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Arts and Entertainment => Film, Music, Sports, and more => Topic started by: Hydra009 on September 09, 2019, 03:03:39 PM

Title: The horror within horror
Post by: Hydra009 on September 09, 2019, 03:03:39 PM
I love horror.  I really do.  It forms the trifecta of speculative fiction:  fantasy, science fiction, and horror.  And to some degree, they all feed into each other.  For example, Frankenstein was a blend of science fiction and horror.

Since then, horror has typically revolved around one of two elements:  either a monster/supernatural menace or a human murderer.  Generally, there's an atmosphere of tension and people die, often in horrific ways, and that's supposed to shock and frighten audiences.

And while I like horror, I can't stand like 80% of it, especially most movie offerings.  A deluge of jumpscares, a generic deranged killer chasing someone in woods, and a reliance on gore either bores me or turns my stomach.

I will watch a scary movie with someone else and have a completely different reaction to it, which I find perplexing.  What exactly are we looking for in horror?

What I truly love in horror is psychological horror, often with a lovecraftian vibe.  This stuff doesn't often rely on jumpscares or a murderer or gore - it mostly relies on an atmosphere of dread and uncertainty, where it's not entirely clear what's real and what's not real, if other people are truly how they are perceived to be, and/or if you're truly the person you think you are.

The lovecraftian vibe typically comes into play when disturbing content is catalogued and recounted with both clinical precision and authority.  The incongruity between the clinical tone and the disturbing content is unsettling in itself, and the air of authority (hopefully) creates a little uncertainty about whether or not the content is real or fictional.

You know what's scarier than looking in the mirror and seeing a monster behind you?  Seeing a monster inside yourself.  Or your reflection that doesn't quite match your movements, smiling when you frown, jerking when you make a smooth motion.  Or not seeing your reflection at all.

You know what's scarier than a jumpscare?  Nothing.  Nothing is Scarier. (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NothingIsScarier)

The easiest example I have for the sort of horror I like is Lovecraft's From Beyond, which paints the picture of invisible world overlayed on our own that contains incomprehensible nightmarish creatures (are they really nightmarish?  Or just not what we're used to?) and the mere act of seeing these normally invisible things makes you a target of their predations, so you can only survive by not reacting.  Of course, this could also be an elaborate hoax or paranoid delusion.  The cherry on top is a part added onto the original ending - even after the machine that makes these creatures visible is destroyed, the character still senses them sometimes.  The reader is left with the unpleasant uncertainty that when they feel as if something is watching them, it actually is and that they are never truly alone.

I also loved Blair Witch, which is strange in that it's a movie that made a hell of a splash and scared the daylights out of a large chunk of its audience but also had a substantial backlash of people who claimed it wasn't scary at all and mocked the characters' reactions.  Back in the early days on the internet, Blair Witch managed to successfully cultivate uncertainty about whether or not it was real or fictitious, which I find to be absolutely incredible.  It also took a very banal setting (the woods) and make it creepy by spinning this yarn about a witch and ramping up the tension by having freaky -but not inexplicable- stuff happen to them and having Heather be the only one ill-at-ease.  The ending itself is still hotly debated, perhaps a deadly supernatural attack or perhaps a cold-blooded murder.  To me, that last one is far more satisfying as it recontextualizes the entire movie and makes Mike and Josh's bizarre behavior that much more sinister.

And finally, I love Blair Witch 2, which seemed on the surface to be a generic hollywood take on its predecessor.  It alienated people who expected something more in line with the original, and got a bashing by critics and fans alike.  But it did one thing right that really won me over - it created a gigantic, seemingly unsolvable mystery.  Many scenes contain contradictory perceptions and every character is suspect, so the reader is left to painstakingly piece together a narrative that makes sense to them (https://66.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lqcwarmhBs1qkhk6do1_400.png) with only these words as a possible clue:  "video never lies Kim.  Film does, though" (implying that the events captured on the handheld cameras are genuine, and everything else is suspect)

In horror, I look for a well of uncertainty and doubt that creates fear by confronting me with the unknown and by shattering my expectations and leaving me in a mad scramble to pick up the pieces.

In horror, what do you look for?
Title: Re: The horror within horror
Post by: Hydra009 on September 09, 2019, 03:16:02 PM
Also, the effect of horror is very dependent on the surrounding environment.

As a kid, watching the X-Files in the basement with no lights on was an act of foolhardy bravado.  Nowadays, with on-demand media allowing people to watch horror anywhere and instant reviews (and spoilers), the effects of horror may be substantially lessened.
Title: Re: The horror within horror
Post by: Gawdzilla Sama on September 09, 2019, 03:39:02 PM
Two years, three months, and thirteen days of horror was enough for me.

But I have to admit I had a insanely good time.
Title: Re: The horror within horror
Post by: Baruch on September 09, 2019, 06:55:48 PM
From Beyond .... sounds realistic to me, not fantasy.

Generally ... horror ;-((
Title: Re: The horror within horror
Post by: Munch on September 09, 2019, 07:30:28 PM
I'm a big fan of horror. I mean I'm not going to go out buying posters and figures of horror characters like comic book characters, but I love a good, well made scary movie or show.

Some of my earliest memories are from horror movies I watched as a child and how it impacted me, funny enough the tv adaption of IT in the 1980s was one I watched from under my bedsheets, so this new adaptions one I've been anticipating for some time.

My older brother, when we were kids, when my grandmother came round to stay, she was given my room to sleep in, and I had to sleep on a pull out bed in my brothers room. He would always intentionally get ahold of horror movies on vhs and put them on late at night with me under my sleeping bag peaking out watching them, childs play, one of the Frankenstein movies, nightmare on elm street. I sometimes wonder if the reason he did it was to scare me or just because he didn't want to watch them alone himself and having his scared little brother watching them was better then being told he couldn't by mum.

But rather then mess me up I developed an appreciation for good horror, psychological is some of the best, like the shining, silence of the lambs, psycho, misery, all some of my favorite ones. But as someone who grew up reading ghost stories, and thankfully haven't yet developed into one of these atheists who is so against all forms of religion that they can't even enjoy fiction,  I do still enjoy a good well made supernatural horror, like the babadook, insidious, the exorcist, the grudge, and of course It.

To me it doesn't matter if the themeing of a story is horror is based on reality or based on supernatural, what matters is if its done well, written well, and I get sometime out of it. If its a movie with just a load of jumpscares then I'm going to get burned out, but if its slow burn and psychological one that hits a nerve for the right reasons then its going to linger with me. In the movie the Babadook, it wasn't the monster itself that was frightening, but rather then performance by its main actress Essie Davis that chilled me.

So yeah, horror movies, just like any movie, is comes down to quality and effort put in, I can enjoy any kind of horror as long as its done well.
Title: Re: The horror within horror
Post by: Cavebear on September 11, 2019, 03:36:35 AM
I've never understood horror much.  OK, Alien.  But as a purpose to watch something, I don't get it.  Earthly monsters just don't keep my attention.  I fully accept the "willing suspension of disbelief" of fiction in general, but I can't do it for earthly horrors.  I just can't believe in them.
Title: Re: The horror within horror
Post by: Baruch on September 11, 2019, 06:40:10 AM
Quote from: Cavebear on September 11, 2019, 03:36:35 AM
I've never understood horror much.  OK, Alien.  But as a purpose to watch something, I don't get it.  Earthly monsters just don't keep my attention.  I fully accept the "willing suspension of disbelief" of fiction in general, but I can't do it for earthly horrors.  I just can't believe in them.

Since those are more realistic than the sci-fi kind, your lack of believe is disturbing.  Sociopath?
Title: Re: The horror within horror
Post by: Gawdzilla Sama on September 11, 2019, 06:50:34 AM
Quote from: Cavebear on September 11, 2019, 03:36:35 AM
I've never understood horror much.  OK, Alien.  But as a purpose to watch something, I don't get it.  Earthly monsters just don't keep my attention.  I fully accept the "willing suspension of disbelief" of fiction in general, but I can't do it for earthly horrors.  I just can't believe in them.
There's a joy in watching sadistic movies that I can't understand. The success of the "Saw" movies speak poorly of humans.
Title: Re: The horror within horror
Post by: Cavebear on September 11, 2019, 07:20:14 AM
Quote from: Gawdzilla Sama on September 11, 2019, 06:50:34 AM
There's a joy in watching sadistic movies that I can't understand. The success of the "Saw" movies speak poorly of humans.

I think it is the stupidity of the victims.  How many times times can you say "no don't back into that room", after all?  LOL!

Title: Re: The horror within horror
Post by: Gawdzilla Sama on September 11, 2019, 08:02:07 AM
Quote from: Cavebear on September 11, 2019, 07:20:14 AM
I think it is the stupidity of the victims.  How many times times can you say "no don't back into that room", after all?  LOL!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQ-hlcux66s
Title: Re: The horror within horror
Post by: Cavebear on September 11, 2019, 08:05:44 AM
Quote from: Gawdzilla Sama on September 11, 2019, 08:02:07 AM

Yeah, that ad cracked me up.  Not that I have the least idea of the product, but Someone has a great sense of humor!
Title: Re: The horror within horror
Post by: Gawdzilla Sama on September 11, 2019, 08:09:31 AM
Quote from: Cavebear on September 11, 2019, 08:05:44 AM
Yeah, that ad cracked me up.  Not that I have the least idea of the product, but Someone has a great sense of humor!
GEICO was the company that created the caveman ads. Pure genius. It worked so well that they've been having fun with ads ever since.

PS, check your private messages.
Title: Re: The horror within horror
Post by: Cavebear on September 11, 2019, 09:16:04 AM
Quote from: Gawdzilla Sama on September 11, 2019, 08:09:31 AM
GEICO was the company that created the caveman ads. Pure genius. It worked so well that they've been having fun with ads ever since.

PS, check your private messages.

I did and thank you.  I want to examine the site before I join.  Do I take it that you are there?

I disliked the original caveman ads for the very reasons they made fun of later.  I like the gekko from the earliest days when he answered the phone at night and said "no you want Geiko".  But I'm still a State Farm guy.

But, the GEICO ads are impressive and effective.  In fact, some younger adults now refer "straight from the gekko" rather than "Straight from the get-go" because they hear it phonetically and use modern cultural references.  Or maybe that should be "fonetikly", LOL!

Title: Re: The horror within horror
Post by: Gawdzilla Sama on September 11, 2019, 09:42:54 AM
I used to handle auto accident claims for State Farm. That's why I'm with GEICO now.

And yeah, I'm there. Same nick.
Title: Re: The horror within horror
Post by: Cavebear on September 11, 2019, 09:47:42 AM
Quote from: Gawdzilla Sama on September 11, 2019, 09:42:54 AM
I used to handle auto accident claims for State Farm. That's why I'm with GEICO now.

And yeah, I'm there. Same nick.

That bad about State Farm huh?  They have been good to me but I'll look into it.

I guess I'll sign up and see what it is like. New site, I mean...  ;)
Title: Re: The horror within horror
Post by: Baruch on September 11, 2019, 11:24:05 AM
Quote from: Cavebear on September 11, 2019, 07:20:14 AM
I think it is the stupidity of the victims.  How many times times can you say "no don't back into that room", after all?  LOL!

Teens are expendable.  Just ask the military.
Title: Re: The horror within horror
Post by: Cavebear on September 11, 2019, 03:26:37 PM
That's why I only went to Boy Scout Camp as a leader.  First thing I told them was NEVER BACK INTO TO ANYTHING!

OK, so I meant poison ivy, and the older scouts might haul you back and rub you in the stuff, but the idea is the same. 

And there was the campfire chant for the newbies.  It was about campfire godesses.  You had to repeat their namesI  Owa, the match.  Tana, the wood.  Siam the  flame...   It went:

Owa Tana Siam.

Repeat until you catch on...




Title: Re: The horror within horror
Post by: Gawdzilla Sama on September 11, 2019, 03:54:32 PM
Navy had things similar, but not so polite.
Title: Re: The horror within horror
Post by: Munch on September 11, 2019, 07:45:22 PM
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EEIOECjUEAA2ni9?format=jpg&name=4096x4096)
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EEIOEjOU0AEHOxn?format=jpg&name=4096x4096)

gave me a chuckle, but I also love urban exploring, so...
Title: Re: The horror within horror
Post by: Hydra009 on September 11, 2019, 08:19:03 PM
Quote from: Cavebear on September 11, 2019, 03:36:35 AM
I've never understood horror much.  OK, Alien.  But as a purpose to watch something, I don't get it.  Earthly monsters just don't keep my attention.  I fully accept the "willing suspension of disbelief" of fiction in general, but I can't do it for earthly horrors.  I just can't believe in them.
There's a certain thrill in horror, though it's difficult to articulate it.

Horror is designed to tap into our deepest, darkest fears (death, the unknown, etc) through proxy threats (aliens, ghosts, cthulhu, etc).  Bringing all this normally taboo stuff out into the open and besting the proxy (or accepting it and coming to terms with that) is supposed to be a cathardic experience.
Title: Re: The horror within horror
Post by: Baruch on September 11, 2019, 08:52:01 PM
Human existence is a horror that is real.  But we become inured to it, so we crave more of it.
Title: Re: The horror within horror
Post by: Shiranu on September 11, 2019, 09:45:10 PM
QuoteOwa Tana Siam.

Repeat until you catch on...

oh-wha Tahn-ah See-ahm.

Am I summoning an ancient being? Is that why you want me to repeat it's name?
Title: Re: The horror within horror
Post by: Hydra009 on September 12, 2019, 12:06:25 AM
Quote from: Shiranu on September 11, 2019, 09:45:10 PM
oh-wha Tahn-ah See-ahm.

Am I summoning an ancient being? Is that why you want me to repeat it's name?
Uloathwee above sea
Uloathwee above sky
Uloathwee above stars

Uloathwee open the gate
Uloathwee merge the waters
Uloathwee yawn ssyba eewhtaolU
Title: Re: The horror within horror
Post by: SGOS on September 12, 2019, 05:00:23 AM
At a young age, the part of my life that came after watching The Thing (the original) and not being able to sleep for two months, I became a horror fan.  Then Hollywood started producing gargantuan creatures.  Godzilla didn't do it for me.  I was distracted by the Japanese use of toy airplanes on visible puppet strings that screamed at me, "This isn't real."  The same for King Kong's stop action photography, but what really drove home what to watch for in horror had a lot to do with size, and I realized this when The Blob first came out.  It starts out as a little glob of goop on the end of a finger, and as it assimilates food, it just keeps getting bigger and reaches it's scariest proportions when it's big enough to lurk and hide in a dark doorway.  When it gets as big as a movie theater, my fear is gone completely.  It's just silly, although I admit very funny, but the scare isn't there.  Bigger than a human and it's just about being overpowered.  I can see the psychological aspect of size affecting others with fear, but to me it's just an ugly power struggle. Close to human size, whether slightly bigger or smaller is what I fear the most.

I've lost the ability to be entertained much by horror.  It happens sometimes, but it's rare, and I miss it.  I could be shaken by horror until I was about 30, and then I lost the ability to be afraid.  The last time I felt truly shaken was by the original Exorcist, both the movie and the book had equal effects that disturbed my sleep for months.  Carrie bothered me a wee bit and brought some of the old feeling back, and after that I started getting bored by horror, and attempts to make it gruesome and bloody, don't help at all.
Title: Re: The horror within horror
Post by: Baruch on September 12, 2019, 07:15:32 AM
Saw an old 50s movie once, where radioactive grasshoppers from Iowa attacked Chicago.  you could plainly see it was grasshopper walking over a photograph of Chicago buildings ;-)
Title: Re: The horror within horror
Post by: Mike Cl on September 12, 2019, 02:03:31 PM
I remember in '53 I was taken by my grandparents to see a movie--I picked War of the Worlds (Gene Barry); they dropped me off and picked me up--so I watched it alone.  I then had to go back to their house and sleep upstairs by myself.  That movie scared the shit out of me!  Sleeping that night was not easy.  I have hated horror movies ever since.  I do remember seeing the Fly and Alligator People, in the early 60's--but those were not horror movies, what with their rubber costumes and poor special effects, but comedies.   Still don't like horror movies in general, tho.
Title: Re: The horror within horror
Post by: Mr.Obvious on September 12, 2019, 02:11:08 PM
I like horror. But have grown too accustomed to it, last movie that unnerved me was hereditary. Before that? Maybe the ring, when I was a child.

Zombie flicks don't scare me either, but they do give me nightmares.
Title: Re: The horror within horror
Post by: Unbeliever on September 12, 2019, 02:21:12 PM
Most horror movies don't scare me at all, because I know those monster don't exist. The ones that scare me are the ones that could actually happen, Like chainsaw massacres, and such. Or Misery, by King. That was pretty scary.
Title: Re: The horror within horror
Post by: SGOS on September 12, 2019, 02:57:50 PM
Quote from: Unbeliever on September 12, 2019, 02:21:12 PM
Most horror movies don't scare me at all, because I know those monster don't exist. The ones that scare me are the ones that could actually happen, Like chainsaw massacres, and such. Or Misery, by King. That was pretty scary.
When the first Exorcist made it's big debut, my wife told me that some psychologists had done some research on its effects, because the movie and the book had notoriously affected people in big ways.  She said that those who were most affected were people of faith.  Atheists were mostly unaffected, and the people of faith group was broken down into two sub groups.  Now this if from memory from way back but faith was broken down into strong faith and weak faith, and I think the group that was disturbed by the movie the most was the weaker faith group.  At that time of my life, I would have been in the weak faith group.  I had serious doubts but I was trying to hang on to my Christian upbringing, and trying desperately to find some logic in it.  I had definitely made room for it in my perspective, but essentially I was on my way out the door.  As I noted, that movie and the book kept me awake for months.
Title: Re: The horror within horror
Post by: Munch on September 12, 2019, 02:58:36 PM
Quote from: Unbeliever on September 12, 2019, 02:21:12 PM
Most horror movies don't scare me at all, because I know those monster don't exist. The ones that scare me are the ones that could actually happen, Like chainsaw massacres, and such. Or Misery, by King. That was pretty scary.

psychological horrors are great. I would suggest the babadook, because that movie has different layer to it that can be interpreted, [spoiler]does she start to go insane from grief and overwhelming stress and loss, or is she being possessed by something that can't be explained.  [/spoiler]
Title: Re: The horror within horror
Post by: Munch on September 12, 2019, 03:03:52 PM
Quote from: SGOS on September 12, 2019, 02:57:50 PM
When the first Exorcist made it's big debut, my wife told me that some psychologists had done some research on its effects, because the movie and the book had notoriously affected people in big ways.  She said that those who were most affected were people of faith.  Atheists were mostly unaffected, and the people of faith group was broken down into two sub groups.  Now this if from memory from way back but faith was broken down into strong faith and weak faith, and I think the group that was disturbed by the movie the most was the weaker faith group.  At that time of my life, I would have been in the weak faith group.  I had serious doubts but I was trying to hang on to my Christian upbringing, and trying desperately to find some logic in it.  I had definitely made room for it in my perspective, but essentially I was on my way out the door.  As I noted, that movie and the book kept me awake for months.

I kinda felt the same way, although it was released in cinema before my time, it made a resurgence onto VHS years after when before it was deemed to horrific to be released to the public until then. When it was released, and advertised around, I was still in my late teens and dared myself to see it, this being around the time I was still on the fence with my own beliefs, thinking there could be things out there, their could be spirits or ghosts, there could be curses and such things, so watching this hit be then.

I can rewatch it today without those feelings anymore for obvious reasons, however its like something at the back of my mind still plays to that those feelings of fear that kept it up at night, kinda like your inner child.   
Title: Re: The horror within horror
Post by: trdsf on September 12, 2019, 03:05:24 PM
I have no patience for horror movies that rely on gore. The ones that sneak into your head and set up camp, those I like (in careful doses).

The original Blair Witch Project, that worked specifically because you never saw the 'monster'.  We saw it at an early afternoon matinee and I had been impressed enough by it, but I didn't realize how insidious the movie was until I climbed into bed that night and turned off the light and every normal nighttime noise sounded creepy.

The light came right back on, and I sat awake until an hour past sunup.
Title: Re: The horror within horror
Post by: Unbeliever on September 12, 2019, 03:14:01 PM
I recall one that was pretty good, called The Entity (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Entity).


Title: Re: The horror within horror
Post by: SGOS on September 12, 2019, 03:16:48 PM
Quote from: Munch on September 12, 2019, 03:03:52 PM
I kinda felt the same way, although it was released in cinema before my time, it made a resurgence onto VHS years after when before it was deemed to horrific to be released to the public until then. When it was released, and advertised around, I was still in my late teens and dared myself to see it, this being around the time I was still on the fence with my own beliefs, thinking there could be things out there, their could be spirits or ghosts, there could be curses and such things, so watching this hit be then.

I can rewatch it today without those feelings anymore for obvious reasons, however its like something at the back of my mind still plays to that those feelings of fear that kept it up at night, kinda like your inner child.   
I bought a copy for myself years later just because I considered it a classic.  It has little or no effect on me now.  I read the book first as it was making the rounds around the dorm and everyone was talking about it.  I couldn't believe the book scared me so bad.  About a year later the movie came out, so I knew the plot and movie followed the book exactly.  Even knowing what was going to happen I started wondering if I should be sitting there in the theater.  It may have been opening night. Half the college was there, and of course I was sitting in the middle of the row in a theater about to overflow.  Escaping would have been a major embarrassment, so I toughed it out, worried that I would be doing irreparable emotional damage to myself.  But here I am laughing as I write this.
Title: Re: The horror within horror
Post by: Baruch on September 12, 2019, 05:19:53 PM
Quote from: SGOS on September 12, 2019, 02:57:50 PM
When the first Exorcist made it's big debut, my wife told me that some psychologists had done some research on its effects, because the movie and the book had notoriously affected people in big ways.  She said that those who were most affected were people of faith.  Atheists were mostly unaffected, and the people of faith group was broken down into two sub groups.  Now this if from memory from way back but faith was broken down into strong faith and weak faith, and I think the group that was disturbed by the movie the most was the weaker faith group.  At that time of my life, I would have been in the weak faith group.  I had serious doubts but I was trying to hang on to my Christian upbringing, and trying desperately to find some logic in it.  I had definitely made room for it in my perspective, but essentially I was on my way out the door.  As I noted, that movie and the book kept me awake for months.

Catholic movies seem automatically Gothic to me, even if they have nothing particularly horror about them.
Title: Re: The horror within horror
Post by: Gawdzilla Sama on September 12, 2019, 05:39:19 PM
Quote from: Mike Cl on September 12, 2019, 02:03:31 PM
I remember in '53 I was taken by my grandparents to see a movie--I picked War of the Worlds (Gene Barry); they dropped me off and picked me up--so I watched it alone.  I then had to go back to their house and sleep upstairs by myself.  That movie scared the shit out of me!  Sleeping that night was not easy.  I have hated horror movies ever since.  I do remember seeing the Fly and Alligator People, in the early 60's--but those were not horror movies, what with their rubber costumes and poor special effects, but comedies.   Still don't like horror movies in general, tho.
I saw "The Last Man on Earth", with Vince Price, in the local one screen theater converted from a store. Early zombie movie. Price falls asleep in his wife's mausoleum and wakes up after dark, when the zombies are out. He has to fight his way out of the cemetery  and back to his little fortress.

After the movie was over I walked two miles to get back home, part of it through a cemetery.   In the dark.
Title: Re: The horror within horror
Post by: Gawdzilla Sama on September 12, 2019, 05:39:58 PM
Quote from: trdsf on September 12, 2019, 03:05:24 PM
I have no patience for horror movies that rely on gore. The ones that sneak into your head and set up camp, those I like (in careful doses).

The original Blair Witch Project, that worked specifically because you never saw the 'monster'.  We saw it at an early afternoon matinee and I had been impressed enough by it, but I didn't realize how insidious the movie was until I climbed into bed that night and turned off the light and every normal nighttime noise sounded creepy.

The light came right back on, and I sat awake until an hour past sunup.
I've hated POV movies ever since that one.
Title: Re: The horror within horror
Post by: Gawdzilla Sama on September 12, 2019, 05:42:20 PM
My sister and brother-in-law went with me to see "The Exorcist". Kathy chickened out and left for the lobby about half way through. After the movie Terry and I went to collect her and found she was the only girl there, six guys were also in the cluckers collection.
Title: Re: The horror within horror
Post by: SGOS on September 12, 2019, 06:50:54 PM
OK, so I just dragged out my DVD of the Exorcist.  I'm almost finished.  Now, knowing the plot and having watched at least 5 times, but not once in the last 5 years.  I would describe it as interesting, good plot, and what I might refer to as cinematically creepy.  That is, I can understand the intent, and see how it would feel at least creepy to downright terrifying to viewers, but all I feel is a critical interest in observing the film.  No jumps, no revulsion, or fears, and I'll sleep like a baby tonight.

To imagine it once had such an impact on me is perplexing.  I guess people just change.
Title: Re: The horror within horror
Post by: Unbeliever on September 12, 2019, 06:56:50 PM
I don't remember anything but being disgusted by The Exorcist. Not a movie I could watch more than once.
Title: Re: The horror within horror
Post by: Munch on September 12, 2019, 07:01:25 PM
Quote from: SGOS on September 12, 2019, 06:50:54 PM
OK, so I just dragged out my DVD of the Exorcist.  I'm almost finished.  Now, knowing the plot and having watched at least 5 times, but not once in the last 5 years.  I would describe it as interesting, good plot, and what I might refer to as cinematically creepy.  That is, I can understand the intent, and see how it would feel at least creepy to downright terrifying to viewers, but all I feel is a critical interest in observing the film.  No jumps, no revulsion, or fears, and I'll sleep like a baby tonight.

To imagine it once had such an impact on me is perplexing.  I guess people just change.

of course they do. In a way that itself had a narrative point one of the reviews had for IT chapters 1 and 2. In IT chapter 2, it takes place 27 years after the first movie, which means the characters in it are 27 years older and have experienced growing and changing. One of the issues in chapter 2 is how you'd think that what the adult versions of the characters from chapter 1 now fear 27 years later would be very different to what they feared as children.

the review raised a good point in how the things we fear as children won't be the same things we fear as adults, and the flaw of chapter 2 could have done a better job of showing this. Like me, the things I fear today are not the same as what I did as a child. As a child I developed a fear of losing my mother, that she'd die one day and I'd be without her, that kind of existential crisis hit me hard as a child, and while that fear is still in me, its not the same all consuming fear it had back then.

fears change and we evolve. I was terrified of movies like the exorcist or halloween or childsplay as child or teen, but today the things that scare me more are things like living alone, or not having access to the medication I need like my insulin, or money troubles.

Title: Re: The horror within horror
Post by: Baruch on September 12, 2019, 08:17:53 PM
Quote from: Unbeliever on September 12, 2019, 06:56:50 PM
I don't remember anything but being disgusted by The Exorcist. Not a movie I could watch more than once.

Just jealous you can't cuss out a Catholic priest as good as the girl could ;-)
Title: Re: The horror within horror
Post by: Unbeliever on September 12, 2019, 08:21:56 PM
Nah, just jealous of that crucifix...
Title: Re: The horror within horror
Post by: Hydra009 on September 12, 2019, 08:35:31 PM
Quote from: Mr.Obvious on September 12, 2019, 02:11:08 PMZombie flicks don't scare me either, but they do give me nightmares.
Me neither.  I feel bad for them, honestly.  Scanning the immediate area and figuring out how they died really tugs at the ol' heartstrings.

But TWD has a great twist that truly makes them scary again: not all zombies are zombies.  Some of them are living people disguised as zombies.  They can cause normal anti-zombie gameplans to fail spectacularly - leading the zombies around barricades/traps, ferreting out otherwise well-hidden survivors, using weapons unexpectedly, stealing items, etc.  A hell of a surprise!

And the worst part about it?  Every time you encounter a zombie, you're never quite sure what to expect.  Constantly second-guessing yourself can be just as costly as making a hasty decision in error, so you're handicapped either way.  And just a moment of hesitation can be deadly...
Title: Re: The horror within horror
Post by: SGOS on September 12, 2019, 10:27:21 PM
The problem with zombies is that seem to be evolving unusually fast.  You can't keep up with zombie lore because it changes so fast.  I'm continually crying out, "Hey, there not supposed to be able to do that."
Title: Re: The horror within horror
Post by: Hydra009 on September 12, 2019, 10:40:18 PM
Quote from: SGOS on September 12, 2019, 10:27:21 PM
The problem with zombies is that seem to be evolving unusually fast.  You can't keep up with zombie lore because it changes so fast.  I'm continually crying out, "Hey, there not supposed to be able to do that."
It's because your only pov is a survivor who likely has stayed put and whose knowledge is very limited.  We don't know everything because they don't know everything.

Also, T-virus.
Title: Re: The horror within horror
Post by: Gawdzilla Sama on September 13, 2019, 05:43:24 AM
And now some folks are going crazy because the gay guy died in "IT".
Title: Re: The horror within horror
Post by: SGOS on September 13, 2019, 06:25:02 AM
Quote from: Unbeliever on September 12, 2019, 06:56:50 PM
I don't remember anything but being disgusted by The Exorcist. Not a movie I could watch more than once.
At the time, it pressed the limits of vulgarity, and still does.  The juxtaposition of the sweet child spewing such vile and vulgar language was shocking and I even wondered how it made it past the censors.  Maybe they were only worried about exposing skin.  As I was trying to hang on to my religious faith at the time, dragging God and the supernatural into the vulgarity was extremely frightening for me.  It was also offensive, but mostly it frightened me personally.  I understand the book was written by a priest.  It may have been a rumor circulated at the time.  I never looked it up.
Title: Re: The horror within horror
Post by: Cavebear on September 15, 2019, 03:15:21 AM
Quote from: Shiranu on September 11, 2019, 09:45:10 PM
oh-wha Tahn-ah See-ahm.

Am I summoning an ancient being? Is that why you want me to repeat it's name?

It was a Summer Camp joke.  When you "catch it" phonetically, it means "Oh What An Ass I Am".  I was the 2nd to catch on.  A person less honest than I would have said I was the 1st, but I wasn't.

But there was that OMG moment when I did and whispered it to the senior scout who organized the joke.
Title: Re: The horror within horror
Post by: Gregory on March 06, 2020, 12:01:09 AM
"The horror! The horror!"  Good book.
Title: Re: The horror within horror
Post by: Baruch on March 06, 2020, 09:20:34 AM
Quote from: Gregory on March 06, 2020, 12:01:09 AM
"The horror! The horror!"  Good book.

Shit-posting Now?
Title: Re: The horror within horror
Post by: Munch on March 06, 2020, 01:08:50 PM
Quote from: Gawdzilla Sama on September 13, 2019, 05:43:24 AM
And now some folks are going crazy because the gay guy died in "IT".

Which is what happens in the book. Makes you wonder if it happened in the original TV adaptation decades ago if people would have reacted the same way.