Field Theory: Things that go bump in the night
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I avoid scary movies, actually most movies to be honest.
The book that freaked me out the most was American Psycho , absolutely no desire to see that movie despite Christian Bale. I had to put the book down every few pages to recover.
Another story that scared me I don't remember the name of or the author, but involved a person climbing a circular tower, never getting to the top and unable to stop as there was 'something' behind them. Of the 'nameless horror' genre I guess. -
Another story that scared me I don't remember the name of or the author, but involved a person climbing a circular tower, never getting to the top and unable to stop as there was 'something' behind them.
The story was called "Copyright Must Change".
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something that looks like a person but isn't moving or acting correctly.
The sequel to '28 days later' - '28 weeks later' - is not a particularly good film (or particularly scary), but some of the extras on the dvd are interesting.
Most of the zombie extras were played by professional dancers or people from that sort of background. People who were trained in body movement and could easily add a sort of unnatural jerky twitchiness to their movements, with their limbs or head moving in the 'wrong' manner when they run or attack.
By far and away the most unsettling thing to watch in the film.
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The story was called "Copyright Must Change".
Horrible. You long for someone to step on the zombie's face, just to put it out of it's misery, but the awful petty-pointscoring yibbling continues right through the end credits.
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By far and away the most unsettling thing to watch in the film.
Wait a minute, more unsettling than the crazed husband gouging his wife's eyes out in her hospital bed? That sort of stayed with me.
I quite liked Dead Ringers for creepy, unsettling but not overly gory body horror.
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more unsettling than the crazed husband gouging his wife's eyes out in her hospital bed?
'unsettling' more than 'gross'. Things that move in ways that they shouldn't stick with me more than plain old vanilla gross-out.
Although there was a large element of 'deeply unsettling' in that particular scene. Thanks for reminding me....
I think the thing with the dancers stuck with me because it made me think 'yes! of course! how clever' when I was watching the 'making of'.
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People who were trained in body movement and could easily add a sort of unnatural jerky twitchiness to their movements, with their limbs or head moving in the 'wrong' manner when they run or attack.
Ever seen that Tool video with the people (with antlers) on all fours swinging their heads? It's the same deal with dancers being used to create something very odd and unnerving. Blowed if I can remember the name of the song though
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I'll see your Tool video and raise you the Aphex Twin's Come to Daddy. I had a hard time watching it all the way through. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Az_7U0-cK0)
I find that the horror movies that scare/unsettle me most are the more "plausible" ones - anything with the breakdown of society, really. So yes, I thought 28 Days Later was bloody terrifying (though I saw it in Cambridge, so the initial sequence in the lab got a big laugh from the audience, who all recognised it as a reference to Huntingdon Life Sciences - kind of like spotting Shortland St actors in Hollywood movies).
Also not a big fan of torture porn (Saw, Hostel, etc). But I do really like zombie flicks, body horror (basically, Cronenbourg et al), and the aforementioned post-apocalyptic stuff. And I do have trouble sleeping afterwards sometimes too.
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Aphex Twin's Come to Daddy
Well, yeah definitely, but... Rubber Johnny?
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I find that the horror movies that scare/unsettle me most are the more "plausible" ones - anything with the breakdown of society, really.
I'm with you on that. I saw 28 Days Later when I was living in London. Those scenes of central London streets empty of people were just eerie.
Another unsettling film I saw recently (it was on the telly a couple of weeks ago) was Children of Men. Not exactly a classic horror film, but set in a world of horrors.
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Another unsettling film I saw recently (it was on the telly a couple of weeks ago) was Children of Men. Not exactly a classic horror film, but set in a world of horrors.
Philip Matthews (I think) noted in his Listener review for that week that the most unsettling thing about Children of Men is that all of the horrors seen there are real, just not all gathered in one place.
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Didn't quite finish that post... perhaps it's unsettling because although the central conceit is a bit far-out and unexplained, and the future setting might otherwise lead you into pushing it away as a tale of a far-way fictional world gone wrong, you're actually confronted on screen with events which we see happening every day in the world we live in right now.
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For disturbing can I recommend Pepping Tom. Just the last scene, when the killer dies but you can hear all the tapes of his father's "experiments" on him in the background. I first saw this film in a film studies class, at at the end everyone was totally creeped out by it.
I thought Saw was good, if a bit gory, because its central premise was about control and what you would do to survive. Similar to The Cube I guess, but not exactly horror.
Personally I find anything with possession, be it Satanic or otherwise, truly scares me. So that would be The Exorcist, various Body Snatcher films etc. Those keep me awake for ages afterwards. -
Ahhh fudge I always miss the coolest discussions.
Scary movies are like spicy food to me. I hate them, but I love the feeling you get while watching/eating them. The adrenalin, suspense etc.Two movies I had the misfortune of being shown as an under-5-year-old were De Lift and Arachnophobia. I think these explain my deep-seated fear of lifts and spiders...
28 days was good, I liked 28 weeks more the second time I saw it. It's got some good touches. The Descent is probably the best scary movie I've seen in a wee while. I was really, really, really annoyed with Cloverfield for ripping off the 'hey lets show the monsters that can't be seen through the camera's night vision' scene.
Genuinely 100% scary movies don't exist I don't think. There's just differing genres which freak people out a little. People who are queasy don't like gore flicks like Saw, Hostel etc. Those who analyse can't handle thrillers, because they build themselves up too much. Eventually all of them fall into hollywood conventions and can't be discerned from one another.
As for King, my family has a lot of his books. I liked Needful Things, especially the scene where the two guys club each other to death with baseball bats. And there's a short-story collection I've always wanted to read again. It's black and one of the stories is about a guy who is in a competition where you've gotta keep walking along a road or you get killed. I wish I knew its name so I could read it again. Can anyone help?
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Oh and when Resident Evil ripped off De Lift I was a bit sad too [the scene with the beheading]
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Yeah, The Exorcist would probably be top of my list. I saw the Director's Cut when it came out in the thertres - and by "saw", I mean "peeked at through my fingers".
That viewing contained some of the best audience reactions I've ever seen. The bit when the priest is sitting at home alone at night listening to the spooky backwards talking he's recorded, which is then interrupted by the telephone ringing VERY LOUDLY made the entire theatre jump, followed by a round of nervous laughter...
And the first time Regan starts acting genuinely weird in front of doctors (huge bulge forming in her throat, lifting her dress and screaming obscenities, etc) - as soon as that scene ended, there was complete silence, broken shortly after by someone up the front exclaiming "what the FUCK?" Cue more nervous laughter...
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one of the stories is about a guy who is in a competition where you've gotta keep walking along a road or you get killed. I wish I knew its name so I could read it again. Can anyone help?
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<blockquote>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Long_Walk</blockquote>
Wai thank yew kaind sah
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Bloody hell. Unafraid of the link to the Nazi death marches, was he?
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Long_Walk
Wai thank yew kaind sah
I think I've got that at home, I can lend it to you if I find it. It was part of the Richard Bachman collection and also contains the Running Man (love that film!)
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which is then interrupted by the telephone ringing VERY LOUDLY made the entire theatre jump, followed by a round of nervous laughter...
Jose Barbosa (on bfm) has a great story like this, I'll try and get him to write it up.
I was also remembering that there is a scene in Jurassic Park (spoiler) where they are clambering into the ceiling space and a raptor jumps at someone's legs. When I saw that at the movies I jerked my legs up instinctively. (stupid raptors)
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Unafraid of the link to the Nazi death marches, was he?
And the Bataan death march, the death marches during the Armenian Genocide.... Just think of it as a variation on a road movie.
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Zombie films are the best horror films. For some reason I just love them. Hopefully nothing to do with earning that nickname in 4th form math class, when I kept falling asleep.
And Hadyn you're a pussy, they're meant to give you nightmares, that's part of the fun...
One day someone will make the perfect zombie flick too, you know, one without the huge hole in the plot big enough to drive, well, a whole bunch of zombies through.
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Zombie films are the best horror films. For some reason I just love them.
Boy, do I have a blog post for you. (With masterful comment by our own Jake.)
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Watership Down = Hands Down most traumatising film ever experienced by kids of our generation. That beating exposed heart in the drain pipe. Holy Sheeat. WTF were my parents thinking.
They were probably thinking, "Oh, a cute cartoon with bunnies in it!!!!" without realising the horrible reality.
A friend of mine was so traumatised by Watership Down that he actually had to get councilling as a child :(
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