ok lets all shit our pants to something new: post 2005 horror film thread

I got rid of Shudder because most of it seemed like crap or stuff I'd already seen a billion times, and I wasn't utilizing it except when exclusives like "Blood Quantum" would show up.

I finally watched Paranormal Activity last night and really enjoyed myself - to the point that I was awake at 4am this morning, hearing all sorts of shit in my house. Once I'd thrown my lot in with the characters and abandoned any sense of logic or sanity, I really loved the simplicity of the premise and the simple fact of watching the main frame of the action for movement and shade. I mean, it totally shits itself in the final 5 minutes, in its (erroneous) desire to escalate but I can forgive it that. They should have ended with the appalling screams from downstairs, with something unutterable emerging quietly from the hallway.

Are any of the others in the series worth watching?

I'm reading the collected M.R. James at the moment too. Christ alive is my mind active. It's like I can feel my deep workings being altered. I love/hate that feeling of going to bed with your blood singing.

I bought a collection of M.R. James a couple of years ago. When you're in the right headspace for that stuff it can really get you.

I remember 3 being pretty effective? xp

The first three Paranormal Activities are pretty good, iirc. Each adds a tiny twist or evolution of the formula (like the rotating fan cam), and if they start to lean into mythology a bit too much, it doesn't really matter. The movies might be gimmicks, but I don't know a single person that felt entirely comfortable turning off the lights at the end of the night after watching them.

Paranormal 1 definitely stuck in my mind. Mostly the videotape of the sleeper standing over the bed. good nightmare fuel, that.

Yep. I put drawing pins around the bed last night, just in case.

Watched Kindred the other night... good performances, a little gothic, good film overall.

yeah the first three PAs are good but with diminishing returns each time. each one slightly more disappointing if not 'good'. never got around to the others.

45 minutes in and already comfortable recommending the empty man (2021)

oh btw it’ll be easy pickings for the ppl tired of a24 horror or whatever but i really liked saint maud

I've heard only bad things (and not only from a24 haters) so you have me curious

45 minutes in and already comfortable recommending the empty man (2021)

this horror movie about twitter was incredible

I've heard only bad things (and not only from a24 haters) so you have me curious

― stimmy stimmy yah (Simon H.), Tuesday, February 9, 2021 5:46 PM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

i'm not really sure what's to hate tbh unless ppl find the end a little hokey. it's creepy and gay and the cool dying lesbian plays esg at her parties and the major jump scare rocks

people have a lot of inner obstacles that keep them from having a creepy good time with a movie tho so i get it

it may not be entirely responsible with its closeted queer themes but idk, felt a little similar to thelma to me, in both the closet especially the closet of religious repression actively destroys your life and relationships

i have seen thelma three times now and it does not belong in this thread bc it's not a horror film, and it's not perfect, but god it's fucking great imo

I never actually write anything real on letterboxd but I did feel compelled to write a little "about" the empty man. no real spoilers but also won't make much sense till you've seen it.

https://letterboxd.com/suckerhowell/film/the-empty-man/

I actually did a quick google of it, because I hadn't heard of it, and ... it was really poorly received?

by dummies!

most of the ppl i follow on letterboxd love it and i implicitly trust them

yeah seeing @d@m n@yman and j0sh lew1s both rave about it tipped me off

for me it was a five star review from albert pyun scholar and total genius sydn3y

i was so annoyed that the most popular (somewhat positive) review was by sean fennessey that i almost started a thread where ppl can post the writers they think are so bad

does anybody think that's a necessary thread or am i asking for a fight

necessary? not at all. fun and funny? probably

actually I would just love a thread about letterboxd and its weirdness

oh whoops i started the stupider thread

simon you should start a letterboxd thread so i can go on and on about the genius of nathaxnne

letterboxd, the vexing and sometimes OK film logging website

joe bob did a valentine's day special. first film is tammy and the t-rex, which is not really a horror film. still, it's the best movie i've ever seen

oh wow paul walker is just a tiny baby boy in this!

man with a better script (a much better one) I would have loved the hell out of ready or not

The Empty Man is terrific! A strange, almost-avant cosmic horror masquerading as a conventional creepypasta flick. Really well-directed. And as someone mentioned on Letterboxd, the first movie to be set in the Twin Peaks The Return extended universe

yeah I yelped when he turned that piece of paper around

also I gotta say, I've been enjoying James Badge Dale as a low key character actor for a long time and it was nice to get to see him cut loose in this

oh, i updated this thread with a pre-2006 movie bc the other film in joe bob's marathon was the love witch, which i'd never seen. impressively crafted to the point where the aesthetic was ultimately kind of distancing, but i also spent the better part of this afternoon thinking about the depiction of gender roles in the film and feel like it was a valuable experience just for that

I liked it a lot for that reason. it could have been a legit classic with significantly tighter editing

brad u were right about thelma, although the "yass thelma slay dad" stuff I see in reviews is making me wonder if I watched the same movie

lol i mean that's letterboxd for you

what a good movie right? i have very specific qualms with it (flashback scene comes out of nowhere; overriding metaphor of the film potentially a little too neat) but they all disintegrate against its portrayal of both intense closetedness and queer desire

also it's just stupid beautiful

The underwater and dream sequences were some of the most genuinely disorienting I've seen in a long time (and also tie the movie to Let the Right One In, intentionally or not, I'm guessing not)

the fate of thelma's little brother one of the meanest fakeouts I've seen in ages as well

D@v!d 3hrl!ch wrote in IndieWire that Thelma was a "an ominous, unnerving, and strangely powerful thriller about the most devious of human desires" and "consistently keyed in to the persuasive power of the female body."

I might have never cracked it as a film critic but maybe that's fine if this is the result lol

... most devious of human desires??? the persuasive power of the female body???? men have got to be stopped

the most devious of human desires: having a huge lesbian crush on your cool friend and being unable to deal with it bc of your repressive religious upbringing

i read the full review to make sure the excerpts weren't enormous distortions bc of the nature of being excerpted

Lust is just the tip of the iceberg, though “Thelma” is consistently keyed in to the persuasive power of the female body, and how the strength of physical attraction can sometimes be complicated by its shallowness.

wHAT

lmao whyyyyy

... most devious of human desires??? the persuasive power of the female body???? men have got to be stopped

see people think thelma's dad is the bad guy but then I think "what if this is how dav1d erl1ch's dad feels"

thelma’s dad held her hand over a candle, he’s bad. but the real villain is repression

Watched Come Play, and liked it. Bloodless, jump scares, plot is divorced parents of a special needs boy whose phone brings up an app story monster who's lonely and wants a friend. Appreciated how they worked the cliche 'bully beats up challenged kid' angle, and ending was better than I expected.

Dogs Don't Wear Pants - This really isn't a horror film (but I just thought I'd follow it up here), just a slightly dark (Finnish) romantic comedy and the tooth pulling scene isn't as bad as I had heard. This isn't trying to be be realistic about the BDSM scene or convince anyone it's a healthy place, the characters cross the line into criminal territory quite regularly.
It's enjoyable and it looks good, but by the end I felt it was just a bit too simple, like surprisingly straightforward. I didn't remember Krista Kosonen in Bladerunner 2049 but she was pretty cool in this.

Watched Come Play, and liked it

Been hearing about this one since last Fantasia in July!