Good Horror Movies

[purlieu]

This evening I watched Calvaire. What an absolutely, horrifically miserable film. Not really my kind of horror, but genuinely unpleasant and unsettling. Halfway through I expected it to go further down the The Skin That I Live In route, but instead we got the wonderfully demented bar scene (which I will be sampling in a song), and that climax.

Stunningly beautiful film, too. The closing scenes were exceptionally gorgeous, grimness aside. The sound design really impressed me, quite subtle in places, but really effective. The lack of music worked to the film's benefit.

[Steven]

This evening I watched Calvaire. What an absolutely, horrifically miserable film. Not really my kind of horror, but genuinely unpleasant and unsettling. Halfway through I expected it to go further down the The Skin That I Live In route, but instead we got the wonderfully demented bar scene (which I will be sampling in a song), and that climax.

Marc Stevens wont to be desired, except he's putting it on during his stage show for old decrepit Grandma's in old people's homes he's actually disguted by. By the end he really is desired by a whole village of the wrong people. *Shudders*

[bollocks]

Got to second Society. Weirdly reminded me a bit of Get Out, and the last 20 minutes are pretty unforgettable. Almost put me off my lasagne.

Also, sign up to Shudder - it's Netflix for folks who like horror movies. You get a week's free trial, but just cancel your membership and say the reason is that you can't afford it at the moment and ta-dah they give you a month.

[ASFTSN]

This evening I watched Calvaire. What an absolutely, horrifically miserable film. Not really my kind of horror, but genuinely unpleasant and unsettling. Halfway through I expected it to go further down the The Skin That I Live In route, but instead we got the wonderfully demented bar scene (which I will be sampling in a song), and that climax.

Stunningly beautiful film, too. The closing scenes were exceptionally gorgeous, grimness aside. The sound design really impressed me, quite subtle in places, but really effective. The lack of music worked to the film's benefit.

Love this film.  In fact it's one of the last times I can remember taking a punt on a 'new' horror film and being impressed. (yes I know it's nearly 15 years old). 

[Mini]

Easily my favourite film of the year so far:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6738136/

Revenge

A take on the old classic revenge thriller. Gore to the max, a stunning central performance and some insanely good cinematography. Not for the faint of heart but a phenomenal ride. Attractive woman having an affair with rich dickhead, he takes her along for a yearly hunting trip with his two equally dickhead mates. Things don't go as to plan for her and the hunters become the hunted.

I wouldn't really put it in the horror genre but can't be arsed with a new thread.

Agreed with this - doesn't do much that's new but does it really, really well. Both the director Coralie Fargeat and the main actor Matilda Lutz are ones to watch I reckon. Reviewed it here if you're into that.

[zomgmouse]

I watched Nekromantik and it is very hard to say what I thought of it. Obviously a lot of very fucked-up stuff but there was a real heart to it and the low-budget charm did get to me. I'm not sure I fully loved it though.

Also saw Zombies on Broadway, a horror comedy from 1945 where two schmucks go to an island to bring back a (voodoo) zombie and meet a mad scientist played by Bela Lugosi. Fun enough, had all the clichés but a few decent gags in it as well.

[DukeDeMondo]

Agreed with this - doesn't do much that's new but does it really, really well. Both the director Coralie Fargeat and the main actor Matilda Lutz are ones to watch I reckon. Reviewed it here if you're into that.

I didn't like Revenge anywhere near as much as you two did. I don't think it's anywhere near as subversive as it thinks it is, and I don't think it does anything that a bunch of other, less lauded films haven't done better. Nonetheless, I enjoyed your review. "I Spit On Your Cave" was very good. This did jump out at me, though:

"...One way it does differ from previous films of this nature is that it doesn't show the actual rape."

It does show the actual rape. There's no nudity (that I remember) and it's not as graphic as it might have been, but it's still there.

[Brundle-Fly]

Watched Spider Baby (Or The Maddest Story Ever Told!) (1967) again the other night. Absolutely crackers proto-Goth horror comedy B movie with some wonderful turns from a very young Sid Haig (Captain Spaulding from The Devils Rejects (2005) and an ageing Lon Chaney Jnr best known as The Wolfman (1941).  The actors, Beverly Washburn and Jill Banner playing the daughters steal the show with their burgeoning symptoms of 'Merrye Syndrome'.

Another excellent Blu Ray from the Arrow Video camp. Great Graham Humphreys art and extras on this. I am not affiliated to Arrow.

[Custard]

Ahh nice. I've had that very edition for a while now, and still not watched it. Maybe one for tonight!

[Brundle-Fly]

Ahh nice. I've had that very edition for a while now, and still not watched it. Maybe one for tonight!

You can see the influence it had on Rob Zombie. It's as hokey as hell but really great fun. Nice print too. Haig is top drawer.

[zomgmouse]

I've that very Arrow copy and brought it to a film night at a friend's house recently. Kooky as heck! I'm pretty sure John Waters is a fan too.
Re Haig, he was a staple in Jack Hill's other films I believe, and a lot of exploitation films in general - Hill was responsible for the cool blasts that were Coffy and Foxy Brown, after all.

[Brundle-Fly]

The Gruesome Twosome (1967) might be the next punt.

[Mini]

I didn't like Revenge anywhere near as much as you two did. I don't think it's anywhere near as subversive as it thinks it is, and I don't think it does anything that a bunch of other, less lauded films haven't done better. Nonetheless, I enjoyed your review. "I Spit On Your Cave" was very good. This did jump out at me, though:

"...One way it does differ from previous films of this nature is that it doesn't show the actual rape."

It does show the actual rape. There's no nudity (that I remember) and it's not as graphic as it might have been, but it's still there.

As far as I remember it shows him shoving her against a wall but then cuts to the dude watching TV and we only hear the rest, but I may be wrong. And thanks for reading!

[SteveDave]

I quite liked "Revenge" It seemed like a fancy filmed Grindhouse film especially when she healed that hole through her entire body with a hot beer can. American Beer should've been written backwards on her stomach surely?

[Custard]

The Autopsy Of Jane Doe (2016)

Thought this was pretty good. Disturbing and creepy in all the right ways. Brian Cox and Emile Hirsch are good too

3 and a half bags

[Dr Syntax Head]

I will watch absolutely anything with Emile Hirsch in (yeah cos of Into the Wild but what of it)

[Steven]

I will watch absolutely anything with Emile Hirsch in

Knock yourself out.

[Dr Syntax Head]

Knock yourself out.

LOL

[AsparagusTrevor]

The Autopsy Of Jane Doe (2016)

Thought this was pretty good. Disturbing and creepy in all the right ways. Brian Cox and Emile Hirsch are good too

3 and a half bags

I really liked it until the third act where it went a bit OTT.

[Avril Lavigne]

Can anyone recommend any movies similar in style to Herzog's Nosferatu The Vampyre?

[zomgmouse]

Can anyone recommend any movies similar in style to Herzog's Nosferatu The Vampyre?

Not quite but Possession (1981) maybe?

[Avril Lavigne]

Not quite but Possession (1981) maybe?

One of my other all-time faves :) It probably is due for a rewatch though!

[Brundle-Fly]

Can anyone recommend any movies similar in style to Herzog's Nosferatu The Vampyre?

In what style though? Cinematically? The period when it is set? Other bald vampire movies?

[Avril Lavigne]

In what style though? Cinematically? The period when it is set? Other bald vampire movies?

Slow-paced, gothic, heavy on atmosphere and visually beautiful.  Vampires preferable but not a must.

[Disc_4]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vampyr   ...???

[Avril Lavigne]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vampyr   ...???

Thanks! I might check this out tonight.

[Brundle-Fly]

Ken Russell's The Devils (1971) ?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DC_Z4I62e5Y

[Avril Lavigne]

Ken Russell's The Devils (1971) ?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DC_Z4I62e5Y

Thanks, I've had this on my watchlist for a while but it's been buried under so many other additions.  Aside from Altered States and Tommy I'm pretty new to Ken Russell's filmography, is The Devils his best?

[zomgmouse]

Slow-paced, gothic, heavy on atmosphere and visually beautiful.  Vampires preferable but not a must.

The Dracula Saga
Maybe some stuff by Jesús Franco if you like lots of nudity along with the above
Bava's Black Sunday

[Mister Six]

Been going through a fair few horror films with the missus and this seems like the right place to ramble on about them. Please do indulge me.

In descending order of quality:

I've seen praise for Creep and Creep 2 on here, and I'm pleased to say it was well earned. Even as someone who loathes found footage movies, I found them both great fun - especially (surprisingly) the sequel, which delves more satisfyingly into Mark Duplass's brilliantly depicted titular creep. A bit of fun tinkering with the format actually justified the found footage model, some properly funny jokes and a pleasing brevity really sold me on both. Only a pair of totally needless codas and the protagonists having to make incredibly dumb decisions not to just get up and leave spoiled it a little. But only a little.

I hadn't seen Society for, ooh, 15 years and remembered it to be an eerie, dreamlike affair with a fucked-up ending. Which it is for 50 percent of its runtime, but the other 50 percent is an absurdly camp, Porkys-esque teen comedy. The clash of styles really worked for me, but Mrs Six found it a bit too much. Made me want to watch Reanimator again, although Yuzna only produced that one.

The Blackcoat's Daughter is a nicely atmospheric, though slightly shallow, mood piece about three girls whose fates are entwined by a sinister girls' college that's been closed down for the winter holidays. Some really arresting images (including a shot involving a furnace in the basement), lovely cinematography and lovely direction made it worth the while, but I left it feeling a little underwhelmed. A very simple story told in a slightly complex way. For me it wasn't quite enough.

I'm kind of loathe to talk about The Invitation too much because I think it probably works best if you're as confused and unsure of what's going on as the main character. Even saying that it's probably more of a psychological thriller than a horror movie feels like it might be too much. The very impressive screenplay is dense without feeling overwhelming, and it manages to scale up the tension to a fever pitch without ever seeming outlandish or betraying its own internal logic or indulging in schlock. I particularly like how it (spoilers) remains grounded in a real world through and through, with nobody developing silly slasher-movie powers of springing back from the dead or suddenly becoming invulnerable to otherwise fatal attacks.

A shonky horror-comedy, Little Evil is still likeable enough to overcome its limitations, not least of which is that it really, really wants to be a fourth installment of the Cornetto Trilogy. Watching someone ape Edgar Wright aping other people made me feel very, very old. And the script really needs a polish - Why has he never met this kid before marrying its mother and moving in? Why do his mates from the stepdad support group not actually do anything despite being strung along for the final act? - but it's still funny and surprisingly sweet. Worth a quiet Sunday afternoon's viewing, I reckon.

Hush is a fairly tight, competent but unspectacular two-hander about a deaf woman who's trapped in her rural home by a methodical spree killer. With a premise like that, you want it to be whip-smart and come up with a lot of clever ways to get the most out of its premise. It isn't, and it mostly doesn't. Which isn't to say it's bad, but I'd hoped for more.

It Comes at Night is similar in that it doesn't do anything terribly wrong, but it also doesn't particularly excel. A family in a disease-ravaged post-apocalyptic woodland allow a couple to share their home, only for mistrust and creepy visions to get between everyone. One of those films that's liable to make you wonder why anyone bothered; the drama is solid, but so specific to that one situation that it's hard to truly empathise with, or care about, the inevitable grisly resolution.