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Mbfg (Mbfg)
Username: Mbfg

Registered: 09-2010
Posted From: 212.219.63.204
Posted on Monday, October 25, 2010 - 12:19 pm:   

Saw it on TV on Saturday night and it completely knocked me out. Strong, strong story and haracters, the ghost part of the story not the entire meaning of the thing.

Cheers
Terry
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.31.1
Posted on Monday, October 25, 2010 - 01:04 pm:   

Couldn't agree more, I'd rank it second only to 'Cronos' in Del Toro's filmography. A strangely under-appreciated masterpiece of a ghost story, and much superior to the likes of 'The Others' - which I liked. Subtly creepy, atmosphere and plot driven, ghost stories are the hardest type of genre picture to get right imo. Del Toro played a blinder with this one! I consider it superior to the, slightly overrated, but still brilliant 'Pan's Labyrinth'.

The only other recent films of its kind, that I found anywhere near as effective, were Hideo Nakata's 'Dark Water' & Kim Jee-Woon's 'A Tale Of Two Sisters'.
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Frank (Frank)
Username: Frank

Registered: 09-2008
Posted From: 85.222.86.21
Posted on Monday, October 25, 2010 - 01:08 pm:   

Steve - I also think Pan's Labyrinth slightly overrated. I think it's a good film, but I would also consider The Devil's Backbone and Cronos superior.
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Craig (Craig)
Username: Craig

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 99.126.164.88
Posted on Monday, October 25, 2010 - 04:31 pm:   

Mmm. I agree with you Frank/Stevie, I too think PAN'S LABYRINTH overrated. Alas, I also think THE DEVIL'S BACKBONE overrated as well, though both are visually stunning films.
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.31.1
Posted on Monday, October 25, 2010 - 04:48 pm:   

Craig, 'The Devil's Backbone' is a well nigh perfect ghost story imo. 'Pan's Labyrinth' is a stunning work of art as well, but underplays the fantasy elements just a little too much for me. I think he needed to take the vision that wee bit further to make the concept really work.
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Craig (Craig)
Username: Craig

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 99.126.164.88
Posted on Monday, October 25, 2010 - 04:55 pm:   

Stevie, I felt both films failed under closer examination. One scene, for example, in PL, the most iconic one (with the creature with the eyes at the table)... I seem to remember it being visually awe-inspiring... but, when you break down the scene in terms of story, of character, of goals and all that - it made very little sense, was flawed, and somewhat pointless....

The same goes for the whole DB: the two storylines, to me, didn't quite match up well, the war story and the ghost story - they didn't hardly gel, and seemed tangential to each other... they weren't seamlessly integrated. But I should I suppose revisit, and reassess (both).
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Gary Fry (Gary_fry)
Username: Gary_fry

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.31.194.128
Posted on Monday, October 25, 2010 - 05:08 pm:   

Yeah, but . . . it just wasn't scary, was it?
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Joel (Joel)
Username: Joel

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 91.110.250.221
Posted on Monday, October 25, 2010 - 08:50 pm:   

Very fine film indeed. A serious ghost story that uses the supernatural not to terrorise the viewer but to deepen the emotional and imaginative power of the film. There was a vogue for only slightly scary 'supernatural thrillers' around that time, and none of them were really effective except The Devil's Backbone, because the latter isn't just a watered-down horror film: it's a serious film about buried secrets and damaged lives, with the supernatural element being part of a greater whole.
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Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.96.253.77
Posted on Monday, October 25, 2010 - 09:23 pm:   

I agree, Joel - and, unlike the emotionally hardened GF, I thought it was creepy as hell.
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John Forth (John)
Username: John

Registered: 05-2008
Posted From: 82.24.1.217
Posted on Monday, October 25, 2010 - 09:33 pm:   

Have to agree with Gary F on this one. I thought it was a fantastic film which told a powerful story, but the 'scary' stuff just didn't frighten me the way it should have.
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Gary Fry (Gary_fry)
Username: Gary_fry

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.31.194.128
Posted on Monday, October 25, 2010 - 09:46 pm:   

It was all too clean and shiny. Needed muddying up a bit, like Don't Look Now or summat. It wasn't seedy enough.

I admire it, tho.
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Gary Fry (Gary_fry)
Username: Gary_fry

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.31.194.128
Posted on Monday, October 25, 2010 - 09:47 pm:   

I didn't much care for Cronos either. Loved Pan', however.
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Mbfg (Mbfg)
Username: Mbfg

Registered: 09-2010
Posted From: 82.6.94.181
Posted on Monday, October 25, 2010 - 11:47 pm:   

Well, for me it was the perfect blend. I didn't watch to be scared, but for the emotional impact of the story. I think I'm beginning to find shocks and scares too contrived for my taste. Don't get me wrong, the odd jolt does spice up the ride, but the kind of intense emotioal imapact achievable through a supernatural film is what I'm looking for. It's what made "The Exorcist" so powerful for me when i saw it, the storylines around the horror element, the intensity of emotion engendered by this bizzare and horrible event. And the direct relationships it forged with the inner lives of the characters.

A perfect written example is the recently read, "The Old Man of Northamptonshire and the Sea" by Sarah Pinborough.

Cheers
Terry
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Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.96.253.77
Posted on Tuesday, October 26, 2010 - 12:02 am:   

Cronos is my favourite del Toro film by far. It's...well, amazing.




MINOR SPOILER




The bit where the old man licks the nosebleed mess off the toilet floor is one of the most unsettling scenes in horror cinema.
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Chris_morris (Chris_morris)
Username: Chris_morris

Registered: 04-2008
Posted From: 98.220.97.79
Posted on Tuesday, October 26, 2010 - 04:09 am:   

FWIW, I found PAN sort of beautiful, I guess, but distancing and uninvolving, kind of like a Goya painting. I saw BACKBONE years ago and remember not a damn thing about it, which speaks volumes, probably. I haven't seen CRONOS yet. Del Toro's good with art direction, no doubt, but his characters are too superficial for my taste. That being said, I think he's capable of making a movie I'd like. Maybe THE HOBBIT will be it? (If he's even still involved. That project has been simmering for so long I can't recall who's in the pot and who's not.)
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Weber (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 194.176.105.55
Posted on Tuesday, October 26, 2010 - 12:06 pm:   

I heard Peter Jackson is back at the helm for the Hobbit films now. That was as of Friday last week.

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