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

so the hobbit version of maniac is out, uh, somewhere. maybe in limited release or overseas. or so i hear. anyone seen it?

so, Kill List? quite effective imo - & [SPOILER] I loved the unexpected third act to homage to 70s Brit pastoral horror.

kill list was one of the few memorable ones i have seen in recent times . V/H/S would be another. it is a short story wrapping a bunch of other short stories, implying they all happen within the same "universe". it would be cool if they made a tv series out of it.

Watched McKee's The Woman. There's something really 1990s about the insertion of the emotional singer-songwriter music over key scenes that either makes me think that 1) McKee is playing with us in an interesting way, or 2) is just tuck in the 90s, which I think is an actual possibility. He's certainly done this before.

Also the guy who played the dad was great. Pretty good ending, too.

emil.y, i think it was Simon H on another thread who also called Berberian Sound Studio a horror film - can I ask what makes you think that it is? Based on Peter Strickland's previous movie, and on a feature in the current Sight and Sound, I don't think it's a genre film as such (ie i get the impression it's about psychological collapse rather than supernatural threat) , although not having seen it, I could be wrong.

I wish all these horror movies were just released immediately to Netflix streaming, because that's where they need to be.

ie i get the impression it's about psychological collapse rather than supernatural threat

So, err, you don't think Repulsion is a horror film?

I mean, okay, the reasons I think it is a horror film: it premieres at FrightFest, a horror film festival; it has been reviewed as a horror film by every publication; the themes are of psychological horror set in a giallo production (and you are missing a lot if you don't think psychological horror is 'really horror'); the director thinks it's a horror film; the sole imdb genre tag is 'horror'.

I'll actually see it on Saturday so I can tell you if I suddenly have a revelation that it isn't one, but I'm fairly sure I won't.

Watched McKee's The Woman. There's something really 1990s about the insertion of the emotional singer-songwriter music over key scenes that either makes me think that 1) McKee is playing with us in an interesting way, or 2) is just tuck in the 90s, which I think is an actual possibility. He's certainly done this before.

Also the guy who played the dad was great. Pretty good ending, too.

― The Thnig, Wednesday, August 29, 2012 7:30 AM (2 hours ago)

liked the movie, but thought that the soundtrack was badly misjudged. almost certainly the result of being a bit too attached to 90s/early 00s indie film sensibilities. that said, the power-pop goofiness did soften the blow in a way that i appreciated. if the soundtrack had been all glowery and "intense", i probably would have found the film a good deal more repulsive.

Watched and enjoyed Ti West's The Innkeepers last night. Not great, but it rewards the patience it demands. It's similar to The House of the Devil in that it spends way too much time on the slow-paced development of uninteresting characters, but by time spooky stuff started going down, around the halfway point, I was hooked. It's vanishingly slight, and the ending is a bit anticlimactic, but I was genuinely unnerved for most of the last half hour. Also appreciated West's willingness to leave his audience with more questions than answers. Otoh, it's all but done in by the casting. The lead actress is clearly supposed to be cute as a button, and she is, but she's also terribly one-dimensional and unconvincing.

For better or worse (maybe worse), I've given up resisting Ti West because of his clear flaws and instead just loving him for existing at all.

Anyone ever seen his pre-House of the Devil flicks, The Roost and Triggerman?

House of the Devil burned me so badly that it will take a really desperate night of netflix streaming for me to even think about giving this dude another shot.

Innkeepers is a totally different vibe. Definitely lots of laughs. Triggerman has its fans, but it was only in cropped form when it was being streamed.

House of the Devil burned me so badly that it will take a really desperate night of netflix streaming for me to even think about giving this dude another shot.

― O_o-O_O-o_O (jjjusten), Wednesday, August 29, 2012 11:20 AM (8 minutes ago)

this isn't a recommendation, cuz i think you'd probably hate it, but i hated house of the devil and at least half liked the inkeepers. spent most of the first 45 minutes wondering how i'd let myself get fooled again, though.

i sort of liked the house of the devil, enough to watch it twice. i thought is it was very "neat", every facets of the retro fetish thing, the photography, costumes, lame intrigue, just a retro-licious neat litle bad horror movies like i have seen when i was a kid on on Commander USA's Groovie Movies and stuff. anyone remember a psycho knockoff from the late 70's early 80's where the killer inject a syringe of blood in a blow up doll full of water? that one was odd.

google tells me it looks like it was "Private Parts " .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mURQ4OKRygA
will have to watch that one again i think.

House of the Devil burned me so badly that it will take a really desperate night of netflix streaming for me to even think about giving this dude another shot.

― O_o-O_O-o_O (jjjusten), Wednesday, August 29, 2012 11:20 AM (8 minutes ago)

I didn't hate HOTD, but my main impression was that I'd liked to have seen Tom Noonan's awesome creepy dude performance basically C&Pd into a better, scarier movie.

maybe if i was a walkman enthusiast i would like that movie

emil.y, i look forward to hearing yr report on Berberian Sound System and am, right this v second, happy to accept that it is as horribly horrible as repulsion

Just watched The Caller, which is sorta like a remake of that Dennis Quaid movie Frequency with less laughing. Really dug it -- effectively wrings every bit of unpleasantness out of the situation, possibilities of which only dawned upon me slightly before the happened in the movie. Mostly, though, it made me depressed that good solid Grade B+ horror films like this never make it to the U.S. multiplex anymore and instead we get sludge like The Roommate and Sorority Row.

caught Berberian Sound Studio a couple of mornings ago, liked it a lot.

damn, berberian sound studios is a great gis

http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj242/donaldparsley/BerberianSoundStudio1.jpg
http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj242/donaldparsley/BerberianSoundStudio2.jpg
http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj242/donaldparsley/Berberian-Sound-Studio.jpg

Saw Berberian Sound Studio last night - think it's one of the best films i've seen in years. wrote a bit about why here.

I agree! Really really great.

Do you mind if I post your link over on the Berberian Sound Studio thread?

no, not at all. didn't realise there was a thread.

ok watched a couple of new ones

The Final - i really should have known better, but yeah its a stupid revenge topical bully egdy columbine what if that is a complete movie execs try to imagine the slipknot generation 4 years too late clusterfuck trainwreck. avoid avoid avoid.

Snowtown/alt title The Snowtown Murders - well if you are craving a soul-destroying bleak horror skincrawler ala Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer this is one for you. its fairly brilliant, and incredibly well-acted, and deeply in the camp of "movies that are so hard to watch that i dont really recommend them". its a rough one, and gets worse when you find out that it is a true story.

available on netflix streaming, if you want to ruin your day instantly on demand.

Wow, this looks either stupid or brilliant:

http://cf.drafthouse.com/_uploads/drafthousefilms/galleries/16162/abcdeathxa-poster2__poster.jpg

it can be both!

actually i cant really blow up the picture in a way that gives me most of the info at the top abt the directors

if they are all troma directors or mick garris is involved i retract my brilliant comment

The ABC's OF DEATH is an ambitious anthology film featuring segments directed by over two dozen of the world's leading talents in contemporary genre film. Inspired by children's educational ABC books, the motion picture is comprised of 26 individual chapters, each helmed by a different director assigned a letter of the alphabet. The directors were then given free reign in choosing a word to create a story involving death. Provocative, shocking, funny and ultimately confrontational; THE ABC's OF DEATH is the definitive snapshot of the diversity of modern horror. Drafthouse Films, Magnet Pictures and Timpson Films are proud to present this alphabetical arsenal of destruction orchestrated by what Fangoria calls "a stunning roll call of some of the most exciting names in horror across the world."

Angela Bettis
Hélène Cattet
Ernesto Díaz Espinoza
Jason Eisener
Bruno Forzani
Adrián García Bogliano
Xavier Gens
Noboru Iguchi
Thomas Cappelen Malling
Jorge Michel Grau
Yoshihiro Nishimura
Banjong Pisanthanakun
Simon Rumley
Marcel Sarmiento
Jon Schnepp
Srdjan Spasojevic
Timo Tjahjanto
Andrew Traucki
Nacho Vigalondo
Jake West
Ti West
Ben Wheatley
Adam Wingard
Mikael Wulff
Yudai Yamaguchi
Lee Hardcastle

considering how little ti west usually gets done in 90 minutes i am worried abt what he can do in 5

super gory trailer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yq0NKDex30U

M1ke D'4ngel0 said that Ti West's segment should appeal to the same crowd that digs A Serbian Film. Yay.

since i have nothing today, a brief summary

Angela Bettis - dig her, but roman was just kind of eh
Hélène Cattet - made amer which is A+++
Ernesto Díaz Espinoza - something called mirageman? idk
Jason Eisener - hobo with a shotgun! getting more promising
Bruno Forzani - also amer related
Adrián García Bogliano - cold sweat? unknown to me
Xavier Gens - frontier(s), another good sign, potentially
Noboru Iguchi - the machine girl. not totally my thing, but could be interesting, def will be wacky
Thomas Cappelen Malling - did that norwegian ninja thing i still havent watched
Jorge Michel Grau - we are what we are? again, idk
Yoshihiro Nishimura - tokyo gore police, which i liked even less than machine girl. splattertown for this one i am sure
Banjong Pisanthanakun - shutter and alone, pretty solid
Simon Rumley - red white and blue which i also have only gotten through a little of, pretty slow starter
Marcel Sarmiento - deadgirl, which is one of my modern faves
Jon Schnepp -metalocalypse i guess? something called the removers that i know nothing abt
Srdjan Spasojevic - if you couldnt guess from the name, its the serbian film guy. which i still havent seen so i will reserve judgement
Timo Tjahjanto - stuff called macabre and dara, no clue
Andrew Traucki - black water which sucked, the reef which i never watched because of black water, s for shark or a for alligator i imagine. yawn.
Nacho Vigalondo - timecrimes dude! awesome!
Jake West - doghouse, which was a knucleheaded assholish mess
Ti West - house of the long naps. yuck
Ben Wheatley - down terrace and kill list, keep meaning to watch down terrace but havent
Adam Wingard - V/H/S, which came out last week and i havent heard much about, along w/his other films pop skull and laura panic
Mikael Wulff - some show called pandaerne? who knows?
Yudai Yamaguchi - versus which is awesome! meatball machine which is not.
Lee Hardcastle - apparently a hyper-violent claymation dude? credited with segment "T is for Toilet" which sounds like no thanks to me.

looks pretty promising to me, although the ultra short format is worrisome.

has anybody heard anything abt V/H/S? i know its a found footagey thing which can be very nagl, but i still hold out hope for the possibility of good work thx to rec etc

Reviews have been pretty awesome for it, iirc.

Jorge Michel Grau - we are what we are? again, idk

really wanted to see we are what we are, spanish cannibalism flick on the realism tip

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBkNz3_pzsw

Bogliano is a very interesting Argentinian director. prolific, too. haven't seen Penumbra. Rooms for Tourists is still my favorite. B&W Hitchcock/Argento boarding-house melee with a biting message.
Gens made the truly ghastly big-budget nukesploitation slog The Divide. and the even worse Hitman. remind me why we ever cared about this guy? oh, yeah. five minutes I will probably be skipping.
but I'm expecting Rumley's short to be my favorite. if it's half as good as his contribution to Little Deaths, I will walk away very satisfied.
Macabre is the Western title for Rumah Dara, an Indonesian bloodbath of near-Inside proportions. eager to see what else Tjahjanto can do, esp. without his "team" (The Mo Brothers).
Vigalondo's Extraterrestrial is a lot of fun. Edgar Wright-ish sci-fi rom-com. nothing like Timecrimes. he has some range.
yeah, Doghouse wasn't so great. but West's Evil Aliens remains a blast. a very wet, very silly blast. he's erratic but talented.
Wingard's mumblecorror A Horrible Way to Die made waves earlier this year. no fan of his earlier films, but AHWTD showed some raw promise. with the proper Adam Green-sized breaks, he could go places.
Hardcastle is a (relative) unknown whose short became a YouTube sensation and won him a place among the other 25 slots. it's very gross, and very funny.

oh see i have dodged little deaths because i was afraid it was yet another mediocre trilogy alpped together after three extremes (the first one) had such an impact. i just skipped it on my netflix queue, will amend.

oh, it is. but Rumley's segment (the last, unfortunately) pulverizes the other two.

I kind of loved We Are What We Are. Also, it inspired one of Slant's worst (as in worst-written) reviews ever.

I kinda want to check out ABCs of Death at TIFF but the reviews haven't been so hot and a lot of the directors I recognize are people I "appreciate" but don't enjoy (Wingard, West, Rumley).

i did see "a horrible way to die", and i think i had kind of mixed feelings about it? i have only fleeting memories of it, which is not usually a good sign. netflix streaming if people are curious.

sounds like i should def check out macabre/rumah dara though

honestly i would see abcs of death just to see what else the two people behind Amer have up their sleeve

if you liked Amer, you should try to see Blackaria and Last Caress, a pair of absolutely OTFT French giallo homages by François Gaillard and Christophe Robin (probably not his real name). all the blood (my god the blood), boobs, crazy-cam shots, Lifesavers lighting, and throbbing music that Amer emulated, but without all that arty-farty subtlety to harsh the buzz. i loved both of their efforts more than words will allow. total sensory overload junk food.

^ bookmarked

Cattet & Forzani have another feature-length arty-farty giallo homage in the works, I believe. They know their strengths. I'm not complaining.