|
Post by DSR on Mar 9, 2009 5:20:14 GMT -5
As much as I enjoy "tweaks" to genre conventions, I actually tend to prefer those "down-times" when there isn't really a set formula for success. I mean, it obviously works better for a horror movie when you don't already know who's going to survive (or even what kind of ordeal they're trying to survive) within the first 10 minutes. It's why I enjoy 70s slasher movies over 80s slasher movies (though 80s slasher movies are more fun in a cheesy way). You could argue from a creativity standpoint that slashers HAD run out of steam a good 5 years before Candyman came out. Anyway, DSR's top ten horror films of the 90s in no particular order are... ...Oh, and I'm quoting myself here because I wrote this for another message board...and my writing style over there is a little bit different from my writing style over here.
|
|
thump
Tommy Wiseau
Posts: 90
|
Post by thump on Mar 9, 2009 13:45:40 GMT -5
How could I forget Cemetery Man? That's one of my favorites in recent memory.
|
|
|
Post by Maidpool w/ Cleaning Action on Mar 9, 2009 14:13:08 GMT -5
Cemetery Man is awesome.
A movie I really love that isn't a horror movie perse, but this is about as close of a thread as there is to talk about it, is Dark City.
|
|
andrew8798
FANatic
on 24/7 this month
Posts: 106,084
|
Post by andrew8798 on Mar 9, 2009 16:32:59 GMT -5
With The Piranha remake coming out I decided to watch The original again I have just one question when the two lead characters are in the lab what the hell is that little creature walking around
|
|
Lick Ness Monster
Dennis Stamp
From the eerie, eerie depths of Lake Okabena
Posts: 4,874
|
Post by Lick Ness Monster on Mar 9, 2009 18:28:02 GMT -5
There's a Piranha remake coming out? Was the world really screaming for that one? And Dark City is indeed quite awesome. Artfully shot, well-acted, and one of the more truly original stories I've seen unfold on the screen. One of the truly unsung movies of recent memory. I was going through some of my DVD's today, and just happened to come across one that I hadn't watched in a while, so I had to give it another try... One of the more oddball entries during the golden age of slasher flicks, Motel Hell was a movie that bucked the trend of the time period it was released - 1980, in the wake of Friday the 13th and Halloween. Its premise was actually more in line with The Texas Chain Saw Massacre than the slasher cinema that dominated the era, and its focus on its human story rather than the kills is certainly a factor in why it quickly faded away from the public spotlight. Today, however, Motel Hell is looked at with a little more fondness. Its original intent was to make a serious, disturbing horror film with terrifying imagery, but similar to a few films with like ambitions (the original Evil Dead and Sleepaway Camp 2 come to mind), the film's budget was unable to live up to those goals. Lacking the means to achieve the film's original meaning, the film-makers decided to bring more humorous elements into the picture, which can be good, or bad, depending on your taste. I personally view Motel Hell as a moderately entertaining film and pretty damn original - I actually prefer it to Raimi's Dead movies, but don't like it quite as much as the frenetic, nonstop parody and references of Michael Simpson's Camp sequels. The film tells the story of Farmer Vincent (Rory Calhoun, in what is actually an excellent performance) and his sister, Ida (Nancy Parsons), who operate the Motel Hello and also process meats that are the tastiest in all the land. The secret of his meats is, of course, human flesh - the grounds around his hotel are strewn with various booby traps meant for trapping unfortunate passerbys, at which point he takes the victims, buries them up to their necks in a secret "garden" on his property, slices their vocal chords so they can't scream, feeds them, and kills them when they're ready to be processed. Both Vincent and Ida go about their business in the film with a sort of happy abandon, neither believing that they are doing anything wrong. The thread that sets the plot in motion occurs in the film's opening passages, which show Vincent trapping a motorcycling couple - while he takes the man to his secret garden, he takes a shine to the female, Terry (Nina Axelrod), and begins nursing her back to health. This begins the film's romantic subplot, as through some convoluted logic (but surprisingly, one we actually buy) Terry begins falling in love with Vincent, while Vincent's younger brother, the local Sheriff Bruce (Paul Linke) also begins attempting to woo (read: try to get her into bed) Terry as well. While the love triangle plot is being played out, a few other ancilliary characters meet their end at the benefit of Farmer Vincent's tasty meats - a snoopy health inspector and a van full of heavy metal headbangers. We get the sense very early on that this feels a great deal like a Tobe Hooper film; indeed, Hooper himself was offered the chance to direct this movie before Universal dropped the project, leaving this movie in developmental hell before United Artists picked it up. In fact, this film took almost ten years to go from script to screen. While the film plays it straight for the most part through its first and second acts (well, except for the scene in which Vincent and Ida lure two swingers to their death by advertising their hotel as a "swinger's paradise" - that scene is a little, um, interesting), it turns to pure parody and silliness in its third act, as the various plot cogs come together for the final confrontation. Of course, Terry finds out the secret of Vincent's meats, Sheriff Bruce comes to save the day...and there's a chainsaw duel to the death while Vincent wears a pig head, a victorious Bruce swooping in to save the day on a meat hook, and, in my book, a legit pretty funny last words by Farmer Vincent. Horror fans find the humor in this movie polarizing, but I myself find it a little refreshing considering some of the rather disturbing events that have been depicted in the movie before the film's closing passages. Overall, Motel Hell is a fun little horror flick - one of the first movies I remember seeing on MonsterVision, to boot (some sentimental value never hurts). It's not a film that is worth rushing out to buy, but for 90 minutes of creepiness, a few laughs, and nutty Rory Calhoun, it's definitely worth a look. ***
|
|
thump
Tommy Wiseau
Posts: 90
|
Post by thump on Mar 9, 2009 20:03:35 GMT -5
Motel Hell is one that I never upgraded to DVD. It's hard to explain, but that one feels right on VHS to me. It reminds me of those wonderful days when the video store seemed filled with an unlimited number of amazing movies and that I would never exhaust the supply. Now it is so depressing to walk into video stores and see they all have almost identical selections. by the way, the signature of Jason looking through the buffet is one of the best things I've ever seen in my life
|
|
Chainsaw
T
A very BAD man.
It is what it is
Posts: 90,480
|
Post by Chainsaw on Mar 9, 2009 22:44:27 GMT -5
Dellamorte Dellamore's one of my favorites of all time, and I can't wait for Dead Of Night (despite the lack of Rupert Everett, the man who Dylan Dog and, oddly enough, Francesco Dellamorte, is based on).
|
|
andrew8798
FANatic
on 24/7 this month
Posts: 106,084
|
Post by andrew8798 on Mar 9, 2009 22:46:06 GMT -5
There's a Piranha remake coming out? Was the world really screaming for that one? I have no problem with it. Also it's going to be in 3-D
|
|
Ken Ivory
Hank Scorpio
This sorta thing IS my bag, baby.
Posts: 5,282
|
Post by Ken Ivory on Mar 10, 2009 11:49:07 GMT -5
-Psycho IV is definitely the best of the 3 sequels in my book. -With Saw V being released on DVD, I decided to go on a Saw splurge on Amazon and got parts I-III 2 disc special editions, even though I have the standard 1 disc versions of them already . I am indeed a Saw mark it seems.....
|
|
Lick Ness Monster
Dennis Stamp
From the eerie, eerie depths of Lake Okabena
Posts: 4,874
|
Post by Lick Ness Monster on Mar 10, 2009 12:01:03 GMT -5
I'm eagerly awaiting the day when the Saw franchise coughs its final breath. Not because I'll be happy that it's dead, but because I can buy the super-duper ultra deluxe box set of the series and finally see the damn sequels. ;D
|
|
Ken Ivory
Hank Scorpio
This sorta thing IS my bag, baby.
Posts: 5,282
|
Post by Ken Ivory on Mar 10, 2009 12:05:12 GMT -5
I know what you mean, I've seen them sell box sets of it from since part III was released on DVD.
I knew they were making 6 installments so thought it pointless to get them, although the packaging on some of the box sets are cool, especially the 3-D Billy packaging for the quadrilogy.
I believe the Gore-ology (parts I-V) packaging is designed like the tape player.
|
|
|
Post by DSR on Mar 10, 2009 19:26:12 GMT -5
I enjoyed watching Motel Hell when I first rented it at my local video store (they've since sold off a good portion of their VHS tapes ). I've tried a few times to buy the DVD (once from Amazon's marketplace and once from eBay) and both times I had my money refunded and never got the DVD.
|
|
thump
Tommy Wiseau
Posts: 90
|
Post by thump on Mar 10, 2009 19:36:38 GMT -5
I enjoyed watching Motel Hell when I first rented it at my local video store (they've since sold off a good portion of their VHS tapes ). I've tried a few times to buy the DVD (once from Amazon's marketplace and once from eBay) and both times I had my money refunded and never got the DVD. That was a great period: when all the video stores were selling off their VHS. I left a few stores with boxes full. Sure, I got a lot of duds, but a few of the great ones make it worth it!
|
|
|
Post by Rorschach on Mar 10, 2009 20:35:12 GMT -5
Just a heads up: LET THE RIGHT ONE IN is out today....I plan on watching it, and reviewing it in the next couple of days.
|
|
|
Post by DSR on Mar 10, 2009 21:49:52 GMT -5
I enjoyed watching Motel Hell when I first rented it at my local video store (they've since sold off a good portion of their VHS tapes ). I've tried a few times to buy the DVD (once from Amazon's marketplace and once from eBay) and both times I had my money refunded and never got the DVD. That was a great period: when all the video stores were selling off their VHS. I left a few stores with boxes full. Sure, I got a lot of duds, but a few of the great ones make it worth it! A lot of my VHS tapes are from video stores going out of business. It's great that I got to own some movies that are rare and unheard of, but at the same time, I felt sorta bad that these stores went out of business and now other people don't get the chance to see these rare movies. My nearest video store sold off their VHS without going out of business, but its still sort of sad that they've replaced these unsung little gems with whatever banal Hollywood movies all the other video stores in the universe have.
|
|
Lick Ness Monster
Dennis Stamp
From the eerie, eerie depths of Lake Okabena
Posts: 4,874
|
Post by Lick Ness Monster on Mar 11, 2009 10:28:31 GMT -5
-Psycho IV is definitely the best of the 3 sequels in my book. I do enjoy Psycho IV, but I actually prefer Psycho II. It stays genuinely suspenseful throughout the entire movie, the Norman Bates character is amazingly relatable and resonant, and actually manages to outsmart me in the "who really is the killer" department. It's one that I SHOULD have seen coming a mile away, but still. ;D
|
|
Ken Ivory
Hank Scorpio
This sorta thing IS my bag, baby.
Posts: 5,282
|
Post by Ken Ivory on Mar 11, 2009 11:17:47 GMT -5
-Psycho IV is definitely the best of the 3 sequels in my book. I do enjoy Psycho IV, but I actually prefer Psycho II. It stays genuinely suspenseful throughout the entire movie, the Norman Bates character is amazingly relatable and resonant, and actually manages to outsmart me in the "who really is the killer" department. It's one that I SHOULD have seen coming a mile away, but still. ;D The Psycho sequels were 10 x better than they should have been. Antony Perkins was such a fantastic actor, his facial expressions alone made you think he actually was crazy. Good director too, as seen in Psycho III. Any film that starts with a nun yelling "There is no God!" is good in my book!
|
|
|
Post by Rorschach on Mar 11, 2009 14:42:54 GMT -5
LET THE RIGHT ONE IN (2008) Starring: Kare Hedebrant and Lina Leandersson Recently, the movie TWILIGHT (and it's source novel) attempted to give us a love story between a vampire and a human; while the novel, I am told, succeeded in giving the love story some emotion, and heart and soul, the film that was based on it fell horribly flat, mainly due to the emotionless acting of it's two leads. Such a fate does not befall LET THE RIGHT ONE IN, I can safely assure you. LET THE RIGHT ONE IN tells the story of Oskar (Hedebrant), a lonely, bullied boy who finds refuge in his own fantasies of revenge against those children who bully him at school. Too meek to actually lash out, Oskar simply takes their taunts, slaps, and insults, and endures them, only lashing out in a play act of violence when he is safely back in his room at the little apartment he shares with his mother. Director Tomas Alfredson really gives us a sense of the loneliness of Oskar's world, and the overbearing quietness of the snow drenched Swedish city where Oskar lives. He also, through the gifted acting of Hedebrant, shows us that Oskar has endured these bullies for a very long time, and that, unless something changes he will endure them for even longer. Cue the arrival of Eli (Leandersson), who appears out of nowhere one night while Oskar is acting out one of his revenge fantasies in the common courtyard of the apartments. As played to perfection by Leandersson, Eli's pretertnatural stillness and beauty are brought chillingly to life, and though she has not yet done one sinister thing, her presence is unnerving. Oskar, however, with all the naiive innocence of his twelve years, doesn't find Eli at all threatening, but instead finds her interesting, and enigmatic. And thus begins a strange courtship of sorts between Oskar and Eli by night, while Oskar becomes progressively more harassed at school during the day. Some might say that LET THE RIGHT ONE IN drags a bit, but to them I say that this is a little something called "building steam" that many movies nowadays are wont to do, instead jumping from inception of the idea, to payoff with no real build of tension, intrigue or plot at all. LET THE RIGHT ONE IN builds itself around it's two leads, and though the gore and grue is kept to a minimum here, this IS a horror movie, and the subject of vampirism wastes no time in being brought up. I hate to get into too much detail in that category though, because doing so would spoil a very terrific film....although to be fair, the DVD company behind LET THE RIGHT ONE IN already spoils the film's first act twist right there on the box. I feel the film would be much more of a surprise if you didn't know it was a vampire film going in.....but alas, it's too late for that. So instead, I will say that yes, this film does have it's shocking moments, and yes, it does also have a very tender love story at it's heart...one with a lot more blood in it's veins than TWILIGHT could ever hope to have. I give this film ****, and my highest recommendation to watch.
|
|
thump
Tommy Wiseau
Posts: 90
|
Post by thump on Mar 11, 2009 19:42:28 GMT -5
I also really dig Psycho II (the other sequels are fine also). Richard Franklin made some fantastic movies, including Patrick (a personal favorite of mine).
|
|
|
Post by Maidpool w/ Cleaning Action on Mar 11, 2009 21:18:30 GMT -5
EVERYTIME I hear the word "Twilight" I think of this:
And seeing as how I work at the video store and people have been asking me for the movie since it came out in theaters, let alone now that it's almost out I have that song on my mind all the time.
Do Dodododo Dododooo TWILIGHT
|
|