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

M3gan did have great comic timing too, like

"I'm sorry I shouldn't have laughed"

"do you think that boy is really in a better place?"
"(giggle) NO."

the sequel is going to involve Allison Williams's character facing 5 different lawsuits.

My daughter texted me from the theater yesterday and said "this is the perfect movie." But I'm not going to see it, seen enough killer doll/AI movies.

I think my problem with Blumhouse is that they rarely make outright 'bad' movies, but their ceiling seems to be 'pretty good' movies that are very safe, like....sure, I like those movies here and there, but it seems like all they churn out (I think "Invisible Man" was one of their better ones).

that's kinda why I was excited to see more oddball shit hit the theatres last year like Barbarian, X, Pearl, Terrifier 2, or Malignancy the year before, like, you might not like all of these, but they're at least leaving the lane a bit more.

I haven't heard a recommendation for Terrifier 2 that hasn't filled me with contempt for its very existence

(contempt for the movie, I mean ... and, yeah, the recommendation)

I haven't heard a recommendation for Terrifier 2 that hasn't filled me with contempt for its very existence

This is kinda how I feel too. Especially since I don't remember anyone raving about Terrifier — it's like both movies were all of a sudden The Thing You Gotta See and nah, sorry, they sound like shit to me.

i was into Terrifier before anybody was talking about it so there. my girlfriend at the time and I decided to watch it on a netflix and chill night

even then, like....I didn't think the first one was a masterpiece, thought the second was much more entertainingly trashy

"Terrifier" is the kind of movie advertised as featuring "twice the body count and gore!" of the original. Like those "Hatchet" films.

Terrifier was gross and juvenile with barely any redeeming features so the idea of watching a 2.5 hour redo with a bigger budget doesn't fill me with anticipation, despite the fairly positive reviews

it wasn't really all that terribly different from 70s exploitation horror, except animals weren't murdered

unfortunately it didn't have any of those films redeeming style. no animal murders is a point in its favour, I'll give you that

terrifier 2 was good, the overclocked kills are too funny to feel mean-spirited. still haven’t watched the first, not very interested knowing its a bunch of women getting brutally murdered and that’s it

i bet it’s no angst

I don't mind simple films but I'd really like something genuinely ambitious right now and not just "clever" in subverting the attitudes/expectations of absolute morons, not holding my breath. Admittedly it's not easy even think of many horror films from the past with lots or phases and complexity.

Horror is a visceral genre. It doesn't need complexity.

i bet it’s no _angst_

Horror is a visceral genre. It doesn't need complexity.

― fentanyl young (Neanderthal), Monday, January 16, 2023 9:52 PM (twelve minutes ago)

Not always visceral. Complex could mean a lot of things but I particularly like horror stories with lots of phases like Kumashiro's Jigoku/Inferno and Inland Empire because there's no predictable trajectory. I'm sure there's more but struggling to think og them now.

I suppose it's not specifically a horror film problem as many films feel like they could have been better at an hour's length or even less but they probably wouldn't get made

So now I just watched Angst out of curiosity and jeeeeesus christ

The Menu was good fun

angst is excellent. nice klaus schulze score too. would make a nice double feature with henry: portrait of a serial killer or done thing like that if that’s your thing… sicko.

anyone else watch sick yet? had high hopes with john hyams directing and there is some excellent action-as-horror knife fighting and cool choreography but… the scream guys script stinks and i just couldn’t get past that.

*or something like that

So, I did go to see Enys Men last night and I looooooved it. Unreserved recommendation from me. Almost no dialogue, lots of slow shots of Cornish nature, isolation, ritual, recursion, lichen lichen everywhere. It's a deeply atmospheric film and very beautiful. One of the people I saw it with didn't enjoy it, and their main complaint was that it was too full of folk-horror tropes, and I do see that perspective, but honestly imo there aren't anywhere near enough good folk horror films so more is great (and the end result is nothing like The Wicker Man or Blood on Satan's Claw even if it works in some of the same imagery).

oooh that sounds VERY appealing

I think you'd like it!

Speaking of, has anyone seen "The Feast," a (the only?) Welsh-language folk horror film from 2021? Has that been mentioned here yet?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlttcY8mprs

going to see Enys Men on Friday, felt it was one of those film you need to be immersed in with no distractions.

there aren't anywhere near enough good folk horror films

you need to check out the ALL THE HAUNTS BE OURS box set by Severin, some great folk horror films, really opened my eyes to the scope of stuff out there..

kier-la’s doc (which is included in the set) is a fantastic primer too. and it’s streaming on shudder.

Oh, that does look like a good collection, I've seen Viy, A Field in England, Penda's Fen (the best of the best) and Robin Redbreast, and Alison's Birthday is ringing a huge bell in my mind, but most of the others I haven't even heard of.

xp

we have that set and i can confirm it is FULL of new-to-us folk horror. a worthwhile investment, esp for winter! Alison's Birthday was really good iirc

Have you seen In The Earth and/or Matriarch? Both semi-folk, the latter more so than the former, maybe more "nature's gonna getcha"-horror, but I liked both a lot.

Oh, In the Earth is another Wheatley - I'd forgotten about it but it did sound interesting. Not heard of Matriarch so I'll look that one up.

And ... Gaia?

I'm not sure what to make of Enys Men. Think I'm partly with emil.y's friend in that it hit lots of familiar folk horror beats but with little substance. I'm kind of tired with every "horror" film these days being about processing grief or trauma. Plus the "who the hell is that person?" "oh it's all in their head" trope. It was ok, I didnt hate it but Jeanne Dielman-goes-folk-horror should be right up my street and this wasn't really

For me real horror always lies in existence, being-in-the-world, the human condition. Ghosts and ghouls are fun, but they're not actually horrific. Existing is the most frightening, painful, awful thing anybody can experience. Horror can be a very escapist genre, full of impossible things and frightening only on the surface, a cathartic blast and then you're done. I love that kind of horror, but I also love horror that reflects the deep fears, a quiet existential horror.

absolutely agree with all of that

yes please

Lots to love in the Severin box, I think my favourite discovery was the Icelandic thing that looked like it was made by Channel 4 in the 80s.

I quite liked The Feast but it wrote quite big cheques that it didn't cash and I called the exact plot mechanism following one very specific scene and what appears to be a throwaway line.

Last of Us and Skinamarink have opened to wild success this year bc their style of horror doesn't rely on jump scares or gore but simply on showing audiences what it would be like to live in Alberta

— Ibaka Shinji (@Cam_Oflage) January 18, 2023

In The Earth was okay I guess considering it was a lockdown project but it felt a bit flimsy on the whole

It's the only Wheatley movie I've ever made it all the way through.

Lots to love in the Severin box, I think my favourite discovery was the Icelandic thing that looked like it was made by Channel 4 in the 80s.

100%, the find of the box set in my opinion but the breadth of other stuff was great.

the Australian stuff was a great find... really loved the stuff around postcolonial guilt as a horror theme.

I think *Kill List* and *A Field in England* are the Wheatleys that will endure - that's even with the daft final act in the former.

I thought In The Earth has some pretty good performances and was a bit underrated but I wouldn't urge anyone

I don't know if Sarnet's November counts as folk horror but it's definitely in my top5 from the past decade.

I was hyped for Enys men (loved bait) and it did not disappoint

I think once I might have had reservations about putting so much artistic energy into a kind of pastiche, to that earlier me I say: stfu nerd. Gorgeously composed, eerie vibe, great storytelling (NO CHANGE) - it recalls those earlier films but doesn’t really resemble them, the editing style & sound design are closer to bait. I kept thinking of underground short films & my friend said it reminded him of Czech animation which I can see

Another riposte to both past-wins and emil.y’s friend is that in folk horror (folk anything) you might expect to see familiar tropes - that’s implied in the folk part no?

lol also I have not seen angst and my v enthusiastic co-signing of brad’s post was because I thought they were talking about ANGUISH the bigas luna slasher that apparently only I am obsessed with

i desperately need to see anguish

dammit i keep watching new movies impulsively due to this thread.

so uh, Angst is great because it, like some other films, dispenses with the idea of a 'brilliant' serial killer, with meticulous planning, long thought out rituals/messages, and puts you in the POV of someone who is merely fucked up by years of unchecked sexual and physical abuse from just about every family member growing up, treated only as a carceral concern and receiving zero help. how he'd act if they were released from prison with a ten year murderous itch that hadn't been scratched and spent an entire day acting out his fantasy on pure instinct. nothing he plans in his mind works out right, he kills the old woman too fast, the young girl doesn't get to see her dead mother, he doesn't get to continue his spree, he gets in a wreck, etc....and he changes his plans frequently, like he can't commit to one idea. he's just spiraling and treats slaughtering an entire family like scratching an itch in his brain