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Post by thwhtguardian on Oct 20, 2015 13:13:52 GMT -5
The Innocents 1961  This one grabs you straight from the start with a black screen with a little girl singing and then a woman's hands praying while weeping. It's just a down right creepy beginning, with out any context or plot...it just unsettles you. I'm a big fan of the Turn of the Screw and this is probably the best adaptation I've ever seen. The juxtaposition of the idyllic English countryside and the too smart children and half seen ghosts just gave goose bumps through out the whole thing, even when noting particular scary was going on. I think the most impressive element though was the use of sound, the creepiest scenes are all accompanied first by a crescendo of back ground noise, then followed by absolute silence before sound comes crashing in after the creepy vision ends. It's a very unnerving trick, giving the scenes a true sense of unreality that I've never seen achieved so well in any other film. |
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Oct 20, 2015 14:19:17 GMT -5
The Innocents 1961 This one grabs you straight from the start with a black screen with a little girl singing and then a woman's hands praying while weeping. It's just a down right creepy beginning, with out any context or plot...it just unsettles you. I'm a big fan of the Turn of the Screw and this is probably the best adaptation I've ever seen. The juxtaposition of the idyllic English countryside and the too smart children and half seen ghosts just gave goose bumps through out the whole thing, even when noting particular scary was going on. I think the most impressive element though was the use of sound, the creepiest scenes are all accompanied first by a crescendo of back ground noise, then followed by absolute silence before sound comes crashing in after the creepy vision ends. It's a very unnerving trick, giving the scenes a true sense of unreality that I've never seen achieved so well in any other film. Gonna have to check this out! |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Oct 20, 2015 14:46:58 GMT -5
The Innocents 1961 This one grabs you straight from the start with a black screen with a little girl singing and then a woman's hands praying while weeping. It's just a down right creepy beginning, with out any context or plot...it just unsettles you. I'm a big fan of the Turn of the Screw and this is probably the best adaptation I've ever seen. The juxtaposition of the idyllic English countryside and the too smart children and half seen ghosts just gave goose bumps through out the whole thing, even when noting particular scary was going on. I think the most impressive element though was the use of sound, the creepiest scenes are all accompanied first by a crescendo of back ground noise, then followed by absolute silence before sound comes crashing in after the creepy vision ends. It's a very unnerving trick, giving the scenes a true sense of unreality that I've never seen achieved so well in any other film. Gonna have to check this out! It was a brand new one for me this year that I picked up from an interview by Del Torro about his favorite horror movies. He recommended it, and so do I! |
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Post by Prince Hal on Oct 20, 2015 14:53:28 GMT -5
If you enjoy The Innocents (which I do), I think you might like The Haunting (1963), the film adaptation of Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House. said by many to have the best opening lines in horror fiction.*
As in The Innocents, the frights of The Haunting are more psychological than palpable, leaving both characters and viewers uncertain of what just happened, or even if it happened.
Julie Harris is absolutely brilliant as a repressed, neurotic woman who agrees, along with several others, to spend the night in a house long associated with evil and the supernatural, a decidedly Lovecraftian, Aleister Crowley kind of supernatural. Claire Bloom, sultry and sexy, Russ Tamblyn, rakish and immature, and Richard Johnson, professorial and stalwart, are her fellow challengers of the unknown.
Creepy, loaded with sexual subtext, its scary jolts are derived from primal fears rather than gore, which make them all the more frightening and unsettling. Of course, the house is indeed a character, a longing, yearning, grasping, controlling, powerful character, reaching out to each of its visitors in the particular way each will find too tempting to resist.
*"No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality; even larks and katydids are supposed, by some, to dream. Hill house, not sane, stood by itself against its hills, holding darkness within; it had stood so for 80 years and might for 80 more. Within, walls continued upright, bricks met neatly, floors were firm, and doors sensibly shut; silence lay steadily against the wood and stone of Hill House, and whatever walked there, walked alone."
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Post by thwhtguardian on Oct 20, 2015 15:34:36 GMT -5
If you enjoy The Innocents (which I do), I think you might like The Haunting (1963), the film adaptation of Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House. said by many to have the best opening lines in horror fiction.* As in The Innocents, the frights of The Haunting are more psychological than palpable, leaving both characters and viewers uncertain of what just happened, or even if it happened. Julie Harris is absolutely brilliant as a repressed, neurotic woman who agrees, along with several others, to spend the night in a house long associated with evil and the supernatural, a decidedly Lovecraftian, Aleister Crowley kind of supernatural. Claire Bloom, sultry and sexy, Russ Tamblyn, rakish and immature, and Richard Johnson, professorial and stalwart, are her fellow challengers of the unknown. Creepy, loaded with sexual subtext, its scary jolts are derived from primal fears rather than gore, which make them all the more frightening and unsettling. Of course, the house is indeed a character, a longing, yearning, grasping, controlling, powerful character, reaching out to each of its visitors in the particular way each will find too tempting to resist. *"No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality; even larks and katydids are supposed, by some, to dream. Hill house, not sane, stood by itself against its hills, holding darkness within; it had stood so for 80 years and might for 80 more. Within, walls continued upright, bricks met neatly, floors were firm, and doors sensibly shut; silence lay steadily against the wood and stone of Hill House, and whatever walked there, walked alone." I love that line! The Haunting is one of my favorites, and unlike many of the other modern remakes I even like the 1999 version. |
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Post by Prince Hal on Oct 20, 2015 15:43:52 GMT -5
If you like, enjoy or love Ray Bradbury, please read his 1962 novel, Something Wicked This Way Comes, and then watch the 1983 movie version directed by Jack Clayton and featuring Jason Robards.
I read the novel when I was 13, the ages of the two protagonists and it has never lost its nostalgic pull on me, despite Bradbury’s purplish prose, despite some of the obviousness of the story, and despite his sometimes self-indulgent style. I found it challenging and unlike anything I’d ever read I first encountered it in 1967, but have reread it many times over the years (because I have taught it in my ninth-grade English classes since the early 80s) and found each rereading rich and rewarding.
The movie version is a perfect storm of if-onlys, but I still enjoy it for what it might have been. It was plagued by problems, not the least of which was that it was made by Disney in its worst and most penurious era, but there are still a few things to like.
Jonathan Pryce’s turn as the cruel carnival-master and stealer-of-souls Mr. Dark is probably at the top of the list, but Robards is excellent as an older man saddened by guilt and isolated from his young son by age. Also superb are character actors Diane Ladd, Mary Grace Canfield, Royal Dano and James Stacy. An unexpected appearance from Pam Grier (!) is also a good touch. (Look for Jack Dodson, Howard Sprague from Mayberry, who adds a touch of meta to this tale of a idyllic hamlet threatened by age-old evil.)
However, the actors playing the boys are just okay. Not horrible, but they could have used more skillful direction.
The cinematography nicely captures the look of October in small-town 1920s America, and the music is solid, but throughout the movie, you see scenes that should’ve been fleshed out, and dialogue that strays too far from the what the characters in the novel would have said. You get a sense of corners cut, and budgets slashed, but there’s also more than a hint of the excellence that might have been.
Here’s one movie that should be retackled, a novel that deserves a new version in the movies, or maybe better, as a limited series that immerses us in the haven that is Bradbury’s Green Town, Illinois and scares us when Dark and his evil carnival lay siege to its inhabitants, smelling out their fears and seducing them to join him and nourish the “autumn people” whom he has entrapped over the centuries.
The hints of a remake pop up every so often, but I’ll believe it when I see it, and hope that somebody gets it right.
Still worth a look even if you’re not a Bradbury maven.
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Post by thwhtguardian on Oct 20, 2015 16:00:21 GMT -5
If you like, enjoy or love Ray Bradbury, please read his 1962 novel, Something Wicked This Way Comes, and then watch the 1983 movie version directed by Jack Clayton and featuring Jason Robards. I read the novel when I was 13, the ages of the two protagonists and it has never lost its nostalgic pull on me, despite Bradbury’s purplish prose, despite some of the obviousness of the story, and despite his sometimes self-indulgent style. I found it challenging and unlike anything I’d ever read I first encountered it in 1967, but have reread it many times over the years (because I have taught it in my ninth-grade English classes since the early 80s) and found each rereading rich and rewarding. The movie version is a perfect storm of if-onlys, but I still enjoy it for what it might have been. It was plagued by problems, not the least of which was that it was made by Disney in its worst and most penurious era, but there are still a few things to like. Jonathan Pryce’s turn as the cruel carnival-master and stealer-of-souls Mr. Dark is probably at the top of the list, but Robards is excellent as an older man saddened by guilt and isolated from his young son by age. Also superb are character actors Diane Ladd, Mary Grace Canfield, Royal Dano and James Stacy. An unexpected appearance from Pam Grier (!) is also a good touch. (Look for Jack Dodson, Howard Sprague from Mayberry, who adds a touch of meta to this tale of a idyllic hamlet threatened by age-old evil.) However, the actors playing the boys are just okay. Not horrible, but they could have used more skillful direction. The cinematography nicely captures the look of October in small-town 1920s America, and the music is solid, but throughout the movie, you see scenes that should’ve been fleshed out, and dialogue that strays too far from the what the characters in the novel would have said. You get a sense of corners cut, and budgets slashed, but there’s also more than a hint of the excellence that might have been. Here’s one movie that should be retackled, a novel that deserves a new version in the movies, or maybe better, as a limited series that immerses us in the haven that is Bradbury’s Green Town, Illinois and scares us when Dark and his evil carnival lay siege to its inhabitants, smelling out their fears and seducing them to join him and nourish the “autumn people” whom he has entrapped over the centuries. The hints of a remake pop up every so often, but I’ll believe it when I see it, and hope that somebody gets it right. Still worth a look even if you’re not a Bradbury maven. That's one of my favorite novels of all time and I love the movie; Jason Robards and John Price really make it amazing. Another Bradbury story that also suits this time of year is The Halloween Tree and the cartoon adaptation was also good. I may need to watch both of these latter on. |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 20, 2015 16:19:59 GMT -5
Gonna have to check this out! It was a brand new one for me this year that I picked up from an interview by Del Torro about his favorite horror movies. He recommended it, and so do I! I highly recommended this film too ... it's a classic film and I was very impressed by Peter Wyngarde's performance as Peter and Deborah Kerr's role as Miss Gildens was excellent and puts on a good show too. One scene of which Miles and Miss Gildens at the end of the movie was troubling and heartbreaking at the end and that's was one of the best acting in that movie. I enjoyed this film to the extent and it's has a Citizen Kane's appeal that I wanted to point that out. Superb Film in every way possible! |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Oct 20, 2015 16:49:06 GMT -5
Isle of the Dead 1945  I can't remember if it were Shax or someone else from back when we were at CBR who first turned me onto Val Lewton but ever since they did three or four years ago I haven't been able to get enough! I've seen and loved his Cat people films, the Seventh Victim, The Body Snatcher, I walked with a Zombie and Bedlam but Isle of the Dead may be my favorite. It has the beautiful play between shadow and light that make all of Lewton's films so beautiful and contains what I feel is Karloff's best performance. I mean it, I'v'e always loved the big lug but seeing him here makes me feel like his talent was truly wasted. The gravitas and pure presence he wielded here was just that awesome. On top of that what I really loved was the ambiguous ending, was there really a vorvolaka and Karloff just had the wrong person all along or did Mrs. St. Aubyn just go insane after being buried alive? Dr. Aubrecht believes it was just superstition but there really is no clear decision on the matter and I love that. It could be supernatural or it could be simple madness playing on superstition and at the end of the day both options are creepy. |
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Oct 20, 2015 18:45:16 GMT -5
No, it wasn't me. Several other folks here turned us both on to Lewton around the same time, I think.
I've been hankering for Isle of the Dead lately. It's been at least a year since I watched it last!
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Post by thwhtguardian on Oct 20, 2015 20:29:42 GMT -5
No, it wasn't me. Several other folks here turned us both on to Lewton around the same time, I think. I've been hankering for Isle of the Dead lately. It's been at least a year since I watched it last! It's a new favorite of mine, and I'm torn on whether I like this or Rosemary's Baby better. |
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Post by Prince Hal on Oct 20, 2015 22:29:26 GMT -5
Love Bedlam and Isle of the Dead both.
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Oct 21, 2015 4:25:18 GMT -5
My Top 5 Val Lewton Films:
1. The Body Snatcher
2. Isle of the Dead
3. I Walked with a Zombie
4. Bedlam
5. Cat People
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Post by Deleted on Oct 25, 2015 18:33:53 GMT -5
Last Friday, I've watch a series of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Films
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920) Starring John Barrymore (On DVD)
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931) Starring Fredric March (On DVD)
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941) Starring Spencer Tracy (On TCM)
I have to say this, Fredric March version is more stylish than Spencer Tracy version and the Barrymore version is right between the March and Tracy's version. Older that I get, the more and more that I've liked March's version than Tracy's Version. The problem is that Barrymore's version is silent and that's becoming more and more difficult to gauge to and having said that I'm becoming to dislike all Horror films that made in a silent mode. Pretty soon, it will be in 3rd place as I get older.
Ranks
1) March Version (1931) is the Best
2) Barrymore Version (1920) is right in the middle
3) Tracy Version (1941) is in 3rd Place
Additional Hyde Movies that I've seen.
Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1953) Starring Boris Karloff
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1954) Starring Michael Rennie, TV Movie
The Nutty Professor (1962) Starring Jerry Lewis
Jekyll and Hyde (1990) Starring Micheal Caine
Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde (1995) Starring Tim Daly, Sean Young played Helen Hyde (Ms. Hyde)
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Oct 25, 2015 19:17:17 GMT -5
The Barrymore version will always be my favorite, especially because of how he does the transformation almost entirely with his facial expressions and posture.
The March version is almost too disturbing for me, especially since he's essentially just a serial rapist who uses the drug as an excuse to act on his impulses.
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