Insidious Log Out | Topics | Search
Moderators | Edit Profile

RAMSEY CAMPBELL » Discussion » Insidious « Previous Next »

Author Message
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Frank (Frank)
Username: Frank

Registered: 09-2008
Posted From: 85.222.86.21
Posted on Thursday, March 31, 2011 - 10:26 pm:   

http://horror.about.com/od/theatricalhorrorreviews/fr/Insidious-Movie-Review.htm
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Matt_cowan (Matt_cowan)
Username: Matt_cowan

Registered: 04-2008
Posted From: 98.213.185.194
Posted on Sunday, April 24, 2011 - 05:58 am:   

Saw Insidious tonight and absolutely loved it. I was reminded of Ramsey's novel The Influence in some parts. I'm wondering what the overall opinion of everone here was of it.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

John Llewellyn Probert (John_l_probert)
Username: John_l_probert

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.137.108.144
Posted on Sunday, April 24, 2011 - 09:21 am:   

It's not out here yet Matt but we'll definitely be going to see it when it does. Good to see it's getting favourable comments!
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Matt_cowan (Matt_cowan)
Username: Matt_cowan

Registered: 04-2008
Posted From: 98.213.185.194
Posted on Sunday, April 24, 2011 - 11:50 pm:   

"It's not out here yet Matt but we'll definitely be going to see it when it does. Good to see it's getting favourable comments!"

That explaines it then. After watching the movie I thought it would be a big hit with fans of Ramsey Campbell as it reminded me of some of his works. I was a little surprised it wasn't talked about more here.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Huw (Huw)
Username: Huw

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 220.138.162.174
Posted on Monday, April 25, 2011 - 12:05 am:   

There's another thread about this film here somewhere. I'm very much looking forward to seeing it.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Paul_finch (Paul_finch)
Username: Paul_finch

Registered: 11-2009
Posted From: 92.5.63.48
Posted on Sunday, May 08, 2011 - 01:12 pm:   

It's a great little horror film. Very scary, without taking itself too seriously.

Lots of visible influences - THE HAUNTING, THE AMITYVILLE HORROR, THE SENTINEL, POLTERGEIST, even J-lo's THE CELL.

I think the director must also be a big fan of Marilyn Manson videos.

A thoroughly enjoyable slice of 'fun' horror.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 82.4.19.77
Posted on Sunday, May 08, 2011 - 01:58 pm:   

Couldn't agree more, Paul.

See the "Films of 2011" thread for some more thoughts on this modern horror classic, imo.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Kate (Kathleen)
Username: Kathleen

Registered: 09-2009
Posted From: 86.142.242.169
Posted on Monday, May 09, 2011 - 10:03 am:   

Perfect assessment, Paul. We thought it a thoroughly enjoyable little ghost train of a film, with some truly frightening imagery. I was properly scared at times!
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

John Llewellyn Probert (John_l_probert)
Username: John_l_probert

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 194.176.105.43
Posted on Wednesday, May 11, 2011 - 11:28 am:   

Yes this was great. I'm not a huge fan of the 'Paranormal Activity' type of haunted house picture but this was done very well indeed, so much so in fact that even I was scared. It's a triumph of style over substance - Wan & Whannell know their horror and their technique is becoming more refined with each picture. The story is just an excuse for the scary bits but when they're done as well as this then that's fine with me. Best horror of the year so far.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.31.1
Posted on Wednesday, May 11, 2011 - 11:40 am:   

Great to see us all in agreement on a modern horror picture for once. Yes, this one is the dog's bollocks!
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Weber (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 194.176.105.45
Posted on Wednesday, May 11, 2011 - 12:24 pm:   

Stevie, just emailed you.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.31.1
Posted on Wednesday, May 11, 2011 - 04:05 pm:   

Got it mate and no worries. I just hope it sells for what it's worth!
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Gary Fry (Gary_fry)
Username: Gary_fry

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.186.66.88
Posted on Wednesday, May 11, 2011 - 11:17 pm:   

Just seen it. Not bad at all. Relentless in its shock moments. Perhaps a little too reliant on cheap cinematic jolts, but what the hell? It all hanged together just fine, despite the corny story. I thought it reached its peak - and its most Campbellian - when the father reached The Further and first entered the house . . . the scenes in the lounge. Chilling. All the rest was just by-the-numbers horror, but all effective. A good, solid 7/10 from me.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Gary Fry (Gary_fry)
Username: Gary_fry

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.186.66.88
Posted on Wednesday, May 11, 2011 - 11:19 pm:   

PS Strangely enough, I found the title sequence quite scary. Those massive Baroque letters with the screechy music behind them.

PPS Also, why the hell was the father putting on anti-wrinkle cream in one of the opening scenes?!
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 82.4.19.77
Posted on Wednesday, May 11, 2011 - 11:45 pm:   

Think about what became of him, Gary...
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Gary Fry (Gary_fry)
Username: Gary_fry

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.186.66.88
Posted on Thursday, May 12, 2011 - 08:26 am:   

Ah ha! Good point! I was being slow there. ;)
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Gary Fry (Gary_fry)
Username: Gary_fry

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.186.66.88
Posted on Thursday, May 12, 2011 - 08:47 am:   

I'm not sure they needed the Gervais-like psychic detectives, though. And what happened to the other two kids in the second half of the film?
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Kate (Kathleen)
Username: Kathleen

Registered: 09-2009
Posted From: 86.142.242.169
Posted on Thursday, May 12, 2011 - 09:18 am:   

They went to stay with Barbara Hershey. Only mentioned in passing but I wondered the same thing until I remembered the line.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Gary Fry (Gary_fry)
Username: Gary_fry

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 129.11.76.216
Posted on Thursday, May 12, 2011 - 10:42 am:   

Fair enough. Bit contrived, but this wasn't Tolstoy. :-)

I uphold my 7/10 rating, despite none of its scenes bothering my sleep very much.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.31.1
Posted on Thursday, May 12, 2011 - 10:46 am:   

I thought the psychic detectives injected some much needed humour and were very well done, like pretty much everything in the movie.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

John Llewellyn Probert (John_l_probert)
Username: John_l_probert

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 82.33.242.34
Posted on Thursday, May 12, 2011 - 11:06 am:   

The title card made my nerves jangle too. I liked the detectivs (of course) and I assumed the other children were going to be employed in a twist at the end.

Btw Barbara Hershey was much less mental in this than in Black Swan, wasn't she?
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.31.1
Posted on Thursday, May 12, 2011 - 11:35 am:   

She was great in this but grated on my nerves in 'Black Swan'. That final shot of her in the audience was so over-the-top it had me groaning in disbelief. She's normally one of my favourite actresses, for two films in particular; 'The Entity' & 'The Last Temptation Of Christ' - Scorsese's great forgotten masterpiece imo.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Kate (Kathleen)
Username: Kathleen

Registered: 09-2009
Posted From: 86.142.242.169
Posted on Thursday, May 12, 2011 - 11:36 am:   

She scared me so much in Black Swan that just seeing her name in the credits made me nervous and when she first appeared I was expecting a Mommie Dearest outburst.

And while I'm one of those who doesn't generally like humour in their horror, I thought the detectives were a welcome bit of fun which I was pleased to see weren't overplayed the way they'd have been in any other film.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

John Llewellyn Probert (John_l_probert)
Username: John_l_probert

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 82.33.242.34
Posted on Thursday, May 12, 2011 - 11:39 am:   

I liked that the Viewmaster got a cameo and simultaneously kicked myself that I hadn't thought of using it in a story. Mind you, film is much the better medium to play with something like that.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Matt_cowan (Matt_cowan)
Username: Matt_cowan

Registered: 04-2008
Posted From: 98.213.185.194
Posted on Thursday, May 12, 2011 - 05:13 pm:   

I'm glad to see it was received well here overall. I really loved the film. After watching it I decided to read Ramsey's novel THE PARASITE because it sounds like it might have some similar themes goning on. I also noticed some similarities to THE INFLUENCE when the father is going after his son.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Gary Fry (Gary_fry)
Username: Gary_fry

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 129.11.76.229
Posted on Thursday, May 12, 2011 - 05:25 pm:   

(MINOR SPOILERS)

It had Campbellian moments, but I don't think it was particularly Campbellian (except for The Further lounge scene, which was the highlight of the whole film for me). It lacked his restraint . . . necessarily, perhaps, given its target audience (the cinema in which I saw was packed out, largely by A level students who should have been "revising law").

I really liked the demon, however. Seeing too much of it wasn't really a problem, because the effects were done very well.

Also really liked the sudden appearance of the two women when the bearded psychic detective guy was UV-ing the house.

The childs' drawings were nicely used, but far from original (I'm a real sucker for that device, tho).

I loved the dancing boy after they first move house. Creepy in that borderline comedic way. Creepy introduction of him facing away from camera, too - now that was kind of cinematic Campbell: casual, throwaway, and all the more resonant for it. Masterstroke doing this scene in daylight, too.

Also liked the photos of the dad as a boy, with the old woman getting closer and closer.

All tried and tested devices, enthusiastically put together by a guy who's no Campbell but who nonetheless knows what he's doing.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Gary Fry (Gary_fry)
Username: Gary_fry

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.27.30.64
Posted on Thursday, May 12, 2011 - 09:23 pm:   

A review here from Miss Ing-thepoint.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2011/apr/28/insidious-review
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.31.1
Posted on Friday, May 13, 2011 - 10:26 am:   

Stupid review by a non-horror fan!

Read mine on the "Films of 2011" thread for a spontaneous and honest fan's reaction.
I still say it's the best film of its kind since 'Poltergeist' and a true modern classic.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Gary Fry (Gary_fry)
Username: Gary_fry

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.27.30.64
Posted on Friday, May 13, 2011 - 10:35 am:   

>>>a true modern classic

While I wouldn't be that effusive, I did think it was much better than the review claimed.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.31.1
Posted on Friday, May 13, 2011 - 11:06 am:   

Time will tell, Gary. I think this is one film we'll still be talking about in 20 years time.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Gary Fry (Gary_fry)
Username: Gary_fry

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.27.30.64
Posted on Friday, May 13, 2011 - 11:07 am:   

I thought The Mist was an immensely superior horror film. As was Rec.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Gary Fry (Gary_fry)
Username: Gary_fry

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.27.30.64
Posted on Friday, May 13, 2011 - 11:08 am:   

Evem 1408 was better, in my opinion.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.31.1
Posted on Friday, May 13, 2011 - 12:20 pm:   

Haven't seen 'The Mist' or 'Rec' would you believe. I enjoyed '1408' but it wasn't a patch on 'Insidious'.

I'm not saying 'Insidious' is the only great horror movie made this millennium but that it is, for me, the greatest populist horror movie (unashamedly rehashing all the old clichés with style, love of the genre and a knowing humour) - as did 'Poltergeist' in the 80s.

In my view the best horror films of the past 11 years (that I've seen) have been: 'Antichrist', 'Inland Empire', 'Zodiac', 'Lunacy', 'Dark Water', 'The Devil's Backbone', 'A Tale Of Two Sisters', 'Ju-On : The Grudge', 'Insidious', 'Jeepers Creepers', 'Dog Soldiers', 'The Descent', 'Ginger Snaps', 'Let The Right One In', 'Creep', in roughly that order. That was off the top of my head so I'm bound to have forgotten some.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Gary Fry (Gary_fry)
Username: Gary_fry

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.27.30.64
Posted on Friday, May 13, 2011 - 12:24 pm:   

You can't disguise your lists by not assigning a new line to each entry, you know. You ain't fooling anyone, dude.

I really don't think Insidious is as good as you're making out, man. But maybe I'm wrong.

All in all, it reminded me of a Graham Masterson novel. Inelegantly unrestrained, but effective in all the right places.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.31.1
Posted on Friday, May 13, 2011 - 12:35 pm:   

Those lists exist in my mind and are constantly reshuffling themselves. Forgot; 'Pulse', 'Wolf Creek', 'Pan's Labyrinth', 'Little Otik', 'The Skeleton Key', 'Freezer', 'The Children', 'The Last Exorcism', and no doubt a few more.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Ramsey Campbell (Ramsey)
Username: Ramsey

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 92.5.66.13
Posted on Friday, May 13, 2011 - 04:13 pm:   

We very much enjoyed Insidious. I thought it was actually quite restrained - the depiction of the Further very largely in terms of darkness, for instance, or the way we're only told what the demon said rather than allowed to hear its voice. I'd say it was a more than honourable attempt to do a classical supernatural horror film.

It also focused my thoughts about the discussion on post-modernism. Of course there's much in the film that's derivative - even what looks like a quote from M. R. James - but for me the film reimagines and reinvents its material, rather than simply giving us the creative equivalent of a shrug and telling us we all know it's second-hand. I've always gently disagreed with Jack Sullivan about Blackwood's "The Empty House" - he found it over-familiar, I thought it was freshly imagined and vital.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.31.1
Posted on Friday, May 13, 2011 - 04:52 pm:   

Funny you should say that, Ramsey, because I found 'The Empty House' rather too formulaic a haunted house tale and wouldn't rank it as one of Blackwood's best. It's atmospheric and effective in a predictable kind of way but just lacks that spark of the bizarre that marks out his best fiction imo.

Glad to hear you enjoyed 'Insidious'. There were some nicely judged Campbellian moments but I'd still like to see someone go the whole hog with a proper big budget adaptation of one of your best novels.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.96.253.77
Posted on Friday, May 13, 2011 - 05:22 pm:   

I'd still like to see someone go the whole hog with a proper big budget adaptation of one of your best novels

God, I wouldn't...I'd rather see a nice little indie adaptation, with a talented team and no big-budget restraints imposed on the production. Just a gritty, atmospheric and relatively faithful adaptation of something like Midnight Sun or The Influence.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.153.150.117
Posted on Friday, May 13, 2011 - 05:53 pm:   

The best director might oddly enough be someone like your chap, that Meadows fellow. I reckon he'd do a good Alan Garner Elidor, too, if he was ever inclined.
Ramsey - who would you like to make a film of your work?
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.153.150.117
Posted on Friday, May 13, 2011 - 05:54 pm:   

Altman had the right style, I think, you know.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Gary Fry (Gary_fry)
Username: Gary_fry

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.27.30.64
Posted on Friday, May 13, 2011 - 05:59 pm:   

I'm surprised you find it restrained, Ramsey. Restrained perhaps when compared with the likes of Saw, I can agree. But in a cinematic genre which includes Don't Look Now and various other shadowy films, I'd say it was far from restrained. In fact it reminded me of what you've said about The Parasite and The Hungry Moon: that it tried to put too much in. But even then, I thought it lacked either of those books' invention. I mean, with the possible exception of that Further lounge scene, was there anything in Insidious which resonates as much as, say, that moment in tHM when the comedian is in the back of the car flanked by two blank heads? I guess my point is that it lacked any really striking new ideas, which is fine when it's all done with panache (as it was) and eminently entertaining. It just ain't great.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Gary Fry (Gary_fry)
Username: Gary_fry

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.27.30.64
Posted on Friday, May 13, 2011 - 06:00 pm:   

>>>Ramsey - who would you like to make a film of your work?

Tony, I asked him this at an event once, and he said David Lynch doing Needing Ghost.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Matt_cowan (Matt_cowan)
Username: Matt_cowan

Registered: 04-2008
Posted From: 98.213.185.194
Posted on Friday, May 13, 2011 - 06:43 pm:   

I thought it was pretty original for the way it handled the psychic stuff and created a great atmosphere. It's now my favorite horror movie.

If I could cast any director to do one of Ramsey's novels I'd pick Del Toro or maybe even the guys who did INSIDIOUS. I think it would be cool to see INCARNATE, THE GRIN OF THE DARK or MIDNIGHT SUN as a film. Although, I'd be excited to see any of his work on film.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Gary Fry (Gary_fry)
Username: Gary_fry

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.27.30.64
Posted on Friday, May 13, 2011 - 06:59 pm:   

You have seen The Nameless and Second Name, Matt?
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.96.253.77
Posted on Friday, May 13, 2011 - 07:17 pm:   

If not, check them out...both are very good films - especially Los Sin Nombre.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Paul_finch (Paul_finch)
Username: Paul_finch

Registered: 11-2009
Posted From: 92.5.63.48
Posted on Friday, May 13, 2011 - 08:09 pm:   

Ramsey ... on that TV documentary about your work afew years ago, excerpts from some of your stories were dramatised. I can't remember which ones now, but I do remember thinking at the time that anyone who wasn't familiar with your stuff should have been intrigued. How did you feel about them?
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Matt_cowan (Matt_cowan)
Username: Matt_cowan

Registered: 04-2008
Posted From: 98.213.185.194
Posted on Friday, May 13, 2011 - 11:59 pm:   

"You have seen The Nameless and Second Name, Matt?"

I have not seen them. Are they English language films? I know it sounds shallow but I tend to have trouble getting into dubbed or captioned movies.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Mick Curtis (Mick)
Username: Mick

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.178.81.136
Posted on Saturday, May 14, 2011 - 01:25 am:   

Matt - they've got writing on the screen at the bottom! All the way through!
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Gary Fry (Gary_fry)
Username: Gary_fry

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.27.30.64
Posted on Saturday, May 14, 2011 - 08:27 am:   

No, Second Name is in English.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Mick Curtis (Mick)
Username: Mick

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.178.81.136
Posted on Saturday, May 14, 2011 - 09:26 am:   

Blimey, prof - you're quite right - I'd forgotten that.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Gary Fry (Gary_fry)
Username: Gary_fry

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.27.30.64
Posted on Saturday, May 14, 2011 - 09:40 am:   

I know everything about films, see. :-)
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Weber (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 109.158.60.210
Posted on Tuesday, May 17, 2011 - 02:45 am:   

Just seen it and I have to say I detested the musical score.It would have seemed OTT in the worst excesses of the Hammer films.

That aside I enjoyed the film a lot. Some very creepy moments - even I jumped several times. But I don't think it's the unalloyed classicsome people are claiming it to be.

I saw 1408 last night and thought that was much more scary and generally better made than this one (except for the bit where he got out - that kind of grated on me)

Rec and The Descent are also two horror films that stand head and shoulders above this one.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Craig (Craig)
Username: Craig

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 99.126.164.88
Posted on Tuesday, May 17, 2011 - 04:05 am:   

You liked 1408?!? Ugh. I loved the story, which I heard in the original format, King reading it live—correct me if I'm wrong, if that's not the first way it was presented to an audience. And again, it was just wonderful. But the movie was such a letdown.

However, yes, REC and DESCENT are two horror films that are indeed superior, so you may still air your views here, Weber.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Weber (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 194.176.105.37
Posted on Tuesday, May 17, 2011 - 11:32 am:   

Not read the story of 1408. I didn't think the film was faultless - as stated above - but overall I really liked the film.

I also - like most peeps here - rate the Mist as one of the better horrors of recent years.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.31.1
Posted on Tuesday, May 17, 2011 - 11:35 am:   

Mikael Håfström's '1408' was a moderately effective adaptation of one of Stephen King's scariest short stories (certainly of recent years). John Cusack made the film but the effectiveness was lessened by excessive use of CGI in key scenes for me. Whatever you do avoid Håfström's last movie, 'The Rite'. It was pure pants.

'Insidious' is on a whole other level imho - a wonderfully entertaining thrill-ride of a horror pic.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Weber (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 194.176.105.45
Posted on Tuesday, May 17, 2011 - 11:54 am:   

I think if Insidious had had a more subtle musical score I would have been completely creeped out. Instead the music really irritated. There were a few places where the use of sound was very well done but then the screechy music would start up again and wreck the mood.

Incidentally, the comments above about where did the other 2 kids go, they used exactly the same thing in Poltergeist (a film this mirrors on almost every level except overall quality) - one line late on where the mother said that the kids were staying with their gran.

Like Gary F I thought the house in the Further was the highlight of the film.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Gary Fry (Gary_fry)
Username: Gary_fry

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.27.30.64
Posted on Tuesday, May 17, 2011 - 11:58 am:   

But you know, the house in the Further wasn't unlike House of Wax, now I think.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Matt_cowan (Matt_cowan)
Username: Matt_cowan

Registered: 04-2008
Posted From: 98.213.185.194
Posted on Thursday, May 19, 2011 - 06:02 pm:   

The music for Insidious was done by a guy named J. Bishara. I looked at his site and it says he played the part of the demon in the film as well as doing the score. http://www.jbishara.com/?page_id=8
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 82.4.19.77
Posted on Thursday, May 19, 2011 - 10:36 pm:   

I had no problem with the score and thought it complimented the action and tone of the film perfectly.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.96.253.77
Posted on Thursday, May 19, 2011 - 10:42 pm:   

I really want to see Insidious now...wish the DVD release would hurry up.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 82.4.19.77
Posted on Thursday, May 19, 2011 - 10:56 pm:   

Bite the bullet and go see it in the cinema, man!
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.96.253.77
Posted on Thursday, May 19, 2011 - 11:13 pm:   

I don't do the cinema for 2 reasons:

1- I don't really have the time because I spend my evenings writing.

2- I get angry in cinemas, because they're filled with...people. It's like taking a crap in a roomful of strangers. If I want a "communal experience" I'll go to a frigging church or a club, thank you. I prefer to view my films in silence.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Matt_cowan (Matt_cowan)
Username: Matt_cowan

Registered: 04-2008
Posted From: 98.213.185.194
Posted on Thursday, May 19, 2011 - 11:34 pm:   

I have to admit I rather liked the score as well.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Weber (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 109.158.60.210
Posted on Friday, May 20, 2011 - 12:21 am:   

go in the daytime when there's hardly anyone there...
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.96.253.77
Posted on Friday, May 20, 2011 - 01:20 am:   

Weber: I have a day job, and weekends are spent with my wife and kid. I'd rather wait for the DVD.

Just watched Wan's DEAD SILENCE: what a load of shitty old twaddle...and yet, there are three or four beautifully crafted scare scenes, a genuinely creepy villain, and a final twist that's so audacious you can't help grinning.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.96.253.77
Posted on Friday, May 20, 2011 - 01:24 am:   

I just don't enjoy the cinema. I realise I'm ina minority, but I like to sit in the dark and watch films completely alone. I can't even stand watching them with the missus. For me, film isn't a communal experience.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Allybird (Allybird)
Username: Allybird

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 49.227.200.20
Posted on Friday, May 20, 2011 - 04:40 am:   

Nah. I can't stand going to the cinema. I always get pissed off with people there.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 195.166.117.210
Posted on Friday, May 20, 2011 - 09:35 am:   

Yup. Sing it, sister.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Gary Fry (Gary_fry)
Username: Gary_fry

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 129.11.76.229
Posted on Friday, May 20, 2011 - 09:53 am:   

Yeah, that's right: some people just won't shut up until you're ready to snap. Best avoided.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.31.1
Posted on Friday, May 20, 2011 - 11:14 am:   

I'm the exact opposite and love the whole communal experience of going to the cinema and enjoying a film as it was meant to be seen - on the big screen. I'm lucky in that I have two cinemas within walking distance of my flat, a popular multi-plex for the likes of 'Insidious' (which was wonderful with a screaming audience), and a serious arthouse cinema, the Queens Film Theatre, for the more avant-garde, foreign language or old classic films to be seen with a respectful audience.

Watching cinema movies at home on the telly is a poor substitute imho, but better than nothing, as my rapidly expanding DVD collection can attest.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 195.166.117.210
Posted on Friday, May 20, 2011 - 11:20 am:   

It's a uniquely soulless experience, watching a film in a multiplex. Hate it. I prefer my own lounge, lights off, headphones on, cold beer in hand.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Weber (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 194.176.105.56
Posted on Friday, May 20, 2011 - 11:29 am:   

I remember when I went to see Terminator 2 at the cinema when it first came out. When it got to the bit near the end where we think Arnie's dead but sarah is blasting away at the T1000 with the big gun, it's backing away and splitting with every shot, teetering over the pit of molten metal, one more shot and it's dead... then the gun clicks, out of ammo

At that preceise moment, everyone in the full to capacity cinema as one let out the breath they'd been holding with the whispered word "Shit!"

Five hundred simultaneous identical reactions - it's one of the weirdest experiences I've ever had in the cinema.

Seeing a film on the big screen with an appreciative crowd makes a film better IMO. Of course there are days when you get people who won't STFU and I have been known toask the stewards to remove them in the past - especially when they've hurled abuse at a person who politely asked them to be quiet.

I'm with Stevie, the cinema is the best place to see a film.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.31.1
Posted on Friday, May 20, 2011 - 11:32 am:   

A uniquely thrilling experience when you get the right film and audience combination. Horror and comedy films are the two best genres to enjoy communally, I find. Screaming and laughter being two of my favourite sounds.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Ramsey Campbell (Ramsey)
Username: Ramsey

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 92.8.21.5
Posted on Friday, May 20, 2011 - 11:34 am:   

I've had both kinds of experience. On the one hand, seeing The Birds on its original release and hearing a murmur of unease from maybe a thousand people when the playground equipment proves to be covered with birds, and a concerted sob from an entire audience when we see Cary Grant's realisation at the end of An Affair to Remember. On the other, various films - Berman's A Passion, for instance - have been spoiled by audience members who didn't like the film and made sure the rest of us knew it.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Weber (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 194.176.105.56
Posted on Friday, May 20, 2011 - 11:49 am:   

That scene in the birds, only one in 5 birds on the play equipment were live. the rest were all stuffed but the movement of the strategically placed live birds distracts the eye from the fact that all the rest are frozen in place.

irrelevant to the current discussion maybe, but I think it's fascinating.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Hubert (Hubert)
Username: Hubert

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 178.116.58.66
Posted on Friday, May 20, 2011 - 11:57 am:   

I went to see Troy a few years ago - a type film that is best experienced in a good cinema - and this woman in the audience had her cell phone going off loudly at least three times. After her second conversation people started muttering "Why don't you turn it off then, bitch" and when she didn't I was ready to grab Achilles' spear and impale her, I swear. Nobody in that audience (and it was a nearly full house) will ever forget that evening, I'm afraid.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 195.166.117.210
Posted on Friday, May 20, 2011 - 12:00 pm:   

I threatened to kill two lads in their 20s when I went to see Gladiator. It terrified them into switching off the phone they were messing with and remaining silent for the rest of the film, but also completely ruined my experience because I was filled with unresolved rage. I had to go and sit outside for a few minutes to stop myself from beating them to death anyway.

After that, my cinema going trips began a steady decline...
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Weber (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 194.176.105.42
Posted on Friday, May 20, 2011 - 12:03 pm:   

There are few sights more satisfying than the chattering teens at the back of the cinema being escorted out by the stewards for refusing to be quiet. Last time I saw this done they got a round of applause.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.31.1
Posted on Friday, May 20, 2011 - 12:24 pm:   

When I went to see John Carpenter's 'The Ward' back in January I was in particularly bad form because of the recent burst pipes disaster and the state of the flat. It was during the afternoon and the cinema was only about a quarter full.

I sat where I had three clear rows all around me and made myself comfy.

Then these three teenage dickheads came in and sat directly behind me, chattering, laughing, bleeping and farting away. The film started and for the first five minutes this continued. I then swivelled my head around and give them my most piercing glare and in my calmest no-nonsense voice said, "SHUT THE FUCK UP". They did, I turned back around. I heard muted whisperings and a "did you see his eyes" followed by an urgent shhhhh... and there wasn't a peep out of them for the rest of the film.

I sat basking in the waves of fear that emanated from behind me and loved every moment of it, the film was pretty damn good too!
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Hubert (Hubert)
Username: Hubert

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 178.116.58.66
Posted on Friday, May 20, 2011 - 12:52 pm:   

I have seen Black Swan twice now and each time the audience was dead silent. Says something about the film, methinks.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.31.1
Posted on Friday, May 20, 2011 - 12:58 pm:   

Glad you liked it, Hubert, and, yes, the audience was silent when I saw it too.

Half of them in glowing admiration, the other half in slack-jawed disbelief (that was me).
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Weber (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 194.176.105.42
Posted on Friday, May 20, 2011 - 01:50 pm:   

So there were only 2 in the cinema when you saw it?
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.31.1
Posted on Friday, May 20, 2011 - 03:07 pm:   

Ho ho... that was the half to which I belonged, Weber.

I'm not just saying this for the sake of perversity, I really didn't like the film at all.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Hubert (Hubert)
Username: Hubert

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 178.116.58.66
Posted on Friday, May 20, 2011 - 04:03 pm:   

It doesn't go half as much over the top as Aronofsky's Requiem for a Dream. The trippy after-effects aren't all that far-fetched, believe me. The only thing I would say is hard to swallow is the self-mutilation or suicide at the end.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.31.1
Posted on Friday, May 20, 2011 - 04:31 pm:   

That final surge of ludicrous bombast had me sliding goggle-eyed out of my chair.

Honestly, I felt like shouting "you've got to be fucking kidding!!" at the screen, but my throat had seized up.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Gary Fry (Gary_fry)
Username: Gary_fry

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 129.11.77.198
Posted on Friday, May 20, 2011 - 05:09 pm:   

>>>It's a uniquely soulless experience, watching a film in a multiplex. Hate it. I prefer my own lounge, lights off, headphones on, cold beer in hand.

Tiny telly.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Protodroid (Protodroid)
Username: Protodroid

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 109.79.247.215
Posted on Friday, May 20, 2011 - 05:22 pm:   

Is that the latest Tellytubby?

God, Tellytubby jokes. how noughties. Am I the first to say "how noughties"?
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Hubert (Hubert)
Username: Hubert

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 178.116.58.66
Posted on Friday, May 20, 2011 - 06:30 pm:   

That final surge of ludicrous bombast

Induced by the music, no doubt. I wonder whether you would have had the same impression if it had been the Chemical Brothers instead of Tchaikowsky in those final scenes.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.31.1
Posted on Monday, May 23, 2011 - 11:37 am:   

**** Black Swan SPOILERS ****

Hubert, the music was fine, though I'm not much of a Tchaikovsky fan (too romantic for my taste). It was the whole ridiculous spectacle of this girl having to go through what she did and end up bloody killing herself in order to give the "perfect performance". The implication being she could then die happy because her life would never get any better and no one would ever be able to top her performance as the Swan Princess, so 'Swan Lake' was effectively dead as well. And Aronofsky expected us to take this seriously?!
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 195.166.117.210
Posted on Monday, May 23, 2011 - 11:45 am:   

And Aronofsky expected us to take this seriously?!

from what I've read, no. It's gothic melodrama, innit?
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Weber (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 194.176.105.46
Posted on Monday, May 23, 2011 - 11:47 am:   

Methinks thau mayst be reading too much into it. I took it as a downbeat ending not an upbeat ending. In an attempt to give the perfect performance she pushed herself over the edge into madness and eventually died as a result. No implication that now she could die happy, she'd gone completely fruitloop with the self (and mother)imposed pressure.

The wrestler was a mirror of this film for me. Both exploring very similar themes with the central characters so addicted to their art that they end up killing themselves for it.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Weber (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 194.176.105.46
Posted on Monday, May 23, 2011 - 11:47 am:   

thou

not thau
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Ramsey Campbell (Ramsey)
Username: Ramsey

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 92.8.27.229
Posted on Monday, May 23, 2011 - 12:04 pm:   

Hubert, the music was fine, though I'm not much of a Tchaikovsky fan (too romantic for my taste). It was the whole ridiculous spectacle of this girl having to go through what she did and end up bloody killing herself in order to give the "perfect performance". The implication being she could then die happy because her life would never get any better and no one would ever be able to top her performance as the Swan Princess, so 'Swan Lake' was effectively dead as well. And Aronofsky expected us to take this seriously?!

Surely that's just her view, not the reality.

Did Poe expect "The Oval Portrait" to be taken seriously?
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Kate (Kathleen)
Username: Kathleen

Registered: 09-2009
Posted From: 92.25.72.172
Posted on Monday, May 23, 2011 - 12:27 pm:   

I'm no expert but Swan Lake has a variety of different endings. I like the tragic romantic one where the spell can't be broken so the only way the lovers can stay together is in death: Prince Siegfried and Odette dive into the lake and drown.

Aronofsky has said that the idea for Black Swan came from taking the ballet's story entirely literally. So rather than an evil wizard's spell that turns Odette into a swan, we have an overbearing mother and choreographer driving a dancer mad until she literally transforms into one, with all the ensuing Cronenbergian horror and pain. It's kind of like The Red Shoes meets The Fly, directed by Argento at his best.

I appreciate that it didn't work for you, Stevie, but I suspect it's the sub-genre that's not your cuppa tea, rather than this individual film. Perhaps you just took it too literally, too *sanely*? Surely you wouldn't watch giallos or a film like Suspiria that way.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.31.1
Posted on Monday, May 23, 2011 - 12:34 pm:   

At the end of her performance the reaction of the audience, her mother, the ballet director and the rest of the cast was ecstatic to the point of madness too, while she lay smiling her life away. I do believe the director intended to say that the role of the Swan Princess was as dead as she was, that's the message I got anyway.

I just found it an incredibly arrogant and hateful piece of work. No one in it, least of all the heroine, was remotely sympathetic or even convincing as real people. Zed is right when he calls it a gothic melodrama and I consider melodrama one of the genres it is most difficult to pull off convincingly - one either suspends disbelief, through the artistry of the filmmaker, and gets swept up in the story, as with Tim Burton's 'Sweeney Todd' say, or the whole thing collapses under the weight of its own ridiculous pretensions. 'Black Swan' didn't so much collapse as self destruct imho.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Gary Fry (Gary_fry)
Username: Gary_fry

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.31.10.14
Posted on Monday, May 23, 2011 - 12:37 pm:   

Spoilers abound!
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.31.1
Posted on Monday, May 23, 2011 - 12:50 pm:   

Strangely I loved 'The Wrestler' because of its no-holds-barred gritty realism. Same with 'Requiem For A Dream'.

I just don't think Aronofsky does fantasy particularly well. He seems to lose any artistic sense he has and comes over all self-indulgent. Reality seems to ground him lol.

Kate, you've mentioned three of my all-time favourite auteur directors in Michael Powell, David Cronenberg & Dario Argento. DA isn't anywhere near their league, even at his best imho.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Greg James (Greg_james)
Username: Greg_james

Registered: 04-2011
Posted From: 86.163.94.34
Posted on Monday, May 23, 2011 - 10:58 pm:   

I saw Insidious a few weekends back and I wasn't overly impressed. I could see what they were trying to do by including lots of 'retro' touches but, for me, it didn't work because they were using the same directorial style as SAW. A style that is fine for a pacey thriller but doesn't work so well when you're trying to create a more slow-burning supernatural film.

With regard to the cinema-going experience, I would say I used to to enjoy it but not so much anymore. Too many people treat the cinema like it's their frontroom and, here in London, staff aren't likely to challenge or eject trouble-makers because they're scared of being attacked for their trouble. It's a shame really.

And I thought Black Swan was ace myself.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Kate (Kathleen)
Username: Kathleen

Registered: 09-2009
Posted From: 86.131.48.138
Posted on Tuesday, May 24, 2011 - 07:58 am:   

Ah well, horses for courses, Stevie. I've been a fan of Aronofsky since Pi and have seen - and loved - all his films *except* The Wrestler. (It's on the rental list; we just haven't got round to it yet.) I love everything and everyone even peripherally associated with Black Swan (ie, ballet, Tchaikovsky, Aronofsky, gothic melodrama/psychodrama, giallos, Cronenbergian body horror, etc.) so I was probably destined to love it, but I'm certainly not alone. I still think you're projecting but hey, you're allowed to love or hate any film you want.

Lord P and I spend a lot of time in the cinema (we probably see 2-3 films a month) and our only recent complaint about the communal viewing experience was how rubbish the audience were at Piranha 3D. But that was because they were too quiet and not cheering and laughing along with us. We probably made more noise than anyone there! We tend to go to the first showing on a Friday or Saturday so the cinemas are rarely crowded but even when they are we've rarely had any issues.

In fact, during one film (Solomon Kane or Centurion?) there were some teens across the aisle who whispered a bit during one scene and this huge bloke stormed down from the back of the cinema and told them loudly to "shut the fuck up". They looked pretty scared and they did shut up, but honestly, HE made more of a disturbance than they'd been doing. We were closer to them, after all, and they weren't bothering US.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 82.4.19.77
Posted on Tuesday, May 24, 2011 - 09:35 am:   

Love ballet (particularly Stravinsky), can take Tchaikovsky but not one of my fav composers, find Darren Aronofsky a mercurial talent who is sometimes inspired and sometimes disappears up his own arse, love gothic melodrama (and melodrama in general) when it works, adore Itailian giallos and consider them the purest form of horror/crime crossover movies with the work of Bava & Argento representing the pinnacle of melodramatic horror cinema as Art, and can't get enough of Cronenbergian body horror but found this transformation into a swan unintentionally titter inducing - 'Possession' is more like it in my book.

I'm just expressing an instinctive personal reaction to a film and I'm really pleased for anyone who liked the movie.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 195.166.117.210
Posted on Tuesday, May 24, 2011 - 10:33 am:   

Kate, see The Wrestler. It's so me it could have been made specifically for me to watch. A wonderful piece of work.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.31.1
Posted on Tuesday, May 24, 2011 - 10:59 am:   

It is indeed! The role Mickey Rourke was born to play.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 195.166.117.210
Posted on Tuesday, May 24, 2011 - 11:02 am:   

He was born to play Harry Angel, IMHO, but, yes, this one too.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.31.1
Posted on Tuesday, May 24, 2011 - 11:30 am:   

'Angel Heart' is a fantastic movie. A well nigh perfect horror film imo. For years it was in my Top 10 and still makes the Top 25.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Hubert (Hubert)
Username: Hubert

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 178.116.58.66
Posted on Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - 09:51 am:   

At the end of her performance the reaction of the audience, her mother, the ballet director and the rest of the cast was ecstatic to the point of madness too

Even the glimpse of her mother in the audience is probably a hallucination. Remember she left her mother in the appartment with her fingers crushed. Nothing after the nightclub scene can be taken for granted or real anymore. That d****d ecstasy tablet!
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.31.1
Posted on Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - 12:06 pm:   

I dare say I will watch 'Black Swan' again at some stage and hopefully get more out of it but as things stand, despite all the undoubted talent on show, it remains one of the most irritating experiences I've had in the cinema for years.

What was that whole bit in the dressing room about? The unintentional murder and hiding of the body and it disappearing and, blah, blah, blah... Even allowing for madness and hallucinations it made no narrative or artistic sense to me. I just found the film an infuriating muddle of po-faced pretension with an incredibly shallow story and no particular message under all the pomp and bombast. The fact that there was no one worth empathising with (unlike Polanski's vastly superior 'Repulsion' say) was the final straw imho.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.31.1
Posted on Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - 01:09 pm:   

That's it... I've cracked it!!

The thing that drew me to the two Aronofsky films I really admired was not only their grounding in gritty reality but the presence of believable sympathetic characters I could empathise with and care about: Ellen Burstyn in 'Requiem For A Dream' & Mickey Rourke in 'The Wrestler'.

His other films I found cold and distancing exercises in style over substance with nothing for me to hook onto or care about. Yep, that's my final word on the Aronofsky controversy, I reckon.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Hubert (Hubert)
Username: Hubert

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 178.116.58.66
Posted on Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - 01:58 pm:   

The unintentional murder and hiding of the body and it disappearing

When you're tripping things you'd like to happen tend to happen 'for real'. But it's only your imagination running wild and producing images you think are real. Nina wants to get Lilly out of the way, so she thinks she kills her, etc. Of course at irregular intervals reality as we know it keeps interfering. In the end Nina has changed so much into Lilly that in killing her enemy she destroys herself.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Karim Ghahwagi (Karim)
Username: Karim

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 193.89.189.24
Posted on Friday, May 27, 2011 - 10:19 am:   

I had a chance to watch Insidious, and I thought that the first half of the film was very well done, and truly unsettling. The first momentary apparition of the demon was truly effective, however I thought that the film was a bit too ambitious in scope in the latter half and suffered from budgetary constraints. However I still think that the director managed to create very effective moments of unease, particularly with his use of sound, which in just one or two instances, were a little over the top. And when do you remember a lead character being introduced in a story applying anti-wrinkling cream around his eyes!
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.96.253.77
Posted on Saturday, September 24, 2011 - 12:46 am:   

Well, I finally got to see Insidious this evening.

For me, it was a film of three parts, involving three tonal shifts: the first act was excellent (a slow accumulation of dread), the second act was very good (borderline comedy yet still creepy and hugely entertaining), the third act almost ruined the film for me (a lurch into fantasy that fell flat on its face).

It had some genuinely creepy moments - namely the boy dancing (which was jawdroppingly creepy), a few of the demon appearances, and that bit in the lounge in the Further, with the grinning family. But it suffers from the usual Hollywood weaknesses of (a) explaining everything and losing all sense of ambiguity, and (b) contriving a big pay-off ending. I actually really enjoyed most of the film, but it's far from a classic.

As far as modern EC style horrors go, Drag Me to Hell was twice as good as this, as was A Haunting in Conneticut (my favourite of the recent silly-but-scary U.S. haunted house style films). And as far as serious ghostly films go, Lake Mungo kicks this one's arse.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.96.253.77
Posted on Saturday, September 24, 2011 - 12:56 am:   

And another thing - Weber states above that Insidious is virtually remake of the rather excellent Poltergeist. He's right. That's exactly what I thought as I was watching. I almost expected the medium woman to say "This house is clean!"
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Greg James (Greg_james)
Username: Greg_james

Registered: 04-2011
Posted From: 86.178.212.200
Posted on Saturday, September 24, 2011 - 01:21 am:   

When I watched it, I expected the Ghostbusters theme to kick in when Leigh Whannell and the other bloke turned up. "Who ya gonna call?"
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.96.253.77
Posted on Saturday, September 24, 2011 - 01:29 am:   

The last third was like that John Mills film from the 70s - Doctor Strange.

I bactually liked those ghost hunter people - again, though, they were just copied from other films, like Poltergeist, The Orphanage, The Changling, Skeletons. It was all a bit meh, really, with a few non-meh bits thrown in to keep us entertained.

How Stevie thinks this is a classic is utterly beyond me...
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Weber (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.148.242.34
Posted on Saturday, September 24, 2011 - 01:33 am:   

I can't remember it now. Reading my comments earlier in the thread I seem to recall the music, but as for storyline or character...
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.96.253.77
Posted on Saturday, September 24, 2011 - 01:37 am:   

That kind of says it all, I think...an hour since I watched it, and I can barely remember it either, apart from 2 or 3 moments.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Weber (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.148.242.34
Posted on Saturday, September 24, 2011 - 01:46 am:   

The bit with the Scandinavian lesbian leatherclad milkmaids was good.

Or was that a different film?
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Gary Fry (Gary_fry)
Username: Gary_fry

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 82.26.154.182
Posted on Saturday, September 24, 2011 - 07:22 am:   

Fair assessment, Zed. Clunky as fuck, but some solid moments. But too much happens: they mistake jolts for fear. It really is a sign of our times when folk reckon this is a restrained horror movie.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.96.253.77
Posted on Saturday, September 24, 2011 - 09:50 am:   

Yeah, that about covers it, mate.

Compared to other modern fare, it did at least attempt some kind of reastraint, certainly in the solid first act. It is very, very clunky, though...compare this to, for example, The Innocents and it's like being asked to choose between Dairy Lea and Camembert.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Gary Fry (Gary_fry)
Username: Gary_fry

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 82.26.154.182
Posted on Saturday, September 24, 2011 - 10:20 am:   

Yeah, and how apt, given the cheesy psychic detective scene.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.96.253.77
Posted on Saturday, September 24, 2011 - 10:40 am:   

Still, it kept me utterly entertained for about 90% of the running time. That's fine by me when I've had a stressful week.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Gary Fry (Gary_fry)
Username: Gary_fry

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 82.26.154.182
Posted on Saturday, September 24, 2011 - 10:46 am:   

I saw it at the cinema with a load of 18 year olds.

"That's me not sleeping for three week . . . "
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.96.253.77
Posted on Saturday, September 24, 2011 - 11:12 am:   

Thankfully, I watched it at home, alone, with all the lights out. I did jump a few times - and had one "Fucking hell!" moment (when the face appears behind the Dad at the table). But that's the joy of watching this stuff alone: get the mood right, and even clunky stuff like this can pack a scare.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.96.253.77
Posted on Saturday, September 24, 2011 - 11:12 am:   

In conclusion, I enjoyed it but I'm glad I didn't buy the DVD.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Gary Fry (Gary_fry)
Username: Gary_fry

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 82.26.154.182
Posted on Saturday, September 24, 2011 - 11:32 am:   

Nicked it?
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Lincoln (Lincoln_brown)
Username: Lincoln_brown

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 120.144.160.24
Posted on Saturday, September 24, 2011 - 12:45 pm:   

"And as far as serious ghostly films go, Lake Mungo kicks this one's arse"

I really enjoyed this too, Zed.


SPOILER(?)
The video footage found on the phone was very effective.
END OF SPOILER


Shame it's going to get the Hollywood treatment.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.96.253.77
Posted on Saturday, September 24, 2011 - 12:51 pm:   

Lincoln, I thought Mungo Lake was brilliant - the best film I've this this year. There was a genuine sense of melancholy, and the scares were subtle, underplayed and infrequently used. Unlike the battering ram approach of Insidious.

Every fucking half decent film gets the Hollywood treatment these days. I've stopped caring, and simply avoid.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Huw (Huw)
Username: Huw

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 61.216.44.29
Posted on Saturday, September 24, 2011 - 01:55 pm:   

I thought Insidious was good. Like Ramsey, I felt it was actually quite restrained (far more so than the rather mediocre 1408). Not a complete success, but well worth watching.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 82.4.19.77
Posted on Saturday, September 24, 2011 - 03:19 pm:   

I still say 'Insidious' is the most successful and entertaining great big ghost train of a crowd pleasing horror movie I have seen in the last 20 years. It pushed all the obvious buttons with knowing aplomb, was laced with just the right amount of humour, and, most importantly, was genuinely scary - with several of the finest jump moments it has been my pleasure to share with an appreciative audience since my youth. A classic of popular cinema entertainment that, like 'Poltergeist', wasn't meant to be taken that seriously, but rather, just wallowed in.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Gary Fry (Gary_fry)
Username: Gary_fry

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 82.26.154.182
Posted on Saturday, September 24, 2011 - 04:13 pm:   

Funny, innit. I thought 1408 was far better than Insidious.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Weber (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.148.242.34
Posted on Saturday, September 24, 2011 - 05:28 pm:   

So did I...

I can still remember the storyline and several key scenes from 1408 as well...
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Huw (Huw)
Username: Huw

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 61.216.44.29
Posted on Saturday, September 24, 2011 - 05:38 pm:   

I'm sure I'd remember 1408 more clearly if John Cusack had been using anti-wrinkle cream in it.

I've been meaning to watch 1408 again actually - I was a bit underwhelmed by it when it came out. I haven't read the King story, but I think I have it somewhere - it's in Everything's Eventual, isn't it?
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Gary Fry (Gary_fry)
Username: Gary_fry

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 82.26.154.182
Posted on Saturday, September 24, 2011 - 05:49 pm:   

Sure is, mate. I kind of thought 1408's eclectic artlessness worked in the context of a film in which a hugely creative haunted room had the capacity to conjure anything. Clever filmmaking: having their cake and eating it. Insidious was too 'straight' a narrative for such eclecticism to work well.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.96.253.77
Posted on Saturday, September 24, 2011 - 05:53 pm:   

"I thought 1408 was far better than Insidious."

Ditto. A Haunting in Conneticut is better than both of them, though.

"'Insidious' is the most successful and entertaining great big ghost train of a crowd pleasing horror movie I have seen in the last 20 years"

Really? Stevie, have you not seen any of the The Blair Witch Project, the J-Horror films Insidious rips off? Or Drag me to Hell, House of the Devil, or any of those wonderful Spanish ghost films of a few years ago? Even Wan's own Dead Silence was better.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Stu (Stu)
Username: Stu

Registered: 04-2008
Posted From: 82.14.55.251
Posted on Saturday, September 24, 2011 - 05:53 pm:   

To be honest all I remember about 1408 is that one of the ghosts was played by Benny Urquidez, the same bloke Cusack had a punch-up with in Grosse Point Blank.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.96.253.77
Posted on Saturday, September 24, 2011 - 05:54 pm:   

The Orphanage? The Others?

Come on - Insidious isn't even in the same league.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

John Llewellyn Probert (John_l_probert)
Username: John_l_probert

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.131.61.19
Posted on Saturday, September 24, 2011 - 05:57 pm:   

Interesting - I thought Insidious was much better (and a lot scarier) than Drag Me To Hell, which itself was better than A Haunting in Connecticut, a movie that got everything wrong except the climax, which felt as if it had wandered in from a particularly good Italian horror film and deserved much better than what had gone before
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.96.253.77
Posted on Saturday, September 24, 2011 - 06:43 pm:   

I really liked A Haunting in Connecticut - in the same way that I like (nay, love, god damn me) Amityville II: The Possession.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Gary Fry (Gary_fry)
Username: Gary_fry

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 82.26.154.182
Posted on Saturday, September 24, 2011 - 07:07 pm:   

The conclusion of this discussion is simple: I'm right, and you guys know nowt about films.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

John Llewellyn Probert (John_l_probert)
Username: John_l_probert

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.131.61.19
Posted on Saturday, September 24, 2011 - 07:39 pm:   

Amityville II! I've not seen that for more than 20 years and now you have me aching to watch it again!

"A family so obnoxious audiences will be rooting for the house"

I think CFQ said that but I might be wrong.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Huw (Huw)
Username: Huw

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 61.216.44.29
Posted on Saturday, September 24, 2011 - 08:20 pm:   

I still think Session 9 is one of the best 'haunted house' (actually, more like 'haunted person') films in the last twenty years.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.96.253.77
Posted on Saturday, September 24, 2011 - 09:06 pm:   

Session 9 is the best, Huw - God knows how I forgot to mention it.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Gary Fry (Gary_fry)
Username: Gary_fry

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 82.26.114.108
Posted on Monday, October 03, 2011 - 08:07 am:   

I watched Insidious for the second time last night and thought it was better than my first viewing suggested. Not perhaps the classsic Stevie suggests, but far less desperate to please than I recalled. I'm going to up my rating from 7 to 8 out of 10. Solid stuff. I just wish they'd played down "the Further" exposition scene and maybe darkened the demon's chambers.

Add Your Message Here
Post:
Bold text Italics Underline Create a hyperlink Insert a clipart image

Username: Posting Information:
This is a private posting area. Only registered users and moderators may post messages here.
Password:
Options: Enable HTML code in message
Automatically activate URLs in message
Action:

Topics | Last Day | Last Week | Tree View | Search | Help/Instructions | Program Credits Administration