ok lets all shit our pants to something old: pre-2006 horror film thread

PERFUME OF THE LADY IN BLACK

Watched on the endorsement of Telephone Thing.

Pretty good, very nice soundtrack, Mimsy Farmer is really lovely (seen her before in Four Flies On Grey Velvet).
I was conflicted over the end (which is way more lurid than the rest of the film so felt slightly jarring for me), but when the camera pulled back way down the corridor, it somehow seemed more right, fitted it into the paranoid nightmare better.

Raro Video seems like a good label, they put out Night Of The Devils (see top of the thread), mostly Italian films.
The DVD interview with the director had quite a few images that weren't in the film, they looked like photographs but I think they were highly realistic paintings by the director. One image was obviously a surreal painting.

I'm starting to notice how many families there are in the Italian film business, and the art world in general.

Macchie Solari is another good one with Mimsy Farmer.

Thanks, I'll take note. I see the western titles are Autopsy/Magician. Sounds good.

Here is her art site...
http://www.mimsyfarmer.com/
...she does painting and sculpture for theatre and film now.

Considered buying a Fulci box (Black Cat, New York Ripper, Manhattan Baby) this week. Now that I know Mimsy is in Black Cat, that's an extra incentive.
I'm a bit hesitant with Fulci, I think The Beyond is strongly overrated and Zombi 2/Zombie Flesh Eaters is a real bore for the most part. I think City Of The Living Dead and House By The Cemetery are made worthwhile by enough striking moments.
If Fulci was a writer or artist I'd probably like his stuff more, so much of the films were plagued by bad special effects and slow pace.

I read a funny story about him that he was once so frustrated by the poor performance of an actress that he dropped onto the grass ground and started clawing and biting into it, tearing grass chunks out in fury.

I'm a sucker for cat attacks and I've seen funny clips from the film. New York Ripper is STILL slightly censored (uncut anywhere?) but I think I can tolerate it this time.

I didn't see myself going back to old Euro horror much, it's kind of a minefield (as well as some Fulci, I didn't think much of Short Night Of Glass Dolls) but it turns out there is still a number of things I might like. Loads on DVD these days.

LISA AND THE DEVIL

Rewatched this because I didn't remember much about it.

Nice mansion setting with lots of decor, stuff about past/alternate lives, corpses that occasionally turn into mannequins, some oddly painted mannequins, a corpse getting its legs broken so it can fit in a coffin, a funny scene of an unpleasant guy getting repeatedly run over and a fairly decent climax... so why is this such a chore to watch?

The drama is so incredibly dull and flaccid, some of the characters are such annoyances that the whole thing just becomes difficult to watch. The colour is a bit too harsh for the visual style, particularly the clothes.

I rewatched Kill Baby Kill not long ago and even though it is a favourite of mine, the characters and drama scenes are pretty flat most of the time.
I've been thinking that Shock needs to be boosted up higher in the consensus of Bava's career. I think it's probably his second best film after Black Sabbath.

Hatchet For The Honeymoon. Decent but a tad dull. Some nice effects and music. Some bad dialogue and unintentionally comical dubbing.
I've never kept track of which Italian films are supposed to be in subtitles or English dubs, because sometimes the latter types are treated as the true version.

I missed the start of Klute (Donald Sutherland and Jane Fonda) and it felt a lot like a giallo film. A very solid one too.

just watched this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tales_from_the_Darkside:_The_Movie

which I don't recall ever having heard of before. Pretty self-consciously wacky both in casting and execution but fun in an EC comics/campy creepshow way

Re: Tales from the Darkside -- this many years later, I still can't believe that part with the cat and the mouth was real.

xpost Tales From The Darkside was basically Creepshow: The Series (I think they may have even intended to call it that at one point?), so Tales From The Darkside: The Movie was kind of a semi-official Creepshow 3. Hence the vibe.

(Countdown to someone ITT correcting my half-remembered facts.)

I still can't believe that part with the cat and the mouth was real.

lol yeah that part is totally batshit. the cat crawls in and then just crawls out...? what was the point of that?

I'm kind of interested because Michael McDowell (horror novelist and co-writer on Beetlejuice and Nightmare Before Christmas) written some of it.

I've only seen the first Creepshow, I don't like it much as a horror film but it has quite a few laughs with King trying to act like a Jack Davis drawing, Adrienne Barbeau threatening her husband and Ed Harris dancing.

This might be a good moment to mention the actual Creepshow 3. Has anyone else seen it? It's a horrid piece of work and has a segment that is one of the most misogynistic things I've ever seen. One of the worst horror movie watching experiences ever.

All I know is that Savini hated it and asked people to avoid it. So I doubt I'll ever see it.

It's right up there with Crash among the worst movies I have ever seen.

The most damning indictment a film can receive.

Not sure if I should ask which Crash or just assume you are talking the Oscar-bait one.

Dark Night Of The Scarecrow.
After seeing some weak acting and cheesiness I expected a slog but it actually moves along not bad, quite decent in places. I'm glad I saw it on tv rather than buying it, so I wouldn't recommend it. Not quite enough scarecrow stuff for me.
I like scarecrows and I think there are two other horror films about them, I'll have to look for trailers.

DARK WATERS (directed by Mariano Baino)

An English girl investigating a family mystery travels to an ancient nun's convent on a foreign island prone to flooding. Dark caverns full of paintings and candles, cult conspiracy, blind oracles, a really cute nun girl and a bit of monstery stuff. A nice synthy soundtrack too.

Some of the acting is a tad rough, a bit cheesy at times but I liked this and most Argento fans should too. It was one of the few 90s euro-horror style films that I've ever heard strong recommendation for.

No Shame released the definitive edition, there is a two disc version but unfortunately I didn't get that one. Even the single disc version has quite a lot of extras; the documentary talks about the difficulties of filming in Ukraine while there was attempted military revolution and a crew constantly drunk on vodka.

It seems the reason this wasn't a bigger film is that they didn't have the budget to make enough copies to show around to more interested companies. I'm fairly sure this could have been more of a 90s standard for the core horror film audience.

Baino has done mostly short films (which I haven't seen) and I hope he makes another feature length one again.

http://31.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ltz4ir6vXd1qg39ewo1_500.gif
http://37.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ltyb3rQO7I1qg39ewo1_500.gif

such a great practical effect.

Wau

holy cats

I saw that one in the theaters! Even more totally forgotten was "Tales from the Hood."

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZMN2C_GyJJw/UHndXruUBgI/AAAAAAAABdk/HDXjZJEJ2-M/s1600/tales-from-the-hood-1995-1024x568.jpg

Nah I remember that one

What is that cat gif from? I just watched Fulci's Black Cat and I expected to see this, but no. Also expected to see a cat ripping a woman's eyes out (seen it on YouTube attributed to Fulci) but that wasn't in it either.

THE BLACK CAT (Fulci)

I liked this better than House By The Cemetery, The Beyond, Zombie Flesh Eaters and City Of The Living Dead. But that might be because I saw a few of those younger when I had more outlandish expectations. I might need to freshen my memory of one or two of them. But this seems better to me.

I find cats and dogs hilarious regardless of what they are doing, so it is kinda funny.

I liked the opening scenes following the cat. Good cat sounds. Some good scenery. Lots of closeups of eyes. Pretty good music. The wandering scenes were good.
Enjoyable for Mimsy Farmer and the old guy from A Clockwork Orange.
I really liked the ideas about the links between the cat and the old man, as if they have some tortured, hateful but mutually beneficial relationship.

This isn't really a Poe adaptation for the most part but it ends up using too much of Poe to the detriment of the film. I would have liked it to go more in its own direction.
There is a very brief scene of the shadow of the cat being hung on a noose, it looks very convincing and I wonder if the managed it within the general standards expected on the animal rights regulations. I can imagine Italy being more lax back then.

A lousy looking burning model in a scene of a person on fire. A really badly edited part of a drunk man throwing a rock that lands in two different places. Some bad dubbing but not too bad compared to a lot of similar films. A sober driver unconvincingly speeds right into a man walking very slowly. A guy loses his facial scars far too quickly.

All in all, pretty good.

CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD

This film still has some of the most striking gore scenes I've ever seen. I'd never call myself a gorehound but the scene with girl in the car under hypnotic influence is weirdly beautiful, the way her face looks. The drill scene still amazes me, wondering how on earth they achieved that.
There are quite a few more scenes like this but these two and the coffin scene are what the film will always be remembered for. Some of the less violent hauntings and underground scenes with corpses have good imagery too.

Some of the sound effects were really cool.
I wouldn't say it was great but the part with the sex doll suddenly inflating is very odd.

Even with quite a number of really strong scenes but I really don't think the whole thing holds together very well.
Several times characters act in a way that that makes no sense. The man who helps the woman out of the coffin picks a ridiculous way to get her out and it seems like the set-piece was prioritised above all else, just wish they found a more logical way to do it. Near the end jungle animal sounds are used but it just sounds completely out of place. The music in the underground scenes isn't a great fit either.

Cat gif is from tales from the darkside as discussed upthread

Thank you!

Might have to revisit The Beyond too. House By The Cemetery is fresher in my memory and I doubt I can be bothered with Zombie Flesh Eaters again.

My expectations and anticipation of watching these in my mid-teens is more rich than any other part of the experience. Back then I had no idea what the probable limits of filmmaking or the imaginations of the creators were going to be.
I kept thinking that maybe all the previous things I'd seen were just light weight and that some of these nasty films might be the real harrowing shrieking deal. But that's seemingly still yet to exist.
But remembering all those feelings are vital to my own work.

When I first put on City Of The Living Dead, the DVD intro and title screen with all the moaning, screaming and distressed faces scared me too much and I couldn't watch it that night because I didn't feel ready. I needn't have worried.

What is your work, Robert?

City of the Living Dead has a great soundtrack!!

The music in City Of The Living Dead is good but in that catacombs scene, it's too jarring even by Italian standards.

I listened to a third of the commentary with Catriona MacColl, she was refreshingly honest about the film. She said the script was poor and the film is too much like a series of special effects scenes without enough holding them together. I enjoyed hearing about her entry into the world of Italian film. It seems that she did these films partly because she was impressed by Fulci as a person.

Jon- My drawings are linked from my profile. Despite having an abundance of time I've shamefully procrastinated the past decade away for the most part.

THE BEYOND

This seems like the most promising Fulci film (it probably is the fan favourite) but it's my second least favourite of the 5 I've seen.
I love large haunted buildings, especially ones that hold all sorts of horrors and reality-bending possibilities. I like the idea that anything can happen.

There are several mysterious, evocative scenes and elements, it feels like more of a focused whole than City Of The Living Dead and creates a better sense of something larger happening but ultimately I don't think any of this really adds up to enough. It's all the more disappointing because it seems like it could have been great with more resources and care. Not enough happens.

Notable flaws: when a woman finds the dead body of the plumber, her reaction is completely blank, she somehow only gets worried when she sees a less familiar corpse.
Some of the make-up is pleasingly mucky but the majority of the make-up and special effects look poor, the spider scene looks downright abysmal.
Bad voice dubbing spoils a lot of scenes that should have been more dramatic.

David Warbeck reminds me of the young Jack Nicholson a lot.

So from best to worst for me...

The Black Cat
House By The Cemetery
City Of The Living Dead
The Beyond
Zombie Flesh Eaters

I've still got New York Ripper and Manhattan Baby waiting. If I want more I'll go for Lizard In A Woman's Skin, Don't Torture A Duckling and Conquest (said to be a nutty fantasy film).

My opinion of House By The Cemetery from memory: this is the only one that was actually quite scary the first time I saw it. The sense of menace created by what's in the basement is stronger than anything in the other films. The sound of infants crying is used in a way that is quite effective. There is a bat attack that is quite funny but also quite good despite the fakeness of the bat. In most respects it is the most solid and consistent of the 5 films.
The major problem is the young boy has some of the most atrocious dubbing I've ever heard, making the poor boy look like a total idiot, threatening to turn this into a comedy film.

Are there Italian language versions of these films? I'd assume the English dubs are more widely seen because the English speaking actors dubbed themselves in some of them, so in that way seems more important?

NUDE FOR SATAN

A man and woman find a castle in which time and reality are distorted.

Bad: generally sloppy, the dreaminess works well enough if you're feeling undemanding but the psychedelic touches are never very impressive. Terrible lazy english dubbing. A large spider attacking a woman caught in a large web looks as bad as the worst 50s b-movies, I'm pretty sure I saw this part on tv shown for laughs.

Good: excellent soundtrack by Alberto Baldan Bembo which I will be seeking out and if I find it I'll enjoy a lot more than the film. Dark stormy nights. A castle with a nice big garden. A pretty girl who is naked sometimes.

The DVD intro and the trailers were jumpy but I'm relieved the actual film wasn't affected by that.

A pretty bad film with a few redeeming things but it wasn't painful or hard to get through.

Lizard In A Woman's Skin is up there with the best of Fulci's work. Don't Torture A Duckling is also very good. I actually like them more than any of his other films, though i am a huge fan of Zombie Flesh Eaters so we may diverge on this.

I'm really curious about how much more Italian horror there is that I'd like. I've got quite a few more on the list, there is way more on dvd and lots of intriguing fan responses to them.

Here's Alberto Baldan Bembo's Nude For Satan soundtrack, clearly taken from the actual film as no album is available. I think one piece is left out but maybe it had too much dialogue in it. I really love the thunder but I don't know if it's part of the music or part of the film. I'd miss thunder if it wasn't there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Phmi2c6rgH8

is it just music & fx or is there dialogue too?

I can sometimes make a go of listening to music+fx rips if the score is strong enough (e.g. the goldsmith stuff from the Thriller tv series)

In the video above there is only a woman shouting for a bit, a car door slamming and some footstep sounds but it works just fine as music. Really lovely stuff. Would love Finders Keepers to put this out.

So many wonderful unreleased horror scores out there.

The Manitou
Reincarnation of Peter Proud
The Sentinel
Thriller series

and then god knows how many hidden away in italo horror!

The Hammer stuff got pretty well released at least, though I guess we can give up on the OG James Bernard Dracula tapes.

Stephen Thrower made a big list of soundtracks on his blog but I'm sure he deleted his blog. A similar list article should still be on the Guardian.

The horror soundtracks thread really opened me up to how many good soundtracks there to films I don't particularly like; also amazed that so many of them ever got released, but I guess when there are so many soundtracks that are basically crappy mix-tapes of already popular songs that get released so widely (people really buy these?), it does balance things out a bit.
I've found that most sound way better by themselves and create a more compelling world that way.

Oh yeah once you cut that tie of needing to GAF about the movie a score was written for, then you open up a whole world of film music of all genres.

Yeah, I especially feel that way about RPG videogame soundtracks. The fantasy world they offer is always better than the game.

RAG style:

I've intended for some time to revisit Cemetery Man, the last film of four Italian horror films directed by onetime Argeno protégé Michele Soavi. It's one of my fondest cinematic memories of the 1990s, though I'm bit worried it won't hold up two decades down the line. In preparation and to forestall the moment of truth, I decided to watch his prior films, none of which I remembered seeing. I wasn't able to locate a decent copy of the first, Deleria, so I moved on to its successor, the much more widely seen La Chiesa (released in the US as The Church). Turns out I had seen it before, though it left few lasting impressions. I blame the drugs. Well, and also the movie. It's a mixed bag at best.

While often quite visually striking, The Church is so incoherently structured that even now, with the film fresh in my mind, it's hard for me to explain most of what transpires onscreen. "Haunted cathedral takes Satanic revenge" puts things in a reasonable nutshell, but the narrative simply uses that premise as justification for a disconnected series of ghoulish set-peices. Which might not sound like such a bad thing. Where supernatural horror is concerned, inscrutability isn't necessarily a fault, especially not when paired with bizarre imagery and rich atmosphere. Soavi's film is packed with the former and at least occasionally delivers the latter.

The middle-ages-set opening sequence and a climactic consummation lifted straight from Rosemary's Baby are particularly memorable. Fans of Argento and Bava looking for a serving of stylish Italian eye candy could do a hell of a lot worse, and maybe I'm faulting the film too much for what it isn't. There are many brilliant moments here, but unfortunately they're just that: moments. The Church picks up and abandons both characters and plot threads so casually that I wound up more frustrated than impressed.

^ the churchwas apparently intended as (and to some extent released?) as the third installment in the popular demons series. strange, as there are no demons in the film, at least not of the sort featured in demons and demons 2. nor is it built around the possession-by-infection mechanics of the previous installments. one fleeting moment, a little over halfway through, does establish a hint of continuity, but it doesn't last.

The Church was a big disappointment for me but once again, some of the soundtrack is incredible. The Philip Glass/Martin Goldray version of "Floe" is one of the most incredible pieces of music I've ever heard.
I think it's a bit like The Beyond and City Of The Living Dead in that you expect way more cool stuff to happen.

Cemetery Man is a fun mess. Tonally all over the place, so the serious parts at the end fall quite flat but the rest is enjoyable. I thought the romance with the severed head was funny.

Have you seen Dark Waters? Because Baino is a similar director, Italian too I'm sure but a lot of the cast and crew were English and it was shot in Ukraine. I think it's pretty good.

The Philip Glass/Martin Goldray version of "Floe" is one of the most incredible pieces of music I've ever heard.

Yes. When I watched the movie again, I realized that a significant portion of what I was responding to the first time around was b/c of that performance.