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Is there at least one person other than me here who found PA1 unimpressive and boring both times I saw it?  Maybe I missed something. I thought finding the old burnt photo and staring at Mica for hours was creepy, but the movie didn't really resonate with me at all. Beyond the Black Rainbow was mentioned a few pages ago and while I wouldn't call it horror, it had some spooky bits. It was visually gorgeous. Very, very, very slow, but I liked it. The new Silent Hill sounds atrocious but I'm a sucker for awesome set, costume, and makeup/sfx design, and that's one thing the first one did right. I hate 3D so I might have to wait til this one's on dvd. I love SH3, did Robby the creepy bloody rabbit make an appearance?
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Oct 28, 2012 03:12
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Mr Wind Up Bird posted:I liked Cabin Fever and I guess I'm the only person on the planet in that regard. Don't get me wrong: it has a lot of parts that are totally loving dumb but I thought the flesh eating bacteria stuff was nice and gross and was kind of a fun dynamic to put the usual squad of teenage retards though. I just got to the scene where the girly-looking kid starts shouting 'pancakes', does a kung-fu routine and nearly bites a guy's hand off. I seriously don't know what the gently caress anymore. I agree that the idea's great, I just wish they'd gone more dark with it. There's a fine vein of body horror to be mined there, they just don't seem to know how to handle it. Whispering Machines posted:Is there at least one person other than me here who found PA1 unimpressive and boring both times I saw it? I legitimately enjoyed the first film, but that's basically how I felt watching the second. There was all of one good shock in it (the kitchen scene), everything else bored me senseless.
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Oct 28, 2012 03:15
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penismightier posted:I've said it many times, but seeing each one of the first three opening night are among my favorite theater experiences. Each is just so fun, genuinely creepy, and impressively lo-fi almost structuralist genre filmmaking. We take them for granted, and they are FANTASTIC pieces of filmmaking. Yup. You had people talking about having nightmares, nightmares for heaven's sake! from a movie that has no monster in it.
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Oct 28, 2012 03:25
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Kaboom Dragoon posted:the girly-looking kid starts shouting 'pancakes', does a kung-fu routine and nearly bites a guy's hand off Easily the best part of the movie. I mean, I enjoyed the whole thing, but the utter randomness of this scene just sets it apart.
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Oct 28, 2012 03:35
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Whispering Machines posted:Is there at least one person other than me here who found PA1 unimpressive and boring both times I saw it? I mean, some movies just don't, but out of curiosity, in what circumstances did you see it?
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Oct 28, 2012 03:36
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I love Cabin Fever, even the stupid humor that Eli Roth puts into it, it just all works for me I guess.
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Oct 28, 2012 03:37
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I really like Cabin Fever 2 and it's a shame Ti West disowned it. Granted the epilogue is awful but the rest of the movie is pretty entertaining.
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Oct 28, 2012 03:43
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Whispering Machines posted:Is there at least one person other than me here who found PA1 unimpressive and boring both times I saw it? There's nothing wrong with having different things push your horror buttons than others. A whole bunch of perfectly intelligent people here talked about how The Ring was terrifying for them. I consider myself a horror pussy and I found The Ring boring with only two decent moments (Amber Tamblyn's problem skin and Samara's line about how she wants to hurt people). Yet the PA movies wreck me while I'm watching them. HUNDU THE BEAST GOD posted:The haunted house ride analogy is totally apt though: all the dead air, "nothing happening", down time and completely mundane setting are designed to foster audience participation. It's kind of impressive that PA1 essentially has like two scares in it. Can you name the last horror movie that makes you sit still for a whopping two scares? People who huff and puff about how a slamming door is totally not scary are missing it entirely. Yep, I've been saying for a long time that I don't think of them as being conventional movies. They are rides that just happen to use film and movie theaters rather than dark houses and cars on tracks.
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Oct 28, 2012 03:46
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HUNDU THE BEAST GOD posted:I really like Cabin Fever 2 and it's a shame Ti West disowned it. Granted the epilogue is awful but the rest of the movie is pretty entertaining. Well, if the producers hadn't gone behind his back and re-shot a bunch of stuff, he probably wouldn't have. Still, the final product was fun but a true Ti West Cabin Fever sequel would be interesting to see.
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Oct 28, 2012 03:47
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Ahh, guess I don't know the whole story on that. As I understood it, they shot that ending and butchered the rest in editing but had no idea they actually reshot stuff.
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Oct 28, 2012 04:07
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penismightier posted:I mean, some movies just don't, but out of curiosity, in what circumstances did you see it? Saw it with a couple of friends in a crowded theater the first weekend it opened. None of us thought it was anything special. I think part of it was how overhyped it was for us, and how annoying I found Mica to be. I didn't really care what happened to any of them. My first time seeing The Ring was pretty much the opposite- knew absolutely nothing about it, theater was relatively quiet (just me and some friends), and I was absolutely terrified at how malevolent this ghost was, the (I guess the blueish tint is overused now, but it was effective then) cold, claustrophobic and kind of grimy atmosphere, and thought the actors were great.
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Oct 28, 2012 04:11
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I saw Paranormal Activity 1 alone in my room at night, and I still thought it was great. I do love watching horror movies with a crowd though, for sure.
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Oct 28, 2012 04:47
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I think what works best about PA is that it is so bland, most of the time. Lord knows most of my home life is an utter snore, so it connects. The idea that, just out of line of sight, something just slightly odd is going on while I sit on the couch, fanning through a magazine and chatting with my fiancee about what we should do for dinner while the ac blankets our nondescript railroad apartment with white noise, is what makes the films work so well, when they do work. When they don't work you get poo poo like the million witch march at the end of PA4.
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Oct 28, 2012 05:10
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When I get back home to my copy of PA I'm gonna take some screenshots, because - like Blair Witch - it's got a really unique and creepy look. Such an effective use of space - I mean how many shots are Micah and Katie hugging in the corner of a huge frame, overwhelmed by the scale of their home which they've lost control of (it was perfectly timed to tap into the housing collapse fears). I love shots like this, which shoot an empty bed like an Arabian desert, complete with dunes. It's alongside Day of the Dead and Dawn of the Dead for movies shot almost entirely inside which tap into the fear of vast empty spaces . 
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Oct 28, 2012 05:14
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I really liked Paranormal Activity but I have absolutely zero desire to watch any of the sequels ever.
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Oct 28, 2012 05:16
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LtKenFrankenstein posted:I really liked Paranormal Activity but I have absolutely zero desire to watch any of the sequels ever. I haven't seen 4 yet, but 2 and 3 are pretty good, man. 2 draws from MR James's Casting the Runes, which Drag Me To Hell was the most recent adaptation of (plot spoilers, if you don't know the deal with 2 yet), and 3 adds an oscillating camera conceit which really adds to the feeling of losing control.
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Oct 28, 2012 05:19
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I watched the first Paranormal Activity without seeing a single preview or even really having heard about it beforehand, and I loved it. The overwhelming sense of dread and hopelessness is excellent.
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Oct 28, 2012 05:22
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penismightier posted:3 adds an oscillating camera conceit which really adds to the feeling of losing control. I can see where you're coming from with this, but I felt the oscillating camera really telegraphed a lot of the scares.
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Oct 28, 2012 05:23
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CopywrightMMXI posted:I can see where you're coming from with this, but I felt the oscillating camera really telegraphed a lot of the scares. Which ones?
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Oct 28, 2012 05:27
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penismightier posted:Which ones? A lot of the movie in general was affected by this. You'd see a shot where one room looked normal. The camera would then go to the next room and return. I was expecting to see something had changed in the first room when the camera returned. I didn't specifically expect a sheet-ghost for example, but I felt that something would be off when the camera returned to the first room.
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Oct 28, 2012 05:33
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CopywrightMMXI posted:A lot of the movie in general was affected by this. You'd see a shot where one room looked normal. The camera would then go to the next room and return. I was expecting to see something had changed in the first room when the camera returned. I didn't specifically expect a sheet-ghost for example, but I felt that something would be off when the camera returned to the first room. See I got kind of the opposite effect, because I feel like it faked you out with that expectation a lot. You'd have to wait three or four rotations for something to be amiss. But I can't really be specific since I haven't seen it since theaters. How 'bout that ending, though?
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Oct 28, 2012 05:34
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I've seen PA 1 and 2. I think they're both fun movies, that haunted house analogy was pretty apt I think. I know 3 recently hit Netflix, maybe I'll check it out. Speaking of annual horror movie series, I finished Saw VI. I still quite like that movie, it's probably up there with the original 3 in quality. The trap gauntlet works for similar reason why it works in 3, we get to at least know something about the person going through it and it helps that the twist is entertaining. I'm warming up to Hoffman more and more, the final scene with him is amazing and I don't know how I forgot it happened. John Kramer continues to show that he is some sort of amazing mastermind, able to predict the actions of people months after his death. I do have a question about the Saw timeline that I don't think will be addressed in 7, maybe someone here can answer this. I thought Paul, the fat man in the barb wire trap from Saw 1, was supposed to be the first Jigsaw killing. As in, from how the detectives and police talk about it it's the first one they find. But in 5, it's revealed that Hoffman helped set up that trap. Which means there were enough Jigsaw traps found by the police to give Hoffman the idea to copy them in the first place. Is this right? Usually the movies are a bit better at retconning this stuff so it still sorta makes sense in the prior movies, I guess I'm just a bit confused.
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Oct 28, 2012 05:40
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penismightier posted:See I got kind of the opposite effect, because I feel like it faked you out with that expectation a lot. You'd have to wait three or four rotations for something to be amiss. But I can't really be specific since I haven't seen it since theaters. You mean with the witches? I kind of like these movies being more vague than having a specific mythology. That`s a minor nit-picking thing though. I`m more into the atmosphere of the films than the storyline.
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Oct 28, 2012 05:43
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CopywrightMMXI posted:You mean with the witches? I kind of like these movies being more vague than having a specific mythology. That`s a minor nit-picking thing though. I`m more into the atmosphere of the films than the storyline. I ignore any kind of mythology, but man that shot of witches behind the door just standing facing the camera made me jump like a little baby girl. The folded over spine was probably the best final stinger of the series, which always tends to end a little weakly.
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Oct 28, 2012 05:46
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penismightier posted:I ignore any kind of mythology, but man that shot of witches behind the door just standing facing the camera made me jump like a little baby girl. The folded over spine was probably the best final stinger of the series, which always tends to end a little weakly. The folded over spine was awesome. The other shot you mentioned was a great jump scare as well.
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Oct 28, 2012 06:00
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CopywrightMMXI posted:The folded over spine was awesome. The other shot you mentioned was a great jump scare as well. The other scare is kind of weird in that the dad doesn't react at all to what he's filming. He just kind of pans around and keeps moving at a regular pace in the other direction, rather than saying anything or breaking into a run. And neither does anybody else, although they might know that they don't have to.
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Oct 28, 2012 06:06
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I'm liking Shutter, it's a Thai horror film on Netflix. Haven't seen the American version. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shutter_(2004_film)
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Oct 28, 2012 06:09
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Jack Gladney posted:The other scare is kind of weird in that the dad doesn't react at all to what he's filming. He just kind of pans around and keeps moving at a regular pace in the other direction, rather than saying anything or breaking into a run. And neither does anybody else, although they might know that they don't have to. I kind of expect that from any found-footage movie. I just accept that that sort of thing happens and I don't let it affect my suspension of disbelief.
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Oct 28, 2012 06:13
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^^^V/h/s is really good about thisWhispering Machines posted:The new Silent Hill sounds atrocious but I'm a sucker for awesome set, costume, and makeup/sfx design, and that's one thing the first one did right. I hate 3D so I might have to wait til this one's on dvd. I love SH3, did Robby the creepy bloody rabbit make an appearance? It's really, really loving awful. The dialog is garbage and the acting is worse. Characters spend a good third to half of the movie just spouting off exposition, most of it relating to the plot of the first movie. Also one of the biggest set pieces, the mannequin spider just looks goofy as hell--the cgi doesn't work well at all.
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Oct 28, 2012 06:16
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Jack Gladney posted:The other scare is kind of weird in that the dad doesn't react at all to what he's filming. He just kind of pans around and keeps moving at a regular pace in the other direction, rather than saying anything or breaking into a run. And neither does anybody else, although they might know that they don't have to. I never thought about that but I love to think that he was just so burnt out on scary things that he just strolls off, his mind totally shattered but his body not giving a gently caress.
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Oct 28, 2012 06:16
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Heroic Yoshimitsu posted:I do have a question about the Saw timeline that I don't think will be addressed in 7, maybe someone here can answer this. I thought Paul, the fat man in the barb wire trap from Saw 1, was supposed to be the first Jigsaw killing. As in, from how the detectives and police talk about it it's the first one they find. But in 5, it's revealed that Hoffman helped set up that trap. Which means there were enough Jigsaw traps found by the police to give Hoffman the idea to copy them in the first place. Is this right? Usually the movies are a bit better at retconning this stuff so it still sorta makes sense in the prior movies, I guess I'm just a bit confused. Yeah, it seems like this was given a vague handwave as one of the first, rather than the first somewhere, but yeah, that's a plot hole.
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Oct 28, 2012 06:41
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penismightier posted:When I get back home to my copy of PA I'm gonna take some screenshots, because - like Blair Witch - it's got a really unique and creepy look. I'd love to see someone do a shot for shot analysis of PA1 like what was done for Transformers and American Psycho because I've seen this movie four times trying to figure out why a person would like it and it never has. The first time, I was doing something else. The second was Rifftrax and for the other two I focused my attention solely on the movie, daring its inner brilliance to reveal itself to me. I found that even with Rifftrax it was boring (which has never happened before). Just that one picture you posted up has me interested in it again but I doubt the fifth time would be the charm unless someone tells me exactly what to look for since my version of analysis is "i like when that happened" or "that looked cool." For the record, I did like PA3 because I felt like stuff actually happened in it.
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Oct 28, 2012 09:23
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Skywalker OG posted:Just that one picture you posted up has me interested in it again but I doubt the fifth time would be the charm unless someone tells me exactly what to look for since my version of analysis is "i like when that happened" or "that looked cool. It's probably just not for you. People like different things.
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Oct 28, 2012 09:32
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actionjackson posted:I'm liking Shutter, it's a Thai horror film on Netflix. Haven't seen the American version. They nailed the ending of the American Shutter but the rest is crap. The Thai one is better.
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Oct 28, 2012 14:05
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I just watched V/H/S last night and... gently caress found footage movies and the whole genre (even though I liked Blair Witch, Chronicle and some of the PA stuff). It's just so played out. I find it really hard to watch a feature length film, even broken up as an anthology, shot entirely in hand held shaky-cam, it's just annoying as hell anymore. Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad in an anthology like V/H/S if the stuff in between the individual video vignettes wasn't also shaky-cam and we didn't have to buy into the trope that everyone runs around with video cameras and laptop Skype streaming all the time, even when they are running for their life. The fact that all the characters in all the stories in V/H/S are pretty much twentysomething fratboy Brosephs running around being Broseph/Brohims makes it about a million times more annoying. There are a few clever ideas, but in my opinion the found footage format constrains and limits how effective those ideas are rather than making them any more effective. I mean I understand the low budget allows the movie to be made in the first place, but enough already, I really don't feel like watching any more of these found footage movies unless they either do something really clever with the technique to justify it, or have characters and stories that are pretty well written (which I thought was the case in Chronicle) where I would probably have enjoyed it in any format. They just look lovely and make me feel kind of lovely watching them. I realize these movies are incredibly cheap to make and can turn a profit even on modest sales, so this poo poo is here to stay and I am an old man railing against the tides, but gently caress it already, enough is enough. I wish at least some modest percentage of these movies could actually be GOOD.
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Oct 28, 2012 15:19
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It's funny because to me, V/H/S is the only found footage movie to do anything genuinely interesting with the format since Blair Witch Project (unless you count District 9).
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Oct 28, 2012 15:23
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I've never seen PA3 but every time anyone was talking about the oscillating fan, I imagined a camera pointed down and taped to a ceiling fan spinning around and around, and was confused why everyone kept saying it was awesome. I've been imagining that camera angle for over a year now and could never understand why people weren't getting nauseous.
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Oct 28, 2012 16:15
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935 posted:I've never seen PA3 but every time anyone was talking about the oscillating fan, I imagined a camera pointed down and taped to a ceiling fan spinning around and around, and was confused why everyone kept saying it was awesome. I've been imagining that camera angle for over a year now and could never understand why people weren't getting nauseous. Oscillating doesn't mean spinning around, it refers to a table fan that swings back and forth.
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Oct 28, 2012 16:27
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Jmcrofts posted:It's probably just not for you. People like different things. This is true, BUT it's definitely the kind of movie you need to throw yourself into, and seeing it twice without paying attention/actively watching it mocked really takes the wind out of its sails. I found some caps I had kicking around from an unmade blog post - look at the consistently vast, empty, aggressively lopsided (queasily unbalanced) framing:   This one is great and one of those things you can only pull off in found footage without Raimi-esque overt stylization - look at how everything is off-kilter except the perfectly vertical and horizontal lines of Micah and Katie who are still our inlet into the story and OSTENSIBLY our anchor (depending on how fast you pick up on the fundamentally damaged relationship).         The visual sense actually reminds me a lot of a scaled-down version of The Shining, with those big interiors, wide-angle lenses, and the sense of being trapped within architecture.  Ya know what? gently caress it, when I get a minute in early November I am going to do that shot-by-shot PA breakdown. penismightier fucked around with this message at 16:50 on Oct 28, 2012 |
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Oct 28, 2012 16:37
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^ I like these types of posts, because I am not great at reading film visually, so this helps a lot.
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Oct 28, 2012 17:01
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