|
Post by kds on Oct 20, 2021 13:38:29 GMT
I think Comedy of Terrors is one I still haven't seen. Agreed about Vincent Price. He appeared in a couple episodes of the Brady Bunch on their trip to Hawaii as a kooky guy who hides out in a cave to scare the boys. I don't think I've seen any tv show or movie he's been in and been disappointed by his character. Back in 2003, I went on a big Vincent Price kick. At that time, both Best Buy and Circuit City sold MGM double feature DVD's of several of Price's films for $9.99 / each, so I was able to purchase the entire Poe Cycle, as well as several of his other notable movies pretty cheap.
|
|
|
Post by The Cincinnati Kid on Oct 20, 2021 14:02:06 GMT
I think Comedy of Terrors is one I still haven't seen. Agreed about Vincent Price. He appeared in a couple episodes of the Brady Bunch on their trip to Hawaii as a kooky guy who hides out in a cave to scare the boys. I don't think I've seen any tv show or movie he's been in and been disappointed by his character. Back in 2003, I went on a big Vincent Price kick. At that time, both Best Buy and Circuit City sold MGM double feature DVD's of several of Price's films for $9.99 / each, so I was able to purchase the entire Poe Cycle, as well as several of his other notable movies pretty cheap. If it were 15 years ago, I'd be one of those guys with a huge library of my favorite DVDs. Now it mostly seems like a waste with so many things on streaming services and TCM still showing a large number of classics. With that said, I still purchase from time to time my all time favorites like the recent remastered Marx Brothers boxset or stuff that is rarely on tv like American Graffiti. Mad Men is a set I've been wanting to get since it'll probably only be on AMC+ from now on, but it's kinda pricey. It looks like buying each season separately could be cheaper, so maybe I'll go that route if I ever get around to it.
|
|
|
Post by kds on Oct 20, 2021 14:06:16 GMT
Back in 2003, I went on a big Vincent Price kick. At that time, both Best Buy and Circuit City sold MGM double feature DVD's of several of Price's films for $9.99 / each, so I was able to purchase the entire Poe Cycle, as well as several of his other notable movies pretty cheap. If it were 15 years ago, I'd be one of those guys with a huge library of my favorite DVDs. Now it mostly seems like a waste with so many things on streaming services and TCM still showing a large number of classics. With that said, I still purchase from time to time my all time favorites like the recent remastered Marx Brothers boxset or stuff that is rarely on tv like American Graffiti. Mad Men is a set I've been wanting to get since it'll probably only be on AMC+ from now on, but it's kinda pricey. It looks like buying each season separately could be cheaper, so maybe I'll go that route if I ever get around to it. I collected a lot of DVDs in the 2000s, but my buying of movies has dramatically decreased over the last several years due both to having less time to watch movies, and the rise of streaming. Why buy a DVD that I might watch once and put on a shelf forever? I still have a small stack of DVDs that I've received over the last couple Christmases that I haven't watched yet.
|
|
|
Post by kds on Oct 20, 2021 15:29:03 GMT
1970s
I've decided to move the discussion along, but if anyone wants to chime in on any of the previous decades, feel free.
As I said, 1960's Psycho took the fantasy element out of horror, and the end result was something a little more unsettling than movies featuring monsters, ghosts, and zombies.
This theme continued in the 1970s. One of the most brutal examples is the first movie from Wes Craven - 1972's The Last House on the Left. A tale of rape, murder, and revenge, the movie is not a comfortable watch. But, that's sometimes the case with art that delves with the dark side of life. This theme would also be explored in I Spit On Your Grave. Tobe Hooper's 1974 masterpiece The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is also a gritty affair, which was, like Psycho, inspired by Ed Gein. In 1978, John Carpenter combined the concept of a real world boogeyman with a little more suspense (thanks in part to a great score that the composed) in Halloween. While it wasn't the first "slasher" movie, it probably kickstarted the slasher subgenre that would dominate horror in the following decade.
Of course, there was still plenty of room for the supernatural in horror. Personally, as I've gotten older, I tend to find the supernatural or fantasy based horror more entertaining, as it provides a little more of an escape. Almost 50 years after its release, 1973's The Exorcist is still considered by many to be the scariest movie of all time. I'm not 100% sure I'd say that, but it's still pretty effective. The movie is also one of several religious themed horror movies from the decade. One of my favorites is 1977's The Sentinel, featuring a young model who moves into an apartment complex with some neighbors who appear at first just strange, but that gives way to something more sinister as the movie goes on. There's a bit of a religious element in 1979's The Amityville Horror, which really exploited the "based on a true story" tag. The 1979 movie Phantasm follows an evil undertaker known as The Tall Man, an underrated horror icon.
In 1978, George Romero released one of the great sequels of all time - Dawn of the Dead, his sequel to 1968's Night of the Living Dead. Dawn upped the gore, action, and humor of Night, and is generally regarded as an essential movie in the zombie genre.
I'd be remiss if I didn't bring up my favorite movie of all time - Jaws (1975). Oddly enough, whenever somebody asks me what my favorite horror movie is, I rarely say Jaws. I don't know why, but I've always viewed it more as an action / adventure movie that a horror movie. But, it definitely has horror elements, and typically appears on horror lists, so it's probably a "me" think. But, going back to my point of real life horror themes, Jaws did tap into a primal fear of being eaten alive by a terrifying beast.
|
|
|
Post by The Cincinnati Kid on Oct 22, 2021 16:19:29 GMT
The 1970s is an interesting decade for horror. You still had the old style horror films like the Hammer Dracula series soldering on in the first few years of the decade, but it soon gave way to "modern" (can we even call coming up on 50 years ago modern?) style horror films and therefore modern classics. This is one of my favorite decades for horror for that reason and because films still had a good balance between gore and suspense. Thinking about it, the 70s were the first decade where nearly all of the movies actually scared me at some point. I still don't think I've ever seen The Exorcist in full. For the longest time it was because how everyone said it was so scary and younger me took that at face value. Now, I just don't have a huge interest in it. I don't think I've ever seen the original The Last House on the Left, but don't hold me to it. I know I've seen the remake from 2009, it was definitely very unsettling. Texas Chainsaw Massacre was very scary to me the first few times I saw it. Something about how it was filmed added an extra creepy factor for me. The Sentinel is another one I haven't seen. The Omen from 1976 another religious themed film with a little boy who turns out to be the son of Satan. The cemetery scene and reveal is pretty intense. Halloween has always been my favorite horror film of all time, but I've seen it so many times now that I don't enjoy it quite as much. Ending the decade with The Amityville Horror, that movie really freaked me out as a kid. Between the house looking like it had a face, whatever was going on in that basement, plus the driving rain really did a number on me. It's funny you mention Jaws because I've never really considered it a horror film, either. Moving on to some lesser know films, Horror Express (1972) is an unknown/underrated classic. It has a great cast that includes Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, and Telly Savalas. I highly recommend it if you haven't seen it. I'm surprised the theme of being trapped on a train/plain/boat hasn't been done more in the horror realm. It of course has plenty of times under the guise of a thriller or action film. The Abominable Dr. Phibes from 1972 is one of those comedy-horror films from Vincent price that is enjoyable, if a bit campy. Duel (1971) was a TV movie where a stressed out salesman takes the opportunity to go on a business trip when he encounters and old tanker truck. He calmly passes him, but it soon turns into an intense case of road rage that goes on for miles across desert highways. Black Christmas (1974) is an early slasher film that apparently had some influence on John Carpenter in the making of Halloween. I assume it's fallen into the public domain or the people in charge just don't care, but someone uploaded it to youtube. It's certainly worth watching at least once. The Car, released in 1977, is a more or less a B film that was panned pretty hard at the time of it's release, but does have a cult following. I still remember the first time I watched it on a Saturday afternoon when I was 8 or 9 and it scared me pretty bad even though it was daylight out with all of the windows open. The scene where it drives through a house might be the scariest scene for me in any film. For a while it was on my mind that it could happen to my house. It's also one of the very few films I've had nightmares about (not now, of course ). I'm starting to ramble on about too many films, so I'll end it there. As an aside, is no one else here interested in horror? I thought we'd have at least one or two more regular participants.
|
|
|
Post by kds on Oct 22, 2021 16:32:25 GMT
1980s
The 1980s are often thought of as the golden age of slasher movies, and with good reason. Halloween became a franchise, starting with Halloween II. A failed attempt to make Halloween an anthology franchise with Halloween III - Season of the Witch failed, so Michael Myers was resurrected for Halloween 4. Although, as a standalone movie, Halloween III is actually pretty good IMO. Friday the 13th premiered in 1980, spawning a franchise that I always saw as a discount version of Halloween. Although, they're still entertaining.
Wes Craven's A Nightmare on Elm St (1984) is quite possibly the gold standard when it comes to slashers. Freddy Krueger went beyond just being a horror icon, and by decades end was a full on pop culture phenomenon.
But, slashers weren't the only horror movies to come out of the 80s. Haunted house movies were still doing quite well. Stanley Kubrick's 1980 adaptation of The Shining is a classic. The Shining might have overshadowed the underrated 1980 haunted house movie The Changling. In 1982, Tobe Hooper (with some help from Steven Speilberg) released Poltergeist. This movie is notable for taking haunted houses into the suburbs, and for being one of the first major special effects haunted house movies. Unlike some later paranormal themed horror movies, I don't thin the effects overpower the atmosphere on Poltergeist.
Moving away from ghosts a bit, 1982 also saw the release of John Carpenter's The Thing, which is in the discussion for the greatest horror remake of all time.
The 1980s was also a good decade for zombies. The 1985 horror comedy Return of the Living Dead offers a bit of a twist to Romero's zombie rules. Sam Raimi unleased The Evil Dead in 1981, followed by a sequel / quasi remake The Evil Dead II in 1987, which injects some humor into the universe. While not technically a zombie movie, the 1989 adaptation of Pet Sematary does deal when the dead returning from the grave.
The 80s was also a great decade for "gateway" horror movies with horror themed "family" movies like Ghosbusters (1984s), Gremlins (1984), and The Monster Squad (1987). My fingers aren't really on the pulse of modern cinema, but I think this type of movie is a bit of an extinct beast as there doesn't seem to be any in between in movies like Hotel Transylvania and R rated horror movies these days.
I'm sure I'm missing a few here, so I might add to this post later.
|
|
|
Post by kds on Oct 22, 2021 16:34:35 GMT
The 1970s is an interesting decade for horror. You still had the old style horror films like the Hammer Dracula series soldering on in the first few years of the decade, but it soon gave way to "modern" (can we even call coming up on 50 years ago modern?) style horror films and therefore modern classics. This is one of my favorite decades for horror for that reason and because films still had a good balance between gore and suspense. Thinking about it, the 70s were the first decade where nearly all of the movies actually scared me at some point. I still don't think I've ever seen The Exorcist in full. For the longest time it was because how everyone said it was so scary and younger me took that at face value. Now, I just don't have a huge interest in it. I don't think I've ever seen the original The Last House on the Left, but don't hold me to it. I know I've seen the remake from 2009, it was definitely very unsettling. Texas Chainsaw Massacre was very scary to me the first few times I saw it. Something about how it was filmed added an extra creepy factor for me. The Sentinel is another one I haven't seen. The Omen from 1976 another religious themed film with a little boy who turns out to be the son of Satan. The cemetery scene and reveal is pretty intense. Halloween has always been my favorite horror film of all time, but I've seen it so many times now that I don't enjoy it quite as much. Ending the decade with The Amityville Horror, that movie really freaked me out as a kid. Between the house looking like it had a face, whatever was going on in that basement, plus the driving rain really did a number on me. It's funny you mention Jaws because I've never really considered it a horror film, either. Moving on to some lesser know films, Horror Express (1972) is an unknown/underrated classic. It has a great cast that includes Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, and Telly Savalas. I highly recommend it if you haven't seen it. I'm surprised the theme of being trapped on a train/plain/boat hasn't been done more in the horror realm. It of course has plenty of times under the guise of a thriller or action film. The Abominable Dr. Phibes from 1972 is one of those comedy-horror films from Vincent price that is enjoyable, if a bit campy. Duel (1971) was a TV movie where a stressed out salesman takes the opportunity to go on a business trip when he encounters and old tanker truck. He calmly passes him, but it soon turns into an intense case of road rage that goes on for miles across desert highways. Black Christmas (1974) is an early slasher film that apparently had some influence on John Carpenter in the making of Halloween. I assume it's fallen into the public domain or the people in charge just don't care, but someone uploaded it to youtube. It's certainly worth watching at least once. The Car, released in 1977, is a more or less a B film that was panned pretty hard at the time of it's release, but does have a cult following. I still remember the first time I watched it on a Saturday afternoon when I was 8 or 9 and it scared me pretty bad even though it was daylight out with all of the windows open. The scene where it drives through a house might be the scariest scene for me in any film. For a while it was on my mind that it could happen to my house. It's also one of the very few films I've had nightmares about (not now, of course ). I'm starting to ramble on about too many films, so I'll end it there. As an aside, is no one else here interested in horror? I thought we'd have at least one or two more regular participants. When I worked at Circuit City, we had Jaws in the Action movies, not horror, so maybe we're on to something. I've actually never seen any of the Omen movies. Maybe one of these days. I've also never watched the original Black Christmas. I saw an awful remake of it from the mid 00s. I love that the director, Bob Clark, went on to direct A Christmas Story in 1983.
|
|
|
Post by kds on Oct 22, 2021 16:36:06 GMT
On my God, I forgot to mention on of my all time favorite horror movies in the 1980s.
John Carpenter's The Fog. Maybe I've seen Halloween too many times, but over the years, I've actually grown to prefer The Fog as my favorite Carpenter movie. It might also be because I love the ghost / pirate theme, and I love the fact that you never get a really good look at the pirate ghosts.
|
|
|
Post by Kapitan on Oct 22, 2021 19:15:06 GMT
I (obviously) don't have a lot to say about horror movies, but there is at least one from the '80s I can say really affected me: Children of the Corn (1984). It scared the hell out of me when I first saw it. I must have been about nine or 10, as it was at a family friend's house on VHS, not in the theater. The adults were upstairs doing whatever boring adults did, while the two families' kids (I being the second-youngest of the combined crew) were in the basement carousing, including watching this.
The biblical names, the kids-as-villains ... it really freaked me out. The only saving grace was, I was so set on not appearing scared. So I just put on a brave face and sat there trying not to wet my pants when Isaac said "he wants you, too, Malachai." I don't think I've seen it since that day in the mid-80s, but I have a memory of that.
The '80s, of course, saw a lot of Stephen King stories and books made into movies or TV series. The Shining, Deadzone, Christine, Cujo, Firestarter, Stand By Me (one of the best and still a classic, though not horror), Pet Semetary, and more. Frankly they tended to be pretty mediocre.
|
|
|
Post by kds on Oct 22, 2021 19:29:58 GMT
I actually didn't see Children of the Corn until I was in my 20s. It probably would've made more of an impact on me had I seen it as a kid.
Although, seeing A Nightmare on Elm St, Friday the 13th, and Halloween around the age of eight didn't really have much of an effect on me for whatever reason. I fully believe that old Disney cartoons (like The Haunted House like I mentioned and Pinocchio which has some really crazy shit going on), Garfield's Halloween Adventure, and The Wizard of Oz started training my young brain for horror. Those, as well as those "gateway" movies I already mentioned like Ghostbusters, Gremlins, and The Monster Squad, all of which I saw before watching any true horror.
|
|
|
Post by Kapitan on Oct 22, 2021 19:37:07 GMT
I actually didn't see Children of the Corn until I was in my 20s. It probably would've made more of an impact on me had I seen it as a kid. Although, seeing A Nightmare on Elm St, Friday the 13th, and Halloween around the age of eight didn't really have much of an effect on me for whatever reason. I fully believe that old Disney cartoons (like The Haunted House like I mentioned and Pinocchio which has some really crazy shit going on), Garfield's Halloween Adventure, and The Wizard of Oz started training my young brain for horror. Those, as well as those "gateway" movies I already mentioned like Ghostbusters, Gremlins, and The Monster Squad, all of which I saw before watching any true horror. I have no idea whether I would find it scary now. But my gosh, it got me then. I'm trying now to recall others that really got to me. I guess the Wizard of Oz, when I was very young, scared me at times. I recall being freaked out by Rosemary's Baby (1968), which I saw probably around the same time as Children of the Corn, and at that same family-friends' house, too.
Usually the mainstream ones of that era didn't really have much effect on me, either. Same ones you mentioned. They were just fun, almost funny, in that weird way that boys deal with such things.
|
|
|
Post by kds on Oct 22, 2021 19:42:56 GMT
I actually didn't see Children of the Corn until I was in my 20s. It probably would've made more of an impact on me had I seen it as a kid. Although, seeing A Nightmare on Elm St, Friday the 13th, and Halloween around the age of eight didn't really have much of an effect on me for whatever reason. I fully believe that old Disney cartoons (like The Haunted House like I mentioned and Pinocchio which has some really crazy shit going on), Garfield's Halloween Adventure, and The Wizard of Oz started training my young brain for horror. Those, as well as those "gateway" movies I already mentioned like Ghostbusters, Gremlins, and The Monster Squad, all of which I saw before watching any true horror. I have no idea whether I would find it scary now. But my gosh, it got me then. I'm trying now to recall others that really got to me. I guess the Wizard of Oz, when I was very young, scared me at times. I recall being freaked out by Rosemary's Baby (1968), which I saw probably around the same time as Children of the Corn, and at that same family-friends' house, too.
Usually the mainstream ones of that era didn't really have much effect on me, either. Same ones you mentioned. They were just fun, almost funny, in that weird way that boys deal with such things.
I really can't recall any horror movies that scared me as a kid. Although, some movies that probably could have scared me, I didn't see until adulthood (ie. The Exorcist). I'm sure there's something in my memory bank because I remember clinging to my older cousin's boyfriend while walking through a haunted house when I was ten. And, this was one of those local haunts with middle schoolers in costumes. I also remember being creeped out by that show Sightings that I mentioned in another thread, when they did stories on ghosts.
|
|
|
Post by The Cincinnati Kid on Oct 22, 2021 20:10:46 GMT
The 1980s is where I begin to really drift off in terms of the number of movies I've seen by decade, so I haven't seen a ton of horror from this decade aside from the slashers and a couple other films. Or maybe there just isn't that much worth watching beyond the major stuff.
I agree about Friday the 13th being a discount version of Halloween. Growing up it seemed like it was more popular than Halloween, though. Maybe it's because it was basically a yearly release, so it kind of stuck in pop culture for a longer period of time. I think the new Halloween movies have claimed back being the king of slashers, if there was ever any doubt.
I've never cared for The Shining. It never scared me and I might even go as far to say it's boring. I know I'm in the minority on that one.
I also love The Fog. I've mentioned how I prefer suspense over gore, and this one has a seemingly endless amount of suspense. Seeing the fog roll in is one of the eeriest feelings ever.
Pet Cemetery is a decent movie and it's fun seeing Fred Gwynne from The Munsters. It will always stick out to me because it seemed like multiple times in October every year during grade school and high school, it would be on tv right after I got home.
|
|
|
Post by Kapitan on Oct 22, 2021 21:20:40 GMT
I've never cared for The Shining. It never scared me and I might even go as far to say it's boring. I know I'm in the minority on that one. ... Pet Cemetery is a decent movie and it's fun seeing Fred Gwynne from The Munsters. It will always stick out to me because it seemed like multiple times in October every year during grade school and high school, it would be on tv right after I got home. I agree about The Shining! I admit that the twins scared me the first time I saw it, but to be fair, I was about five.
Fred Gwynne ruined P.S. for me because I just could not see him as anything else but Herman Munster. I actually had the same problem when Nick at Nite used to run the old sitcom Car 54, Where Are You? He was a cop, but I only saw Herman Munster...
|
|
|
Post by kds on Oct 23, 2021 0:55:26 GMT
I think a lot of the acting in Pet Sematary is very hammy. Although, it doesn't take me out of the movie too much.
I love the atmosphere of The Shining, but I think it could be 15 minutes shorter.
A couple early 80s favorites I forgot to mention. The Funhouse from 1981 takes the slasher element to a carnival dark ride. Very fun movie. Speaking of fun, the horror anthology Creepshow is a blast.
I'm not certain if Near Dark is horror. Its about vampires, but feels like an action comedy at times.
|
|