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Post by Jesse on Oct 10, 2017 14:28:41 GMT -5
Tokaido Yotsuya Kaidan (1959) aka The Ghost of Yotsuya One of the scariest early ghost stories on film it's easy to see why this is highly influential on the genre. It's actually pretty satisfying watching the murderous ronin tormented by the vengeful spirit of the wife he killed. There are some really creepy and cool looking visuals throughout plus it ends with an epic samurai duel.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 10, 2017 14:41:03 GMT -5
Suspiria struck me as an extremely well-done horror movie, but reinforced my disinterest in the whole genre. I have never heard a film score like this film has or seen a film that uses its score in quite the same way. It's a nice companion to Caligari because it is also all about creating its mood through set design. Unnerving music, freakishly stylized sets and an atmosphere of forboding... it does all that well, very well. And it has the effect it goes for. As the main character walks around, I do feel that unease in my stomach that something bad is about to happen and maybe she should run away. I just don't care about that feeling. It's not an emotion I have much fondness for, and it doesn't leave me with much after the film ends. Toward the end of the movie, we get down to the plot, which I found pretty poor. The film was a masterpiece when it was about atmosphere. Then an academic explains to us what's going on and we get down to a fairly uninspired story. The ending lost for me whatever power the beginning may have had. I gave it 3.5 stars One thing to keep in mind with "Suspiria" is that it really should not be looked at as a "horror" film, it's really more part of the Giallo type of filmmaking . .in particular it's considered one of director Dario Argento's classics. what is Giallo? to quote from Wiki:
In English-speaking countries, the term giallo often refers to the Italian film version of the genre, a particular style of Italian-produced murder mystery thriller-horror film that usually blends the atmosphere and suspense of thriller fiction with elements of horror fiction (such as slasher violence) and eroticism (similar to the French fantastique genre), and often involves a mysterious killer whose identity is not revealed until the final act of the film. The genre developed in the mid-to-late 1960s, peaked in popularity during the 1970s, and subsequently declined over the next few decades. (Some examples continue to be produced). It has been considered to be a predecessor to, and significant influence on, the later American slasher film genre.
but a key part of Argento's "Giallo" films in particular is the bright, vibrant use of colors in his visuals, and the unique soundscapes. in the case of "Suspiria" (and many of Argento's films) he worked closely with prog-horror-rock iconic band, "Goblin" and the result are considered classic cinema which aren't to everyone's tastes, but the artistry on the screen cemented Argento as a director celebrated by American audiences who loved the Giallo/horror/atmospheric films. If you didn't care for "Susperia". . .I'd recommend maybe try out "the Bird with Crystal Plumage" or "Four Flies on Grey Velvet". . . two of his earlier films that are more self contained than "Susperia" and if you did like "Susperia" enough to delve a bit further into it. . . you might not realize that it's the 1st film in a 3 film series about "the 3 Mothers" (3 dark witches of ancient tales). That Argento filmed over a 30 year period: the 1st film, "Susperia" focuses on "Mother Susperiorum" (the mother of sighs) the 2nd film, "Inferno" focuses on "Mother Tenebarum" (the Mother of Darkness) the 3rd film, "Mother of Tears" focuses on "Mother Lachrymarum" (the Mother of Tears). |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Oct 10, 2017 20:31:04 GMT -5
Watched two more this evening, inspired by this thread, making the list so far Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) Suspiria (1977) Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) Invisible Woman (1940) Friday the 13th (1980) Invisible Woman is in almost no way a horror film, except that it seems to be in the same franchise as one. And I watched it looking for a horror film, so I'll count it. If anything, it aims for slapstick comedy. (Comedy is my 2nd-least favorite genre). I think it fails pretty badly at the comedy. It's only got two jokes and it repeats each a dozen times. Joke 1 is that somebody trips and falls. Joke 2 is that someone says something like, "Wait'll you see this... I mean wait'll you NOT see this!" Having Shemp in it didn't help. I gave it 1.5 stars for not being funny or scary or interesting, and seeming sexist even by 1940 standards. Friday the 13th is another famous example of that genre. It hits all the expected tropes, and it's perhaps my fault for seeing more examples of parodies of the genre than the genre itself. Somebody warns them to turn around. Sex leads to death. Etc. And most of its tropes I'd seen in the '70s horror films. For the most part, this film didn't succeed in atmosphere the way they did. The score only had two good bits. There are a few iconic notes when the kids are being watched from the words that worked. And it did a good job turning off the music a couple times, to let the sounds of birds create the atmosphere. I give it credit for its enduring place in pop culture. The movie is older than I am, yet I knew the story well. The one surprise was that I was really expecting to see a hockey mask. Two things made this stand out in my mind. One is the violence. I expected Texas Chainsaw Massacre to be bloodier than it was, but the camera tended to cut away before the chainsawing leaving what happened to our imagination. Here, the camera was very interested in getting a close-up of necks being cut. I think this was more bloody than any horror film older than it that I've seen. The second was the trick of never showing the killer, especially as most killings happened from the killer's point of view. Halloween did this with the opening, but this kept it going through the entire film until it revealed the killer. After which I found the movie devolved. It's another horror trope that you shake your head and imagine you'd be smarter in that situation. But most kids died faster than I'd have caught on. I like to think I'd have taken the bloody axe a bit more seriously than, "You get some sleep while I go check on the generator". But the end of the movie was more or less me wondering over and over again why choices were being made. It really is like that new Geico add about kids in horror movies. "Let's go hide behind the chainsaws!" Also it was cool to see a young Kevin Bacon. 3 stars. I think I'm sensing a pattern to your tastes and it's one of the reasons why I draw a distinction between horror movies and what are often termed slashers. True horror movies in my opinion are more about carefully crafted moods and make use of suspense as their primary tools for creating "frights" while slashers are more focused on exploitation and use gore to shock the audience to create their frights. While the latter can be entertaining if one is in the right mood I don't think those techniques make for good film. |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Oct 10, 2017 20:53:58 GMT -5
The Mill at Calder's End Written and directed by Kevin McTurk 2015, Spirit Cabinet With a run time of just fourteen minutes this is probably the shortest film you're likely to see on this or any other list of horror films, and man does it use every second of those minutes to create a truly compelling and utterly eerie story. At it's core it's your basic ghost story with an age old familial manner with an ill-defined curse and a new heir who tries to break it, but although simplistic of plot and characterization the world showcased by Mcturk immediately draws you in. Between the set dressings, the lighting, the score, the dark color pallet and the angles of the shots you become fully immersed in a world that feels very real, and very unnerving at times...and the most unique part is that all the actors are marionettes, and not like the Thunderbirds, but fully detailed, artistic puppets which give it an ethereal feel. That other worldly, dream like feel is used best in the creation of the ghost, I love ghosts on film and this was probably the best effect I'v seen done, it's beautiful and creepy at the same time. |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 12, 2017 8:00:05 GMT -5
Regarding giallo, I highly recommend The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, Blood and Black Lace (this one is very stylish and made by Mario Bava), What Have You Done to Solange?, and A Bay of Blood.
I ran across two recent french horror films I am going to try to track down for Halloween: Calvaire from 2004 and Among the Living from 2014.
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Post by thwhtguardian on Oct 12, 2017 11:48:01 GMT -5
Daimajin  Daiei Films, 1966 I picked this up at the recommendation of Jesse and was extremely surprised at just how good this movie was. From his description I was expecting a fun action romp of a creature feature with a giant stone samurai destroying evil war lords, and I would have enjoyed the hell out of that premise but what was actually delivered was so much more. I think the production company really should have tipped me off that this film was going to be different than your typical giant monster movie as Daiei was the company behind the Zatoichi films and Rasomon and Daimajin has more in common with those stunning Japanese period pieces than it does with films like Godzilla. There were actually compelling human characters here, great samurai battles...and then a giant monster terrorizing the country side! Don't get me wrong, I love Godzilla and the effects never bothered me...but you knew it was just a guy in a suit not a giant dinosaur but that issue is avoided much better because the subject is a human figure making the illusion a little easier to swallow. Like I said, that was never really an issue for me but I think it was a pretty brilliant idea to go in that direction. In the end, I really can't recommend this movie enough, even if you never liked giant monster movies I think you'll get wrapped up in this one. |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Oct 13, 2017 15:45:07 GMT -5
The Golem  Directed, written by and starring Paul Wegener 1920, Universum Film Inspired by my last viewing of a statue run amok in Damaijin I broke out my copy of this silent film classic. I've brought it in past years but it definitely bears rewatching as it's retelling of the classic Jewish folktale is a real thing of beauty. In recounting the story of how Rabbi Loew defended the Jews of Prague Wegner creates a chilling, visual feast with its expressionist sets and amazing creature effects. If you've never really taken a liking to a silent film before this film might be a great place to start as it's universal themes and expressive acting need no words to follow. |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 13, 2017 20:20:44 GMT -5
I need to track this movie Daimajin and do it quick!
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Post by thwhtguardian on Oct 13, 2017 20:58:19 GMT -5
I need to track this movie Daimajin and do it quick! I got the three pack DVD but haven't watched the other two yet, but it's totally worth grabbing. I'd put it up there with the original King Kong as far as giant monster movies go. |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 13, 2017 23:47:02 GMT -5
I need to track this movie Daimajin and do it quick! I got the three pack DVD but haven't watched the other two yet, but it's totally worth grabbing. I'd put it up there with the original King Kong as far as giant monster movies go. Thanks for telling me this. |
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shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
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Post by shaxper on Oct 14, 2017 21:07:26 GMT -5
The Golem Directed, written by and starring Paul Wegener 1920, Universum Film Inspired by my last viewing of a statue run amok in Damaijin I broke out my copy of this silent film classic. I've brought it in past years but it definitely bears rewatching as it's retelling of the classic Jewish folktale is a real thing of beauty. In recounting the story of how Rabbi Loew defended the Jews of Prague Wegner creates a chilling, visual feast with its expressionist sets and amazing creature effects. If you've never really taken a liking to a silent film before this film might be a great place to start as it's universal themes and expressive acting need no words to follow. Though nowhere near as good, the first film in the Golem series has been semi-rediscovered and some scenes are available on youtube. |
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Post by Hoosier X on Oct 15, 2017 0:52:57 GMT -5
I watched Dracula's Daughter a few days ago. It's not really such a great movie, but its grown on me over the years, especially Nan Gray and Marguerite Chapman. And I also saw this! Jigoku (1960) Directed by Nabuo Nakagawa. There's a couple of students driving on a dark road and they hit a drunk guy who wandered into the road. And they just drive off! Nothing good happens to ANYBODY for the rest of the movie! One guys' girlfriend dies in a taxi accident. Then his mother dies because of an incompetent doctor. The students are tracked down by the hit-and-run victim's mother and girlfriend. And everybody they run into has a terrible secret of some kind. About forty minutes from the end, everybody dies (from poison) and they all go to HELL! OMG! It's horrifying! According to Ben Mankiewicz, the guy who directed it is the dude that the directors of more recent Japanese horror classics (like Ringu) cite as a huge influence. So Jigoku is sort of the grandfather of modern Japanese horror. Later this month, TCM is showing Kwaidan, which I've only seen once, but I really want to see it again! |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 15, 2017 4:40:34 GMT -5
thwhtguardian ... Got the DVD of the Daimajin series and a friend of mine found a store that carry them and I'll be getting them next Wednesday when we meet for lunch.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 15, 2017 4:53:53 GMT -5
Blacula
Scream Blacula Scream
Both of them are a William Marshall classic and I feel the 2nd one is more tune in my liking with Pam Grier who really shines in this movie. I find these movies very well done and I enjoy them in a different light of things. Some here said this Dracula is really emphatic and rightly so. For the record, I dig the cape that he wore in that film and explain how it is agony for him for being a vampire. I the first film he was walking up a staircase leading to the burning rays of the sun and Lisa stabbing his voodoo doll in the end of the second film and saying how i'm going to live to see one more moon. Those were chilling and dramatic events of a vampire that wants to be left alone so he continues to wreck horror after horror.
William Marshall is genuine as he can be and I just find his performance quite superb. I truly enjoyed it very much and I didn't think that much of it back then and now ... I'm older and find it to be a powerful film and showed a tragic, and desperate vampire wants to continue his horrific deeds in a way that he feeds his tortuous soul.
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Post by Jesse on Oct 15, 2017 11:08:26 GMT -5
Daimajin Daiei Films, 1966 I picked this up at the recommendation of Jesse and was extremely surprised at just how good this movie was. From his description I was expecting a fun action romp of a creature feature with a giant stone samurai destroying evil war lords, and I would have enjoyed the hell out of that premise but what was actually delivered was so much more. I think the production company really should have tipped me off that this film was going to be different than your typical giant monster movie as Daiei was the company behind the Zatoichi films and Rasomon and Daimajin has more in common with those stunning Japanese period pieces than it does with films like Godzilla. There were actually compelling human characters here, great samurai battles...and then a giant monster terrorizing the country side! Don't get me wrong, I love Godzilla and the effects never bothered me...but you knew it was just a guy in a suit not a giant dinosaur but that issue is avoided much better because the subject is a human figure making the illusion a little easier to swallow. Like I said, that was never really an issue for me but I think it was a pretty brilliant idea to go in that direction. In the end, I really can't recommend this movie enough, even if you never liked giant monster movies I think you'll get wrapped up in this one. The sequels are even better! I need to track this movie Daimajin and do it quick! The entire trilogy is on youtube. |
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