Films watched recently... (CAUTION, SPOILERS)

Cú Chulainn · **Posted:** Mon May 18, 2009 5:02 pm

rio wrote:

Indeed, but people enjoy being disturbed also.

Exactly. My point is that it's not the violence that's entertaining, it's their reaction to it.

Am I making the distinction clear?

rio · **Posted:** Mon May 18, 2009 5:09 pm

Do you mean people want to see the way in which the character's on screen react to violence, or the way the audience does?

If the former; that's true, but part and parcel of the unashamed voyeurism of horror, rather than representing deeper psychological things IMO. If the latter, yeah, I guess we agree. People enjoy being freaked out and fucked with by visual images.

cry of the banshee · **Posted:** Mon May 18, 2009 6:11 pm

rio wrote:

I dunno, every time some moralistic "outrage" phrase gets thrown at horror films they end up co-opting it and using it as a slogan.

Saw etc. may have been about the psychological reaction to violence, but frequently that reaction is about someone either screaming in pain or screaming in terror. It's still just watching someone suffering for the pleasure of it. I honestly didn't detect much deeper going on beneath the surface of Hostel and Saw, but that's just my opinion as a jaded Argento fan.

Now, I'm not necessarily saying this curiosity about extreme violence is a bad thing in films... When they first started coming out I was really happy that mainstream horror was recovering its brutal side. But I've suspected for a while that it led the genre up a blind alley- horror films don't really have anything to them nowadays except for ever-increasing violence. Which is no substitute for original ideas.

For more, see my Agoraphobic Nosebleed review this week!

Argento was never really about violence for the sake of violence, though, as you know.
There is a vast difference between Argento, Bava, et al., and movies such as I Spit On Your Grave or The Last House On the Left.
These two movies leave one with the urge to take a shower after viewing them.
Even The Texas Chainsaw Massacre's horror takes on a more psychological aspect than your typical violence for the sake of violence film, but it doesn't leave one with a dirty feeling afterwards.
Another film that is on this level is The Town That Dreaded Sundown... most of the violence is implied, but it hits a nerve.

rio · **Posted:** Mon May 18, 2009 7:11 pm

Well, Argento's best films are often about the spectacle of violent acts. But yes, there is a lot more going on there too. That's what distinguishes them, I guess.

noodles · **Posted:** Mon May 18, 2009 7:36 pm

I liked the first saw movie because I love the idea of it and The Cube where it's just dudes waking up and trying to figure out puzzles without much context or whatnot. Both series' got lame when they started adding context and a reality outside of the puzzles to them.

Goat · **Posted:** Tue May 19, 2009 1:14 pm

Larry David's going to be in Woody Allen's next film!

AngelRipper16 · **Posted:** Tue May 19, 2009 3:18 pm

noodles wrote:

I liked the first saw movie because I love the idea of it and The Cube where it's just dudes waking up and trying to figure out puzzles without much context or whatnot. Both series' got lame when they started adding context and a reality outside of the puzzles to them.

I agree about the first Saw. That movie is great, not because of the violence but becuase of the story itself. And the ending was fucking brilliant. The other movies are boring because you always know that someone's gonna die in some horrible way. Plus, the story and acting can't compete with the first. I also like how the violence "support" that film in a way, because it adds to the feeling of a nightmare and you can really sense what the main characters are going through. But now the blood-dripping and the guts have become more important than the story and that's just wrong.

DevotedWalnut · **Posted:** Wed May 20, 2009 4:51 am

I just watched the preview for Sherlock Holmes and my god is Rachel McAdams so unbelievably hot.

cry of the banshee · **Posted:** Wed May 20, 2009 5:05 am

AngelRipper16 wrote:

noodles wrote:

I liked the first saw movie because I love the idea of it and The Cube where it's just dudes waking up and trying to figure out puzzles without much context or whatnot. Both series' got lame when they started adding context and a reality outside of the puzzles to them.

But now the blood-dripping and the guts have become more important than the story and that's just wrong.

But for a movie like Bad Taste, or The Evil Dead, it is just right.
Context is the key.

Goat · **Posted:** Wed May 20, 2009 9:24 am

DevotedWalnut wrote:

I just watched the preview for Sherlock Holmes and my god is Rachel McAdams so unbelievably hot.

Didn't someone here have a wife/girlfriend who looks like here?

Choke - Meh. I like Sam Rockwell and wossername the Scottish one, but it kind of dragged, and I hate the redemptive messages that seem tacked on to all the chokin' and shaggin' shenanigans.

AngelRipper16 · **Posted:** Wed May 20, 2009 11:15 am

cry of the banshee wrote:

AngelRipper16 wrote:

noodles wrote:

I liked the first saw movie because I love the idea of it and The Cube where it's just dudes waking up and trying to figure out puzzles without much context or whatnot. Both series' got lame when they started adding context and a reality outside of the puzzles to them.

But now the blood-dripping and the guts have become more important than the story and that's just wrong.

But for a movie like Bad Taste, or The Evil Dead, it is just right.
Context is the key.

I haven't seen those two. I bet it's some really disgusting horror you've got there...

(Even though I have heard of The Evil Dead).

rio · **Posted:** Wed May 20, 2009 11:44 am

Bad Taste is a comedy. A very disgusting comedy, but a comedy nonetheless. And bloody hilarious it is too. Great film.

Although, it is topped by its follow-up, Braindead/Dead Alive.

Evil Dead is one of the best horror films ever made, and totally puts 99.9% of horrors coming out today to shame.

Cú Chulainn · **Posted:** Wed May 20, 2009 11:49 am

Come on, the Evil Dead is a comedy too.

rio · **Posted:** Wed May 20, 2009 1:00 pm

It has elements of comedy but it's a first and foremost horror film. In Evil Dead 2 the ratio of comedy to horror is skewed much further in favour of comedy (although Evil Dead 2 is still a horror. Just a funny one). Bad Taste to me is a straight up comedy.

AngelRipper16 · **Posted:** Wed May 20, 2009 1:34 pm

I'm not too big on the combination of Horror and Comedy. Many times I've seen movies like that it comes across as too corny or goofy. You don't really know wether or not you should hide your face in your pillows or laugh your ass off.

Goat · **Posted:** Wed May 20, 2009 1:35 pm

AngelRipper16 wrote:

I'm not too big on the combination of Horror and Comedy. Many times I've seen movies like that it comes across as too corny or goofy. You don't really know wether or not you should hide your face in your pillows or laugh your ass off.

I'm just going to ignore you from now on, I think.

rio · **Posted:** Wed May 20, 2009 1:40 pm

AngelRipper16 wrote:

I'm not too big on the combination of Horror and Comedy. Many times I've seen movies like that it comes across as too corny or goofy. You don't really know wether or not you should hide your face in your pillows or laugh your ass off.

That's the entire point surely? You should really see the Evil Dead films. Particularly part 2.

Come to think of it though I am not 100% keen nowadays. It's kind of an easy genre to cash in on, and you end up with stuff like Lesbian Vampire Killers. It's ok from time to time but horror should normally be serious business. Though black comedy thrown into a horror film is often good, a la Last Horror Movie.

AngelRipper16 · **Posted:** Wed May 20, 2009 1:49 pm

rio wrote:

AngelRipper16 wrote:

I'm not too big on the combination of Horror and Comedy. Many times I've seen movies like that it comes across as too corny or goofy. You don't really know wether or not you should hide your face in your pillows or laugh your ass off.

That's the entire point surely? You should really see the Evil Dead films. Particularly part 2.

Come to think of it though I am not 100% keen nowadays. It's kind of an easy genre to cash in on, and you end up with stuff like Lesbian Vampire Killers. It's ok from time to time but horror should normally be serious business. Though black comedy thrown into a horror film is often good, a la Last Horror Movie.

Okey, maybe I'll do it someday. Been a while since I saw anything in this genre.

cry of the banshee · **Posted:** Wed May 20, 2009 4:46 pm

haha, Evil Dead is neither corny nor goofy, it is nothing but pure awesomness. That scene where Ash is ankle deep in blood and a band-aid tin floats by is gold.
Bad Taste is a comedy and I laughed my ass off.
If I'm not mistaken, isn't that directed by the same dude that did the LOTR's trilogy?

cry of the banshee · **Posted:** Wed May 20, 2009 4:49 pm

rio wrote:

AngelRipper16 wrote:

I'm not too big on the combination of Horror and Comedy. Many times I've seen movies like that it comes across as too corny or goofy. You don't really know wether or not you should hide your face in your pillows or laugh your ass off.

That's the entire point surely? You should really see the Evil Dead films. Particularly part 2.

Come to think of it though I am not 100% keen nowadays. It's kind of an easy genre to cash in on, and you end up with stuff like Lesbian Vampire Killers. It's ok from time to time but horror should normally be serious business. Though black comedy thrown into a horror film is often good, a la Last Horror Movie.

I agree. Too many straight-to-video releases that are just plain bad are out there. Horror is an ARTFORM, and should be treated as such.
I haven't been watching a whole lot of it in recent years, and as it is, I mainly stick to the older stuff. I have little faith in modern day cinema.

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