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Fart.Bleed.Repeat.
Sep 29, 2001

Craig Spradlin posted:

I'd also forgotten about Fallen, a moody, tense supernatural possession film with a great cast (Denzel Washington, John Goodman, James Gandolfini) and a sense of unease and paranoia delivered with minimal gore.

Plus you'll never be able to hear that song again without thinking of the movie... I bet it's starting already :)

Lot of good ones in this thread!

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f#a#
Sep 6, 2004

I can't promise it will live up to the hype, but I tried my best.

Craig Spradlin posted:

Yellowbrickroad is about a group of people investigating the legend of a small town in New Hampshire, whose inhabitants all picked up and walked up a trail into the woods one day in the 1930s. The team (a psychologist, photographers, cartographers, and a forest ranger) follow the trailhead used by the townsfolk and end up, well, nowhere good. Some people will try to tell you it's a ripoff of The Blair Witch Project, but they are wrong. The only thing it has in common with Blair Witch is the idea of people lost in a possibly-haunted forest. I thought it had more in common with what I'd think a film adaptation of The Navidson Record would be like.

Just saw this one over the weekend. Pretty decent indie flick that makes something great out of such a tiny budget. The first half? drat amazing. There are some really refreshing concepts that don't usually make their way into horror movies. It's a great tension that feels supernatural in a could-be-good-or-evil kind of way. But the instant the (spoiler for dummies who don't know how horror works) body count inevitably starts mounting, it just starts going downhill, rapidly accelerating, to the point where the last couple of minutes just kind of spoil the entire experience.

So if you do watch this, I'd honestly recommend cutting it off the instant you see a building in the frame, about five minutes before the end. Trust me, it's better that way.

CobiWann
Oct 21, 2009

Have fun!

JessJezzz posted:

Also, I was going to post The Relic in this thread, but I haven't seen it in such a long time that I didn't feel confident in recommending it - what do you guys think of the film?

The book it's based on by Preston and Child is much, much, MUCH better. Any time someone says they didn't like the movie, I lend them my well-worn paperback copy.

harry fontana
Feb 20, 2008

by T. Mascis


This movie is based on a short story which was also the inspiration for a twilight zone episode.

Anyways, the premise is that a couple in financial trouble gets a box with a red button in it. If they press the button they get a million dollars.
The catch? Someone who they don't know will die if they press the button.

A slow paced movie which goes really weird places, then takes a turn for the weird and becomes really unnerving.

Turada
Jun 17, 2006

On a mission from God
The Box is really weird, but good! Absolutely not what I was expecting, what I thought would be the entire point of the movie was dispensed with in the first ~20 minutes. Maybe I overrate it because I was taken by surprise, but I think it's worth a watch.

harry fontana
Feb 20, 2008

by T. Mascis
Yeah, same here.

Actually I saw it only a couple months ago after browsing the internet for some sci-fi-ish films I hadn't seen yet. For some reason this never showed up on my radar when it was released which is a shame, would've loved this on the big screen.

and oh boy that facial disfigurement :gonk:

harry fontana fucked around with this message at 08:02 on Aug 3, 2011

Execu-speak
Jun 2, 2011

Welcome to the real world hippies!

Sunday Punch posted:

THE INTERVIEW



The Interview is a claustrophobic and intense psychological thriller, and the film that really cemented my opinion that Hugo Weaving is an amazing actor. Most of the film takes place in a small interview room, where an accused man (Weaving) and a police detective (Tony Martin) engage in a psychological chess game. The dialog and the acting from the two leads are both fantastic, and the sparse supporting cast keeps the film focused and tense. It's sort of like a darker, more intimate variant of 12 Angry Men. Hugo Weaving can communicate a page of dialogue with a raised eyebrow or a twitch of the lips, he's just superb. I don't want to say too much about the plot, just watch it if you love films about mind games or with two main characters engaged in a verbal battle of wits.

I wish our (Australia's) cinema industry would produce more films like this one :(
Seconded, this movie is loving great!

Too bad the Australian film industry of today is a quagmire of horrible arthouse bullshit.

User-Friendly
Apr 27, 2008

Is There a God? (Pt. 9)

Craig Spradlin posted:

I'd also forgotten about Fallen, a moody, tense supernatural possession film with a great cast (Denzel Washington, John Goodman, James Gandolfini) and a sense of unease and paranoia delivered with minimal gore.

This movie rules. Definitely, definitely see it.

Sauce Mop
Oct 17, 2005

harry fontana posted:

The Box

Watch this parody called "The Button", it's especially hilarious just after seeing the movie.

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/44b3d8f432/the-button

harry fontana
Feb 20, 2008

by T. Mascis

Sauce Mop posted:

Watch this parody called "The Button", it's especially hilarious just after seeing the movie.

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/44b3d8f432/the-button

Hahaha, nice!

Edit: I just watched the trailer for this on youtube which is really horrible:
1. gives too much away
2. makes it seem like some kind of action movie
3. uses something sounding suspiciously like the "saw" theme

So these are probably the reasons I didn't watch it in a theatre back in 2009. Really why don't they market films for what they are? People who would've loved this don't go to see it and people who came with expectations set by that trailer would've been disappointed. Hollywood, I guess.

BTW it's the same director who made Donnie Darko.



It also has some morons going on in the youtube comments how they have read all the "books" before seeing the movie, and they changed way too much from the "books" while it is based on a loving short story. Jesus Christ.

harry fontana fucked around with this message at 02:03 on Aug 4, 2011

Fart.Bleed.Repeat.
Sep 29, 2001

Watched The Experiment last night, definitely fits this thread. Also, Forest Whitaker plays a pretty good hosed-up broken individual. I dunno if its the lazy eye, or that his 'normal' seems so low-key and mellow, slow and deliberate, that when he flips it's that much more dramatic

He played a season on The Shield as an IAD internal affairs investigator/detective that ended up being batshit crazy

JessJezzz
Jul 20, 2005

Pinchin' on the Ritz

Craig Spradlin posted:

I'd also forgotten about Fallen, a moody, tense supernatural possession film with a great cast (Denzel Washington, John Goodman, James Gandolfini) and a sense of unease and paranoia delivered with minimal gore.

Can't possibly second this recommendation enough. If there's one movie I've seen in this thread so far that fits these parameters the most, it's this one.

Dick Brophy
Apr 18, 2011

by Fistgrrl

lessthankyle posted:

you might want to check out Fermat's Room. I found it pretty entertaining if not entirely logical.
Ah, I caught Fermat's Room on IFC or Sundance one day, about a year or so ago. I liked it a lot. Haven't seen it since, and it's not streaming on Netflix or anything cheap like that. Boo.

I also saw The Box on tv a couple days ago. It confused the hell out of me for a while (although I admit I wasn't completely paying attention, the plotline did get a bit ridiculous). I enjoyed it up until a point. Actually, since I started reading this thread, quite a few of the movies you guys have mentioned have been on tv.

ANYWAY, content:
I don't know what category of horror this one fits in, but it's my absolute favorite; Phenomena (also called Creepers)


Being an Argento film, it's nearly the same plot as Suspiria except it's got Jennifer Connolly (pre-Labyrinth) and insects and a chimp and a hilariously unexpected "villain". I highly recommend it.

Crisco Kid
Jan 14, 2008

Where does the wind come from that blows upon your face, that fans the pages of your book?
Great thread. I used to think I hated horror, but then I realized I only hated slashers and gorenography -- psychological horror and thrillers I love. Okay, and paranoia-fueled Gothic costume dramas; I'm probably the only fan of the Coppola version of Bram Stoker's Dracula. Forget Keanu, the way Oldman's shadow had a life of its own was creepy as hell. If you're interested in body horror, check out half of Cronenberg's filmography: The Fly(1986), EXistenZ -- mentioned earlier in the thread, but enough can't be said about the themes of sexual fears and transmitted disease, The Brood, Videodrome, and Naked Lunch which could merit its own write-up.


David Fincher's The Game is more about straight-up paranoia. A rich investment banker approaches his 48th birthday, the same age his father committed suicide. What does his younger brother get for the depressed man who has everything? An invitation to play The Game -- a mysterious offering with no rules, no boundaries, and no clues as to who's in on it or not. He finds himself caught in The Game before he even knows it's begun.

On a semi-related note, I really wish Bravo would re-air their Scariest Movie Moments marathons on Halloween again. :( If it hadn't been for that I never would have seen Jacob's Ladder or Susperia.

echoplex posted:

Someone posted the cover of the Sorcerer soundtrack they had on vinyl, which was this image:



That's an incredibly captivating, intriguing image. I imagine the film is probably rubbish. But it's that bait-and-switch that got me watching a lot of terrible films (like The Keep).
What is it about this image? I saw a version with red text and I just couldn't stop looking at it, and eventually ended up saving it to my computer despite having no idea what the movie or album was about (and still not really knowing). A truck by a flooded river in the rain, big whoop, but it's mesmerizing.

Calculations
Apr 27, 2008
I just watched Yellowbrickroad. It's got a phenomenal set up, but the ending is tremendously disappointing. It's worth it just to enjoy the beginning, but I wouldn't get too excited for it.

Morpheus
Apr 18, 2008

My favourite little monsters

Calculations posted:

I just watched Yellowbrickroad. It's got a phenomenal set up, but the ending is tremendously disappointing. It's worth it just to enjoy the beginning, but I wouldn't get too excited for it.

Could you spoil the ending? I'm really curious as to what it is, but I don't want to watch the film and I can't find it anywhere.

MAXIMUM SWEAT
Apr 21, 2003

by Lowtax
I thought The Hole was awful. It end plays out like the movie is revealing to you what happened but by that point you've either figured it out yourself or are mentally challenged because they just about literally spell it out to you as the movie goes on. It's played out like theres some sort of huge plot reveal that she's really the killer. Maybe they were trying to show how manipulative she could be to the female cop but the whole movie was about how manipulative she is. Was redundant.

I really liked The Broken, it has some genuine scares that creep up on you because of how slow the movie is. The After Dark collections are usually some SyFy campy junk but this one was good. The only thing I didn't understand was the end where its like everyone is a shadow person and they're afraid of her for some reason? That kid just looks at her and books it? Then she cruises off in her car with a smile.

DickParasite
Dec 2, 2004


Slippery Tilde

MAXIMUM SWEAT posted:

I thought The Hole was awful. It end plays out like the movie is revealing to you what happened but by that point you've either figured it out yourself or are mentally challenged because they just about literally spell it out to you as the movie goes on. It's played out like theres some sort of huge plot reveal that she's really the killer. Maybe they were trying to show how manipulative she could be to the female cop but the whole movie was about how manipulative she is. Was redundant.

I really liked The Broken, it has some genuine scares that creep up on you because of how slow the movie is. The After Dark collections are usually some SyFy campy junk but this one was good. The only thing I didn't understand was the end where its like everyone is a shadow person and they're afraid of her for some reason? That kid just looks at her and books it? Then she cruises off in her car with a smile.

RE: The Broken

The kid is her brother that she warned earlier about the doubles, before she realized who (what) she was. He walks into the hall trying to pretend he has no emotions to gauge her reaction. Her gleeful smirk is her way of calling bullshit on his facade. He panics. .

I though The Broken was good, but that ending was one of my favorites.

Calculations
Apr 27, 2008

Morpheus posted:

Could you spoil the ending? I'm really curious as to what it is, but I don't want to watch the film and I can't find it anywhere.

You ready?

For the most part, I have no idea how to explain what happened, other than some Lovecraftian netherworld void where everyone went mad, heard music blaring at deafening volumes in the middle of the forest, virtually everyone died except the last man who wounded up paradoxically at the foot of the theatre from which he had originally intended to depart, but this time it's in 1940. He sits down and watches the film that was playing, only to find that it has been replaced with a twisted vignette of violent images of his dead/dying lover.

Cmon, folks! Don't let this thread die! There have got to be more awesome movies out there!

Where else can I look for good horror/psychological horror movies?

MeLKoR
Dec 23, 2004

by FactsAreUseless
The Haunting (1963) is pretty awesome in this department.



You never actually see anything apart from a door bending a little, it's mostly creepy sounds and the creepy house itself but holy poo poo did 13yo me have nightmares that night after watching it. The only other movie to cause me this was Carpenter's "The Thing".

The house were the action takes place in incredibly oppressing and drips with foreboding. Very slow paced by today's standards but I think very effective.
For the love of god ignore the remake with Catherine Zeta-Jones, it's a complete abortion.

Hazo
Dec 30, 2004

SCIENCE



Calculations posted:

Cmon, folks! Don't let this thread die! There have got to be more awesome movies out there!

Where else can I look for good horror/psychological horror movies?
You namedropped it heavily in your first post, but since, interestingly, nobody's directly addressed it so far...

Silent Hill is pretty drat good.



I absolutely love the "close, dark, and atmospheric" sub-genre of horror films (and this thread has given me many more to check out!), and while Silent Hill does get a little too gore-ish towards the end (which, in my opinion, drags it down), it definitely echoes similar movies like Jacob's Ladder, The Mist, and Session 9.

I've never touched the video game series, but:
The movie revolves around a woman stranded and searching for her daughter in a small abandoned community (allegedly based on on the modern-day perpetually-burning ghost town of Centralia, PA), whose atmosphere changes horifically every time the air raid siren goes off and subsequently makes every movie-goer poo poo him or herself.

...I'd like to include a video or sound clip here of the actual stand-alone air raid siren on which the movie sound effect was based, but over the years the Google results for "Silent Hill siren" have been replaced with kids begging for ringtones. Rest assured though, it's pretty creepy.

Levantine
Feb 14, 2005

GUNDAM!!!

Hazo posted:

You namedropped it heavily in your first post, but since, interestingly, nobody's directly addressed it so far...

Silent Hill is pretty drat good.



I absolutely love the "close, dark, and atmospheric" sub-genre of horror films (and this thread has given me many more to check out!), and while Silent Hill does get a little too gore-ish towards the end (which, in my opinion, drags it down), it definitely echoes similar movies like Jacob's Ladder, The Mist, and Session 9.

I've never touched the video game series, but:
The movie revolves around a woman stranded and searching for her daughter in a small abandoned community (allegedly based on on the modern-day perpetually-burning ghost town of Centralia, PA), whose atmosphere changes horifically every time the air raid siren goes off and subsequently makes every movie-goer poo poo him or herself.

...I'd like to include a video or sound clip here of the actual stand-alone air raid siren on which the movie sound effect was based, but over the years the Google results for "Silent Hill siren" have been replaced with kids begging for ringtones. Rest assured though, it's pretty creepy.

The atmosphere of Silent Hill was the best part about it. It's not a strong film otherwise; the writing is pretty weak and Sean Bean feels really tacked on (love the guy though). The gore in the final act was so absurd it took me out out of the film. It's worth a watch for sure though.

And drat do I love the Broken. One of the slowest horror films I've ever seen that still managed to keep me in a state of tension. I think I'm going to give Yellowbrick road a watch this weekend. Horror is a really divisive genre but I like what I've heard despite the complaints so we'll see.

Big Bad Voodoo Lou
Jan 1, 2006

Levantine posted:

The atmosphere of Silent Hill was the best part about it. It's not a strong film otherwise; the writing is pretty weak and Sean Bean feels really tacked on (love the guy though). The gore in the final act was so absurd it took me out out of the film. It's worth a watch for sure though.

The exposition dump scenes with Sean Bean really derail the pacing of what could otherwise have been a truly memorably, nightmarish, atmospheric horror film that would be discussed among the greats like The Thing or Jacob's Ladder. I think someone online did a cut where they edited out all of the Sean Bean scenes, and the movie was not only shorter, but the pacing was greatly improved. I don't believe in heaven or hell, but I always imagined if there was a hell, it would look a great deal like Silent Hill's scenes.

daccats
Aug 25, 2007

Levantine posted:

The atmosphere of Silent Hill was the best part about it. It's not a strong film otherwise; the writing is pretty weak and Sean Bean feels really tacked on (love the guy though). The gore in the final act was so absurd it took me out out of the film. It's worth a watch for sure though.

According to IMDB, Sean Bean's character was tacked on.

It's changes like this and the gore ending that make me think film executives really don't understand what made the source material popular to begin with.

the Bunt
Sep 24, 2007

YOUR GOLDEN MAGNETIC LIGHT
Coming from a humongous fan of the Silent Hill game (and good horror movies), I pretty much loving loathed the movie...though, even I have to admit, it did get some things (mostly aesthetics) very right.

Craig Spradlin
Apr 6, 2009

Right in the babymaker.

daccats posted:

According to IMDB, Sean Bean's character was tacked on.

It's changes like this and the gore ending that make me think film executives really don't understand what made the source material popular to begin with.

I place as much blame on fans of the game series as I do the studio. If they'd just been allowed to tell a story about the town of Silent Hill without shoehorning in characters from the game or dealing with issues of continuity raised by a vocal fanbase, it could have been a really good American horror film. As it was, it was a missed opportunity.

Crackerman
Jun 23, 2005

Craig Spradlin posted:

I place as much blame on fans of the game series as I do the studio. If they'd just been allowed to tell a story about the town of Silent Hill without shoehorning in characters from the game or dealing with issues of continuity raised by a vocal fanbase, it could have been a really good American horror film. As it was, it was a missed opportunity.

See also: Pyramid Head.

There was a lot of potential there but fan service was a huge loving problem for that film.

Levantine
Feb 14, 2005

GUNDAM!!!

Crackerman posted:

See also: Pyramid Head.

There was a lot of potential there but fan service was a huge loving problem for that film.

I'm a Silent Hill fan and I agree with this.

the Bunt
Sep 24, 2007

YOUR GOLDEN MAGNETIC LIGHT

Craig Spradlin posted:

I place as much blame on fans of the game series as I do the studio. If they'd just been allowed to tell a story about the town of Silent Hill without shoehorning in characters from the game or dealing with issues of continuity raised by a vocal fanbase, it could have been a really good American horror film. As it was, it was a missed opportunity.

Sean Bean's character is not in any of the games though.

In fact, they would not have had the "why are there no male characters in this?" if they kept the protagonist a male in the first place.

I personally find it even more interesting for a father to display such a strong love for his daughter. You always see mother-daughter stuff in horror, and not nearly enough father-daughter arcs.

HUNDU THE BEAST GOD
Sep 14, 2007

everything is yours

the Bunt posted:

You always see mother-daughter stuff in horror, and not nearly enough father-daughter arcs.

Not positive father-daughter arcs, anyway.

the Bunt
Sep 24, 2007

YOUR GOLDEN MAGNETIC LIGHT
Yeah, that's what I mean. For me, it's especially touching to see a father figure go to unimaginable selfless depths for his daughter. Turning the character into a female really does change the dynamics of the relationship, and makes it a lot more typical and stock.

When I saw the movie, I figured that Sean Bean was tacked on there to build up to a SH2 adaptation. The protagonist in SH2 is a man searching for his wife, so it would make sense.

But nope, the new SH movie is actually an adaptation of the third game. So, really, none of it makes any sense to me.

not to mention it's in 3D :/

Crackerman
Jun 23, 2005

the Bunt posted:

not to mention it's in 3D :/

And it has Malcolm McDowell which is usually a bad sign nowadays.

Portable Staplefrog
May 21, 2007

I just rewatched Session 9. Last time I saw it was at a film festival before its original release and I remember being disappointed with it, which confuses me now considering how great it was this time. It's a very unique sort of horror movie and I'd like to see more like it if they exist.

primordia
Mar 6, 2006

I wish I could be everywhere where people was doin aut!
I've been pretty pleased with some of the recommendations so far. Session 9 successfully tensed me up like no other movie has to date. I admit to not being too terribly happy with the ending but I was thinking about it for days afterwards so I call that a good movie. Triangle was also a pleasant surprise. Like a few mentioned, the trailer makes it look like utter crap! Another one that will be in your head for days. I didn't really like The Hole. I felt like they thought I didn't know the twist when it was pretty blatantly obvious. I'm looking forward to The Broken within the next couple of days. Seems like a lot of you really dig it.

Thanks for all the recommendations, this is definitely my favorite genre of movie. I'm working on a list of my own recommendations that I'll post soon.

Warm und Fuzzy
Jun 20, 2006

Crisco Kid posted:

What is it about this image? I saw a version with red text and I just couldn't stop looking at it, and eventually ended up saving it to my computer despite having no idea what the movie or album was about (and still not really knowing). A truck by a flooded river in the rain, big whoop, but it's mesmerizing.

It's a very well composed painting. Pay attention to how your eyes subconsciously travel around the image without ever leaving the canvas. You can tell the artist is intentionally directing your focus.

AN AOL CHAT ROOM
Feb 22, 2003

Power-shovelling fat turds into my cock busted syphilitic maw. Like a fat cunt shovels doughnuts. The resulting turds from my hemorrhoid infested goat fucked ass are pure gold compared to my shitting posts.

Portable Staplefrog posted:

I just rewatched Session 9. Last time I saw it was at a film festival before its original release and I remember being disappointed with it, which confuses me now considering how great it was this time. It's a very unique sort of horror movie and I'd like to see more like it if they exist.
I don't remember the fate of Dave Caruso's character. It seems like he just disappeared towards the end, most likely having fled off-screen. Was he a figment of the lead character's imagination? I remember liking the idea that he was really Horatio Caine taking a break from his job at CSI:Miami to go undercover and be a twisted sociopath.

Portable Staplefrog
May 21, 2007

AN AOL CHAT ROOM posted:

I don't remember the fate of Dave Caruso's character. It seems like he just disappeared towards the end, most likely having fled off-screen. Was he a figment of the lead character's imagination? I remember liking the idea that he was really Horatio Caine taking a break from his job at CSI:Miami to go undercover and be a twisted sociopath.
I'm not sure, but my best guess is that He was real until late in the story when Gordon killed him and forgot he had done it.

Crackerman
Jun 23, 2005

I liked Session 9 until it was revealed nothing really supernatural was going on. I think it had great potential as a creepy ghost story but it became "he flipped his poo poo because his wife spilled some pasta then killed he everyone." It's been many years since I saw it though so I might be misremembering.

It's worth a watch and is a very nice looking film at least. It also has this.

primordia
Mar 6, 2006

I wish I could be everywhere where people was doin aut!
I could be misremembering too but I'm pretty sure it was supposed to be supernatural. Some spirit that inhabits those who are vulnerable and makes them KILL KILL KILL!

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Keanu Grieves
Dec 30, 2002

primordia posted:

I could be misremembering too but I'm pretty sure it was supposed to be supernatural. Some spirit that inhabits those who are vulnerable and makes them KILL KILL KILL!
Yep. "I live in the weak and the wounded."

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