Horror

[No-Personality]

I learned so much just from that one post. I was wondering if Michael and Laurie were actually related in the original Halloween. Is there any DVDs available that has the original ending to Nightmare On Elm Street?

Yep. In great quality too.

It's on the 2-Disc Infinifilm Edition. You have to click "Play Infinifilm," then go to the End Credits chapter. You will see a Blue Highlit Bar with an option to see Unusued Footage from the ending. Click the Down Arrow and another Blue Highlit Bar will appear and say "See Three Alternate Endings." Wes Craven's original ending is the 2nd out of the 3.


Goofy video I made showing you how to do it (1:32):
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Y5CMhikzPhU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[gunswordfist]

Thanks. Also, you got some extra html or whatever crap around your link. The link works, just pointing that out.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Ha... only at the expense of who the characters were in the first film and what Michael Myers represented. There was never supposed to be a sequel. John Carpenter did it for the money. Universal paid Compass International for the rights to produce a sequel and they were going to do it whether Carpenter was given any say in what they actually did with the story or not. They offered him money, he took it and has described the entire process with an extreme amount of cynicism and outright disdain. And so... he wrote in a backstory that has nothing to do with the characters, and more to do with how popular soap operas were at the time (since this just wreaks of a tv drama twist), and literally flies in the face of everything he was trying to do in the first film. Note the presence of graphic violence and the high bodycount. These elements weren't in the first film. They were from Friday the 13th. He knew why Universal bothered to try and make this a franchise. Because Friday the 13th was raking it in and producing a sequel - which also made a ton in comparison to how much it cost - for next to nothing.

I'm fully aware that the sequel was nothing but a cash-in on the huge and unexpected success of the first film, but in that regard so were all of the sequels to all of the major horror franchises of that era. I never even really implied that Halloween II was actually a good film, but rather that relative to the other horror slasher franchises I personally found this sequel to be more enjoyable than the plethora of other 80's slasher movies that I have seen. I don't disagree that its a complete "fuck you" to the original film and what that was all about, but I can at least say that I enjoy the movie for what it is.

That's just a personal opinion, though. I don't necessarily expect anyone else to agree with me, but that's about as far as I can explain why I like the movie when viewing it on its own terms.

As for Friday the 13th, I was probably being too harsh on that franchise (though I honestly could never develop an appreciation for it, but that's just me). You clearly know far more about this subject material in general than I do, so I won't waste time trying to argue with you on something that I'm quite frankly more naive about. I do see the validity in your points and don't necessarily disagree with them, but in this case I do still stand by my own personal opinion that the first 2 Halloween films are probably the only 2 that I find to be enjoyable among the 80's slasher movies. I probably should have worded that part of my original post better.

[talonmalon333]

Since we're on the topic of Halloween, I'm curious what you guys think of their original intent for making a series out of it. You know, making an anthology series out of it. I think James Rolfe already said this, but as far as the Michael Myers story arc goes, all we need is the original film. And if you just have to know what happens to him after that, well, then the second movie is there for you. And from there, they were come up with new plots with each movie. I have a feeling this'll be the common opinion, but I think that idea would've been much better. I've only seen bits and pieces of Season of the Witch, but from what I've seen of it, it looks like a standard horror flick, which puts it above the movies they slapped together afterward.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Alright, I'm in the mood for some horror flicks, and am open to any recommendations besides just the obvious ones. The catch is that it kind of has to be something that is currently available for streaming on Netflix, so I'm not sure how much that limits my options. Also, if possible, I kind of prefer pre-80's horror films, but I'm not going to be too picky, here.

I do think I recall seeing that "Don't Look Now" was available on Netflix so I definitely want to give that film a watch sometime soon.

[Daikun]

Alright, I'm in the mood for some horror flicks, and am open to any recommendations besides just the obvious ones. The catch is that it kind of has to be something that is currently available for streaming on Netflix, so I'm not sure how much that limits my options. Also, if possible, I kind of prefer pre-80's horror films, but I'm not going to be too picky, here.

Have you seen any of the German Expressionist films?

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

No. No I have not.

[Daikun]

No. No I have not.

Then I highly recommend The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. It's streaming on Netflix and it's the most artistically gorgeous horror film I've ever seen.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I've always wanted to check that film out, myself, so I'll definitely give it a look sometime soon.

[talonmalon333]

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is simply great. I can't really put it into words, but I definitely second Daikun's recommendation.

Also, if Don't Look Now is indeed on Netflix, I definitely recommend that one, too. I saw it for the first time about a year ago, and I've been meaning to give it a rewatch.

EDIT:

I'm already looking forward to Halloween season. I might even start early this year (as in, early September) so I can get through as many horror movies as possible before the end of October.

[Daikun]

Also, if Don't Look Now is indeed on Netflix, I definitely recommend that one, too. I saw it for the first time about a year ago, and I've been meaning to give it a rewatch.

*checks Netflix* Yep, it's on there!

Also, thanks for reminding me about this movie. I totally forgot about it until you brought it up. This movie was actually a required viewing when I was in college.

[Lord Il]

For some reason I decided to watch House Of 1000 Corpses last night. It's even worse than I remembered it from approx. five years ago. I want to say it's too.. schlocky? But what's interesting about that is how much better the sequel turned out to be, The Devil's Rejects. It's as though Rob Zombie reinvented the characters just enough to make them seem more believable. This family of characters is truly frightening with their disregard for human life. Morals are thrown right out the window. Very effective writing and directing in Rejects, IMO.

House Of 1000 Corpses is just forgettable. But if anyone is into schlocky horror, go for it.

[No-Personality]

I actually own copies of House of 1,000 Corpses and The Devil's Rejects. I tried to watch the latter but I flat-out just turned it off 40-something mins in. It is so full of... I still can't identify it. It's definitely bullshit. Of some festering variety. The characters aren't characters. The dialogue isn't dialogue. The writing isn't writing. Rob Zombie is not pretentious. Except in his influences: he couldn't touch Texas Chainsaw Massacre or Last House on the Left with everything he has now and he'll never be that good a director. He's also not original in the slightest, nor is he the slightest bit deft at pastiche. He takes his influences, wrings them completely dry of all the substance they used to have in the hope that invoking / incorporating them into his film will make up for the idiocy he writes. He sort of wants to be a White Trash David Lynch and a horror fanboy who is treated with respect at the same time. Meanwhile... after Corpses, I cannot sit through one of his films all the way through. I feel like I'm being pissed on, like this is all a ploy to enhance his reputation- not a film. Not a story. Not a series of images worth a damn.

Meanwhile, Corpses was a bit more of a genuine pastiche. And a very specific one at that: it's a love letter to Tobe Hooper's The Funhouse and Eaten Alive. In fact, Funhouse itself was a sleazy backwoods type slasher which took influences from old Universal monster movies. And this was of course all over Zombie's Corpses. So, in a way, this was like a remake. Not a well-focused remake but it appropriated Zombie's style in a way that didn't make me want to see him fall over a cliff. It's what you would expect if you knew his music and it wasn't too insane a digression from Bride of Chucky. He didn't take it too seriously, the Firefly Family characters were not fucking tragic figures or these weary, "wartorn"-esque survivors like they were in Rejects (what in the flying FUCK was that shit about? IRONY? Oh hell no!), and it looked great. Much as I still have genuine fondness or fascination (it's a case by case basis thing) for the Scream-era slashers, they were sucking the style out of horror. If we don't have noteworthy films which value atmosphere, horror loses a lot of its identity. So, there are scenes in Corpses that made me feel like we were on the verge of a renaissance. Too bad that began and then died with May and 28 Days Later.

Of course, the trick to the film is that it's 2 movies in 1. The second movie begins when the "teenagers" (they exist to be labeled and I'm too lazy to think of something better than this) go outside in the rain and the car is attacked. The first movie is okay, the second movie is terrible.

[Angus]

It's kind of scary when Michael Myers looks like Mike Myers.

I watched v/h/s the other day. A bunch of horror movie short stories from a first person camcorder perspective, which is like Paranormal Activity in that each story starts off fairly boring and then gets supernaturally ridiculous later.

[talonmalon333]

Happy Halloween folks. For today, I think I'm going to rank my top 10 favorite horror films.

1. Rosemary's Baby
2. Nosferatu the Vampyre
3. Psycho
4. The Exorcist
5. Dawn of the Dead
6. Halloween
7. Nosferatu
8. The Bride of Frankenstein
9. Black Christmas
10. An American Werewolf in London

I don't count certain movies (Jaws, etc.). I wasn't even sure if I should count Rosemary's Baby or Psycho, but I did just because I wasn't sure what else to rank on that list. If I excluded them, I would've put Night of the Living Dead at #9 probably, and then I wouldn't know what to rank next.