Horror Movies

20260622

Does anyone else find horror movies these days just pure shiyte? The last time I was actually scared by a horror movie was when I was about 8 and watched Candy Man :eek: Do horrors stop being scary after your 8 or what?

ancapailldorcha

The worst thing is, they give you some pathetic excuse for a main character who you know is going to survive no matter what and a group of one dimensional twats who all die. Every single time.

Where To

I'm gonna stay behind the couch until this thread is over, i think

starbelgrade

If you look in the mirror & say 'After Hours' backwards three times, you end up in the Sunshine & Lollipops forum.

Now that's scary.

Pherekydes

Anything starring Seth Rogen counts as a horror movie.

cml387

20260622 wrote: »

Does anyone else find horror movies these days just pure shiyte? The last time I was actually scared by a horror movie was when I was about 8 and watched Candy Man :eek: Do horrors stop being scary after your 8 or what?

You obviously never watched Mamma Mia.

Duff

Pennywise. That is all.

strokemyclover

We don't need horror anymore, reality is much scarier.....

Right now Enda Kenny is in a laboratory somewhere trying to resurrect a new Ireland faithfully assisted by the horribly disfigured Marty Morrissey

OutlawPete

Liked Insidious and Drag Me To Hell, but that was mainly because I thought they were excellent craic, rather than good Horror.

20260622

cml387 wrote: »

You obviously never watched Mamma Mia.

Horror not horrific

EverEvolving

You obviously haven't seen the scene in Crocodile Dundee where the croc nearly gets the girl.

biko

AH->Filum
Grudge is the last scary movie I saw.

ChaseThisLight

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

The worst thing is, they give you some pathetic excuse for a main character who you know is going to survive no matter what and a group of one dimensional twats who all die. Every single time.

That, and the crap actors. I think a lot of times, a horror movie could have potential to be better if they had decent actors in the roles that actually had the talent to make the character any good.

I agree with OutlawPete about Drag me To Hell...that was the last horror movie I watched that I enjoyed, and it wasn't even a great movie - it was only entertaining and enjoyable. But the last really scary movie I watched would have to be the original Japanese version of The Grudge, and I watched that quite awhile ago (hell, any original version is better/scarier...Ring...Dark Water...One Missed Call...).

Oh, and I watched Candyman recently...I laughed my way through it; I can't believe I was ever scared of that.

Renn

I don't think they've really changed all that much tbh - I think people tend to look at some of the old ones through rose-tinted glasses at times.

There's some good stuff out there if you're bothered to look for it (same goes for any genre). Here's a few that spring to mind from the last few years...

[Rec]
A Tale of Two Sisters
Audition
Drag Me to Hell
Hostel
Ichi the Killer
Inside
Lost Highway
Ringu
The Blair Witch Project
The House of the Devil
Trick 'r Treat
Villmark

Richard Dower

horror fan eh....you scare the bejesus outta me

Renn wrote: »

I don't think they've really changed all that much tbh - I think people tend to look at some of the old ones through rose-tinted glasses at times.

There's some good stuff out there if you're bothered to look for it (same goes for any genre). Here's a few that spring to mind from the last few years...

[Rec]
A Tale of Two Sisters
Audition
Drag Me to Hell
Hostel
Ichi the Killer
Inside
Lost Highway
Ringu
The Blair Witch Project
The House of the Devil
Trick 'r Treat
Villmark

Squelchy

Renn wrote: »

I don't think they've really changed all that much tbh - I think people tend to look at some of the old ones through rose-tinted glasses at times.

There's some good stuff out there if you're bothered to look for it (same goes for any genre). Here's a few that spring to mind from the last few years...

[Rec]
A Tale of Two Sisters
Audition
Drag Me to Hell
Hostel
Ichi the Killer
Inside
Lost Highway
Ringu
The Blair Witch Project
The House of the Devil
Trick 'r Treat
Villmark

Add to those Wolf Creek, Pontypool and A Serbian Film. I've not heard of Villmark, so I'll check that out. I didn't like Trick 'r' Treat at all.

Da Shins Kelly

They do exist, but you have to look further than Hollywood to find them. Some of the original horror movies were good because they had good actors in the lead roles, and when people like Hitchcock were around, they had good scripts too. Now they just churn out any old sh*t and try to get cheap scares, or over do it on the gore for pure shock value.

If you want something genuinely scary, I'd look in the direction of Japan. Asians do horror better than anyone, and it's never cheap scares. It's all in the atmosphere, acting and actual plots. A lot of the rubbish scary movies from Hollywood, like The Ring, The Grudge, etc. are all taken from Japan, and the originals are so much better. I'd check them out. They're horror movies the way horror should be done.

If you want a good starting point, I'd go for Audition. Really, really weird film. Gave me the creeps.

charlieharper

They are few and far between alright.

I see people mentioning Drag Me To Hell, are ye f*cking serious? That was the biggest pile of sh*te I seen the last 3 years. The most original one I seen recently was Paranormal Activity 1. The problem with these "horror" films lately is having sweaty women in tight tops running frantically from a killer which is just pathetic & keeps MTV fans happy.

If you want a list of decent horrors the last few years check out:

The Descent 1 & 2
The Hills Have Eyes 1 (Not the 2nd)
Wrong Turn 1,2 & 3
Texas Chainsaw Massacre Remake & TCM The Beginning

ChaseThisLight

The Wrong Turn movies are, IMO, exactly what was described above - made to keep MTV fans happy, and not even very good ones only saw the first and part of the second when it was on TV). Same goes for the Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake - in fact, my ex only watched it so he could see Jessica Biel. And I personally didn't find any of them scary either.

If you want scary, Da Shins Kelly said it: look to the Asians for horror. Not been disappointed by one yet.

Though, I agree that Wolf Creek and Hostel freaked me out...especially Wolf Creek.

Renn

I don't buy in to this 'one country makes better horrors' thing at all. Good ones from France (Inside, Martyrs, Amer etc), UK (Eden Lake, The Descent etc), America (Lost Highway, Hostel, Blair Witch, House of the Devil, Session 9), Spain ([Rec]...)

Not just one region bringing out the goods.

Da Shins Kelly

Renn wrote: »

I don't buy in to this 'one country makes better horrors' thing at all. Good ones from France (Inside, Martyrs, Amer etc), UK (Eden Lake, The Descent etc), America (Lost Highway, Hostel, Blair Witch, House of the Devil, Session 9), Spain ([Rec]...)

Not just one region bringing out the goods.

There have been good horror movies from elsewhere. The Descent is a good movie, as is Martyrs from France. The Orphanage from Spain is good horror film too. I don't rate Hostel that much, thought it was another OTT gorey/shock movie.

However, Asia are way and above everyone else in terms of consistency with horror. America is very hit and miss, UK, France and Spain don't seem to make them as much as anyone else. Asia have made more than their fair share of horrors, and easily out-do everyone else in terms of plots, atmosphere and direction.

As I said before, Audition is a great example. As is A Tale of Two Sisters, and The House from Thailand was surprisingly creepy too. They seem to use paranoia and psychology more than heart-stopping scares, but it's far more interesting to watch. It leaves you just feeling really creeped out. Asia is not the only continent that can pull off a good horror, but they certainly do it far more often than anyone else.

Jako8

A big part of the problem is that the horror genre doesn't seem to be taken that seriously in the big studios. (They's probably take it more seriously if there were horror obsessive stereotypes like there is for fantasy, if they aim for a stereotype they net a lot of people.) They think that what the public wants are cheap scares. I this is probably half the reason why horrors tend to go crazy with the sequels until you have 6 or 7 of them. It's easy for studios to just add another sequel. Follow the basic idea of the first film which brought in tons of money and then wait for the money to roll in again. Saw is a good example.

The King of Moo

The average horror film now is pretty crap indeed.
One of the main problems is that they avoid being too scary to get a bigger audience, but thus removing the point of a horror film.
One thing I find really annoying because it's so stupid is the fake-out, it's-just-the-cat-jumping fake scare. So cheap. And while it has been around since Cat People in the 40s, directors are overly-reliant on it now, and never back it up with any actual jeopardy. A more recent and inexplicable trend is having what looks like a p-o-v shot looking at the main character from behind, and then they turn around and...nothing's there!! It's cheap, cynical and doesn't make any sense.
Similar to these issues is the way the soundtrack hammers home a jump scare with a big bang on the soundtrack, even before it happens or when nothing happens at all. Basically, directors are trying to scare viewers, but not too much, and without putting any skill, thought or craft into doing so.
Another problem I've thought about recently is the over-reliance on making slasher films (because they're incedibly cheap) with unlikeable characters (because of the old cliché that slasher film victims have to be "punished"). It's hard to get scared if you don't care about the victim, so films like this just become about the spectacle of the kills, and not about being scary. Just look at something like Halloween for flawed but still human and sympathetic victims.
Having said all that, there are a few good horror films out there, even from America, like Insidious, Drag Me to Hell and The House of the Devil, but they're far outnumbered by the generic crap.

irishh_bob

ChaseThisLight wrote: »

The Wrong Turn movies are, IMO, exactly what was described above - made to keep MTV fans happy, and not even very good ones only saw the first and part of the second when it was on TV). Same goes for the Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake - in fact, my ex only watched it so he could see Jessica Biel. And I personally didn't find any of them scary either.

If you want scary, Da Shins Kelly said it: look to the Asians for horror. Not been disappointed by one yet.

Though, I agree that Wolf Creek and Hostel freaked me out...especially Wolf Creek.

wolf creek is pure terror in a very real sense

Sudden Valley

I don't think I've been genuinely scared by a horro movie since the Ring or 28 Days Later (if you count that as horror)

Surpriesed no mention of Let the Right One in/ Let me in- probably the most interesting horror movies of the last few years.

The Asian stories are good but seem to rely too much on the deadly white faced woman under the bed/table for shocks. I found the tale of two sisters slightly overrated, I was more confused by the story than frightened.

charlieharper

charlieharper wrote: »

They are few and far between alright.

I see people mentioning Drag Me To Hell, are ye f*cking serious? That was the biggest pile of sh*te I seen the last 3 years. The most original one I seen recently was Paranormal Activity 1. The problem with these "horror" films lately is having sweaty women in tight tops running frantically from a killer which is just pathetic & keeps MTV fans happy.

If Paranormal Activity is the most original horror film you have seen in years you really need to watch more horror films. 1972's The Legend of Boggy Creek did the whole found footage a hell of a lot better than PA but alas it's difficult to come by a good quality version of the film. The Last Broadcast is a far superior found footage film, it predates the Blair Witch Project and is one of those great films that slipped under nearly everyones radar.

I love how you criticise modern horror as being made to keep MTV fans happy when one of the most enjoyable slasher films in recent years are MTV's My Super Psycho films. Full of great deaths and laughs and a cut above most recent horrors.

The Burrows is a great horror western, an original premise and a film which was not afraid to try something different. There are literally dozens of great horror films released each and every year, but too many people can't be bothered to make the effort to look past the latest big budget PG13 horror.

flutterflye

Most of the films that are mentioned here were not scary, or even good for that matter.

I liked The Sixth Sense when it came out alright.
Same goes for Ring (Jap), Blair Witch Project, The Others etc...
But I was a teenager when I saw them.

The Asian ones are the closest you'll get to a decent horror movie, but even still..........
Most of them are just messed up. Visitor Q for instance - Bloody weird!

Besides that, I guess things like Se7en, Donnie Darko, Source Code, Old Boy, The Butterfly Effect, Moon, Identity etc..
None of which are even horrors, they just leave you with an eerie messed up feeling.

Many modern horrors actually have the potential there.
Paranormal Activity for instance.
I loved the subtle eeriness throughout, the unknown. And I liked the cinematography.
But the acting, script, and general storyline was awful.
Never mind that god awful ending!

Da Shins Kelly

Sudden Valley wrote: »

I don't think I've been genuinely scared by a horro movie since the Ring or 28 Days Later (if you count that as horror)

Surpriesed no mention of Let the Right One in/ Let me in- probably the most interesting horror movies of the last few years.

The Asian stories are good but seem to rely too much on the deadly white faced woman under the bed/table for shocks. I found the tale of two sisters slightly overrated, I was more confused by the story than frightened.

Let The Right One In is an excellent movie, and a very character driven story. The two children are fantastic in the lead roles. I can't believe I completely forgot about that, actually. It's a wonderful movie. 28 Days Later is also great.

Yes, Asian movies to seem to have a lot of the ghost women, but apparently that's all rooted in Asian mythology, which is what is so interesting about Asian horror. So many of the stories come from genuine paranormal beliefs in Asia, or old spook stories and folklore. And with a lot of Asian horrors, it often turns out in the end that all this ghostly stuff is not really what it seemed. That's what makes them scarier. It's all psychological.

flutterflye wrote: »

The Asian ones are the closest you'll get to a decent horror movie, but even still..........
Most of them are just messed up. Visitor Q for instance - Bloody weird!

Many modern horrors actually have the potential there.
Paranormal Activity for instance.
I loved the subtle eeriness throughout, the unknown. And I liked the cinematography.
But the acting, script, and general storyline was awful.
Never mind that god awful ending!

The weirdness is was makes them so good! The plots from Asia would never be found in America. Hollywood just take stories from Asian horrors, and tweak them slightly to make them more accessible to American audiences - i.e the protagonist is changed to a sex-crazed teenager, cheap scares in place of lingering eerie shots, over acting in place of subtly, a serious lack of any real creepy atmosphere. This is what makes Asian horror good. The atmosphere, the paranoia, the feeling of being unsettled right from the beginning. And I think they're made better by the fact that it's all set in a different culture, one that's completely alien to most Westerners. There's a sense of unfamiliarity about them, which adds to the weirdness.

As for Paranormal Activity, the only way anyone could be scared by that is if they genuinely think ghosts are real.

flutterflye

Da Shins Kelly wrote: »

Yes, Asian movies to seem to have a lot of the ghost women, but apparently that's all rooted in Asian mythology, which is what is so interesting about Asian horror. So many of the stories come from genuine paranormal beliefs in Asia, or old spook stories and folklore. And with a lot of Asian horrors, it often turns out in the end that all this ghostly stuff is not really what it seemed. That's what makes them scarier. It's all psychological.


The weirdness is was makes them so good! The plots from Asia would never be found in America. Hollywood just take stories from Asian horrors, and tweak them slightly to make them more accessible to American audiences - i.e the protagonist is changed to a sex-crazed teenager, cheap scares in place of lingering eerie shots, over acting in place of subtly, a serious lack of any real creepy atmosphere. This is what makes Asian horror good. The atmosphere, the paranoia, the feeling of being unsettled right from the beginning. And I think they're made better by the fact that it's all set in a different culture, one that's completely alien to most Westerners. There's a sense of unfamiliarity about them, which adds to the weirdness.

As for Paranormal Activity, the only way anyone could be scared by that is if they genuinely think ghosts are real.

Oh, I didn't mean to imply that the quirky Asian movies weren't good.
I love weird movies!

I think I must have also not made my point regarding Paranormal Activity very clear.

I meant that I liked the way the film was done.
No blood and gore, no 'jumpy' parts queued by music and so on.

The reason that I think I don't find any horrors actually scary is the reason you just gave - I don't believe there are demons, zombies, weird random creatures etc...

But any of the horror movies I have seen may actually have been at least somewhat decent if they didn't tell the audience how to feel, if they didn't put gore in just for the sake of it, and if they didn't try to show the big scary creature that is just a man in bad make up.
If they used more subtle methods than the same unoriginal system that I can only describe as porn with blood.

Someone who posted already hit the nail on the head I think, when they said that Hollywood don't seem to take horror seriously.
They just don't seem to even try at all.

The older movies, the independent movies, and foreign language movies at least try to create something to be proud of, instead of being just in it for the money.

Renn

Don't forget that we're exposed to nearly everything that comes from America and typically just the well received films coming out of Asia. They do make some bad ones over there too - it's just that we don't really see those ones.

ap1986

i honestly thought paranormal activity would be in here

Otis Driftwood

You should give Hostel a chance RD.Its unfortunate that it gets lumped into the "torture porn" (I still hate that term) genre as I think its far superior to all of the other TP movies.

Yes,there is torture in it however it serves a purpose in the movie and is not just there for the sake of it.Hostel for all its flaws is a funny,nasty and pretty original horror movie and much more than just a showcase of gore scenes.

Decuc500

Hostel is great. It's more like a revenge movie. The torture scenes are not just there to shock or sicken the viewer, they set up the final act.

RopeDrink wrote: »

Wrong Turn 1,2 & 3 - Absolutely god-awful movies

I liked the first Wrong Turn movie. Quite an atmospheric, well made shocker.

I saw a very good Australian film recently, The Loved Ones. It's a very stylish and blackly comic movie. There are some very good recent Australian films. Rogue is the best giant predator movie since Jaws and The Horseman is just...insane.

NunianVonFuch

Some flicks I haven't seen discussed in the thread:

The Collector - great horror film that came out recently. It's what I'd loved the Saw sequels to have developed into, don't overdo the gore, keep the crazy traps and add in some genuinely suspenseful moments that don't involve self-harm. Really impressed by it and with a great central baddie too. Loved the idea of having the main character be a criminal too, got to do much more interesting things than the standard desperate person in horror movies.

Feast - clever horror/comedy set in a bar under siege. Knowingly takes the piss out of itself in a Scream style. Some great monsters, a knack for remaining unpredictable and some great shocks make it one of the better horror films but it's no classic either, probably due to it's cheap style really. A solid 8/10 kind of film.

Amer - saw this mentioned by a few posters, just had to say how much I hated it. It's not a film really, more an "art" piece. If you know what to expect it might be more palatable. Also if you can tolerate 2-3 minutes of panting and super closeup flash cuts as a woman and boy

run after a football

.

Mother's Day - Out now in the cinema. Haven't seen it yet but getting some decent reviews from horror and film websites so thought I'd throw it out there too. I'll be seeing it in a day or so anyway.

ChaseThisLight

Da Shins Kelly wrote: »

They seem to use paranoia and psychology more than heart-stopping scares, but it's far more interesting to watch. It leaves you just feeling really creeped out. Asia is not the only continent that can pull off a good horror, but they certainly do it far more often than anyone else.

This is exactly why I agree with Asia producing some of the very best horror films. They don't go for shocks and gore. They play with your head, so when something scary happens, it is genuinely scary, and it stays with you.

Jako8 wrote: »

A big part of the problem is that the horror genre doesn't seem to be taken that seriously in the big studios. (They's probably take it more seriously if there were horror obsessive stereotypes like there is for fantasy, if they aim for a stereotype they net a lot of people.) They think that what the public wants are cheap scares. I this is probably half the reason why horrors tend to go crazy with the sequels until you have 6 or 7 of them. It's easy for studios to just add another sequel. Follow the basic idea of the first film which brought in tons of money and then wait for the money to roll in again. Saw is a good example.

Exactly. There's hardly any originality in Hollywood. They do far too many sequels, plus they're remaking everything, and a lot of what they remake they tweak so it's more alluring to a specific audience, not for true horror fans.

irishh_bob wrote: »

wolf creek is pure terror in a very real sense

It was! And I think what made it that way was the fact that it was marketed as being based on real events. And whether it was or not, if you think of how many people go missing in the world, it could be real. (I have a friend who won't watch any type of horror film that could possibly happen - she watches only what she calls fantasy horror: vampires, werewolves, etc.)

Sudden Valley wrote: »

I don't think I've been genuinely scared by a horro movie since the Ring or 28 Days Later (if you count that as horror)

Surpriesed no mention of Let the Right One in/ Let me in- probably the most interesting horror movies of the last few years.

I consider 28 Days Later horror, and it's one of my favorite movies; though I've seen it to many times to be scared by it, I was scared the first time.

And Let The Right One In was amazing. The best vampire flick I've seen in quite awhile. And I liked that the remake didn't stray from the original - it was almost like watching the original, and the child actors in both were great.

RopeDrink wrote: »

If that is the case, I will assume you have watched 'C.U.B.E' - Not a horror per say though it is much like you asked - "don't overdo the gore, keep the crazy traps and add in some genuinely suspenseful moments that don't involve self-harm."

I saw C.U.B.E, and I agree - like it was said about the Asian films, they get you with the psychological aspect of the film, not the shocks, which makes all the difference.

I admit there are a few movies mentioned I've never seen so I can't comment on them, but I now have a new list to see, so thanks.

The King of Moo

A few good horror films do slip out of Hollywood occasionally these days, usually without fanfare.

The House of the Devil: One that I'd recommend that you can get pretty cheap in HMV is The House of the Devil. It's a little slow-moving at times but still completely absorbing and very atmospheric. It's done very simply and subtly too, creating a lot of tension without doing too much. A good chunk of the film is just a girl walking around a house at night but it's still incredibly tense and hard to take your eyes off. It's set in the 80s and shot in the style of an 80s horror but it never feels gimmicky.

Insidious I also enjoyed. It's far from perfect, and gets quite cheesy and has some strange narrative choices, but importantly it's pretty scary, finding a nice balance between jump scares and suspense.

The Last Exorcism is one I have mixed feelings about. Overall I think the found footage style worked in its favour. At times there's a musical score in the background which some argue ruins the sense of reality, but I think generally it works and is better than if there were no music for the sake of being completely realistic. I felt there weren't enough scares though, and I'm not a fan of the ending at all:

the giant fire demon was just too silly!

The Ward by the great John Carpenter is quite derivative and clearly not the work of the man at his peak, but it's a fun Saturday night film with a good sense of place and atmosphere with some good scares. Speaking of Carpenter and going back in time quite a bit, I'd also recommend two of his lesser-known films, Prince of Darkness and In the Mouth of Madness. The former is very cheesy and 80s, but I think it's quite scary and good fun too. Plus it has Alice Cooper. The latter is only available on region 1 DVD, though BBC1 used to always show it late at night. It bombed in the states and never got a theatrical release here, but it's a satirical yet scary and very meta film, with a nice H.P Lovecraft vibe including some great monsters.

Unfortunately the good films don't get the publicity that the tired old sequels and remakes get, but there are a few gems out there.

NunianVonFuch

RopeDrink wrote: »

If that is the case, I will assume you have watched 'C.U.B.E' - Not a horror per say though it is much like you asked - "don't overdo the gore, keep the crazy traps and add in some genuinely suspenseful moments that don't involve self-harm."

If not, see it. Again, not a horror but one of my most favourite movies, totally character driven with the traps being an aside, decent looking for it's low budget, well acted even if some people may say overacted.

Avoid the sequels, it becomes more like SAW. Less interesting characters (Often more of them, so always underdeveloped) and more reasons to throw them into a meatblender while you sit there not giving a damn.

Saw Cube a good few years ago, but I did love it at the time. Pity about the sequels, always meaning to get around to them but maybe I was best not to!

Another one that "sounded" similar is Exam which had a fantastic setup and good reviews, but I haven't seen that yet either. Some others I have seen:

May - fantastically creepy character-driven horror about one very messed up girl who would like a friend. Something so unhinged about it with some great performances as well, really very creepy film.

The Host - quirky creature-feature which manages to succeed at being a comedy, horror and family drama all at once. Some fantastic effects in it for the creature but it is probably 10 minutes too long. Still well worth seeing though!

30 Days of Night - fantastic chiller, up there with The Thing for the group dynamic and feel of mistrust between the characters. Best vampire film I've seen in years, almost went to see Twilight: Eclipse as it had the same director. Almost. Presume he was paid quite handsomely!

End of the Line - Strange cult on board a train carriage believe the end of the world has arrived and the only way to be saved is by being "cleansed" via a ceremonial knife. Very creepy and original too. Not a classic, but certainly very memorable.

Masters of Horror Series - Very hit and miss collection of top horror directors doing one-hour features. Don Coscarelli's "Incident on and Off a Mountain Road" is fantastic and should have been made separately as a full-length film, John Carpenter's "Pro-Life" and "Cigarette Burns", Lucky McKee's "Sick Girl", Tobe Hooper's "The Damned Thing" and John Landis's "Deer Woman" are all worth watching too. Takashi Miike's "Imprint" is completely bonkers as well. The rest of the series is pretty bad though which is probably why it only ran for 2 seasons.

The King of Moo wrote: »

I'd also recommend two of his lesser-known films, Prince of Darkness and In the Mouth of Madness. The former is very cheesy and 80s, but I think it's quite scary and good fun too. Plus it has Alice Cooper. The latter is only available on region 1 DVD, though BBC1 used to always show it late at night. It bombed in the states and never got a theatrical release here, but it's a satirical yet scary and very meta film, with a nice H.P Lovecraft vibe including some great monsters.

Love those 2 films! In the Mouth of Madness can also be found on Netflix, they put it up recently in pretty good quality too. Prince of Darkness is one of the few (only?) Physicists v The Devil films there is so has a special place on my shelf! ;-)

Wolflikeme

Hated Paranormal Activity.

Saw 'The Tunnel Movie' recently and thought it was excellent. Having said that I really wasn't expecting much from it.

The King of Moo

NunianVonFuch wrote: »

Love those 2 films! In the Mouth of Madness can also be found on Netflix, they put it up recently in pretty good quality too. Prince of Darkness is one of the few (only?) Physicists v The Devil films there is so has a special place on my shelf! ;-)

Cool, I'm gonna have a look for In the Mouth of Madness there. And I think Prince of Darkness's awkward inclusion of quantum physics to try to explain what's going on only makes it even better. And I just love the ending!

ChaseThisLight

NunianVonFuch wrote: »

30 Days of Night - fantastic chiller, up there with The Thing for the group dynamic and feel of mistrust between the characters. Best vampire film I've seen in years, almost went to see Twilight: Eclipse as it had the same director. Almost. Presume he was paid quite handsomely!

I can't believe I forgot this one. Loved it...what I liked most was that this movie portrayed vampires the way they should be portrayed - bloodthirsty killers. They weren't "cute" or sparkly - no offense to anyone who likes Twilight, but I've never seen those movies or read the books and I never will. I honestly think that franchise is ruining vampires.

Wolflikeme wrote: »

Hated Paranormal Activity.

Since it's been mentioned a few times, I'll weigh in on this one...the first one was spooky, but not scary. Did I jump a couple times? Yes. But nothing about it scared me and the "actors" were annoying.

I'm now wracking my brain for anything not listed already...and I remembered a movie I've seen a few times that makes my skin crawl: Splinter http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1031280/ Admittedly not one of the best movies out there, but the very idea of it gives me the creeps.

tricky D

A great oldie is Dead of Night, a very British black and white from 1945 by Ealing Studios. Super bunch of stories.

I used to reckon I never got phased by horrors, but Wolf Creek is one which I haven't yet watched again, was in no hurry to do so but I probably will soon.

The King of Moo

Paranormal Activity is a funny one, it had a few scary moments for me, but overall I didn't like it all. The few scares were also very cheap, just sudden bangs on the soundtrack. That can be somewhat effective, but there's no skill involved in that and it gets old very quickly. Jump scares need to be balanced with suspense to be effective.
Spoilers just in case:
I also hated the guy in it, he was just such an obnoxious idiot. I also hate the fact that the characters

don't leave the house at all

. Sure, it's explained why that'd be pointless, but it'd just be human instinct to do so. The characters not actually acting like real people would act really took me out of it.
I also hated how the film would

fast forward to the scary parts on the night-time camera. It removed any tension as it meant you knew when the scary parts would happen, and the only reaction you'd have is the instinctive jump when you hear a loud noise.

tricky D wrote: »

A great oldie is Dead of Night, a very British black and white from 1945 by Ealing Studios. Super bunch of stories.

I used to reckon I never got phased by horrors, but Wolf Creek is one which I haven't yet watched again, was in no hurry to do so but I probably will soon.

Dead of Night is a great film. I first saw it years ago about 2am one night over Christmas. I knew nothing about it and it was great, really creepy. Especially the section with the ventriloquist. It had one moment that really freaked me out!

Goldstein

I thought Noroi is a very good Japanese mockumentary. It's about two hours long but they're pretty inventive with their range of storytelling / filming techniques so you don't get bored. It's about a researcher/reporter tracking down and investigating a mysterious malicous entity in Japan. You see where Paranormal Activity and some others got a lot of their ideas from.

Another one I really enjoyed was The Objective but a lot of people aren't mad about it by all accounts which I find very surprising. It's one of my favourite relatively unknown gems of the last decade or so. Small team of commandos in Afghanistan investigating strange satellite signatures in the North of the country. Some of the strange happenings are ingeniously simple and refreshingly subtle, loved it.

Horror means different things to different people I suppose. Personally I've always viewed the pinacle of the genre as those movies which try to scare you via suspense, the unknown, the paranormal, mystery, the occult, monsters, creepiness etc. rather than the one-trick-pony torture/mutilation gorefests which seem to predominate in recent years.

The ability to really creep people out is a rare and precious skill indeed, especially with film makers/screenwriters. Maybe things have begun to shift back towards a more cerebral method of inspiring dread with the likes of Insideous which was an admirable effort at a proper old school horror for its first half at least. Even when they come up short or run out of ideas halfway through, you still have to applaud the effort for having the balls to try it the hard way.

Otis Driftwood

NunianVonFuch wrote: »

Some flicks I haven't seen discussed in the thread:

The Collector - great horror film that came out recently. It's what I'd loved the Saw sequels to have developed into, don't overdo the gore, keep the crazy traps and add in some genuinely suspenseful moments that don't involve self-harm. Really impressed by it and with a great central baddie too. Loved the idea of having the main character be a criminal too, got to do much more interesting things than the standard desperate person in horror movies.

Mother's Day - Out now in the cinema. Haven't seen it yet but getting some decent reviews from horror and film websites so thought I'd throw it out there too. I'll be seeing it in a day or so anyway.

I thought the collector was a piece of garbage.It has a ridiculously preposterous plot and save for some decent gore I would give it 0/10.The gore brings it up to a 3 or 4.

Mothers Day.
Havnt seen it and have no inclination too.Seen its getting some positive reviews however there is one site that I would trust the reviews of the members completly and the consensus there of those that have seen it is that its a piece of crap.Enough for me.

NunianVonFuch

Otis Driftwood wrote: »

I thought the collector was a piece of garbage.It has a ridiculously preposterous plot and save for some decent gore I would give it 0/10.The gore brings it up to a 3 or 4.

The word preposterous and horror movies have no place in the same sentence! To each their own though.

RopeDrink wrote:

It's also somewhat ironic that I class Silent Hill (movie) to be one of the few earnest attempts at recreating a film from the game(s) (Yeah, he messed up by trying to make one movie based on everything in three games at once, but he did some research and trying to encompass elements from Silent Hill 1,2,3 games into a single compact one-in-all movie was brave). Not saying it's a fantastic movie, but the effort is noticeable and appreciative for the fans.

Really liked the Silent Hill film as well, it didn't hang together perfectly and felt a bit like watching the game at times rather than a film but thoroughly enjoyed it all the same.

The Resident Evil movies are a strange breed. The first one is kind of a fun flick, pretty bad but somehow enjoyable all the same. The 2nd and 3rd are terrible terrible films. Dull drivel of the worst kind. The 4th one however I kind of liked. The first 15 minutes of pure action is really thrilling OTT stuff completely off the wall and very like some of the cut scenes in Resi 5 at times. The rest of the film is extremely dull as well until the 2 other bits of action crop up. The director missed his calling as a stunt co-ordinator cos everything except the action in these films is terrible! :pac:

Paranormal Activity I really really enjoyed. Myself and the OH watched it at home with all the lights out huddled up on the couch with the speakers cranked way way up. Very immersive. Having to go next door to bed in a similar setup to those in the film just made it all the more effective. Every strange sound that night was over-analysed too! :rolleyes: The 2nd one is quite similar to the first, so your opinion of it would probably be the same/similar. I loved it too, especially the shrieking girls in our theatre! Added in the comedy element missing in the rest of the film!

Harrocks

Eden Lake Stands out in recent memory
Have to say i also enjoyed The Collecter
Best ive seen on tv of late was an Australian horror called The Loved ones.But the last movie to scare me was An American Werewolf in London many many moons ago.
Go get the Thing on Blu-ray still has it even some 30years later.Hope the new
one out in october is half decent.

Phony Scott

20260622 wrote: »

Does anyone else find horror movies these days just pure shiyte? The last time I was actually scared by a horror movie was when I was about 8 and watched Candy Man :eek: Do horrors stop being scary after your 8 or what?

In a way, yes. In the last twenty odd years since I was eight, I'd say only three films have come close to scaring me; 'ringu,' 'A Tale of Two Sisters' and 'Rec'. They came close, but no cigar.

Video games on the other hand, have very much scared me in recent years, for example, F.E.A.R. was very creepy and I'm very much looking forward to next week and the release of F.3.A.R. Hopefully it'll be excellent. Oh, and Dead Space was fúcking awesome, creepy as hell (the sequel less so).

krudler

Insidious has its moments, the first hour of it is great then it gets silly. Using loud shrieks on the soundtrack is a massive bugbear of mine in horror movies, what on earth is the point of creating a jumpy moment when you use music to telegraph it or make it lose all its impact?

The biggest problem with horror movies these days is like was mentioned earlier, theres a main character and a bunch of filler characters you dont care about or get to know enough to give a sh1te when they die. Slasher movies are always going to be like this as you need knife fodder so they kind of get away with it.

jaykhunter

I realise that this is a film forum; but I myself have a really rough time getting scared by horror films these days. The last time I did was during the final scene of [REC] (great movie btw) but before that.....i can't really remember; it'd've been years.

But there are some terrifying video games - unlike movies; the protagonist doesn't survive the horror until you lead them by the hand. Being interactive in a horror game is terrifying.

I'd never say this about a movie; but I actually can't play "Siren : Blood Curse". It's too damn scary!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSj1I7UDPYo

That's the best review i could find; i dunno if it does it justice. I'd never push videogames in the wrong place but if you genuinely want to be scared I'd really recommend trying out horror videogames; like F.E.A.R. and the one above. Terrifying! :pac:

LAC

I taught the Silent Hill film was a good idea until I saw it I loved the game really disliked the movie I taught it came off really ridiculous and a bit stupid. I taught it was a joke to have Dahlia Gillespie a sympathetic character anyone that has played the game knows she was one of the most evil characters in it and there was some scenes in this movie that actually made in laugh in the cinema also

"Mother is god in the eyes of a chlid " was just silly also the witch burning s was just as ridiculous

Sorry about that mini-rant there. I guess its just preference of taste and I know a lot of people that really liked it.This was one of the scenes that I just couldn't take seriously tho.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waRFhPSFvfQ&feature=related

Skinfull

Home Movie is a little know horror that I really enjoyed. A bit of a slow burner and I almost stopped it completely when it started because its of the "found footage" variety but definitely worth a look. Some scenes were actually quite chilling.

And I'm sure its been mentioned before but the Spanish lick [REC] was brilliant!

Then of course you have Trick 'r' Treat which was a delight. Not scary but a great little twisty story.

Have to say though I was hugely disappointed in John Carpenters The Ward which was predictable pulp. Really thought he was due a hit.