Films you've seen recently and would unreservedly recommend:

[Slothrop]

Is the cars that ate Paris worth inclusion? I've only seen it once and that was late at night, but I remember it being pretty messed up...

 

[nochexxx]

The Haunting use of sound genuinely freaked me out. if you've ever had to live in a house where noise is not permitted then you may be just as disturbed as i was. good film.

 

[droid]

i enjoyed TCM, but, to my mind the ending didn't make sense.

the victim tries to escape via the truck. she climbs in the truck but decides to leave through the other door, as does the driver. i don't get why they didn't drive away? it's comical.

the other puzzling thing with the ending is the blonde victim suddenly becomes brunette? is that the same actor with different coloured hair? if so, did shy dye it so spite the director? or did they have to use another actor?

the films concept of redundant slaughter-house butchers gone mad because their inhumane primitive killing techniques has been outmoded is a funny idea! great film.

IIRC, Leatherface is sawing at the door and they panic and jump out. The girls hair is the same colour, but looks different in the dusk light.

'Deranged' is a very entertaining, but totally different take on the events that inspired TCM.

Id have to give the shining best horror of all time. The atmosphere is unbelievable tense and creepy throughout, and it looks incredible.

Anyone see 'the descent'? One of my favourite horrors from the past decade.

 

[empty mirror]

^ i agree with you on The Descent
i had no expectations whatsoever but it blew back my wig
wanted to watch it again as soon as it ended

i've had two people (that i know, in person, like) recommend Don't Look Now
i guess i've got to jump on that
it is in my n-flix streaming queue so...

i've seen Blind Beast described as a horror flick but i reckon it is more of a love story of sorts

 

[baboon2004]

A friend reckons Fire Walk with Me should be in the list as well - I imagine that's fairly controversial on a couple of points...

Yoru friend is so right. Brilliant, briliant film. But incrdidbly decisive. Personally, Sheryl Lee's performance is one of my favourite ever. Lynch's best film?

 

[baboon2004]

i enjoyed TCM, but, to my mind the ending didn't make sense.

the victim tries to escape via the truck. she climbs in the truck but decides to leave through the other door, as does the driver. i don't get why they didn't drive away? it's comical.

the other puzzling thing with the ending is the blonde victim suddenly becomes brunette? is that the same actor with different coloured hair? if so, did shy dye it so spite the director? or did they have to use another actor?

the films concept of redundant slaughter-house butchers gone mad because their inhumane primitive killing techniques has been outmoded is a funny idea! great film.

Indeed a great film. Certain things are puzzling, you're right, but the film is so dreamlike that I take those inconsistencies much more easily than I would in a more 'realist' film. Some of the shots Tobe Hooper gets are masterly. What happened to him - Poltergeist is so meh.

Edit: As to Cars That Ate Paris, Peter Weir has a definite way with a haunting atmosphere. Still meaning to watch the Last Wave - the reviews make it sound amazing.

 

[slim jenkins]

Henry: Portrait of A Serial Killer is horrorble...went with a gang to see it at the Scala back when I was braver....lead to a big debate afterwards and somehow I think I'm still getting over it...

...agree about the sound in The Haunting, quite brilliant....when 'it' hits the door I still tremble...

 

[BSquires]

i enjoyed TCM, but, to my mind the ending didn't make sense.

the victim tries to escape via the truck. she climbs in the truck but decides to leave through the other door, as does the driver. i don't get why they didn't drive away? it's comical.

the other puzzling thing with the ending is the blonde victim suddenly becomes brunette? is that the same actor with different coloured hair? if so, did shy dye it so spite the director? or did they have to use another actor?

the films concept of redundant slaughter-house butchers gone mad because their inhumane primitive killing techniques has been outmoded is a funny idea! great film.

It's a while since I've seen it but I think the hair colour is just a trick of the light...

You might like Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 although it is a different take on the southern gothic thing - didn't see it mentioned much in Dennis Hopper's obituary though...

Why the hate for Requiem? Alway's interested in the opposite view when it comes to films...

 

[IdleRich]

"Glad you like I Spit On Your Grave - it's not for everyone but its much better than its reputation I think..."

It polarises opinions I think. It's so primitive and empty but all the more effective for that. I can imagine that some people were titillated by it though.

"worst film ever."

I've always known you were a man of taste Dave.

"Anyone see 'the descent'? One of my favourite horrors from the past decade."

Yeah, that was great. And that trick ending was a real nasty surprise.

 

[IdleRich]

"Why the hate for Requiem? Alway's interested in the opposite view when it comes to films..."

I just found it very heavy-handed and overly sentimental. From the start it seemed to use lots of transparently cheap tricks to try and make you feel sorry for the mother and the other characters seemed paper thin. It's a long time since I've seen it but I'm sure that there was more than that that I disliked. It didn't leave much of an impression on me to be honest. Unlike Irreversible which I disliked almost as much but which did at least give me something to think about later. Am I right in saying that RFAD the film is set in the nineties or am I remembering it wrong?

 

[droid]

It's a while since I've seen it but I think the hair colour is just a trick of the light...

You might like Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 although it is a different take on the southern gothic thing - didn't see it mentioned much in Dennis Hopper's obituary though...

Its appalling though. Grossed pretty well, but its basically a comedy. Some entertaining stuff featuring Dennis Hopper going mental with chainsaws in slow motion.

Hooper went swiftly downhill from TCM apart from some of the OK bits in Salem's lot.

 

[droid]

Yeah, that was great. And that trick ending was a real nasty surprise.

In the US version there is no trick ending - hence the odd situation of the US only sequel - which is shit btw.

 

[droid]

Also - 'a serbian film' probably trumps martyrs for me wrt genuine unpleasantness.

 

[bandshell]

Also - 'a serbian film' probably trumps martyrs for me wrt genuine unpleasantness.

Martyrs was crap. The ending was pretty unsettling but, like most horror films these days, it just bludgeons you over the head with ott gore strung together by a ropey plot.

Srpski Film was alright. It shot itself in the foot a bit if it was meant to have any underlying message.

Srpski Film = The Aristocrats.

 

[IdleRich]

"In the US version there is no trick ending - hence the odd situation of the US only sequel - which is shit btw."

Seems a strange decision to omit that.

"Also - 'a serbian film' probably trumps martyrs for me wrt genuine unpleasantness."

I'm supposed to be seeing that at the weekend.

 

[droid]

As far as exploitation is concerned I really don't rate 'i spit' (the DVD was banned again here last month and believe it or not, there's a remake coming). I do however think cannibal holocaust is bloody amazing and that's arguably way nastier and more lacking in redeeming features.

 

[droid]

Seems a strange decision to omit that.

stinks of american test screening disease to me. Obviously an optimistic ending scored better.

 

[IdleRich]

Yeah, I guess that's it but those decisions are almost always wrong - from my point of view at least.
Never seen Cannibal Holocaust or the other one, Cannibal Ferox is it?

One of the creepiest and most disturbing films I've ever seen is Through the Looking Glass - a bizarre mixture of hardcore pornography, incest and a demon who finally traps his victim in hell in a scene reminiscent of those in Jigoku or The Awakening of the Beast. I really don't know who they thought would be knocking one out to the horrible ending. I felt more like having a bath.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075324/usercomments

My friend who loaned it to me said that there are lots of so-called art films that basically ended up being porn but, as far as he knows, this is the only time that someone set-out to make a porno and ended up with an art film. If there are others though I'd be keen to know about them.

 

[IdleRich]

I love this quote from one of the reviews

her father (played quite well by Jamie Gillis, who incidentally will always be most applauded by me for his role as Burt, the Enema Bandit in WATER POWER...)

Haven't seen that one.

 

[nochexxx]

It's a while since I've seen it but I think the hair colour is just a trick of the light...

whatever the case may be, it certainly didn't hinder my enjoyment.

You might like Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 although it is a different take on the southern gothic thing - didn't see it mentioned much in Dennis Hopper's obituary though...

could be good for a giggle.

Why the hate for Requiem? Alway's interested in the opposite view when it comes to films...

tbf, an Eastenders omnibus would have been less irritating to watch. each inch of precious film stock, wasted on the same vacuous point (i don't remember what it was excatly, it's been more than a long while since ..........), added to which, the overly dramatic music, reinforced everything i hated about the films tropes. i felt violated, as if an annoying nanny insisted on patting me down every second with ultra wet baby-wipes.