I don't want to come across as some hardass type who doesn't afraid of anything, especially since that's not remotely the case, but I didn't find The Babadook really that scary at all, or really revolutionary in any way. I thought it was fairly standard stuff, really.

Oculus was alright. I liked the convoluted timelines and the queasy qualities to it, but I just didn't really find it all that scary, either.

I watched The Ring a few years ago. My friends were so drunk on nostalgia over it that they got a little offended that I thought it was shitty and laughable. That was a dumb moment for them haha.

The Grudge was pretty bad too.


Texas Chainsaw Massacre + Poltergeist (crazy house location) = People Under the Stairs. Something like that haha. I think you'd dig it.

I saw that Friday the 13th is getting yet another new movie next year, but based off the summary I've read it's another reboot and not picking up from the 2009 reboot? Weird.

Now just watch It Follows and say the same about that and we can get married.

Maybe not revolutionary, but it had the kind of character and allegory I really like seeing in a horror movie. It was a smart film and had something to say, which I don't see in other popular modern horror flicks, is all.

Xeo - Noted! I'll add it to the Netflix list.

I'd put The Babadook and It Follows under a top ten list of pure hype machine films. It's like when anything is slightly different in the realm of horror to POV or the hundredth exorcism movie everyone heralds it as amazing. Oculus mostly wasn't terrible and with a few tweaks could have been exceptional, the dialogue and characters were it's main problem.

Xeo, have you seen the original Ringu and Ju-On? If so, what do you think of them?

I know I saw one of the Japanese originals, but it's probably been a decade or so when they were newer so I'm not sure on the specifics. Pretty sure I enjoyed it a fair bit though. Americanized versions of Japanese horror tales are a sure recipe for pure disappointment. lol, I like the Fatal Frame games a lot too which I imagine were maybe influenced by this stuff.

It was probably just the first Ju-On, I don't recall seeing the original Ring movie.

Maybe I should get back to Japanese horror since I'm not sure what else my American options are by this point.

He was hired to do a job and he did that job. Making Marvel movies is something directors and writers do to pay the bills, not to flex their creative muscles.

I can never remember which Ju-On it was that got to me, I think it was The Curse, but it's amazing in that the first 80 minutes are laughably bad. Bad characters, bad effects, bad scares, everything about it is trash. And then the fucking Kayako segment happens. I'm not even spoiling shit, it's built up the entire movie but the payoff actually had me on the edge of my seat nearly pissing myself. It's a bad movie overall but that climax is fucking harrowing.

Both. The vast majority of serious horror movies don't get better than The Ring and I Know What You Did Last Summer. Intentionally silly/shlocky horror movies seem to fair quite a bit better, what with your Evil Deads and From Beyonds and whatnot. Pontypool is the only recent, full-on horror movie I can think of (and have seen) that has some real weight to it. Note that I haven't yet watched a few possibles like The Babadook and Under the Skin.

As somebody who has never seen it, how horror would you all say Let the Right One In is? I always see it labeled as ultimately a horror romance movie, but everything I've read and seen about the movie indicates that it pushes the romance element much harder than the horror element, and therefore would just be a very dark romance movie rather than a horror movie based around a romance.

It's basically a dark romance film, very arty. I never really think of it when I think about horror films as there isn't much scary about it at all - and it wasn't trying to be.

So it was just called horror by uneducated critics who are unable to make the distinction that "dark" doesn't always equal "horror"?

As I suspected.

I can maybe sorta kinda understand a pick like The Ring but IKWYDLS.. Seriously?!

The Conjuring is basically The Exorcist for younger generations that don't bother on watching the original.

Well, I'm exaggerating to make a point. IKWYDLS is perhaps shittier than a typically shitty summer horror movie, and stuff like Paranormal Activity might be better in an objective sense, but to me the difference between a 10% score and a 30% score is purely academic because both are garbage and total wastes of time.

Under the Skin was easily the best film of 2014 but I wouldn't really call it a horror movie. Think Species: Art Film Edition.

The only real difference is in terms of the lasting "legacy" of the movie. 30% is bad, maybe even terrible, but that's all it is and it'll probably be forgotten soon after. 10% and below is where you start getting into legendarily awful territory, the kind of bad that will be remembered for a long, long time.

Uh..... That sounds dreadful.

I might call it a romantic monster movie. Not a very sexy label, I'll admit.

I'm pretty confused right now. How is that movie not horror? Is Interview with a Vampire also not at least partly a horror movie? Have I just been a fan of "dark romance" movies (that coincidentally also feature vampires) all this time? Is my entire life a lie?!



Does Snowpiercer count? That's the only one that I've heard of, I think.

Especially when darkeningday recommends it.

The Australian equivalent would be a Kyle Sandilands 'likes this' sticker.

Under the Skin was a fascinating film. Not sure if it was that great, but the visual style and cinematography and atmosphere were certainly worth a watch - I think I may have rated it too low when I first saw it. The fact that I didn't know what to think makes it interesting. I've been coming to value that quality more and more when I see films.

Species, oh man, that was fucking terrible. Friend and I did the second one for my blog earlier this year though, and we still laugh about that one. Hilarious.



Horror should be mostly focused on scary scenes. Let the Right One In was pretty clearly more about the romance. I dunno, there were some pretty dark scenes in there, but overall I mostly remember it being about the main kid feeling lonely and meeting the vampire girl. It was a coming of age story as well. Though now that I think of it, I remember there was something in there about vampiric serial killings around the neighborhood. So fair enough, I can see it for that part.

Haha the vampiric serial killings wasn't "something in there," it was a major plot point.

I dunno, I'm trying to think of recent horror movies that have genuinely scared me and I'm basically coming up empty. I've been much more scared by scary scenes in movies that aren't straight up horror, like the slasher bits at the end of Sunshine or the scary bits of Let the Right One In or that behind the diner scene from Mulholland Drive.

Well I think "scary" isn't important at all in horror and shouldn't be something you focus on. "Scary" can just be a dumb jump scare or whatever. What I look for in horror movies is that deep, disturbing feeling, not like child rape or A Serbian Film kind of shocking/disgusting nonsense, but something disturbing that really resonates deeply, that feeling of "wrongness" achieved through a harmony of imagery, atmosphere, and theme. Most David Lynch films have elements of horror in them, especially Lost Highway (as we discussed earlier), and definitely have that disturbing feeling. In terms of recent movies, I didn't get that out of Let the Right One In, but I did from Pontypool and Antichrist. Some people might not consider Antichrist a horror movie, and it did have some pretty extreme physical violence, but the scenes that really stick with me are the ones where the Willem Defoe character sees the animals in the woods, where he starts to really understand the depths of his wife's insanity, and the very end when he's walking down the hill and sees the women all around him. That's why, despite its flaws, it's a 5-star movie for me. It made me feel some really deep shit.

I would consider that "deep, disturbing feeling" what I meant when I said it should be focused on scaring you. Let the Right One In just seemed more like a romance to me; the focus was on that, even with the scenes of the serial killing stuff that I forgot about before. It still just seemed more like a romance than a horror flick. I'd agree that Antichrist, Pontypool and many Lynch films are more about being dark, disturbing, surreal and scary - in fact, those are all good examples of serious-intent horror films.

Well the point of Let the Right One In is that the little girl vampire (who is actually like, hundreds of years old) is using the illusion of the "puppy love" romance to completely manipulate the boy emotionally, there's no actual romance going on in the movie. But yeah I get what you're saying, I didn't find it disturbing on that deep level at all.

That scene in Hellbound where the doctor hands the 'bugs are on me' guy a straight razor.

failsafeman you should see The Descent, Martyrs and The Exorcist 3.

On this similar discussion I've been trying to figure out what's been driving me to all these "horror" or slasher movies I've been in the mood for for quite some time now. I think it just simply boils down to the atmosphere in a lot of cases. That is what I look for in "horror" whatever it may be. Foreboding, thick, serious, dangerous, dense atmosphere. A mood that makes me feel like I'm in another world. Which is also why music can be really important. Hellraiser 1-2 did a damn fine job at that and for the sillier slasher side of things, I actually thought Friday the 13th Part 2 had a damn good soundtrack - sample. Kind of surprised the whole series had the same composer, I did think the music was generally good, but 2's stood out head and shoulders above the others to me. The guy probably gave up after awhile with the decline of the series quality haha (for those who care, 3, 4, and 6 were my favorites).

What do you guys think of these?
Possession (1981)
Don’t Look Now (1973)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) - sounds silly haha

Not sure what to expect with this one but I hear that Jacob's Ladder is another film that may have influence Silent Hill a bit. Think I'm going to watch that one now.

Haven't seen Possession.

I own Don't Look Now, it has some disturbing scenes akin to The Omen but it's mostly a slowburn drama. I like it although I wish the horror element was elaborated further and wasn't as dated with it's 70's visual aesthetics.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers is okay if largely forgettable, in fact I couldn't tell you a distinct scene.

Jacob's Ladder is quite good and is my favourite of the mentioned, has a nightmarish quality throughout, layered story telling, visually remarkable and a usual great performance by Tim Robbins.

Sorry, just watched It Follows and I thought it was great. Really scary stuff, beautifully shot, great soundtrack, excellent pacing. Far better movie than either The Babadook or Oculus and definitely more along the lines of what I was looking for in a modern horror movie.

Bleh. It wasn't awful--probably the best of the three--but a tiring, witless script, uninteresting characters and lame jump scares kept it from being memorable. Good soundtrack and nice photography, though. But I can't begin to fathom how anyone could think a movie like You're Next is the most horrible thing to ever happen to horror movies ever yet It Follows is somehow good? Wat.

Anyway, I just watched the German film The Dark Valley on Netflix and while I'm going to have to think about it a bit, at this point it may be just about the best movie I've seen in the past 5 or so years. If the prospect of a gritty period German Western with National Geographic-quality photography sounds even remotely appealing to you and you have Netflix, you simply must check it out. I honestly enjoyed it more than Unforgiven.

I really liked You're Next. I too don't get why some people think that movie is terrible. It's just a very entertaining movie. I've still yet to see It Follows (blame perpetual poorness and shitty internet), but all signs still point to me probably loving the shit out of it when I do see it.

Holy fuck, well since nobody really ever mentioned this to me, let me say it... it doesn't get more blatantly Silent Hill than Jacob's Ladder. The influences this movie had on the video games is utterly point blank in so many ways. THIS is the Silent Hill movie. My goodness, that was incredible. My kind of stuff. Almost felt like a lost Lynch movie too, from time to time. Not completely, but pretty comparable in several ways. Highly recommended.

I was disappointed by Unforgiven as that was toted as the best western, then again many think Gran Torino is really good. I'll stick with Tombstone and The Assassination of Jesse James, thank you.

No, yes, no. Martyrs had some problems but on the whole I did like it, it was a bit heavy on the violence/gore but it had a good reason for it and had a unique and interesting concept. A few things were a bit silly though, like why the people who lived over the basement were a family unit, rather than just like a couple of employees or whatever...seems like a stupid risk. Kids at school: "oh yeah, my dad works in the basement, and when he comes out he's sweaty and has bloody knuckles, and we're not allowed to go down there or know what he does." The writer clearly just did it that way to make it more shocking. A bit less of the cheap shocks (shooting kids) and more of the disturbing bits would've made a better movie.

Also, is The Exorcist 3 REALLY all that good? I don't even like The Exorcist all that much.


How are you only just now hearing about Jacob's Ladder lol

You're Next was pretty much all the things you disliked about It Follows to me. Fucking worthless shit. Just such annoying characters, story, camerawork, everything. Really bottom of the barrel.



Huh, yeah, that was what was going on, wasn't it? It was interesting for having that going on as well as the boy's coming-of-age-type journey against bullies, etc. Very clever movie. I need to see that again and the American remake sometime.

To answer your question; yes.

I've had the exact same reaction from everyone I've ever spoken to about it, brushing it off as whatever - a 3rd movie can't be good?!! See the film and decide for yourself.

Xeogred has missed a lot of classics. He manages to marathon a ton of them in a short span of time so I'll give him that.

The Exorcist 3 is the best of the series, hands down. Maybe it's not consistently scary through all the movie, but the scary moments are really something. It also has excellent acting, photography and dialogues (Brad Dourif is monumental here).

Now, this is a sort of silent/quiet movie. The action is really sparse (if we can call it 'action') and the movie goes mostly only in dialogues. The director and writer attempts to prepare you through the data you gather from the conversations without revealing much info; it builds up in a perfect pace and the enjoyment comes from the small details and the intelligent script which tries to be unsettling (to me it works). The characters are not 'lively' people and not likeable for the more action/gory oriented fans. This treatment of the movie works for the scary moments, since are unexpected.