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

We watched Rawhead Rex last October. It's actually half-decent? Like the story is interesting even if some of the production elements and especially Rex himself are underwhelming.

Just saw Pumpkinhead the other week myself. It's pretty forumlaic, but enjoyable. And of course, Lance Henriksen rules.

Rawhead Rex might be half-decent in sum, but very little of that decent stuff is decent in a row, iirc. Like, even teenage-me thought it sucked when it came out.

I tend not to sound off on genre movies all that often because I tend to forgive a lot of awfulness in lieu of what they get right (which usually leads to me cobbling together a better version of the thing in my mind). Like I also properly watched Jason Goes to Manhattan for the first time yesterday and thought it possessed the framework of a much better, non-Friday the 13th film and had enough hilarious ridiculousness to keep my attention (even though I recognize, objectively, that it's utter garbage).

manhattan is one of my favorite fridays for exactly that reason. i also love horror movies filmed in 1989-1990 a lot bc they tend to be great time capsules of a weird interzone of fashion and pop culture that's neither 100 percent '80s or '90s

YES. There's a visual element shared by horror movies from that period that hooks me every time no matter how terrible the movie is.

(Which I account in part to the fact that that was the precise time when I first started getting heavily into horror movies.)

Old Lunch, with the exception of the last three on your list, it's REALLY stretching the definition to describe those movies as 'folk horror', though most of them are well worth watching! I would also recommend The Witchfinder General, if you haven't seen it, which has the same kind of rural English nastiness as Blood on Satan's Claw, and is the better film.

The book English Gothic by Jonathan Rigby Is a v useful sourcebook for ye olde English horror movies to follow up on...

I have seen and do love Witchfinder General!

(As may be obvious from the list above, I've also finally managed to snag most of the pre-'70s Hammer horrors so tackling those is a parallel and occasionally overlapping project alongside the folk horror jaunt.)

If you haven't read him, I'd very much recommend Robert Aickamn as a literary companion for that lot.

Night of the Demon fits in well there.

Night of the Demon also fantastic!

Aikman's on the list but a ways down. My Halloween reading list is currently focused on the early-20th Century weird horror collections I have yet to read (Clark Ashton Smith, Algernon Blackwood, Howard, the Lovecraft I've missed, etc.).

I really need to see Watership Down again, it must have been at least 20 years ago and read it for the first time too.

I think Barker's strong dislike of the Rawhead Rex film is what made him adapt his own stories as a director.

If you watch Haxan I'd strongly recommend the version with WS Burroughs narrating, I'm normally a purist who wants the original but his narration improves the film hugely.

If the Phantom Carriage has the KTL soundtrack it is excellent but probably not best for your first watch.

My copies of both Haxan and Phantom Carriage are Criterion, no idea atm what the soundtrack options are.

Watched Eyes Without a Face for the first time last night (whattup again, Criterion). Boy, am I ever on a roll this October. I think I'd heard/read somewhere that it was gory and thought 'pssh, how gory can a movie from 1960 be?'. Well, minimally gory, tbf, but still shockingly so for the time. I wish they'd included the Horror Chamber of Dr. Faustus cut, as I'd like to see how extensively it was modified for the States.

EWAF a classic

Yeah I got the Phantom Carriage with KTL, I wasn't that into it but it had its moments

EWAF is just tremendous.

Holy good god damn @ motherfucking Deathdream!!!! That was just about as perfectly-realized horror film as I've ever seen. There's a helluvalot going on thematically but it's handled so adroitly and economically. But then I'd expect no less from the director of Porky's.

Also, didn't realize this was a sequel to Faces (although I felt Clark did much more with those fantastic lead actors, sorry Cassavetes)!

This just scrambled over a lot of old favorites to claim a very high position in my all-time pantheon.

did a bit of reading following your recommendation and i am AWFULLY curious to see how this landed so solidly with you so i may test drive this and report back.

There are more glowing reviews upthread, I realize now. BradNelson sez: 'it could be the best horror film of the ‘70s?' It's certainly a contender. I have no idea why it isn't more well-known. But it's up on Criterion Channel now, I believe, so someone recognizes its value.

(Was joking about it being a Faces sequel, tho, do not sue me.)

deathdream is fucking AMAZING

damn right it is

Should've mentioned more about the acting, as everyone in it was legitimately great. It's amazing how much more effective horror can be when you have really solid actors portraying believable characters whose reactions and motivations are understandable relative to the horrifying situation they've been thrown into.

I like it okay but I always remember Ormsby talking in the commentry about making his son cry for one scene and he felt horrible about it. Ormsby also did commentry for Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things, another Bob Clark film that he intended to remake before he died.

Jess Nevins again. Largely the same material but the patreon one is more detailed and uses some different images.

Who wants to hear about some obscure Japanese horror movies from 1898-1949?

Trust me, you won’t be getting what you expect.

(Warning for those who don’t like long threads: this is a big one. Mute me for a little while if you don’t want me in your TL too much. Thanks!)

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— Jess Nevins (@jessnevins) October 16, 2020

A lot of his research comes from this book
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43873891-carnal-curses-disfigured-dreams

Love this cover by Jessica Seamans
http://www.spectacularoptical.ca/store/wp-content/uploads/LostGirls-FINAL-web.jpg
https://www.instagram.com/_jseamans/

anyone seen either of these? planning to check em out as contenders for the Halloween marathon

https://letterboxd.com/film/the-burning-1981/
https://letterboxd.com/film/viy/

Second film is amazing but mostly for the last scenes.

The Burning has good gore, a good first half hour but it loses a lot of steam fast. But Jason Alexander and Fisher Stevens!

Yeah Burning is light fun. Pre-Friday the 13th, right?

Just after. It was Savini's next gig, I believe.

I just watched Viy for the first time last week! Common wisdom claims that it's all about the ending (which tbf is amazing) but I was hooked on the whole slow, pastoral Russian folktale vibe throughout.

ALSO, while I have appreciated the Lewton films I'd seen previously, I saw I Walked With a Zombie the other day and...it's kind of perfect? Barely a horror film in any conventional sense beyond just the sustained eerie mood, but I truly loved it. All of the performances are so muted and soporific (aside from the drunken brother who sorta raised his voice a couple of times), it was like I was walking with a whole cast of zombies. In the best way possible.

The Burning was the first ever Miramax film, btw

All of the Lewtons (especially the ones directed by Tourneur) are excellent. Cat People is in the queue of horror or horror-adjacent films I'm watching with my daughter (I think Diabolique is next; there are so many great movies!)

https://www.instagram.com/p/B5DXUaqlgHn/
Here's another Jessica Seamans piece but of Viy. You can get a print for 50 dollars
http://landland.bigcartel.com/products?page=3

Part of the thing with Viy is that the effects in the film are so good I wonder why nobody else ever done that, it's frustrating! I totally dig the pastoral russian thing which is why I love those russian, czech etc fairy tale films but I think it drags in places. Vasilisa The Beautiful is an older russian fairy tale film that drags a bit but the horror stuff is great in it.
I've been listening to the Mala Morska Vila soundtrack and it is the most beautiful thing. I really like the film but the soundtrack is magic.
The 3d remake or reimagining of Viy is not good but there's something quite odd about it.

I reviewed those Lewton horror films upthread somewhere. Whoever argued with me about Seventh Victim was right in retrospect but I still think Leopard Man just isn't very good except a scene or two. Curse Of The Cat People is by far the best in my view.

Never seen The Burning but I may get the Rick Wakeman soundtrack someday.

Isle Of The Dead is a bit underrated, it's a shame those Lewton films have been sluggishly coming out as singles in the bluray era, they really should be in boxed sets.

if anyone wants to join I'll be screening Eyes Without a Face, Viy, The Innocents and Pulse (in that order, probably) online in high def starting at 7pm ET this Friday for all the quarantining would-be trick or treaters, if there's interest I'll share the URL on here

i would love to drop in for the innocents

hell yeah, I'm stoked for that, I've not revisited in years but it became an instant POX horror movie candidate for me

Got the first volume of Voluptuous Terrors (italian posters) and Banzai!: Japanese Cult Movie Posters. Both of them have a lot of international films(probably too many in the latter book). Former book is a bit of a disappointment but the paintings are nice enough, I was completely unaware that japanese film posters were usually photo collages instead of paintings. There's a few unfamiliar films that look promising (but you how that usually goes) and one film I'm glad to finally have the name of.

Is there many kaiju films where the monsters are just doing their own thing? I always prefer when they're just out in the wilderness or in ancient japan, because as I say upthread, all the military/government/city stuff just ruins it for me.
I always liked the look of comics where Godzilla goes to hell or space. Is Godzilla In Hell a good read? I'm encouraged by the fact that it's mostly wordless.
Fingers crossed for anthologies like Mammoth Book Of Kaiju, Kaiju Rising, Daikaiju, etc.

quick poke/reminder for tonight's streaming party, here's the schedule (EST):

EYES WITHOUT A FACE aka LES YEUX SANS VISAGE (1960, 90mins. France/Italy) - 7pm
VIY (1967, 77mins, Russia) - 8:45pm
THE INNOCENTS (1961, 99mins, UK/US) - 10:15pm
PULSE aka KAIROS (2001, 119mins, Japan) - midnight

at twoseven.xyz/quarantinecinema - if you've never used twoseven before you might have to install a browser extension but it's quick and unobtrusive. there is a group chat function but you can hide it if you prefer.

rewatched "let's scare jessica to death" the other night. one of my favorites, it's so dreamy, and the print/sound on the criterion channel are great.

Currently watching In Search of Darkness which is a kinda fun 4 hour doc on Shudder about 80s horror. Larry Cohen pops up as a talking head from time to time and he’s hilarious.

― circa1916,

Bringing this over from the Larry Cohen thread bc many of you will enjoy this doc as I am currently (seen the first 2hrs so far). They go methodically through the '80s one year at a time showing all the choicest clips (usu the goriest ones) from all the significant films. It'll help you sort out which '80s films you need to see or rewatch. Also you can see what a bunch of the actors whom you may only know from their '80s work look like today.

Coincidentally, I watched Pulse last night and it didn't quite land for me. I liked some of the technique - the way Kurosawa made it often difficult to judge how much time had elapsed between many of the cuts in particular - and some of the video footage was pretty eerie (the plastic bag head figure) but the lack of explanation or coherence felt like a bit of a cop-out ultimately. Some terrible CGI right at the end too. In some ways the film's main value now is not as a scary movie but as a historic document about computer/internet/phone culture at the turn of the century.

I think Cure is Kurosawa's masterpiece