viewers a false sense of security before rounding it off with hardcore twistedness from Mr Dixon. The framing story would have five different women stuck somewhere together and telling stories to pass the time. The fifth lady would be strange and silent, not saying anything until at last the other four turn to her and press her for a story. As she finishes the others notice she's missing a finger.  Casting note: I'd like to see Charlize Theron in either the JLP or the Gilman segment. Or perhaps in Trilogy of Terror style, she could play ALL the lead female roles. * If "The Other Woman" proves too controversial for filming, we could have Joel Lane's "The Bootleg Heart" instead. Alex White's "The Clinic" was considered but ultimately rejected, as its shock value might overshadow the whole project. | ||
| Ramsey Campbell (Ramsey) Username: Ramsey Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.93.21.74 |
Kate, even Jenny's never called me a controversial juicy middle. Is that a wry reference to my gastronomic habits? | ||
| Joel (Joel) Username: Joel Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.37.199.45 |
How about Die in Your Arms – an 18-certificate erotic horror film in which a puritanical film critic whose drink was spiked at a press launch sits through a generic rom-com but keeps hallucinating other film clips? His visions include adaptations of: 'A Woman Seldom Found' by William Sansom 'The Swords' by Robert Aickman 'Shambleau' by C.L. Moore 'Broken Glass' by Harlan Ellison 'La Serenissima' by David A. Sutton You will notice that the sequence begins and ends in Venice... and the film will end with the critic, hopelessly disorientated, wandering home through the streets of a grey British city and fleeing his own hallucinatory pursuers/seducers onto a canal towpath, where he jumps on board a black gondola. As the gondola disappears under a bridge, the velvet fabrics huddled on its floor begin to stir. The viewer sees only the dark bridge and hears a faint scream of mingled terror, agony, gratification and relief. | ||
| John Llewellyn Probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.253.174.81 |
Joel that's marvellous | ||
| Weber (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.55 |
That has raised the bar by quite a distance. I either need to raise my game a lot when I post mine or do what I normally do and lower the standards. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.253.77 |
Wasn't The Other Woman filmed for The Hunger TV series? | ||
| Allybird (Allybird) Username: Allybird Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 88.111.129.71 |
'Joel that's marvellous' Echoed.. | ||
| Allybird (Allybird) Username: Allybird Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 88.111.129.71 |
And let us not forget... http://screamingdreams.com/phantoms.html | ||
| Ramsey Campbell (Ramsey) Username: Ramsey Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.93.21.74 |
"Wasn't The Other Woman filmed for The Hunger TV series?" No, that was "The Seductress". Of all the tales in Scared Stiff "The Other Woman" is the one that has stayed controversial. I've no regrets. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.166.117.210 |
Ah...cheers, Ramsey. I have the first series on DVD, and one of the episodes is titled "The Other Women". I knew one of your tales had been filmed, and assumed incorrectly it was that one. I'll have to check if "The Seductress" is on one of those discs... | ||
| Kate (Kathleen) Username: Kathleen Registered: 09-2009 Posted From: 213.122.209.76 |
Was going to say I couldn't imagine anyone filming "The Other Woman"! Not that it couldn't be done, but who'd want the backlash and accusations of misogyny? | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.166.117.210 |
That is interesting, actually. I'm the opposite: I allow the story to shape itself. I realised recently that I actually go slightly insane when I'm writing a novel. It's a good kind of madness, though - a creative madness. It lets me take narrative risks that I wouldn't normally dare (i.e. in short story form). | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.23.108.128 |
Wrong thread, you plooonker. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.166.117.210 |
Doh! | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.23.108.128 |
Thick as pigshit. | ||
| Weber (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.55 |
Unhappy ever after – horror stories with a theme of relationships between men and women. Stories would be A Quarter past You – Jonathan Carroll – proof that he can write excellent psychological horror and the second most disturbing thing he’s written Love Doll – a Fable – Joe Lansdale The very gentle Murders – Ray Bradbury A Touch of petulance, Ray Bradbury The Women –Ray Bradbury Tired Angel – Jonathan Carroll – about an obsessive stalker and the most disturbing thing he’s written I would use an adapted version of Tired Angel as the linking story – turn it into a story of a relationship counsellor in a sort of a thousand and one nights situation trying to keep her stalker from hurting her by keeping her entertained with stories, finally he would tell his story which would be Tired Angel | ||
| Skip (Wolfnoma) Username: Wolfnoma Registered: 07-2010 Posted From: 216.54.20.98 |
I have no clue what you guys are saying but you have me chuckling in my semi-comfortable office chair.  | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.4.255.30 |
btw: I still maintain curmudgeonishly that what's being done here are "anthology" movies, however creatively arranged; and that "portmanteau" movies are, structurally, fundamentally different - and rarer - with the best ready-to-hand example being HOUSE OF DARK SHADOWS (1970). | ||
| Weber (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.55 |
what's the difference then??? | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.4.255.30 |
The difference, roughly, is this: We all know what antho movies are, they're individual, unconnected stories, the storylines containing unique characters. They can be conventionally (Dr. Terror's House of Horrors) or unconventionally (Short Cuts) structured. "Portmanteau" films contain the same characters, going through distinctively separate storylines - one story effectively ends, before the next one effectively begins. They are highly episodic in nature. Another good example, if anyone's seen it (?), is the old anime from the comic book, Dracula (1980; original Japanese title: Yami no Teiô Kyûketsuki Dorakyura). You could make an argument that Revenge of the Jedi or The Empire Strikes Back are portmanteau films, too, sorta.... | ||
| Weber (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.55 |
revenge of the Jedi? A star wars I've not seen? Is it related to return of the Jedi? | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.5.4.115 |
Yes, "Return," it's been a while... and that's a long comparison, I admit. And, one could counter, the films I mention are based on a soap-opera and a serialized comic-book respectively - so aren't they just serial homages? Aren't they just mimicking the structures/feel of the originals?... The thing is, they don't have to - there could never have been a TV show called "Dark Shadows" or a comic-book called "Blood of Dracula" (blanking again - was that it? the old b&w one you'd always see in supermarkets out here in the States, back in the late 70's/early 80's?...), and you could still have those two films, standing alone. Altman used my definition of "portmanteau" structures for two of his films I can think of, M.A.S.H. and O.C. and Stiggs. I wish more films would have this structure, I find them highly enjoyable - being a rabid fan of antho films as it is, to which they are so closely related.... | ||
| Weber (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.55 |
Craig I do believe that you have once again become the RCMB equivalent of conversational testicles. Yer talking bollox matey. | ||
| Skip (Wolfnoma) Username: Wolfnoma Registered: 07-2010 Posted From: 216.54.20.98 |
Craig, funny you said "Revenge of the Jedi" that was actually the orignal title to "Return of the Jedi" but Lucas changed it halfway through production because he felt that the Jedi would never actively seek Revenge. They were the "Peacekeepers". There are some early production photos floating around that have some of the actors and production crew in t-shirts that say "Revenge of the Jedi". Just an FYI, didn't mean to ramble on. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.4.252.9 |
Yeah? Well what would you call them, Weber? There has to be a term, structurally, for movies like the one I mentioned, and they don't fall under any other category well.... Er, uh, of COURSE I knew that already, Skip, yeah, sure I did.  | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Pandaemonium Period: the late 1970s - a young, fresh faced and exuberant wannabe horror author (though scruffy and carrying a tattered plastic bag, from which he removes a grubby bundle of papers) enters publisher's/agent's office (he's been squeezed in grudgingly, just at the end of the day… “is he here again, oh, send him in Miss Grimes, this shouldn’t take long, see you tomorrow”, etc) with great idea for a book of his short stories, and proceeds to detail five plots: 1. 'Dr Fawcett's Experiment' (3rd Pan Horror) by Raymond Ferrers Broad 2. 'Mrs Anstey's Scarecrow' (9th Pan Horror) by W.H. Carr 3. 'Spinalonga' (13th Pan Horror) by John Ware 4. 'The Bushmaster'(16th Pan Horror) by Conrad Hill 5. 'The Coffin Flies' (18th Pan Horror) by Myc Harrison In each linking section the young man grows ever more manic and wild-eyed, while the suit behind the desk, at first interested, grows ever more nervous and fidgety, saying "there really isn't a place for that type of fiction in today's world", until the young man goes off on a rant about the death of "literature", moves round the desk to gaze frustratedly out the window and unexpectedly turns to inject him in the neck with what he proceeds to explain is a paralysing agent, before removing from that innocuous plastic bag a variety of surgical instruments (“I failed as a medical student, you know, but I always wanted to be more creative anyway”…), asks where the socket is, apologises, searches himself before removing the weightiest object left in the bag, an electric power drill. Last shot, our hero, leaning across the desk with beaming eyes and manic grin, talking about how he always wondered if eyeballs really do pop... THE END… roll credits Well I think it would be good!! | ||
| Nathaniel Tapley (Natt) Username: Natt Registered: 11-2009 Posted From: 78.151.98.239 |
Into The Dark A group of people are on a guided tour of some caves. The guide tells all about the stories he's heard of similar situations: 1) The Narrows - Simon Bestwick 2) The End Of A Summer's Day - Ramsey Campbell 3) Black Dust - Graham Joyce As he leads them into the final, central chamber, massive stalactites dripping, shadows creeping around the walls, the guide tells them not to worry. They will be quite all right. In fact, they will be very well looked after indeed. And we see that the glistening on the walls is not the reflection of torchlight on irregular walls, but eyes. Millions and millions of hungry, tiny eyes. | ||
| Skip (Wolfnoma) Username: Wolfnoma Registered: 07-2010 Posted From: 216.54.20.98 |
@Craig, Yeah, I know, I am a Geek. |