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Post by Deleted on Jun 24, 2014 16:14:38 GMT -5
Completely agreed, Ish. I was actually following your lead in the matter, given your inclusion of sf films like The Crawling Eye, Fiend without a Face, The Fly, The Werewolf, Beast with 1,000,000 Eyes, etc.
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Jun 24, 2014 16:20:01 GMT -5
Completely agreed, Ish. I was actually following your lead in the matter, given your inclusion of sf films like The Crawling Eye, Fiend without a Face, The Fly, The Werewolf, Beast with 1,000,000 Eyes, etc. Yes,its easy to get caught in that web of definition. If we include all radiation induced monsters,then the Fantastic Four are horror monsters as well |
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Post by Pharozonk on Jun 24, 2014 16:32:28 GMT -5
Not that it's exactly a horror movie, but is The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms any good?
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Post by Deleted on Jun 24, 2014 16:39:30 GMT -5
Effects by Harryhausen, based (obliquely) on a story by his pal Ray Bradbury?
Yeah. Yeah, it's good.
And I'd call it a horror movie, really, in the sense that King Kong, Earth vs. the Giant Spider, Gorgo, The Giant Behemoth, The Beast from Hollow Mountain, The Deadly Mantis, etc. etc. etc. are all horror movies.
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Jun 24, 2014 17:19:05 GMT -5
Effects by Harryhausen, based (obliquely) on a story by his pal Ray Bradbury? Yeah. Yeah, it's good. And I'd call it a horror movie, really, in the sense that King Kong, Earth vs. the Giant Spider, Gorgo, The Giant Behemoth, The Beast from Hollow Mountain, The Deadly Mantis, etc. etc. etc. are all horror movies. Ok you can call Gorgo a horror movie,but then I couldn't say One Million Years B.C. was a horror flick so is it only because Gorgo is in modern times. And then you have Jurassic Park which is definetly SF.But the Giant Behemoth had radioactive breathe that burned humans or blinded them. Decisions,decisions |
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Jun 24, 2014 22:05:28 GMT -5
I'll be viewing Humphrey Bogart's only horror movie soon, 1939's The Return of Doctor X. Was that on the original list?
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Post by berkley on Jun 24, 2014 22:31:27 GMT -5
My stab at distinguishing between horror and SF would hinge on the viewer's personal reaction to the film. What was the primary emotion or feeling about it: horror, fear, terror, etc? or wonder at some science-related idea such as alien life or whatever?
Looking at it from that POV, a lot of movies - like Alien, for example - would, for me, qualify both as SF and as horror, since both elements are so nearly equally balanced that I couldn't say one predominates over the other.
A movie like 2001, which I see as pure SF, might be a horror movie for someone whose most intense reaction to it was horror at the idea of an artificial intelligence murdering the crew of its spaceship.
I remember liking Mister X a lot when I saw it on tv as a teenager in the late 70s. What a bizarre role for Bogart! I've never seen a good review of it, but I thought it was a lot of fun.
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Jun 24, 2014 22:32:09 GMT -5
I'll be viewing Humphrey Bogart's only horror movie soon, 1939's The Return of Doctor X. Was that on the original list? It was a finalist, but it ultimately did not make the list. |
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Jun 24, 2014 22:38:07 GMT -5
My stab at distinguishing between horror and SF would hinge on the viewer's personal reaction to the film. What was the primary emotion or feeling about it: horror, fear, terror, etc? or wonder at some science-related idea such as alien life or whatever? Looking at it from that POV, a lot of movies - like Alien, for example - would, for me, qualify both as SF and as horror, since both elements are so nearly equally balanced that I couldn't say one predominates over the other. A movie like 2001, which I see as pure SF, might be a horror movie for someone whose most intense reaction to it was horror at the idea of an artificial intelligence murdering the crew of its spaceship. I struggle with this, as well. I came up with a working definition for a horror film when I did the original list. I believe I chalked it up to tone more than conflict. The tone had to be morbid or actively panicked about survival/imminent death. This was still problematic. Does a war film then count? Technically yes, if the primary focus is on the terror of imminent death. Also, Dan Bailey will never let me live down deciding that Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt fit this definition while Lewton's The Seventh Victim did not. I'll probably include Bergman's the Seventh Seal if I do a new list up to 1961, and I'll probably repeatedly second guess myself over whether or not it belongs on the list. Here's a brief review of it I did for Amazon.com: The Return of Doctor X (not an actual sequel -- it's the "return" of an entirely different character named Doctor X) is a decent horror film with no real flaws and no real memorable qualities beyond a young Humphrey Bogart playing a surprisingly ghastly mad scientist. The film is worth viewing for his performance alone, never mind the thrill of watching him play completely against type. Grade = B |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 25, 2014 8:30:14 GMT -5
Also, Dan Bailey will never let me live down deciding that Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt fit this definition while Lewton's The Seventh Victim did not. Only one of your many crimes against humanity. |
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Post by MDG on Jun 25, 2014 14:13:49 GMT -5
Here's a brief review of it I did for Amazon.com: The Return of Doctor X (not an actual sequel -- it's the "return" of an entirely different character named Doctor X) is a decent horror film with no real flaws and no real memorable qualities beyond a young Humphrey Bogart playing a surprisingly ghastly mad scientist. The film is worth viewing for his performance alone, never mind the thrill of watching him play completely against type. Grade = B I believe there's a story that Jack Warner forced Bogart to play in the movie to keep him in line. I love how the color and lighting in the original Doctor X seems to mimic the covers of 30s horror pulps. |
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