Mallory’s visit to Utah draws to a close tomorrow morning, with the ceremonial feeding and petting of miniature horses with naturally ombre manes and forelocks, and her absence will be sorely felt. We have been spending our afternoons reading submissions and writing and editing while we simultaneously watch scary movies on Netflix Instant, which is, like wine and cheese, a pairing for champions.
We were disappointed by Session 9, insufficiently scared by Grave Encounters, too scared to watch Martyrs, and can offer support for The Pact (the ending didn’t make any sense so we had to google it, which we did resent) and V/H/S, the latter being a new misandrist classic and a must-watch.
You can discuss anything you want, this being an open thread, but we particularly encourage you to talk about scary movies.
Tags: meta, open thread, scary movies
I would highly recommend watching Teeth.
I also liked Insiduous and Slither (both on instant). Also Pontypool, even though it dragged a little in places, because I liked the overall feeling and aesthetic (lighthouse, fog, Maine, radio = cozy yet a little chilling. perfect)
I couldn’t sleep for three days after watching “Insidious.” Same for “Paranormal Activity.” Apparently demons just tickle my scary bone.
It’s the opposite for me! Once demons are a huge factor, I totally check out.
You are like my boyfriend. He was not scared at all by either of those films (he fell asleep during “Paranormal Activity”) while I laughed my way through “The Shining” as he sniveled and quivered.
Demons scare the hell out of me! One time my boyfriend pulled a demonic face at me after we watched a scary movie as a joke and I immediately started panicking/crying. I am usually not so delicate – I guess they just scare me on some base, primal level. Maybe because I was raised in the Pentecostal church. Those guys believe in some demons.
I am also incredibly terrified by demons/possession, and I would probably freak the fuck out if my boyfriend ever pulled a possessed face at me, oh my *god*. (Though I was raised in a secular household! Demons are just fucking terrifying.)
Demons get me every time too. I was raised to believe that they are basically the only supernatural scary thing that is real, and while I’m more of a skeptic now, they scare the shit out of me in movies.
Teeth once threw a (former) housemate of mine into a Women Are All Terrifying Bitches fit that took hours to wear off. I *highly* approve.
The Innkeepers! It was surprisingly good, if not over-the-top scary.
The Innkeepers was so scary I couldn’t watch the ending and had to read about it on wikipedia instead.
I saw that one recently and liked it! I wasn’t expecting much, but like you said, it was surprisingly good!
For what it’s worth, I didn’t think Martyrs was actually that scary so much as really really gruesome. I liked it at the time, though! You think you know what kind of movie it is and then halfway through everything goes off the rails. And the ending is something else.
Yeah, I mean, that’s the part that’s hardest for me in a scary movie, is just INTENSELY GRUESOME GORE.
I would advise against watching it! I haven’t seen it but I just watched Frontiere(s), which is in the same vein (this pun is a foreshadowing of how grusome it is). I love horror and I like some torture porn, like Saw, but Frontiere(s) was so hideously disgusting that I got nauseated and had to turn it off. It wasn’t very scary because it didn’t have any surprises–obviously the meat hooks you see are going to be put to use later. Sidenote though, it was nice to see people of color in a horror movie.
“We were disappointed by Session 9”
THANK GOD it’s not just me. Everyone raves about it, and it’s just not good!
The Haunting (1963) is far and away my favorite horror movie.
When I was in high school, I worked with a bunch of guys at a movie theatre who were total meathead jock dirtbags (in a lovable sort of way). They were all terrified of “Session 9” and talked repeatedly about how scary they found it, so I filed it away in my brain as a scary movie for the next time I needed a scary movie to watch.
Fast forward to Halloween-time nine years later. I suggest “Session 9” when my boyfriend and his dad are looking for a scary movie to watch. We watch it, and it’s terrible, and I’m pretty sure that suggestion started my BF’s father on the path of not liking me very much (a path he still walks today, three years later).
Aww, that’s disappointing for you! I will say, I really liked Session 9 despite some obvious deficiencies, but I have a weakness for Peter Mullen in pretty much anything. It’s also possible that I in the years since I saw it, I hit my threshold for giving a sweet goddamn about movies in which It Is Very Hard To Be A White Man, which Session 9 very much is.
I am blown away by this statement. I had no idea even one other person except for my friend from middle school (Shaunna) had ever watched Session 9 until I saw Mallory and Nicole post on Facebook that they had watched it/hated it. I was convinced there was one copy of it at the Four Star Video in Monument Beach and we were solely responsible for each and every view. Come to find out there’s a group of people who even rave about it…shocking.
I love the thought of Session 9 living in your memory as your own personal horror movie, unknown by anyone else. I’m so sorry that perfect idea got dashed today.
You had me at “new misandrist classic”.
I kind of want to hear more about that because I just hated V/H/S for how rapey and horrible it was. :\
There was a succubus who RIPPED THE PENIS OFF OF MEN before transforming into a giant winged beast and murdering them!
That was the best part.
They were also not exactly progressive male allies, for the record.
Haha, okay, that was pretty awesome. I just couldn’t get through all the rape though! Same deal with Teeth. I dunno, both films just made me hate everyone. Maybe because I watched them at festivals? Whoooooo knows.
I think “couldn’t get through all the rape” is always a valid excuse for not finishing a movie. There is no reason to soldier through, not even for disarticulated penises.
AMEN
I keep feeling somehow… inadequate? Or wimpy? Or something? for not wanting to sit through certain movies that I know have lots of sexualised violence. But I think any time I have to say “all the rape” about a movie, I’m giving myself a free pass to just skip it.
Yeahhhhh, I also did NOT enjoy V/H/S primarily because of its treatment of ladies? I probably watch too much horror in general, but I’m really over the “abuse the female victim until she snaps” horror trope. In V/H/S’s case, that was amplified by the kind of repetition of that amongst the story lines, plus knowing that all of the segments were written and directed by men, and then also having a sexual assault looped over the end credits. :/
Yup. And, like, there was no real curation of V/H/S, the directors were just allowed to do whatever they wanted, and almost all of them turn in shorts that contain rape/sexual assault of some kind? Gross.
(The Ti West segment was maybe the worst, somehow? That scene where the guy’s trying to persuade his girlfriend into stripping for the camera, and she really doesn’t want to, and he just keeps on and on at her from behind the camera while she’s standing there uncomfortably… It makes my skin crawl just remembering it.)
Yes! I think I could’ve overlooked one instance but the fact that it kept repeating made it much harder to handle. Also the actor from that segment apparently lives in my neighborhood and I always glare at him in the 7/11.
There’s this terrible trend of making the characters awful, obnoxious people so that the audience can kind of “root” for them to die horrible deaths? Which is so annoying to watch. Horror filmmakers, I promise that we can enjoy a good gory death scene even (nay, ESPECIALLY) when we actually care about the characters.
(City of the Dead FTW, btw)
Pontypool. Pontypool. Pontypoooooooool.
Pontypool.
PONTYPOOL.
So I actually came up with my top horror films last year:
11. Jaws
10. Red, White and Blue
9. Stake Land
8. The Fly
7. The Sixth Sense
6. Let the Right One In
5. Pan’s Labyrinth
4. Se7en
3. Carrie
2. 28 Days Later
1. Silence of the Lambs
And my top Horror-comedies:
25. Trollhunter
24. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
23. Cannibal! the Musical!
22. I Sell the Dead.
21. Black Sheep
20. John Dies at the End
19. Jennifer’s Body
18. The Addams Family
17. Tremors
16. Eight Legged Freaks
15. Fright Night
14. Beetlejuice
13. Shaun of the Dead
12. Attack the Block
11. Tucker and Dale vs. Evil
10. Arachnophobia
9. Ghostbusters
8. Evil Dead 2/Army of Darkness
7. Little Shop of Horrors
6. Trick R’ Treat
5. Cabin in the Woods
4. Zombieland
3. Sleepy Hollow
2. American Psycho
1. Scream
Have you seen Basketcase? Rabid Grannies? STREET TRASH?
I haven’t! Things to add to my (ever-growing) list of ones to see…
There’s also two sequels to Basketcase, and they just keep getting better and better (or worse and worse?)
Trollhunter!! I loved it. I would like to move to Norway.
Trollhunter deserves a higher spot..
The original Black Christmas is definitely up there for me, too! ALSO the last thirty seconds of Sleepaway Camp.
So, earlier this week I was kind of sneering at the Guardian’s list of the top 10 horror movies because it’s so obvious and boring and yeah, everyone agrees those are some good horror movies, mostly, but we’ve also seen them all and that list only includes one movie made in the last 20 years and that’s just rubbish.
But then I don’t know what I’d put on a list of the “top 10” best horror movies ever. I think the idea of “best” might just be nonsense. My top 10 favourites would include:
* Suspiria
* American Werewolf in London
* The Cabin in the Woods
* Cat People
* Carnival of Souls
* The City of the Dead
* Scream
* Jennifer’s Body
* Hostel
* Peeping Tom
… in some kind of order?
I’d add The Descent!
I knew I’d forget something. ABSOLUTELY The Descent.
This is amazing! Cross checking everything with Netflix for the rest of the work day.
This list is solid gold. Nice work, sister!
No Ginger Snaps on that list? It’s satirical horror.
No Tucker and Dale Versus Evil?
ALAN TUDYK!
Number 11!
Jez is that you?
I hate scary movies, yet was born on Halloween.
the new* remake of The Thing is actually really good!**
*actually from 2011
**i’m too anxious to watch most scary movies, so my range of expertise is very narrow
STRONGLY STRONGLY STRONGLY DISAGREE
yea I didn’t like it but the original is a classic imo.
Ooh, wait I forgot: REC. WATCH REC. And all its sequels which are all amazing.
YES REC. ALL OF THEM. Although 3 is kind of a comedy, while the first two are terrifying. But all are brilliant.
Home alone after school, and here comes The Children on television at 2pm. My little mind was blown away. What a crappy movie to scare the living daylights out of me.
So here’s a question for all you smart ladies. What do y’alls do when you get what I will call Good Fight Fatigue? As in, you have essentially hit a wall with all the sexism and the racism and the general assholery you encounter on a daily basis.
I’m a sports gal and most sports websites I frequent have great writers, but terrible, blinkered, bigoted comment sections – the kind of people who (I assume) say to themselves “Well I know I’m not racist, so it’s ok to tell this joke! To the whole world!” The Prudie article pissed me off today. Doctor Who is coming back soon and I have decided I can’t watch any more Moffat-helmed shows, yet my boyfriend adores all things DW and I can’t really escape it.
tl;dr I have burnout from Fighting The Good Fight! What’s the best way to recharge?
The best “horror” film I’ve ever seen (“horror” in quotes, because I am a wuss) is Interview With The Vampire.
I have no answers or advice for you, but re: Prudie’s recent ugly victim blaming, if you haven’t seen this already, it might cheer you up slightly: http://hotep-ho.tumblr.com/post/64120261120/omg-i…
I freely admit I probably wouldn’t turn that girl in either.
I wouldn’t have her suspended either probably, but at my school I think it’s unlikely we would be discussing sexual assault outside of… hmm. I can’t imagine. An assembly? Our school/state doesn’t offer sex education, and talking about sex at all pretty much ever is frowned upon.
Oh, LORD, the Yoffe article. Saw the headline and clicked merrily away.
I read it because I’m a glutton for punishment.
I definitely feel you and I don’t have any answers either. :-/ Getting recommendations from Toast People for works of art/entertainment made by people who aren’t straight cis-gendered white men is always awesome, but what to do about things you used to like/still kind of like but can’t get past their MAJOR MAJOR problems….? Dunno.
This is something I hit too. (I’m taking a break from Doctor Who until Moffat no longer has anything to do with it, on which day there will be celebrations in the streets and much-improved ratings, amen).
When ‘avoid’ isn’t an option, you can always really revel in your hate. Mentally compose fanfiction about how much better this show would be if it wasn’t all about white dudes. Mentally compose literary criticism about the same. Complain at length to like-minded friends or internet strangers. Like us! Or the folks over at Requires Hate.
I adored Lucky McKee’s May, though I suggest not reading much about it. It managed to be both horrifying and quite affecting.
The Orphanage is more haunting and melancholy than outright scary, though it boasts great atmospheric creepiness and at least one OH MY GOD moment. I felt like it earned its jumps instead of sticking jump chords in anywhere as so many putatively scary movies do.
Stakeland takes place in a gritty post-apocalyptic landscape reminiscent of Romero’s later zombie chronicles, but (as the name suggests) instead of a plague of zombies, it’s a plague of vampires — not glamorous, sexy vampires glossy with fine garb and double entendres, but crude, feral creatures who only want to batten on you and grow fat and strong.
This one’s a self-link. I had All The Thoughts about Lucky McKee’s The Woman, y’all. I watched it alone in my apartment, which was for the best; I kept rocking back and forth and keening a little bit.
But even as it made me sick and sad and angry, The Woman deftly tapped into and expressed something I believe with all my heart and mind. If you’ll forgive me for quoting my own writing, I don’t think I can express it more clearly than I did in that linked entry: “that misogynists, and those who support misogyny by standing silently by, aren’t just denying women’s abilities or intelligence or rights: they are denying our very humanity. They are arrogating the mantle of full humanity to themselves and denying it to me and to other women based purely on anatomy.”
I loved The Orphanage so much! I prefer building tension and dread followed by deep sadness when it comes to horror movies. I hate movies that just use the LOUD and JUMP OUT AND SCARE YOU techniques over good story telling, and I can’t stand gore for the sake of gore, but YES to The Orphanage and anything remotely like it.
This movie was less “scary” and more “profoundly disturbing” but May? http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0303361/ The first time I watched it, I knew I should probably NOT watch it (past the early scene that pretty much tells you how it will end), but I did. And forever traumatized.
MAY HIGH-FIVE! I love May, like “want to cradle it to my bosom and murmur soothing sounds” love.
Oh yes, I did love it, but let’s just say I had my hands over my face the entire time, ready to cover my eyes…
Glad to hear there is another that has watched! Usually people have nooo idea what I’m talking about
Hello smart folks who frequent the Toast and maybe also read Nicole’s fitness column, I have a question for the crowd: I was all psyched up to get strong and do pushups the proper way and subject myself to Burpees–and then promptly broke a digit and got stuck in a hand cast. Any tips on “look ma, no hands!” upper-body exercises, or is it just all thighs until this sucker gets cracked open in a couple weeks?
please tell me you did not break your finger doing one of my workouts
Dude, take a couple of weeks off from upper body, you have my permission and blessing. You have your whole life to get SICK DELTSSSS.
Ah, no, your workouts are innocent! Pick-up softball was the culprit. (Also, my poor hand-eye coordination.) I feel like I just got a get-out-of-gym note.
Thank God. Mallory looked up from the couch and said: “Nicole, you broke someone’s finger,” and I nearly passed out.
Whoops, upon reread, it does sounds like that. Excellent reason to keep smelling salts on hand when moderating the open thread.
Aww, you can do things for your upper body without hands! I just don’t know how to describe them. They involve sitting/lying on your back & hovering your arms, & then moving your upper body around. This is not helpful at all, but until other people answer, it’s a sliver of hope
Oh, this sounds promising! I am extremely good at lying down.
ooh, maybe you could use resistance bands? I don’t really know, but maybe you could find a way to wrap the band around the wrist of your broken hand, so you don’t need to grip it? it seems like some of these animated-gif-illustrated exercises would be doable.
just don’t spend lots of $$ on a piece of rubber, though. some of those exercise bands are ridiculously expensive for what they are. if you search on amazon enough, though, you can find stuff for like $5. That seems reasonable.
I DON’T WANT TO GO HOME
I love scary movies, but I’m nauseated by graphic violence (except for zombies? Zombie gore is fine). So. . .
Dead of Night (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037635/)
Insidious
The Paranormal Activity movies
The Ring
And, the old silent movie Nosferatu! I watched it on the treadmill one and was terrified. I think if has to be really scary to scare me at 7am.
And, Wait Until Dark and See No Evil, both terrifying suspense movies about a blind heroine. Audrey Hepburn is in Wait Until Dark, and Mia Farrow is in See No Evil.
Julia’s Eyes is another movie that plays around with loss of sight, if that’s a thing you’re interested in! Super creepy too. Although I think it does have some gore?
When I watched The Ring in high school, I was stuck at my computer desk all night. It was situated such that my back was to the TV. I jut knew if I turned around or took a glance toward my peripheral vision, Samara would totally slither out of the TV and get me.
Yes! That movie [shudder].
I watched the original version of The Ring on VHS and the tape was damaged so it just turned into static in the middle! I was convinced I was going to die in seven days.
There is a 1950s French film called Les Diaboliques that is one of the scarier movies I’ve ever seen. Almost no violence, but suspenseful as all get-out.
Do NOT confuse this masterpiece with the execrable remake starring Sharon Stone.
Ahhhhhhh, Les Diaboliques! It’s is one of the great watershed modern thrillers, introducing or perfecting plots and tropes that show up in later (and usually lesser) movies for the next half-century. So much corruption creeping in around the edges, such a perfectly contained plot. I could watch it a jillion times.
OH GOD THE RING. So I’m a giant wimp and never watch horror and that movie scared me and my friend so badly that she had me sleep over. Which would have been fine.
Except for the MULTIPLE AQUARIUM TANKS IN HER ROOM. Running water noises all night: “I AM IN THE WELL WITH SAMARA, I’M FUCKED.”
Also, not movies, but both Hannibal and American Horror Story are pretty wonderful horror tv shows. And Stoker doesn’t *entirely* count as horror, but I love it to death and the piano duet is about the greatest thing ever.
Hannibal is SO GOOD. And I love AHS, though the second season left me a little cold.
My GOD that piano scene!
you guys would love lucky mcgee’s the woman. i think it’s on netflix. off the top of my head, i’d also definitely recommend martyrs, red state, evil dead (originals and remake), carrie (original and the lesser-known 2002 remake), would you rather, may, dead alive, suspiria, i spit on your grave (original and remake)……
The last horror movie I watched involved a woman getting an eye transplant (?!?!) from a poor Mexican woman (?!?) and then. The eyes. Were haunted. It was so terrible, and yet I was still scared, which is why I don’t watch many horror movies.
I saw that on a plane! I drank a LOT.
Ooooh, I love scary movie rec threads!
Mine:
Lake Mungo
A Tale of Two Sister
Arang
The Phone (Korean movie)
R-Point
Shutter (the Thailand version, not the wretched American remake)
[Rec] (haven’t seen the sequels, though)
The Orphanage was good
Triangle was awesome, though it’s hard to explain why without spoiling the whole movie. It’s not a slasher film, despite what any synopsis of it might imply; the slasher part is maybe ten minutes, and not the main point of the film. It’s really a psychological horror film.
The whole Whispering Corridors series is fun, though you’re often like “Oh, that’s why you’re killing all these people, ghost? Um…I think you missed a few. They’re hiding back here…”
Also: I’m intrigued at the misogyny that *doesn’t* manifest in Asian horror films. Like, Hollywood horror films, the female leads are not usually the protagonists (I’m talking general trends), and are often monster bait, with a huge helping of virgin/whore complex. In Asian horror films, women are often the protagonists, they dress sensibly, and they intelligently solve the problems on their own (and in the films where they end up losing anyway, that’s because of genre conventions; not all horror films end well).
I just…find intriguing, in a sociological kind of way. What Horror Films Say About Cultural Attitudes Towards Women.
Huh. I actually disagree with your analysis of American horror. “Hollywood horror films, the female leads are not usually the protagonists.” The final girl has been a trope in American horror movies for over 30 years. While there is a certain level of misogyny depending on the film, a lot of the final girl idea is about reclaiming (feminine) power.
Hollywood, or indies? Genuinely curious, because most of the Hollywood ones I’ve seen recently trended towards the opposite, to the point where I’m wary of Hollywood films at this point. Would love to be proven wrong, though.
You are so totally right about the final girl almost entirely slowly dominating horror over the past 40 years… but unfortunately, the final girl almost always becomes the final girl by being chaste, naive, unfailingly moral, or simply just lucky enough to be saved by a dude. It’s actually like “the rules” presented by Randy in Scream! Luckily, more and more (though still sparse) exceptions have emerged since the 90s, but mannnn, even now horror mainstream or independent is pretty anti-woman. Yet, trust, for some reason I still love me my horror more than any sane person.
I love finding creative examples of horror that aren’t, even in a little way, completely and totally focused on jacking off to trauma to women’s bodies or highlighting female weakness. The Descent isn’t exactly feminist, but it’s pretty damn awesome, and while Lucky McKee’s The Woman is super topical and has some major flaws, it’s still pretty eerie and powerful. To keep me from going insane, I’ve taken to reading my favorite horror films as trying to reveal how the patriarchy can and does horrifically exploit women, making that act itself the central horror (rather than, say, a pretty lady with big breasts getting gutted by a big ‘ol knife). Then again, that might just be the optimistic liberal arts hippie in me.
The Caller isn’t too bad. It’s creepy with slight bits of gore. Plus the lead actress has very beautiful long curly hair that I was mesmerized by.
The Serbian Film
I’m just going to be hiding quietly in the corner with a blanket over my head and my fingers in my ears *la la la I can’t hear anything*
I am frequently too scared by scary movies to actually watch them. The last scary movie I saw in theaters was Woman in Black (to which I was primarily drawn by the surprising attractiveness of Dan Radcliffe in period dress- rather like a diminutive Richard Armitage), and I spent the entire time cringing and taking calming breaths and hissing “Why did we do this?!” at my sister (while clutching desperately in fear at her hand/arm/face).
I do really enjoy reading about scary movies on Tv Tropes and Wikipedia (often at the same time as I am doing my quarterly binge-reading about serial killers, unsolved mysteries, etc), but I frequently have to leave the light on when I try to sleep afterwards. (Then again, I’m a fraidycat who, when I’m going to bed, has to have the light on in the bedroom before I can turn off the light in the hall, so…)
Yes to reading about serial killers/unsolved mysteries/etc. I scared myself solid for a week this past summer by reading threads of “true” paranormal stories. I would be VERY amenable to a Toast open thread of ghost stories.
God, me too. I went because I love ghost stories and scary books (I did a paper on 19th century French ghost stories in college and it stuck) so I went with my brother in law and spent the entire movie utterly traumatised. He spent it laughing at me.
Occasionally I forget I hate scary movies and watch them anyway and then really wish I hadn’t. I’m fine with gore (although as I get older, realistic or torturey gore is not happening), but jumpy-tense movies make me almost wee myself.
AUGH THE ROOM FULL OF DOLLS NO THANK YOU
EXACTLY the point at which i turned it off and never looked back. sorry danrad.
My favorites still have to be (listling without commentary): The Wicker Man, Blood on Satan’s Claw, Silence of the Lambs, Deep Red, Don’t Look Now, Hellraiser, The Company of Wolves, Funny Games, Phantasm, Videodrome, Dead Alive, M, the Descent, Peeping Tom *which I was so thrilled to see someone mention above!*, Oldboy, A Tale of Two Sisters, The Cabin in the Woods, Trick r Treat … god, the list goes on, trust, and echoes many of y’all (les diaboliques, the orphanage! ah!)
Also, the Craft, forever and ever, amen.
Deep Red! Yes! Also I will high five you over Peeping Tom.
The Sixth Sense used to creep me out as a kid but now I find it pretty okay. The Cabin in the Woods is one of my recent favorites, and so was The Conjuring (I liked how retro it felt).
I liked the 1976 Carrie even though I don’t think it really scared me that much—I have a feeling this 2013 readaptation will be slightly creepier and eerier—and The Shining was an entertaining movie.
Anyone know any horror movies I can watch alone in the dark?
Cabin In The Woods forever and ever amennnn.
And I’m not a scary movie person much at all, but boyfriend showed me Trick R Treat two years ago and I loved it so, so much. Will be watching it again soon, because October, that’s why.
The Descent! Chock-full of ladies and claustrophobia and weirdness. Just don’t watch the very end, it spoils it all.
Yeah, the cave stuff was super creepy just by itself, and the monsters kind of ruined it for me.
I wish the whole thing had just been a psychological thriller/horror playing on claustrophobia and group dynamics and stuff. That would’ve been freaky as hell, and also awesome.
Guys! Come back here and look at this thread because HAVE ANY OF YOU SEEN “HOUSE OF THE DEVIL”?!?!?!??!? That one is my JAMS.
YES! Oh my goodness, yes. I prefer House of the Devil over The Innkeepers, which is by the same filmmaker and which I believe was mentioned elsewhere in this thread — something about it was just much more effective to me.
Also I will admit to having a soft spot for Session 9, but that might just be because I grew up near where it was filmed — that is, before the hospital was torn down and made into apartments. Which later burned down. This fact is freaky than the movie is.
Yes! I think I could've overlooked one instance but the fact that it kept repeating made it much harder to handle. Also the actor from that segment apparently lives in my neighborhood and I always glare at him in the 7/11.
There's this terrible trend of making the characters awful, obnoxious people so that the audience can kind of "root" for them to die horrible deaths? Which is so annoying to watch. Horror filmmakers, I promise that we can enjoy a good gory death scene even (nay, ESPECIALLY) when we actually care about the characters.
(City of the Dead FTW, btw)
As others have said, Descent is amazing.
Do not, I repeat do not, watch Descent 2. It involves watching the protagonist get crapped on by a cave monster, then realizing she’s actually swimming around in the cave monster’s toilet. I’m not making that up.
As others have said, Descent is amazing.
Do not, I repeat do not, watch Descent 2. It involves watching the protagonist get crapped on by a cave monster, then realizing she's actually swimming around in the cave monster's toilet. I'm not making that up.
Oh, I love horror! My picks (especially those which have a lot to say about feminist issues):
SIlent Hill— crrrrrap dialogue, but if you’ve watched a video game cutscene, you can tolerate this and it’s super female-focused and righteous)
Ginger Snaps— Girl werewolf coming-of-age. An old trope now, but still a lot of bite. Apparently a couple of palatable sequels as well.
The Bad Seed — corny, but I love the “parent of an evil child/child of an evil mother” motif.
Repulsion — Truly nightmarish on every level.
Jacob’s Ladder— great urban psychological horror for the 70s and always.
Thirst— Korean horror about blood diseases and saviour complexes.
Near Dark— Cowboy vampires. Kathryn Bigelow sure knows how to objectify a man.
The Innocents— Adaptation of classic gothic ghost/not ghost story A Turn of the Screw with Deborah Kerr as the governess.
Audition— A classic Takashi Miike on (if you like) the dangers of participating in systems of patriarchal exploitation.
Perfect Blue— Animated, on the Japanese Idol system (see under Audition).
Ravenous— Great tension, great music. Hunky 19th-century cannibals in California. What more could you want?
I just watched a movie called Mama that was produced by Guillermo del Toro. It’s not very well made or believable and it gets overwrought after a while, but the first half scared me so bad I almost cried from the suspense. I feel the same way about Silent Hill.
I watch a ton of horror movies and don’t find many of them scary. I think the scariest movies I’ve ever seen are Repulsion and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (the original) in totally different ways.
As far as decent horror on Netflix Instant, I recommend Chernobyl Diaries (cool abandoned stuff!), Walled In (pretty ridic plot but unexpected architecture porn), The Grudge (knockoff of The Ring but still scary as hell), and Disturbing Behavior (which is not scary but hilariously 90s).
I also recommend We Need to Talk About Kevin!! It’s not strictly a horror movie but it fits into the evil children/fear of having kids trope.