| Author | Message | ||
     Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 85.222.86.21 |
http://horror.about.com/od/horrortoppicklists/tp/25ghostmovies.htm | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.166.117.210 |
I don't see why not. | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 85.222.86.21 |
Just as ghost movies? | ||
| Weber (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.55 |
Amityville better than The Haunting???!!!??? Bollox with a capital bollux | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.166.117.210 |
There's no such thing as "just" a ghost movie. Or story. | ||
| Weber (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.55 |
there is, but they tend to be shit. | ||
| Weber (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.55 |
I saw a ghost today. it was all transparent and wibbly and it said "woooo". I got all scared and ran away. | ||
| Weber (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.55 |
see | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 85.222.86.21 |
Zed - that's an interesting statement. In the period between the 1820' and 1870's, both the ghost story and the horror story were viewed as separable. I wonder when the two became so muddied by their interchangeability? | ||
| Weber (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.55 |
Do you ever get the feeling that people are deliberately ignoring you? | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 85.222.86.21 |
I posted after you wrote your ghost joke. I had to rewrite it once after accidentally deleting the original post. I'm not ignoring you, mate. Unless that's an add-on to the ghost joke about not seeing you/ignoring you. | ||
| Weber (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.55 |
dinna worry mon. I were joshing. Althou I were thinkin I'd mebbe slipped into a sort of sixth sense scenario | ||
| Chris_morris (Chris_morris) Username: Chris_morris Registered: 04-2008 Posted From: 12.165.240.116 |
Frank, which titles in this list aren't ghost stories? | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 85.222.86.21 |
Weber - I know what you meant, pal. I think we all feel like that sometime on here. Chris - I thought that maybe some of them aren't out and out ghosts stories. Maybe my definition of what is a ghost story is somewhat antiquated. | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 85.222.86.21 |
Some of them definitely are, such as the exquisite 'The Changeling', but films such as Candyman strike me as something more, something perhaps 'extending' the ghost genre. You know, ignore me, I'm sometimes something of a babbler; I struggle to put my daydreams into thoughts kind of thing. | ||
| Ramsey Campbell (Ramsey) Username: Ramsey Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.93.21.68 |
"Zed - that's an interesting statement. In the period between the 1820' and 1870's, both the ghost story and the horror story were viewed as separable. I wonder when the two became so muddied by their interchangeability?" There's a piece about that in my non-fiction book, though I'm not quite sure when the terms became interchangeable. Certainly M. R. James said he thought horror was necessary to the ghost story, and it was to most of the tales of Le Fanu and F. Marion Crawford, after all. | ||
| Giancarlo (Giancarlo) Username: Giancarlo Registered: 11-2008 Posted From: 85.116.228.5 |
I'd put THE HAUNTING as best of the batch and, immediately behind, RINGU, the Japanese original which has NOT been bettered by its American RING version! I can't accept to debate upon the latter issue. | ||
| Giancarlo (Giancarlo) Username: Giancarlo Registered: 11-2008 Posted From: 85.116.228.5 |
Besides, I don't know how and why some "critic" in the net (NOT in this Board) is shamelessly including in his "best movies" list Rob Zombie's "The Devil's Rejects", even hinting it's one of the best horror movies ever, or in the last decade at least. I can't recall the link. I didn't know I was being so unsensitive to a "masterpiece". However, as the Romans said, "de gustibus...", so I don't want to become just another such pundit. | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 85.222.86.21 |
I would most definitely agree with putting The Haunting at the top of the pile. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
My Top 10 ghost films: 1. 'The Shining' (1980) by Stanley Kubrick 2. 'Don't Look Now' (1973) by Nicholas Roeg 3. 'The Innocents' (1961) by Jack Clayton 4. 'The Haunting' (1963) by Robert Wise 5. 'Curse Of The Cat People' (1944) by Robert Wise & Gunther Von Fritsch 6. 'The Changeling' (1980) by Peter Medak 7. 'Dark Water' (2002) by Hideo Nakata 8. 'Ringu' (1998) by Hideo Nakata 9. 'Candyman' (1992) by Bernard Rose 10. 'Ju-On : The Grudge' (2003) by Takashi Shimizu Some people may quibble about 'Don't Look Now' not being a ghost story but I'd have to disagree as the spirit of their drowned daughter haunts every frame of that film and I've always believed it was she who was responsible for the, sadly misunderstood, paranormal warnings. Some that almost made the list: 'The Devil's Backbone', 'The Uninvited', 'A Tale Of Two Sisters', 'Les Diaboliques', 'Let's Scare Jessica To Death', 'The Amityville Horror', 'Poltergeist', 'The Frighteners', 'The Others'... | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.166.117.210 |
Session 9 is my favourite ghost fim. But i live in the weak and the wounded. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
I'm dying to see that film now... will order the DVD pronto!  | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.166.117.210 |
I wrote an essay about the film for All Hallows a few years ago...can't remember which issue. | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 85.222.86.21 |
Steve - Zed's not far off with Session 9. It's a modern masterpiece. As genre fans, horror fans, we bemoan the state of things quite regularly, but when this came out it was time to shut up or put up. It had everything that serious horror fans want. I call it one of my 'all consuming films', such is the blinding intensity of this gem. And not only is Peter Mulan also exceptional, so is David Caruso. It's so much more than just atmosphere and a few chills, this film reeks of intelligence and authentic plot development. I've only ever heard one person criticize it, one of the chaps off here, somebody who found one of the character motivations a little absurd, but by and by, this is modern day behemoth of low-budget film-making far surpassing that of its far wealthier cousins. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.166.117.210 |
A lot of people don't like the ending, but for me that's what made the film so powerful. Horses for courses, though. I love it; others don't. Doesn't stop me loving it. | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 85.222.86.21 |
No, the ending is pitch perfect. I suspect that Anderson's new film will tread similar water in how he ends it. It looks like that kind of film. Not the same theme, or subject matter, but the same 'feeling'. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.166.117.210 |
Have you seen Transsiberian? It's excellent, and demonstrates Anderson's range. I expect his new film to be different again. | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 61.216.45.88 |
I saw Transsiberian a while ago and thought it was good. I'm with Zed all the way regarding Session 9. It's a film that still haunts me - I think it succeeded in being both frightening and tragic, something few films achieve. The deleted scenes on the DVD are interesting, and show more of what might have been going on in the abandoned asylum. | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 85.222.86.21 |
Yes, Transsiberian does indeed show his range. I thought it was also excellent. Great actors, especially Harrleson. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.166.117.210 |
For me, the perfect haunted house story is when a haunted person meets a haunted place. Session 9 succeeds brilliantly on this level. | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 85.222.86.21 |
Ah, don't give too much away, Steve hasn't seen it yet (though that's a rather sophisticated and clever way of putting it) | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.166.117.210 |
Off the top of my head: 1. Session 9 2. The Innocents 3. The Haunting 4. Kairo 5. Ghostwatch 6. Ringu 7. Juon: The Grudge 8. The Fog 9. The Devil's Backbone 10. A Drop of Water (from Bava's Black Sabbath) | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 85.222.86.21 |
1.The Haunting 2.The Legend of Hell House 3.Session 9 4.The Shining 5.Rose Red (theatrical yes, but scared the crap out of me) 6.Burnt Offerings 7.Haunted (yes, the adaptation of JM's novel). 8.The Innocents 9.The Woman In Black 10. The Amazing Mr Blunden (yes, really, as a kid, scared the bejesus out of me) | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.166.117.210 |
I almost included The Legend of Hell House for nostalgic reasons, too - love that film | ||
| Steve Bacon (Stevebacon) Username: Stevebacon Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 90.208.112.233 |
Sorry to hijack this thread a bit, but I wanted to know if anyone has seen a film from 1978 called Long Weekend? It's had a few good reviews on Amazon and I'm curious...but I don't seem to have heard of it. It's less than £4 on Amazon. | ||
| Steve Bacon (Stevebacon) Username: Stevebacon Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 90.208.112.233 |
By the way, my top 10, containing all the usual suspects (but not The Usual Suspects) - 1. Don't Look Now 2. The Innocents 3. Burnt Offerings 4. The Shining 5. Session 9 6. Ringu 7. The Orphanage 8. A Tale of Two Sisters 9. The Changeling 10. The Haunting | ||
| Protodroid (Protodroid) Username: Protodroid Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 109.79.28.41 |
SESSION 9 is pretty strong until the ending, I think. (Spoiler) I found the idea of being (merely) killed was feeble compared to the the oblique, suggested horrors earlier in the film. | ||
| Lincoln Brown (Lincoln_brown) Username: Lincoln_brown Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 124.180.63.236 |
Steve, it is an Aussie 'nature' horror film. I saw it a long time ago, but I'm certain I liked it. It was recently remade by hollywood - apparently one of those pointless shot for shot remakes, with a rather silly new title - 'Natures Grave'. | ||
| Steve Bacon (Stevebacon) Username: Stevebacon Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 90.208.112.233 |
Cheers, Lincoln. I think I'll plump for it then. | ||
| Joel (Joel) Username: Joel Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 91.110.189.208 |
Good lists – nice to see the pedestrian 'scary' blockbuster The Sixth Sense not included in anyone's list except the Mark Harris blog linked to at the start. But he does include The Eye, which I thought was superb. | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 85.222.86.21 |
Joel - you must remember that while The Sixth Sense was hardly new fare to seasoned horror fans, or that the ending was shockingly easy to predict, the film itself is a love letter to the 'archaic' tradition of the original camp-fire ghost stories. It's a beautifully made film, with great writing and great acting. It has what a lot of similar genre movies don't have, which is heart, humanity and compassion. Yes, The Eye is another gem, just not enough room on my list. | ||
| Ramsey Campbell (Ramsey) Username: Ramsey Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.93.21.68 |
Off the top of my head, in no order: Ugetsu Monogatari Vampyr (which has a pervasive sense of the spectral, not just of vampirism) Session 9 Kwaidan The Haunting The Shining Dark Water Grave of the Fireflies Carnival of Souls Orphée I'm with you on The Sixth Sense, Frank. If I hadn't seen the trailer first I don't know that I would have predicted the ending but, having done so, I very much admired the way Shyamalan sustained the film. I also felt that in that one and Signs he was the true inheritor of Val Lewton's delicacy and restraint. | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 85.222.86.21 |
Ramsey - I hope he returns to retaining that promise. I thought SIGNS was much undervalued, though I do understand some of the complaints with the ending - not the showing of the alien, but the 'swing away' message - ; I thought the scenes in which they hole up inside the house were incredibly sustained without showing anything at all, if you exclude the rather brilliant and frightening TV news coverage scene. | ||
| Ramsey Campbell (Ramsey) Username: Ramsey Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.93.21.68 |
Exactly what I thought about Signs, Frank - an alien invasion as Lewton might have handled it, the television glimpse and the siege in particular. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.29.115.123 |
But oh, what on earth was he thinking when he made The Lady in the Water? | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 61.216.204.151 |
I was just going to post my list including films nobody's mentioned yet, but now I see that Ramsey has named several of them! Vampyr Ugetsu Monogatari Kwaidan The Haunting Black Sunday Let's Scare Jessica to Death Dark Water Kairo A Tale of Two Sisters Session 9 | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 85.222.86.21 |
Gary - yes, I went into Lady In The Water thinking it couldn't be as bad as what people were saying. But alas, apart from a few glimpses of his old self, it was rather indulgent. Shame. I loved the Bob Balaban character. Ramsey - I still think he has it in him to return to his previous form. If he could do something without a twist ending, but with the subtle shades and shifts of Signs and The Sixth Sense, I think he'll be onto a winner. I must admit I am looking forward to seeing 'The Happening'. BUT, only Zed seems to have mentioned anything positive about it. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.253.77 |
Steve - The Long Weekend is one of my favourite films of all time. There was a recent remake which remained pretty true to the original concept, but it's nowhere near as good as the original. See the film. See it now. It's a masterpiece of understated paranoia and existential horror. The bits with the sea cow haunt me still. | ||
| Weber (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.55 |
sadly, The Happening still isn't a return to form. It's got a brilliant central idea with some really disturbing bits near the start, but the way it all pans out is pedestrian at best and not quite worth the £3 I paid for it at Tesco. Has anyone seen the Last Airbender? | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 85.222.86.21 |
Weber - shame, I was hoping 'The Happening' would be a slow burner that perhaps had passed under people's patience radar. And by all accounts the Last Airbender is dreadful and turgid stuff. This from dozens of reviews and one friend. | ||
| Steve Bacon (Stevebacon) Username: Stevebacon Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 90.208.112.233 |
"Steve - The Long Weekend is one of my favourite films of all time." Gary, it's great that you said that. The Long Weekend was recommended on my Amazon page (based on my previous purchases) alongside 'The Changeling' DVD and Pretty Little Dead Things. |