Let's Talk About Horror Some More!

[Serpentine]

I didn't mean to let this thread die, and also don't wanna commit threadomancy.

So. I watched The Witch the other night. Interesting movie, especially with all the historical research it seems they put into it. I think eventually I'd like to watch it again, keeping in mind the idea that

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everything that happens is just due to ergot poisoning from the ruined corn. Nothing supernatural, just hallucinations and drug-induced mania.

[SpiderSilkWings]

The Witch bothered me deeply because its world seems to be one where all of the awful horrors this particular brand of Puritan culture believes in are real and out there and work pretty close to how they imagine it does, but the forces they believe can protect them seem impotent. A lot of my feelings are personal bias, though, as a Christian who spent most of the film trying to figure out what the creators wanted to say about religion, and getting lost in the tangle of interpretations as a consequence. I loved watching it for its atmosphere and dialogue, but I guess the whole thing came across as more soul-crushing than frightening to me?

But maybe that was the intent.

[Fri]

It's an annoyingly common trope, where apparently supernatural evil exists, but supernatural good doesn't.

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but a common reading of the movie is that it might be all just hallucination from ergot poisoning, since people note that all the signs on their wheats show that it's infected with ergot

[Kid Jake]

I haven't seen the movie personally, but narratively speaking I can understand where the whole 'evil exists but good doesn't' angle comes from; especially in a horror movie. A lot of the tension goes out of a situation when characters have a way to effectively combat whatever boogeyman's messing up their night right out of the gate.

[Fri]

I'm fine with it really, and as you said, the reason is obvious. But sometimes it's still weird. It's mostly jarring on religious horror, I mean, if it's alien movie, and your gun doesn't affect them because they have thick carapace, it's not as jarring. As with if zombies keep appearing and you can't cure them, or Jason survives being stabbed a billion time. It's just on things like the Exorcist movie or equivalent.

Interestingly, I remember some sort of... twist? Something like that? I don't remember the title, but it's a novel about zombie apocalypse, with worse zombie rule than usual. But basically, it turned out that it's not zombie apocalypse, but demonic invasion, and all the zombies are corpses posessed by demons or something like that. And despite all the struggles, everyone still die. But it turned out the "good" force also exist, but they decided that the demonic outbreak is uncontainable anymore, and basically they leave the unsalvageable earth for the "demons," but everyone who died got their soul transplanted to heaven or something in that line.

[JoshL]

Surely if anything is appropriate for thread necromancy, it's the horror thread! But anyway.

I haven't seen The Witch, it's on my to-watch list, just haven't gotten to it.

There's a trailer for a new Hellraiser sequel. It...well...it looks pretty. Probably better than the last, but really 1,2, 5 and 7 are the only ones really worth watching. So if there are more that I dislike than I do, does my perspective on the concept matter anymore? I'd really like them to get Barker back involved. Or for him to just do more movies. Lord of Illusions is crazy underrated.

Ash vs the Evil Dead is still fantastic, looking forward to the new season

[Serpentine]

I've only seen the first Hellraiser, and only recently. I really should get on that.

The Witch bothered me deeply because its world seems to be one where all of the awful horrors this particular brand of Puritan culture believes in are real and out there and work pretty close to how they imagine it does, but the forces they believe can protect them seem impotent. A lot of my feelings are personal bias, though, as a Christian who spent most of the film trying to figure out what the creators wanted to say about religion, and getting lost in the tangle of interpretations as a consequence. I loved watching it for its atmosphere and dialogue, but I guess the whole thing came across as more soul-crushing than frightening to me?

But maybe that was the intent.

I think one point you might be missing there is the specific flavour of that specific branch of Christianity at that specific time and in that specific context, and the nature of suffering and redemption and all of that, but I don't think we can really discuss that any further without bumping against forum rules.

But other interesting "religious horrors" are The Sacrament, which is based on the Jonestown massacre and deeply disturbing, and The Borderlands, a found footage haunting movie which only really gets remarkable in the very last minutes.

[Bohandas]

Anyone else watch the Evil Dead tV show?

[Serpentine]

Anyone else watch the Evil Dead tV show?

It's on my to-watch list, which is rapidly approaching my to-read list in size.

[S@tanicoaldo]

I like the witch because I'm a big fan of "Feel bad and uncomfortable" kind of horror not the "Jump scare" kind of horror, I don't like to feel startled I like to feel creped out, even more than frightened.

That's why this must be one of my favorite "Horror" pieces, it has everything I love, despite not being officially horror, the mood and the ideas are what I truly look for in a horror piece.

[JeenLeen]

I enjoyed watching season 1 of Ash vs. the Evil Dead. Nice, campy horror that doesn't take itself seriously.
I also recently watched Residue. It was pretty interesting, if you like trying to figure out what is going on. From the 'label' in Netflix, I figured it was going to be sorta campy like 80s B-movie horror, and I guess in some ways it was, but still overall a good horror movie that tried to take itself seriously. I guess it's just that some of the gore is sorta reminiscent of Evil Dead.

Creep and Creep 2 were pretty cool, especially if you like the tension of "is this dude a serial killer or not".

[JoshL]

Anyone else watch the Evil Dead tV show?

Yup, big fan. Loud, gory, cheesy, predictable but still makes me squirm, everything I've loved about Evil Dead. And everything the remake failed to get.

[JeenLeen]

Yup, big fan. Loud, gory, cheesy, predictable but still makes me squirm, everything I've loved about Evil Dead. And everything the remake failed to get.

I'm not caring for season 2. The 'children' are too creepy in a non-cheesey way, and it just seems more like modern horror graphics than the campy Evil Dead style. Ash & company still fit the style appropriately, but the enemies just seem a tad off (beyond the regular Deadites, of course).

I did love one line:

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Town member: "So he's the man who went crazy & chopped up his friends in that cabin."
Ash: "Hey! You nimrods have it all wrong. I knew exactly what I was doing when I chopped up my friends!"

I don't blame this show for plot holes, but I can't see how Ash doesn't have a warrant out for his arrest. It doesn't seem like he spent time in an asylum (insanity plea) or spent time in jail. I reckon he'd at least have been dumb enough to say he cut up his friends while they were already dead and get some charges of desecration of the dead. And it seems really like he'd get a few counts of murder.

[Serpentine]

I watched Don't Knock Twice on Netflix the other night. It was alright. Nothing mindblowing, but not terrible either. Pretty middle of the road, I guess.
But afterwards, something that happened right at the very end really bugs me. I don't know if I just missed something or what, but it makes no sense. If someone else has watched it, help me out? If you haven't, and you might, be aware that the spoiler below very much definitely does contain massive, massive spoilers.

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Why did whatserface kill the husband? What could she possibly gain? Was it before she was freed of the Baba Yaga? So does that mean she did it because the Baba Yaga want her to kill him for some reason? WHY?!
He was just some guy! Why did he have to die?!

[Bohandas]

Does anyone else listen to Insane Clown Possee and/or GWAR? Those bands' music make up a disproportionate portion of my Halloween playlist

[DuelingBlue]

Does anyone else listen to Insane Clown Possee and/or GWAR? Those bands' music make up a disproportionate portion of my Halloween playlist

I do!

Any love for One Eyed Doll?

[JoshL]

GWAR live are a trip, and I feel a lot of solidarity with the ICP fans, though not a huge fan of their music. I do like a couple songs (how do you NOT like Cemetery Girl?). Currently checking out One-Eyed Doll, not bad, definitely in the Rob Zombie tradition of spooky hard rock. Digging it so far!

Less rock, but I'd recommend Current 93's collaborations with horror author Thomas Ligotti, particularly "I Have A Special Plan For This World". "In A Foreign Town, In A Foreign Land" is wonderfully creepy too, but more ambient music. I like creepy spooky music!

[Serpentine]

Think I've got a new candidate for my meta-horror movie marathon: The Final Girls (not to be confused with The Final Girl, which is a very different but still solid movie).
Surprising trip on the feels train, though.

[Serpentine]

Just watched a Netflix movie called The Ritual (not to be confused with all the other The Rituals around the place... This one involved a bunch of British guys going for a hiking holiday in Scandinavia). It has one of the most original monsters I've seen.
Actual spoilers:

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I think maybe it's meant to be some bizarre interpretation of Sleipnir? It could sort of look something like a six legged horse if you squint in the dark, and it's referred to as "one of Loki's bastards sons". But why hang people in the trees? What waa it doing, collecting them? Like butterflies?

Original monster, good acting, good pacing, good effects. A little cliched in places, but other parts make up for it. I liked it and recommend giving it a look, especially if atmospheric monster movies are your jam.

[Bohandas]

I recently saw Winchester at the movies. That was pretty good. A fun little ghost story about the Winchester Mystery House

[Serpentine]

Oooo! I freaking love the Winchester Mystery House! One of the few reasons I'd like to go to the US some day! I'll definitely have to check that out.

[Brother Oni]

There's a new TV series called Requiem on the BBC (and will be later distributed on Netflix) that my wife recommends, although she not very good with horror films.

I enjoyed the Ash Vs The Evil Dead TV series simply because it's big, dumb and fun - the morgue scene in season 2 is both simultaneously incredibly horrific and hysterically funny.

[Serpentine]

I just watched Before I Wake and Dream Home, and I think both of them are great. I think I prefer Before I Wake a bit more, probably partly just because I like supernatural horror best, and it had some genuinely seriously creepy bits. Dream Home, I guessed something pretty early, but it has some pretty good twisting and interesting characters.

[JoshL]

I LOVED Before I Wake! Mike Flanagan is becoming one of my favorite directors (he also did Oculus and Hush, the latter I was surprised how much I liked. The former, well, I love mirror stories...). I have no idea why the theatrical release was shelved. Maybe the tone; it's almost more a dark fantasy/fairytale movie than a straight-up horror. But that's definitely a thing, and some of us love exactly that! Anyway, Flanagan is going to do Doctor Sleep, Stephen King's sequel to the Shining. Looking forward to that! Haven't seen Dream Home yet, but maybe I'll fix that tonight.

[Bohandas]

Anybody else here played Night in the Woods?

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It takes a sharp turn into Lovecraftian horror towards the end of the story.

[Kyberwulf]

Does anyone here listen to creepypasta narration? I find that they are pretty decent. Not the greatest, but it can be pretty good.

[S@tanicoaldo]

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Anybody else here played Night in the Woods? It takes a sharp turn into Lovecraftian horror towards the end of the story.

Dude, spoliers! WTF?

[Wookieetank]

Anybody else here played Night in the Woods?

Haven't played it yet, but I have played Oxen Free and Kentucky Route 0. They're both more eerie than outright scary, but they have more atmosphere than most other games.

[Serpentine]

Watched all of Ghost Wars. It's... okay. The acting is spotty, ranging from pretty decent to pretty terrible. In some places I think it's not exactly the acting that's the problem, but the lines they're meant to be acting out. Very reminiscent of The Mist and perhaps Under the Dome, and some really interesting ideas... just not executed particularly well.
I'll say it's an easy watch okay for filling in the time while you wait for the next season of The Mist and Stranger Things, 4/7

[Bhu]

I've only seen the first Hellraiser, and only recently. I really should get on that.


I think one point you might be missing there is the specific flavour of that specific branch of Christianity at that specific time and in that specific context, and the nature of suffering and redemption and all of that, but I don't think we can really discuss that any further without bumping against forum rules.

But other interesting "religious horrors" are The Sacrament, which is based on the Jonestown massacre and deeply disturbing, and The Borderlands, a found footage haunting movie which only really gets remarkable in the very last minutes.

You wanna see the Shrine too. I think I could explain the Witch anomaly, but it would definitely violate the no religion discussion.

I havent watched much horror lately I could discuss on GitP. Most of it seems to have fallen into serious wtf territory. When you watch a film and realize the story behind how it could have possibly been successfully pitched and made is more interesting than the film, thats a bad thing.