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Horror movies; For discussion of films, series, genres, etc
Topic Started: Jun 17 2012, 09:19 AM (106 Views)
Scruff 815
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I love horror films. Granted, I don't think any would make my top 10 films of all time list, but I can ALWAYS enjoy a horror film. Even a bad horror film is still a lot more fun than an average drama or a so-so comedy. A horror film and some booze = perfect Friday night entertainment.

At this point in the creation of a new topic I would normally list some of my favourites or whatever, but given that this topic has spawned from a few of us going off-topic in the piracy thread, I am instead going to defend The Human Centipede! It's a good film, damnit! Would I buy it? No. But is it better than the majority of low-budget horror films? Yes, yes it is; by quite some way too.

Here's why it's good. It starts off as a typical herp-derp horror, with a trucker getting offed off-camera and two good-looking American gals hurr-durring their way around creepy-looking houses. It's funny, and just gets funnier when Dr Heiter starts talking about his "dreihund" and the badly Photoshopped dogs and all. Even the concept of the human centipede itself is pretty funny. But then as it actually starts happening it quickly gets pretty serious, which you're not expecting given the first half-hour; the language barrier created by putting the Japanese guy at the front is a brilliant idea in terms of creating another obstacle for them and us as a viewer; and focussing way more on the reality of the situation rather than gore (e.g. "I've got to shit" and the guilt written all over his face vs. one tiny scene of surgery) turns it into a psychological horror more than an early Peter Jackson-esque gorefest. Also, the dude who played Dr Heiter is the best actor in a cheap horror film in a looong time.

THC got a lot of shit from people because the mainstream press caught on to the concept and gave the film a hell of a lot more attention than it would otherwise have got. And then it got slapped with the "torture porn" label which annoys me no end. For one thing, it's wrong. THC has ONE SHOT of surgery in it - that is the full extent of the gore, everything else is just implied. Furthermore I find "torture porn" to be a very dismissive phrase that seems to have been created just to attack the Hostel and Saw series - like there's nothing more to them than people being tortured. Which is bullshit. Hostel 1 kinda sucked but it had a cool concept, and Hostel 2 was a straight revenge film. Saw, on the other hand, has the most complicated story I've ever seen in a horror series, with every film linking into the other ones, and the extended scenes of torture aren't meant to be pleasant. They're supposed to be horrible - it's kind of the point. If someone assumes that viewers are getting aroused by it then I'm concerned about that person.

Now discuss while I go find an uncut Human Centipede 2!
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porottaja
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Personally, I really dislike horror movies. They only trigger disgust and cold sweat in me, which I hate.
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Braythor
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In the interest of fairness, I will serve up what I consider a fair argument as to why I think THC is shit, along with lots of references to other horror films, then I'll round it off with some thoughts on the horror genre. So it's likely this will be an a la Yellow post.

I like horror, I always have. The first horror film I saw was called The Willies (not in that context, children, so stop giggling). I was 10, the film was a 15. It scared the shit out of me, particularly one of the three stories that made up the film; I wouldn't go into the toilets at school for 6 months after (look, I know it sounds a bit paedo-ish, but here is a clip, go to 5:00). It's hilarious now, as it should be, and this is kind of where I split horror up into different sections. As an adult, I simply don't get scared in the traditional sense any more, ie by monsters and what not. As such, a horror film has to offer up something realistic within it, something to trigger other parts of human base instinct. If it can't do that, fine, but if it's then going to be shit, it needs to know it's being shit and thus be funny. THC does neither. It starts by being stupid, but somehow failing to be funny. For example, he opens the door to the girls and one of the first things he says is "Are you alone?", in a creepy voice. The girls cheerily respond in the affirmative. This should be funny, but the style of the film makes it look as if it should be serious. = Stupid.

Shortly after, one of the girls knocks over a glass of rohypnol water, 20 seconds later the glass is suddenly upright with the liquid back in it. I don't mind continuity errors, and if it was obviously intentional then fine. But it wasn't. And then things just got even dumber: nonsense 'science', utterly unrealistic character behaviour and glaring inconsistencies. I had no problem with the concept, and if it had taken itself far less seriously it could've been a good film.

To give an example of what I look for in a shit horror film that is awesome, I refer to Zombie Flesh Eaters 2. A true classic of the shit/awesome B-movie. Awful in almost every way, but hilarious as a result. Then there are films that sit nicely inbetween; they're both scary and funny. One of the best of these I've seen recently is the double whammy of House of 1000 Corpses and Devil's Rejects. These are films that are actually pretty good horror, but also sadly fell victime to the whole torture porn accusations.
I agree with Scruff on the whole TP thing, I think it's sad that because horror producers have decided to use the technology available, as well as the media's representation of society's ills, to create films that tell of things which absolutely could happen, the results are lambasted and accused of being nothing more than horrible gore for the sake of entertainment. Well durrr, horror films are entertainment, THAT'S THE FUCKING POINT! I appreciate that people are trying to expand the genre, and it can work. I mean, Saw 1 was ace, Saw 2 was pretty good too (I lost interest after 2 though, and felt they were milking it a bit). Hostel was ok from a horror point of view, though overall I thought it was a bit shit. In short, if they disturb you and make you feel like you don't want to watch the graphic mutilation, then they've partly succeeded in being horror. If that makes sense...

Ahem, anyway, yeah, loved those Rob Zombie movies. And the end of DR! I can just imagine Mr Zombie saying "I am using all of the fucking song, not the shitty radio edit, and if I have to slow half the scene down to accommodate it, I fucking well will do!" And of course, it's a great 10 minutes.

Of course, not all horror should be funny, and I don't want to make look as if I want to view the genre as if it should be funny across the board. There are of course the classics. Films that were scary, really scary, and even now will still give chills. It'll never be the same as when I was a teenager (which was when I saw the majority of these films) but the quality of them remains. Every 'generation' has it's different take on horror, I think I'm fortunate in that I've grown up when I have, watching everything from Braindead to Child's Play, to Poltergeist, Alien, Blair Witch Project (yep, I thought it was a good effort), Cube (brilliant film that also probably would've been attacked by the TP twats if it had been released at a different time), and of course, what I consider to be the greatest horror movie of all time, a classic film of magnificent terror:

Event Horizon

Edited by Braythor, Jun 17 2012, 04:30 PM.
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ASLANS R0AR
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Braythor
Jun 17 2012, 04:25 PM
and of course, what I consider to be the greatest horror movie of all time, a classic film of magnificent terror:

Event Horizon

Event Horizon still gives me the chills!

I don't watch much Horror anymore, but if I do I generally prefer psychological horror to gore/mutilation horror.
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Scruff 815
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Alright, when I said I thought The Human Centipede was a good film, I don't mean in the sense that I'm going to rewatch it several times and buy the DVD. I mean that it entertained me for an hour and a half without me getting bored and with throwing a couple of surprises at me, and one day I might give it a rewatch. Good does not equal great ;)

Event Horizon - I used to love it, but I rewatched it recently and the magic just wasn't there. I don't know whether it was due to too many rewatches, or whether it just hasn't aged that well, but it didn't do much for me. That said, now I'm not watching it on VHS I was able to pause during some of the 'flashy image' bits and there was some horrific shit in there.

Agreed on The Blair Witch Project (it's in my top 10 horror films) and The Devil's Rejects (notsomuch House Of 1000 Corpses though, although that was a lot of fun). Forced blowjob scene in TDR was a fucking nightmare. Eurgh. Cube was also quality, despite some awful acting from the black dude. Cube 2 SUCKED, but Cube Zero is really, really good.

Scariest films I think I've ever seen - The Descent and Ju:On (remade in the US as The Grudge, which sucked).
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PINK MIST PER0
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I like scary movies on occasion.

By far the scariest one I've ever seen to this day is The Grudge. To give a little backstory I am TERRIFIED of attics, and if you've seen the first five minutes of the movie you know where I'm going with this... :((

Also... you should always be able to feel safe in your own bed under the blankets... This movie ruined that for me too!
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The game also looks pretty terrifying... especially when it is just standing behind you waiting for you to be stupid enough to turn around... *shiver* :nervous:

I've heard that Ju-On the Japanese orginal movie is much scarier because there is no music, but I haven't had the courage to watch it yet. :bawl:
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Scruff 815
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Brandi Pero RN
Jun 28 2012, 07:46 PM
I've heard that Ju-On the Japanese orginal movie is much scarier because there is no music, but I haven't had the courage to watch it yet. :bawl:
Ju-On is without a doubt the scariest film I've ever seen. It absolutely shits on The Grudge. And it's not just because of the music thing you mentioned.

It's so scary that I have yet to summon up the testicles to watch it a second time or try the sequel. Jesus. :eek:
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Deadpool Psycko
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I'm just not into gore that much. I'm more for scare tactics with, how do you say, in your face shock value rather than gore shock value.

I'm a fan of the classic american horror flicks - Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween (LOVED the remake, first one anyway.)

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ASLANS R0AR
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this whole thread is scaring me :hiding:
:surrender:
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Deadpool Psycko
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Greatest original realistic(ish) Horror EVAR

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PINK MIST PER0
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ASLANS R0AR
Jun 28 2012, 09:10 PM
this whole thread is scaring me :hiding:
:surrender:

OMG... do you know what really scares me?

Those SAW and Hostel movies.

It really freaks me out that someone could actually THINK of the things that they put into those movies. The writers are SICK. I do not have that kind of creativity (THANK GOD).

Honestly it worries me that some people are able to come up with "creative" ways of killing people. I've seen just about EVERYTHING as a nurse ... and those movies don't scare me... they make me wanna :puke:
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Braythor
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Yep, Ju On is pretty scary. I wasn't expecting it to be, as I'd only recently watched Ring and franky I thought that was overhyped and nowhere near as terrifying as people were making it out to be. Ju on though...yeah...won't be watching that again in a hurry. Not seen the American version, don't want to.

Something I watched recently that is really fucking grim is Eden Lake. It is one brilliantly done film, but depressing right through to the credits. Not a traditional horror, more a 'that could totally happen' horror. Watch it, but be prepared.
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crazybydefault
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I'm into more suspense than horror. Not knowing when (or if) something is going to happen both makes me need a new pair of pants and puts me on the edge of my seat!

I kinda want to watch some of these movies now! :D
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Deadpool Psycko
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Brandi Pero RN
Jun 29 2012, 04:46 AM
ASLANS R0AR
Jun 28 2012, 09:10 PM
this whole thread is scaring me :hiding:
:surrender:

OMG... do you know what really scares me?

Those SAW and Hostel movies.

It really freaks me out that someone could actually THINK of the things that they put into those movies. The writers are SICK. I do not have that kind of creativity (THANK GOD).

Honestly it worries me that some people are able to come up with "creative" ways of killing people. I've seen just about EVERYTHING as a nurse ... and those movies don't scare me... they make me wanna :puke:
They don't so much "scare me" but gross me out. The first 2 Saw's were great...except the needle pit. I HATE needles to any and all degrees.

Hostel was just deterring in that now I never want to go to amsterdam without LoJacking my ass! :bag:
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Scruff 815
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I'm not sure Ring was ever supposed to be scary, as such. There's only actually one on-camera 'scare' at any point (the ending, obv) - the rest is a very, very cool ghost mystery story thing. And the sting in the ending is quality. Also the prequel is fantastic.

Colour me intrigued by Eden Lake. I'ma search for that shit on Sky.

As for the classics... Nightmare on Elm Street was great, as was #3; Halloween was great; Friday 13th sucks balls, but the even numbered ones are good with the exception of Jason X.

The original Texas Chainsaw Massacre happens to be my favourite horror film of all time...
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